EAST COAST BLACK BELT SEMINARS TO BEAT CANCER
-Posted on www.mixedmartialarts.com
We fight and scream at each other like idiots on mixedmartialarts.com, but depsite this, the members of this site have repeatedly proven themselves to be very generous when someone is in need.
Andre Margutti, a good friend and teammate of ours at Team Yamasaki, has been diagnosed with cancer. Andre came to the US a little more than 10 years ago and has been a great friend to all of us at Team Yamasaki. In addition to being a very upbeat and friendly guy, Andre is a hard worker. He turned 30 this year and recently started up his own construction company. He’s also competed in numerous BJJ competitions, has had a couple of amateur MMA fights, and has also taught capoeira.
Last week, Andre started radiotherapy and he will soon be starting chemotherapy. As you know, the costs for Andre’s treatment will be astronomical.
To help with some of these costs, we’re going to hold seminars at academies in the New England and Mid-Atlantic area of the east coast. All the money raised will go to Andre’s medical costs. In addition to black belts from Team Yamasaki, the following black belts have agreed to help us by teaching and / or opening up their schools to host seminars.
The only seminar in Connecticut will be held at C3 Athletics in Stamford on August 1st from 12pm until 3pm. The instructors will be Francisco Neto (Yamasaki), Marcio Stambowsky (Gracie Sports Academy), and Roger Denton (CTMMA).
Francisco Neto was born in 1979 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His training in the Martial Arts began at the early age of three with Judo under the guidance of Shigueto Yamasaki, Mario and Fernando Yamasaki’s uncle.
Neto started competing when he was only seven and began his start as an assistant instructor at 13. As a competitor, Neto won titles as State Champion, National Champion, South American Champion, North American Champion and many others, also placing 2nd and 3rd in dozens more. Neto was a member of the Brazilian National Team of Wrestling, Judo and JJIF Jiu-Jutsu.
Neto began training in Jiu-Jitsu in 1991 under Fernando Yamasaki. When he moved to the Washington D.C. area in October 1999, Neto began teaching full-time at the Yamasaki Academy with Mario. Shortly after his arrival in the U.S. he had the first “super fight” that Grapplers Quest ever had in the country against Renzo Gracie’s Matt Serra. He has also fought well-known opponents such as Nova Uniao’s B.J. Penn and Relson Gracie’s Steve Maxwell.
Neto’s goal at the Yamasaki Academy is to pass on all that he has learned as a competitor and as a teacher to the students of the Yamasaki family! Neto currently holds the rank of 3rd Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and 2nd Degree in Judo.
Marcio “Maccarao” Stambowsky is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He is one of Rolls Gracie’s original six Black Belts. Marcio has 30+ years of BJJ experience. Before coming to the US to teach, Marcio was a top level competitor in Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and Greco-Roman Wrestling. He is the head instructor at Gracie Sports USA Academies. Marcio was recently awarded his red and black belt.
Click on the graciemag link to see Marcio being awarded his Coral Belt by Renzo Gracie
http://www.graciemag.com/en/2010/07/party-for-the-master-of-the-%E2%80%9Cguillotine-guard%E2%80%9D-in-new-york/
Roger Denton has 25+ years of martial arts experience and is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt. He is an owner and instructor at CTMMA, where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts, and coaches/manages professional and amateur MMA and Muay Thai fighters. He has also trained the Police and SWAT Team of Bridgeport, CT.
In addition to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA/Vale Tudo, Roger also studies and teaches Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do (under Paul Vunack – Progressive Fighting Systems and Sharam Moosavi – Jeet Kune Do International), Western boxing, Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing), Panantukan (Filipino boxing), Filipino Weapons and Stickfighting, and Savate (French kickboxing).
Andre in his own words:
For those who do not know me, my name is Andre Margutti. Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Today I live in Burtonsville, Maryland and work in the Washington DC Metro area.
First, I would like to thank you all for the support. It is incredible how good I feel and how many people are helping me to go through this.
A few weeks ago, I received news that changed my life, I was diagnosed with cancer in a few organs of my body. The doctors are still running tests and exams to give me a more accurate prognosis.
For the past 11 years, I have been studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Many of you already know I have had 2 MMA fights and many more jiu jitsu matches, so now life scheduled me another match against some rude opponent, but I’m ready! My mind is ready for this fight. Today, I see the real meaning of my jiu jitsu training and I’m very moved by you all, the people visiting this site and sending your emails.
In these past weeks, I discovered a new calling… Once I win this fight, I will help others fighting cancer. This is the start of that project. Please join me in this battle.
