’06 Worlds Quick NotesOne week after the greatest BJJ event on Earth, the dust has settled enough for a few comments. First off, the state of BJJ is better than ever with new and exciting fighters cropping up everywhere. In the Black Belts a few new, not yet known names made their presence felt in this event announcing their presence and guaranteing the future of the sport.Second, the new and improved system of anti-stalling rules, forcing the fighters to continue fighting and avoid stalling, for the most part, worked very well. There are some fine points that need to be clarified both for the referees and the fighters but the matches were much more dynamic and full of action. Some disqualifications for stalling that went down in hte Worlds will go a long ways towards ensuring good fights in the future. There seems to be a little room for improvement on who is stalling who; for this reporter, it appeared that the onus was more on the fighter on top than on the one on the bottom to push the fight, but perhaps it was just my impression. Third, the new system of having 3 referees in each fight for the last day of the Black Belts is a huge improvement. Reffing is extremely hard, especially at the higher levels. It is a lot easier for 3 refs to reach the correct decision than it is for 1, making it much more fair in the end for both fighters and referees. Too bad they didn’t have that in the Mike Fowler match against Moraes (it went down on day 1 of the Black Belts), as it would have avoided all the controversy.Fourth the absolute Finals once again was incredible, perhaps even better than years past if that is at all possible. In the end, the same characteristics that make Roger a finisher may have cost him the title as he pushed the fight until the end without regards for his point status. And Xande for his part fought incredibly to gain the title always coming forward and went for it big time to take teh matchwith seconds left in it. Both fighters deserve huge credit for going for it the entire time in the biggest match of the event.See you at the next WorldsFelipe Costa in TennesseeBrasa team Black Belt Feilpe Costa is now in Tennessee. Felipe is spending ne week conducting one of Brasa’s intesnsive training seesions. Anyone interested in participating or for \more info contact Felipe at www.BrazilianBlackBelt.com or http://www.pmaknoxville.com/contact.htmSoul Cup II Competition Team Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournaments Results!Most Technical Competitor: Yeshua (Blue Belt BJJ United)White Belts:1st Modern Combat Academy2nd Balance Studios3rd Revolution Academy of Martial Arts & Fitness4th BJJ United Blue Belts:1st BJJ United2nd Balance Studios3rd Modern Combat Academy4th Revolution Academy of Martial Arts & Fitness Purple Belt:1st BJJ United2nd Modern Combat Academy3rd Balance Studios4th Revolution Academy of Martial Arts & Fitness (note: only 1 representative)Overall:1st Modern Combat Academy (Royler Gracie and David Adiv Association) 2nd BJJ United (Team Lloyd Irvin/Leo Dalla)3rd Balance Studios (Team Balance/Relson Gracie)4th Revolution Academy of Martial Arts & Fitness (BJJ Revolution Team-Rodrigo Medeiros and Julio Fernandez)
