Indianapolis Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, LLC and Self-Defense

Jan 28th Fundraiser (posted 1/5/2012)

Carrie Jenkins the mother of two of our Indianapolis Jiu-Jitsu students is co-organizing a fundraiser for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has provided close to $120 million in support for the families of military personnel lost in service to our nation, and for severely wounded military personnel and veterans. These efforts are funded entirely with donations from the public, and hundreds of thousands of individuals have contributed to the Fund. Carrie’s husband Chad is currently serving in Afghanistan.

The fundraiser will be held at the Fox and Hound Bar and Grill in Carmel, IN on Saturday, January 28th from 8 – 10 pm, during the UFC on FOX broadcast. There is no admission or cover charge. Private, smoke-free rooms are reserved, so all ages are welcome. In addition to watching the fights, you will have the opportunity to take home some amazing authentic sports memorabilia. These items range from NASCAR Drivers, UFC fighters, NFL Players to professional golfers, basketball players and baseball players. These items will be given away through raffles and silent auction. The list keeps growing! Carrie’s husband has also provided some items that he flew on recent combat missions. Carrie says they will also be joined by UFC fighters Chris Lytle, Matt Mitrione and Shamar Bailey and a true American hero Josh Bleill. We hope you’ll be part of this great fundraiser to support the men and women of the armed forces and their families.

Indy BJJ New Black Belt (posted 10/2/2011)

Congratulations to Chris Keidel for receiving his Black Belt from Master Caique on Sept, 30, 2011. Chris started training jiu-jitsu in 1997 with Greg Eldred. He is a great student, instructor, and friend, and his loyality and dedication to Prof Greg Eldred and Master Caique is unmatched. Chris was promoted in a ceremony following a 2 hour seminar by Master Caique. We also gained two new Brown Belts that evening - Kim Freeman and Evan Mannweiler who both have great devotion to the art of jiu-jitsu. We are proud of everyone for these remarkable achievements. Click here for PHOTOS of the occasion.

Carmel Safety Day (posted 9/19/2011)

John Hillman at Safety Day

Sept 17, 2011 Indy BJJ participated in the city of Carmel's Public Safety Day hosted by the Fire and Police Departments. This was a free event that included educational booths by local businesses and organizations designed to teach children and families basic safety techniques on a wide range of topics. Also, health and wellness booths were on display. Activities at each booth gave children and adults a chance to test their knowledge or ask questions about a given safety, health, or wellness concern.

Indy BJJ Professer Greg Eldred and his student John Hillman gave self-defense demonstrations, as well as taught visitors to the booth a basic wrist grab escape technique. We were very busy the whole day, and we're glad to be part of this event. We hope that people left our booth knowing more than they did when they arrived.

Click here to see some PHOTOS of the event.

Successful 8th Hoosier Open (posted 7/2/2011)

The 8th Annual Hoosier Open was held on June 11, 2011. Thanks to all the competitors, instructors, spectators, and volunteers who make this great competition possible. We continue to receive positve comments about how well our events are ran, and have many repeat participants year after year. Tournament Results and Photos are posted on our tournament website at http://www.usabjjtournaments.com/.

Will BJJ help a Wrestler? (posted 4/11/2011)

I’ve wanted to tackle this question for a while now. Over the years I’ve read various opinions about it and finally I’m ready to offer my own. I want to start out by saying, if you want to be a wrestler then first and foremost you better practice wrestling. If you are wrestling then I’m sure you’re doing that with your school or club team, at least during the season. If you happen to live in an area where wrestling is offered in the off-season, it would be a good idea to participate in that as well. Okay, so what if you don’t have off-season wrestling in your area, or what if you’re burned out on wrestling after a long season. That’s where jiu-jitsu might come in. Keep in mind jiu-jitsu and wrestling are two different sports, with their own objectives. Also consider, other than for sport, jiu-jitsu is a self-defense system. What jiu-jitsu can do for the wrestler is fill the gap during the off-season. It keeps you on the mat. Sure, you’re going to learn techniques that aren’t allowed in wrestling such as submissions, and how to work in the guard position, which being on your back in wrestling is a bad thing, but over time you will also learn techniques that you can take back to the wrestling mat. Furthermore, jiu-jitsu is not a bad thing to know, as you will learn skills that can be used for the rest of your life if you are ever attacked out in the street.

