Control Jiu-Jitsu: Learning from the Best
80 students and instructors, from 14 clubs across 3 provinces attended Andre Galvao's seminar
Nick Murray
Members of Control Jiu-Jitsu in Moose Jaw endulged in an extremely rare opportunity on the weekend of March 17-18. They travelled to Regina to take part in a seminar with one of the greatest and most highly decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) practitioners the world has ever known.
Andre Galvao conducted a seminar at Campbell Collegiate and it was open to member students and instructors of the Saskatchewan Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (SBJJF).
Jessica Church, Andre Galvao and Coach Jason Church, from Control Jiu-Jitsu
Galvao is a third degree BJJ black belt and an internationally regarded grappler and former mixed martial artist who has literally fought against the best fighters in the world. He had a 2-1 record in Strikeforce, where his only loss was against Tyron Woodley, the top ranked welterweight fighter in the world and current UFC champion. That's nothing to shake a stick at. In the category of submission grappling, he has fought against Gracies and made Chael Sonnen (former UFC middleweight title contender) submit.
His list of credentials is nearly endless. A 20 year veteran in the sport who is a five time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Gold Medallist, an eleven time BJJ World Champion, eleven time Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Gold Medallist, and a three time BJJ World Cup Gold Medallist. There's no other way to put it. The guy can fight; and here he was, in Regina, giving a seminar on fighting. Well; a seminar on Jiu-Jitsu.
Galvao is now the head instructor at ATOS Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego, California.
If you aren't sold on his abilities, watch how easily he handles other black belts.
Coach Donald Booth from Control Jiu-Jitsu with Andre Galvao
There aren't many fighters out there who an aspiring BJJ practitioner could get more value out of watching and learning from.
Coaches from Control, Jason Church and Donald Booth were joined by 11 of their students at the event. There were 80 attendees in all, representing 14 different clubs across 3 provinces.
"He was a super friendly and funny guy," Coach Church said about Galvao. "He often cracked jokes, but his jiu-jitsu passion was evident."
Coach Church said the whole event was a wealth of knowledge.
The seminar was divided into two three hours classes; one on the saturday and one on the sunday. It combined a mixture of learning new technique, sparring and question periods.
"We learned a ton of new skills and also tons of refinements to our pre-exiting skills," Church added.
Church was fortunate enough to spar against him. "I felt what a world champion has to offer."
Church couldn't name one specific skill Galvao thrived at; "he was just good at everything" he added.
"The majority of people who showed up were people we knew from the Jiu-Jitsu community" Church added, "It is always awesome to see familiar faces and be able to learn new technique from a world class champ."