Saviour Tea Review - Part 2

Hello, and welcome to the second part of my Saviour Tea review. If you haven't seen the first part already, then you can find it HERE.

In this part of the review I will be giving my personal opinion on each of the products and at end there will be an interview with Ollie, the head of Saviour Tea, and a discount code for any of you who wish to try any of the products discussed in this review. 

I covered all the ingredients and my overall first impressions of the product in the first part of this review, so if you're interested in that, then please read part one first. 

Review

I received four different blends in total, each of them containing two tea bags and I tried each of the blends with my brother just to get a second opinion on each of the products. 

One thing I must point out was the sample packs didn't come with any recommended brewing times like you see on most herbal or flavoured teas. It's not necessarily a problem, but I thought it should be something they should include.

All the teas I tested were made using fresh water, and each of the teas was left to brew for exactly two minutes. Here's a tip for you guys; NEVER use reboiled water to make tea. Always use fresh water. Reboiling water loses oxygen from the water and you won't get the full flavour of the tea by using it. 

So without adieu, let’s get into the review.

Hydration

I tried this tea after I got home from an evening’s BJJ class.

In terms of appearance, it’s very similar to camomile, that being a kind or dark orange colour. Again, the smell of it is very similar to camomile in my opinion, almost indistinguishable between the two. 

Surprisingly, it doesn't taste anything like it smells (that being camomile). It has a fruity taste but it’s very faint, you only catch a glimpse of it a couple of seconds after you swallow it. I assume that faint fruity flavour is from the natural orange oil, which is one of the main ingredients in this particular tea. 

Actually, I found this tea very refreshing, and it definitely did quench my thirst. I could see myself drinking this tea for a considerable amount of time without getting bored of the flavour.

Recovery

Just like the Hydration tea, I also tried this tea after an evening’s BJJ class.

This teas appearance is pretty much identical to that of the Hydration tea with that camomile orange colour. However, the smell is very peculiar. Honestly, I can't think of anything to compare it to. It's totally unique to me. 

Equally, the taste is very unique. It's very hard to think of a word to describe it, you just can't really seem to put your finger on it. I think the flavour is an acquired taste, and personally, I didn't like it that much. If I was to drink this every day, it would seem almost like a chore to me.

Looking at the information leaflet later, I was surprised to see that one of the main ingredients was actually camomile because I couldn't definitely neither smell it nor taste it. However, it did show through in its colour.  

Although, I must say that in terms of recovery it did a good job. I took it in the evening, a few hours before I went to bed, and I found it a little easier to get to sleep, and in the morning my body was noticeably less sore. So if you are looking at that aspect of the product, then I think this would be great for you as long as you can put up with the taste. 

Energy

I took this tea first thing in the morning when I woke up on an empty stomach. 

Right off the bat, I noticed that its appearance is exactly the same as green tea. I'm a very big green tea drinker and I would say it’s a carbon copy in terms of colour.  

Two of the ingredients in this tea are spearmint and lemongrass, and those two smells really come through in this tea. The smell itself is actually a very faint lemon and minty smell, and neither of them really are overpowering in anyway. 

To put it simply, it tastes exactly as it smells. The taste of mint and lemon are again very faint. It’s almost like somebody mixed a very weak spearmint and lemon tea together, that would be the best way of describing it. I must say though, that I really did enjoy this tea. It's hands down my favourite of the range and I could happily drink this every morning. 

So, did it give me any energy? Well, I did notice a difference in my energy level and I did feel much more refreshed and less grouchy in the morning. It does say you can take this before working out, but is it going to replace a pre-workout supplement? No, but then again this is all natural ingredients, so I suppose you can't really compare it to that in some aspects. 

Metabolic

I didn't take this tea at any specific time.

Surprisingly, this tea didn't look similar to any tea I've personally ever tried. It was light brown in colour, almost like a very weak English breakfast tea. 

