RECENT NEWS

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December 2008:

Gustavo Machado will be holding an in-house bjj tournament in the month of December at the VA Beach headquarters. Also, there will be rank assessments held in the month of December as well. I will keep everyone posted, as I hear more from Gustavo.

November 2008:

Thanks to everyone from the academy that attended the Gustavo Machado seminar in Richmond, VA. Gustavo put on a great clinic, starting off with an excellent takedown, leading into closed guard attacks, counters, and grip work once on the ground. Thanks to Shannon Chow for making the trip to Richmond to help Gustavo with the seminar.

NAGA VA - Sept 27, 2008
Congratulations to Team Gustavo Machado for a great showing at NAGA VA. The team took second place over all in the no-gi and gi categories for over all team points. There were great performances by Gutavo's brown belts Vince, Shannon and Mike Bejok. They all won their advanced divisions and Vince took home to Absolute Championship Belt. There were great perfomances from Jonathan Wertz's affilate academy out of Chesapeake as well. Congratulations to everyone.

Our local guys from Top Game BJJ (Gustavo Machado Team) fought well and contributed to the over all ranking at NAGA. We had several first time competitors place well in their divisions:

Josh Johnson - Silver - Middleweight No-gi (Beginner)
Aaron Barr - Silver - Lightweight No-gi (Intermediate)
John Ribeiro - Silver No-gi & Bronze Gi (Novice & White Belt)

Regardless of the outcome, everyone competed with heart and determination. It's a big step just to test yourself in competition. Thanks to everyone at the academy for helping these guys get ready.

Hanging out with Rich Franklin

Top Game Academy students, Mandy and Jon, meet Rich Franklin at "Bustin' Out of The Cave."

Rich Franklin made a special guest appearance at Barbarian Fight Club to promote their first ever MMA event held at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. (Fredericksburg, VA)

The fight card included combatants from the Eastern United States and was highlighted with Franklins visit. The event consisted of 16 bouts, in an electric atmosphere, and the BFC has already announced plans for their next card to be held August 23, 2008.

Gustavo Seminar – May 31st

Thanks to all who were able to attend the latest seminar by Gustavo Machado at Top Game BJJ. Guga covered many great concepts and techniques.

I think everyone came away with a greater understanding of some key basics and also picked up some new moves for both their gi and no-gi games.

If you missed this last seminar, don’t worry, Gustavo will be back soon. You are welcome to stop by Gustavo’s at any time too.

April, 2008:

Pictured above (from left to right) are Dave Kenworthy, Bill Sanderson, and Chris Mahan

April 19, 2008- NAGA CHAMPIONSHIPS - VA - RESULTS!

Congratulations to the following competitors from Top Game (Gustavo Machado - Richmond):

Dave Kenworthy - Naga Champion - Purple Belt, Master's, Cruiserweight Div.
Bill Sanderson - Silver Medal - Blue Belt, Master's, Middleweight Div.
Chris Mahan - Naga Champion - Advanced No-gi, Master's, Middleweight Div.

Congratulations to Gustavo's own Vince Borden and Shannon Chao of VA Beach for winning their adult's advanced divisions at NAGA. Vince won his no-gi advanced division and Shannon tore through the Brown Belt Gi division. Gustavo's kids and many others from the academy in VA Beach did awesome (too many to remember). Everyone represented very well this weekend.

Please be sure to congratulate everyone from Richmond when you see them. Thanks to everyone that came out to watch, support, and helped to prepare us for the tournament.

Please welcome our newest members to the academy - John & Amanda, Kenny, John and Mark, and Tony. They've already jumped in and have made a great impression and impact on the club with their enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Please make sure that you take a minute to introduce yourself and help them out with their technique and questions.

Keep you eyes open for the latest newsletter going out in April. It will cover our new memebership referral program, Gustavo's seminar, etc.

February, 2008:

Congratulations to Chris Mahan for placing second (silver) in the Brown Belt Absolute Division at Gustavo Machado's Invitational Tournament in VA Beach, VA.

NOVEMBER 10, 2007

PROMOTIONS:

Congratulations to Barry Walton on being promoted to PURPLE BELT by Gustavo and Chris. Very well deserved! Congratulations to the new BLUE BELTS too - Josh Shiflet, Bill Sanderson, and David Necessary. Also very well deserved promotions after a lot of hard work.

