Tag Archives: folsom

Professional Jiu Jitsu Competitors in Reno, NV


On the last weekend of January, Tanner Ford and Eliot Kelly made their presence felt on the stage of Fight to Win Pro 60 in Reno, Nevada. This was an exciting night for the two competitors where over $30,000 were paid to the many competitors of the night. Tanner made his Submission only debut on the fight to win card and won via heel hook. He had a dominant performance and was able to execute to precision what he had been training. We are excited to see him again on the stage!

Eliot wasn’t as successful as Tanner in his match. Eliot lost a unanimous referee decision. Needless to say he made an effort to put on a show of takedowns and hand fighting looking to gain advantage starting from the feet.

We are excited to have been a part of another Fight to Win pro card in the Nevada area! This was an exciting opportunity to compete and perform on a professional stage in the art of submission grappling. We look forward to seeing these competitors in action again on the fight to win stage!

Belt Promotion: Jarrod moves up to Blue

Jarrod is the first generation with our new white belt curriculum to move up in belts. This has been a long process that has been in effect for a little over a year and a half. It’s been very beneficial in giving the beginners a sense of direction and task oriented learning opportunities in addition to the lessons they experience through their rolling and situational drilling.

Jarrod brings an analytical game to the mat to train and understand the technique and concepts behind martial arts efficiency.  Coming from a background in pharmacology, he is very scientific in his approach to analyzing and understanding his game. His enthusiasm to improve and challenge himself exists in him going to competitions, training at 6am, 11am and the evening classes, and in thee process of him getting comfortable on the mat he has gotten his family involved in training! In December Jarrod led a community sock drive, collecting over a thousand pairs of socks for the homeless. He brought an awareness for a need that the community might overlook. We appreciate his attention to detail in noticing where different needs exist in our community and finding ways to fill them!

We appreciate Jarrod’s enthusiasm to train and improve. It is contagious as he mentors the newer students on the mat, encouraging them to challenge themselves. Congrats Jarrod!

New Jiu-Jitsu Class for ages 4 to 6 in El Dorado Hills

We are starting a new section for our Pee Wee aged (age 4-6) Jiu Jitsu class. The class is on Tuesday and Saturday and therefore, it’s titled TS PeeWee Jiu Jitsu. We are open for enrollment and look forward to new trials starting on their fun jiu jitsu adventure.

In the class we focus on learning through fun and play and make special care to emphasize collaboration, teamwork, and learning through social play. Our curriculum is set with an understanding that consistent training of 2 times a week will lead to technical improvement but more importantly, an improvement in their ability to learn how to learn.

BJJ demo in Folsom with peewee student and Dad

Parent participation is not mandatory, but we welcome parents who are interested in coaching to join us on the mat. All we ask is that you wear proper uniform attire and are willing to work with all of the students in the class.

Blue Belt Promotion in El Dorado Hills: Javen

Blue Belt Promotion
🛡柔🛡
January 2018

Javen has been training for six years and he is finally eligible to be promoted in the “adult” belt system since this is the year he turns 16. His passion for martial arts  has been pivotal in his growth and maturity on and off the mat. He is a role model for students in the peewee, kids, and juniors jiu jitsu classes. He is patient, kind, and takes time to listen. He has such an impression on some of the students that they even follow his nogi style of wearing a rash guard with gi pants. Javen is looked up to by the students he coaches as well as the parents who notice him in action.
Javen has embraced learning both skills of training and implementing jiujitsu as well as the art of teaching and leading. In addition to jiu-jitsu, he excels in his academics at Oak Ridge high school and pursues his passion in music and the language arts in his spare time.

El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Self Defense is lucky to have such an outstanding individual! Congratulations Javen!

New Classes & New Schedule at El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu

EDH Jiu Jitsu is adding two new classes during the weekly training cycle in 2018! We welcome students with a curiosity to learn and understand the grappling arts of jiu jitsu, wrestling, judo and the like. Our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu martial arts program is a one of a kind in El Dorado Hills, with  age appropriate curriculums for toddlers, kids, teens, and adults. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to start with a FIVE day FIVE dollar trial!

