I might never be able to master the rubber guard or the 10^th Planet system, but I will say that the Eddie Bravo Invitational might be a platform that opens up Jiu Jitsu to a larger market of both casual combat sports fans and casual sports fans. The EBI was created by Eddie and his partner Vic Davila, the voice of Latin UFC broadcasts, to bring Jiu Jitsu to television. Originally, the first event in June was supposed to be aired as a pilot on Fox Deportes, the Latin American version of Fox Sports, but that never came to fruition and the event has since been posted online by Eddie for free. The second installment of the EBI on October 10, 2014, built upon the foundation laid by Eddie and Vic with improvements to the production quality and the quality of competitors with the hopes to eventually get a television or live online broadcast produced as early as the third EBI in February 2015.

While we have seen other sub-only matches and tournaments, such as the Gracie Nationals, Jiu Jitsu Battle, and Metamoris, EBI has added its own wrinkles with the inclusion of submission bonuses (more on this later), overtime rules, and the inclusion of his own top competitors that have helped raise the profile of his 10^th Planet students including the Martinez brothers, Denny Propokos, and Nathan Orchard. While some might write off 10^th Planet’s competitors due to their performances in the point based IBJJF competitions, the sub only format of the EBI showcases the effectiveness of Eddie’s techniques and philosophies.

I love the overtime format. It is dramatic and engaging as you see both competitors trying to simultaneously go for the kill and hang on for dear life from high percentage finishing positions. The overtime rules remind me of the college football overtime rules in that it gives both competitors a chance to play offense and defense. The overtime starts with competitor A choosing one of two dominate positions; back control with hooks and seat belt grip or top arm bar position with competitor B holding a padlock defense. Competitor A is working for the submission while competitor B is working to escape the dominant position. There is no time limit and once there is a sub or escape, the competitors will alternate positions and competitor B will then get to choose back or arm bar position. If one competitor gets the sub, then that person will be the winner. If both get the submission or neither gets the submission, they will repeat it again for 3 rounds. If after 3 rounds, they are still in a stalemate, a winner will be determined based on the combined escape time from all 3 rounds, with the competitor who took less time to escape being declared the winner.

Like many movies with sequels, I will say that the second installment of the EBI had some improvements, but I will say that I preferred the first event in June. In this review, I will breakdown opportunities to improve the overall event and experience. I am a fan of the event and want to see it succeed. After seeing both events, I will say that Eddie and his crew are on to something. While there are naysayers and Jiu Jitsu traditionalists, the counterculture vibe of both Eddie and his students are a good thing for Jiu Jitsu and I believe in his vision of showcasing the sport to a wider audience will be nothing but beneficial to everybody in the Jiu Jitsu community.

Need More Finishes

I sold this event to people online, friends, and teammates as an event with a high percentage of finishes. At the first event, I believe 28 of the 30 matches ended in finishes with one of the matches going to overtime being the 145 lbs finals between Jeff Glover and Geo Martinez which had both guys going for the kill in both regulation and overtime.  In all of the matches, you felt all of the competitors had a killer instinct and were going for the quick finish. There was little to no feeling out process. There was no footsies from 50/50 with a person try to get points or an advantage and then stalling out. You had two guys trying to take each other out with zero fucks given.

This time around, it felt like 40% to 50% of matches went into overtime. There was more caution, less urgency amongst competitors. I will say that the 10^th Planet guys were going for the kill and pushing the pace to please their Master who refereed most of their matches. However, many competitors seemed more cautious. A few theories of why this might be are

1.       No Bonus Money for this event: At the first event, I was talking to Garry Tonon’s corner man, who told me about Eddie’s pre-event talk to the competitors. Eddie offered a $500 bonus for each submission, a bonus for submissions under a certain amount of time, and $1,000 bonus for a twister. The event was a pilot for a TV show and submissions are what would sell the event to the casual fans. After seeing the number of matches going to overtime at the second event, I asked one of the competitors if Eddie offered bonuses for submissions and the competitors said that Eddie said there would only be prize money for the winner. The lack of bonus money for submissions, took away the incentive for competitors to push the pace and go for the kill this time around.

