NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA legend Renzo Gracie.

Although he is now 51 years old, Renzo Gracie is still fighting. His next competition will be an MMA fight against another veteran, Yuki Kondo of Japan. This will take place on the ONE: REIGN OF KINGS card put on by ONE Championship, on Friday, July 27, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Metro Manila, Philippines.

ONE: REIGN OF KINGS will be shown on many TV networks around the world, so check your local listings. It will also be shown for free on the ONE Super App.

We spoke with Renzo Gracie by phone this past Thursday.

Asked why he would still compete in a professional MMA fight at 51, he even questioned if this will be his final fight.

"I don't even know if it's the last fight. I'm going in there to have fun. I'm doing it because I love it. You know how much I love it.

"I was busy the past eight, nine years like crazy, blowing up my schools, working my business, which I became very successful. It was worth it every step," he said.

"But I have to do what I love. And I was waiting, and I kept training. I didn't stop. I'm feeling great. I can't wait to be back in the cage and test myself.

"And not only that, I'm waiting to acquire the knowledge of stepping in the ring at 51. I know it's going to be something different and very unique."

We also discussed: how this fight was made; how he matches up with Yuki Kondo; how different types of grappling such as catch wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu merged in MMA; how ONE Championship has grown and is featuring fights from several martial arts on their shows; how he has had to change his approach to this fight at age 51; what techniques to expect in this fight; plans to compete in a grappling superfight at ADCC 2019; why grappling is still necessary and mandatory for MMA and fighters cannot be one-dimensional; the success of the Muay Thai team at his academy; the opening of a new academy on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the fall; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: ADCC, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, MMA, No Holds Barred, ONE Championship, Reign of Kings, Renzo Gracie, Yuki Kondo

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Arthur Andre, head of operations, and Maher Aseeri, head of the referee committee, of Grapple Asia.

Established in 2014 and based in Singapore, Grapple Asia has hosted numerous grappling competitions under varying rulesets, including the first-ever ADCC event in Singapore, the ADCC Singapore Open 2018 on March 10.

We spoke with them by Skype Tuesday.

"We are grapplers organizing and helping out the grapplers in the region" of Southeast Asia, said Arthur Andre.

"We have to address that the thing is pretty new here. For example, the amount of black belts that we have here, compared to, let's say, the States, for example, the numbers are just way different. So the thing here is really new, still on the rise, still gaining popularity."

While competitions there are not as frequent as in other regions, he noted, "We are giving platforms for competitors and as well giving them that opportunity to live that jiu-jitsu lifestyle."

We discussed how the reaction of MMA fans in their region to grappling has sharply changed over the years to become positive; the important influence of Evolve MMA and ONE Championship in building understanding and interest in grappling; why grappling as a sport stands alone and separate from MMA; why the creation of a major professional grappling organization "is going to happen"; how the Grapple Asia tournaments have evolved since 2014 and now emphasize no-gi grappling; why the ADCC ruleset is the most neutral in grappling and does not favor one discipline over another; the role of Synergy Jiu-Jitsu, which was named best team at the ADCC Singapore Open 2018; how catch wrestling is a "sister sport" to grappling and how catch wrestling matches have fit into their tournaments; the growth of boxing in Singapore, including the role of the undefeated Muhamad Ridhwan; plans for upcoming tournaments including kids' competitions and a possible return of ADCC; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: ADCC, Arthur Andre, BJJ, Eddie Goldman, Grapple Asia, grappling, jiu-jitsu, Maher Aseeri, No Holds Barred, Singapore

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with grappler Tom Maenurm of Team Scardovelli in Italy.

We spoke with him by Skype Thursday.

His path to competing in ADCC events did not begin with grappling, but MMA.

"With MMA, of course, I had to do some ground work and jiu-jitsu, and I started to like it very much," he said.

After achieving success in MMA by grappling, he decided it was grappling he liked better.

"So, I stopped doing MMA and I started dedicating more time to jiu-jitsu."

Now, after a series of grappling victories, he is ready to move up to the professional level at ADCC events.

We also discussed more on his background and plans for future competitions, how he likes to go for submissions and not stall, how he has not yet decided if he will try to compete at the ADCC European Championship 2018 in Bucharest, Romania, and much more.

(Photo courtesy of Tom Maenurm.)

