Category Archives: News and Events

Hannette Staack Seminar in Dallas

19 Thursday Jul 2012

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We are pleased to announce that one of the most decorated female jiu-jitsu competitors Hannette Staack is coming to Dallas on August 10-11. She is one of the founding members of BRA-021 team, and will be teaching a women’s only seminar at RCJ Machado.

This should be especially exciting for all Fenom Kimonos customers because the event is free to the ladies who wear their Fenom gi to the event. Everyone else is welcome to attend for a very affordable $ 50.00.

To reserve a spot for a private lesson, please contact us at info@fenomkimonos.com

If you are a Fenom Kimonos customer, please register at: http://hannettestaackseminar.eventbrite.com/

To register with payment, please go to: http://www.fenomkimonos.com/product.html

Leticia Ribeiro Women’s Grappling Camp in Dallas, TX.

07 Thursday Jun 2012

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If it’s June, it means only one thing: Leticia Ribeiro is visiting Texas! After winning her 7th World Champion title, she is coming back to DFW area to run a 3-day women only grappling camp. This is the third year in a row that Texas women have a chance to learn from the Gracie Humaita female team leader.

As a bonus, Leticia is bringing her very first female black belt and 2012 light weight world champion Bia Mesquita, and her second female black belt, Carol Vidal Lebre, who got promoted on the podium after winning her brown belt division, to assist with the camp. All 3 ladies are also available for privates and semi-privates. The camp and private lessons are held at Alvarez BJJ.

CAMP SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, June 29, 2012
7-9pm Gi: Techniques and Specific Training

SATURDAY, June 30, 2012
10-12pm Gi Seminar
2-3pm Drills Training
3-5pm Sparring Session/Raffles
8:30pm Dinner with All the Ladies

SUNDAY, July 1, 2012
11-1pm Nogi Seminar
2-3pm Wrestling Training
3-4pm Sparring Session

CAMP COSTS:
$50 for 1 Day (Friday Only)
$100 for 1 Day (Saturday or Sunday Only)
$120 for 2 Days (Friday and Saturday or Friday and Sunday)
$180 for 2 Days (Saturday and Sunday)
$200 for 3 Days

December = Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Month

26 Saturday Nov 2011

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December is a fantastic month for women’s jiu-jitsu! While most of the people are hitting the mall or tucking into holiday treats, jiu-jitsu girls and women are getting together for the year end training session.

New women’s open mats and groups were popping up all over the world in 2011 and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down. A clear indicator that new women are starting to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and they are sticking to it! The Fenom Kimonos team is grateful to have had the opportunity to participate, contribute and support many of these groups.

Here is the list of events we know of that are happening next month . If you know of an event that is not on this list, please email us the details and we’ll share it on our blog and social media channels.

Leticia Ribeiro Seminar in Austin

19 Sunday Jun 2011

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Last year when we brought women’s black-belt world champion Leticia Ribeiro to Dallas, she had 5 gold medals to her name. So coming into Austin on June 11th fresh off her 6th world championship win had us all excited and anxious to get the weekend’s festivities started. As soon as Leticia Bia, Margaret and Maxine landed on Saturday, June 11th, we were at a break-neck speed going from one private lesson to the next. First stop – South Austin Gym.

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Tessa Simpson of South Austin Gym and two of her blue-belt students after a semi-private lesson with Leticia and Bia.

Next stop -we headed to Trainer’s Elite MMA  where the next batch of students were patiently waiting. One being a dedicated mother from Brownsville, TX who made the 6 hour drive with her family to get a private and semi-private as her birthday gift. A huge thank you to Mr. Sean Cooper (owner of Trainer’s Elite MMA and 2nd degree black-belt under Cleber Luciano) for keeping the gym open late. The private lessons were wrapping up at around 9 PM! By the time we got back to the hotel it was 9:30 and it was time to get a dinner at Texas Land and Cattle.

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Leticia at Trainer’s Elite MMA.

We should be equally happy when submitting or being submitted! Smile Leticia at Trainer’s Elite MMA in Austin.

