September 11, 2010
Helio Soneca Seminar

Soneca will be giving a seminar at our school on this day from 1:30 - 3:30. The cost is only $50. We are a Helio Soneca Association school, so please come and support this seminar.

Regular class will be held on this day from 12:00 - 1:00

August 30th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

After an awesome tournament performance at the state championships, Brad Wilcox and Darryl Lawson both received their blue belts from Rick Sparks. These guys have been training like crazy, and are both tough and technical. Congrats guys!

 

August 28th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

Congratulations to Kayla Stephens who received her blue belt from Rick Sparks on the podium at the Tennessee State BJJ Championships after winning the gold. Kayla has won gold in all three tournaments in which she has competed. Big Congrats for a well deserved promotion!!

 

Jeremy and Brad Share the Podium after fighting their way to the finals. Jeremy beat Brad like a drum in the coin tossing contest. Sorry Brad, but "tails" was a terrible call.

 

August 28th, 2010
Tennessee State BJJ Championships

HUGE CONGRATS TO OUR FOUR NEW STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

We had a great showing at the State Championships. We had 6 competitors, and two were in the same pool. But we still brought back 4 gold medals. Everyone who competed for us got at the least, a silver medal.

Justin Headrick: Gold No-Gi Advanced
Kayla Stephens: Gold Gi
Jeremy Sizemore: Gold Gi
Dan Hoggit: Gold No-Gi Intermediate
Brad Wilcox: Silver Gi
Darryl Lawson: Silver Gi

Everybody did a fantastic job. Justin won in impressive fashion in a large stacked division that had some purple belts competing in it. Brad and Jeremy fought their way to the final in same division, and settled the match with a coin flip that Jeremy won. Dan defeated a blue belt who is also a judoka on his way to victory in his no-gi division. Kayla defeated all of her opponents, and Darryl lost a tough fight in the finals of his division to a very tough collegiate wrestler, who in the words of his coach, smashes every blue belt in their academy. I am very proud of everyone's performance at the tournament.

We also got third in the no-gi team competition with a very small team to amass points. Amazing!

Also, thanks for everyone who came and supported our competitors. Nice teamwork guys!

 

July 24th, 2010 (Saturday)
Class Re-Schedule and Work Day

On Saturday, July 24th, we will be doing some work to repair the outside wall at the dojo. We will be meeting there at 8:00 AM to do this work. If you could come and help, it would be really appreciated. Bring a shovel or other digging tool if you have one. No construction experience necessary, we have some experienced guys, but of course it would be a plus.

The class will be rescheduled to 1:00 - 2:30 on this day. Sorry for any inconvenience that this might cause, but this work has to be done if we are to keep the dojo in reasonable repair.

 

 

July 20th, 2010
New Video Resources

The curriculum instructional videos for purple belt and beyond have been slowly growing. We now have over 150 instructional videos in the student only area.

 

June 9th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

Dennis Wright has been involved in Judo and Jiu-Jitsu for about 15 years. He is a Judo blackbelt with a strong throwing and top game. After training BJJ for about 2 years now, he received his blue belt from Rick Sparks today. Congrats Dennis!

 

May 15th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

Big Congrats to Allan Ho who received his blue belt from Rick Sparks on the podium at the Smokey Mountain Open just after he won the gold. Allan put on a textbook display of beautiful BJJ and Judo, combined just the way they should be. Way to go Allan!

 

 

May 15th, 2010
Smokey Mountain Grappling Open

Huge Congrats to all our winners!!! Every single person who competed for our team won a medal today.

In the team points competition, even though we had no kids team, which basically meant we were competing with half as many competitors to get points as the other top teams, we still got third in the team no-gi, and fourth in the team gi.

6 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals.

Allan Ho: Gold Gi
Justin Headrick: Gold No-Gi
Zack Smitely: Gold No-Gi
Zack Smitely: Bronze Gi
Alex Basiri: Silver Gi
Dan Hoggit: Gold No Gi
Dan Hoggit: Bronze Gi
Brad Wilcox: Gold No-Gi
Kayla Stephens: Gold Gi
Chris Miller: Bronze Gi
Darryl Lawson: Bronze Gi

Also congrats to Steve Cox (of team Monster), who competed with us today, and medalled. Way to go Steve!

There were too many amazing performances to detail them all here, but I cannot do this without mentioning the throw of the tournament by Allan Ho. He hit an incredible Harai-Goshi, the whole auditorium cheered when he hit it! Kaboooomm!

Great job everyone!!!

 

April 14th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

Big Congrats to Chris Miller who just received his blue belt from Rick Sparks. Chris has been training BJJ for many years, and this was a well deserved promotion. Chris has successfully competed in tournament, winning a silver medal in the last state championship. Chris has always had a very tough takedown and top game, and now his guard is excellent as well.

April 17th, 2010
Draculino Seminar at Samuel Braga's

The amazing Draculino will be giving a seminar at Samuel Braga's school in west Knoxville. Draculino has produced and astounding number of world champions, including Samuel Braga. Time is from 12:00 - 2:30. I strongly encourage everyone to try to attend. The cost will be only $60.

TNBJJ Schedule Change for this Day

We will modify our schedule on this day to accommodate this. The TNBJJ class will start at 10:00 and end at 11:30 sharp. I will be going directly to the seminar from Alcoa.

March 17th, 2010
Blue Belt Promotion

Eric Horton just received his blue belt from Rick Sparks. Eric started training under Michael Carter at the school almost 3 and a half years ago, and has continued with Rick since. He is also a two time BJJ tournament champion. This was a well deserved and somewhat overdue promotion. Congrats Eric!!

February 27, 2010
NAGA National BJJ Championships

Brad Wilcox won the bronze medal at the NAGA national bjj championships in a huge and tough division of 26 competitors. Amazing job Brad!!!

October 23rd, 2009
T-Shirts Coming Soon...

Tennessee Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Shirts.
Will be Available in White or Black.

 

Update: December 2009:

T-Shirts are Here!

October 17th, 2009
Tennessee State BJJ Championships

HUGE CONGRATS to our 3 NEW STATE CHAMPIONS!! Zack Smitely, Eric Horton, and Kayla Stephens all brought home the gold! Our team also won 2 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals.

Zack Smitely also won silver in the gi, losing only to "Big Judo" Mike, who has won gold at the purple belt level in about half a dozen tournaments. Chris Miller had a great showing winning a silver medal in gi division. Dan Hoggit brought home two bronze medals, one in the gi, and one in no-gi.

Chris, Zack, and Dan all had at least one match where they submitted their opponents in less than 30 seconds.

I am very proud of everyone who competed today, everyone fought very well. Way to go team! Our guys, who only train 2 times per week at most, fought very well against many competitors that train 3 to 5 times per week!

If anyone has a picture of Chris at the podium, or of Zack at the podium for the no-gi, please e-mail them to me.

October 17, 2009
Black Belt Promotion

TNBJJ Co-instructor Gavin Enck received his black belt today from Royler Gracie. Way to go Gavin!!!!

 

 

August 19th, 2009
Blue Belt Promotions

Zack Smitely and Brian Dwyer both received their blue belts from Rick Sparks. Brian is a Judo blackbelt who was first introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu over 10 years ago. Zack has been training diligently and has competed successfully in several BJJ tournaments as well as having notched a nice MMA victory. Also pictured here is John Miller, who received his first stripe.

July 25, 2009
Kentucky Open Championship

The TNBJJ competition team did an excellent job at the tournament. Everyone fought extremely well.

Eric Horton won the heavyweight division with an impressive display of Judo and Jiu-Jitsu skills. He executed the throw of the tournament, hitting a huge Harai-goshi in the gold medal match. He went on to dominate his opponent in this match, securing the gold.
(Watch Eric's Throw Here)

Dan Hoggit fought in a huge no-gi division, stacked with skilled wrestlers. Dan submitted his first opponent, and blanked his second opponent winning 16-0. He fought a war in the semi-final match, losing by the lowest possible margin, one advantage. He then went on to win his final match and earn the bronze medal.

 

July 22, 2009
Purple Belt Curriculum

The TNBJJ Purple Belt curriculum is now available in the student resources section

 

 

July 9, 2009
Blue Belt Promotion

After 2 and 1/2 years of solid dedicated training time, Greg Wenndt received his well deserved blue belt from Rick Sparks.

May 29, 2009
Saturday Class Schedule Change

Starting in June, we will be expanding the Saturday class to 1 and 1/2 hours, and eliminating the open mat. Class will start at the same time (10:30 AM), and end at 12:00 Noon. I will stay around after the class to answer questions as always. The Wed Class is unchanged (8:15-9:35 PM).

 

 

May 15, 2009
Please Help the Club Grow

Download our flyer by clicking here, print out a few copies, and hang them up where prospective new members might see them.

Update: Flyer has been updated as of August 7, 2010.

 

 

May 2, 2009
EGO Grappling Tournament in Nashville

TNBJJ student Allan Ho competed in the gi division of the ego grappling tournament and won a bronze medal. In his match for third place, he passed using the Margarida pass, and submitted his opponent in only about 1 minute. Good job Allan!

 

May 2, 2009
Blue Belt Promotion

After three solid tournament performances in the last 6 months, and about a year and a half of solid mat time, Justin Headrick received his well deserved blue belt from Rick Sparks.

April 29, 2009
TNBJJ New 2 Day Per Week Class Schedule will Start on April 29th!

Due to significant demand, we will start having 2 classes per week at the end of April. The new class will be 8:15 - 9:35 on Wednesday Evenings. The first Wednesday class will be on April 29th.

 

April 28th, 2009
Video Resources Now Online!!

The 80 techniques of the TNBJJ White to Blue Belt Curriculum are now online, organized by stripe. These videos are available for all monthly and private lesson students.

April 25th, 2009
Smokey Mountain Grappling Open

TNBJJ sent three competitors to the Smokey Mountain Open tournament and came back with two gold medals, and two silver medals. Congrats to Zack Smitely who won the gi division. Zack received his fourth stripe on the podium, with high quality masking tape! Congrats to Justin Headrick who won the no-gi division and placed second in the gi division. Congrats to Dan Hoggit who got second in his no-gi division.

TNBJJ Association school LMU BJJ/MMA Club member Adam McKenzie also won gold at the tournament. Congrats to Adam, and also to Alex Basiri, for his first, and very excellent tournament coaching job!

Since we did not have class on this day, there will be a free makeup class on April 29th, 2009, Wed at 8:15

April 22, 2009
New Student Resources Available

Guys, I have begun to post the white belt stripe by stripe requirements, the game plan flowcharts, and the technique videos. Go to the resources tab, and click on the link in the "For Students Only" section. You will need the password I sent you via e-mail. Be patient as this takes a tremendous amount of time for me to complete.

April 4 and 11, 2009
TNBJJ Saturday Classes Begin

We had a good turnout for our first two classes. 8 guys showed up in the first class, and we had 15 people on the mat for the second class, even though it was Easter weekend! We had several BJJ blue belts, as well as some Judo brown and black belts in attendance. I am not in the picture because I took it.

April 4, 2009
Gordo Seminar

Roberto "Gordo" Correa, who is credited with revolutionizing the bjj competition game with the introduction of the half guard, gave an awesome seminar at Samuel Braga's School in West Knoxville. In attendance from TNBJJ were Zack Smitely, Alex Basiri, Michael Carter, and Rick Sparks.

At the seminar Soneca promoted Michael Carter to purple Belt, way to go Michael!

 

 

December 6, 2008
Blue Belt Promotion

After winning first in the no-gi division at the Helio Soneca Tournament in KY, and about 2 and half years of hard work, 2-time BJJ tournament champion Alex Basiri received his well deserved blue belt from Rick Sparks.

December 6, 2008
Helio Soneca Grappling Tournament

TN BJJ Club sent a three man team to the Helio Soneca Grappling Tournament in Louisville, KY. Congrats to Dr. Michael Carter for winning the masters division, to Alex Basiri for winning the no-gi division, and Zack Smitley for winning a silver medal in the gi division.

 

Alex Basiri, TN State Champ!

October 11, 2008
Tennessee BJJ State Championships

Congrats to Alex Basiri for winning the gold at the TN BJJ State Championship. He submitted all three of his opponents in around a minute each. Also congrats to Justin Headrick, who took silver in the no-gi division.

July 26, 2008
Black Belt Promotion

Rick receives his BJJ black belt from Helio Soneca at the Kentucky Open in front of 500+ spectators and competitors. So many helped me reach this goal, thanks to all!

July 6, 2008
Helio Soneca Seminar

Soneca came to association school Appalachia Martial Arts and put on an Awesome seminar. Thanks to everyone who came out!!

Soneca student John Miller received his blue belt from Soneca at the seminar. Way to go John!