Athlete-Coach Jerel Tengan took to the mats at the IBJJF San Jose Open. This was his first competition at the black belt division and finished with a bronze medal in the tournament. He was competing up in weight class and age category to get some competition experience before taking the mats at the Master World Championships this summer in Las Vegas. A great start to break in the black belt category and gain valuable experience.
On February 25th we took a small team down to compete at the San Francisco Open. The event was held at the historic Kezar pavilion. Driving into the city on clear Sunday morning, I felt a mixed sense of nervousness for the competition and nostalgia from living there over two decades ago.
I was the first one from our team to compete, and I was pretty nervous. It was my first tournament at Black Belt and my first match was against a former training partner of mine. I was happy to pull guard cleanly and have to opportunity to play my game. As I was pummeling for grips he pressed my guard and kept me on my back. I was getting passed and I bridged and came on top… well sort of. He locked a triangle and did my best to defend it and he was able to secure a nice wrist-lock. It was a hard first lesson at Black Belt, but you have to start somewhere.
After my match, I walked down Height Street and placed this experience in the context of my life. Even when you lose, there is a special place in your past as a person that put it all out there.
The tournament was a great learning opportunity for everyone. There were people competing for the first time in their jiu jitsu journey, and others for the first time in 2018, after the holidays. One of our students Brad made his competition debut at the IBJJF SF Open this weekend and he documented his experience on his blog on linkedin. “How competing in a combat sport taught me more about how to improve myself and help others do the same.” Give his article a read and let him know what you think!
Tournament Results:
Blue Belt:
White Belt:
by Coach Aaron
Photography By Aiza Tengan
EDH Jiu Jitsu had 2 competitors compete in the most prestigious NoGi IBJJF tournament this year in Anaheim, CA. The IBJJF NoGi World Championships. Eliot Kelly and Tanner Ford made their preparation for the competition this weekend. Eliot finished in third place on the podium with a bronze medal and Tanner, coming back after a year sabbatical from an injury, finished with one win and one loss.
The tournament was a great learning experience for both competitors as they made their way through the tough bracket at the world championships. “The best of the best compete in this tournament. It’s a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck that takes you to the next round and to the top of the podium.” Visiting black belt from Rhode Island and IBJJF NoGi Pan American medalist, Vin Canabarro, was also on the mat at EDH in the week of competition. “It was great to have Vinny in town. In his first year as black belt he’s made a name for himself on the east coast. It’s only a matter of time before he is all over the world.” Vinny fought through the tournament with one win and one loss as well.
Eliot Kelly competed in the open class as well as the weight category. Having finished with a silver medal in 2012 at the super heavy wt division, Eliot had high aspirations to finish at the top of the podium in his category and double medal in the open class division. He fell short in the open class to Diego from Ze Radiola Team 2-0 0-3. “I came to win and didn’t, but I did get some task goals accomplished that I’ve been working on only in the last few weeks. I just need to keep working on them.”
Eliot fought his way to the semi finals of the tournament, but was stopped by Lucas Barbosa, the eventual weight and open weight champion of the tournament.
A week after the ADCC, I found myself on the east coast getting tuned up for the IBJJF Pan NoGi Championships in NYC. A BIG THANK YOU to the Armor Kimono guys who have been sponsoring my Gi and some NoGi Jiu Jitsu.
I had one match in the division. Jackson Sousa of Checkmat in the finals. He had also just come from the ADCC tournament with a third place finish. I lost the match 2-0 on points from a sweep. Here are some take aways from the match:
This was my third time facing Jackson in competition. The first two I lost in the gi, one by points and one by submission. This was our first nogi match, but was the closest match we shared. Although I didn’t win, I was able to close the margin, and “improve” from my previous matches. Jackson is a class act, and went on to win the open class later in the afternoon. Congratulations!
In the open class, my first opponent lost his temper when I asked the referee for him to take the grease out of his hair. He gave me the double birdie, and was disqualified.
In my second match, I faced Diego from ZR team. He had a super sticky guard and although people told me I was the aggressor on top pushing for the pass, he won the referee decision 0-0 after 10 minutes. I realize that the guard player is not obligated to stand up, but I find it ironic that the top player is obligated to try and pass but the guard player can defend and counter attack, make no attempt to sweep, and still not be penalized. I don’t questions referee decisions anymore, but I do think there is a need to better define the “lute” call and reward the athlete that is forcing the action in a match. Otherwise the defensive athlete, playing a safe game and conserving energy, is being rewarded for doing nothing. In my opinion, the athlete that is progressing forward, forcing the action to score or submit should be rewarded.