Sunday morning we arrived at Relson Gracie Austin early so that Leticia and Bia could squeeze in a few more private lessons before the seminar. The seminar started at noon, with girls from as far as Oklahoma, Laredo, Houston and Brownsville in attendance. Leticia started out by sharing her thoughts on training, life and what keeps her going. She stressed the importance of training with other women as much as possible to help encourage new women to stick with it and to prepare for competition.

Words of wisdom from the champion.

For starters, Leticia and Bia showed grip fighting technique and take downs. Followed by reversals from de la Riva guard, spider guard and X-guard (now available on Leticia’s new X-Guard iPhone App!) After about 4 hours of drilling (that’s right. 4 hours!) it was time for some live rolling. The energy level was amazing – even after 4 hours of drills, the women were able to muster up enough strength to roll for another hour.

Leticia and Bia teaching spider guard nuances.

Transition from the X-guard.

Texas girls also had a chance to roll with the best light-weight blue-belt in the world, Margaret Aase and a light-weight purple-belt Pan Champion Maxine Thylin who joined Leticia and Bia on the trip to Austin.

2011 light-weight blue-belt champion Margaret Aase (bottom) drilling with Tara Talanco (top)

Light-weight purple-belt Pan Champion Maxine Thylin (bottom) drilling with Ari Burkhart (top)

Over 30 women and girls made the seminar a success. Thank you everyone!

Before leaving the seminar, everyone received a complimentary bar of soap from Fight-Soap!

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After a long and training intensive two-days, we ended the weekend with a group dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse and the first annual Fenom Project musical chairs championship. Yes, you read right… musical chairs! This year’s prize was a copy of Leticia’s X-Guard iPhone App. Congratulations to Shamo Ko and Maxine Thylin!

Dinner time!

Grueling match of musical chairs.

And there you have it. An account of a great weekend of friends and Jiu-Jitsu. A special thanks to Christy Thomas of Relson Gracie Austin for hosting the seminar at her school.

See you all soon!

Photo credits: Shama Ko and Mitch Sengson

Leticia Ribeiro. One beautiful city. All about the women.

24 Tuesday May 2011

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Fenom Kimonos is excited to bring back black-belt world champion and leader of the Gracie Humaita women’s team Leticia Ribeiro to Austin, Texas! If you’ve never been to one of Leticia’s seminars, you don’t want to miss this one. Leticia’s instruction style is not only technically out of this world, you just know she loves Jiu-Jitsu by the way she pours her heart into teaching each student. AND, as an added bonus, black-belt Beatriz Mezquita will be on the mat with Leticia making it a sweet two-for-one deal. It will be the best $60.00 you spend this summer!

To register and pay CLICK HERE.

A special thanks to Christy Thomas of Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Austin for graciously providing the mat space for the event.

Joyful Heart Foundation Donations

24 Thursday Feb 2011

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As you know, Fenom Kimonos spends a lot of its time finding ways to contribute to like-minded organizations and non-profits. We feel that in order to carry out our mission statement of empowering women and girls, we need the help of other groups and to help out when we can. Over the next two months, The Fenom Project will focus its efforts on supporting the Joyful Heart Foundation.

With domestic violence and sexual abuse a sobering reality in our society, groups such as the Joyful Heart Foundation are critical to the healing process for women and girls in our communities. We also believe activities such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu not only help women to defend themselves but provide an outlet for personal growth.

Fenom Kimonos has committed to donating a portion of Gi sales to the Joyful Heart Foundation and we’re hoping you can help us. Please reach out to your school owners and have them email us at info@fenomkimonos.com for more information on how to help out with a worthy cause.

Powered by She!

Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2010

16 Saturday Oct 2010

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Last Saturday was a beautiful day for women and girls in Jiu-Jitsu. The doors were scheduled to open at 9:30 am and at around 8:30 am a few early birds arrived to weigh in as we were setting up. We were nervous. Being our first event we were anxious about many things — Did we talk to enough schools? Did we reach out to enough people? Did we friend enough people on Facebook?