I’m gonna go out on a limb by saying practicing jiu-jitsu will make you a better wrestler. I can say that with experience. I have been practicing jiu-jitsu for over 20 years, and have been assisting in coaching wrestling for 11 years. Let me make things clear though…. I was never a wrestler myself. All wrestling I’ve learned has been from the great coaches and programs my kids have been involved with. I have three boys, a freshman in high school, one in 7^th and another in 3^rd grade. They all have wrestled and practiced jiu-jitsu since kindergarten. This year my older son, as a high school freshman, was a semi-state qualifier. As an 8^th grader for his middle school team he was undefeated and won the City Championship. This year my 7^th grader, won the City Championship, and finished his middle school season undefeated. He also competes in ISWA (Indiana State Wrestling Association) events and had an overall season record of 30-7. As a 5^th and 6^th grader he finished runner up in the City tournament. And finally my 3^rd grader, a small one too at 50 lbs, this year won his City Championship. Throughout the years we’ve collected more “boards” from tournament wins than what we know what to do with.

I really don’t think you need to do jiu-jitsu since childbirth to be able to translate the applicable skills over to the wrestling mat. In fact, if you are already a wrestler, I think it will be much easier for you to differentiate what jiu-jitsu techniques can apply to your wrestling game. Exactly what techniques am I talking about? We’ll get to that in a minute. I already mentioned what skills won’t help your wrestling such as submissions, and working in the guard position, and of course, there’s more that won’t help as well. There are specific techniques that can directly apply, but also what helps is not just a specific move or technique, but it’s the use of leverage, balance, control, positioning, gripping, base, and posture that are all learned and refined as a jiu-jitsu practitioner. Yeh, I know those same skills are learned in wrestling too. But I believe jiu-jitsu offers an extension or different perspective in developing those skills, because it’s a fighting system incorporating a wider range of positions and techniques not practiced in wrestling.

In the past I’ve had opportunities to show my sons wrestling teams specific jiu-jitsu techniques that can be used on the wrestling mat. I’d rather have someone come to class and figure it out for themselves. But, just to mention a few, there are some nice headlock escapes that saved several of our kids from getting pinned. Also, the rear mount is a great dominating position, and a great place to be in fight, and we get pretty good at it. It will definitely help your leg riding or back riding in wrestling. My older son actually pinned a senior, a #1 seed in our conference tournament, using a mounting technique when you have their back and are about to lose the position. He lost to him badly earlier in the season, but that victory help his seeding in the post season sectional tournament. We also use our feet as hooks for sweeps or reversals and our legs a lot in jiu-jitsu, and my kids find ways to implement that into their wrestling game.

I can’t even begin to cover all the jiu-jitsu techniques that will help you in wrestling. That is mostly dependent upon you. The longer you practice jiu-jitsu you’ll start to figure it out on your own. Also don’t forget practicing jiu-jitsu in the off-season is a great opportunity to keep you on the mat, and keep your grappling skills fresh. The techniques you learn that can’t be used in wrestling are not a waste of your time either. You’ll be learning the most effective fighting techniques in the world, which you can take with you long after your wrestling career is over.

Prof Greg Eldred

Semi-State Bound (posted 2/11/2011)

Dillon Eldred in green

We know this isn't Jiu-Jitsu news but we have to congratulate and acknowledge Dillon Eldred for his High School wrestling accomplishments this season. Dillon, a freshman at Westfield High School has advanced to the Semi-State round, which will take place Saturday, Feb 12. This season Dillon placed 4th in the Hamilton County tournament, 2nd is his Conference tournament, 4th in the Sectionals, and 4th in the Regionals. Good Luck in the Semi-State!!

