Wednesday June 30th, 7pm…… Please come and support your team mates who are getting promoted….

Congratulations to Yukito Isoda on receiving his Brown Belt Wednesday night. We are very proud of him!

Lucas Leite and Carlos Vieira give out their 1st American Black Belt…… Chris Franco started training BJJ under the late Carlson Gracie in 1995, in 2002 he stopped training completely. Chris met Leo Vieira in 2002 thru Vitor Belfort and became close friends. Leo and Chris opened the Leo Vieira BJJ academy and started training once again. Lucas Leite took over the BJJ academy in 09 and with the support of Carlos Vieira surprised Chris with his black belt on May 26th. Chris said he is so honored to be a part of the team and to wear a Black Belt under the Leo Vieira Team…..

Fans and critics were stunned March 29, 2009 at the Pan American Championships in a so called “passive” sport named Jiu-Jitsu when Kron Gracie faced and was defeated by Lucas Leite from Checkmat Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team coached by Leo Vieira. The match started off with Lucas pulling half guard in numerous attempts to sweep Gracie. Both competitors continued to transition position until finally Gracie took Leite’s back and put both “hooks” in to score 4 points. Refusing to give up any further positions Leite managed to escape and then take Gracie down to make the match 4-2. Gracie then escaped off his back to be taken down by Leite again to tie the score at 4. Leite then passed Gracies guard for 3 points to make the match 7-4 until time expired giving Leite the victory over a extremely worthy opponent.

This was the third weekend in a row that Lucas Leite has taken first place in a major tournament with the two previous being the Naga and Grappler’s Quest Tournaments. He has continued to prove that hard work combined with tactic and heart truly payoff. Congratulations Lucas Leite from team Checkmat BJJ, we look forward to many more victories to come! We are all very proud of you…