2.       Traditional IBJJF competitors: For this event, Eddie did bring in high level IBJJF black belt competitors including decorated Alliance/Cobrinha black belt Fabbio Passos. Passos is currently ranked 3^rd in the world in the Adult Black Belt NoGi feather division according IBJJFrankings.com. While Passos did advance to the finals of his bracket, he played a very strategic and conservative game against his opponents that went against the ‘zero fucks given’ style I saw in the first EBI. After training for NoGi American Nationals and Worlds, can a traditional high level IBJJF competitor flip the switch from playing a points based game to a sub only format?  It made me wonder if Eddie needed to recruit styles that fit the spirit of EBI more than belts and IBJJF accomplishments for the next event.

3.       Gaming the system: Competitors have learned to game the IBJJF point and clock structure and playing for overtime could be a very sound strategy for competitors that have extensively trained finishes from the arm bar and back control positions. With 90 seconds left in one match, I heard a coach instruct his competitor to play conservative with the time left and go to overtime. Combined with a lack of submission bonuses, there was little urgency or reason to move out of a stable position, if you believe you could dominate in the overtime session.

Event Presentation/Format

The EBI is still a very young event and is still perfecting their processes and format. There were a few event presentation areas where they can make some really quick improvements.

1.       The event started at 8 PM and ended at 2 AM: The event started at 8 PM on a Friday night and concluded at 2 AM. By this point at least half of the attendees have left and the people that remained were dead tired. I only made it to 2 AM, thanks to the Caveman Coffee concession stand where I had a large coffee with MCT oil. 6 hours of Jiu Jitsu is way too long for a Friday night. I don’t think Eddie and his crew anticipated the high number of matches going into overtime since the first event had many quick matches with an average match lengths ranging between 3 to 7 minutes while this event ranged somewhere between 7 to 15 minutes per match. Starting the event earlier at 6 PM or holding a single 16-person bracket or two 8-person brackets might make the event more digestible for fans in attendance and more appealing to television broadcasters and viewers. The average soccer match is 2 hours and an average football game is 3 hours. 6 hours is just too long, especially if they want to do a live broadcast.

2.       There were no clocks for fans: Fans were left in the dark in regards to how much time was left on the clock in the matches and how much overtime “riding” time was accumulated by each competitor. One of my friends at the event thought there might have been time keeper error in one match since he tracked the time on his phone and said the match went 11 minutes and 30 seconds during regulation. Adding a mounted clock on a LED TV screen of a small scoreboard would greatly improve the fan experience and add to the overall production value. Imagine fans counting down the clock with 10 seconds left as one competitors has the other in a submission as time expires.

3.       Need to explain rules and overtime format: There was no explanation of the rules to the event or the overtime format during the event. It would have been nice if Eddie or the announcer gave a brief explanation of the rules and the overtime format before the event or the first overtime session started. During the first match that went into overtime, several people around me were wondering what was going on.

4.       Sponsorship Activation: The EBI had several sponsors at the event including Caveman Coffee, Onnit, Grips, Newaza, and Roots of Fight. Caveman Coffee and Newaza both had concession booths set up in the entry area, but there was little activation for the sponsors other than a brief shout out from Eddie during the event. There could be a lot more sponsorship activation that includes

1. 1.       Naming rights to the brackets, trophy, and submission bonuses like “The Caveman Coffee Bantamweight bracket”, “The Roots of Fight EBI Trophy” or announcing “Geo Martinez just earned a $500 submission bonus presented by Grips Athletics.”
2. 2.       Fashion show during intermission with gear from Newaza, Roots of Fight, and Grips
3. 3.       Use of the video projector screens to show the logos of the sponsors on rotation between matches.
4. 4.       The staff wearing apparel with the sponsor logos on them.
5. 5.       Giveaways including apparel and Onnit supplements.

5.       There was no Acai Bowl stand: There was no Acai Bowl stand at the event which was a shame. A Jiu Jitsu event doesn’t feel the same without an Acai Bowl stand.

Eddie Bravo’s Conflict of Interest

Eddie refereed most of the matches at the first two EBI events. This presents a conflict of interest at times since many of the competitors are from his 10^th Planet schools. I don’t think Eddie is playing favorites, but at the same time he is a polarizing figure in the sport and it would help end any doubt of the perception of favoritism if he moved to the role of color commentator or emcee at the event.

During the second EBI, my coach Dane Molina squared off against MMA fighter and Cleber brown belt Joe Murphy. Dane caught Murphy in a triangle from the guard position and Murphy defended by lifting Dane off the ground. Joe then slammed Dane to the ground and in the process, their heads collided and Dane’s nose started bleeding. Before the event, there was a rules meeting where Eddie said there would be no slamming allowed. Dane and his coach Shawn Williams specifically asked if slamming would result in a disqualification and Eddie said “yes.” While Dane was on the side of the mat getting treated for his bloody nose, Eddie at one point crossed both his arms and pointed at Joe Murphy, which indicated a disqualification. However, moments later he changed his mind and as soon as Dane was ready to go the match resumed.

Surprised there wasn't a disqualification there, they restarted but Molina's nose is bleeding all over Murphy so they had to stop again.
— C.J. Tuʇʇle (@kidceej) October 11, 2014

Going back to my first point about the perception of favoritism, I think Eddie was stuck in a tough spot of trying to please everybody. In one corner was Shawn Williams who was coaching Dane and had appeared on a Budo Jake podcast with Eddie and had rolled with him in the past. In Joe Murphy’s corner was a coach who was also on the production staff of the EBI. Eddie’s relationships with both parties, put him in a tough spot which further drives home the point that he should step aside from officiating matches and move to a commentary or emcee role which would really help him promote the future events.

What’s Next for EBI

The next EBI is in February 2015 and I definitely plan on attending it. The UFC Network’s CEO Hugh McCarthy was in attendance for the event and his presence hints at the possibility of the EBI eventually moving to the UFC Fight Pass online network. This would be a huge step for the event in helping reach a larger Jiu Jitsu and MMA audience.

Some things I would like to see in the next event are

Geo Martinez in a Super Fight: I believe Geo Martinez is the Royce Gracie of the EBI and he should be competing at the event in a super fight rather than the tournament. I would love to see him go against one of the Mendes brothers, Miyao brothers, or Cobrinha in a main event super fight.

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UFC Network CEO Hugh McCarthy got to EBI way early :-)

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Bring back the submission bonuses: The submission bonuses were the key to have competitors push the pace and go for the kill from start to finish. That is what made the first event so much fun to watch. Hopefully through better sponsorship sales and activation and money from a UFC Fight Pass broadcast deal, they will be able to bring the bonuses back into the mix.

Bring in more stars: Building upon the point above, bring back more Garry Tonon, Jeff Glover, and Bill Cooper style competitors that will push the pace and make the event more entertaining.

Saturday or Sunday 4 or 5 PM start time: Ending an event at 2 AM in the morning is just too late for fans.

The event should only be 3 to 4 hours long: Better time management and planning to condense the event from 6 hours down to 3 to 4. 6 hours is just too long.

Acai Bowl Stand: Self explanatory.

My Review of the Eddie Bravo Invitational 2

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"There is no losing in jiu jitsu. You either win or you learn.” – Carlson Gracie

We live in a culture that is focused on winning. There are quotes that you will hear from little league fields to adult recreation basketball leagues like “second place is the first loser” or “winning isn’t everything it is the only thing.” As a culture, we praise the winners and forget and mock the losers for their shortcomings.

