Holiday Schedule Update

Gracie Barra Kids Program will not have class Dec 24-26 and Dec 31-Jan 1. Normal class schedule will resume January 2, 2010.

Have a great holiday season and be ready to train hard and have fun in 2010!

Gracie Barra's Conor McCarthy Wrestler of the Week!

GB blue belt, Conor McCarthy, earns recognition as Seattle Metro Wrestling Wrestler of the Week! Conor attends West Seattle High and joined the wrestling team last year and is positioning himself to be a standout this wrestling season. Check out this article about Conor's performance at his first wrestling meet of the season - http://seattlemetrowrestling.com/news/wrestler-of-the-week-2/

Best of luck to Conor this wrestling season!

Congratulations to everyone who competed at Revolution 11.07.09

REvolution 11/09

Great job to all the Gracie Barra kids who competed at the Revolution 11.07.09. Once again we had an outsanding showing at the Revolution tournament.

Gi Results

White/8 & Under/65 & Under 2nd Austin Dreifus Gracie Barra 


White/8 & Under/65 & Under 3rd Heather-Ashley Lim Gracie Barra

White/15 to 17/123 to 135 2nd Dominic Woods Gracie Barra

White/13 & 14/143 & Above 1st Brandon Nahulu Gracie Barra

Yellow/7 to 10/Under 70 1st Emmanuel Ardena Gracie Barra

Yellow/9 to 12/85 to 87 2nd Peyton Campbell Gracie Barra 


No Gi Results:

Beginner/6 to 9/85 to 87 1st Peyton Campbell Gracie Barra 


Beginner/9 & Under/65 & Under 3rd Austin Dreifus Gracie Barra 


Intermediate/8 to 10/61 to 69 1st Emmanuel Ardena Gracie Barra

For complete results click here.

Class schedule changes as of 10/9/09

As of October 9, Friday kid's classes will be moving from Bellevue to Seattle. The class will be 4:30-5:30pm. The rest of the kid's class schedule will not be effected. Bellevue will continue to have classes Monday and Wednesday 4:00-5:00pm and Saturday 10:30am-12:00pm. Seattle classes will be Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 4:30-5:30pm.

Parents if you train too, there will be a no gi class in Seattle on Fridays 6:00-7:00pm. We are expanding our no gi class offering so please feel free to stay and train if you can. Older kids are also welcome to join in the adult no gi class, please contact Cindy if you are interested in seeing if your child is eligible to train in the adult class.

Upcoming tournaments - let's get ready!!!!

Fall is here and there are lots of tournaments coming up. Here is a quick run down. I will update the list as I get more dates.

October 10 - Gracie Barra interschool tournament - free tournament for kids and adults. anyone who wants to compete please talk to Cindy and get signed up. for more info you can also check out www.bjjseattle.com

November 7 - Revolution 11.7.09 - this is the biggest tournament in the northwest and Gracia Barra is the long standing team winner. let's keep the tradition alive by competing and showing why GB is the best team around. To register go to www.leapllc.com

Cindy wins 1st in Round the Rock paddle boarding race

After 3 hrs and 49 minutes of paddling around Mercer Island, Cindy brings home 1st place in the 12'6" women's divsion. Check out a write up about the race at MI-Reporter.com. Thanks again to Cheka Looka Surf shop for all the support with paddling and training and everything else. Also a huge thanks to all the kids for all of the support and well wishes in the race! Hopefully one of these days I can get the kids out for a day of paddling before the winter fully sets in.

GB Kids team attends ADCC regional trials

Congratulations to Austin, Brandon and Emmanuel for their awesome performances at the ADCC regional trials. All of the kids brought home medals in their division and some in divisions above what they normally compete in. I couldn't be prouder of the progress all of the kids are making in the class and this tournament exemplified that. The full tournament results will be up soon and I will post them ASAP.

Great job guys!!!!!

Cindy in the Seattle Times

This summer I picked up paddleboarding as a way to rehab my knee after my ACL surgery and jsut to get a little time on the water while I am not able to train. It quickly went from a leisure activity to a new found obsession. Recently, the Seattle Times did a story on paddle boarding in Seattle. Cheka Looka Surf Shop (one of my sponsors and a huge supporter of Gracie Barra) was featured in the story and they were nice enough to give me a little bit of the publicity. Check out the Seattle Times story here. Also, Damon Agnos of the Seattle Weekly, and another friend of Gracie Barra Kids team, was nice enough to do a little write up about the Seattle Times story, my paddle boarding adventures and what not. Check Damon's coverage of my paddling here. Please support everyone who supports our team and check out their stuff.

