Neo-Minamoto Clan

Posts : 26 Join date : 2012-08-16

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Certified UGPF International training centre

Neo-Minamoto Clan
Size: Large
Focus: Grappling (Especially Sambo & Jiu-Jitsu) & Dirty Boxing
Location: Kharkiv, Ukraine
Owner: Greg Frazier
Head Trainer: Leonid Grigoriev (Master of Sport in Sambo, Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and former IMMAF Light heavyweight champion)
Notes: Ukraine's top PitFighters train at this gym usually with backgrounds in Sambo or Jiu-Jitsu. Some are kickboxers and other strikers that want to improve their grappling as well. When it comes to PitFighting the gym is state-of-the-art and has plenty of mat space and strength/conditioning essentials. Inside it looks like an old school former Soviet Union Olympic training centre (which is what it once was before, dilapidated being recently restored) but the camaraderie is strong. The fighters usually have well rounded grappling skills on the ground (chokes, armlocks, and leg locks all have equal importance) and good takedowns from the clinch especially (trips and upper body throws/takedowns). Striking is not as emphasized but dirty boxing certainty is. Generally the fighters come in good shape (The fighters train hard but smart as well) but there isn't as much quality control as other gyms (you can expect that there will be more than a few cans training here as it is a totally public gym with low admittance costs) It is almost certain that there will be fighters from this gym who will enter the international PitFighting scene. They have adapted their Sambo and Jiu-Jitsu style well into PitFighting.

Members

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Augusto Korda

Cuban Master of Sport in Sambo, former Freestyle wrestler (for a few years in the late 80s-early 90s) and Shootfighter (mid to late 90s) Lately he has been plagued by knee injuries

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Vlad Zolotarev

Related to Yevgeni Zolotarev, the man who killed Douglas Dedge in a PitFight. Vlad Zolotarev on the other hand though had a previous background in more gentle arts like Aikido and Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu before switching to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in recent years believing it was more effective as a martial art. As a blue belt Zolotarev was the Kharkiv Oblast provincial champion. Zolotarev dominated the small BJJ tournaments with his intimate knowledge of wrist locks that most people competing were unaware of. After Zolotarev won the provincial title he was asked to join the Neo-Minamoto Clan by Grigoriev himself (at first mostly because of name value). Grigoriev was impressed by Zolotarev's utilization of technique over strength however and awarded him a purple belt in BJJ. Zolotarev accepted and left his previous affiliation with Gracie Barra to pursue PitFighting and hopefully educate fans and others alike about the gentle arts. Zolotarev ultimately left BJJ because he felt his opportunities for competing would diminish at purple belt in such a small community of practitioners. Zolotarev advocates the gentle PitFighting approach through harming his opponents as little as possible (or at least having a choice to or not). Zolotarev shares his knowledge of small joint manipulation with all Neo-Minamoto Clan members.

Admin Posts : 35 Join date : 2011-12-17

The gym section in the Danger House is actually supposed to be the training room it has in the basement. I'm going to elaborate more on the House, but basically the gym they have there is like Stu Hart's Dungeon: