As we had done for three days before, Cathy and I placed our bags in a prime location – center seating on the right side of the arena. Initially, it was just Cathy and I, amongst hoards of referees, vendors, and press getting ready for the biggest two days in BJJ. However, this time one thing was noticeably different. Unlike the random seating arrangement of the fans in the first three days, the seating choices of the patrons on this morning were clearly deliberate. In fact, directly behind me I noticed a pack of supporters and athletes from Alliance – Gabi Garcia in the lead handing out black and teal Alliance t-shirts. Directly across the arena I noticed a similar gathering of Gracie Barra supporters huddled around the unmistakable Romulo Barral. Atos members were to the right of them – most of them, including Rafael & Guilherme Mendes and Gilbert Burns, in clean white Atos polo shirts. To my right was a pack of Gracie Humaita competitors, spectators, and family members led by Saulo Ribero. I had heard that Saturday and Sunday were huge, but this was more than I had expected. Cathy and I grabbed our bags and moved our seats to the soon-to-be Lloyd Irvin section (just in time to allow the Alliance Banner to be spread directly over our old seats).

The sights and sounds of the days 4 & 5 will be forever branded into the synapse of my brain. There is simply no way for me to explain how exciting it is to be in seated in a pre-determined section in a packed arena surrounded by the TLI family, many whom have already become world champions, Master Lloyd, and coach/mentor/friend Julius, surrounded on all sides by the power-quad of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teams.

Mike Fowler and JT’s Fights were amazing.  Tracey “the submission machine” Goodell looked as though her game plan could be called “shock and awe.” Andris killed it. Brad was on fire. Jon, Mike Atkin, Willie, and Roberto, and “Bro” Huffman fought their hearts out. Everywhere I looked I saw new takedowns, sweeps, guard-passes – it was complete sensory overload.

Submission Machine Tracey Goodell won the Purple Belt Open and Weight Class

One of the most notable things about the packed stadium was the know-how of the crowd. The crowd was silent when the matches were still and roaring at the slightest of advantage or scored points. It was similar to what I have seen of the crowds in Japan watching the famed “Pride” matches. There is something special – something energizing – about the noises in being in unison with the flow of the matches; something that I will never forget.

We ended Saturday with a team dinner at a Long Beach Greek restaurant where we ate, drank, and celebrated three days of unbelievable achievements.

Sunday was the biggest day in BJJ for the year of 2010. The black belt finals and open division. On the previous days, as I have mentioned, the arena floor held 12 rings. On Sunday the mats were re-arranged to hold six large rings. A fourth tear of stadium seats had to be lowered from the pyramid ceiling to allow for the extra seating required for the big event. (no – the seats did not drop down in our presence like some sort of freak show). Even more strategically than on Saturday the teams’ plots were staked. Alliance had their banner facing Atos and Humaita staged themselves in the new-seating area (Saulo set up an enormous iconic Gracie banner as well). TLI had a large group directly to the right of Alliance facing Atos and to the left of Humaita. The stage was set:

Here is the breakdown of what I was privileged enough to see live – A breakdown of what you could see in 2011

Rooster Weight Finals: Caio Terra vs Bruno Malfacine (my favorite match of the tournament for obvious reasons) Caio started pulling guard, then went for a footlock then tried the sweep Caio was very offensive off his back, going for Omoplatas and triangles, while Malfacine kept on pushing for the pass. Malfacine won by advantage and was the champ for the second year in a row. He ran to his team and jumped the rail – his 126.5 pounds easily hoisted into the roaring crowd. An amazing sight to see.

Light Featherweight Finals: Pablo Silva vs Samuel Braga: As they are from the same team, they did not fight. Pablo was awarded the honorary gold. However, they ceremoniously met in the center of the ring with their team banner and gave respect to their coaches.

Featherweight Finals: Cobrinha vs Rafael Mendes (4×4 points; 2×4 advantages) Lot’s of 50×50 guard action with 2 sweeps each and a lot of footlock attempts. In the battle of the toe holds, Rafael got the better and won in the advantages (4×2). I really enjoyed this match in that I feel it was a good game plan on display.

