Come, read about Tanner Rice of Rice Brothers BJJ the youngest American to acheive his blackbelt from Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles at 19.

Success is determined not by whether or not you face obstacles, but by your reaction to them. And if you look at these obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next. - Ben Carson

  At 15 years old Tanner Rice had a huge responsibility.  He was running the kids program at is family’s gym.  Shakespeare recaptured the words of Henry the IV with the quote, “Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!/Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”  Some are born to be great and others have it thrust upon them.  At the age of 19 Tanner Rice became the youngest and first American born black belt promoted by Charles “Cobrinha” Maciel (Alliance).  At such a young age, when things are thrust upon him, Rice seems to handle them with aplomb.   BJJ Legends talks to Professor Tanner Rice about some of his greatest matchups, the effectiveness of performance enhancement testing, and his thoughts on well-rounded practitioners.

BJJL:  You are very young, have accomplished a great deal, and have a prestigious lineage.  From the day you started training at 6 until now, what led you down this path?

TR:  At a younger age my father (Rod Rice) started training me and my brothers, it was hard to begin with because it wasn't like it is now where we had a lot of training partners.  All I had was my older brothers and my dad at the time and having older brothers to train with there is never any mercy when it comes to rolling so I got smashed on a lot. Getting smashed also became discouraging and I didn’t believe that Jiu-Jitsu was for me, but my dad kept telling me to proceed and push through the hard times so I owe it to him for who I am today.

BJJL:  Tanquinho Mendes and Megaton Dias, two monumental wins for you at 19.  Both seasoned, highly regarded, what were your thoughts pre and post match-ups?

TR:  I had just got my black belt when I was about to fight Augusto Mendes and I had just watched him fight 2 months prior at the U.S Open and he won his division and open weight and before that I was always fond of his amazing base on top so when I found out I was fighting Tanquinho Mendes I'm not going to lie, I was freaking out!  He  had just beaten my past professor Cobrinha and at the time Cobrinha was still murdering me in training, so that added to the nerves a little bit but once I got out there and started fighting the nerves went away and I fought pretty well.  Afterwards I was in disbelief that I did as well as I did. 

BJJL:  Because of your father (Rod Rice) is BJJ the family business?

TR:  When I turned 15 my father opened a gym and I began teaching kids and he taught the adults.

BJJL:  You spent 1yr in Brazil when you were 16, what was that experience like?

TR:  I went to Brazil with a friend Carlos Diego Ferreira and stayed at his house and began training at the school he trained at his whole life Club Pina, the experience was amazing.  I had to grow up quickly! I had never been away from my dad more then a week so it was hard but I enjoyed the hard training and the culture.

BJJL:  What do you think constitutes a well-rounded practitioner to be and do you exhibit those characteristics?

TR: I envy Leandro Lo’s game the most out of everyone, but I think Rodolfo Vieira  and Lucas Lepri have the all around best Jiu-Jitsu in the world.  I think to be great in Jiu-jitsu  you have to be able to understand the game and make your own game whether it be on top or bottom.  I think I have a lot to learn and figure out still and always will.

BJJL:  What rank was the most challenging for you?

TR:  Black Belt will always be the most challenging rank for anyone that has reached the black belt level and competed.

BJJL:  Would you like BJJ to go back to it’s origins no time limit, submission only?

TR: I like both styles of competition submission only and points/submission.

BJJL:  How does all the traveling impact you mentally/physically?  How do you stay focused when you can’t be with your family during those important life events and vice versa?  They can’t follow you around the world?

TR:  Traveling to compete takes its toll if you aren't used to it but the more you do it the more you create a sleep/eating regimen for yourself that doesn't make it as bad. I actually like competing on my own without my team or family around I feel like I stay more focused and more relaxed. Sometimes having my team/family around gives me anxiety it's gotten better over the years but sometimes I feel like it still alters my performance. 

BJJL: Steroids/performance enhancement abuse and the repercussions are discussed more in traditional sports to include wrestling.  What are your thoughts on how it is handled in the BJJ realm or the IBJJF’s policies and procedures on the subject matter?

TR:  I think IBJJF testing for steroids is great but I think they should test the athletes at more events instead of just worlds. There are too  many ways to cycle on and off without getting caught. Year round testing would be great for the athletes and for Jiu-Jitsu  itself to grow as more of a known sport around the world.

BJJL:  What’s your training regimen like? How does it differ day to day from when you’re getting ready for a tournament?

TR:  I train/ workout for 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night.  When a competition is coming up I just bring up the intensity of my training and try to push harder then the day before no matter what. 

BJJL:  Would you and your brothers consider starting a career in MMA fighter?

TR:  MMA has never been my thing nor my brothers so you'll see us on the BJJ scene for years to come. 

BJJL:  What has been your proudest moment since you started BJJ?

TR:  My proudest thing I've taken from Jiu-Jitsu is our kids program. We have a lot of great kids that work their butts off everyday and they win a lot of competitions. You will soon see them start to shake up the juvenile divisions very soon.

BJJL:  Any BJJ match you would like that hasn’t happened and why?

TR:  I think either Leandro Lo vs Rafael Mendes or Rafael Mendes vs Lucas Lepri would be amazing to watch because of the clash of styles. 

BJJL: Any rematches you would like and why?

TR:  Anyone I've lost to has been the most challenging fight. I would love a rematch with anyone I've lost to.

BJJL:  Kid’s Pans is less than a month away, does your gym have any contenders?

TR:  I have 10 kids competing at Pans.

BJJL:  What are your plans/goals for 2016 (camps…super fights…seminars)?

