A great opportunity presents itself March 12th and 13th 2011, as Master Sylvio Behring visits Utah from Brazil to share his skills and insights.  After attending this seminar last year, Daniel Mower of Arcanum BJJ (one of Utah’s top Jiu Jitsu bloggers) wrote, “Nowadays there are BJJ black belts a-plenty. But there are very few people that are considered masters of the art. Sylvio Behring is one of them. A 7th degree red/black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in judo, Sylvio has probably forgotten more jiu-jitsu than most of us will ever learn.”

So who exactly is Sylvio Behring?  Well for starters, he is Anderson Silva’s Jiu Jitsu instructor, a 7th Degree Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu, a Judo Black belt, son of Grand Master Flavio Behring (who studied under Heilio Gracie), student of Alvaro Barreto (another of Heilio’s students), Vice President of the Federation of Jiu Jitsu De Sportive in Rio De Janeiro,  President of the Franco Behring Jiu Jitsu alliance of Canada, and President of the World Black Belt Council.

Credentials aside, Sylvio has truly forged his name, and that of Behring Jiu Jitsu with his system known as the “progressive guard.”  Unlike how many typical think of “guard”, the Behring progressive guard is much more than just a position on the ground.  It is a series of positions used to protect one’s self, and counter attack from the ground not only when grappling with an opponent, but potentially long before then.

As Master Sylvio stated, “The progressive guard (and thus the Jiu Jitsu that it is part of) is intended to compliment Karate, and other martial arts, and to work with them in a real-world situation.  It allows you to manage the distance, and manage your defense, wherever your opponent goes.”

The incorporation of this guard styles, along with the throwing techniques of Judo, and top end Jiu Jitsu is impressive to behold, and a pleasure to learn.  Add to this the refreshingly non-combative insights of the Master regarding how to keep things from escalating to combat in most situations, and you end up with a few hours of time not to be missed.

This event will be held March 12th from 6:00-9:00 PM, and on March 13th from 10:00 AM through 3:00 PM Mountain.  For more details on this event, and to register, contact Hidden Valley Mixed Martial Arts at UTMMA.com.