2017 Master Worlds Reflection
By Aaron Martinez
Last week was the sixth annual IBJJF Master World Championship in Las Vegas, and several teammates and I made the short trip to Sin City to compete. My first impression of the tournament was that there were a ton of competitors. I believe they had over 20 mats running for three days. After the initial massive line to check in and gain entrance into the venue (a large hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center), I found the tournament to be well executed and organized with even free seminars from the likes of the Ribeiro Brothers and Renzo Gracie. There were two large mat areas to warm up and plenty of space to sit and relax away from the mats. The spectating was a challenge, unless you were able to get a spot right at the fence on the edge of the mats.
The only thing I didn’t like about the tournament was that it was in Las Vegas. I like Las Vegas and participated in the first Las Vegas Open, but for the World Championships I’d rather have had as much focus as possible. Staying on the strip the night before made for a challenge to find a healthy, balanced meal, in order to feel optimal for my fight the next day. I much preferred Long Beach where I could easily get to Wholefoods and stock up on anything I needed the days leading up to the biggest event of the year for me. Of course, after my day of competition, it was fun to walk through the Casinos and go to restaurants with my teammates.
The one thing that stood out about the event, compared to the ones in the past, was the large amount of muscular competitors. I’ve never liked to assume that anyone who is bulging through their clothes with huge muscles is on some sort of PED, but I had several people make comments to me about how they would need to start testing for the Master Worlds. I was so focused on my own matches that I hadn’t really noticed the other competitors until someone brought it up. I looked around, and compared to the adult Worlds, their older counterparts were noticeably more muscular. That doesn’t necessarily mean that more Master fighters are using PEDs than the Adult fighters. Men get bigger as they get older and some of it may have more to do with being a tad older, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to start testing just to make sure it’s a more fair competition.
On January 28th and 29th at the San Jose Community College the IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) San Jose Open took place. The tournament was a two day tournament in the Gi and NoGi. This was a great opportunity to test their skills in a local northern California competition. Probably the biggest tournament outside of the BJJ Tour Championships; US Open, American Cup, and All Star Championships. Members of EDH BJJ, competing as Yemaso BJJ, finished with the following results:
Gi:
Mark Swisher – Competitor
Jamie Gomez – Bronze
Zack Smith – Bronze
Allan Scott – Silver
Aaron Martinez – Silver
Jerel Tengan – Silver
Eliot Kelly – Gold
NoGi:
Jamie Gomez – Bronze
Zack Smith – Gold
Aaron Martinez – Silver
Jerel Tengan – Silver
Eliot Kelly – Gold & Silver (absolute)
The tournament was a great opportunity to start the year with a competition. A few high lights of the tournament came with Zack Smith taking Bronze in his division but coming back the next day to win the Gold in the NoGi division. This showed great persistence and determination. Another big victory of the weekend came from coach Eliot Kelly winning gold in the Ultra Heavyweight division beating Vinicius de Magalhães of Vinny Magalhaes BJJ in the finals. Vinny is an incredibly talented prize fighter in MMA, Jiu Jitsu and Grappling. He is an ADCC champion, IBJJF World Champion, EBI and UFC competitor.
The IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) Gi and NoGi American Nationals took place from July 8-9 in the Las Vegas Convention Center along with UFC 200 expo. The multi martial art event featured multiple world class competitors including Boxing, kick boxing, International Mixed Martial Arts (IMMAF), Wrestling, 3 part fighting, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This event was also a historical event in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with the 8 man Black Belt Grand Prix tournament. The winner taking $40,000 and the runner up taking $10,000 in prize money. 
El Dorado Hills had two participants, Zach and Eliot, both putting on a spectacular performance a this national event. Here are the quick results from the tournament:
Zach: GOLD (Adult Rooster NoGi) Blue belt
Zach: BRONZE (Adult Rooster Gi) Blue belt
Eliot: SILVER (Adult Super Heavy NoGi) Black belt
Eliot: SILVER (Adult Open NoGi) Black belt
Eliot: SILVER (Adult Super Heavy Gi) Black belt
Zach had a close yet dominant finish in the finals of his NoGi division. He started off very strong with a power double leg takedown. After a strong battle and nearly passing the guard multiple times, he was swept to tie the score. He quickly recomposed his guard and found his way back to the top where he was up again by two points. He finished the match attacking to finish for the submission. 