The Old Days Part 3 (posted 12/17/2010)

Many people ask me how I got started “teaching” Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so I thought I’d talk about that here in part 3. It was actually Rorion Gracie’s idea. I was a student at the Gracie Academy for almost 3 years, and was about to relocate to Cincinnati, Ohio for a new job. In October 1993, I met with Rorion in his office a few weeks before moving, and he presented me with an idea he had about starting training clubs or associations across the United States, as this would be a good way to spread Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. He said he first needed to get the UFC project off the ground, but would take on that task the following year. Meanwhile, he got me in touch with several martial arts schools in the Cincinnati area, (schools that were on his mailing list, or had instructors that attended seminars in the Midwest), and he suggested I try to hook up with one of them and start training there. When I arrived in Cincinnati, I contacted a Tae Kwon Do school owner named Tom Federle, who he and a couple of his students were familiar with Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, by attending a seminar in the past, and they were very happy to have me train with them at their academy. Initially it was just a few of us training on Sundays, but over time it grew to about 30 people. Meanwhile we would also attend Royce Gracie seminars in the region, and as well, had him come to our place, and some of us would travel annually to the Gracie Academy in California. Also, Relson Gracie was regularly coming to Columbus, OH at that time where some of us would go learn from him, or I would even take private lessons with him.

About a year or so later Rorion asked me to be an official charter representative and I became one of the first few Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Training Association Representatives in the United States. I think initially there were about 6 - 8 locations across the U.S. that started around the 1995 time frame. Most of the representatives were not certified “teachers” or “instructors” under the Gracie Academy initially. A representative’s role was to organize and supervise training sessions based on the techniques they learned from seminars, instruction at the Gracie Academy, or by using the Gracie instructional videotape series. For a representative to call himself a “teacher” or “instructor” he needed to complete a rigorous instructor certification process requiring a significant time commitment and frequent travel to the Gracie Academy in California, which I wasn’t able to do. Nevertheless, my participation as a TA Representative is how I began to gain experience sharing the art of jiu-jitsu to others.

The Gracie Academy was very selective in choosing chapter representatives, and I think eventually they had around 45 Training Associations across the U.S., but could have easily had over 200 if they did not have strict selection criteria. In late1996, my job relocated me to Indianapolis, where there I also started a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Training Association. By that time a few of the guys in Cincinnati (Dale Dean, Harold Roberts, and Andy Nogueira), who had trained with me for a couple years, we’re approved to take over the Cincinnati Training Association. As a fun piece of trivia, during 1996, my last year in Cincinnati, I had a student member by the name of Rich Franklin, who ended up being one of the most decorated UFC fighters of all time. - Professor Greg Eldred

Take a stand against Bullying with Jiu-Jitsu (posted 11/10/2010)

Bullying is becoming a serious problem in today’s society. Whether it’s mental, verbal, physical, or even cyber bullying, it needs to be stopped. Bullying is more common than we realize. Studies show that between 15 – 25% of all kids up through high school age are bullied, while many bullying incidents go unreported. That’s almost 1 out every 4 kids are bullied. It is estimated that each day 160,000 kids will miss school for fear of being bullied.

Many adults don’t even know that their child is being bullied because many kids are afraid to report it. It’s important to talk to your children and get to know how things are going at school, social events, in the neighborhood, or even sporting activities. Specifically ask your child how are they being treated by other kids. That will help open the dialog, and could expose potential problems your child may be having with others. Even if your child is not encountering bullying problems it’s good to educate them about the topic, and prepare them with the means to deal with it if it happens to them. There are many good resources online for parents and kids to learn about bullying and more importantly to learn about prevention and intervention strategies. Here’s a good resource for starters:

STOP BULLYING NOW

In many cases if our kids simply stand up to the bullying they can stop it. But many don’t stand up for themselves because they don’t know what to do, especially when the bullying gets physical. That’s where, as a last stand, we need to arm our kids with a physical means to defend themselves if they are attacked. Statistics show that almost half of all bullying incidents end up in physical violence. If at all possible we want to avoid physical means of self-defense by using other intervention strategies, but sometimes we have no choice. If a child is empowered with self-defense skills, that will give them the confidence to deal with a bully who is using physical aggression against them. More importantly the confidence they gain will help them in other aspects of their lives and increase their overall self-esteem. Generally when kids have higher confidence and self-esteem, they tend to be a lesser target for would be bullies.