There is little room to appreciate “the warrior spirit” or the hard work and grind that an athlete or team puts into competing once they fall short of their goals and expectations. The learning and personal growth that comes from the setbacks in sports is often forgotten to the point where we shield kids from losing by not keeping score during youth soccer games or awarding medals to all children regardless of outcome.

What differentiates Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other martial arts competitions is the understanding and appreciation by the practitioners that nothing is instantaneous. It is a long, slow, grueling process of learning, setbacks, and learning more from your setbacks. This philosophy goes against the grain of both the “winning is everything” and instant gratification mindset that we have been indoctrinated into by the society we live in.  

Osvaldo “Ozzie” Rios is an embodiment of the “warrior spirit” and the martial arts approach to training and competing. Ozzie started his Jiu Jitsu competition career going winless in his first 10 matches. On both a physical and mental level, competing in Jiu Jitsu could be a very daunting task. There are the weeks of training and dieting, to the mental aspects of dealing with fear, doubt, and your own ego as others watch you compete in hand-to-hand combat against somebody who is ranked at the same level of skill and age. Even after putting in the time and overcoming the physical and mental challenges, there is no guarantee that you will be successful. While some might give up on competing after several loses, Ozzie took a very different mental approach to training and competing. His positive outlook and understanding that learning and competing in Jiu Jitsu is a long process helped him grow both as a martial artist and put him in a position to win his first match and place second at the 5 Grappling California 2 competition in September 2014.

Ozzie’s journey into Jiu Jitsu started as a bet among friends in August of 2011.

“I was having Korean BBQ with friends and we made a bet that one of my friends who was 6’1 and 210 lbs couldn’t lay on me for 3 minutes straight,” said Ozzie. “I took him up on the bet and he laid on me for 3 minutes straight. I didn’t like that feeling.”

After losing the bet, his friend Alan, a Jiu Jitsu student at 5 Star Martial Arts, invited him to attend a class with him. In his first class, Ozzie was hooked after learning the De La Riva Guard transition to sit up guard to a sweep. He started to train 3 days week and realized early on that it would be a long learning process.

“It took a while. I asked around. I asked Coach Alex and Coach Armand. They molded my approach to Jiu JItsu. It was a slower process,” said Ozzie. “If you want to learn everything it will take longer. It is not something I planned to do for 6 months and expected to get good at it. It is not like I expected to do it for a year and expect great things. I understood from the beginning that this would be a 10 year process.”

Ozzie trained consistently for over a year until he was bitten by a dog in November 2012. Ozzie saw a 90 lb German Sheppard attacking a woman and her small puppy on the street. Ozzie intervened, but in doing so was bitten by the German Sheppard in the right bicep, causing the bicep muscle to be detached from the bone. The injury put Ozzie on the shelf for 4 months and when he returned to the training in April 2013 he was approached by a training partner about competing in a Jiu Jitsu tournament. He said the part of the pitch that sold him as he recalled was “At least you can say you have been in a martial arts tournament and that was pretty cool.”

After deciding to train for his first competition, Ozzie increased his training to 5 to 6 days a week and started training with his school’s competition team. He made his debut at the 2013 IBJJF Worlds where he lost to the eventual Gold medalist in the first round by arm bar in his first match. Next came the NABJJF Los Angeles Open, then the IBJJF Las Vegas Summer Open and number of other tournaments. While the scoreboard favored his opponents, Ozzie using each of the matches to learn and further develop his Jiu Jitsu game.

When asked if he grew if he grew frustrated over his setbacks, he said “No, there is always something to learn. You can go back and review. I get frustrated when no one records the match and I have nothing to review.”

The streak continued into 2015, but progress was being made and improvements were noticeable in Ozzie’s game during competitions. In his first few matches he was losing by submissions, and then as he progressed he was losing by points. At the 2014 Worlds, he lost to the winner of the Houston Open 2-0. In 3 of his last 4 matches prior to 5 Grappling, he scored first, but then lost on points or by submission. In 75% to 80% of matches, the competitor who scores first wins and for Ozzie to score first, and then lose in 3 of 4 matches was just puzzling. Ozzie was now in a realm where he was almost a statistical anomaly. Even then he was still mentally resilient.

