If you are an Brazilian Jujitsu athlete or live a very active lifestyle I cannot stress enough the necessity of taking high quality vitamins. Athletes should try to get their nutrients through healthful foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and maintain a clean diet so that supplements are truly supplements rather than the main nutrition source. However, many world-class athletes take vitamin supplements on a regular basis to make sure they are receiving the proper nutrition to perform their best.

It does not matter if you are a Gracie Jiu Jitsu athlete, a golfer, a runner, or a pro football player; as an athlete your body needs vitamins for recovery after workouts and to prevent sickness and injury.

Injuries, such as broken bones, sprains, strains, and bruises are often a result of poor nutrition in the body. Vitamins keep all parts of your body in top shape which can help you fend off annoying injuries that keep you sidelined. Meanwhile, illnesses such as the flu and the common cold are due to your body’s immune system being worn down and susceptible. Vitamins ensure that your immune system is running at its best.

High quality supplements are not going to make you invulnerable, but they should give you the confidence that your body is supported. The rest of your athletic ability is then up to you and your training.

Why Are Most Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Inadequate for Athletes?

The kinds of vitamins athletes take are more important than just consuming them. Many store-bought supplements are useless because they are never absorbed by the body.

Many times, vitamin supplements are poorly made. They are more like vitamin bricks than fuel for athletes. Many businesses are more concerned with making cash than how well you perform as an athlete. Do not be too frustrated, however, because there are several different natural nutrition companies that do make effective vitamins that are shown to not only be absorbed by your body, but also to be absorbed by the right part of the body.

Each vitamin and mineral has its own specific job in a particular part of your body. This is why you need so many different vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. For example:

* Folic acid should be released into the stomach
* B vitamins and vitamin C should have a extended release function so they can maintain blood nutrient levels for over 12 hours
* Amino acids should only be released when they reach the upper intestine. Most amino acids are destroyed by stomach acids.
* Vitamin supplements should always be taken with food to ensure efficient absorption

Where Can Athletes Buy High Quality Vitamins?

As an athlete you may have never heard of some of the great natural vitamin companies because they do not use tons of money on marketing. Instead, they spend it on research to create top notch products that actually make a difference for athletes. They depend mostly on the testimonials of world-class athletes that depend on their supplements.

Most supplements for Brazilian ju jitsu will be found online or at your local health food store. To determine if the vitamins are high quality the company should have:

* Integrity – make sure that they have a track record of success
* Clinical studies published in scientific journals showing that the vitamins are absorbed and used by the body
* Easy access to the ingredients and any other information pertaining to the product
* A money-back guarantee so you can return them if they do not work
* Proof that real athletes use them

Note that to get published in one of the clinical journals is extremely difficult because the scientific community as a whole has to agree with the findings of the independent clinical study. Most businesses hire their own research teams to put out studies that “may suggest this and that,” but prove nothing and are not even reviewed by the scientific community as a whole. Athletes cannot afford to waste their time, talent, or money on vitamins that are not supported by independent research.

To summarize, vitamin supplements are extremely important in the diet and training regiment of athletes. Making sure that you are taking well-made and developed supplements can support your overall health, athletic recovery, and prevent injury and illness. Research before you buy so you can make a good decision on which supplement will be most effective for you.

About Rodrigo Vaghi: Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of its Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Program.

Many women’s self defense programs center on yelling and kicking the groin of an attacker and, therefore, seem to believe that attacks are uniform and one-dimensional or that women cannot manage more in-depth training. However, facts and experience tell us that attacks on women are multi-dimensional and unique. Facts and experience also indicate that women are more than capable of learning and applying more techniques than just a kick to the groin. Even though the range of possible situations is great, we can still create general strategies that are straightforward to learn, remember and employ.

One of the potential problems that is often overlooked by traditional women’s self-defense programs is defending oneself on the ground with a larger opponent that is physically close; yet, it is a situation that is one step closer to a completed sexual assault, a scenario with which it is crucial to be familiar. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA ground strategies have some great solutions for the “ground issue” that standing kicks to the groin will not resolve.

One of the most crucial goals for defending oneself on the ground is getting control of the situation. That is, in order to escape from a larger attacker on the ground, you must be able to immobilize the attacker as much as possible so you can perform the techniques on your own time. Basic Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts st louis guard work (when the assailant is between your legs and your feet are locked together) teaches how to successfully control your opponent, move and strike from a less dominant position, and generate space with which you can get away.