In our programs at Indianapolis Jiu-Jitsu, we teach kids how to use one of the most effective martial arts in order to defend themselves against bullies. We never teach kids to be the aggressor, but to rather neutralize and control the bully when they are attacked. Once under control, they can wait until help arrives, or the bully will even back down or retreat realizing they are no longer in control of the situation. All of our techniques don’t require size or strength to apply. Anyone can do them. Don’t wait until it is too late, start empowering your kids today, before they become victimized by bullying. To inquire about our jiu-jitsu programs and how they can offer your child an extremely reliable and effective means to defend themselves when attacked please contact us for an appointment at indianapolisbjj@aol.com.

Caique Seminar Sept 26th (posted 10/8/2010)

We had a great seminar with Master Caique on Sept. 26th. The focus of this seminar was how to keep your opponent on the ground, a very important aspect our of Jiu-Jitsu self-defense program. We would like to congratulate the following students on their promotions at the seminar: Chris Keidel, Jon Hillman, Brandon Thomas, Andrew Hartstein, and Rudy Guerrero.

The Old Days Part 2 (posted 8/9/2010)

This is a continuation of some of my memories and stories about the old days at the Gracie Academy back in the early 90’s. After exactly one year of training at the Gracie Academy, in January 1992 during one of my classes, Royce had us spar for several minutes near the end of the class. He didn’t do this all the time, but occasionally, I think to evaluate students. While we were sparring, Royce left the room for a brief moment, when he returned he presented me with my Blue Belt. They didn’t do belt testing back then, and it was generally known that you’d be a white belt for at least a year. I don’t know what ever happened to my original white belt, I probably threw it away, but since then I’ve kept all my other belts. Back then there was no stripe system within each belt color. You wouldn’t know if someone had been a blue belt for 3 weeks or for 3 years, but the best indicator was how faded and frayed their belt was. Also, I only remember there being just a couple purple belt students around. The Gracie’s didn’t start using the stripe system until 1993 shortly before I moved away from southern California. In all the classes Royce began notifying the students to sew a black patch at the end of their belt. Slowly I started to see other students, including myself with black patches on the ends of their belts. Then it came down to my last class before I moved away, and it was at that time Royce put 2 stripes on my Blue Belt. Prior to that, I had not seen any other students given their stripe(s) yet, so, I possibly may have been the first student to ever receive them.

I remember one day Rorion Gracie announced an investment opportunity for his students. A meeting was scheduled one evening at the academy where 30 – 40 of us students showed up. Rorion and an advertising executive named Art Davie presented an idea for an event called the Ultimate Fighting Challenge, and was looking for investors at $1000 each. For the Gracie’s that event would be a means for which the Gracie family can promote and prove to the world that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was a more superior martial art. It was going to feature different disciplines against one another, in order to determine which martial art style was most effective in no holds barred combat. At that time it was not affordable for me to be an investor, if I only knew how things would have turned out. The first UFC was in November 1993, and was held as an 8 man tournament (I believe this format was used until UFC 18) in which Royce Gracie represented the family winning an incredible 3 matches in one evening and became the first UFC Champion. Royce went on to win UFC 2 and 4 and fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock in a Superfight in UFC 5. Shortly after UFC 5, the Gracie’s sold their portion of the UFC reportedly due to the implementation of time limits and other rules imposed on the fighters that went against BJJ fighting philosophy. Also, by that time the Gracie’s had already proven their point about Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. After 17 years and 117 UFC’s later we pretty much see that most competitors are using Jiu-Jitsu in some aspect of their game. As a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Training Association Representative the Gracie Academy used to send me UFC posters to display at our club. I still have my Royce Gracie autographed UFC 5 poster hanging up at my academy, but for the likes of me I don’t know what ever happened to the earlier posters.

