We're moving again!

Please join us at our new location inside of Mind Your Body Oasis Yoga Studio, located at 1750 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202. Class will be Monday and Wednesday at 8:30pm. 

See you there... 

New Group Photo

From left to right:

Dave (Sauce), Tom, Brad (Wombat), Aaron, J (our Sensei), Joe and Steve (Colossus)

We finally got around to taking a new group photo... Pictured above all of the members with a blue belt or higher, who decided to show up for the photo.

We Moved!

Good News and Bad news. The Bad news first: The Gym we rented space from was sold and will be turned into a hipster bar. The Good News is that we found a new space nearby. We moved to Hard Training Club at 1726 Kalorama Road in Adams Morgan.

Classes will Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 10pm. Monthly fee will include a membership to Hard Training Club Gym. See you all at the new space!

Class Scedule on Labor Day

Since most people have the day off on Monday, Labor Day, September 9, 2009, we will be having class at 10am instead of the usual time. Classes resume the normal schedule the following day.

T-Shirts , Promotion

UFC Fight:
Check your yahoo group email to find out where we will be meeting for the next UFC fight (probably Public Bar in Dupont, since it's convenient for everyone, but check your email before the fight to be sure).

School T shirts:
The new T-shirts are in. They are red with white logo and lettering. There are only a few left in Large or XL, so if you want one, see J. They are $20.

Promotion:
After winning two gold medals at Copa Nova, (for a total of five gold medals in the last two tournaments) Joaquin was promoted to Blue Belt. Congratulations! Now he can start terrorizing some higher belts at the upcoming tournaments.

Submission Only Tournament pic and Vids

Here's a pic of three of the Capitol Combat Sports guys at the submission only tournament in Richmond last week. From left to right, Tom, Joaquin and Dave. This was a no-time limit tournament--all wins by submission. The shortest match was 14 seconds, the longest match was 34 minutes. Joaquin (in his first tournament) came close to being the longest match with a 31 minute bout. Jordan (not pictured) also made his first tournament appearance and won a bronze medal. Benny made his second tournament appearance and won a silver.

Tournament Results, US Grappling Submission Only iV

The results: 3 Gold Medals, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze. It was great seeing everybody out there competing at this well run tournament. Work schedules and injuries prevented some people from competing, but others were eager to try out this unique no-time limit tournament. Wins are by submission only, no matter how long they take.

Men's No-Gi Divisions
Advanced 205 and up
3 Hi-Woon Kang

Intermediate 150-159.9
1st Joaquin Azero

Beginner up to 139.9
2nd Benjamin Saunders

Novice Absolute 150-169.9
3rd Jordan Davenport



Men's Gi Divisions
Men's Blue Belt 160-169.9
3rd Tom Mooney -

Men's Blue Belt 205-219.9
2nd Hi-Woon Kang -

Men's White Belt 159-159.9
1st Joaquin Azero -

30+ Gi Divisions
30+ White Belt Up to 159.9
1st Joaquin Azero

UFC 100

It was great seeing everyone out at Public Bar for UFC 100. This was a new venue for everyone, but the consensus is that it's a great place for UFC fights. Plenty of TVs, booths and booze, and the location in Dupont Circle seemed convenient for everyone.

Just a reminder that if any of you are planning on going to the next couple of tournaments, (the Submission Only tournament this saturday/sunday or the Copa Nova tournament), either as a competitor, or just for moral support, let us know in class so that we can figure out the carpooling situation. Good luck!

Memorial Day Class?

There will be no class on Monday night May 25 (Memorial Day). For those that are off from work that day, we will have class on Monday morning at 10am. once again: NO CLASS ON MONDAY NIGHT MAY 25. (class is in the morning).

Bull in The Ring

Who knows who starts these weird traditions? Whenever it's someone's birthday, or they get married or some other big life event we do something called "Bull in the Ring". (As if people needed further discouragement from getting married). Basically, the person being honored has to roll with every in class for a minute each, with no breaks. So, if 15 people show up that day, 15 people = 15 minutes non-stop rolling with 15 fresh opponents.

Anyway, here is a message from Jason about it:

"Wanted to remind everyone that [Today] is Jody's last day...he's moving to Denmark because he's tired of getting beat-up by people smaller than him. Let's make an effort to have as many people present as possible to wish him a proper goodbye via bull-in-the- ring."

So, for those of you that read this blog, but haven't been coming to class regularly, see you tonight!

Copa Nova May 2009 Results

Although none of our adults competed at this event, we did have a couple of kids competing, with James and Tom driving down to corner for them. Despite his eye surgery, Tom made the trip down and will be well enough to start training again this week. Congrats to Rael and Dean for an outstanding effort!

Advanced Children No Gi
69 lbs.
2nd Place Rael Griffin

Advanced Teen No Gi
169 lbs.
2nd Place Dean Szollory

Fedor / Aoki Exhibition Match

I found this on YouTube, so you may as well enjoy it before it gets taken down or flagged. It's a video of the exhibition match between Fedor and Shinya Aoki. Fedor outweighs Shinya by about 100 pounds, but does surprisingly well against the Russian who is arguably the best fighter in MMA. The smooooooth takedowns are particularly impressive. Enjoy!

Swine Flu and You

We disinfect the mats before every class, but no matter how careful you are, if you are in close proximity to others you should take steps to minimize your chances of getting sick from anything on the mats (inlcuding staph, flu and other bad things). Here are some simple things you can do to protect yourself:

1) wear a long sleeve rashguard and your gi pants. In the summer people tend to want to roll no-gi, but rolling in shorts and a t-shirt puts more of your skin in direct contact with the mat.

2) if you are sick, stay home. No one wants your flu! you might feel well enough to go to work, but don't roll with people unless you are completely well. Some people in class have babies at home, so be considerate. If you are sick, feel free to watch class and take notes if you want, or ask someone to go over what you missed when you get back.

3) take a shower as soon as you get home. Simple soap and water will kill the staph virus, and it takes a couple of hours for it to take hold, so you have plenty of time to wash your hands/take a shower.

4) care for the mats. we disinfect the mats before each class, but if you walk off the mats barefoot and then walk back on, you will track germs on it. Have some flip flop sandals that you can put on when you leave the mat so your bare feet don't touch the floor in other parts of the gym.

5) bandage up your cuts. staph infections usually happen when you have a cut and it comes in contact with something that is not sterile. keep your cuts bandaged when you are rolling. If you don't have bandages or tape, ask someone in class for it (usually several people have some).

A Picture is worth 1000 words

Since you probably don't like reading blogs without pictures, here's a shot of the jiu jitsu club from Capitol Combat Sports at US Grappling's Dominion Grappling Championship.

It's  impossible for you to train at a small club like ours without developing a strong sense of camaraderie with your training partners.  If you're not sure if you want to compete or not, going to the tournament is a great way for you to support your gym friends and see what the competition is like at tournaments.   When you see your training partners competing and winning, it will take away any concerns you have about whether your ready or not to test your skills against people from other schools.  And you may just walk home with some medals to show your wife or girlfriend.  Or both, if you're lucky. 

*****

If you want to make an appointment to see the school or take a free class, drop us a line at info@capitolcombatsports.com