Beda Bjj
At Beda Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy, you will find elite Jiu Jitsu instruction. Our classes are tailored for practitioners at every level: Recreational, competitive, and self-defense. Our programs include classes for children, adults, women, and families.
We are affiliated with the international Jiu Jitsu team, Checkmat, who is known for its stellar athletes. Founded in 2008 by Master Vieira, Checkmat now has affiliate academies in thirty-four American cities and sixteen countries worldwide. With its headquarters in Signal Hill, Long Beach, it is an ideal location for our students, who plan on competing on the world stage, to go and participate in the competition camps. Today, Checkmat is considered one of the best schools of Jiu Jitsu and submissions that have been tested on the practice mat and proven at the competitive level.
Jiu Jitsu Origin
Jiu Jitsu was created by Buddhist monks who were nomadic people that were often plundered by other people. Because of their religious orientation, they could not use weapons. Therefore, they developed a defense based on the study of animal movements, based on the principle that leverage allowed a much weaker individual the ability to defeat stronger and heavier opposition. Soon Jiu Jitsu crossed Asia and reached Japan where it became the fight of the Samurai warriors.
After the First World War, there was a large immigration of Japanese people to Brazil. Among the immigrants was Count Maeda Koma. Maeda arrived in Pará in the mid-1920s where he met Gastao Gracie, an influential man in the city of Belém do Pará. In gratitude to his friend, Count Koma Maeda taught Jiu Jitsu to the eldest son of Gaston, Carlos, who soon had mastered the techniques; however, it was his brother, Helio Gracie, who developed Jiu Jitsu to the point where the sport is today, recognized as the most perfect form of grappling around the world. Helio, with his 63 pounds, beat opponents with more than 100 on him thus proving that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu overcomes strength.
The American Dream
We like to call it “The American Dream”. It depicts the journey of my husband, who is a Brazilian immigrant, from his homeland in Brazil to Folsom, California. My husband came to the United States to compete in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament in June 2009. While at the tournament in southern California, one of his teammates mentioned that a gym in Folsom was looking for a Brazilian Black belt to teach some classes. He thought about Folsom, then mentally said, “Folsom, Folsom prison, Johnny Cash, I like Johnny Cash.” That was how he ended up in Folsom, California. With $200 in his pocket and not knowing how to speak English, he found himself teaching at a MMA gym on Natoma street where he meet me, his future wife. The mural celebrates the hard work and dedication it took to achieve the American dream, which for him would not have come true had Johnny Cash never went to Folsom Prison. He is now a married man, a father, a homeowner, a business owner, owns a commercial building, and is a United States citizen. If ever a person was living the American dream, it is him.