Lightweight Finals: Michael Langhi vs Celso Venicius (referee’s decision) In a very uneventful and even match, Langhi got the judges decision. Langhi was quite fun to watch as he has entertaining celebratory antics. I think he bit the pin off an imaginary grenade and threw it into the crowd at the conclusion of this match.

Medium Heavyweight Finals: Tarsis Humphreys vs Romulo Barral (Submission) Tarsis pulled guard and attacked Barral’s leg causing Romulo to injure his ligaments and give up the fight. Tarsis is built like some sort of machine from the terminator movies. Inspired I was!

Heavyweight Finals: Alexandre Ribeiro vs Bernardo Faria (0×2). Admittedly not knowing as much as many of my teammates about professional BJJ, I have really liked Faria since I watched his matches during the Pan Am live stream. Faria pulled halfguard and played an offensive game off the bat. He tried hard to sweep but could not get “Xande” over. Faria pulled half guard again on the opposite side, trying to find holes. He finally got the hard fought sweep and takes the title.

Super Heavyweight Finals: Roger Gracie vs Ricardo Abreu (13 x 2) Roger dominated the fight, got the back and tried his trademark choke that didn’t work so he executed another trademark move, his cross choke from the mount. Abreu survived and showed how resilient he is. If I had been on bottom I would be dead.

Super Super Heavyweight Finals: Cavaca vs Roberto Abreu. Cavaca submitted Cyborg with an achillies lock. Trainspotting has done this to me twice since the worlds – so I guess he was inspired.

Absolute Finals: Roger Gracie vs Romulo Barral. Romulo couldn’t fight due to injury (mentioned above) and Roger Gracie was crowned champion yet again. Roger is the first fighter to reach 3 Open Weight titles in the black belt. Roger may not be from this planet.

Roger Gracie's dominance is Insane!

Women’s Finals – Lightweight: Luanna Alzuguir vs Kyra Gracie (1×1 – advantages) Kyra took gold on the judges decision.

Women’s Finals – Absolute/Open Weight: Luanna Alzuguir vs Gabrielle Garcia – Fighting from the same team, they decided not to fight the final but did the banner dance and got much deserved praise from their team.

Again, it is impossible for me to express in writing the impact that this trip had on me personally, athletically, and professionally. Prior to June 3, 2010 I said to everyone “I am going to the Mundials.” From now on, I will say that “we” are going to the Mundials. I saw the biggest teams in BJJ battling at the highest level. I also saw our team, a much younger and smaller team, making an enormous mark. I was blessed with the opportunity to compete in this event but even more blessed to have found Julius Park, Baltimore’s Crazy 88, Team Lloyd Irvin, and all of my wonderful friends and teammates. I have the very unusual privilege of traveling and fighting alongside my wife, Ms. Cathy, who also competed this year. BJJ has brought us closer together – giving us a bond and teammates in life but also teammates in our beloved sport. I want to thank everyone that helped me get to the World Championship of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2010 and thank in advance those same people for already helping me prepare for 2011. It is my hope that this article will at very least inspire one more person to take the challenge to better him or herself and our legendary team.

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I spend the remainder of June 3 watching Team Lloyd Irvin’s amazing list of white belt, lighter-weight blue belt, and female competitors. As the divisions were called, and the hands around the sacred arena were raised, it was quite clear that Team Lloyd Irvin (may as well be called Team America) was making a serious mark. The infamous TLI chant reverberated across the sloped ceilings as if was intended by design. Never had I been more proud to be part of our team. The blood, sweat, and tears we all shed in the months before had absolutely paid off, just as our coaches assured us it would.

Team Lloyd Irvin Was Under the Lights All Tournament!

There is one last thing worth mentioning about June 3, 2010. That was the rush of energy I received from having my first real/hot meal in four weeks. I will never forget the rush of energy that surged through my veins after gorging myself that evening. Galo/Rooster means 126 lbs with a GI on. Thus, my pre-tournament diet (four weeks long) was strict and consisted of approximately five proprietary items. During the two weeks before June 3, never was I full. I embraced the agitation it caused and used the hunger pangs as constant reminder of what I was preparing for. Once the dust settled from my final match, I had my first real bowl of the famed Sambazon Acai (since the US Open), which was followed by another, and another, and one more. That night we all met at a local Long Beach Thai/Japanese restaurant. I believe it was a table for 14. After a large plate of beef pad-Thai, a dozen soft-shell crab sushi rolls, and a plate of mango sticky-rice, the first phase of my Mundial experience had come to a very pleasant gut-busting end. We retreated back to the rooms to rest and prepare for the next days series of events.

