Gustavo says, "Go with Gaspari Nutrition, My Friend!!"

What's up Codella Family! I just wanted to share some info that may be of interest to you all. Of course you know that are academy is now sponsored by Gaspari Nutrition, and they were kind enough to provide our fighters for the upcoming Evolution Summer Bash with supplements and apparel with Gapari and Codella Academy on them to wear for their fights. For those of us who aren't fighting but want some awesome supplements to help us with our protein intake and recovery from our tough training sessions, pay attention.

My supplement routine consisted of Vitamin Shoppe brand whey protein and multi-vitamins, Barleans fish oil and H-Blocker, a beta-alanine product I use before workouts and Food Fight, a greens super food product; I haven't recovered from my childhood hatred of  veggies!! Yup, that's all I used to help maintain this Dominican Sumo Stud figure!! 

If you go to Bodybuilding.com, correction, WHEN, you go to that site and vote for your favorite products you will receive a discount code for 10% off your total order. That code is: SUPPAWARDS

What that means is, after the discount, you can try the Gaspari Myofusion protein, 5lbs, for about $40 or the 2lbs for about $20. For comparison, VS has it for $50 and $27 respectively.  Also, when you order the 5 lbs of Myofusion you'll get a free 160 gram size container of Super Max. The Banana Perfection flavor is fantastic and can only be purchased online! I have also tasted the strawberry flavor and I'm already thinking of creating some tropical daiquiri concoction with these two!!

You may also want to check out the free samples section, in the store site under "On Sale". I did order the Labrada EFA fish oil on my recent shipment but I haven't tried them out yet. The Anavite multi-vitamins are on back order at this site as well as  the Gaspari site but they are available at the VS on Richmond Ave. for $30.

Lastly, if your order is over $75, you can get a choice of a free gift, like a shake bottle, or use it as a donation toward some charitable organizations. I opted to make a donation to fellow Marine, UFC fighter and Gaspari sponsored athlete, Brian Stann's Hire Heroes USA.

I'm not sure when this discount code will expire so act fast. 

By the way, I was prompted to share this info by my newest training partner and the Most Interesting Canine in the World, Gustavo!

  Bodybuilding.com
 Gaspari Nutrition
 Food Fight

*Disclaimer: All of the above products were purchased by me. The only discount I benefited from was the code mentioned above.

Some of Dis, Some of Dat Sunday!!

Here is an excellent video recap of Master Renzo's recent visit to our academy, put together by one of our teammates, Brian Ruppert and his ace, Steven Badagliacco. On this very same evening one of our brothers was receiving a very special promotion.

Now,let me preface this announcement with this segue- there is a particular traditional martial arts organization, which will remain unnamed, that catches a lot of flack at our academy. In fact, some of our training partners were former members..and currently well on their way to 100% BJJ recovery!! While many organizations will make all sorts of  outlandish claims, the traditional martial arts in general must be given their due respect. For those of you that may not know, Prof. Codella  studied Kajukenbo, a Hawaiian martial art, and Estacada for many years. Let us not be short-sighted and sleep on these martial arts. I hope to explore the subject of the traditional martial arts and their influence on BJJ practitioners further with Prof. Codella in a future article. 

Someone else we can discuss this matter with is Mike 2K(Karate/Kimura) Hanrahan who earned his Sandan- 3rd degree black belt in Okinawan Gojuryu! Congratulations, brother!!

*** Prof. Codella is taking our Academy to whole different level, future world class training facility certain to be mentioned with the likes of Greg Jackson MMA, American Top Team,..ok,a bit lofty but the best badass facility on the East Coast for sure!! We will now be offering classes in Muay Thai- The Art of Eight Limbs!- to be taught by Dom Piscitelli, the training partner of Master Renzo's Muay Thai instructor, Jamie Crowder. Imagine the countless combinations in your arsenal  when attacking your opponent: from knees in the clinch to Mike Valente take down or spinning back fist to flying cow hands ala Prof. Fajardo! Unstoppable is what we are destined be!!

***But wait, there's more!!  Codella Academy will now be sponsored by Gaspari Nutrition! fine makers of Myofusion protein, Super Pump and Size ON supplements! More specific details regarding Team Gaspari will be forthcoming.

***Save the date- Saturday August 27th, 2011. Evolution Amateur Fights in Rahway, NJ will be featuring  our warriors Mark F., Ramy and Mike 2K so far. I'll be sure to keep you posted with ticket and fight card info.

***For all those interested in competing, I added a list on the blog, with links, to upcoming local tournaments. If there are other ev that you would like me to add please contact me via email or leave a message for me at the academy.

Now get to training!!

Master Renzo Bringing The Whoopaz to Staten Island!

tokyo five brand/renzo gracie

Start to finish, the month of June has been very special for us at the Codella Academy. From legends of BJJ gracing our humble mats, to our teammates, young and old, displaying the tried & true techniques of the Gentle Art in the competition arenas and in the cage.  We were honored to receive a masterful and mesmerizing  seminar by the esteemed  Prof. John Danaher. We also celebrate the launching of this blog, Cageside at Codella's, and look forward to doing bigger and better things with this site for your entertainment and edification! 

There was a small but determined squad of two and a half men who invaded New England and just wrecked and pillaged the mats at NAGA and returned home with a treasure trove of medals, championship belts and swords! Props to Big Joe Terranova, Bobby Brown and his son Kieran for repping our Academy in "enemy" territory! Our very own walrus enthusiast Will Couchon took to it the next level at the Dead Serious Tournament, giving professional MMA fighters all they can handle on the mats and coming away with a bronze medal!! At Grappler's Quest, Rene, Joe, Albert Medina and Mike Bergamo brought their A games, fought tough matches and left it all on the mats! Despite some questionable reffing, they all held their heads up high in victory and defeat! Congratulations to Mike on his Silver Medal!! Later that same evening, at Asylum Fight League, Joe 'Thiago' Peteroy would go on to completely dominate and submit his opponent in a grappling match; Nick The Hammer Scianna put up a valiant and determined effort that led to a majority draw; and unfortunately, Mike 2K Hanrahan would not have the opportunity to unleash his skills due to his fight being cancelled as a result of poor  cage surface conditions.

All of the above brings us to the Why we're able to do battle in all arenas and excel at it! More specifically, the Who.. our champion and torch bearer for 100%  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu...Master Renzo Gracie! 

This Thursday, June 30th at 5:30ish!!, Master Renzo will be at Codella Academy to lead the no gi class. Prepare to be wowed, not only by his disarming smile and infectious humor but  by his extraordinary knowledge and brilliant breakdown and delivery of  these techniques!! Here are some videos of  Master Renzo to whet your appetite until Thursday!!

Fight Night!

Who in their right mind would want to mess with a crew of bad asses such as this!! Unfortunately there are many fools who tempt fate and although none of them would find any success, we all, fighters and fans alike, would fall victim to Mother Nature and horrific cage conditions. The setting was perfect, outdoors, cage was set up over home plate, Blue Claws stadium was not overcrowded, the view was great and the company of Codella supporters was awesome!
   The first match of the night was announced as a grappling match and everyone was surprised to see Joe competing instead of fighting. Turns out his opponent was over ten pounds underweight and could not or would not fight, not sure of the circumstances, but this seem to coincide with a loud rumbling felt and heard below the stadium seats. Apparently some Team Coach took to redecorating the Blue Claws locker room in disgust of said slight..but at the time of this writing the above incident has not been confirmed!! " Thiago" would win the match by straight armbar from the mount. Speaking of mount, I don't believe I've seen anyone get taken down and mounted as much his opponent was with the exception of Bubba the Grappling Dummy!! 
Amazing job, Joe! BTW, The Garv.com posted a recap of the fights and had the audacity to omit the clinic you displayed. I posted a comment on their site to add the results of the match. They responded with praise and a at-a-boy for you but no results. I tried brother!
Nick the Hammer...this is one bad m..dude! He was catching some serious shots and knees from his opponent in the first round. His opponent would get penalized one point for an illegal knee to the head in that round. Rounds two and three were fought mainly in the clinch against the cage, and while his opponent was tiring the Hammer was scoring with shots to the body and short, crisp, T-Rex uppercuts! The fight ended with a majority draw decision. The details are being worked on for a rematch between the two to settle the score. Nick showed a tremendous amount of heart in this fight, fighting back the entire time. You made us all very proud, brother!
  The remaining fights at the Asylum Ice Palace would eventually be cancelled, for fighter safety, due to the  slippery surface of the cage. As disappointed as Mike 2K was, it was probably for the best because your plan to keep it standing would have would have been seriously hampered. You'll get him next time brother. There are many of your teammates very eager to see you handle your business in the cage!!

While the night ended prematurely, the after party started early in the stands! Some fans felt they should get their moneys worth and put on their  bouts! There may have been more fights in the VIP section than in the actual cage!! The last song of the the night would be a piss poor rendition of  "Who Let The Dogs Out"  by the Lakewood P.D. K-9 Unit!! Until the next time, Peace!