Thanks so much in advance for all your help.
Andre
Life Changing
I remember the middle of April 2010, my life routine was just as normal as it’s been for the past 2 years. I was working hard to get my business off the ground, worrying about getting new customers, getting all different types of licenses, and writing a business plan. I was also doing what I love the most, training Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and MMA. When I wasn’t spending time working on my business and training, I was spending time with my beautiful girlfriend and my friends. Everything was going perfect.
I’ve never been a top athlete, but I always train, for the love of the sport. I take pride in being part of such an incredible family which is the Yamasaki Academy. For this is where I have learned not just how to became a fighter, but also how to be a better person, inside and outside the mat. Over the past 11 years I have embraced the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu life style.
In the beginning of May while training with a friend I started to feel some different pain coming from my tail bone and going to my left leg, I wasn’t even worrying about that pain, for me it was just a little muscle pain and all I had to do is take a couple of days off and go back to normal. Unfortunately the pain grew stronger which made do something that I haven’t done for years, I went to see a Doctor. On the first appointment as I describe my activities, even the Doctor thought it was just an inflammation on my sciatic nerve, so she gave me some pain medication and some anti-inflammatory, and I was back to normal. Two weeks went by, the medicine was over and the pain came back even stronger, so I decide to go see an acupuncture doctor. By that time I was having this massive amount of pain, not been able to sleep and I was going crazy. My Jiu-jitsu Master suggested a chiropractor. Every time I would go to the chiropractor or to the acupuncture, I felt a little better, for about half of the day but then suddenly the cramp would come back. Eventually going to the chiropractor is what lead me to find out what the real purpose of this pain, and what it was not stopping.
It was Jun 8th 2010, I had just got home from the chiropractors office, I felt the biggest cramp that I have ever felt thus far, nothing was making stop. My best friend Eduardo asked me if I needed him to take me to the hospital, but I wasn’t even able to walk, so he decided to call 911.From that day on my life will never be the same. After controlling the pain with some morphine, I had to go through deeper exams. At this point, I wasn’t really worrying much, until the Doctor showed up in my room. He asked my friends Eduardo and Enrique to excuse us for a moment. He told me that he wasn’t a 100% sure, and they had to do more exams to find out more details, but he found some marks on my liver, on my spleen and there was a big mass on my sacral area that could be Cancer. My first reaction, I froze. My mind stopped for a moment, I cried for a couple minutes, and then my whole life passed through my mind just like a movie. After a few minutes I put myself together and started thinking. I have a new situation, a new challenge, maybe even a mission. I don’t know what it is at this point but if this came to me it must have a purpose and I have to find the good side of it. There is always a good side to any situation, and this it wouldn’t be any different.
SCHEDULEAll of these locations are open to everyone.
We are asking a minimum donation of $50 to attend.
The seminars will be approximately 3 hours long.
Thanks to everyone for the support. The response was so overwhelming that we were actually unable to accommodate all of the requests to have seminars. There simply weren't enough weekends and instructors to go around. Maybe we can add some October dates if we get some additional instructors.
July 17
Yamasaki – Springfield, VA
July 24
Balance - Pittsburgh
July 25
Balance – Philadelphia
New Jersey Martial Arts – Maple Shade, NJ
NextGen MMA – West Deptford, NJ
(The seminar for these academies will be at New Jersey Martial Arts – Maple Shade, NJ)
July 31
Jungle Gym – The Bronx
August 1
C-3 Athletics – Stamford, Connecticut
August 7
BattleGround MMA – Edgewater, NJ
August 8
Tekniques – Powder Springs, GA
August 14
Vamos Jiu Jitsu, Holbrook, NY
August 15
Grappler’s Guide Academy – Red Bank, NJ
August 21
1. Abmar Barbosa BJJ – Hudson, Massachusetts
2. Revolution BJJ – Richmond, VA
August 22
1. Matt Santos BJJ – Providence, RI
2. Jeff Gordon’s MMA Academy – Gaithersburg, MD
August 28
1. MMA Institute – Richmond, VA
2. Bismark Combat Sports – Bismark, ND
August 29
Combat Sports Center – Baltimore, MD
September 4
LABOR DAY
September 5
LABOR DAY
September 11
Black and Blue MMA – Kingston, NY
September 12
50/50 – Arlington, VA
September 18
Ground Control – Reisterstown, MD
September 19
Elite BJJ – Newark, DE
September 25
Precision BJJ – King of Prussia, PA
September 26
MMA Institute - Winchester, VA