The Secret to Jiu-Jitsu According to David Zwanetz

June 4, 2010

One might think that once his or her fights are over at the Mundials that the experience would be over as well. However, at least for me, the days I spent in the pyramid after my fight day were equal in value to my time on the mats. The heavier blue-belts were up on the second day, as well as our purple-belts. After an early morning trip to the buffet for another intense feeding we headed back to the venue. As each of our teammates was called, we would move in packs to his or her particular mat/ring. At the slightest positive movement from our teammate, we would bellow the reassuring, and probably patented, team yell. I lost my voice by 1:00 p.m. – more Acai was ingested to soothe my vocal cords.

Mid-way through day two it became abundantly clear just how large of a hurdle our American team had to jump to make an impact on the team score-board. However, time and time again on day two, our teammates hands were raised. The stands began to fill and the holy trinity of BJJ teams began to take their places in the stands (more on this to come in part 4).

Team Lloyd Irvin's DJ Jackson Took Silver in Blue Belt Middleweight and Bronze in the Open

Later in the day we came up with a plan whereby each fighter from Crazy 88 Jiu Jitsu preparing for a fight would be assigned an assistant who had fought the day before, to make sure they had everything they needed. It was an honor to be able to assist, in what little way I could, in a teammates’ preparations. SEVEN (7) Lloyd Irvin competitors became World Champions on June 4, 2010 and, at least four others medaled – two of them coming from Crazy 88.

Results aside, everyone fought their hearts out and left everything on those blue and yellow mats. I spent a full day at the venue on day 2, coaching, screaming, yelling, cheering, nail-biting, and laughing. But most importantly, I spent my day absorbing the sights, sounds, styles, and techniques of world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I have heard time and time again that one fierce tournament can be the equivalent of months of training. What then would a full twenty-four hour immersion into BJJ-land bring me? I was not quite sure at the time, maybe still not 100% clear, but I knew one thing – this day had improved my BJJ and my life immeasurably. Not since Law School have I learned so much in such a short period of time. And with that, we headed out for another celebratory meal with our teammates and friends.

Crazy 88 Brings Baltimore, Maryland its First Adult Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion

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Now, imagine you played amateur or even semi-pro football, or to make matters even more realistic, were simply an enormous fan of the sport and practiced three times a week with other semi-pro football players in attempt to hone your skills. Imagine further, that you got a phone call RIGHT NOW from your coach and he informed you that you could, if you chose, attend Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Your coach explains that, “for the price of the ticket to Texas, a rental car fee, a hotel, and a $60.00 ‘spectator’ fee you can get a front row seat and watch as the world’s greatest NFL athletes collide in the famous venue, on the famous field, whereby you could watch history in the making.”

Don't Settle for This!

I would imagine that seconds after said call you would go to your calendar and pencil off those days – and as you have one-years notice you would save the money it would require to pay the nominal fee to get yourself to and around Texas for the event. The excitement would build in you, you would tell everyone you know, you would count down the days until the big-event, you would probably lose sleep thinking about the big day, as the anticipation of being part of history would slow the time clock in your mind.

Lets up the ante a bit, and take this visualization exercise a step further:

Before getting off the phone with you, your coach adds, “by the way, if you do all that is necessary to perfect your skills, and play and win as many local games as possible, you can play at the next Superbowl, in Texas, on the same field as the greatest in the game, immediately before the main event, where you will be matched with other players/teams at your skill level, and you will have the chance to also become a Super Bowl Champion” – - “with all the prestige and pride attached, and even the famed gold championship ring.” “You have the chance to be and NFL Super-Bowl Champion!”

I have a feeling that anyone who is a real fan of football would immediately plan to go as a spectator, and anyone who is real fan of playing football, after they regained consciousness from passing out during the initial conversation, would begin the training required to prepare for and accept this colossal challenge.