By sticking together and training hard, we've been able to see a lot of progress from these guys and it means a lot to the club to have such a strong foundation of senior level purple belts and blues belts at the club to help develop, guide, and teach everyone else. Congratulations to everyone!

SEMINAR:

Gustavo put on one of his best seminars to date on November 10th. Just when you think there's nothing to learn from working a basic technique or there are no new variations to a technique, Gustavo puts on a seminar like this last one. Pictured are some of the attendees at this last seminar. There's more to come in 2008!

Information you should know:

T-SHIRTS: New academy T-shirts will be on sale in the next couple of weeks. These T’s will have a new logo and a cool new look. There will be black and white T’s for sale in all sizes.

Cost: $20

HALLOWEEN – Academy closed!
The academy will be closed for Halloween. If you usually attend on Wednesday, switch it up this week and attend a Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday class to make up the day.

Don’t forget that Gustavo’s is just a short drive away in VA Beach. Everyone at Top Game is welcome to train with Gustavo and his team any time at no charge. Take advantage of it, if you can. Come along for a beach training trip the next time.

October 11th, 2007: Hanging with former UFC Champion Jens Pulver

The guys took a break from competing in the recent Mission Submission tournament to catch a photo opportunity with former UFC Champion Jens “Little Evil” Pulver (pictured front center in black shirt/hat).

UFC Champ Aaron Barr with Matt Serra

UFC Champ Charles Slade with Matt Serra

August 18th, 2007: UFC Champion Matt Serra loses belt… twice!

UFC Champion Matt Serra managed to lose his Championship Belt twice in one night to Top Game Academy students Aaron Barr and Charles Slade at a recent seminar held in Richmond, VA.

Serra didn’t even put up a fight, but politely handed over the belt for these great photo opportunities. Serra put on a great seminar.

Good luck to him in his first title defense against Matt Hughes in the near future.

March 31st, 2007
Pan American Championships 2007

Congratulations to Chris Mahan (Instructor) for brining home the light weight brown belt division SILVER MEDAL at this year’s 2007 Pan American Jiu-jitsu Championships. Held annually in LA, California, the Pan Ams are where competitors from all over the U.S. and abroad come together to test themselves against the best in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Chris fought three times in route to winning the silver medal, facing and defeating an opponent from Pedro Sauer’s academy in Utah in the opening round. Next Chris faced a very game Max Masuzawa of Max Jiu-jitsu Academy in Tokyo, Japan in the semi-finals, winning a close decision. Chris lost in the finals to Sam Joseph of Hollywood BJJ on points, earning the 2nd place finish and the silver medal.

Pictured (left to right) – Dave Kenworthy, Chris Mahan, Gustavo Machado, Jeff Edwards, Brad Mayhugh, and Barry Walton.

March 2007
Top Game Academy – Promotions

Be sure to congratulate the four new purple belts at the Top Game Academy – Richmond, VA. Brad Mayhugh, Dave Kenworthy, Chuck Mayhugh, and Jeff Edwards were all recently promoted to the rank of Purple Belt by Gustavo Machado and Chris Mahan. Everyone went through a very rigorous grading ceremony in Virginia Beach, VA. Testing consisted of a marathon session of continuous sparring with fresh opponents rotating in every six minutes for an hour or more. At the end of training, they were awarded the rank of Purple Belt and “welcomed” to the new rank in the traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu way. Well deserved!

Gustavo's Richmond Affiliate Attendees, Gustavo Machado and Rolls Gracie Jr. Center.

January, 2007
Rolls Gracie, Jr., son of the famous Rolls Gracie, who was viewed by many as leader, innovator, and best fighter of the Gracie Jiu-jitsu Family, gave an excellent seminar in Virgina Beach. Gustavo invited Rolls Jr. in for a seminar at the Virginia Beach Headquarters. Rolls passed on great techique and a few really good stories.

Chris Mahan pictured with Virginia Police Officers.

Defensive Tactics Certification Training (Defensive Ground Fighting)

December 2006

Top Game Academy Instructor, Chris Mahan, concluded 2006 Defensive Tactics Training with Chesterfield County and various regional police officers, with a recertification seminar. Training included carry along techniques, weapon retention, ground fighting tactics, and cuffing techniques.