The smell of the tea was a flowery smell with a hint of fruit coming through towards the end. I struggled to put my finger on what fruit it was, but when I saw the ingredients list, I saw it contained pomegranate oil, and pomegranate was exactly what it was. 

It was actually a light fruity tea and was very refreshing to my surprise. You can taste the pomegranate coming through, but it’s light and not too overpowering. You also get a little hint of rose accompanied with the pomegranate and that comes from the rosehip pieces which are an ingredient in the tea. 

The main goal of this tea is weight loss, so I can't really comment on that as I'm not trying to lose weight nor did I try the product for a sustained period of time in order to see any results in regards to weight loss. 

Conclusion

I actually thoroughly enjoyed trying these products, amazingly more than I thought I would. Even though I only tried each of them once, and the review time was relatively short, I really did have blast trying each of them and looking forward to trying the next one. 

Let's get down to price, how much does each of them cost? Each of them individually cost £9.95, or if you want to purchase all four of them together in a bundle, it will cost you £34.95 which is a saving of £4.85. Each of the blends contains in total 20 tea bags which works out at almost £0.50 per cup. 

So, is it worth it? Personally, I think so. You have to remember here, you're not getting your average run of the mill tea here. You're getting a very high quality product, which only uses natural ingredients which have been specifically formulated to enhance one key bodily function. It's intended to support your body the way nature intended it to. 

Who would I recommend this product to? Basically, anybody who lives an active lifestyle. If you fall under this category, I'm sure one of Saviour Tea's products will be perfect for you.

All of the products I tried during this review are available exclusively through the Saviour Tea website. (Please click HERE)

Interview and Discount Code

I thought it would be a good idea to get an interview with Ollie, who is the head of Saviour Tea, that way you can get a better understanding of the products and the reasons behind them. Please take a look below:

What gave you the idea to start a company like this?

The company was born out of a desire to educate. You have probably read my story but just to reiterate. Through negative lifestyle choices I ended up becoming very sick with an illness called adrenal fatigue. I was playing semi-professional rugby at the time and had become injured and consequently reliant on pain killers. I was also running a nightclub in London and was binge drinking up to 3 times a week. Eventually I got sick and was forced to drastically change my life and also re-evaluate what was important to me. I chose to clean myself up and rather than take the prescription drugs offered by the doctors, used a healthy diet, adequate rest and exercise to begin the recovery process. This is where the teas came in. I was recommended certain herbs by an expert in natural medicine to speed up the healing process. They were best taken in tea form but I couldn't find the combinations I needed. I approached a tea supplier and we developed blends that I could use for my recovery. I instantly became hooked and was noticing significant benefits on my general well-being and also training. I was also developing a new passion for life which was nurtured through the teas, healthy living, clean eating and my new love for BJJ. The teas became a part of my lifestyle. I used them as natural supplements to aid my training and no longer needed the chemical based protein and pre-workout supplements, over-stimulating coffees and refined and sugary energy drinks. Instead the teas were naturally working with my body to help energise me, hydrate me, burn excess body fat and send me to sleep in the evenings so that I could recover. I wanted everyone to benefit from the teas and so began the process of creating Saviour Tea and the 'Sports Tea' range. I also wanted to educate people on the importance of looking after your body, mind and spirit which is why it was so important to include my story on the website. I guess you could say that the company was born by taking a negative situation and turning it into a positive.

How much research has gone into selecting the ingredients for your products?

I used the experience of tea specialists that have been in the industry for over 25 years as well as the knowledge from an extremely reputable herbal mediscinist and also conducted my own research. It took me a year to find the right suppliers and to find the quality of tea I was happy with selling to customers.

What is the optimal time to take each of the products?

On a typical training day when my BJJ class is in the evening I go for a Metabolic Tea in the morning to stimulate my fat burning activity. I then use the Hydration Tea throughout the day to make sure I have enough fluid for the evening’s class. I will have my Energy Tea before training to make me feel more alert and naturally stimulated and then the Recovery Tea is best used before bed to relax the central nervous system and calm muscle tension so I can sleep. Some of my sponsored athletes prefer the Energy Tea in the morning as this works as a healthy alternative to coffee. You really can work them around your training schedule and active lifestyle, they are very versatile.

