Olympian Travis Stevens Hold Seminar at Renzo Gracie Fort Lee
Two-time judo Olympian Travis Stevens conducted a seminar at Renzo Gracie Fort Lee on Sunday, Nov. 8.
The seminar focused on his approach to the Seoi Nage, a technique that requires lifting your opponent and throwing him over your shoulder.
Alan Teo, a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu and owner of Renzo Gracie Fort Lee, developed a friendship with the Olympic judoka as Stevens has cross trained in Brazilian Jiujitsu, earning his black belt under the team Renzo Gracie affiliation. Teo has taken advantage of the unique opportunity of having an Olympian train with his students.
“I’ve been working with Travis Stevens since 2010,” Teo said. “He often does workshops for our members but we wanted to do something different….with the seminar.”
In addition to the technical details that Stevens passed on, Teo believes that the seminar served as a good example of the mentality and focus required to reach an elite level in any athletic endeavor for students of all levels.
“I felt the seminar went really well,” Teo said. “It gave newbies a good impression of what it takes to reach a high level in the art and also gave experienced practitioners another perspective to their training. I think it was an overall success.”
Teo’s observation has proven to be true based on the responses of those that attended the seminar. Jamie Cruz, a Brazilian Jiujitsu Black Belt has begun dabbling in Judo recently and he said that he gleaned a great deal of information from the seminar.
“So far, (it is) the best judo instructional seminar I have ever gone to and I’ve seen a little bit in the short stint I’ve been doing judo; I’ve seen quite a lot,” Cruz said. “I really like how he focused on just one throw and the different fundamentals.”
Flavio Espaillat, a Brazilian Jiujitsu white belt and judo beginner, also was able to advance his training with the focused nature of the seminar.
“Sensei Travis did not disappoint,” Espaillat said. “His footwork and entries in to Seoi Nage were crisp and his attention to detail was instrumental in being able to execute the form. I look forward to applying his concepts and details to my own game.”
The response to Stevens’ style of teaching was overwhelmingly positive across all levels of experience and all look forward to implementing the details he shared.