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Labels: ADCC, BJJ, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Italy, jiu-jitsu, No Holds Barred, Team Scardovelli, Tom Maenurm

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Rolles Gracie, president of the newly-formed KASAI Elite Grappling Championships.

Rolles Gracie is a member of the legendary Gracie family and has competed in jiu-jitsu, grappling, MMA, and wrestling events, as well as running his own academy. Now he will also be in an executive capacity with this new organization, along with a team headed by Richard Byrne, KASAI's CEO, who is a financier, president of Benefit Street Partners, and a black belt in jiu-jitsu.

Their basic plan is to run both professional and amateur jiu-jitsu events in New York City in both gi and no-gi divisions, beginning this fall. Their first amateur event is scheduled for October 21 at Manhattan's Baruch College, with a pro event planned for later in the fall.

We spoke with Rolles Gracie by phone Thursday.

As an athlete who has competed all over the world, he said he always was interested in creating his own organization.

"Every time I was competing, I was paying attention to some things I liked about the tournament, some things I disliked about it," he said.

"I'm nearly 40 years old now, 39, I still feel like a young kid, but I think it's time for me to start giving back to the sport that gave me so much.

"And I'm going to basically put everything I can to fulfill the fighters', the athletes' needs. I'm not trying to do anything completely different than everybody. I just want to put a tournament, some professional events, that's going to treat the fighters with respect, with everything you deserve, tournaments running on time, and you name it."

He stressed, "It's all about the fighters."

While the amateur events will follow IBJJF rules, the professional events may have some innovative rules. While all submissions will be legal in the pro events, they are looking into having the athletes on a portion of the card choose their own rules, whether IBJJF, ADCC, or some other ruleset. All that will be worked out soon.

We also discussed their plans for showing these events online and possibly on television as pay-per-views, their team which is experienced both in jiu-jitsu and sports and financial management, how they plan to feature "premier athletes" in the pro events, how they chose the name KASAI, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, resurrecting and promoting the sport of authentic catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance provides tournaments, seminars, and training as well as education about catch wrestling. Join the movement and keep real wrestling alive. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

USA Combat Wrestling, the official U.S. governing body for combat wrestling and U.S. delegate of the International Combat Wrestling Federation (FICW), which was founded by the legendary wrestler Noriaki Kiguchi of Japan. For more information, go to CombatWrestling.us.

Labels: BJJ, Eddie Goldman, jiu-jitsu, KASAI Elite Grappling Championships, No Holds Barred, Rolles Gracie

From Aug. 2016 in honor of the 92nd anniversary of the birth of Malcolm X on May 19 -

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA legend Renzo Gracie, and human right activist Malaak Shabazz, who is the youngest daughter of Malcolm X.

We spoke with them Wednesday at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York. We spoke with them before the announcement Saturday that Renzo Gracie would face Matt Hughes in a superfight at the upcoming ADCC World Championship on September 22-24, 2017, in the Espoo Metro Areena, Helsinki, Finland.

We began discussing with Renzo MMA in Asia, including his classic Pride fight with Sakuraba in 2000, as well as the more recent growth of Rizin and ONE Championship. He noted that these are all "amazing Asian events." We also talked about Tuesday's MMA Symposium at Columbia University.

A few minutes into the discussion, Malaak joined us. She discussed her recent trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and what she saw in the favelas.

She also has known Renzo for a long time, and vowed to return to training.

"Even though I had a leg injury, I am still a grappler," she said.

We discussed her father's support for training in martial arts, and how she and her five sisters had to have training in martial arts and piano.

Malcolm X's advocacy of martial arts training saw it as a component part of the freedom struggle for human rights.

As Renzo pointed out, "You can't demand freedom without knowing how to fight. And he knew that. He was a fighter before anything else."

We also discussed how what Malcolm X advocated was training in both striking and grappling, in other words, in what is today called mixed martial arts.

We also discussed how urban kids, both boys and girls, want and need more martial arts programs; the need for people in the combat sports to study sports management programs in college; plans for hosting more events; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Malaak Shabazz, Malcolm X, MMA, No Holds Barred, Renzo Gracie

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Tom DeBlass about the 2016 ADCC North American Championships and World Trials.

This event will feature two days of competition, both at the Central Regional High School in Bayville, New Jersey. The Pro Trials will take place Saturday, November 19, followed by an amateur event on Sunday, November 20. The Pro Trials will be webcast on FloGrappling.