TS Pee Wee Jiu Jitsu Class (age 4-6)

The PeeWee Jiu-Jitsu Class is a class for toddlers to learn through fun, work with different coaches, socialize with their peers, and develop skills that will help them off the mat. The new class is on Tuesday at 3:30pm and Saturday at 9:10am.

MW Adult Basics Jiu Jitsu (age 17+)

The Adult Basics class is a perfect class for adults that are beginning jiu jitsu or looking to get back into jiu jitsu but need a little time to get the body back in shape before training in the advanced class. Our jiujitsu program makes an emphasis in learning and drilling the technical positions and movements before participating in any uncontrolled sparring situations. This allows the student to build a skill set of moves and develop an understanding of what is possible on the mat. Once these skills are acquired, the adult student is welcome to engage in different sparring situations.

We have students with successful weight loss testimonies, students who have found ways to deal with stress, and others who finally found a life long hobby. All are welcome to start with our five day five dollar trial!

 

Purple Belt Promotion at El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu

EDH BJJ black belts Sean, Eliot, and Aaron promoted Mat to his purple belt

Congratulations Mathew on earning his Purple Belt! @matheweckhardt serves our community as a full-time firefighter and family man. He does an excellent job of balancing his schedule and life to accommodate for consistent training. In the past year he has excelled in both, traditional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Only NoGi. His dedication to the Art and the focused presence he brings to class serves as ideal modeling for all the other students at El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Mat has overcome the difficulty we all face in life. Finding balance in a constantly changing and traveling boat of life. In his weekly routine, constantly changing as a result of his shift schedule, mat has found the ability to schedule training sessions at least 2 -3 times a week. He is diligent in in drilling and brings a sense of optimism and enthusiasm to each class. Thank you and congrats!

Community Service: Making & Giving Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches

As we enter this season of giving, many of us search for ways to engage actively in giving. How can we truly participate in this process? We can donate food and toys, we can give money to charitable organizations; there are so many choices! As altruistic and generous as the act of donating is, as a parent I look for ways that my family can work together to share what we have with others in a meaningful way. I want to put the food or toys in the hands of those that need them. But how can a family with young children do this? How can a jiu jitsu school with over 100 students ranging from age 4 to 60+ do this?
One way is to host a PBJ event: a simple and easy way to engage your family and community in an act of giving that puts food in the hands of those who need it most!
Step One: Gather your people! Advertise! Shout it from the rooftops! Tell your students and friends to tell THEIR people! All are welcome and the more hands on deck, the better.
Step Two: Gather the goods! Your basic requests are bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Bread is the limiting factor so it’s best to ask people to bring at LEAST two loaves of bread each, along with a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly. Some items to consider: plastic knives, plastic sandwich bags, and paper bags to put sandwiches in. You can request these from participants, you can ask for donations from local stores or companies (grocery stores are great for these types of donations!), or you can provide them yourself.
Step Three: Market, market, market! Social media, local community boards, coffee shops…get the word out! Because this kind of event has no age limit, encourage families to come. Tell them to bring their friends. Local Girl/Boy Scout troops may need a service project and this is perfect!
Step Four: Sling sammys! Set up tables or just lay tablecloths on your floor space. You’ll want each sandwich to go into a plastic bag and then 6-7 sandwiches to go into a brown paper bag. Offer wet wipes so people can wipe peanut butter and jelly off their hands. At about half way through the allotted time, encourage people not to open new jars of peanut butter and jelly until the open jars are empty. Unopened jars can be donated to local food banks, but opened jars need to go home with participants or tossed.
Step Five: Distribute! Go to a local area with a large homeless community. Often, this is near shelters, soup kitchens or other resources. Pack the brown bags full of sandwiches into bigger bags and encourage your participants to walk around and offer sandwiches to anyone who might want some. People may approach you and ask what you have. Offer a smile, dignity, and respect. They are appreciated just as much as food.
Step Six: Regroup! Ask your participants what they thought. How did they feel? Did they notice anything in particular? How would they do it differently next time? You may have heard people asking for certain items as they received the sandwiches…maybe you can do a drive to collect those items next time?
A PB&J event is a unique way to get into the community and give people a way to get to bed with food in their belly and wake up to food for breakfast. You will not walk away from it unaffected by the people you’ve served and it will offer you a jumping off point to talk to participants of all ages about gratitude, perspective, and mutual respect. Participating in this kind of event should leave everyone with a sense of pride in their ability to serve those who need it most, but also questioning how they can help more.

