Joe Duffey, co-owner of Academy of Combative Arts in York, took one of his most promising fighters, James "Shrapnel" Chappell, to the MMA try-outs at American Fighter in Philly today. Just after 7 p.m., Joe emailed me, saying that despite the limited information available on the try-outs, they were for real, they were professional and time will tell how Chappell did, although preliminarily, it appared those in charge were impressed, Joe said. I'll have more on this as it becomes available.
Here's an email from Larry Novak, owner of Tattoo Fightwear, a New Cumberland-based mma clothing company:
Tattoo Fightwear is sponsoring James "Shrapnel" Chappell, here are a few of his stats:
-Green Belt USMC Martial Arts
-High School Wrestling
-Blue Belt BJJ
-1yr. Boxing/Muy Thai
-Competed in NAGA, UGC and took a gold medal at the PA.State BJJ Tournament
-Ammy record: 3-0
-Light weight title holder for the Central PA. Warrior Challenge.
To see one of Chappell's fights, click here.
Ted's Take: Jimmy's won all of his fights by armbar - which, don't get me wrong, is a great thing - but I can't wait to see it when he lets his hands go.
Daniel Tavares
York's Academy of Combative Arts, a full-service MMA school featuring BJJ black belt Daniel Beleza and Muay Thai instructor Kham Ngondara, is holding a seminar tomorrow (Sat.) at 10 a.m. at their location, 53 E. North St., in the same building as the Greyhound bus station. Cost of the seminar, which should last between 1 1/2 to 2 hours, is $60.
The seminar features Daniel Tavares, a BJJ black belt and NAGA champion. Tavares is a close friend and training partner of Beleza. "He's an incredible BJJ practitioner and instructor," said ACA co-owner Joe Duffey.
In addition, because Tavares, who is 5'10" and about 165, is a bit bigger than Beleza, he brings a different perspective to the table, especially for anyone who has trained with Beleza, Duffey said.
Got a message on facebook from York fighter Anthony Dick recently, saying that he started training with Daniel Beleza at York's Academy of Combative Arts.
"Since starting with him I finally won my first fight in Massachusetts. They are so awesome there the school is great and the trainers top notch."
Congrats on the win, Anthony. Hope it's the first of many.
I went over to the Academy of Combative Arts in York today for their open house, and had a great time. The academy, located in the Greyhound Bus Station, is home to many MMA fighters, as well as others who are interested in getting (or keeping) in shape or learning self-defense.
Unfortunately, I was late in getting there, so I missed the exhibition that owners Joe Duffey and Frank Nguyen had planned. But I have to say, everyone was accomodating in doing it again, just so I could get a little footage, which will be edited and put up here sometime soon.
In addition to Joe and Frank, head BJJ instructor Daniel Beleza was there, as well as Muay Thai instructor Kham and a guy he's been training with for a couple years now, Kaensak Sor. Pleonjit. Kaensak, who now trains in New Jersey, was champion at both Lumpinee and Ratchadamnoen stadiums, which I'm told are the two biggest and most prestigious stadiums in Thailand. He was in York for a seminar at ACA in August and hopes to do it again soon.
Here's an email I received from Joe Duffey, co-owner of Academy of Combative Arts in York City:
Daniel (BJJ champion Daniel Beleza) took Jimmy Chappell up to the Poconos for the WKU Warrior Challenge for a fight. Jimmy won in the first round via armbar. Also, Daniel took a team of guys(Team Beleza is the fight name) to Scranton today (6/27) for the PA Brazillian Jiu Jitsu tournament and all of our guys placed. We had 2 in the kids division, Chaz and Jordan, both winning gold, 4 in the adults white belt division(in 3 different weight classes), Tom(gold), Jaysin(bronze), Josh(gold), Tux(silver) which equated to 2 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal, and 2 in blue belt division(2 different weight classes), Jimmy(gold) and Mike(Bronze) resulting in a gold and bronze medal.
I'm very proud of them so I wanted to share the news. Joe Duffey
Daniel Beleza
I received an email from Joe Duffey, who, along with Frank Nguyen, run the Academy of Combative Arts in York City. Joe told me that ACA's resident black belt (2nd degree in BJJ) Daniel Beleza, got third in the recent International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation's World Championships, held June 4-7 at California State University in Long Beach.
Here are the results from the IBJJF Web site:
weight class: LIGHT FEATHER
FIRST guilherme mendes Atos
THIRD carlos vieira Check Mat Bjj
THIRD Daniel Beleza Academy of Combative Arts.
Earlier this year, Daniel scored back-to-back first place victories at the Pan-Ams and the New York International Open.
