This weekend, October 13 and October 14, we are making the move into the new gym and we are going to need your help. There will be no classes on Sunday and we hope to have classes at the new place by next week.

This is an exciting milestone for Ivey League MMA and for all of its students. I know all of you have been anticipating this moment for a while now.

There has been a lot of work that has gone into this gym and with help from a lot of our students.

Training is going to be awesome at the new facility. There will be much more space for Muay Thai and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There will be two levels, the upstairs will be mainly the Adult classes and the bottom level will be the kids’ class along with some Jiu-Jitsu classes.

The new will be located at:

Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts
1517 Ritchie Highway Suite 1-G,
Arnold MD 21012
443.949.7208
www.annapolismma.com

It’s the right turn after the post office coming from 50 and the Annapolis area. It’s in the same building as the YWCA.

As You Can See…Classes Are Growing At Ivey League MMA!

If I had a nickel for every time some kid said this to me I’d be rich…VERY RICH!

Most people don’t want to ever fight in a cage, plain and simple. There is, however a lot of people that do want to fight MMA, or so they think they do anyway.

I would never try to tell a person that they can’t do something. But at the same time not everyone is cut out for fighting in a cage. The training is tough, the fight itself is tough.

Most of the people that come to me (90%) for mma classes do so to get in shape, learn self defense and make friends. Nothing more then that, and that’s fine.

With all that said…I do and have trained champion fighters. So If you think you’ve got what it takes and you really wanna hop into a cage and maybe one day fight in the UFC, then this blog post is for you.

First thing you need to do is call to make an appointment at my academy in Annapolis Maryland. Info is below:

Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts
836 Ritchie Hwy, Unit #5
Severna Park, MD
(443) 517 8958
www.annapolismma.com

Make an appointment, come in and take the 30 day FREE trial. After that enroll in one of our many programs and start training a few days a week.

Get accepted into CAP classes (Combat Athlete Program) Begin more intense training and more days training (5+).

From there you will need to start competing in BJJ tournaments, both with and without the gi. So make sure to purchase a gi when you start your training. (gis can be picked up at our academy)

From this point you start to fight in lower level Kickboxing events all around the east coast.

You get your first MMA fight on the beginner level.

You do a bunch of fight (4-5 a year) and you make your way to the UFC from there.

Is this an easy road? No. No not one bit. Anyone that tells you making a name and winning fights in MMA is easy is nuts and has no idea what they’re talking about. It takes lots of training, learning and time in to make it to the big time like the UFC.

However, with a good team backing you, like Team Lloyd Irvin, you can make it to the top. Most people can do it and have the talent. It’s just that most people also lack the drive and grit to do it.

So, before you call or email me asking if I will train you to be in the UFC please read the above stuff. Ask yourself if this is something you really want? Be truthful to yourself. Are you up for the challenge? If so then yeah, call me!

–Master Danny Ives
P.S. Below is a video of UFC fighter and Team Lloyd Irvin member Mike Easton. Check it out!

Here is a list of the belts in BJJ for adult students –
*White
*Blue
*Purple
*Brown
*Black

First let me say, and many of you know this already, I don’t give out belts. No I don’t and I never will. To get your belt from me you’ve got to earn it.

With that said let me more into the story a little bit.

I always get asked by students, “How can I get my blue belt in BJJ?” This is very common and it’s a good question. I thought for the newsletter I could shed some light on this subject.

I promote based on a few things and they are:

Attitude in training
Knowledge
Skill
Heart
Dedication

There are more, but the above list hits on the major things I look for when giving out rank in BJJ.

The first thing you have to have is the right attitude. You must want to be here at Ivey league, be a good person, give your all and help other students. Someone with a poor attitude has little to no chance of getting promoted by me or pretty much making it here at my academy. I pride myself on having students that are good people and anyone that doesn’t fit that mold gets kicked out or leave on their own.

I look at ranking people based a lot on what they know. How much knowledge they have of the techniques and the history of BJJ. I want all my students to be well rounded. So that means you have to have good guard passing as well as a good guard. I don’t promote “one trick ponies”.

Skill is sort of like knowledge, but there is a difference between knowing all the techniques in the world and being able to actually do them on a resisting person. The more techniques you can execute on a live person in rolling the better the chance you have at getting a blue belt.

Heart. What is heart? I define heart like this; never giving up during rolling or other times when you’re dog tired. Always giving your best. Coming to class even when you’re tired, had a bad day, a little sore, whatever. You show up ready to train and have a good time. That’s heart.