Thanks again to Cheka Looka for all their help and support!!!!!

Cindy interviewed on KUOW about teaching, training and other stuff

KUOW 94.9fm, Seattle's local NPR affiliate, recently did a feature story on me and my past year of teaching, training, injuries, thoughts on jiu-jitsu and other random things. Please check it out here and let me know what you think.

GB Kids team had a great summer!

This summer GB kids team stayed active participating in several tournaments in Washington and Orgeon. Here are a few of the results from the summer tournaments:

Subleague Championships

Emmanuel Ardena - 1st place youth intermediate 60-69lbs

Jack Larsen - 1st youth beginner 130-149lbs

Revolution 7/11/09

Austin Dreifus - 2nd no gi beginner under 54lbs, 2nd white belt under 54lbs

Peyton Campbell - 1st no gi beginner 68-80lbs, 1st (tie) yellow belt 68-80lbs

Emmanuel Ardena - 2nd no gi intermediatte 64-77lbs, 1st (tie) yellow belt 68-80lbs

Jack Larsen - 1st yellow belt 110-134lbs

Subleague May 2 - no class

There will not be Saturday morning class May 2nd in Seattle. We will be in Tacoma competing at the Subleague Qualifier event. Best of luck to everyone competing.

Upcoming tournaments April 18 and May 2

Gracie Barra Bellevue will be hosting an interschool tournament April 18th. There is no cost to enter the tournament and it is a great first tournament for kids. There are no weigh ins, competitors will give their weights on an honor system, and appropriate match ups will be made the morning of the tournament. If your child is interested in competing please email me with your child's name and weight so that we can try to find other kids in their weight for them to compete against.

Submission Wrestling League will be hosting a tournament at West Seattle High School on May 2nd. For more information about this tournament please visit Subleague.com. Sub League tournaments do not have points and are win by submission, lose or draw. It is a qualifying event for the Sub League Championship which will be held on May 30th in Hillsboro, OR.

Cindy going to coach at Pan Ams BJJ Tournament

I will be going to Los Angeles March 26th-30th to coach Gracie Barra team member, Nate Lynch, at his first Pan Ams tournament. The Seattle Kids class schedule will not be effected, but Bellevue Kids classes will be canceled on Friday March 27th and Monday March 30th. Also, Bellevue Womens boxing classes will also be cancelled on the 27th and 30th. Thank you for your understanding. Normal class schedule will resume April 1.

Best of luck to Nate at the Pan Ams!

Angela Hernandez wins 1st and 2nd place at Revolution Tournament

GB Kids class instructor, Angela Hernandez, wins 1st place in the beginners no gi division and 2nd in the blue belt gi division at the Revolution 3.07.09 tournament. Angela has been training BJJ since 2006 and has been a key member of the Gracia Barra team. Before taking up BJJ, Angela trained and taught Karate, in which she received a black belt in 2001, and also played high school soccer and softball. Despite her busy schedule of work and training, Angela still finds the time to help with Seattle kids classes and is a huge asset to the program.

Congratulations to Angela on her victories and a huge thank you for all she does for the Gracie Barra kids team!!!!

Revolution 03.07.09 GB kids team videos

Check out some of the GB kids team matches at the Revolution 3.07.09.

Austin Dreifus takes second in freestyle wrestling tournament

Austin Dreifus, one of Gracie Barra Bellevue's first students, takes second place at a freestyle wrestling tournament in Bellingham last weekend. This was Austin's first freestyle tournament and he secured his second place victory after several hard matches and a grueling finals match, where he lost by only 2 points. Congratulations Austin!

Great job at the Revolution 3.07.09

Congratulations to Jack, Peyton, Christian and Emannuel for a job well done at the Revolution 3.07.09 Tournament. Everyone did a awesome job and showed huge improvement. The kids brought home several medals and helped Gracie Barra secure the Gi and Overall team titles!!!! Keep up the good work! Videos of some of the matches and more photos will be posted soon.

Congratulations to Emannuel for his GB Kids team sponsorship!

Last year I began hearing about this kid, Emannuel, that was a natural jiu jitsu talent. I didn’t think much of it until I finally had the chance to meet him and watch him grapple. The first day that I met Emannuel, I showed him series of moves (snap the head to guillotine, pull guard, wait for the person to hand fight then switch to the triangle, then when they go to posture to defend do a back arch over and into mount and finish the triangle from there or switch to armbar). He picked up the series after only a few tries. I was floored. I taught a portion of this series in my adult class and many people, adults, had trouble with it.