TR:  My plan for this year is to win as much as I can. I'm really focused on training and competing right now. I'm always down for seminars but I need to focus on my goals mainly.

Professor Tanner Rice made history as an American practitioner at the tender age of 19.  A chain of events began many years ago that set him on his current path.  Rice still has plenty left to show us but one can’t help but wonder after all that Rice has done (and he hasn’t even reached his prime), who will Rice Brothers BJJ unleash on the scene next?

Your friends will believe in your potential, your enemies will make you live up to it.-Tim Fargo

Follow Tanner Rice and Tanner Brothers BJJ at:

http://reddingmma.com/ 

FB:

https://m.facebook.com/amazonasbrazilian.jiujitsu 

https://m.facebook.com/tanner.rice.165     

Instagram:

@ricebrosbjj

Twitter:  

@RiceBrosbjj

"Talking about Lucas is always a pleasure for me.  I have never seen an athlete with so many skills like him.  He is one of the most complete athletes that I have had the opportunity to train.”  Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles

Lucas Lepri has followed up with his guard passing DVD with another 2 volume set.  This set is a nogi (but the techniques are easily adapted to gi BJJ) and focused mainly on the reverse De la Riva, De la Riva, Butterfly and Side Control.  Lucas also covers some material on the half-guard, back control and turtle.  Most of the techniques are sweeps and attacks making it a solid complement to his passing DVD.

Lucas Lepri’s DVD set consists of 2 DVDs and covers ~3 hours of instruction in total.  In this article you’ll find mindmaps for both DVDs and some commonalities that I noticed as I broke down the instruction.

Read More:

"Lucas Lepri is one of the most dynamic and creative competitors in action today his techniques are smooth and easy to learn I strongly recommend his DVDs to anyone interested in learning the real jiu jitsu." - Master Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti

Lucas Lepri has been one of the top lightweights in the world since 2007.  In that time the Alliance black belt has won numerous World & Pan Am titles while teaching at Alliance Atlanta.  Lucas’ newest DVD release focuses solely on passed the guard and spends a lot of time on the De la Riva guard and other open guards.  With the rise of the Berimbolo and successful open guard players this DVD set comes at an auspicious time.  Lucas Lepri’s DVD set consists of 2 DVDs and covers ~3 hours of instruction in total.  In this article you’ll find mindmaps for both DVDs and some commonalities that I noticed as I broke down the instruction.

Read More...

"Lucas Lepri is one of the most dynamic and creative competitors in action today his techniques are smooth and easy to learn I strongly recommend his DVDs to anyone interested in learning the real jiu jitsu." - Master Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti

Lucas Lepri has been one of the top lightweights in the world since 2007.  In that time the Alliance black belt has won numerous World & Pan Am titles while teaching at Alliance Atlanta.  Lucas’ newest DVD release focuses solely on passed the guard and spends a lot of time on the De la Riva guard and other open guards.  With the rise of the Berimbolo and successful open guard players this DVD set comes at an auspicious time.

Lucas Lepri’s DVD set consists of 2 DVDs and covers ~3 hours of instruction in total.  The initial DVD in the set covers: closed guard, butterfly guard and De la Riva Guard.  The DLR material is the bulk of the instruction and all of the techniques are heavily dependent on your opponent wearing a gi.

Read More:

Jiu-Jitsu PED Survey

Editor's Note: Thank you to the nearly 700 participants in our online steroids study. The data collected was interesting but even more so was the information provided by the black belts and bloggers who answered our more lengthy questionnaire. If the numbers are too much of a bore move on to the Discussion section, read and formulate your own opinion. This topic is so faceted I am looking forward to the discussions still to come.

Some numbers to note: 143 of 690 people said they had used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the past. That is 20%. Demographically, white belts and black belts were the least likely to have used PEDs.

My heartfelt thanks to Matthew Corley for the countless hours and tireless research to produce this paper.

Title:
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and the Culture of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs): A Review of Online Survey Data

Author:
Matthew Corley,RPh

Abstract:
There is a persistent perception in high-level BJJ competitions that many medal winners are using steroids and other PEDs to succeed.  This article collates the opinions of nearly 700 BJJ practitioners and provides a detailed breakdown of the opinions of those participants based on their demographics. 

Insight from current and former world champions was also solicited for a first-hand perspective on PED usage at the highest level.  The bios of the subject matter experts are available by hyperlink at the end of the article under the acknowledgements section.

Read More ->

Lucas Lepri - (Bio at BJJHeroes.com)

I started BJJ when I was 16 years old, but before that I used to do a lot of sports like Soccer, Swimming, Judo and Capoeira. I did Capoeira around 5 years, it is my passion like jiu-jitsu. All the things gave me motivation, but of different forms. Since I start my goal was to one day become a black belt world champion. Always I reconciled the training with my studies, so it was hard to keep both but I had a big dream, this what me motivated on. My family always gave me support to move on, even without sponsors, my family and friends helped me when I traveled. It was another motivation to keep going and become a champion one day. Read More >>

BJJ Legends would like to extend a heart felt welcome to Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles. Cobrinha opened his Los Angeles academy back in March. The grand opening was the day after the Pans. A smashing success with about 100 people in attendance. On hand and teaching techniques were numerous famous Alliance star black belts including Lucas Lepri, Bruno Malfacine, Michael & Michel Langhi brothers. Even the head of Alliance JJ, Fabio Gurgel taught. After the seminar, students sparred with the black belts again including Fabio Gurgel! Fabio keep submitting, non stop!

Also attending the party was Cobrinha's even more famous cakes -- according to my sourses very delisious.

Our representative sent us these pictures.(~click title and see bottom of post~)  Read More - Click Here: