NO HOLDS BARRED

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.

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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 Rose Gracie.

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

It will take place Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3, in conjunction with The FitExpo Chicago, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, Illinois 60018.

This will be a submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition, with both gi and no-gi tournaments.

Saturday, May 2, will have the gi tournaments for both kids and then teens and adults. Sunday, May 3, will have the no-gi tournaments, also for both kids and then teens and adults.

We spoke with Rose Gracie by phone Thursday.

Noting that there are more and more submission-only grappling tournaments being held since she started running events under these rules three years ago, she said, "When I started this whole thing, my goal was for people to be able to follow these rules and do these events everywhere. So I'm very happy to see and it gives me really great joy and fulfillment to know that they're doing this."

She added, "It's going on its own. The machine is running. The car is turned on and it's going. So I don't think there's any stopping to it and it's getting bigger."

The submission-only format is catching on so much that "people really love these rules" and more such events are planned for this year, including in San Jose and Anaheim, California, as well as elsewhere, she said.

We also discussed how working with the FitExpo "adds value" to both events; eventual plans to establish a non-profit federation for submission-only grappling that will "give back to the athletes"; the importance of getting more kids involved in these events; the need to improve the school system; plans for women's superfights; and much, much more.

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

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

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: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Chicago, Eddie Goldman, education, FitExpo, grappling, No Holds Barred, Regionals, Rose Gracie, submission only

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

Our main topic was the latest edition of the Gracie Nationals.

This submission-only grappling event will take place Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8, as part of TheFitExpo. The location is the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90015.

A gi tournament will be held Saturday while a no-gi tournament will be held Sunday. Men, women, teens, and kids are all welcome to participate.

Besides various seminars including one by Renzo Gracie, there will be two no-time-limit, submission-only superfights. In these, Javier Vazquez will face Garry Tonon, and Denny Prokopos will face Eddie Cummings.

The event will also pay homage to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and MMA fighter Joe Camacho, who passed away in December 2013 at the age of 41.

We spoke with Rose Gracie by phone Sunday.

"I'm excited for one more time to be leading the way for the submission-only movement. That's what we call it now, where matches are ended by a submission only," she said.

In the tournaments, before the finals, and because of the large number of competitors, 15-minute time limits have been put in place. If there is no submission when time expires, both competitors are eliminated from the tournament. Thus, she said, "It works as a qualifier for the actual final match."

The finals of each tournament have no time limits.

"The two competitors go against each other with no time limit, no points, no advantages, until somebody actually submits," she said. "So we have matches that go very quickly, because their mentality once that is going on is very different, but we have matches that go on a very, very long time. So it's just a fun and more exciting way to watching these matches."

The only exceptions are the kids' tournaments, where no winners are declared, the competitors are sometimes restarted in positions to try to make the matches more competitive, and all kids receive first-place medals.

The idea is that they "cater to the whole family."

Plans are also being made to post live streams of the superfights and black belt matches, with details to be finalized shortly.

We discussed the thinking behind these submission-only events, which she emphasized is carrying on the legacy of her late grandfather, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu co-founder Helio Gracie.

Besides being passionate about continuing in the traditions of her family by putting on these submission-only events, Rose Gracie is passionate about fighting to reverse the wretched state of the American educational system and its failure to teach students how to think. We discussed that at length, including her own experiences dealing with the bureaucracies in her daughters' schools.

In addition, she is also passionate about the health dangers created by the dangerously high amounts of added sugar in so many common foods and beverages in the typical American diet. Diseases such as obesity and diabetes are rampant in America, including among the youth. Many of these problems can be dealt with simply by changing one's eating habits. Thus, she is engaged in a battle to eliminate junk and sugary foods and beverages from what is served to children in many schools.

And we discussed the plans for holding several more of these tournaments this year, the background of many competitors in them, getting the word out on these events, and much more.

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

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

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.

Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.com.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.

Labels: BJJ, Eddie Goldman, education, grappling, jiu-jitsu, Nationals, No Holds Barred, Rose Gracie, submission, sugar