The Pro Trials is a qualifying event for the 2017 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, which will take place September 22-24, 2017, in the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland.

At the Pro Trials, there will be grappling competition under ADCC rules in five men's weight classes: -65.9kg, -76.9kg, -87.9kg, -98.9kg, and +99kg.

We spoke with Tom DeBlass, who is the owner of Ocean County Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the organizer of this event, by phone Thursday.

The ADCC World Championship "100 percent, hands down has the highest level of competition," he said.

"It is the most prestigious no-gi grappling tournament in the world. And there are qualifiers: there are eight qualifiers from around the world, and there are eight invitees. The one way to secure your spot is to compete in one of the qualifiers and win the qualifier. When you win the qualifier, you get a fully-expense paid trip to the finals in Finland, which will be 2017, which is a pretty incredible trip."

We discussed how this event has open registration which closes November 12, how this shapes up to be the biggest ADCC North American Trials ever, some of the well-known competitors and former ADCC Trials champions who have already registered, the ADCC rules and how they encourage action, how he will also be competing in the Pro Trials, the potential for professional grappling as a spectator sport, the likelihood of a second North American Trials in the spring of 2017, the important differences between competing in MMA and grappling, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

Labels: ADCC, BJJ, Eddie Goldman, grappling, jiu-jitsu, No Holds Barred, North American, submission fighting, Tom DeBlass, Trials, World Championships, wrestling

Let me break this down once again since some people are having a hard time grasping this, whether from disbelief, not reading the law or listening to Jim Genia and me on No Holds Barred, poor reading comprehension, or just pure laziness and ignorance. As of last Thursday, September 1, ALL combat sports in New York, professional or amateur, except pro boxing and MMA which are sanctioned separately, have to be run by a sanctioning body which has been approved by the New York State Athletic Commission. These explicitly include: kickboxing, muay Thai, wrestling/grappling (presumably including all kinds such as jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling, sambo, etc.), judo, tae kwon do, karate, kempo, and amateur MMA. The non-refundable application fee for a sanctioning body of one or more of these is $1,000. Plus, bonds of $10,000 and $20,000 must be secured as well. A long questionnaire must be filled out, plus detailed recordkeeping are also required. Then the NYSAC will decide if they will bother to approve the application or not.

Without all of this:
Kickboxing is illegal in New York.
Muay Thai is illegal in New York.
Wrestling/grappling (presumably including all kinds such as jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling, sambo, etc.) is illegal in New York.
Judo is illegal in New York.
Tae kwon do is illegal in New York.
Karate is illegal in New York.
Kempo is illegal in New York.
Amateur MMA is illegal in New York.

That application form can be seen here.

The "regulations implementing and governing combative sports in New York State" can be seen here.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

Labels: BJJ, catch, combative sports, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Jim Genia, jiu-jitsu, judo, law, MMA, New York State Athletic Commission, No Holds Barred, sambo, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with MMA journalist Jim Genia.

While much attention has been given to the recent re-legalization of MMA in New York, the rules and regulations issued Thursday, September 1, by the New York State Athletic Commission to implement this new law contained some disastrous surprises for the various styles of grappling and wrestling.

Now, as of September 1, organizations wishing to sanction events in professional and even amateur grappling, wrestling, judo, and other disciplines must apply for licensing from the New York commission. (The staged pro "wrestling" is in a separate category and defined as not a real sport.)

New York's General Business Law defines combative sports in § 1000, section 3:

"'Combative sport' means any unarmed bout, contest, competition, match, or exhibition undertaken to entertain an audience, wherein the participants primarily grapple or wrestle, or deliver blows of any kind to, or use force in any way to manipulate, the body of another participant, and wherein the outcome and score depend entirely on such activities."

In the athletic commission's regulations for implementing and governing combative sports in New York State, under the heading "Application for License", it states:

"Section 214.4. (a) An entity may make an application for a license to supervise and oversee the conduct of matches and exhibitions of one or more of the following authorized combative sports: wrestling, kickboxing (including muay thai), amateur mixed martial arts, and the single discipline martial arts of Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Kempo."

Yet the "NYSAC Application for Combative Sport Authorized Sanctioning Entity License" has a different list. Applications to sanction one or more professional combative sport (except boxing and MMA, which are handled separately) can be made in, according to this wording: "Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling/Grappling, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kempo." Applications to sanction one or more amateur combative sport can be made in, according to this wording: "Mixed Martial Arts, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling/Grappling, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kempo."

No definition is given as to what is included and what is not in "Wrestling/Grappling", and it is doubtful anyone on this commission even knows what this means.

The non-refundable application fee, which does not guarantee getting licensed, is $1,000.

In addition, the sanctioning bodies are required on this form to file with the New York Department of State bonds of $20,000 and $10,000: "An authorized Sanctioning Entity must execute and file with the Department of State: Bond in the sum of $20,000.00 conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of purses and the legitimate expenses of printed tickets and all advertising materials and; Bond in the sum of $10,000.00 conditioned for and guaranteeing the faithful performance of the authorized sanctioning entity of the provisions of Article 41 of the General Business Law and the rules and regulations of the Commission".

That application form can be seen here.

The "regulations implementing and governing combative sports in New York State" can be seen here.

These organizations running amateur events must also provide accident insurance for each athlete of a minimum of $1,000, death benefit coverage of $10,000, and file a mountain of paperwork, as well as having to follow more regulations, some of which are unclear in this poorly-written set of commission rules.

Obviously, these onerous fees alone will make it impossible and not affordable for such amateur grappling and wrestling events to take place in New York State.

To discuss this, we spoke with Jim Genia Saturday.

"A number of factors have put us in a position where we are right now," he said. "One of them was that, one of the major talking points in getting mixed martial arts legalized in New York was that there were all these unsanctioned, unregulated events going on in New York.

"Now, you and I, we're savvy about combat sports. We know the difference between an MMA show and a grappling event. But, the people up in Albany, they can't tell the difference.

"So unfortunately, to help curb all these unregulated events, the grappling events were lumped together in the new statute, in the law, and in the athletic commission guidelines, with these unsanctioned MMA shows.

"And now we're stuck."

We also discussed the effect on all this by the ongoing multi-million dollar lawsuit against this commission and others by brain-damaged boxer Magomed Abdusalamov. This suit involved the disgraceful lack of treatment he received after his November 2, 2013, fight at the Theater in Madison Square Garden. After a brutal fight and after he complained of head pain, the commission advised him to take a taxi to Roosevelt Hospital rather than transporting him immediately by an on-site ambulance. This resulted in wasting precious time until he received emergency brain surgery. He was then in a coma for several weeks, still needs 24-hour care, and is unable to stand or speak.

This situation prompted an investigation by the New York State inspector general's office, but the report wasn't released until July 2016, a month after Abdusalamov's attorney sued to have it released. The delay in the release of this report could lead to a federal investigation of an attempted coverup, since the New York investigation began almost three years before the report was finally released.

And we discussed more about these regulations in depth; how we must demand that the two vacancies currently on the New York State Athletic Commission be filled by people who understand MMA, grappling, wrestling, and other martial arts; what action we must take; the new one million dollar insurance requirement for boxing and MMA promoters to get for each fighter on a card to cover the costs of serious head and brain injuries; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, catch, combative sports, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Jim Genia, jiu-jitsu, judo, law, MMA, New York State Athletic Commission, No Holds Barred, sambo, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA legend Renzo Gracie, and human right activist Malaak Shabazz, who is the youngest daughter of Malcolm X.

We spoke with them Wednesday at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York. We spoke with them before the announcement Saturday that Renzo Gracie would face Matt Hughes in a superfight at the upcoming ADCC World Championship on September 22-24, 2017, in the Espoo Metro Areena, Helsinki, Finland.

We began discussing with Renzo MMA in Asia, including his classic Pride fight with Sakuraba in 2000, as well as the more recent growth of Rizin and ONE Championship. He noted that these are all "amazing Asian events." We also talked about Tuesday's MMA Symposium at Columbia University.

A few minutes into the discussion, Malaak joined us. She discussed her recent trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and what she saw in the favelas.

She also has known Renzo for a long time, and vowed to return to training.

"Even though I had a leg injury, I am still a grappler," she said.

We discussed her father's support for training in martial arts, and how she and her five sisters had to have training in martial arts and piano.

Malcolm X's advocacy of martial arts training saw it as a component part of the freedom struggle for human rights.

