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Grappling is a term that categorizes many forms of wrestling, and submission wrestling under one name. Grappling is known as any form of fighting on the floor. Ground fighting was made famous in the early UFC tournaments by BJJ Champion, Royce Gracie. Many people were amazed at the way Royce submitted opponents much bigger and stronger than him. The grappling explosion began after the UFC tournaments. Grappling classes are now added to most martial arts schools curriculum.
1999 Picture above from left to right, Dave(who lives in Brazil and trains Bjj daily), Nick (Judo Blackbelt, and BJJ student), James Boran (BJJ blackbelt, champion) Dan Regan, Wes, Alex(now a Serra BJJ brown belt), and Jose. |
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Dan Regan was doing Grappling before it became so popular, he was influenced by real world experince with wrestlers. Dan was always fond of grappling. He wrestled as a youth, in school programs. He never pursued it in High School, but was friends with many guys on the wrestling team. One day, Danny was reminded of how effective grappling was, by a friend of his. One day, they were sparring, Dan was already doing Wing Chun and Kali for many years, and his friend had just wrestled for a few years. He was able to get Dan on the ground a few times and he was all over him. He controlled Dan very well, and Dan couldn't move. Dan says he was humbled by the experience,he didn't like someone being able to control him so easily. He put his ego aside, and joined a grappling classin 1993
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Dan started doing Shooto, and later BJJ. He trained with as many people as he could. He went to many seminars to get some pointers from some of the best guys around.
He started training with friends of his, who were learning at Kioto, Renzo,Serra, etc. Some of these guys were great, and they all exchanged techniques.
Pictured above, 2001 Marcos Santos(Machado BJJ Blackbelt) and Dan Regan. This photo was taken after a seminar that Dan hosted for Marcos .
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Dan started hosting his own seminars, to bring in the people he felt were best to learn from, as well as attending any seminars he could afford to go to. He has done seminars with Gokor, Marcos Santos, James Boran, Pedro Sauer and many others.
His personal belief is that BJJ is best at positioning and conserving energy and using opponents force against him, Shooto is best at combining stand up and grappling and using extensive lock flow combinations and Sombo are best a throws and leglocks, and neck cranks etc. ,
He feels that most systems of grappling today are World systems, BJJ has changed by leaps and bounds since the early UFC. Most grappling systems now incorporate Sombo throws and leglocks, Greco Roman takedowns, Bjj submissions and positioning, and Shooto combinations.
The one person Dan has met who seems to continue with pure BJJ is Rickson Gracie, he is an incredible practicioner. Rickson is respected by most BJJ guys as being a world class BJJ expert. Rickson has many great students who teach his method of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. Grappling is a Must have, if you plan on competing in any MMA arena, and is also very effective for one on one altercations in the street. Dan also believes that Grappling is one of the best arts for women, the guard position alone, is the best rape defense position you could have!At Regans Martial Arts we highly advise all martial artist to learn the basics of grappling.
Dan stopped grappling several years ago due to injuries to his neck, and back most of it was due to the Instructor making every class like a UFC match, many people were often hurt, the guy was a bad teacher, he should have had more controlled sparring, etc. Dan is now, starting to look for a good organization to belong to, where the teacher is not only good at technique, but at also a very good person and coach. Dan is looking to start from white belt beginner and begin his journey into BJJ again.
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"I am very fortunate to have met, and trained with some awesome people. I value their advise, and appreciate the time they have taken to help me. I hope to have the same influence on my students. I am shown here, with one of the greatest grapplers ever, Rickson Gracie.
He is a man I have great respect for. He is the reason grappling is so famous today. He is a Master of his Art, and is well respected all over the world."
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"Gokor is without a doubt one of the greatest grapplers I have ever met. He has his own unique style, and I highly recommend to look him up if your in his area. His students are competing in MMA on a professional level in UFC as well as many on an amatuer level. His school is very well respected in grappling MMA circles.His school is the Hayastan Academy, where he and Legendary grappler Judo Gene Lebell teach classes . Gokor is an excellent teacher and knows submissions that are very unique, training with him will help anyones grappling game.
I think grappling is an excellent addition to any martial arts school. I thank all my teachers for sharing with me, and I hope to share with as many people as I can. The effectiveness of grappling cannot be denied, as has been proven in no rules fighting." |
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Pictured above is Dan and Gracie Barra champion Raul Montolfo, this picture was taken in 2009 at Gracie Barra Tri County. (Note) Raul has since been awarded his Blackbelt in Gracie Barra by Carlos Gracie Jr after winning yet another championship. Congrats to Professor Raul!
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Pictured above is Dan and UFC and Pancrase legend, Bas Rutten. This picture was taken at Bas School, Elite MMA in Thousand Oaks California. Bas is a legend in the MMA scene and has a great school, if your in the area, be sure to stop their for some training!
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