“It depends on your perspective. I am usually the lightest guy in my division,” said Ozzie. “Other guys are bigger, stronger and more explosive. So for me to get to the point where that its that close. I would lose because I moved too much or rushed it would still be a great feeling because I was the smaller guy. That can get fixed. Watching footage and getting feedback from teammates and coaches. That can get fixed easily. That is not a big mistake. I can work on things every single day.”

With each month of training and each competition, his game plan and identity as a Jiu JItsu player evolved.

“At first I wanted to take people down since Professor Shawn Williams wanted us to be well rounded. It is a great way to start the match, but you have to be good at takedowns to get takedowns and I wasn’t so I started to pull guard. And I started having more success and getting more sweeps. I think it is a process of experimenting and finding your groove.”

When asked how he stayed so mentally strong and positive, while most others would have become frustrated, Ozzie spoke about how he grew from a bench player on his junior high  team to becoming a starter in his senior year  for his varsity high school basketball team. This experience taught him valuable lessons and instilled character traits that he transferred to Jiu Jitsu.

“Things never go my way. When I was 12 or 13 I started playing basketball and I was horrible. For the first 2 or 3 seasons I was sitting on the bench,” said Ozzie. “I maybe got maybe 3 or 4 minutes a game if I was lucky. I understand there is process where I am going to suck and you have to grind it out. When you get good at something, there are more components. There is more to scoring, offense. There are transitions, ball movement.”

At the 5 Grappling tournament at Long Beach Poly High School, Ozzie was in a 3-person bracket where the first two competitors would face off in the first match, followed by a second match featuring the loser of match 1 and the third competitor. The winner of the first and second matches would then face off in the finals. Ozzie drew the first match and faced an opponent from Gracie Barra. While Ozzie is taller and leaner, his opponent was shorter and stockier. Despite his opponent’s compact build, Ozzie managed to take his opponent down with a double leg. After alternating top position several times, Ozzie won by points 5-3. The monkey was off his back. As the clock winded down to zero, there was a loud cheer from his training partners and teammates through the gymnasium.

When asked about the applause Ozzie said “When I got the first takedown. There was a wave of roars that swept through the mats. It is the best part. Going into a match knowing you have 10 or 15 guys in your corner and the other guy goes back into his corner and there is only 1 or 2 people there. It gives you good feeling overall.”

In his second match, which was for the Gold, Ozzie faced an opponent from the Clark Gracie school. Ozzie again took his opponent down and fought valiantly in a back and forth match that he lost 7-6 in the closing minute. In the end though, all the hard work, sacrifice, and the grind of going through the process to develop his game and identity had paid off with his first Silver medal.

Unlike his other competitions, Ozzie showed a very effective double leg takedown that he had studied and drilled for several months. The growth in his Jiu Jitsu takedown game put him in position to win both of his matches and highlighted the growth of his game from somebody unsure of whether to pull or takedown and opponent, to somebody who was very confident to do either.

“I am not going to be the biggest. I am not going to be the strongest. So I did my homework. I started watching Cary Kolat and Jordan Burrough. A couple things I picked up from them. I started watching (teammate and former college wrestler) Cody Bitler and some of the things he was doing. The way I visualized in my head made it easy to implement. Something clicked. There is still room for improvement.”

Never satisfied and always looking to grow and improve his game, has Ozzie come a long way since he was unable to move when his friend laid on top of him after a night of Korean BBQ. A week after winning his first match and winning the Silver medal at the 5 Grappling Tournament, Ozzie was promoted to Blue belt. The promotion is symbolic of Ozzie’s persistence and positive attitude during the first leg of his Jiu Jitsu career. 

No Losing. Just Winning or Learning

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