As Renzo pointed out, "You can't demand freedom without knowing how to fight. And he knew that. He was a fighter before anything else."

We also discussed how what Malcolm X advocated was training in both striking and grappling, in other words, in what is today called mixed martial arts.

We also discussed how urban kids, both boys and girls, want and need more martial arts programs; the need for people in the combat sports to study sports management programs in college; plans for hosting more events; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Malaak Shabazz, Malcolm X, MMA, No Holds Barred, Renzo Gracie

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Guillaume Huni, the owner and head instructor of the Kimura BJJ Academy Serbia, and the owner and editor of the news and opinion site BJJ Eastern Europe.

We spoke with him by Skype Tuesday.

While BJJ Eastern Europe is a relatively new site, it has made a major impact in a short time.

"It started about four years ago, 2012, I remember after the Europeans," he said. "I remember I had an idea about making a blog first, just to kind of promote the jiu-jitsu scene in Eastern Europe, because not many people knew what was going on here."

He began interviewing noted instructors in the region, and the site started to grow.

"Slowly but surely it became really, really big," he said. "And then I went to extend further in Eastern Europe. I started following BJJ news. So also I started covering other news from all around the world."

It has since become one of the major go-to sites covering BJJ and grappling.

His own journey to the world of jiu-jitsu and to living in Serbia was an indirect one. He had started training BJJ in Paris, becoming enthralled with it like so many others after watching UFC 1. After meeting his future wife, who was from Serbia, he moved there, began the site, and opened his own academy in Belgrade.

We discussed many of the issues facing jiu-jitsu and grappling, including how the "guard-centric" tendency is bad for these sports; how all the various grappling and wrestling styles and disciplines are just different forms of the same thing; the growth of Luta Livre in Europe and how its social base often differs from BJJ; how jiu-jitsu is slowly making progress internationally with the aim of being included in the Olympics; the enduring appeal of style vs. style matchups; why developing more major events like an international tour is important; the problems caused by rival organizations not working together; how submission-only rules help these sports; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.


The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian, Eastern Europe, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Guillaume Huni, jiu-jitsu, No Holds Barred, Serbia

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling Thomas Velasquez, and his coach, Ray Karakas.

As the reigning and two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Thomas Velasquez will be facing the West Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Travis Newaza, for the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship.

This match will headline a catch wrestling card put on by the North American Catch Wrestling Association at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place Saturday, December 12, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

We spoke with Thomas Velasquez and Ray Karakas by phone Sunday.

Speaking of his extensive and varied background, Thomas Velasquez said, "I've been training for so long. I've enjoyed catch wrestling. It's a very beautiful sport. Vicious, and it really works every aspect of the grappling game, which is the most important in my eyes. So it's good. I have a little bit of everything."

He mentioned that besides catch wrestling, he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, a judo brown belt, and has trained in sambo.

"So I have some stuff."

Interestingly, in the past he also had participated in the worked pro wrestling, and his arsenal also includes some submissions, especially crossfaces and armlocks, adapted from that to real competition. Since the worked pro wrestling largely emerged out of real catch wrestling, this should not be surprising.

We also discussed with both Thomas Velasquez and Ray Karakas how Thomas is a "hybrid wrestler"; how Travis Newaza's style is "made for us"; their training at the Endgame Combat Sports Academy in Teterboro, New Jersey, with people like grappler Nick Caggia, who was the catch wrestling absolute champion at the 2014 MMA World Expo; why catch wrestling deserves as much respect as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and any other sport; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Ray Karakas, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with grappler and martial artist Travis Newaza.

As the reigning West Coach King of Catch Wrestling, he will facing the two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Thomas Velasquez, for the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship.

This match will headline a catch wrestling card put on by the North American Catch Wrestling Association at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place on the second day of this two-day Expo, Sunday, December 13. The location is the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

We spoke with Travis Newaza by phone Sunday.

"I love being on No Holds Barred," he said.

"And we got an awesome opportunity for a lot of the martial arts to see catch wrestling on display and to actually see a national title brought together there. And I can't wait to bring it home for California."

While he respects his opponent's ability, he said he expects to win by submission, which is "my whole goal". He promised, "I'm going to be very vicious," and said that the best-of-three-falls match may never make it to a second fall.