Black Belt Promotion in El Dorado Hills: Sean Gonsolin

Here are some words from Sean after his promotion to black belt. “I was first introduced to BJJ in 2008 by a blue belt neighbor who showed me some BJJ in exchange for me helping him with his boxing. I ended up starting about a year later in late 2009, and started competing 3 months later. I met Allicia when I was a white belt. And we tried to be each other’s training buddy and motivator. The main reason i train Jiu-jitsu is for the self defense application; particularly with regards to controlling and understanding movement and body mechanics. My ultimate goal with BJJ is always longevity, to train for life.”

Black belts in attendance were (from left to right) Eliot Kelly, Julio Veliz, Marcus Boness, Sean Gonsolin, Marcos Torregrosa, Borston Marc, Jerel Tengan.

 

Jiu Jitsu is more than learning technique it’s discovering what works for you

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an interesting blend of learning and training. Students can go online and login to a training website to study movements and techniques. Students can also watch jiujitsu on flograppling, youtube and instagram to learn from their favorite athletes or coaches.

The most important element of bridging the gap from learning a variety of techniques and drilling them methodically to successfully executing them in practice or competition exists in self awareness.

Self awareness for your own personal style of jiujitsu. This comes from multiple places.

  1. Personality
  2. Body type
  3. Athletic ability
  4. Mobility / flexibility

There are universal concepts in jiu-jitsu that exist as a result of human mechanics and physics, but there also exists efficient movements that make a difference in how you are able to move efficiently. While your initial pursuit of jiujitsu might exist in learning the fundamental concepts and the basic understanding of different positions and movements, there will eventually be a need to practice what works best for your body.

At EDH Jiu Jitsu we have a weekly question and answer class that allows students to better understand those unique positions under some guidance from an instructor. While discovering what works for you is an individual development, it is very helpful to have a coach or training partner to ask and think about specific positions. The Q&A class allows the students to ask those questions and from there drill them. In the drilling process more questions may arise and it’s acceptable to ask more questions based on the feedback you receive from your drilling.

Ultimately, what jiu-jitsu is striving for is a higher, enlightened level of awareness. An awareness of the dangers of specific positions and what prevents their execution. An awareness of where your strengths are and how you can bring the “game” back to that position to better control the match. An awareness of the style of jiujitsu you play and the need to embrace that style when you are rolling or in competition.

Therefore, strive for awareness. Take the time to ask questions on the mat. Something to keep in mind when taking steps to better awarenss is the THREE R’s. Something we emphasize at El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu.

  • Reflect
  • Review
  • Refine

Reflect on your previous performances and ask questions. Review the adjustments with a training parter or a coach. Refine the adjustments while you are rolling and drilling. This process loops back to the beginning as you refine your technique you should be reflecting on the movements and thinking about the strengths and weakness of the position.

Make Progress

Eliot Kelly

 

BJJ Tour: US Open Results from El dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu Competitors

The 21st US Open took place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco this weekend. El Dorado Hills Jiu Jitsu had multiple competitors from kids to adults, white belts to brown belts in action on the mats. The tournament was a great event to measure everyones progress from the beginning of the year and set some new markers going into 2018. The US Open, along with the BJJ Tour, is a great and professional tournament organization that has been dedicated to improving and enhancing jiujitsu viewership and competition from the beginning of jiujitsu in the United States.

Kids Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Slater – Godl
  • Ian – Bronze
  • Mateo – Silver
  • Mia – Bronze

Adult Jiu Jitsu Competitor Results

  • Dave – Competitor
  • Mark – Competitor
  • Coach Kunk – Gold
  • Aaron – Silver
  • Jarrod – Gold
  • Ryan – Competitor