This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I remember running a Grapplers Quest on Saturday, September 23, 2011 at City College of New York with the horizon still smoking, the grappling community came together. My old academy, Machado New York City with Marcos Santos was gone, just 2 blocks from World Trade. Many people told me to cancel it, but I knew it was important for the grappling community. It was a sad day, as we found out that we lost many of our fellow Grapplers, friends, family and the heros of civil services – and I’m glad we did it. People should always know that expressing love in times of sadness is sometimes the greatest form of healing. God bless you all
Directed by Kahleem Poole-Tejada (director of the full-length documentary “New York MMA”) and produced by Matthew Kaplowitz (Editor-in-Chief of TheFightNerd.com) in association with Ranger Up, the film takes viewers around a tour of downtown Manhattan and provides a glimpse inside several of New York City’s top MMA gyms. It features many NY-based fighters, such as Renzo Gracie, Chris Weidman, Pete “Drago” Sell, and Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, as well as Stephen Koepfer of NY Combat Sambo, Mark Yehia of “Elite Plus MMA,” Rob Constance of “The Renzo Gracie Academy” and President of the “Ultimate Absolute” grappling tournament, and Emilio Novoa, President of ADCC North America. Also appearing is UFC middleweight fighter Jorge Rivera, as well as Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy, who adds the voices of members of the U.S. Armed Forces to this emotional piece.
Brian Cimins 
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