Besides this match, he is also scheduled to compete at the Good Fight's Tournament of Brotherly Love submission-only jiu-jitsu event in a heavyweight title match against ADCC veteran and two-time ADCC North American Trials champion Tom DeBlass. That takes place March 12, 2016, at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. This no-time-limit, submission-only match will have him facing, said Travis Newaza, his "toughest opponent."

We also discussed his free seminar at the MMA World Expo following his catch wrestling match, his training at CSW with Erik Paulson and Josh Barnett, why he finds it necessary to be "a well-rounded grappler," competing and training under different rulesets such as jiu-jitsu and catch wrestling, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with grappler and martial artist Travis Newaza.

He has been in the New York area this week to conduct seminars and train. We spoke with him Sunday at New York Combat Sambo.

While he has still been competing in various tournaments and events under many different rules of grappling and wrestling, it appears that he may soon be taking a prolonged break.

Asked if he had ever competed under sambo rules, while he said no, he added, "I would love to. And I think I will."

But that may have to wait.

"I am dealing with a lot of injuries," he said. "I think that moving forward and just seeing how dedicated I could be and how precise I could be with fighting these injuries with anti-inflammation diets and constant mobility workouts, if I can stretch out more matches in other grappling arts, but as of right now, I only am going to do five more grappling matches, and then I will be retiring from the sports grappling."

Among those matches he hopes to have soon are a catch wrestling match with Curran Jacobs, who had challenged him to such a match earlier this year.

"He's number one. He's my next date before anyone else," he said.

Also on that list are rematches with Josh Hinger, whom he competed against at the Gracie Worlds, and Adam Wheeler, whom he faced at a Metamoris event.

But his focus after that will be solely on conducting seminars as well as training and learning. "It's a season of leaning I feel like I'm going to be going into," he said.

We also discussed why he is putting great effort in helping to grow submission-only no-gi grappling events, how catch wrestling can grow, the need for the catch community to get together to hold more tournaments and have better organization, the growth of combat wrestling, why hybrid no-gi grappling events have great potential, how his seminars emphasize teaching leg attacks, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, grappling, No Holds Barred, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with grappler Matt Kaiser.

Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor at Fierce Studio.

Representing Canada, he competed at the inaugural combat wrestling world championship held by the International Federation of Combat Wrestling (FICW) August 22 at the Spartak Stadium in Varna, Bulgaria.

At that event, he won a gold medal in the 74 kg division.

We spoke with Matt Kaiser by phone Wednesday.

His desire to compete in combat wrestling, like many people, was sparked by watching videos of classic combat wrestling matches from Japan in the 1990s, and searching the Internet.

"I had heard about combat wrestling, kind of informed and whatever, deep buried in the Internet," he said. "And I'd seen a lot of video from back in the day of some combat wrestlers, the most famous being Sato and Takanori Gomi and Imanari and all those kind of guys. It always looked like a fascinating, kind of quick style of grappling that I really excelled at."

He soon saw videos and photos posted by Sambo Steve Koepfer of the 2015 U.S. Combat Wrestling Team Trials, and contacted him to find out if there would be a Canadian Team Trials. When he was informed that there indeed would be and that they would take place in Montreal, he prepared to travel from his location in the western part of Canada all the way east to Montreal in Quebec.

"I couldn't miss it, so I scrounged some stuff together, and I made it out there," he said.

"And it was a great experience, absolutely wonderful."

At the world championship, in the finals, he won his gold medal by defeating American BJJ black belt Roli Delgado by submission with a guillotine choke. We discussed how his strategy for this match worked, and his defeating a BJJ black belt while he is still a BJJ purple belt.

We discussed how all the competitors at the combat wrestling world championship had earned their places through winning national qualifiers, and how he adapted to the rules, which reward takedowns as well as allow pins and submissions. These rules, he said, "stimulate the most realistic style of combat in a grappling tournament right now, which is why I enjoy combat wrestling."

The next event he will be attending will see him coaching his own wrestling coach, the 73-year-old Peter Richards, who will be wrestling and grappling at the 29th Don Jung Memorial Tournament and Folsom Weekend Event. This wrestling and grappling event is hosted by the Golden Gate Wrestling Club and takes place the weekend of September 25-27, with the wrestling and grappling at the Eureka Valley Rec Center, 100 Collingwood Streeet, San Francisco, California 94114.