I knew at that moment, Emannuel was something special. I have been coaching Emannuel since I took over the kids class last summer and am inspired and humbled by him every day. He is not only an amazing grappling talent but also one of the most focused, driven and caring people I have met. He is a leader in every sense of the word and is a tremendous asset to the kids program.

In an effort to recognize and foster his talents, Emannuel has been teamed with local business man, Johnny Flavin, who will act as a sponsor and mentor. Johnny is a financial advisor in Seattle and a former collegiate wrestler. Johnny credits wrestling to opening doors and opportunities in his life and is generous to want to open doors for the next generation of grapplers and leaders.

A luncheon was held at the Columbia Tower Club on February 20 to formally announce the sponsorship to Emannuel and to introduce he and his mother, Wednesday Ardena to Johnny, as well as UFC fighter Ivan Salaverry. Emmanuel, as usual, shocked and impressed everyone by discussing his latest reading, Germs, Guns and Steel. Emmanuel is an A student and enjoys reading, writing and dancing. The sponsorship will be contingent on Emannuel's continued academic and personal excellence and will create a relationship between Johnny, Emannuel, his family and myself, all working together to help Emannuel achieve victories on and off the mat.

I look forward to continuing to work with Emannual and watch him excel in every aspect of his life. I am also excited to build additional mentor/sponsorship opportunities and continue to grow children’s grappling in the northwest. thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

Congratulations again to Emannuel Ardena!!!!!

Haiku master, Sean, share his poems with the class.

When he isn't grappling, hanging out with his sisters and brother or just being really cool, Sean loves writing poetry. He recently wrote a collection of haikus about his teammates and shared them during the positive self talk portion of class.

Here are some of his haikus:

Sean knows poetry.
Sean knows how to make haikus.
Sean works really hard.

Noah has big hair.
Noah likes the sumo game.
Noah is awesome.

Seiji is the man.
Seiji is awesomely short.
Seiji has black hair.

Jack is really new.
Jack is really tall and huge.
Jack is really fierce.

Adell is a girl.
Adell knows a lot of things.
Adell is old school.

Sam is really new.
Sam is really big.
Sam knows everything.

Tucker is a girl.
Tucker is very funny.
Tucker is white raced.

Shay is very cool.
Shay is very cool and awesome.
Shay is very tall.

Christian is funny.
Christian is really strong.
Christian has big hair.

Eman is awesome.
Eman is really skinny.
Eman talks a lot.

Nikki has short hair.
Nikki and Tasha are bad.
Nikki is awesome.

Bella has no stripes.
Bella is in jiu jitsu.
Bella is awesome.

Peyton has blonde hair.
Peyton is really heavy.
Peyton is awesome.

Luke is really tall.
Luke is really tall and big.
Luke is really cool.

Ashley is crazy.
Ashley is from Cascade view.
Ashley likes playing.

Hopefully Sean will share more of his poems with us soon. Keep up the great work!!!!!

Seattle Tuesday / Thursday classes now at 4:30-5:30

The class time for the Seattle Tuesday and Thursday class is changing March 1. The new class time will be 4:30-5:30pm.

All other class times will stay  the same.  Thanks for your understanding.  

Eastside location opens February 2!!!!!!

The new Gracie Barra school is opening Monday, February 2.  Kids classes will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4:00-5:00 pm.  The school address is 2505 152nd Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052.  If you are interested in the program please contact Cindy at 206-605-1078 or email cindyh@bjjseattle.com


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Boy saves girl from dog attack with rear naked choke

9 year old Barkersfield, CA boy saves girl from dog attack by using a rear naked choke he learned in BJJ class.  Check out the story and video. 

Mike "The Mouth" Gavronski boxing in Golden Gloves

Mike "The Mouth" Gavronski is boxing in the Golden Gloves tournament at the Tacoma Dome this weekend. Mike is 23 years old and recently came to visit Gracie Barra Seattle kid's class to talk about positive self talk, having confidence and just to check out what the kids are up to.
On top of being a master of positive self talk, Mike has an impressive amatuer boxing record. Last year he won the prestigious Golden Boy award for being the Best Boxer in the entire tournament. Mike has a flair all his own and approaches everything he does with dedication, tenacity and, of course, humor.
Mike was my stand up coach and cornerman during my fight against Fiona Muxlow in the Princesses of Pain promotion in New Zealand. I won the fight in the 1st round after a great training camp with Mike. We ran in the woods, flipped tires, cut wood, boxed, kickboxed, grappled, sweat and cried together. It all paid off when we brought home the belt.
I look forward to having Mike coach me again and also hope that he is able to come back and visit the kid's class very soon. Best of luck to Mike.
Read Damon Agnos' blog about Mike Gavronski in the Seattle Weekly.

