“The B in BJJ”
Hello Everybody, on this edition we will be talking a little bit about The Amazon: The World’s Largest Rainforest.
The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth.The forest covers some 40% of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname, as well as French Guiana.
Reflecting environmental conditions as well as past human influence, the Amazon is made up of a mosaic of ecosystems and vegetation types including rainforests, seasonal forests, deciduous forests, flooded forests, and savannas. The basin is drained by the Amazon River, the world’s largest river in terms of discharge, and the second longest river in the world after the Nile. The river is made up of over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are longer than 1000 miles, and two of which (the Negro and the Madeira) are larger, in terms of volume, than the Congo (formerly the Zaire) river. The river system is the lifeline of the forest and its history plays an important part in the development of its rainforests.
Now some facts about this Great Rainforest:
-The Amazon is home to more species of plants and animals than any other terrestial ecosystem on the planet — perhaps 30% of the world’s species are found there.
-A lone hectare of forest may have more than 480 species of trees.
-More than 1500 bird species are found in the Amazon Basin.
-The two largest cities in the Amazon area are Belem (1,912,600) and Manaus (1,524,600) in population.
Today, despite the population decimation, natives peoples still live in American rainforests, although virtually all have been affected by the outside world. Instead of wearing traditional garb of loin cloths, most Amerindians wear western clothes, and many use metal pots, pans, and utensils for everyday life.
Every year an area of rainforest the size of New Jersey is cut down and destroyed. The plants and animals that used to live in these forests either die or must find a new forest to call their home. Why are rainforests being destroyed?One of the reasons it is the extraction of the wood. A lot of Countries blame Brazil for being cutting down the amazon trees but at the same time they are the ones who estimulate this process with a big demand for furniture, flooring, and construction, without having a program to replant those trees.
- The Rainforest:
In Brazil, the Amazon covers surface area of 4,100,000 square kilometers (1,583,000 square miles), of which around 3.4 million sq km (1.3 million sq mi) are presently forested. Accounting for parts of the Amazon outside of Brazil, the total extent of the Amazon is estimated at 8,235,430 sq km (3,179,715 sq mi). or comparison, the land area of the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) is 9,629,091 square kilometers (3,717,811).In total, the Amazon River drains about 6,915,000 square kilometers (2,722,000 square miles), or roughly 40 percent of South America.
What!? Surf at the Amazon River!?
Twice a year, between the months of February and March, the Atlantic Ocean waters roll up the Amazon river, in Brazil, generating the longest wave on the Earth. The phenomenon, known as the Pororoca, is caused by the tides of the Atlantic Ocean wich meet the mouth of the river. This tidal bore generates waves up to 12 feet high which can last for over half an hour.You gotta see this!!! CLICK HERE POROROCA
Yes! It is so much to learn about the Amazon that i really recommend you to visit this -WEBSITE- where you will find a lot of interest information.
Thank You and have a great day!
“The B in BJJ”
Hello GB Team members!
February 22nd is Carnival Time!!
This edition of “The b in BJJ” will try to make you understand a little bit about the Brazilian Carnival or Carnaval Brasileiro, which is the biggest popular party on earth.
A Little History:
The Brazilian Carnival (Portuguese: Carnaval) is an annual festival in Brazil held 40 days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. The carnival, celebrated as a profane event and believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnalia, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh.Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a Portuguese festivity called “entrudo”.
Nowadays:
Well, if you go to Brazil on the Carnival you will find a party anywhere you go, but depending of what region you are you will see a diferent style of carnival. We mainly have three different styles.
If you go to big Cities like Sao Paulo and specially Rio de Janeiro you will be able to see the “Schools of Samba” parade.
Samba schools are very large, well-financed organizations that work year round in preparation for Carnival. Parading in the Sambadrome runs over four entire nights and is part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single samba school will be declared that year’s winner.
Members of the “Estacio de Sa” samba school perform atop of a float that pays tribute to the statue of Liberty during the opening of the traditional Brazilian carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, 18 February 2007. Some 150 thousand people attend the parade.
If you go to the country side you will be able to watch some religious parades and also enjoy the Carnival at the Sports Club in town where the carnival bands will be playing all night long.
The third option would be to go to the Northeast states where the music and the dance has a huge influence on people’s life. Over there you will reserve your place in one of the famous “blocks of carnival” where thousands of people party on the streets basically following a enormous truck with a famous brazilian band performing on top of the truck, called “Trio Eletrico”.
This is a great video that shows a little bit of the Carnival in Rio, maybe now you can have a idea how much Brazilians miss Brazil on the Carnival time!