Personally, out of all four, which is your favourite and why?

When I became sick the thing I really struggled with was sleep. Because my body was having trouble to control its adrenaline output I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart feeling like I had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. I didn't want to use sleeping tablets as they are unnatural and so the Recovery Tea for me was a life saver. The Camomile gently relaxed my central nervous system, the passion flower calms muscle tension and the hops promote sleep. I find after sparring in the evening I have a lot of excess adrenaline and my grips are shot so the tea helps to naturally calm me and the passion flower relieves the tension in my forearms.

How would taking a product such as this benefit someone doing BJJ?

The BJJ community is amazing! To give you an example I recently had a stall at the Body Power Expo in Birmingham. I had just launched the company at this point and so everything was new to me and I was gauging the response of customers for the first time. I was enthusiastically talking to all of these body builders about the tea trying to get the importance of healthy living and naturally supplementing your training across to them but let’s just say most bodybuilders are not concerned with natural products. Feeling a little dis heartened I decided to take some of my products and leaflets next door to the BJJ British Open to see if they would let me put a small stand in there last minute. I ended up chatting to Braulio Estima who was running the event and he was so welcoming. We came to an arrangement and the next day I took my stall out of the expo and set-up at the British Open. One of the best decisions I have made with my business so far, the response was amazing! The BJJ community is full of healthy, happy and aware individuals who pay close attention to what they put into their bodies. They don't want to fill their bodies with chemical laced supplements and energy drinks and instead were welcoming and receptive to the teas, their health benefits and also were intrigued to find out more about me and my story. It was a great day, I met some amazing people and I left the event knowing that I had found a receptive market for my products as everyone was as health conscious as I was. In answer to your question, Using Saviour Tea benefits a BJJ athlete as it naturally works with the body and can be used as a natural alternative to chemical and processed supplements to enhance training performance and general well-being.

What are your future plans in regards to your company?

I am currently working on some new blends for the 'Sports Tea' range as well as new ranges that aim to support and active lifestyle. There are some even bigger goals that I visualise for the company but I won't reveal my plans just yet.

Thanks for taking the time to send me your products; I have had a blast reviewing them. Before we end, is there anybody you would like to thank?

No worries, glad you enjoyed them. Yes would like to thank everyone who has stood by me and continues to support Saviour Tea. Would also like to thank my BJJ sponsored athletes for representing the brand so well. I'm sure most of you within the BJJ community will have heard of them - Sam Gibson, River Dillon and Taylor Pearman. Cannot speak highly enough of these guys. Extremely talented, driven and focused young men who continue to dominate the UK BJJ scene. Looking forward to what the future has in store for them and being part of the journey. 

Is it possible you could supply my readers with a discount code?

Code for your readers to get 10% off is BBKID10%.

This concludes my review of Saviour Tea. I hope you guys enjoyed it! It took a while to get it all done due to various reasons, but I'm glad its finally finished. Remember, if you would like to try any of the products reviewed, use the code above to get 10% off your purchase.

Catch you later,

Giordano   

The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 21 - Tim Spriggs vs. Jonathan Satava - 2012 Abu Dhabi Pro New York Trials

(The previous edition can be found HERE)

Welcome to another edition of Match of the Week, and the last edition of 2014. This week’s match is Tim Spriggs vs. Jonathan Satava from the purple belt absolute finals of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Pro New York Trials. 

Tim Spriggs is a black belt under Julius Park and fights for Crazy 88/Team Lloyd Irvin. Tim has being making waves in the Jiu-Jitsu community since his days as a purple belt, and is especially known for his fast and explosive style of Jiu-Jitsu. Over the past few years, he has won dozens of titles and as a result, he received his black belt in August 2014. 