People always ask me how I starting teaching Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so I will talk about that in Part 3. - Thanks, Professor Greg Eldred

South Bay Open Results (posted 8/1/2010)

We just got back from putting on our second of 3 tournaments this year, the South Bay Open in southern California. The Hoosier Open was held back in June, and the Michigan Open is scheduled for Oct 2nd. Greg Eldred from Indy BJJ, and Harvy Berman of Warrior Way in Michigan, along with Master Caique each host a tournament at their home location. Our "team" operates each tournament, keeping the quality at the highest level. Our team has put on over 20 tournaments in the last 7 years.

We had over 770 competitors at the South Bay Open, making it our greatest turnout yet. It was a two day event held on July 24th and 25th. We continue to improve our events each year, and this year was no exception. We implemented the use of professional bracketing software we had custom developed for our double elimination format, and we made the brackets available online for the competitors to review.

We'd like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities send inquiries to indianapolisbjj@aol.com.

To find out more about our tournaments visit our web site at www.usabjjtournaments.com.

The Old Days Part I (posted 6/3/2010)

Greg & Helio Gracie

I started taking lessons at the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA almost 20 years ago in January 1991. This was 3 years before the first UFC, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was mostly unknown at that time here in the United States. The UFC platform helped propel the Gracie family name and their style of martial art into mainstream America and the rest of the world. A friend of mine, and long time martial artist of several disciplines, first told me about the Gracie’s, as he had already been taking lessons from them for a couple of months. He couldn’t believe the effectiveness yet simplicity of the things these skinny mild mannered Brazilians were teaching him. He said that what he had learned in those few months of practicing jiu-jitsu would be much more beneficial to him in a real street fight than the many years of his other martial arts experienced combined. He encouraged me to come to class with him to check things out, and said the Gracie brothers were very nice and welcoming to everyone. So, I did just that, I went to the Gracie Academy with my friend one evening and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to be involved in. I was the Gracie Academies 197^th student.

Back then students started out with privates lessons. The academy had 2 small rooms, and a larger room for bigger classes. For the first 6 months or so all of my lessons were one on one with either Royler or Royce in one of the small private rooms. They focused on teaching new students street self defense, including, the club, knife, and gun techniques, as well as fundamental ground techniques. Eventually students were put into small semi-private classes of 2 – 3 other students. I don’t remember classes being any bigger than that, at least not until after the first UFC and their popularity skyrocketed. After my first year Royler moved back to Brazil, then most of my classes from then on were with Royce, and occasionally with Rorion or Rickson. Eventually, Rickson started branching out on his own teaching classes at a couple other locations. People always ask me if Rickson was incredible, and the answer is always yes. There was also a Brown Belt named Craig Kukuk, who started teaching some classes at that time, who soon after became the first American to receive a Black Belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. And I’ll never forget a Black Belt named Fabio Santos who they brought in to teach at the academy too. Fabio is one of the nicest guys you could meet, and yet looks like one mean dude, who also had some of the greatest fight stories.

The Gracie’s used to have challenge matches at the academy, where local martial artists of all types would call them up and challenge them to a no-rules match to see whose style is really the best. The Gracie’s used to upset some in the martial arts community with their claims that they had the most realistic and effective style of martial art, so many lined up to try and disprove that. I had the privilege of witnessing several of these fights, where Royce or Royler always emerged victorious, and it only deepened my desire to make jiu-jitsu a permanent part of my life. Some of the fights I witnessed are on a video they produced called “Gracie in Action II”. If you’ve ever seen it I’m one of the students standing up against the wall. In one challenge match I witnessed, the challenger cried after being beat because he was so devastated and upset that his technique was not effective against Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. - Part II will be coming soon. Professor Greg Eldred

Master Caique Seminar Feb 28th (posted 3/1/2010)

Master Caique visited us on Feb. 28, 2010 for a 3 hour seminar. We learned lots of great stuff, especially some good techniques from the bottom in the open guard. Several students received promotions from Professor Greg Eldred and Master Caique in a ceremony following the seminar. A big congrats to TEAM INDY's new PURPLE BELTS, Josh Womack, and Ahmad Ali. See the complete list of promotions here on the Home page under PROMOTIONS. Here's some PHOTOS from the seminar.

