Gracie Barra Shares What Happened Behind the Creation of Gracie Barra Fundamentals 2.0

Something that takes months in the making should be great and should be worth the wait. Something that has generated hype must meet all expectations. This is exactly what happened when the Gracie Barra Fundamentals 2.0 came out. It met all expectations by setting the standards as one of the best apps martial arts can offer. It garnered thousands of sales across the globe in just the first 4 days of the release. Ranking in the top 20 sports apps in the itunes app store.

The app is organized into a series of 16-week training modules with instructions and lessons for everyone to enjoy. The app is a simple, easy-to-navigate learning tool designed for those who may need to brush up on their Jiu-Jitsu lessons.

Application developer Patrick Paulson of mobileblackbelt.net talks about the app and the production phase

GB.com: How big was this project. Can you tell us how many people were involved?
Patrick P.:This was a BIG project that GB has been working on for a long time with input from other Black Belts and their students inside the GB organization.
Professor Ricardo Almeida was the “Technical Director” for the program. Professor Marcio Feitosa is the lead instructor, but as I understand it, this was really a collaboration with many people.
The filming, post production and app development was a whole other process. I believe we shot the techniques back in May. I then started organizing the footage and preparing for the edit.
Ricardo and I also kept working on the script. Marcio was traveling back and forth to Brazil so the scheduling was difficult. In August Marcio flew to Northern California to record the voice over.
After that I finished the edit and prepared the movies for our app developer. So I guess the whole process took about 5 months to complete since we were faced with the challenge of having different schedules all in the same time.

GB.com: Tell us something about mobileblackbelt.net
Patrick P.: Mobile Black Belt was created by my partner (Aparecido Faria) and I. The goal is to bring high quality, BJJ content to people all over the world through mobile apps and live streaming events. We work with only the top athletes, instructors and organizations to guarantee our audience gets the best training in the world. You can check our website out at: www.mobileblackbelt.net for more information.

GB.com: What sprouted the idea to create the app?
Patrick P.: The original Fundamentals videos are over 3 years old, so it was time to update the curriculum to the new Gracie Barra Fundamentals v_2.0.  We wanted to deliver the content in mobile apps and online videos so anyone in the world could access the content.

GB.com: Share with us the initial response of BJJ fans on the app
Patrick P.: Regarding the sales, what I can tell you is, after 3 days on the App Store the GB Fundamentals have reached the highest ranking of any BJJ apps…ever.  It has been #1 in Brazil for the last three days in the category of “Sports”.  It is Currently #8 in the USA for “Sports”.  It has been sold in 15 countries in 3 days.  To give you an idea how impressive this is, there are over 20,000 apps in the category of “Sports” on the iTunes Store.We have also reached into the “Top Overall” position in Brazil, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Croatia and a few others.  There are over 500,000 apps on the iTunes Store…so this is groundbreaking stuff.

GB.com: So what’s next after this application?
Patrick P.: I believe the next projects are the GB Advanced curriculum version 2.0, then the new Black Belt Program, Future Champions…

 

Created with flickr slideshow.
For those interested in getting the app, you may click the following links below:

Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Fundamentals of the Gentle Art 2.0 Weeks 1-4

Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Fundamentals of the Gentle Art 2.0 Weeks 5-8

Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Fundamentals of the Gentle Art 2.0 Weeks 9-12

Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Fundamentals of the Gentle Art 2.0 Weeks 13-16
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