As I mentioned earlier, Tim has won numerous titles over his relatively short career in the sport. He is a four time Pan American Champion (2014 brown weight & absolute, 2013 & 2012 purple), a three time European Champion (2013 purple weight & absolute, 2011 blue), a two time Pan American NoGi Champion (2013 brown weight & absolute), and a one time World (2014 brown), World NoGi (2012 purple), and World Expo GP Champion (2013 brown).  

Tim is an excellent guard passer. He passes people’s guards like they are nothing. Once he has passed, the pressure he uses is incredible and easily transitions from side control to the back or mount. In particular, Tim seems to favour the mount as his dominant position of choice where he likes to set up a cross collar choke. He is also very good at takedowns, and you will often see him start off the match with a takedown before going into one of his signature passes.   

Tim Spriggs
Source: GracieMag

Jonathan Satava is a brown belt under Marcelo Garcia and fights for the Alliance team. He is part of Marcelo's illustrious brown belt 'dream team', with each member either winning or placing on the podium of nearly every brown belt division of each competition they enter. His impressive competition record has caught the eye of the Jiu-Jitsu media, and was recently invited to compete against black belts in the 2014 Copa Podio Middleweight GP.

Jonathan is a two time World NoGi (2014 brown, 2012 purple) and Pan American NoGi Champion (2013 brown, 2012 purple absolute), and a one-time New York Spring Open (2014 brown), Boston Winter Open (2013 purple), and Boston Open Champion (2012 purple). He is also a two time Pan American NoGi (2014 weight & absolute) and New York Spring Open silver medalist (2014 brown absolute, 2013 purple), and a one-time Pan American silver medalist (2014 brown) and a Worlds bronze medalist (2012 purple).   

Coming from Marcelo's academy, it’s only natural that Marcelo’s style of grappling will rub off on some of his students. Actually, Jonathan's style of Jiu-Jitsu is very similar in some aspects to Marcelo's. In his matches he uses a lot of butterfly and x-guard. He also attacks the back very well and uses the crucifix position to great effect. 

Jonathan Satava
Source: GracieMag

This match is a very dominant performance from Tim Spriggs. Jonathan is a very good and experienced competitor, and uses the x-guard and single leg x-guard well, but it’s simply not enough to prevent Tim's relentless passing and extreme pressure. For the first few minutes, Jonathan manages to hold Tim off, but once Tim passes, it’s only a matter of time before he gets a submission.

The video of the match can be found below. I hope you guys enjoy!

See you next week!

(If you are viewing on a mobile device, please click HERE)

As I said at the beginning of this post, this is the last edition of MOTW for 2014, and I'm happy this series has been a tremendous success. To date I've covered 21 separate matches, and there are some of them which I'm very proud of and did extremely well. Thanks for the support with this series and MOTW will continue the first Monday of 2015. 

Stuff You Probably Don't Know About My Blog

This post is going to be something a little different. I thought I would share with you guys some stuff about my blog that nobody knows or very few people do. Maybe in this post I could answer any questions you guys have ever wondered. 

Right, let’s get into it.

I was never originally called 'The Berimbolo Kid'

I started my blog in January of this year, and for about a month my blog was called two different things. For the first week my blog was called 'Giorcardo1394', hence the URL. Basically, my name is Giordano, and my brother’s name is Riccardo. If you split those names in half, you get the name 'Giorcardo'. Also, I was born on 13/11/94, so that's where the last part comes from.  

After about a week, I came to the decision that nobody will ever remember that name, so I decided to change it to 'Giordano Lewis' Blog'. I know what you're thinking; it's a very catchy title. I remained with that for about three weeks and just before I got my first interview with Seymour Yang, I changed it to 'The Berimbolo Kid' and never really looked back. 

How did I get the name 'The Berimbolo Kid'?

This is a pretty weird story. Some of you might not know this about me, but I'm a big fan of competitive Call of Duty. Subsequently, I am subscribed to a lot of gaming YouTube channels. One pretty popular gaming YouTuber is ThatGuyWhoCamps. 

