You might ask “who is Saulo Ribeiro?†A lot of people in Annapolis might not know this and I can understand why if you’re new to BJJ or MMA. Let me shine some light on this for you. Saulo is a very well known and respected Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, coach and teacher. He is a 6 time world champion in tournament BJJ and is also well known for law enforcement training and self defense workshops. He is also a good MMA fighter but I admit that MMA is not Saulo’s main thing. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the gi is.
I first watched films of Saulo Ribeiro competing in the 1998 Brazilian Nationals tournament held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. I was amazed at his technique and intensity. He ended up winning his weight class and the open weight division at that tournament (keep in mind that the open weight class is every weight competing for the title, so you could be 132LBS and compete against another fighter who is 280LBS!) In the finals he beat a guy that was 330LBS (Saulo weighed 188)
Saulo has gone on to win just about every major event in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu world. Gi or Nogi he did it. I got a chance to train with him a few years back when I was in California and it was awesome. I must say that his feared half guard game is brutal! I was excited to work with him since many if the things that I do I learned from watching films of him. He beat me up pretty good then gave me a free t-shirt, I was happy.
Anyhow, below are some videos of Saulo. Check them out and do some studying.
In next month’s newsletter I will do some writing about the importance of watching films to help better yourself and to learn much much more.
