Crispim BJJ Barra Brothers

UFC-Gym Students Take Home The Medals

Crispim BJJ — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:43:10 +0000

On Sunday, August 29th, nine of Alexander Crispim and Jesus Mojica’s students from the UFC-Gym in Concord competed in the Grappling X Tournament in Elk Grove. Out of the nine who competed, SEVEN took home medals. These white belt students all started training Jiu-Jitsu since the UFC- Gym opened in November and later and in their very short time for training, they have all progressed phenomenally. These guys were competing against other white belts who have been training for 1-2 years and they didn’t let this affect them in their focus on victory and success.

All nine of these competitors showed passion, skill, and an incredible implementation of the positions and strategies that they have learned from Alexander Crispim and Jesus Mojica.

The results are as follows:

GOLD MEDALS:

Rafael Garcia

Brett Baraquil

SILVER MEDALS:

Mark Ward

John Bon

Andres Morra

Rudy Villalobos

BRONZE MEDAL:

Justin Steele

Crispim, the Crispim BJJ Team in Pleasanton, and the UFC-Gym Team would all like to congratulate all nine of the competitors in their success!! Keep training hard and way to represent.

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Anthony Diwa Brings Home The Bronze

Crispim BJJ — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:43:03 +0000

Alexander Crispim and the Crispim BJJ Team would like to congratulate Anthony Diwa on earning third place in the 2010 Las Vegas International Open IBJJF Championship this past weekend in his division.

Anthony’s performance was impressive and he represented our team well. Anthony is a skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and is on his way to a world championship. Crispim says, “From the beginning, I knew that Anthony was going to be good in BJJ. He has always been very devoted and dedicated to doing everything right and perfect. Anthony can’t get enough training. He is always on time, or early, to class and is always asking others to stay late so that he can train longer. Anthony wants to understand the positions, the implementation, and the strategies, and through attention to details, questions and a lot of practice, he is always pushing himself to improve and to become a better BJJ practitioner. Anthony is extremely patient with the newer students and is always there to help his teammates learn and succeed. He has all of these qualities and a lot of discipline and respect for others. Anthony is a “true” Martial Artist. I am really proud to have Anthony as part of the great Crispim BJJ Team that we are building.”

Here is a little about Anthony and how he became involved in BJJ…

“I discovered jiu jitsu by accident in January of 2006 during my senior year at UC Davis. I meant to attend the Sanshou Kickboxing class at our campus recreation center, but I had the times mixed up and ended up in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class instead. Until that time, I never had an interest in jiu jitsu. I even thought it was boring and always hated when the MMA fights on TV ended up on the ground. Not to mention it also looked kinda strange, two guys rolling around on the floor and all.

Anyways, the instructor who was a Cassio Werneck blue belt at the time, showed us a few moves. We practiced them and then it was time to spar, or as we Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners like to say, “roll.” At that time I weighed a solid 185. Physically, I was at my strongest and I thought I was tough. My opponent kneeling before me was a small, weak looking guy who weighed no more than 125 lbs. I almost felt sorry for the kid because I was about to smash him. When the instructor started the clock, I attacked with all of my might trying to do some damage to this skinny and weak looking 125 pounder. I honestly thought he was no match for me, but within 20 seconds, I found myself trapped on my back with my arm being hyper-extended with no way to escape. In shock and panic, I just yelled and he let go. By the end of our 6 minute round, I was completely gassed out and exhausted. I recall tapping about 5-6 times by this little guy during our 6 minute fight. I cringed at the thought of what could have happened if this were a real street fight. Every joint in my body would have been dismantled and many bones would have been broken, not to mention I could have died by being choked to death! I couldn’t believe what just happened. I just got my ass kicked by a scrawny, skinny, 125 pound guy who doesn’t even look like he trains. That was one of those life changing moments, and I’ve been training ever since.

I met Crispim in September of 2006 after graduating and moving back home and have been training mainly with him ever since. I was always drawn to his teaching style and the way in which he motivates us. He is very passionate about not only jiu jitsu but also about being a great coach and instructor, which is another entirely different skill set than just being a good jiu jitsu fighter. On second thought, I think “obsessive” about being a great coach and instructor is a more accurate description of him. In November of 2007, after 23 months of consistent training I was awarded my blue belt. Then, near the end of 2009 I was awarded my purple belt.