Using that name, I was going to edit it to make it relevant to me. Personally, I'm a big fan of the 50/50 guard, and I wanted to implement that in the name of my blog. So, when thinking of ideas, I came up with 'ThatGuyWhoPlays50/50' and then changed it to 'ThatKidWhoPlays50/50'. I was pretty certain that was going to be the name of my blog, but I didn't like the way it sounded, so instead I got rid of the words 'plays' and '50/50' and replaced it with 'berimbolo's'. That left me with 'ThatKidWhoBerimbolo's'. Then I simply shortened it to 'The Berimbolo Kid'. 

I never solely wanted to be a BJJ blog

I've mentioned this a few times on my blog, but when I started out, I had no initial intentions of solely being a BJJ blog. Instead I wanted my blog to not focus around any topic and I would talk about anything I pleased. I knew at some point I would talk about Jiu-Jitsu, but I definitely didn't want it to be a regular thing. 

If you look at my posts during my first month of blogging, most of the stuff I talk about is not Jiu-Jitsu related. After I got my first interview, I changed to blogging about Jiu-Jitsu full time. Every now and again I talked about other things, but for the most part I've stuck to it.

I'll tell you a kind of embarrassing story. Prior to getting my first interview, I wanted to talk about something 'current', so I looked at what was the big news in UK that day. On that day, everybody was making some big deal about how Geri Halliwell was planning on representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest. I figured I would write something about that as it would get a lot of traffic. If wrote about that I don’t think I would ever live it down. 

My logo is based off the Rolled Up logo

First of all, I apologise for the image not being such great quality, but you get the idea. Basically, I got myself a graphic designer and I told him what I wanted, which was a complete circle with a berimbolo being done in the center and the title of my blog on side exactly as you see it above. 

I must say that it took a while to get the one I was looking for. I'll show you all the designs we went through below in order, so the first one you'll see is the first one I was presented and the last is the logo I have now:

I hoped everybody would find me

Yeah, in the first six weeks of blogging, I never posted on social media, Reddit, forums etc. and as a result the most views a post of mine ever got was 30 views. Honestly, at the time I was very pleased with that. I simply saw it as progress. 

Basically, I hoped somebody would stumble across my blog and spread the word and if I stuck with that, I’d be lucky if one of my posts got a hundred views never mind thousands. 

Why? Well, I was just nervous about what people would say about what I was writing or my blog in general. Looking back that was a bit stupid, and luckily most of the feedback I have received has been positive and I'm glad lots of people enjoy what I write.

My brother reads every post before it's published

As I mentioned earlier, I have a twin brother, Riccardo, and he actually reads everything I write before it's published. I think it's good because I can get a second opinion on my content before anybody else see's it and if he thinks its s*** (which has happened a few times), he will tell me. He also comments on the arrangement, images used etc.  

There has also been a few times where I write something and he thinks it’s terrible and it never gets published, but that has only happened once or twice. Luckily, he likes most of the stuff I write. 

At the moment, I can't really think of anymore. If I do, I will do a follow up post in the future. Yeah, so I hope you found this post a little interesting and you learned something new about this blog. If you have any questions please let me know.

Before I wrap up this post, I’d like to say thank you for 125,000 views!

Catch you later,

Giordano

The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 20 - Gianni Grippo vs. AJ Agazarm - 2014 New York Spring Open

(The previous edition can be found HERE)

Welcome to the twentieth edition of Match of the Week! This week’s match is Gianni Grippo vs. AJ Agazarm from the black belt absolute finals of the 2014 New York Spring Open.

Gianni Grippo is a black belt under Marcelo Garcia and fights for the Alliance team. Up until brown belt, Gianni trained under Renzo Gracie but changed to Marcelo's team in March, 2013. Gianni is known for his 'modern' style of Jiu-Jitsu and has built himself a considerable reputation at the lower belts and continues to do that today in the black belt division. 