Even BJJ White Belts have the Opportunity to Compete!

The World Championship of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (also knows as the Mundials) is the Super Bowl of Brazilian JiuJitsu. It is the most prestigious Jiu Jitsu tournaments in the world. The Mundials are hosted annually by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF). It is held in an historical venue, on historical mats, and competing are without a doubt historical figures and historical teams. The first Mundial tournament to be held outside of Brazil was in 2007 at the California State University in Long Beach, California. This trend continued with the 2008 Mundials, once again in Long Beach in 2009, and this year as well. The first World Championship was held in 1996 at the Tijuca Tênis Clube (still the location of the Brazilian Nationals) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has since grown tremendously, with over 2000 competitors (including 250 foreign athletes) fighting before a crowd of over 4,000 spectators.

Tijuca Tenis Clube - Home of the Jiu Jitsu World Championships 1996-2006

Long Beach Pyramid - Home of the BJJ World Championships since 2007

My hope is that this article will serve to put everyone on notice that the opportunity exists to be, at a minimum, a spectator of the Super Bowl of BJJ and supporter of Team Lloyd Irvin (the winningest American Jiu Jitsu TEAM in history) at the Mundals 2011. More importantly, if you accept the challenge, to encourage you to fight alongside the sport’s elite athletes, your teammates, and the creators, innovators, and supporters of our beloved sport – to put you on notice that you can make history!

I accepted this challenge in 2010 after my coach, mentor, and friend, Julius Park asked me to confirm and memorialize my personal goals for 2010 (I believe this was a request made for the entire Baltimore Team Lloyd Irvin Brazilian Jiu Jitsu team). Realizing that the opportunity, as described above, was something I simply could not pass up, I wrote Julius a letter listing “winning at least 1 International IBJJF medal” and “attending the ‘Worlds’ as a representative of TLI” as two of my prime goals:

I shall do my best to recount the experience, which for me was life changing…

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My weight division started out with my opponent not making weight and being DQ’d. In my second match I beat a fight from the Ryan Gracie Academy with two sweeps ending the match 4-0. In the semi final match, I was pretty much on top the whole match working a double under and under over pass, I even made him turn to his knees twice!  The match somehow went to a ref decision giving my opponent the berth in the finals.

Bad reffing aside, I was able to manage the Bronze medal at a tough tournament in Brazil. Although I do consider this an accomplishment to a certain degree I still feel like I can do a lot better. The experience alone has made me a better fighter, and more prepaired to be a world champion in 2010. If it wasn’t for Team Lloyd Irvin, there is no way that I would be where I am today……in life AND Jiu-Jitsu. So all in all my experience in Brazil was life changing to say the least…but also, the first of many!

Team Lloyd Irvin - Better than Team Jacob & Team Edward

Jon Delbrugge
Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

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I did not have a Brazilian visa and the earliest I could get one was in 16 days (this is what the website said). Still I knew I had to make a very strong attempt to obtain this Brazilian visa. After back to back trips to Washington DC and Camp Springs, Maryland, I was able to get my visa in less than 24 hours (thank god for the nice people at the Brazilian consulate).

I got the call to go on Wednesday and I was on the plane by Thursday evening. Everything happened so fast I really didn’t have time to get nervous or  anything, I was given brief instructions on what to do when I landed. I had to find a red and blue bus, take it to the Renaissance hotel, find a phone and call Guigo. It took me about 2 hours to finally get the hotel. I could not find a pay phone in Brazil only calling card phones. I walked around the city of Sao Paulo to find a store where they sold calling cards. 1 hour later, I found a small stand that sold the cards. I called Guigo and he told me to take a taxi to his school. Finally I made it to Guigos academy.

My first day/ night in Brazil was pretty relaxing. Met up with Mike Fowler and JT Torres, ate some food and watched a few movies at Guigos house. It was very exciting to be able to hang out with such high level athletes and hear them talk about their matches and how they want to execute their game plans. I listened very closely and tried to pick up all the pointers I could.

Guigo's House in Brazil

Black Belt Bed

Purple Belt Bed

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