When you have an assailant in your guard, your legs around the torso enables you to control the assailant’s hips and balance. In this position, someone who is smaller can use not only the strength of their legs, but also the strength of their abdominals and gravity to assist them. Taking control of the attacker head and arm while in the guard is a way to further control the assailant during an attack on the ground. Not only is it tiring for someone to fight out of that control, it is much more difficult for the assailant to strike you. Just this basic position, easy to learn and use, greatly levels the playing field on the ground during an attack.

Mixed-martial arts adds some great strategies to the guard position, including blocking the assailants biceps as they try to strike and striking from the bottom with elbows to the face and head. For self-defense we can add in strikes illegal in the fighting ring such as eye gouges and head butts. These are strikes that do not require thorough training or flawless technique to be useful. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA also give us was to make space to escape. Learning to move on the ground, use your assailant’s body to push off of, and standing up properly are all jiu-jitsu basics. One of the top instructors in the entire United States to learn self-defense techniques from is Rodrigo Vaghi of Vaghi Martial Arts in St. Louis. Rodrigo works with kids, women, law enforcement and military personnel.

In conclusion, a women’s self-defense program is not complete if it does not talk about problems that you may encounter on the ground. When choosing a program, it is a good idea to inquire whether the instructor has had any Brazilian jiu-jitsu or mixed martial arts training and whether the classes teach ground work. Having ground techniques and strategies in your brain and muscle memory could be the difference between becoming a victim and escaping a dangerous and scary situation.

About Rodrigo Vaghi: Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of its mma st louis Program.

In 2009, Gina Carano and Chris “Cyborg” Santos became the first women to compete in the main event of a large-scale (and televised) MMA event during the August 15th Strikeforce show in San Jose, California. Major MMA organizations, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championship, had been operating for 16 and 12 years respectively at the time of the Carano vs. Cyborg fight. Meanwhile, in the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu community, women such as Kyra Gracie have recently taken the grappling and MMA world by storm by not only gaining her black belt and multiple world titles, but also with her beauty and charm. It has been almost 20 years since Brazilian jiu-jitsu came to international prominence.

Brazilain Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts are sports that are dominated by men. Most gyms in the United States have only a few women that train, especially when the gym is not located in a larger urban area. However, as jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts become more prominent, thanks to fight organizations like the UFC and cable television shows featuring MMA, more women are becoming involved in the sport and understanding the advantages.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is an art created for a smaller fighter to defend themselves against a larger opponent. It is an art that focuses on technique, manipulating balance, and leverage, rather than strength and size. This fact alone makes jiu-jitsu a wonderful martial art for women to practice for both sport and self-defense. With good training, a woman can defeat the inequalities of size and upper body strength between men and women in a fight, especially against an untrained assailant.

In self-defense situations, jiu-jitsu and MMA are fundamentally suited to helping women escape from dangerous situations on the ground, allowing them to not only neutralize incoming strikes, but also prevent sexual assault by moving, striking back, and submitting their assailant on the ground. Every women’s self-defense course should incorporate the ground techniques employed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis and MMA can also be fantastic ways for a woman to stay healthy. These sports require a person to gain and maintain cardiovascular endurance for rounds of fighting, static all-over body strength to hold positions and control opponents, and dynamic strength to push, pull, punch, kick, wrestle, and sweep. Many people serious about jiu-jitsu and MMA end up cross-training with additional exercises such as running, yoga, and weight-lifting.

Brazilian ju jitsu and MMA can also be great mentally. To prevail in these sports, it takes determination, endurance, and perseverance over mental and physical injuries. These sports can bring a great sense of pride and accomplishment. Additionally, the intensity of the sport creates friendships and bonds between people at the gym; many people gain a second family.

So why has it taken so long for women to start training in these sports? And, why has it taken so long for women to get the same respect as men in the sport? For many women, it is very frightening to walk into a male-dominated gym and try to compete. In addition, Brazilian Jujitsu and MMA are sports with very cramped contact both standing and on the ground. Some women are uncomfortable with close contact on the ground with men and are uneasy with being in positions that could be perceived as sexual. Other women are not comfortable with striking or getting hit. However, women who have started training the sport will testify that in most gyms, people are great teammates and are willing to help you. The sport is not sexual in nature at all, just as high-school wrestling is not sexual. Good gyms do not tolerate harassment of women.

Women still do not get the same respect as men in these sports, especially in MMA because they are viewed as not being able to challenge with men. In some ways this is true: A woman will generally not have the same upper body strength and dynamic strength of a man of the same weight and experience and, therefore, will not generally be dominant. However, it should be remembered that every other sport is also divided by skill and/or weight and gender. Sports change when the physical and mental state of the competitors change. Strategies need to be different, training needs to be different, and the final product ends up being different. Hopefully in the near future, people will realize that, although maybe a little different, women’s jiu-jitsu and MMA are valuable and exciting when the competitors are of high quality and training.