Jiu Jitsu was the perfect thing that I needed in my life. I always liked strategy games and before training jiu jitsu, I was a strategy video game playing guy spending hours every day online playing games like Warcraft, Starcraft and Chess. I also had a passion for physical exercise and even majored in Exercise Science in college. So… Jiu Jitsu was the perfect thing for me as it is the game of human chess. I also needed something to channel my energy into. In my life, I need to see progression and an ultimate long term goal being worked towards every day. Jiu Jitsu was a perfect fit and fulfilled all of those needs.

One of my biggest regrets in life is that I did not discover Jiu Jitsu when I was much younger like the kids at our kids jiu jitsu classes. I really envy those little guys and really get a kick out of watching them train and watching their reactions at the belt ceremonies.

As of right now my goals in Jiu Jitsu are just to enjoy my time in the purple belt division and try to win as many gold and silver medals as possible before moving on. After much thought, I have decided on what kind of Jiu Jitsu guy I want to be. I want to be a jiu jitsu fighter with excellent wrestling skills. I’m excited because not only do I have Crispim as my coach, but also Josh McDonald and Bryant “The Rock” Pangelinan as my coaches as well. To say these guys are excellent wrestlers and coaches is a HUGE understatement. I honestly believe that I can become a world champion one day training with these three. I’m also excited because I always wanted to pick up some Muay Thai and striking skills and as it turns out, we now have an incredible Professional Stand Up Coach Allan Maravilla teaching at our academy as well. I’m pretty blessed and I look forward to training with these beasts!”

Again, Congratulations Anthony. We are very proud of you and are very fortunate to have you on the Crispim BJJ Team.

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Josh McDonald Wins in 1st Round

Crispim BJJ — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 04:26:07 +0000

Alexander Crispim and the Crispim BJJ Team would like to congratulate Josh McDonald on his victory this evening at the Fight For Wrestling in Bakersfield. Josh won by guillotine in the first round.

Josh’s commitment to his training and MMA is incredible and we are very fortunate to have him as an MMA Coach at our academy. Crispim would also like to thank him for always being a great training partner and a great friend. We are all very proud of Josh and very happy for him and his family on this great victory.

(In this picture is Alexander Crispim, The Rock, Josh McDonald and Gil Castillo)

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New Classes at Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton

Crispim BJJ — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:32:55 +0000

Hello All,

We just posted our new and improved class schedule!! You will see a lot of new additions to the schedule including Muay Thai Fitness, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Kids Muay Thai and Professional Sparring. The Muay Thai Fitness is a great addition to our fitness program and will use a mixture of kicking and punching on bags and pads. It is an incredible workout. Allan Maravilla will be teaching our morning traditional Muay Thai classes and Josh McDonald will be teaching the morning wrestling classes. All of these classes started today. Please come, try them out and have fun.

In addition, the Little Fighters and Jr. Muay Thai classes will begin on Tuesday, August 24th. These are classes for kids ages 5-14 (classes are divided by age groups). These classes will focus on stand up skills (kicking, punching, etc) and will round out our already great kids program of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Now, Crispim BJJ can offer kids classes (BJJ and Muay Thai) five times per week.

We invite everyone to try these classes out and provide us with feedback. Have fun training!

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Crispim BJJ Belt Promotion & 1 Year Anniversary

Crispim BJJ — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:53:03 +0000

Alexander Crispim and Crispim BJJ would like to thank the entire team for the wonderful party on Saturday. We celebrated our 2nd belt promotion ceremony and our 1 Year Anniversary of the academy. It was amazing the energy that was at the academy and without each and every one of you, our team and academy would not be as great as it is.

Today, we saw many of our adult team members get promoted after a lot of hard work, skill, energy, committment and passion for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. They are truly role models and important members of our team. And, we also saw so many kids get their new belts and the excitement in their faces and pride in their walk as their names were called and their new belts were tied around their waists. This is the next generation of Jiu-Jitsu athletes and we should be very proud of the accomplishments that they have made at such young ages.

We would also like to thank Samuel Braga, three time World Jiu-Jitsu Champion for flying in from Tennessee to be part of our celebration and also for teaching our Sunday morning class. Also, Diogo Gomes, Black Belt, came and supported our team at the ceremony and party and we are very appreciative for both of their time and support.

We would also like to thank Aash and Carlos who provided the team with an INCREDIBLE BBQ. I think we went through about 50 pounds of meat that day and everyone absolutely loved it!!

Finally, thank you to each and every one of you for your committment to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the Crispim BJJ team, and the academy. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many incredible people who selflessly give their time, ideas, energy and friendship to our team and academy to make it the best possible place to be. Here is to another year of success, happiness, good health, friendship and great training!!