We also discussed how combat wrestling has the potential to become a popular spectator sport, how today "there is no money in being a competitive grappler", his desire to compete at the ADCC world championships, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Canada, combat wrestling, Eddie Goldman, FICW, Fierce Studio, Matt Kaiser, No Holds Barred, Varna, Victoria, World Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague and correspondent Kid Peligro.

Our main topic was the 2015 ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Submission Fighting World Championship, which will be held Saturday, August 29, and Sunday, August 30, at the Ginásio Poliesportivo Mauro Pinheiro (Ginásio do Ibirapuera), Rua Manuel da Nóbrega, 1361 - Ibirapuera, São Paulo - SP, 04001-140, Brazil.

It is the most important and prestigious grappling tournament in the world, and as always will feature competition in no-gi grappling.

Besides the competition in the five men's and two women's weight classes and the absolute division, there will be two superfights. Defending superfight champion André Galvão will face 2013 Absolute Champion Roberto Cyborg, and in a masters' superfight, two legends will compete: Zé Mario Sperry and Ricardo Libório.

The 2015 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship will be shown live on an Internet pay-per-view on Budovideos.com.

We spoke with Kid Peligro by phone Wednesday.

While there are a number of returning champions in this year's competition, the 2015 ADCC event will also see many new competitors from around the world going for their first world championship.

"ADCC seems to somehow every year come up with a whole new group of fighters that compete real well, and exciting names," said Kid Peligro. "The ADCC committee just always seems to bring up new names, and there's a whole new crop of competitors that are pretty exciting."

We discussed each weight class, who are the favorites and the underdogs, the many national and regional qualifiers which led up to this world championship, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Abu Dhabi, ADCC, BJJ, Brazil, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Kid Peligro, No Holds Barred, no-gi, São Paulo, Submission Fighting World Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Steve Koepfer, the owner and head coach of New York Combat Sambo.

He will also be serving as the head coach of the 2015 Men's U.S. Combat Wrestling Team, which will be competing at the 2015 Combat Wrestling World Championship. This is the first world championship hosted by the recently formed International Federation of Combat Wrestling (FICW).

This historic event will be held Saturday, August 22, at the Stadion Spartak (Spartak Stadium) in Varna, Bulgaria. Video of it will be recorded for showing at a later date.

We spoke with Steve Koepfer by phone Friday.

Late last year, he was contacted by Ivaylo Ivanov, the founder and president of FICW, about setting up a USA Combat Wrestling organization, and also that there would be a world championship event this year. Now less than a year later, FICW has national federations in at least 17 countries on four continents, with the world championship this coming week.

"It's amazing how far he's come in the last year," he said. "I would say the majority of the work has really been done internationally with Ivaylo leading the charge, and behind him, with full support of [combat wrestling founder] Mr. [Noriaki] Kiguchi, Masa Yoshizawa in Japan, who is the head official for the new FICW. And he'll be also bringing the Japanese team over."

The 2015 Men's U.S. Combat Wrestling Team, which is composed of the winners in each weight at the U.S. Combat Wrestling Team Trial which was held April 11 in Lowell, Arkansas, includes:

100kg - Kevin Sniff. Westside MMA, Little Rock, Arkansas
90kg - Anthony Sansonetti. Team Renegade, Levittown, New York
82kg - Morgan Bracken. Criqui BJJ, Topeka, Kansas
74kg - Roli Delgado. Westside MMA, Little Rock, Arkansas
68kg - Denny Lenormand. NOLA BJJ/Rdojo, New Orleans, Louisiana

The rules of combat wrestling allow for victory by points scored by takedowns, throws, pins, and superior positions, as well as victory by submissions. The wrestling takes place on a wrestling mat and is overseen by a referee and officials.

Combat wrestling, first popularized in the 1990s in Japan by Noriaki Kiguchi, differs from other types of wrestling and grappling in that it is not a style, but "a set of rules," Steve Koepfer said. Because of that, it has attracted many athletes from various styles of wrestling, sambo, jiu-jitsu, judo, and MMA.

"Combat wrestling has no cultural ownership over it," he said. Thus, athletes from so many different parts of the world have joined together in it, and federations have been formed, in such a relatively short period. Also avoided are the "turf wars" which have infamously plagued so many martial arts and combat sports, he added.

