Zenith MMA Team

First of three rounds happens in one week—May 20. Registration is open on smoothcomp. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to become Nevadas BJJ State Champion.

Only 18 days left until the tournament! Get registered today. You don’t want to miss out on this event!

Ex-parceiro de treino, ex-parceiro de equipe, ex-adversário. Agora só amigo mesmo. Obrigado pelo apoio 🤝

More photos from the Denver Zenith Open! What a great event and we can’t wait to be back! Don’t forget our next event will be May 20th in Las Vegas! Sign up today!

"When culture isn’t subjected to a binding belief system with high standards of merit, but rather becomes subjected to the whims of the majority (whatever that happens to be that particular week), a tool for political power is born. What follows is that factual reality becomes the victim of those who best manipulate public opinion by giving and telling the public everything they want to have and hear.
Besides, if we concede that we are all potentially corruptible and vulnerable to wrongful purposes, then not having firmly held high standards is no better than not being able to participate in decision making. In other words, without high standards and beliefs, the democratization of jiu-jitsu (or anything else for that matter) is in reality nothing but the massification of low standards.
Add to this the business logic of maximizing profits at any cost and you have a recipe for aiming for high numbers, rather than cohesion and the integrity the glue was meant for in the first place. The one that got us this far and that, presumably, is still necessary if jiu-jitsu is to survive intact the chaos that the internet has become."

“This view of jiu-jitsu as a business, and everyone thinking only of making money and making jiu-jitsu for everyone really changed jiu-jitsu a lot. In some ways for the better, in others not so much.”
Grandmaster Orlando Saraiva

What a great weekend for the zenith open! Thank you for the amazing seminar Friday night. Thank you to all the competitors that participated in the tournament. We couldn’t have done it without you! More pictures will be posted later this week! thank you to all the staff that helped out to put on this amazing event!

“The whole thing became too soft in my opinion. And these guys want to get into the Olympics? What Olympics man? Forget that. Every fighting style has its own essence, Kano wanted ‘the way,’ the polite, the Olympic, you see... But that’s not us.”
Master Otávio Peixotinho

https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Robert-Drysdales-New-Book-Portrays-Carlson-Gracie-as-Father-of-Modern-BJJ-MMA-189735

Robert Drysdale’s New Book Portrays Carlson Gracie as Father of Modern BJJ, MMA Following the success of his first book, “Opening Closed Guard,” multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Robert Drysdale has released its sequel, “The Rise and Evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: From Vale-Tudo to Carlson Gracie to its Democratization.”

“The past matters not as a curiosity to be resolved by a google search. It matters as an exercise to teach us how to think and understand our current standings so that we may plan our future with purpose in sight. No one seems to disagree that what goes around, comes around. Yet few of us are willing to heed the lessons of the past and we seem instead intent on repeating the same missteps, rather than applying this knowledge when in search for direction.”

Because I remember he used to come to teach seminars here in Los Angeles at our academies and once having dinner he looked up and said, “I want to make sure that you guys understand that we are going to conquer the world.” And I looked at him and thought “what is he talking about?” and he said “I’ll leave California for you guys, but we are going to take over the world.”

Master Jean Jacques Machado quoting Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

“You know… when we were growing up, we would go to a tournament and there were Gracies everywhere. We were the tournament, we were jiu-jitsu. Now, walk around and see if you can find any Gracie anywhere. There’s not a single one. I’m the only one here. Why don’t these guys support? Why can’t they bring their students to compete?”

Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

It had never occurred to me before what a great point that was. My own story in jiu-jitsu doesn’t go nearly as far back as Carlinhos’ did, but I recall going to the Tijuca Tenis Clube in Rio (where the World Championships were originally held) and seeing multiple members of the Gracie family in that arena. Running about, taking pictures with fans, arguing with referees, coaching, competing, getting into fights... Much like they always had throughout their history in jiu-jitsu. Carlinhos was right, for much of this history, the Gracies were the tournament, they were jiu-jitsu’s epicenter. You could not even say the word jiu-jitsu in a conversation without automatically having the name Gracie mentioned in the following sentence. What happened?

Reminder seminar with ADCC champion will be tomorrow night! Followed by the Zenith Open the next day! Get registered today. We will see all you guys soon!

"Rolls was the link that united them all, get it? Both sides of the family drank from the fountain of his knowledge. He was so respected, that when he showed moves, even Carlos and Helio were quiet in the room. Rolls was the only person with the power to unite the family, because he was the only person everyone both loved and respected. He is the lost link."
Master Otavio Peixotinho

“Everywhere you read up on these guys and they never have anything good to say about my father. Why? Are they scared? This reminds me of that movie, The Lion King. Have you seen it? Remember when the name Mufasa was mentioned and everyone just trembled in fear? That’s it, it’s the same with my father. And because no one ever says anything, unless I say something, no one will ever hear the truth.”

Carlson Gracie Jr.

May 20th be there for the inaugural NBJJF tournament in Vegas! We would love to see you all there! See flyer below for details.

Its finally ready!
Writing, editing and diagramming this book has been quite the journey but it is finally done! �This book has been a lot more work than “Opening Closed Guard” but I think that the overall end result is a much more revealing story with more layers to it. And since it tackles a more recent period of jiu-jitsu history, I think the reader will be able to relate more. My goal was to help understand why things are the way they are today as we bring the reader along the main events and characters that give jiu-jitsu (and to an extent MMA) their current shape today.
We are starting a countdown to go live on our website closedguardfilm.com and on Amazon. In this final countdown you guys can have a basic idea of what the book is about.
PS: O livro esta sendo traduzido para o português!

Only 5 days left until the Zenith Denver Open in Castle Rock Colorado! Get registered today at drysdalebjj.com also remember the night before come learn from ADCC champion Amy Campo at Seminar will start at 7pm! You don’t want to miss out on this one. We will see you all there! All affiliations and academies are welcome.

Congratulations Michelle on winning a free entry to the Zenith Colorado Open!

Last day for a chance to win a free entry to the April 15th Zenith Open in Colorado! Follow these three easy steps!
1. Like this post
2. tag 3 friends
3. Share this post
We will announce the winner April 1st. All academies and affiliations are welcome! See you all there 🤜 🤛

This Sunday! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from one of the all time greatest grapplers. See you all Sunday! All affiliations and academies are welcome. Yeah.

Enter for a chance to win a free entry to the Zenith Open Tournament in Castle Rock Colorado!
Step 1. Like this post
Step 2. Tag 3 friends
Step 3. Share this post
We will announce the winner April 1st! All academies and affiliations are welcome!

Only 10 days left! Come learn from one of the greatest grapplers on the planet. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this one. All academies and affiliations are welcome! Sign up today.