Zach had to make weight twice in one day, which is no easy task for someone competing in the Rooster weight division. Competing in the Gi later in the day, he won his first match and advanced to the semi final match to face this year’s world bronze medalist. He had a very close game of strategy and was downed by two points. This was a great opportunity for Zach to compete with some of the best and further reinforce his potential as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor. “There are still some technical positions I need to improve and learn, but I was able to try things I wouldn’t have down in the past. This tournament was a great show of my progress as a jiujitsu competitor.” Congratulations to Zach on becoming the 2016 National Champion! 
Eliot came into the tournament with some unsettled business from 2015, where he finished with three silver medals and one bronze. He fell short again, but seemed satisfied with his performance. “I didn’t improve in my placings, but I definitely see an improvement in my performance and ability. Now it’s just a matter of consistency and patience.”
In the finals of the NoGi division Eliot lost a 0-0 referee decision. He went on to compete in the open weight division where all the athletes compete against one another regardless of weight division. Eliot won his quarter final match 17-0 to advance to the semi finals. In the semi’s Eliot had a very close match with Vladir, a professional MMA fighter from Fight Sports Miami, winning by 3-2 on advantage points. In the finals Eliot went against Barbosa, an up and coming black belt, from Atos Jiu-Jitsu. He suffered a takedown and guard pass from an early slip up to counter the takedown, putting him behind 5-0. Eliot pressed for some attacks after recovering guard and even brought the match back to the feet, but time ran out as he pressed for the attack. Giving him a Silver in the all weights combined (open class) division. 
The black belts competed in the Gi the following day. Eliot faced off with Valdir again in the semi finals of the tournament. He was winning 4-2 when the match was stopped for too many blood time outs. Since an athlete is allowed three time outs per injury, the trainers gave it their best to stop the bleeding, but were unable to, giving Eliot the victory. The two athletes had a very exciting and competitive match. However, Eliot noticed signs of a concussion after walking off the mat. An assessment with the on staff doctors led to a positive diagnosis taking him out of the tournament. 
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El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sends 6 competitors and brings home 3 medals from the IBJJF Pan American Championships. This is one of the largest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament in the world and definitely the largest in the United States of America. From El Dorado Hills, we had 6 competitors train and participate in the event. Here is a list of the competitors and medalists:
Adult Blue belt division: Angel DeSantiago
Master 1 Blue belt division: Zack Smith – GOLD
Master 1 Purple belt division: Garrett Aldrich – BRONZE
Master 5 Purple belt division: Allan Scott – BRONZE
Adult Black belt division: Eliot Kelly
Master 1 Black belt division: Michel Miyashita
This was the first time for El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to bring home a GOLD from the IBJJF Pans event. The team made some great leaps heading into the tournament with the highly anticipated Pans Mini Training Camp as well as the addition of another Black Belt Michel Miyashita visiting from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Congrats to all the competitors and team on a great showing and performance!
This year the IBJJF American Nationals took place in Las Vegas with the UFC International Expo. The event show cased the best martial artists in jiujitsu, wrestling, tae kwon do, karate, judo, and other types of cross fit competitions. The event culminated with the McGregor v Mendes fight. The event was an exciting step in jiu-jitsu as it joins forces with the UFC and MMA community. Hosting the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation tournaments in conjunction with the UFC expo will only help educate MMA fans on the details and excitement of jiu-jitsu.
The American Nationals featured jiujitsu competitors from all over the globe. The event featured two tournaments, one in the gi and one nogi. The tournament also featured the Kids American Nationals, one of the premiere IBJJF Kids tournaments of the year.
Eliot represented the team from El Dorado Hills. The first day was composed of theNoGi tournament. Eliot finished with a double silver making it to the finals in the weight division and absolute (all weights combined) open weight division. The second day was composed of the tournament in the gi. Eliot finished with a silver in his weight division, again making it into the finals of the tournament. In the absolute (all weights combined) open weight division Eliot fell short in the semi-final, finishing with a bronze.
Eliot finished the two day American Nationals with 9 matches 5 in the nogi and 4 in the gi. “The tournament was great! There were warm up mats, great organization, and a lot of action all day long. It was a bitter sweet experience for me as a competitor because I made it to the finals in three different occasions, but I wasn’t able to get the gold. Needless to say I learned from my mistakes and I’m excited for the next opportunity to compete!”