We discussed the activity of this new federation, which will have its first congress the day before the world championship, as well as an officials' certification. One key issue the congress will presumably address is the direction and governance of the federation, including whether or not to seek to become part of the Olympic movement, which is more and more engulfed in scandals and corruption, and facing popular resistance from Rio to Boston to Oslo and elsewhere.

In addition, we discussed some of the problems facing the catch wrestling movement, how there was a very small turnout at the catch wrestling North American championship in Montreal in July, plans for developing a combat wrestling circuit in the U.S., and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: BJJ, Bulgaria, catch, combat wrestling, Eddie Goldman, FICW, International Federation, Ivaylo Ivanov, No Holds Barred, Noriaki Kiguchi, sambo, Steve Koepfer, Varna, World Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rose Gracie.

The next event she will be involved in running is the Gracie Worlds 2015.

It will take place Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23, in conjunction with The FitExpo Anaheim, at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California 92802.

The Gracie Worlds 2015 will be a submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition, with both gi and no-gi tournaments.

Saturday, August 22, will have the tournament for kids 12 and under, and the gi tournaments for both teens and adults. Sunday, August 23, will have the no-gi tournaments, also for teens and adults.

She will also be attending the Eddie Bravo Invitational 4 on Saturday, August 15, in Los Angeles, also a submission-only grappling event, and using the Periscope app to stream video from events leading up to the tournament and also possibly behind-the-scenes from the event itself.

We spoke with Rose Gracie by phone Tuesday.

It is her passion for jiu-jitsu and preserving the legacy of the Gracie family that have inspired her to continue with these submission-only tournaments.

"This is my art," she said. Jiu-jitsu "is something that is going to stay with me forever. It will be with me no matter what."

She emphasized, "It's my name," stressing, "This is who I am."

But the success of the submission-only movement and the growing number of events using this type of format has actually awed her.

"It's very surreal for me that I was able to put an idea out on paper, execute that idea, and make sure that people are out there interested in looking forward to" these events. Now she has found more and more people "who all think the same way as I do."

We also discussed this event's teen blue belt challenge, the superfights, the rules including which submissions are allowed in each division, the need to get "rid of politics in jiu-jitsu", growing problems in America's schools, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Anaheim, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, education, FitExpo, grappling, No Holds Barred, Rose Gracie, submission only, Worlds

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the writer, web show host, MMA fighter, and wrestler, Antonio Graceffo.

Now in the final year of his studies at the Shanghai University of Sport in Shanghai, China, where he will complete his Ph.D. next year, he also is a teacher and a member of the traditional wrestling (Shuai Jiao) team there.

Born in Brooklyn, known as the "Brooklyn Monk", and raised in Tennessee, we spoke with him Friday in New York while he was in town.

Among the many things on this trip he has done are training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Matt Serra's gym in Long Island, training in judo in Long Island, and training in submission wrestling with Sambo Steve Koepfer at New York Combat Sambo. He commented that, based on what he has seen, both in the U.S. and in Asia, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters are much better at newaza or ground fighting than judo athletes.

In Asia, he said, most traditional forms of wrestling emphasize throws from the standing position and have little or no ground fighting.

"All these wrestling forms are dying," he said.

However, "There's been a resurgence in interest even in the traditional forms because of MMA." With more athletes in the lighter weight classes than in the West, many of them have been training in local wrestling clubs to improve their ground skills so they could achieve success in MMA.

We also discussed how most of the grappling tournaments in Asia are dominated by people from BJJ, how catch wrestling is not well developed there, how there are some tournaments which are called catch wrestling but do not have pins, his plans to continue teaching and of course training after he gets his Ph.D., the catch wrestling and self-defense training he saw in Singapore at the Kapap Academy, and much more.

Also, as a follow-up to our previous show, we received the following addition to the comments made in our interview with Larry Hazzard, Sr., the commissioner of the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board:

"For clarification, I am completely in favor of the Muhammad Ali Act, but I do not believe that Al Haymon has violated the act. I also respect other promoters' rights to pursue their redress, but I believe that the boxers are benefitting from the PBC and I think that Al Haymon took a very smart approach to reviving the sport. Also, the ABC leadership never discussed this issue with its commission membership before issuing the letter to the U.S. Attorney General."

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Antonio Graceffo, Asia, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, China, Eddie Goldman, grappling, MMA, No Holds Barred, Shuai Jiao