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Daniel Elias Earns 2010 Reader’s Choice Best Personal Trainer

Crispim BJJ — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:43:01 +0000

Alexander Crispim and Crispim BJJ are proud to announce that Daniel Elias was awarded the Pleasanton Weekly’s 2010 Reader’s Choice Best Personal Trainer. The entire team at Crispim BJJ would like to congratulate Daniel on this amazing accomplishment!!

Daniel teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing and fitness at Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton. Daniel is also available for small group and private training. For more information on Daniel, please click on this link.

Again, congratulations to Daniel and we are so proud to have you as a huge part of the Crispim BJJ team!

Also, we had an incredible day yesterday (Saturday) at our belt promotions and 1 year anniversary BBQ. We will be posting a blog on the event, along with pictures within the next few days. Congratulations to all team members who were awarded new belts and stripes. Well deserved!! And thank you to Samuel Braga, 3x World Jiu Jitsu Champion, and Diogo Gomes (Black Belt) for being part of our celebration. Samuel Braga will be teaching our Sunday classes today so come to the academy for some great training from this World Champion.

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Crispim BJJ is Having a Party!

Crispim BJJ — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:17:43 +0000

The Crispim BJJ Team will have its Belt Promotions on Saturday, July 31st. We will also be celebrating the 1 Year Anniversary of Crispim BJJ with a BBQ, good friends and training partners and a lot of fun. The Team Picture will be taken that day, and we hope that all BJJ, boxing, fitness and MMA students will be there.

We will not have any classes on this day and the schedule will be:

11:00 am Belt Promotions

12:30 pm Team Picture

1:00 pm BBQ/Potluck

We would like to thank Aash and Carlos for agreeing to help with the BBQ, especially because we always hear about their BBQ skills. I think we are in for a good meal. Also, please bring your favorite side dish, snack/appetizer or dessert to the BBQ. Thanks for making this a wonderful year and we look forward to celebrating the new belt promotions and anniversary with the team.

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Crispim BJJ Trains in Downtown Pleasanton

Crispim BJJ — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:24:17 +0000

This past Wednesday night, Alexander Crispim and many of the team members of Crispim BJJ were at the 1st Wednesday Street Party in Downtown Pleasanton. We had a lot of fun and met many new people. Quite a few of our young teammates volunteered their time to do demonstrations and showcase their skills and abilities. We were very proud of them and they all did a great job. We thank all of you who came and supported our team so that we may help others see, learn about and experience Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And thank you to all of the Pleasanton residents who stopped by and are interested in learning more about our programs. Please come by and visit the academy and try some classes.

This is just another example of how incredible our team is and the phenomenal support that each of you offers our academy and team.

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Crispim BJJ will be at the 1st Wednesday in Pleasanton

agentevo — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:11:23 +0000

Crispim BJJ will be at the 1st Wednesday Street Fair in Downtown Pleasanton on Wednesday, July 7th. Come by our booth and watch some demonstrations, learn about our academy and programs (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing, MMA, and Fitness) and meet our instructors, Alexander Crispim and Daniel Elias. It will be a lot of fun!!

Also, we will be having our 1st Anniversary and Belt Promotions BBQ Party on Saturday, July 31st at the academy. As we get closer, we will post more information about the days festivities, but… you can expect great food, lots of friends and family, and a team picture. We hope everyone will be there.

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New Social Network at Crispim BJJ

Crispim BJJ — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:33:12 +0000

Hi Team,

We are excited to announce the new social network on the Crispim BJJ website. This new network will allow you to chat live with other members, communicate on a “wall” environment (similar to Facebook) which will allow for a much more user friendly forum type platform and post pictures/add friends, etc.. We will be eventually phasing out our existing forum and using this platform instead.

You will notice some changes to the website. First, along the top of the site, there are two options- log in and sign up. Some of you are already signed up from before, but if you are not, please take a moment to sign up and join the groups. Please note that on the main page on the right side, you will see a box labeled groups which is where the new forums are. Most of the forums will be accessible to anyone who visits our site, but currently, there is one group, Crispim BJJ students, which is only for current students. We will be posting information about the academy and it is important that all of you check it periodically. We have added everyone to this group who was previously signed up on the website and is a current student, but please request an “add” if you are not signed up.

This platform was designed and created to provide all of you with a much more efficient form of communication and we hope you will use it and enjoy it. Please post often and have fun with it.

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