The 2008 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships are just around the corner! For those who have been living under a rock, they will take place June 5-8 at Cal State University in Long Beach. Chatter is heating up about how the black belt divisions are shaping up and who will come away with the gold medals this year at the Mundials.

One very interested party is Alexandre Ribeiro, who won the gold medal in the 2006 heavyweight and absolute divisions, and won the heavyweight division again in 2007. This week we speak with “Xande” about his preparations for the Worlds and his intentions to expand his legacy in 2008.

We will also have a conversation with BJJ black belt Ed Kennedy. Kennedy trains at Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti’s school in Atlanta and, like most of us, has a nine-to-five job, family responsibilities, and other obligations. We talk about the long and rewarding journey of BJJ, and balancing the obligations an everyday working man or woman inherits when choosing a life of jiu-jitsu.