Gianni is a three time World (2013 brown, 2011 purple, 2009 blue), Pan American (2014 black, 2012 brown, 2011 purple), and Pan American NoGi Champion (2013 & 2012 brown, 2010 purple), and a two time World NoGi Champion (2010 purple, 2007 blue). He is also a two time Pan American silver medalist (2013 brown, 2010 purple), and a one time World (2012 brown), European (2013 brown), and Pan American NoGi silver medalist (2011 brown).   

As I said earlier, Gianni is best known for using 'modern' Jiu-Jitsu techniques. He is known as being part of what’s being called the 'berimbolo generation'. Throughout his matches, you will see Gianni play a lot of de la riva guard and using the berimbolo to great effect. Even though Gianni is very effective off his back, he is also great on top, commonly using the leg drag pass to take his opponents back. 

Gianni Grippo
Source: Mike Calimbus

AJ Agazarm is a black belt under Eduardo de Lima/Carlos Gracie Jr. and is a member of Gracie Barra. AJ comes from a very strong wrestling background and is a former division 1 wrestler. His aggressive, fast paced style made him quite well known during his time at the lower belts, winning numerous titles along the way. In June, 2013, AJ was promoted to black belt by Eduardo de Lima and Carlos Gracie Jr.

AJ is a three time European NoGi (2014 weight & absolute) and American National NoGi Champion (2013 weight & absolute, 2012 brown), and a one time World (2007 blue), Pan American (2012 brown), American National (2012 brown), World NoGi (2014 black), Pan American NoGi (2013 black) and Brazilian National NoGi Champion (2013 black).  

As AJ comes from a wrestling background, it's only natural that this would reflect in his style of Jiu-Jitsu. In particular, AJ favours the single leg takedown over all other takedowns. Even though he has a strong top game, AJ is quite well rounded as a fighter. At blue and purple belt you saw him go for takedowns and mainly play on top, but throughout brown belt you saw him play a lot more guard, especially the lasso guard.

AJ Agazarm

From 2014, this match sticks out in my mind as one of my favourites. The most memorable part of this match is definitely the ending. It's very exciting! Right off the bat Gianni pulls guard and AJ tries to work the double under pass for the first five minutes or so. Then things begin to open up and Gianni starts to play his signature de la riva game. This is where the excitement really starts! 

The video of the match can be found below. I hope you guys enjoy!

See you next week!

(If you are viewing on a mobile device, please click HERE)

The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 19 - Ryan Hall vs. Zak Maxwell - 2009 Worlds (Brown Belt)

(The previous edition can be found HERE)

Another week, another edition of Match of the Week. This week’s match is Ryan Hall vs. Zak Maxwell from the brown belt featherweight semi-finals of the 2009 World Championships.

Ryan Hall is a black belt under Felipe Costa and fights for Fifty/50 Jiu-Jitsu. Since his blue belt days, Ryan has been a major force on the competition scene, especially in NoGi competition. Since then he has made his mark by winning and taking medals in some of Jiu-Jitsu's most prestigious tournaments. As of now, Ryan is widely considered by many to be one of the best American-born grapplers today and one of the best in the featherweight division. 

Ryan is a twenty four time Grapplers Quest Champion, a fifteen time Superfight Champion (NAGA, US Grappling, Grapplers Quest, etc.), and a one time World (2008 purple), World NoGi (2008 purple), European (2008 purple), Brazilian National (2008 purple), and ADCC West Coast Trails Champion (2009 -66kg). He is also an ADCC (2009 -66kg) and World (2009 brown) bronze medalist. Also, Ryan has had over 275 victories in competition by submission, over 200 of which were by triangle choke.

In Jiu-Jitsu, if I think of flexibility, I immediately think of Ryan Hall. It's crazy how flexible he is! Such immense flexibility allows Ryan to have a very tricky guard. In particular, Ryan is known for two guards, those being the 50/50 guard and the inverted guard. As you can see above, Ryan seems to favour the triangle choke quite a lot. He is extremely successful with that submission. Another submission Ryan has major success with is the heel hook. Although this submission is illegal under IBJJF rules, it is legal in ADCC and some NoGi competitions.