What is Staph?
Staphylococcus aureus, or staph as it is more commonly referred to, is a normal skin germ and can cause infection, inflammation and swelling, which is a cellulitis or deeper infections. Even though it is a regular skin germ, when it comes into contact with a cut, staph can get into the bloodstream and cause a grim blood infection which could lead to serious illness or death.

One of the most threatening staph bacteria to be found in training facilities and locker rooms is MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus). Contrary to popular belief, this threat is not just limited to hospitals, and if a person is affected then the results could be fatal.

It is quite a common hazard for grapplers to catch a staph bacteria infection from the sports facility that they use, which, at the very least, is unpleasant for them and will lead to missed competitions or tournaments.

Professional Pride FC fighter, Kevin Randleman had one of the most horrific cases of staph ever seen. He ended up with two Grand Canyon sized holes in his side and three weeks of hospital stay in critical condition. Go ahead and google “Kevin Randleman staph” and get a look at the photos. Gross!

Athletes, especially contact sport athletes, like MMA fighters are more vulnerable to catching staph infections and MRSA because they commonly pick up cuts and injuries, allowing the bacteria that are present to infect them with greater ease. A lot of care should be taken to avoid problems from occurring in the first place.

Mats and cages in Martial Arts schools, are the ideal place for staph bacteria and mold to develop. Warm and humid, and with lots of people using them on a regular basis, the potential for the presence of dangerous microscopic organisms is perhaps greater on a sparring mat than in any other common or training area.

Athletes due to the nature of their sport, spend a lot of time together in close quarters when training at their athletic facilities, and this means that when an infection is picked up by one person, it can easily spread between the Fighters. So, not only does one have to worry about contracting an infection themselves, but passing it along to others and causing a potential epidemic.

However, as well as the actual physical effects posed by the staph bacteria, there is also the reputation of the establishment to consider. At Vaghi Martial Arts in St. Louis where we practice MMA, Brazilian Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling and Boxing, we make sure we mop the mats with an antibacterial solution or water and bleach solution after every practice. Martial Artists are expected to wash their equipment and gear often. It is also intelligent to utilize antibacterial soap after practices to insure that one doesn’t allow an infection to set in if they have been cut.

If you want to work out in a great school where the Brazilian Jujitsu, MMA, Boxing, Wrestling and Muay Thai training are top-level and the facilities are clean and students are helpful and quality, then you should honestly consider training at Vaghi Martial Arts. If you are not in St. Louis you should check your listings for local schools and be sure that the facility that you train in is of the highest level you can find. Your health and well-being are at stake. Any credible school will be clean, well-run and well worth your money.

About Rodrigo Vaghi: Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of its Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Program.

When people think of the concept of ”pliability” as it pertains to human activity, visions of ballerinas, gymnasts, and yoga masters usually flash through their heads; the typical mixed-martial artist typically does not. Even so, despite initial assumptions, flexibility can be a great asset in any martial art, including Ultimate fighting, both in stand-up situations and on the ground. Fighters such as BJ Penn and George St. Pierre have displayed the benefits of flexibility when coupled with powerfulness.

Having crazy flexibility helps in two main ways: In Muay Thai, flexibility in one’s hamstrings, quadriceps, groin, hip flexors, and back can increase a fighter’s potential to connect with not only high kicks, but also have a significant amount of extension and, therefore, power in his low kicks. In wrestling, pliability in one’s legs is important to preclude injury during takedown attempts and defense. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, pliability can be an monumental advantage, in particular in the guard. The “rubber guard” and other styles of controlling an opponent from the bottom can be an incredibly aggravating obstacle for an opponent, even one that is bigger and stronger. Back and neck pliability are great assets for bottom and inverted positions and allow for greater range of movement and the ability to tolerate being stacked or sprawled upon. Flexibility of the joints, such as the ankles, elbows, and shoulders can give a fighter more time to escape an approaching submission.

Flexibility is usually a natural asset for children under the age of eleven. However, once puberty starts, elasticity, especially in boys, tends to greatly decrease if it is not worked on actively. Teens that stay flexible through puberty generally are flexible in their adult lives. Obviously it would be great to have a time machine to go back and apply this knowledge to our pubescent lives, but the reality is that, like most things in life, we are stuck with the decisions that we made when we were younger and less knowledgeable and motivated. All is not lost however. Flexibility is something that can be gained; it is simply harder won for some people.

If you want to increase and keep pliability, it is important to make a commitment to making stretching part of your regular workout routine. If you stretch every day for a week then take two weeks off, you will destroy the gains that you made during that first week. Part of the flexibility commitment is stretching not only before you work out, but after as well. In fact, some of your biggest elasticity improvements will be after your workout, after your muscles have been warmed and broken down for an extended amount of time.