Dedication. That’s an easy one. Sticking with your training no matter what. Driving a long distance to take classes. We have a family that trains here, Spike, Mom and Step Dad, they drive an hour and a half…one way! To get here for classes. That’s being dedicated. No excuses, yes or no! Did you make it to class last night? It’s YES OR NO!

So, in cliff notes format that’s what I look for when promoting students in BJJ. So, if you’re looking to get your black belt one day from me then I suggest you work on the things listed above. I’ve found them to be worth their weight in gold!

See you on the mats!

–Master Danny Ives

Master Danny Ives With New Blue Belt Griffin Palmer Of Crofton, MD

As many of you know Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts has amazing adult classes like Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Wrestling, MMA and so on.

Well we also have a children’s martial arts program that’s on the raise, and by raise I mean moving faster then the speed of light.

One of the kids that I’m most proud of is little Bryce Payne. Let me tell you a little bit about Bryce.

She first came to us around the holidays in 2011. Her cousin, Walker, told her about the classes and she decided to give them a shot. She did okay at first, but then something happened.

She was hit with bad anxiety. So bad in fact that she had a hard time coming out for the normal 5:30 kids classes.

This went on for a week or so and I was very worries that Bryce would quit martial arts. That’s when Miss Teresa, along with Mom and Dad stepped in and tried a new approach.

Miss Teresa would come out to the lobby and hold Bryce’s hand during the beginning of classes. This was to sort of “ease” Bryce into the classes.

It worked and Bryce didn’t need Miss Teresa to help her anymore. From that point on it’s been nothing but great progress and smiles for her.

In fact, Bryce has done so well in the classes that I decided to invite her into my Black Belt Club Program or better known as BBC. This is my higher level kids program and the one that kids and parents shoot to get into. Sort of like an Ivy League level program, at Ivey league MMA, haha.

I’m glad that Bryce stuck with it because the reality of it is that she’s very talented and could really do big things in her martial arts training. She’s also been a great leader in the class as she’s great when it comes to working with the younger students and making sure they understand the techniques.

A lot of credit has to be given also to the Payne family because they really do a good job raising such a fine child.

Training a young lady like Bryce and seeing her do so well is why I’m so glad I chose this field for my career. I’ve been teaching and training in martial arts for over 20 years and I’m still amazed at the wonders it does for people. It changes lives in such a positive way that I’m surprised more people don’t try it.

Hats off to you little Bryce, you make all the staff of Ivey League MMA proud as well as mom and dad! We look forward to your future progress with us here.

Master Lloyd Irvin with some of the children of Ivy League Martial Arts

It was a great time and the kids got a lot of awesome matches in and that always needed mat time. The kids that attended were:

• Lania Nick (BBC Lil Ninja)
• Alexia Lara (Leadership Team)
• Holden Murphy (Teens, JR BBC)
• Alex Fogt (Teens)
• Emily and Drew Dvorak (Both BBJ Lil Ninjas)
• Jacob Miller (BBC Lil Ninja)
• Robert Mish (BBC Lil Ninja)
• Trent Drake (Jr BBC)

The kids really did outstanding and it was nice to watch such great matches between all the Team Lloyd Irvin Academies.

We had teams from the following Lloyd Irvin schools:

• Top Flight MMA in Aberdeen, MD
• Crazy 88 BJJ in Elkridge, Maryland
• Beta Academy in Washington DC
• Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts in Annapolis, MD
• Leo Dalla (Big Brother BJJ) in Woodbridge, VA

I have to admit that I really enjoyed watching all the action packed matches. Some of the matches, including BBC member Lania Nick’s were nothing shy of crazy awesome sick!

This was a great tune up tournament for the summer. The other cool thing is that we competed amongst friends and family. Everyone there was under the Team Lloyd Irvin flag, so it was just a nice, chilled out and fun day for all.

Next up for the kids (and adults) of Ivey League MMA will be the Naga Virginia Beach, VA on June 23rd, 2012.

If you’d like to compete in that please ask to speak with someone on the Ivey League MMA coaching staff (Master Danny, Miss Teresa or Coach Dave)

Below are some pics from the tournament. Again, thanks to all that came out and gave it a shot.

Emily Dvorak and Robert Mish get medals.

Emily being goofy with Lania Nick

First we had pro MMA fighter, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis fighting in the main event at UFC “On Fox 2″ and then we sent a team of Gracie Jiu Jitsu fighters to Europe for a major BJJ tournaments.

So yeah, busy is one way to put it. But here at Team Lloyd Irvin that’s just how it is, GRINDING!

Phil Davis did well in his fight with Rashad Evans but in the end came up short. A lot of credit has to be given to “Suga”, he fought a masterful fight and in the end won a decision victory over our Phil Davis.

No shame in losing to an amazing fighter like Rashad Evans. None at all.

Phil went back home and began getting ready for his next fight because, well that’s what great fighters do! They pick themselves up quickly and get back into the game.

As for the BJJ tournament in Europe…

The results were good, many of the guys and gals pulled in medals. Golds were won by:

• Cathy Tran-Zwanetz (Crazy 88 BJJ)
• Keenan Cornelius (Camp Springs, MD)

Both Cathy and Keenan tore up the competition in route to golds. This was a big win for both due to the fact that this starts the season for those who compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments.

What’s next for Team LI? Brandon “The Truth” Vera returns to the UFC, Dominic Cruz is coaching the Ultimate Fighter show and we have the Pan Ams in March. Like I said before, Team lloyd Irvin embraces the grind!

Team Lloyd Irvin Academies in Maryland:

Lloyd Irvin Mixed Martial Arts Academy (20 minutes south of Bowie)
6333 Old Branch Rd #302
Camp Springs, Md 20748
301-449-KICK
www.lloydirvinlive.com

Crazy 88 BJJ and MMA (20 minutes north of Bowie, Maryland)
7020 Troy Hill Drive
Elkridge, MD 21075
(443) 283-1450 ‎
www.88bjj.com

Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts (30 minutes east of Bowie, Md)
836 Ritchie Hwy Unit #5
Severna Park, Md 21146
443-517-8958
www.annapolismma.com

Top Flight Mix Martial Arts (1 hour north of Bowie/Crofton, Md)
690 South Philadelphia Boulevard
Aberdeen, MD 21001
(410) 272-3799 ‎
www.topflightmma.com

Looking for a martial arts school in Bowie, Maryland? Make sure to look for this logo if you want the BEST!

For those that don’t know Jon, he’s a purple belt in Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Julius Park. When Jon isn’t training for his fights you can find him teaching classes at our Team Lloyd Irvin Baltimore location, Crazy 88 MMA.

Going into this fight Jon was more then ready for a Kickboxing battle on the feet due to fact that his opponent seemed to be more interested in that.

This wasn’t a good idea for Jon’s opponent…

Jon opened the fight with an inside leg kick followed by a hook/cross/round kick combination. The combo seemed to daze his opponent a bit. From there Jon throw a cross/hook but this time he skipped the kick and went right into a double leg takedown.

On the ground it was all downhill for Jon’s opponent. Jon drew on his sharp guard passing skills, got to side control and pinned his opponent down with a crucifix. To avoid the strikes his opponent went to his knees. Jon took the back with a figure four lock and sunk in the rear naked choke. Fight over.

Jon Delbrugge now moves to 5-0 in MMA.

It would seem that the sky’s the limit for this fine young man. Look for more big things to come from one of the state of Maryland’s top talents.

You can watch Jon’s fight on the video below.

The seminar will be held on November 22nd (Tuesday night). It starts at 7pm and ends around 9pm. Ben will be covering striking for MMA, takedowns and ground fighting. All of this will be aimed at developing MMA skills for the street and in the cage.

Just to show how good Ben Askren is, Master Danny Ives drove 3+ hours to attend a seminar he was giving at Bucknell University in the summer of 2011. If someone like Master Danny Ives, who is a Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, travels that far to work with someone then you know it’s worth it! That alone should tell you something about who Ben Askren is what what he can show you.

Ben has a very unique style or brand if you want to call it that for fighting. Many of the techniques he came up with are 100% original. He’ll be showing many of these skills at the seminar.

Long story short

Want to be a better fighter? Learn some cool techniques? Hang out at Ivy League MMA in Severna Park, Maryland? Then get your rear to the Ben Askren seminar!!!

BTW, the seminar is open to anyone, regardless of what academy you’re from, if any.

Details:
Ben Askren MMA Seminar
November 22nd, 2011 (Tuesday night)
To be held at Ivey League MMA 836 Ritchie Hwy #5, Severna Park, MD 21146 (443-517-8958)
It starts at 7pm and runs until 9:30pm.
Rates are: $50 for CAP students, $65 for Intro program and $75 for non enrolled members of Team Lloyd Irvin

Below are some videos of Ben Askren in action

They hit up Cornell University, one of the best and hardest to get into university’s in the world. Master Danny as many know has ties with lots of different types of folks and organizations and Cornell U is one of them. He’s been working with them for the better part of 11 years. Starting back when Crazy 88 BJJ/MMA’s Julius Park was the club president.

Master Danny says he loves Cornell and the people so he doesn’t mind the road trip to teach them his exclusive brand of Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

The turnout for the seminar was great like always. The students were very eager to learn so Master Danny wasted no time and got right into some technical skills…

The seminar covered some different topics but most of it centered around Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques from the turtle position and guard. Master Danny Ives ended up showing his best and most used omoplata techniques and also the famous “Sakuraba” Kimura from the turtle position (awesome skill for both BJJ and MMA).

Some other things covered were:

• Cross body defense
• Chokes from the back
• Taking the back
• Turtle guard offense and defense
• Shallow and deep half guard
• Much more!

Ivey League MMA has already been flooded with emails from students saying how much they enjoyed the seminar. We can’t say thanks enough to everyone at Cornell for being so nice and helpful in sitting up the seminars and treating the Ivey League MMA staff to dinner, thanks guys!

For the students who attended the seminar, this is the half guard,sweep and overall ground fighting/MMA website that Master Danny Ives is building right now and was talking about at the seminar. This will be a great website that’s sure to impact the martial arts community.

Right now the site is free and you can even get on the email list. Master Danny sends out emails with tips, tricks and video instructions that will 100% help your ground game or overall MMA style. Here is the link:

www.bjjhalfguard.com/bjjhalfguard

Below are some photos from the seminar. If you’d like to host Master Danny Ives for a seminar, either for MMA, BJJ and kids, send an email to: teresa@iveyleaguemma.com

Master Danny Ives and Bowie MD's Jeaneo Binney at Cornell

Ivey League MMA and The Ivy League BJJ Club at Cornell

Teaching the "Sakuraba" Kimura from turtle! A great self defense skill

First lets talk about Spike. We sent him to a small tournament in North Virgina called the Copa Nova. The Copa is a good local level tournament and only the second of the season for Spike. Spike was looking for a turnaround in performance following his showing at the Naga Maryland. To the joy of his parents, Spike looked like a kid on a mission as he breezed to first in Gi and second in Nogi. In nogi spike lost in the finals to a tough young man from Virginia. He was able to recharge and come back to beat the same child in the finals of gi to capture the gold. We were very happy with Spike and this is looking like a good season of grappling for him. Next up will be the Naga NJ on the 18th of November. We’ll be taking Spike, Holden Murphy and Alexia Lara to that one, get it done kids!

Also in the Annapolis news is the super high level Muay Thai kickboxing and MMA striking seminar. The seminar will be held at Ivey League MMA, located in Severna Park, Maryland (1 town up from Annapolis).

The seminar will be conducted by world renowned MMA and Muay Thai Kickboxing coach Andy Grahn. “Kru” Andy will be focusing on the stand up game for MMA, Kickboxing and street self defense. Kru Andy has over 20 years of experience in the fight game and has trained some of the best and most watched fighters in the UFC such as Nik Lentz, Sean Sherk (Former UFC lightweight champion) and of course big Brock Lesnar (former UFC heavyweight champion).

Don’t miss this chance to work with one of the striking coaches in the martial arts world! Here are some more details:

Where: Ivey League MMA 836 Ritchie Hwy #5, Severna Park, MD 21146 443-517-8958
When: October 27th, 2011. From 7:30-9:30pm (2 hour seminar with a short break in the middle)
Investment: $50 for basic program students, $40 for CAP.
What will be covered?: Kickboxing/MMA combination’s with an emphasis on kicks and knees.
How to enroll? Email us at info@iveyleaguemma.com

Oh and one last thing I know this news won’t top what Spike did or the seminar but it’s still pretty cool. We got all new sweatshirts in! These sweatshirts are AWESOME! We sold a bunch of them on the first day so if you want one you need to get in on this. They’re grey with a black Ivy League MMA logo on the front and the Team Lloyd Irvin bulldog on the back, super sick looking! If you need to pay by credit card and would like the sweatshirt shipped to you then email Miss Teresa at teresa.russin@gmail.com. Otherwise come see Chrissy at the front desk to buy one.