This Second Video shows the Carnival on Northeast in Bahia:
So, are you already planing your Trip to Brazil? Jiu Jitsu train during the week and Carnival party on the weekend!
Maybe we can get Started in San Diego: http://www.brazilcarnival.com/
The “B” in BJJ
Hello Jiu Jitsu lovers!
One more year is about to be over and with 2008 a lot of good memories will stay with us for the rest of our lifes. The last B in BJJ of the year is bringing to you a lot of cool staff, starting from some really interesting brazilian traditions to make sure that you will start the new year the best way as possible.
Brazilian celebrations are a clear reflection of its history, culture and the origins of its people from Portugal, Africa and South America.
New Year’s Eve is marked by festive Festa de Iemanjá held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Crowds head to the beaches to offer flowers and gifts to Iemanjá, the Goddess of the Water in the Brazilian Umbanda religion. The Copacabana beach is flocked with millions of people who come to visualize the colorful candles floating on sea.
Véspera de Ano Novo or the New Year’s Eve is the most important day for the people of Brazil. The best New Year celebrations can be seen in on of the most specials cities of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. New Year celebrations are marked with numerous fireworks and crackers. Musical shows, concerts and other dance performances are the highlights of New Year celebrations in Brazil. The world famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro is overcrowded with people on the New Year’s Eve.
Brazilians have many traditions for New Year’s Eve. Each state and region have its own, but many are followed in the entire country. Everybody does these little things to ask for happiness, prosperity, health, love and protection for the next year.
Let me share some of them with you, and maybe you’ll try one or two. ‘Cause, attracting a little good luck wouldn’t hurt, would it?
- Go to the beach and jump over seven little waves, at midnight, making seven wishes while you jump;
- Wear white clothes, as a symbol of Light, Purity and Kindness;
- Wear new underwear. The color varies according to your goals - white for peace, pink for love, yellow for prosperity, green for harmony;
- Eat a pomegranate (symbol of prosperity and wealth) at midnight. Take 7 seeds out of it and keep them on your wallet until the next New Year’s Eve. This assures you’ll always have money on your wallet.
- On New Year’s Eve (as in Christmas Eve), it’s traditional to have a late dinner, around 11:00 PM. We call it “New Year’s Supper” - Ceia de Ano-Novo - and it’s common to eat lentils as a side dish, to assure prosperity and abundance for the New Year.
- Keeping the cork of the bottle of champagne (that’s usually open by midnight) brings good luck for the keeper.
So, which one of those are you going to try?
Also we would like to celebrate some really special accomplishments of the year 2008:
- Master Carlos Gracie Jr. was promoted to the Red and Black Belt
- The new location for the H Q in Irvine
- All the schools using the same Fundamentals Curriculum
- The Gracie Barra Competition Network
- The inauguration of the Gracie Barra Schools:
San Clemente; Garden Grove; Ventura; Texas and Huntington Beach
- The new GB Store Online
Also the major tournaments:
- GB 1st Place at the Asian Novice Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Asian Open Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Pan American Adult
- GB 2nd Place at the Pan American Female
- GB 1st Place at the Novice World Championship
- GB 3rd Place at the Adult World Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Female World Championship
- GB 3rd Place at the Master & Senior World NO Gi Championship
- GB 1st Place ate the Female World NO Gi Championship
- Our competitors Gold Medalists at the World Championship 2008:
Rikio Ahara; Rod Roberts; Thomasz Kaczmarek; Yoshi Yamaguchi; Lucas Rocha; Tammy Griego; Kayron Gracie; Don Ortega; Samuel Braga; Roger Gracie; Bianca Barreto; Kyra Gracie; Ana Laura Cordeiro; Eliaz Ramirez; Michael Dykes; Dan Marker; Richard Timm; Scott Carr; Roberto Barros; Tracy Thompson; Pedro Rodrigues; Tom Reusing; Roberto Alencar; Marcelo Santos; Vinicius Magalhaes; Bianca Barreto.
All the reasons above are very important but the most important reason for us to cellebrate is to be a Gracie Barra Students. To be able to train our body, mind and spirit everyday when we go to the academy, to meet and make friends with so many diferent people and to build a strong family.
“A Dojo is a miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves - our fears, anxieties, and habits. It is an arena of confined conflict where we confront an opponent who is not an opponent but rather a partner who helps us understand ourselves more fully.
It is a place where we can learn a great deal in a short time about we are and how we react in the world. The conflicts that take place inside the Dojo help us handle conflicts that take place outside.
The total concentration and discipline requires to study martial arts carries over to daily life. The activity in the Dojo calls on us to constantly attempt new things, so it is also a source of learning - in Zen terminology, a source of enlightenment”.
To watch a nice video about GB in 2008: CLICK HERE
Hello GB Team members!
February 22nd is Carnival Time!!
This edition of “The b in BJJ” will try to make you understand a little bit about the Brazilian Carnival or Carnaval Brasileiro, which is the biggest popular party on earth.
A Little History:
The Brazilian Carnival (Portuguese: Carnaval) is an annual festival in Brazil held 40 days before Easter and marks the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. The carnival, celebrated as a profane event and believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnalia, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh.Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a Portuguese festivity called “entrudo”.
Nowadays:
Well, if you go to Brazil on the Carnival you will find a party anywhere you go, but depending of what region you are you will see a diferent style of carnival. We mainly have three different styles.
If you go to big Cities like Sao Paulo and specially Rio de Janeiro you will be able to see the “Schools of Samba” parade.
Samba schools are very large, well-financed organizations that work year round in preparation for Carnival. Parading in the Sambadrome runs over four entire nights and is part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single samba school will be declared that year’s winner.
Members of the “Estacio de Sa” samba school perform atop of a float that pays tribute to the statue of Liberty during the opening of the traditional Brazilian carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, 18 February 2007. Some 150 thousand people attend the parade.
If you go to the country side you will be able to watch some religious parades and also enjoy the Carnival at the Sports Club in town where the carnival bands will be playing all night long.
The third option would be to go to the Northeast states where the music and the dance has a huge influence on people’s life. Over there you will reserve your place in one of the famous “blocks of carnival” where thousands of people party on the streets basically following a enormous truck with a famous brazilian band performing on top of the truck, called “Trio Eletrico”.
This is a great video that shows a little bit of the Carnival in Rio, maybe now you can have a idea how much Brazilians miss Brazil on the Carnival time!
This Second Video shows the Carnival on Northeast in Bahia:
So, are you already planing your Trip to Brazil? Jiu Jitsu train during the week and Carnival party on the weekend!
Maybe we can get Started in San Diego: http://www.brazilcarnival.com/
Hello Jiu Jitsu lovers!
One more year is about to be over and with 2008 a lot of good memories will stay with us for the rest of our lifes. The last B in BJJ of the year is bringing to you a lot of cool staff, starting from some really interesting brazilian traditions to make sure that you will start the new year the best way as possible.
Brazilian celebrations are a clear reflection of its history, culture and the origins of its people from Portugal, Africa and South America.
New Year’s Eve is marked by festive Festa de Iemanjá held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Crowds head to the beaches to offer flowers and gifts to Iemanjá, the Goddess of the Water in the Brazilian Umbanda religion. The Copacabana beach is flocked with millions of people who come to visualize the colorful candles floating on sea.
Véspera de Ano Novo or the New Year’s Eve is the most important day for the people of Brazil. The best New Year celebrations can be seen in on of the most specials cities of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. New Year celebrations are marked with numerous fireworks and crackers. Musical shows, concerts and other dance performances are the highlights of New Year celebrations in Brazil. The world famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro is overcrowded with people on the New Year’s Eve.
Brazilians have many traditions for New Year’s Eve. Each state and region have its own, but many are followed in the entire country. Everybody does these little things to ask for happiness, prosperity, health, love and protection for the next year.
Let me share some of them with you, and maybe you’ll try one or two. ‘Cause, attracting a little good luck wouldn’t hurt, would it?
- Go to the beach and jump over seven little waves, at midnight, making seven wishes while you jump;
- Wear white clothes, as a symbol of Light, Purity and Kindness;
- Wear new underwear. The color varies according to your goals - white for peace, pink for love, yellow for prosperity, green for harmony;
- Eat a pomegranate (symbol of prosperity and wealth) at midnight. Take 7 seeds out of it and keep them on your wallet until the next New Year’s Eve. This assures you’ll always have money on your wallet.
- On New Year’s Eve (as in Christmas Eve), it’s traditional to have a late dinner, around 11:00 PM. We call it “New Year’s Supper” - Ceia de Ano-Novo - and it’s common to eat lentils as a side dish, to assure prosperity and abundance for the New Year.
- Keeping the cork of the bottle of champagne (that’s usually open by midnight) brings good luck for the keeper.
So, which one of those are you going to try?
Also we would like to celebrate some really special accomplishments of the year 2008:
- Master Carlos Gracie Jr. was promoted to the Red and Black Belt
- The new location for the H Q in Irvine
- All the schools using the same Fundamentals Curriculum
- The Gracie Barra Competition Network
- The inauguration of the Gracie Barra Schools:
San Clemente; Garden Grove; Ventura; Texas and Huntington Beach
- The new GB Store Online
Also the major tournaments:
- GB 1st Place at the Asian Novice Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Asian Open Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Pan American Adult
- GB 2nd Place at the Pan American Female
- GB 1st Place at the Novice World Championship
- GB 3rd Place at the Adult World Championship
- GB 2nd Place at the Female World Championship
- GB 3rd Place at the Master & Senior World NO Gi Championship
- GB 1st Place ate the Female World NO Gi Championship
- Our competitors Gold Medalists at the World Championship 2008:
Rikio Ahara; Rod Roberts; Thomasz Kaczmarek; Yoshi Yamaguchi; Lucas Rocha; Tammy Griego; Kayron Gracie; Don Ortega; Samuel Braga; Roger Gracie; Bianca Barreto; Kyra Gracie; Ana Laura Cordeiro; Eliaz Ramirez; Michael Dykes; Dan Marker; Richard Timm; Scott Carr; Roberto Barros; Tracy Thompson; Pedro Rodrigues; Tom Reusing; Roberto Alencar; Marcelo Santos; Vinicius Magalhaes; Bianca Barreto.
All the reasons above are very important but the most important reason for us to cellebrate is to be a Gracie Barra Students. To be able to train our body, mind and spirit everyday when we go to the academy, to meet and make friends with so many diferent people and to build a strong family.
“A Dojo is a miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves - our fears, anxieties, and habits. It is an arena of confined conflict where we confront an opponent who is not an opponent but rather a partner who helps us understand ourselves more fully.
It is a place where we can learn a great deal in a short time about we are and how we react in the world. The conflicts that take place inside the Dojo help us handle conflicts that take place outside.
The total concentration and discipline requires to study martial arts carries over to daily life. The activity in the Dojo calls on us to constantly attempt new things, so it is also a source of learning - in Zen terminology, a source of enlightenment”.
To watch a nice video about GB in 2008: CLICK HERE
“The B in BJJ”
Hello dear students,
Talking a little bit about the Brazilian Culinary one of the most famous subjects is the:
Brazilian Barbecue
More than 400 years ago cattle ranching was introduced to the Rio Grande do Sul region of Brazil. Cowboys, called Gauchos herded these cattle, and like the cowboys of Texas created a new style of cooking. They called it Churrasco, which is Brazilian Barbecue. Though this style of Barbecue wasn’t based on smoke like that of the United States, it has all the traditions and elements of an American Barbecue. Churrasco started in the 16th and 17th centuries and spread throughout all of Brazil in the 1940’s as the Gauchos spread across the country.
Originally the standard formula for Brazilian style barbecue was to coat meats in coarse salt. The meat would then sit for about 30 minutes to absorb the salt and then was placed over the fire. Later a salt-water baste was used to keep meats moist during the cooking. Beef was typically never seasoned. Poultry and lamb, however are spiced with a rich marinade the night before cooking. Meats are places on long sword-like skewers and cooked over an open fire. Now days with the growing popularity of this style of grilling you can even buy a churasco grill.
Churrasco is much more than a way of cooking in Rio Grande do Sul it’s a way of life. The Barbecue capital of Brazil is the city of Nova Brescia which has a statue of a man cooking barbecue in the central plaza. In the 1940’s this city had a population of about 150,000. Since then the population has dropped to about 30,000 due to the mass exodus of people leaving to open Barbecue restaurants across Brazil.
The popularity of Brazilian Barbecue has lead to the founding of dozens of restaurants, popping up all over the world. If you get the chance I whole-heartedly recommend that you give one a try. On the menu you will usually find prime rib, linguica (a Portuguese sausage), lamb kebabs, chicken legs, fish and a whole host of other dishes.
All meats are cooked on long skewers placed on racks over the fire with fattier items placed on top so that the juices will drip down and flavor the other cuts. When the meats are cooked waiters carry the skewers around table to table carving off pieces onto your plate. Without moving from your table you can experience virtually unlimited dishes until your stomach fails you and it’s time to lumber home. This is truly a great dining experience.
There is a Brazilian Barbecue Restaurant close to our Heady Quarter school “Gracie Barra America” in Irvine. The name of the restaurant is “Agora”. Besides all the good barbecue that you will find there they also offers a grand premium hot and cold salad bar, featuring fresh salads, vegetables and seafood specialties.
The Agora Churrascaria is offering to all the Gracie Barra Members a delicious free desert for those who want to try the brazilian barbecue. The desert that is highly recommended is the traditional brazilian flan. So the only thing that you have to do is to let your server know that you are from Gracie Barra.