Ryan Hall

Zak Maxwell is one best American grapplers on the scene today. He is a black belt under Regis Lebre (black belt under Saulo Ribeiro) and fights for Gracie Humaita. Zak has been making headlines since his earliest days in competition. At the lower belts he was consistently on the podium of many major IBJJF tournaments. In 2011, after only being a black belt for a few months, he shocked everybody by winning the Las Vegas World Pro Cup Trials by defeating Marcelo "Lapela" Mafra. The year later he would make headlines again by defeating Kron Gracie. 

Zak is a four time Pan American Champion (2010 and 2009 brown, 2008 purple, 2006 blue juvenile), and a one time World (2009 brown) and Las Vegas World Cup Pro Trials Champion (2011 black). He is also a two time World silver medalist (2007 purple and 2008 purple absolute), and a World bronze medalist (2006 blue, 2008 purple). 

One submission which Zak uses frequently throughout his matches is the omoplata. He sets it up very well from collar and sleeve grip from the closed guard, especially if his opponent stands. Zak is very comfortable on top and on bottom. He doesn't seem to have a preference, but is very dangerous from both.   

Zak Maxwell

  

I guess this will be kind of a marmite match. You will quite literally either love it or hate it. For me, I love it! However, I can see how some of you won't, but that's all good with me. Most of the match takes place in the 50/50 guard, which I'm aware lots of you are not a fan of. At the time of this match, it didn't seem like anyone could pass Ryan's 50/50 guard, but Zak weathered the storm and eventually passed and beating the ultimate 'stalling' guard. I guess that's why this match sticks out in my mind so much. 

The video of the match can be found below. I hope you guys enjoy!

See you next week!

(If you are viewing on a mobile device, please click HERE)

Update (07/12/14) - Another Short Update

A short little update for you all.

Right, so on Wednesday I published something a little different. I talked about my favourite BJJ highlight video which I'm glad many of you enjoyed. I thought of that a couple of hours before I wrote it, so I'm pleased it was received well. 

Actually, I was planning on publishing something today, but its taking a little longer than expected. After I publish this, I'll get most of it done then finish it off on Wednesday evening and publish it later in the night. If you are wondering what it is, it's me telling you guys stuff about my blog which most people don't know. Maybe it will answer any questions you might have or introduce you to some stuff which you might think is pretty cool.

Anyway, you can expect that on Wednesday. 

As most of you already know, I have extremely good time keeping skills (NOT!). No, but seriously, usually I start writing something which I think will take me a few hours and I end up sitting there all day writing it and by the end of the day it’s still not finished. I can think of numerous times that's happened, including the one I'm writing as we speak. I try to make some of my pieces as detailed as possible, so it takes a lot of time sometimes, especially editing it all. 

I think I'll reserve this type of writing for Friday, then if I don't manage to finish it, I always have Saturday as a backup and I can publish my update post on a Sunday instead of Saturday, much like I'm doing now. This slot on my schedule will be reserved for mostly articles and interview, but I may mix it up every now and again. That means I will be publishing at least four times a week and even more in some circumstances. I think that will be the best schedule for my life and something I can stick by in the long run.

Honestly, that's all I have to say for this week. And for any of you who are wondering, Jean Machado questions are almost done and will probably finished after Match of the Week tomorrow. 

Catch you later,

Giordano

My Favourite BJJ Highlight Video - Jordon Schultz Highlight (2011)

I see lots of BJJ highlight videos, and usually I watch them and never give them a second thought. However, this one in particular has always stood out in my mind since the day I first watched it. I don't really know why that is, I think it must have been that the techniques displayed in the video just hit home with me. For the time, I thought his game was really unique and I thought it was really cool that his game focused a lot on back attacks and omoplatas. 

Anyway, if you have read the title, you would know that it is a highlight video by Jordon Schultz. I have said this a few times on my blog, but I'm a huge fan of Jordon Schultz. For those of you who don't know, Jordon is a two time world champion (2010 purple lightweight, 2011 brown lightweight) and was arguably one of the best brown belts in the world at one point. 

