Houston Open Results for Nova Uniao
HOUSTON OPEN
0SUBMITTED BY SCOOP ON FRI, 22 FEBRUARY 2013, 06:47
Another podium finish added to the excitement for Nova Uniao last weekend. The Houston open took place and the NU team showed that the plans of getting back on the podium at the Worlds are serious. Placing third, just a few medals behind second, the group had a lot to show for in all the divisions.
The standouts of the tournament were Fernando Salas, Cooper Cardinale, Jared Lorenz, Kaue Damasceno, and Ricardo Bastos. Salas and Cardinale both won at blue/adult in light and middle respectively, while Lorenz took home the gold in the purple/adult middle category. At brown/adult, Damasceno finished on top of the podium in the super heavy and open divisions. And last, but certainly not least, Bastos took third in the adult/black ultra heavy division and then made a comeback to win the open weight.
Winners from Bastos BJJ Midland include were Roberto Ramirez, Adrian Castillo, Gabe Hernandez, and Brad Barnes
Bruno Bastos on the art of producing a juvenile World Champ
Marcelo Dunlop
@MarceloDunlop
June 16, 2012
How do you polish up a young blue belt to the point of putting him atop the winners’ podium at a Jiu-Jitsu World Championship? Bruno Bastos and team Nova União got a taste of such an achievement in Long Beach early this month, but they say it was by no means easy on anybody.
Isaque Bahiense, a medium heavyweight trained in Brazil by the black belt Fabio Andrade, had to put in long hours of grueling training, eat right and do a good job of resting as well. The captains of Nova União did the rest, and the young blue belt claimed his place as juvenile absolute champion of the world.
“There are a number of different aspects that led Isaque to this year’s absolute title. One of them was experience, given how he tried and came up short last year. Had he not lost, he may well not have won this year,” said Bruno Bastos during a chat with GRACIEMAG.com.
(Watch Isaque in action at the 2011 Worlds.)
“Now having a good coaching staff is essential. The work Isaque put in, and the efforts of our juvenile whole juvenile team, ended in Long Beach, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Ever since last year, we’d been planning who would come here to Texas from Rio de Janeiro, weighed the financial cost involved, and we put in a lot of dedication too. That’s why, even though our team at the Worlds was small, we took second place in the juvenile competition, as we had great quality on the team. The work my cousin André Basto and my black belt Fabio Andrade did in the Vila Valqueire and Bangu neighborhoods was key. There are others too, but there isn’t enough room to thank them all,” he remarked.
So Bruno shares a key pointer on how to work in a team.
“You can’t keep to yourself when working in a group. Even from far away, it was the joint effort, communication and, mainly, the confidence in the work being done that brought the results our kids came up with. Besides training a lot, the teachers were in communication the whole time. And every now and again I go to Brazil or bring kids to the academy in Texas,” he said in summing up how the team arrived at the desired outcome.
To wrap up, Bastos placed his bets for 2013.
“”We’ve already started planning for the 2013 Worlds. Our goal is to take first place as a team and produce American champions. This was only the second year of our exchange and it’s already panned out, so I ask, ‘Can you doubt us?’ I guarantee that we’ll have an American blue belt champion next year. You can count on it,” said the Jiu-Jitsu professor in closing.
Bruno Bastos Discusses Training for Copa Pódio and Shows Half-Guard Pass
Vitor Freitas
@Vitorbjjfreitas
January 2, 2013
Bruno Bastos is one of the aces on the card for the Copa Pódio Heayvweight GP. (Personal archive photo)
The year is now underway and with it comes the 2013 Jiu-Jitsu season. The first big event of the fledgling gentle-art calendar, the Copa Pódio Heavyweight GP in Rio, is already just around the corner, and the gi-clad aces in it are hard at training.
Confirmed for the card of the January 13 event, the seasoned Bruno Bastos is sharpening up his technique with Nova União’s elite, and even got in a roll with Fernando Tererê.
“My group is really evenly matched, and everyone has a chance of going through,” Bruno says in the following GRACIEMAG.com interview, adding, I think I’m going to surprise a lot of people.
GRACIEMAG: You’ve recovered from the arm injury that kept you from facing Roberto Tussa in the IBJJ Pro League final, right?
BRUNO BASTOS: That’s right. Five days after the event I was already back at training. It was a contracture of the forearm that had a lot to do with my overtraining because I wanted to be 100% for all the events I entered. I was training more than I should have. I really wanted to have competed and won that final, because it was the first of its kind in IBJJF history. I’ll be competing at it again in 2013.