Indy BJJ at Old Navy (posted 1/17/2010)

January 16th Indy Jiu-Jitsu spent the afternoon performing demos at the Old Navy store at Clay Terrace in Carmel. Old Navy was holding a huge weekend sale and invited us to be part of their promotion. We held Women's Self-Defense, Adult Jiu-Jitsu, and Kid's Jiu-Jitsu demonstrations. It was a great chance for us to show the public what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is all about, and how effective it is as a self-defense system for men, women, and even children. Assisting with Greg Eldred at the demo were his student Lucas Yeazel, his wife Kim, and his sons Dillon, Evan, and Carson.

Hooser Open date set for 2010 (posted 12/8/2009)

The 7th Annual Hoosier Open date has been set. The tournament will be Saturday, June 12, 2010. Visit our tournament web site at www.USABJJTOURNAMENTS.com for more info.

Master Caique Seminar (posted 10/26/2009)

Team Indy had a great seminar on Oct 25th with Master Caique. This was his first seminar in Indy as a Red/Black Belt that he received earlier this year from Master Rickson Gracie. Everyone had a good time learning jiu-jitsu from one of the best. Many students received well earned and deserved promotions during the seminar from Professor Greg Eldred and Master Caique. Caique also visited his affiliate at the IU campus in Bloomington this weekend. We can't wait until his next trip to Indiana! Here's some PHOTOS from the seminar.

Michigan Open Results (posted 9/28/2009)

Team Indy did a great job at the 4th Annual Michigan Open this past weekend. We had 6 compete, and brought home 6 medals. Congrats to our 1st Place winners: Melissa Anderson, Kaleb Ferland, and Erik Sanford. 2nd Place winners: Brad Bishop and Andy Kelsay. 3rd Place winner: Jordan Flemming.

There were over 40 schools competing in this years event, with alot of great competition. Visit our tournament website USABJJTOURNAMENTS for the 2009 Michigan Open results and photos.

Click link CAIQUE INTERVIEW to view a video interview with Master Caique at the Michigan Open.

South Bay Open - 630 Competitors (posted 7/17/2009)

We just got back from LA after putting on the 2nd of our 3 tournaments this year with Caique. The South Bay Open held in Southern California each year produced our largest turn out yet this past July 11th and 12th. We had 630 competitors for the 2 day event. Three of our Indianapolis Jiu-Jitsu students made the trip to compete, and to help us run the event. Josh Womack, Andy Kelsay, and Melissa Anderson all competed and had some good matches. A big congratulations goes to Melissa Anderson who earned a Gold Medal in the Women's White Belt competition. We are looking forward to the Michigan Open on September 26th!!!

Hoosier Open results (posted 6/18/2009)

The 6th Annual Hoosier Open held on June, 13th was a big success. Thanks to all the competitors, instructors, spectators, and volunteers for supporting our event. Photos are now available on the tournament website at this link: Hoosier Open Photos. Results are now posted at www.usabjjtournaments.com.

Caique promoted to Red/Black Belt (posted 3/9/2009)

We are very excited and happy for Professor Caique who received his Red/Black belt on March 9th from Master Rickson Gracie in Brazil. This promotion is also sanctioned by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation of Rio de Janeiro. Caique was promoted to 7th degree, in which the traditional black belt is replaced with an alternating red/black belt. The red/black belt is for 7th and 8th degree, then 9th degree would be promoted to red belt. Caique is one of 3 or 4 Red/Black belts in the United States. It is a great honor to be his student and friend.