Congratulations, Daniel, from all of us here at MMA Explosion!
Worlds promo video:
According to Jerod Phillips, owner of Hanover-based MMA fightwear company Tap or Sleep, York County pro Biff Walizer was at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, to get some training in with George McGinnis and his crew.
Although Biff is still managed by LionHeart Fighters, it just doesn't make sense for him to travel up to State College on a semi-regular basis. George is a legitimate teacher in BJJ and his academy is very close to where Biff lives.
George has also hooked up with Bob Bitner from Hanover Academy of Mixed Martial Arts to do some training between the two camps. The partnership of sorts is mutually beneficial: Bitner, who comes from a striking background, gets his fighters exposed to an advanced ground game. McGinnis, whose focus is the ground, gets striking experience for his fighters.
Also in Red Lion, Mark Jovich brought his fight team from his traditional martial arts school in New Cumberland, to MACE. There, Jovich's fighters have integrated with James Olewiler's fighters to create what I can only think will be a formidable fight team.
In addition, I have heard that quite a few people from various academies in the area are going to Academy of the Combative Arts to see BJJ 2nd degree black Daniel Beleza.
All of this cross-training makes sense. It fosters a sense of camaraderie among the fighters, trainers and academy owners in the area, and it pushes fighters to be at their best and develop a willingness to learn something new, or something old in a new way.
A while back, I blogged about the Academy of Combative Arts in York City, and its quest to open up a school on Arch Street.
Well, it appears the school is open, with Frank Nguyen and Joe Duffey as co-owners:
Teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes is Daniel Beleza, a second-degree black belt who has two recent first-place wins in top-level BJJ tournaments.
ACA also had several of its fighters, including Mike Oberdick, fight in the inaugural Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge.
Daniel Beleza
For more information, log onto to their new Web site here.
Daniel Beleza, fresh from his first-place win at the Pan-Ams in California, the second-degree BJJ black belt scored another first in the Black Belt Adult - Light Feathweight category at the IBJJF's New York International Open Championships.
After getting the first place, Daniel, who is an instructor at MACE in Red Lion and Academy of Combative Arts in York, barely had enough time to get back and corner fighters at the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge the next day.
Congratulações, Daniel.
James Chappell of MACE in Red Lion pulls a textbook armbar on Ron White at Sunday's Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge.
Daniel Beleza, far right, in the blue rashguard, at M.A.C.E. in Red Lion.
As I said in an earlier post, Daniel "The Cobra" Beleza, second-degree black belt with York's Academy of Combative Arts, and Red Lion's M.A.C.E. academy scored a huge win at the recent Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Carson, Calif. In the black belt/master division, light featherweight, Daniel placed first.
Here's an account of Daniel's success from http://diariodonordeste.globo.com/ Keep in mind I used Alta Vista Babel Fish for the translation from Portuguese to English and then also did a little editing of my own:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Daniel Beleza won a gold medal at the Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championships, held at the California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson City, held the last weekend in March.
At the event, sanctioned by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, Daniel displayed a thrilling performance, finishing his first two opponents in less than two minutes in each match.
In the finals, Daniel faced Mauricio Villardo, a fighter from the Academy Gracie Humaitá, and won gold.
A total of 2,500 fighters representing countries including the United States, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and France, participated in the competition. Three hundred of those athletes represented Brazil.
Daniel now has his sights set on the IBJJF's US Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship, held in April in New York City.
Following that, Daniel will enter the IBJJF's most important competition of this season, the XIV World-Wide Championship, Long Beach, California, in June.
Since August, Daniel has been living in York, Pennsylvania, where he trains and teaches at M.A.C.E. academy in Red Lion and ACA - Academy of Combative Arts.
As many of the prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments are held in the United States, Daniel decided to move here to minimize costs. Daniel's resume includes a 3rd place finishes at both the 2008 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships and the 2008 Pan-American Games.
Original story written by Moacir Felix.
Daniel Beleza
I talked with Llew Chester, co-owner of the Academy of Combative Arts, (located in downtown York), and he filled me in on a few things.
First, Daniel "The Cobra" Beleza, second-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, recently took first place at a major BJJ tournament, I believe in California.
"He cleaned up over there; it was really remarkable," Chester said. "He's really pumped up about it."
Llew added that the academy's progress is not moving along as fast as it should.
"We're having problems passing the inspection; we have to re-do the ceiling," he said. "Everything is set to go and we can't move."
Still, Llew remained positive, saying, "It's definitely going to happen, I'll tell you that."
To find out more information, call co-owner Frank Nguyen at 717-841-4077. To go to Daniel myspace page, click here.