Again, I mentioned previously that I was planning to do an interview with Jordon, which I thought could have been my best interview to date and a real hit. To cut a long story short, he told me he had quit BJJ and wants nothing to do with it anymore, especially the media. There might be hopes of us doing something together in the future, but as of now, that looks really slim. 

If I'm honest, I find that really sad. I can't really understand how a two time world champion and a black belt could just turn his back on Jiu-Jitsu, when he has committed the last three or four years of his life to it. Although, lots of things have happened to him during his time in BJJ, including leaving Alliance and his confrontation with Jacare, and the Lloyd Irvin rape scandal. I guess those are unique circumstances, and would make you start to dislike Jiu-Jitsu. 

Anyway, let’s get back on track here!

I love this highlight video! I'm pretty sure you will like it too. I think Jordon's game is fantastic and the way he flows one technique to another is fantastic. I guess those three years he spent training with Cobrinha and Michael Langhi really influenced his game. 

*FUN FACT* When I first saw this video, it was the first time I had ever heard the word "berimbolo".

Take a look at the video below. I hope you guys REALLY enjoy the video!

(If you are viewing on a mobile device, please click HERE)

 

The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 18 - Jean Jacques Machado vs. Matt Serra - ADCC 2001

(The previous edition can be found HERE)

Welcome to another edition of Match of the Week! This week is an all-time classic! It is Jean Jacques Machado vs. Matt Serra from the -77kg weight class of the 2001 ADCC.

Jean Jacques Machado (also known as JJ Machado) is a true legend in Jiu-Jitsu. He is a 7th degree red and black belt under Rickson Gracie and is one of the five Machado brothers (the others being Rigan, Carlos, John, and Roger). Jean was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which left him without any fingers on his left hand. However, this hasn't stopped him from becoming one of the greatest grapplers of all time.

Being such a legend of our sport, it's no shock to discover that Jean has won dozens of titles throughout his career. He is an eleven time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National (1982-1992), and Rio de Janeiro Jiu-Jitsu State Champion (1982-1992), a four time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu American Champion (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), a two time Black Belt Super Challenge Champion (1998, 2000), and a one-time Grappling Style Challenge Japan (1995) and ADCC Champion (1999). He is also is a two time ADCC silver medalist (2000, 2001 absolute).

In terms of style of grappling, Jean's style is very basic but extremely effective. He doesn't use any fancy guard work or passes but instead relies on the basics of Jiu-Jitsu. His style is rather similar to Rickson Gracie's. He aims to gain a dominant position and finish the fight. In particular, Jean seems to favour the rear naked choke. 

Jean Jacques Machado

Matt Serra is probably best known for one of the greatest upsets in MMA history when he defeated Georges St-Pierre at UFC 69 by TKO to become UFC welterweight champion. On the Jiu-Jitsu side of things, Matt is an accomplished grappler and has taken medals in major tournaments such as the ADCC and World Championships. He is also the first American to receive a black belt from Renzo Gracie. 

Although he didn't compete in Jiu-Jitsu for very long, Matt still managed win and medal at a few major tournaments, defeating some legends along the way. Matt is a one-time Pan American Champion (1999 purple), an ADCC silver medalist (2001), and a World bronze medalist (2000 brown).  

Matt is quite well rounded as a Jiu-Jitsu fighter. He doesn't use any crazy fancy stuff, but executes the basics very well. For the most part, he just uses the closed guard but sets up sweeps excellently from there. He makes great use of pressure throughout his matches and uses it in order to secure a dominant position. From watching his matches, you can see he tends to favour taking the back and the rear naked choke.

Matt Serra

What can I say about this match? It's just a classic! I think its sticks out in my mind because of who wins rather than the how exciting the match is. I'm not saying it's a boring match by any means, and there are some really great moments in the match. Just watch it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

The video of the match can be found below. I hope you guys enjoy!

See you next week!

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