9:30 am rolls around and another small handful of competitors and spectators arrive. At this point, we’re really starting to worry. Please show up people! At 10:00 AM, the floodgates of Jiu-Jitsu heaven, opened up and the crowds started rolling in! We were pumped! 76 women and girls gathered at the Fieldhouse USA for a day of competition supported by over 100 family, friends and coaches cheering them on. In comparison to many tournaments out there, we had a very small showing. But what a sight to see — standing in first class facility with that many participants was absolutely amazing. There was also something different in the air that you don’t experience at other events. There was a sense of sisterhood, belonging and community. Teammates, mothers, daughters, sisters — all on the mat to make their mark on what we believed to be a monumental day.

Oh, and about the sense of sisterhood, belonging and community mentioned above? That all went away when it was time to roll! The little girls had fun as little girls always do, but let’s talk about the the women. It was like watching fight scenes from the Gladiator movie… these women meant business and they were fighting with pure intent to win. Here’s some highlights from a few of these nail-biter matches:

Purple belt featherweight finals – Ariadne Burkhart vs. Kristine Felts

Masters middleweight match – Deyanira Velasco vs. Shannon Newhouse

Blue belt light-feather finals – Paola Morales vs. Lana Hunter

No gi expert middle-heavy – Kelly Faszholz vs Yasmin Soto

Gi beginner – Gabby Keas vs. Sarah Niedrauer

Conclusion:

Overall we were very pleased with the turnout. We learned that nothing is easy as it seems and have gained a tremendous amount of respect for all the tournament promoters and organizers out there making it happen on a regular basis. We hope our participants had as much fun as we did, and we look forward to many more. Until then, stay powered by she!

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Something cool is happening. Countdown to WJJC!

02 Saturday Oct 2010

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Every now and then something cool happens. Cool could mean a good meal with some close friends, a promotion at work, OR your husband or boyfriend finally cleaning out the garage without you having to ask. Then there’s Jiu-Jitsu. Oh Jiu-Jitsu… In exactly one week from today, the Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Championship will be storming Frisco, TX for its first event and we’re pretty darn excited about it. After months of planning, pushing and pulling, Zebra Tournament Systems of Texas and Fenom Kimonos will be welcoming women and girls of all ages and experiences levels to the beautiful FieldhouseUSA for a day of healthy competition and good times. If you’re competing or coming down to support your friends and family, we look forward to seeing you and hope you have as much fun as we’ll be having – win or lose, let’s make it a memorable day!

For event details and to register visit www.wjjc.info.

The Fenom Project Presents Leticia Ribeiro!

27 Saturday Mar 2010

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It’s about that time again! We’re excited to announce the 2nd Fenom Project event of the year. On Saturday, June 19th, 3rd degree black belt and multiple time world champion, Leticia Ribeiro will be at Marcelo Garcia of Dallas to teach a 3 hour seminar for women only. Space is limited so make sure to get your spot early. If you’re not in a financial position to make the entire payment now, we’re offering a payment plan which will allow you to reserve your spot. So there are no excuses! Contact us at info@fenomkimonos.com for more details or click on the PayPal button to register and pay.

From The Fenom Project – Leticia Ribeiro Seminar

Directions to Marcelo Garcia of Dallas:

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Hillary Williams came and left us all wanting more

22 Monday Feb 2010

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This past Sunday afternoon was a great time of learning, connecting and ego-less rolling for women and girls. Fenom Kimonos hosted its first Women’s Only Seminar with world-class grappler, Hillary Williams. Participants from the DFW area as well as Austin and Louisiana made  the drive to convene on a big,  red mat with nothing but positive vibes, even though some of the women competed against each other the day before at NAGA.

The event started at noon and ended at 2:30 PM. For the first 2 hours, Hillary covered some slick techniques from the closed guard, followed by 30 minutes of open mat time and Q&A. Everyone received personal attention and left with a wealth of knowledge. One thing is for sure, over the next few weeks, there’s going to be an increased number of men being choked at schools across the southwest.

Now, for your enjoyment… some pretty cool pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Fore more pictures from Fenom Kimonos and Fans of Fenom, check us out on Facebook!

A special thanks to Jen from RARMAI Creative Services for the great photography.