Kids class photos taken for the Seattle Weekly

Seattle Weekly came out to take pictures of the Kid's class for the January 7 cover story. I hope you enjoy the photos. Thanks to all of the kids and parents for helping Damon with the article and for being a part of the Gracie Barra Kid's Team! Keep up the good work and train hard.

Please welcome new kid's class instructor, Nick Huntington

Nick Huntington is 24 years old. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas and wrestled for Ronald Reagan High School. Nick is also an Eagle Scout and organized a project transporting physically disabled children to the top of a small mountain 1825 feet above sea level. His goal was to provide the children with the opportunity to experience the feeling of accomplishment upon scaling a summit. It involved over 200 hours of combined volunteer planning and execution.

Nick then headed to Seattle to attend school at the University of Washington where he graduated in 2006 and attained a B.A. in History. While at UW he volunteered tutoring at Bryant Elementary school in the Homework Center. Upon graduation he worked for a year at Microsoft Game Studios on Xbox 360 and PC games. He began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the summer of 2007 after the game studio he was working at was forced to shut down. He continued training while looking for another job in the games industry and is currently a Software Test Engineer for GameHouse.

Emmanuel grapples with legend Marcelo Garcia

In September of 2007, Emmanuel Ardena attended the Marcelo Garcia seminar at Shockwave BJJ in Olympia. Emmanuel was by far the youngest grappler at the event and impressed everyone with his technique, discipline and ability to learn new moves quickly. Check out the video of Emmanuel grappling with Marcelo. A big thanks to Robert Owens and Marcelo Garcia for a great seminar and for including Emmanuel.

Christian Martinez promoted to yellow belt

Congratulations to Christian Martinez for receiving his yellow belt!

Christian began training Filipino Kali, Jeet Kun Do, Muay Thai and wrestling at Martial Arts Training Center in Bremerton, WA when he was 4 years old. In July of 2007, he received his black belt in the kids program. Christian moved to Corpus Christy, Texas and began training BJJ at Paragon. He trained in Texas for 4 months and then relocated back to Seattle. From there Christian joined the Gracie Barra Kids Team. He quickly established himself as a leader in the program. He competed in The Revolution 11/08 tournament where he won a silver (no-gi) and bronze (gi) medal.

When he isn't training, Christian attends the 4th grade, enjoys reading and watching Naruto. He also plays basketball, soccer and gymnastics.

Eastside location opening Feb. 2, 2009

We will be opening a new location in Bellevue/Redmond on February 2, 2009. I will be teaching kid's classes 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday 4-5 pm. The school will also have adult BJJ and no gi classes, as well as women's conditioning/boxing/kickboxing classes and women's self-defense and BJJ classes. Check out Gracie Barra Seattle/Bellevue website at www.bjjseattle.com for general school information.

SEattle kid's class schedule will not change. We will still have classes Tuesday and Thursday 5-6 pm and Saturdays 10-11 am, with competition training Saturdays 9:30-10 am.

If you are interested in enrolling your child in the kid's program or if you want additional information about any of the classes, feel free to contact me at cindyh@bjjseattle.com, call 206-605-1078 or visit www.bjjseattle.com

GB Kids team at Revolution 11/08

Check out photos of the kids at the Revolution Tournament 11/08. Congratulations to all the kids on a job well done. Gracie Barra Seattle won the overall title once again!

Seattle Weekly cover story: Cindy Hales - Spoiling for a fight

I was recently featured in the Seattle Weekly (January 7, 2009) story by Damon Agnos. This is an excellent story about my life, my BJJ and fighting career and my kid's program. The kids and I had a great time working with Damon and having him attend several classes. Please support the Seattle Weekly and Damon for their support of Gracie Barra Seattle.

Cindy Hales - Spoiling for a fight by Damon Agnos

Welcome to the Gracie Barra Kid's Team Blog

This blog is a work in progress and I hope to continue to improve and add to it in order to create a resource and forum for students and parents.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions, criticisms or feedback in general.   I will be updating this regularly with basic class information, student highlights, upcoming events, and other fun stuff.  

Thanks for you support and check back regularly for updates about classes and other events.

You can contact me any time at cindyh@bjjseattle.com or 206-605-1078.

See everyone in class soon.