As with anything else, you should have goals in your flexibility training that pertain to Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or mixed-martial arts. If you are having trouble with your leg kicks, go about focusing on your legs, especially any muscle groups that you can feel tightness in when you throw the technique. In Juijitsu Brazilian jujitsu, if you are having hurdles withstanding guard passes because your back is too tight, start focusing on your back and neck. When choosing your goals, it is important to remember that our muscles, tendons and ligaments are all somehow connected to each other and you may need to work on your problem area’s “next door neighbor”. A common pair of problem muscles are the hamstrings and the lower back. If one is tight, it will be hard to increase the elasticity of the other.

In propercorrect stretching to gain elasticity there is a fine line between comfort and pain; in order to gain, you need to push yourself into a zone of discomfort without entering the zone of injury. A good way to do this is: after a brief warm-up or after your workout, begin with dynamic stretching. In dynamic stretching, you will be lightly bouncing in and out of your comfort zone. For example, if you are stretching your hamstring in a hurdler’s stretch, you will lower your body with your back straight (to isolate the muscle) until the stretch becomes slightly uncomfortable. From there, lightly bounce lower to your leg and back to the edge of your comfort zone for at least one minute. Again, listen to your body! You do not want to injure the muscle by pulling or tearing it; however, you may be slightly sore the next day. Continue to breathe while you are dynamically stretching.

When you are done with the dynamic stretching exercises for however many muscle groups you are working on, move on to a more static stretch that is more like the stretching found in yoga. Breathing and relaxation are extremely important during this exercise. Start in a resting position; for our hamstring example, you would be sitting upright in your hurdler’s stretch position. Take a deep breath in. As you exhale slowly, lower yourself into the stretch and begin to relax your body. Try to relax as much as your body as possible while keeping good form in the stretch (keeping the muscle isolated). It may seem like your body is going to go farther than it is able- that is the beginning of your pliability gain! Relax and stay in the stretch for at least one minute.

Once you commit to putting it in your workout routine, it will start to become normal, a good habit to increase the condition of your body and your game. Martial artists do not need to be ballerinas and yoga masters, but flexibility training should be part of any fighter’s regiment to both advance their technique and prevent injury.

Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of it’s Mixed Martial Arts St Louis Juijitsu Program.

Find out more about Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at www.submissionjiujitsu.com

When you think about contact sports the main ones that probably pop into your head are football, boxing, hockey and mixed martial arts. Of all of these sports the most hated currently is Ultimate Fighting. People tend to criticize it as barbaric and potentially deadly. And while there is considerable potential for bodily injury there are a myriad of factors that help to keep it safe. In its nearly 17-year history there have only been two verified mortalities. Further there is evidence to suggest that the two individuals who died were the victims of pre-existing physical ailments that contributed heavily to their untimely deaths. The other sports listed above with MMA have been directly responsible for more deaths in their histories, both in total and on average, than MMA.

Take hockey for an example. Hockey players can skate as fast as 25mph. Consider that that is top speed. Even when two players skating toward each other at less than top speed, maybe 20mph each collide, that is a 40mph collision. At that speed it is easy to leave someone unconscious. Hitting an unforgiving surface like ice while out cold can be deadly. There are more than a handful of players that have died from on ice head injuries. There are players that have died from taking a frozen puck to the chest also; And this is not old school hockey, this is modern-day hockey. Graham Christie died in 1997 from having his heart stopped by a puck in the chest. And what about Miran Schrott? He died on the ice after being slashed in the chest by an opposing player, stopping his heart. The swiftness of the players and the swiftness of the puck, combined with player-to-player and player-to-surface (i.e the boards or the ice) contact are bound to collect more lives.

Football’s history is much more violent than that of hockey. The origins of football are littered with fatalities. (This is not to mention all the career ending or other crippling injuries such as paralysis that have occurred) According to The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury, 325 men and boys have died either directly or indirectly from playing football at the high school and college level between 1982-2008 (26 years). Direct injuries are defined as those fatalities, which resulted directly from participation in the fundamental skills of football (such as tackling and blocking). Indirect injuries are those injuries that are caused by systemic failure as a result of exertion while participating in football activity or by a complication, which was secondary to a nonfatal injury (such as heart failure and heat stroke). 1990 was the first and only year there was no fatality in any level of football from the years 1931–2008.

It is remarkable to think that football goes largely uncriticized as a potentially hazardous sport while a sport like mixed martial arts is still referred to by people, ignorant of the rules and practices of MMA, as “barbaric” or “human cockfighting.” This basic misconception of the sport is a detriment to its legitimacy as a high level athletic endeavor.

