BJJ Legends talks with Israeli Army vetran and Krav Maga expert, Roy Elghanayan who trained actress Jessica Chastain for her role as a Mossad agent in the soon to be released film THE DEBT, starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Jessica Chastain (www.SeeTheDebt.com).  THE DEBT opens in theaters everywhere, Wednesday, August 31st.

Click HERE to view a clip of Jessica Chastain from the film and HERE to watch an interivew regarding her fight scenes.

BJJ Legends: We know how you got into martial arts but how did you wind up in LA working on movie sets?
Roy Elghanayan: I moved to LA about four years ago when I was honorably discharged from the Army of Israel. I use to be in the Israeli Special Forces and I still fly back and train with them at least once a year.

<~Read More~>

Kauai's own Bobby "Da-Punisher" Castle. Bobby is a green belt, just turned 15 years old in February. He has over 75 medals, 10 championship swords & 2 Absolute Belts. Approx 60 of his medals being GOLD. He is dedicated and committed to his training, he pours his heart and soul into it. Bobby trains 6 days a week, sometimes up to 3 classes a day. He trains 9 Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes a week and 1 wrestling class. He was recently crowned 2011 Kids/Teens World Champion in Riverside, Ca, against 15-17yr green/blue belts and the following day won the Gold in the mens rooster purple belt division at the Southbay Open in Carson, Ca. We live in Hawaii and he travels to compete in the mainland several times a year which can be a very heavy weight on us but he talent is too great to surpress, we would like to expose his talents as much as we can to help him get sponsor to continue on in his quest. You may youtube him "Bobby Castle" to see a samples of his abilites. Bobby is a humble and respectful kid and has a bright future ahead of him.

Name                         : Bobby Castle
Sex                             :  Male
Place/Date of Birth    : Hawaii/ February 21, 1996
Bobby-Da-Punisher-Castle Facebook Fan Page

[social][/social] X-Guard, X-GUARD PERFORMANCE WEAR, sent us a gi to try out. Thank you X-guard!

First off, its pretty. I get lots of comments when I wear it. I received the white Xena gi piped with pink. It came embroidered with my name, very nice touch. The 3-color ribbon lining is blue, yellow and maroon. It has X patches on the shoulders, an X-Guard patch on the lower left skirt and the Xena patch on the lower right skirt. All patches are double sewn.

The fabric is 550 gsm (grams square meter), Pearl Weave, 100% cotton. 550 gsm is roughly 16 oz/yd2. Its heavy. I've trained in it, washed it (hot/cold setting) and dried it (medium setting) at least 15 times with no ill effects. The back and shoulders are one piece of fabric so you're never grinding on a seam. There is a reinforcing patch on in the armpits and at the side slits. The hems are quadruple stitched. The collar is big and 6x stitched.

The pants are cut generously. They are triple stitched and reinforced. They have lots of belt loops. They have a cord type belt. They have a big knee patch with contrast color stitching.

Another bonus is customer service. They hit me back every time on Facebook hours after I posted my questions.

If you want more info email me or check out www.X-GuardPerformance.com and look for X-Guard clothing and X-Guard Brand on Facebook.

The Anaheim Police Department in conjunction with Ground Game Submissions are hosting a double elimination BJJ gi and no-gi tournament Sunday August 28.

Early registration fee, before August 22nd, is $60 for one event and $85 for both. Early registration includes a $20 cash voucher good for merchandise purchased from sponsors and vendors that are present on the day of the event.

Registration after August 22 is $80 for one event and $105 for both.

All proceeds benefit the Cops-4-Kids program, an Anaheim Police Department charity aimed at helping at-risk youth make better decisions.

Gracie Barra instructors Ricardo Testai, Marcelo Lacerda and Bruno Rocha stopped by Buena Park Police Department to show members of the team a few BJJ positions.

Ricardo Testai, of Gracie Barra Anaheim Hills, use to teach Special Forces in Brazil. His experience translates sport Jiu-Jitsu to real world application.

[social][/social]

When asked S.W.A.T. Team member Eric Burciaga if he would see hand-to-hand fighting within the year he said. "Most definitely. The bad guys don't want to go to jail and some of those guys are learning this stuff. We need to learn it too."

They learned breakfalls, defensive recovery from the ground, dogding a punch, takedowns, and a arm choke finish.

After the seminar the police officers got to go a few rounds with the Gracie Barra black belts. Everyone was sweaty and smiling. Only the black belts managed to get submissions.

<Click here for Photos>

[einset][/einset]

[social][/social]Are you as addicted to the travel blog BJJ Globetrotter as I am? I am living vicariously through Christian Graugart posts and photos. What could be better than backpacking and BJJ? Christian is a BJJ brown belt from Copenhagen, Denmark, backpacking around the globe to train and compete in various arts of grappling.  Read More >>

We are excited that Leticia Ribeiro is coming back to Texas to teach another all women seminar, this time in Austin. After last year's success in Dallas and San Antonio she is coming back with her protegee Bia Mesquita to teach at Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (http://www.gracieaustin.com). It's especially exciting since the gym in Austin is run by a female brown belt Christy Thomas. So it is a total women powered event.

Here is the registration link:
http://poweredbyshe.com/2011/05/24/leticia-ribeiro-one-beautiful-city-all-about-the-women/

Read More>>

Two of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu players donate their gis and fight shorts. Xande Ribeiro & Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles have donated their gis and shorts to help Japan recover from the earthquake and resultant combo tsunami/nuclear meltdown. 100% Proceeds are going towards Japan relief aid. eBay autions are going on now. Lets bid it up people!

~more~

From time to time we run across stories like these in our inbox. Pls help Clint reach is goal. Read his blog for more on his story.

Hi there,

Further to our (very!) brief chat on Facebook, I hoped your readers might be able to help me with the project I'm organising.

I hope people will donate generously, and all the proceeds will go directly to Cancer Research UK, the world's largest cancer research charity.

Due to personal tragity I've been motivated to do something, albeit small, to raise some money for cancer research. I'm competing at the event that my instructor Lee Catling is organising, the South East BJJ Open in October, wearing a HOT PINK GI. I'll also be sporting a matching pink mohawk, and anything else that will grab plenty of attention.

In the meantime, I wanted to know if I could somehow involve you in this. I realise you're very busy, but if you could mention what I'm doing on your website and your facebook page, I know people would pay this cause even greater attention. I've only just set up the donations page through JustGiving.com, which a safe way for people to make their contributions, and I've just made a Facebook page to promote it as well. Please take a minute to look at them and tell me what you think.

http://www.justgiving.com/clintonoshea

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clinton-Combats-Cancer-For-Cash/157747550953912?sk=info

http://flaminginho.blogspot.com/2011/04/clinton-combats-cancer-for-cash.html

Thanks so much for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks

Clint