How is your training camp for the Heavyweight GP going?
Training’s going great. I couldn’t have had a better camp. At my academy in Midland, Texas, I had first-rate sparring partners, as my brother Ricardo Bastos and the Nova União up-and-comers were helping me out. Besides them, I got in some training with Gustavo Dantas, Robson Moura, Vitor Shaolin and Renato Charuto. My physical conditioning is going great under the supervision of Giulliano Massaras. Now I’m wrapping up with Rodrigo Feijão, Daniel Garcia, André Bastos, Henrique Pelé, André Marolo and my black belt Fabio Andrade’s gang in Bangu. Plus I had some luxury training with the legend Fernando Tererê. Not bad, huh?
What’s your take on your group at Copa Pódio?
In my opinion it’s a really thorny group, really evenly matched. Everyone has a chance of going through to the next phase. My strategy will be to fight to win. That’s how it is for me every competition. I think I’m going to surprise some people.
Watch Brown Belt Kaue Damasceno vs. Rodrigo Pinheiro at Texas Trials
Vitor Freitas
@Vitorbjjfreitas
February 8, 2013
Kaue Damasceno celebrates victory. (Photo by Mike Calimbas)
The new generation is coming and already showing what it’s bringing to the table. The latest leg of the WPJJC Trials took place last weekend in San Antonio, Texas, and there a star of this incoming generation was revealed.
Kaue Damasceno, a Nova União brown belt, was the big name of the under-92 kg brown/black belt division, as he beat a game Rodrigo Pinheiro in the final to secure his travel to Abu Dhabi for the main event. The Fábio Andrade student also shone in the absolute, where he stepped aside in the semifinals to let Bruno Bastos go through.
Check out Kaue against Rodrigo Pinheiro in the following video:
Bastos Weighs-in on PED testing at IBJJF events
The IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu calendar rolls on, and next weekend it’s time for the Houston Open to heat things up at the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center. Some noteworthy world champions have already assured their places in the mix, like Rafael and Guilherme Mendes, Rafael Lovato Jr., Stephen Hall, Ulpiano Malachias and Ricardo Bastos.
One of the favorites to win gold has brought down the pace, though. Bruno Bastos of Nova União Texas, who has already won the black belt absolute in Houston before, explained what this “non-training” phase of his is all about.
“Obviously what I expect is to represent my team, as well as to watch some of the students who have excellent chances of medaling. But the truth is that now I’m in a non-training phase. I’ve been letting my body rest a lot since last year I suffered a bunch of injuries, so after Copa Pódio I decelerated. After the Houston Open I’ll ramp up my training again, to get in shape for the major tournaments on the competition calendar,” Bruno tells GRACIEMAG.com. To return to his winning ways, the Jiu-Jitsu professor already has his game plan in place.
“My strategy is to always keep ahead on points so as to save energy and use my experience to play it as it lays. I can trade grips playing judo, pull and play guard, or go for the pass. That’s always an advantage,” he adds.
Bruno will also be trying his hand at the Pan again this coming March, the first time testing for banned substances will be carried out on medal winners. However, unlike other fans and athletes, Bruno isn’t taking too kindly to the change.
“To me the testing shouldn’t change much when it comes to results. These days people have this notion that a lot of folks are winning in Jiu-Jitsu just because they’re on performance enhancers. Wrong! Everybody trains like mad. Of course if you’re using some substance you’ll be having some extra help; but ultimately if you’re not good at Jiu-Jitsu, you’re not going to win,” opines Bastos.
“Furthermore, I feel a lot of folks are uninformed. People think it’s cool to do testing to make it look like the sport’s clean, but what if you’ve got a fever one day before competing and can’t take the proper medication? Do you know what you can take? Everyone knows that taking the wrong medication will come up as doping. What if a woman’s got cramps? Does she or doesn’t she take anything for it? Will she not take it and suffer because she doesn’t know if it’s okay to take or not? In other words, they think it’s great to ask for testing but not a lot of people are informed about the details; it’s not part of their culture. What about supplements? Guys take them all the time… Is it doping or isn’t it? And I’m not going to even get into those who smoke and are asking for testing. So, let’s see what happens starting with the Pan,” he says in closing.
Check out who all will be competing at the Houston Open by clicking here.
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