The worst sport to this day for deadly injuries and certainly life altering injuries is boxing. Boxing gloves are 14oz – 16oz and are designed to protect the hands of the puncher and not the head of the punchee. Oddly enough it does a great job of protecting the punchers hands to the extent that he can deliver far more blows to his opponents head and thus cause much greater cerebral damage than if he were simply able to knock his opponent out with smaller gloves like MMA participants wear.

MMA gloves are 4oz. They protect the hand to a moderate degree, but still allow knockouts to occur. I bet you never thought a knock out would be safe. But in comparison to repeated blunt force trauma, it is by far the safer alternative. The main goal in boxing is to hit your opponent until he is unconscious or unable to continue from repeated blows to the head. Further, it is unusual that a fighter’s corner will throw in the towel to save their fighter. It is considered embarrassing and unmanly. Mixed martial arts, however, has a variety of ways to end fights. Furthermore there is no stigma to submitting whether it is to a Brazilian Jujitsu technique like a choke, joint lock or due to strikes. It is actually considered intelligent to submit to joint locks or strikes to avoid serious injury. Maybe that makes boxers (and football player and hockey players) tougher than MMA guys. I guess you can just keep stacking those tough dead guys on top of each other while the less tough, but smarter MMA guys live to fight another day. There are many places to train to be a fighter or participate in MMA St Louis, Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, Bettendorf, IA or even Appleton, WI. Simply make sure you find a solid, safe school in which to train.

About Rodrigo Vaghi: Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of its Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Program.

The origins of today’s MMA stretch far back into history. Far away from the lights of Las Vegas, down to A Cidade Maravilhosa, or “The Marvelous City” of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where five brothers named Gracie (Carlos, Osvaldo, Gastão, Jorge, and Hélio) were practicing the art passed on to eldest brother Carlos by Mitsuyo Maeda (a.k.a. Conde Koma, or Count Coma in English), an expert Japanese judoka and member of the Kodokan.

Imagine, if you will, a small, sweaty, matted room in the third most populous area in South America, where four of the five brothers train and give lessons in the sweltering heat. Very crowded and often quite dangerous, the city of Rio de Janeiro is known for its carnival celebrations, samba music, gorgeous beaches, and great surfing. It is also the country that gave the world the bikini, the thong and the 38M tall Christ the Redeemer statue. But that first scorching gym was also the birthplace of the martial art that was to change the course of modern athletic competition in the latter portion of the 20th century. It was there that Helio Gracie, a young man, small in stature but stout in heart, with a tremendous ability to reshape the judo he had learned from his oldest brother gave the world the gift that was to become known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

(In Brazil , the art is still called “Jiu-Jitsu”. When the Gracies went to the United States to spread their art, the system became known as “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” and “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu .” “Jiu-Jitsu” is an older Romanization that was the original spelling of the art in the West, and it is still in common use, whereas the modern Hepburn Romanization is “ju jutsu.” Other common spellings are Brazilian Jujitsu Brazilian Jujitsu and Brazilian ju-jitsu.)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu kicked open the doors to the international pantheon of sport in the 1990s, when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert Royce Gracie (Son of Grand Master Helio Gracie) won the first, second and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships. The original UFC competitions were single-elimination, eight-man tournaments. Royce fought againsttremendously heavier opponents who were practicing other styles, including boxing, shoot-fighting, karate, judo, tae kwon do and wrestling. In fact the reason the UFC started was to showcase the efficacy of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

It is generally understood now that to be a well-rounded MMA fighter one must have a good grasp of several martial arts. Whether it is a mix of boxing, muay thai, wrestling, karate, Brazilian ju jitsu Brazilian ju jitsu or any combination of those, simply knowing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by itself is not sufficient to be successful. However, it has since become a staple art for many MMA fighters and is largely credited for bringing widespread attention to the importance of ground fighting. So, if you are among the millions of people watching MMA because you love seeing some of the top athletes in the world battle it out, try to remember that the fight you are watching started with a 145lb man in a small oven of a room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil almost 90 years ago.

About Rodrigo Vaghi: Rodrigo started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 14, in the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro. Vaghi’s instructors were Grandmaster Helio Gracie and his sons: Rickson, Royce, Royler and Rolker. After many years of training with the Gracie Family, Rodrigo has become a close family friend and black belt instructor representing the undisputed champion of the Gracie’s: Rickson Gracie. Rodrigo Vaghi is the proud owner of Vaghi Martial Arts and head of its Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Brazilian Jiu Jitsu St Louis Program.