El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu had an excellent showing this last week at the IBJJF World Master Championships. This was an exclusive world class event for Master competitors age 30 and above. The Master age divisions are divided in five year increments all the way up to Master 6.

Here are the competitors from EDH in action and their results:

Black Belt:
Michel Miyashita – eliminatory round
Eliot Kelly – Silver Medal
Brown Belt:
Sean Gonsolin – qtr finalist
Purple Belt:
Kiet Se – Silver Medal
Allan Scott – Bronze Medal
Blue Belt:
Kyle Parker – qtr finalist
Pedro Santos – eliminatory round
Mark Swisher – qtr finalist
Zack Smith – Silver Medal

The IBJJF World Master held in Las Vegas, NV was the largest event in the history of World Masters with competitors from all over the globe.  Hosted at the convention center, the tournament also featured sponsored booths like Adidas, Fighter’s Line, Gameness, Acai Sambazon, Evexia fit expo, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminars by classic icons like Jacare, Almeida, Vieira, and 2016 Olympic Silver medalist in Judo Travis Stevens.

The Black belts opened the tournament this year. Michel, visiting from Sao Paulo, Brazil made is debut in the World Master category. He had a nail biting qtr final match, down by 2 advantage points he fought to hold a guard pass, but was unable to secure the points before time ran out. He lost the match by an advantage point. Eliot won his first by an advantage against an opponent from the Middle East. In the second round he was able get ahead by 18 points before finishing his opponent with a chock from the mount. In the third round, Eliot beat 7 time world champion, Xande Ribeiro in a close 2-0 match. Eliot faced Rafael Lovato jr. in the finals and was downed by a choke in the beginning of the match. This gave Eliot a Silver medal in the standings. Eliot also participated in the open class division later in the evening. He was downed by Rafael Formiga in a 2-2 referee decision.

The brown belts also competed on the opening day of the tournament. Sean Gonsolin had an impressive attack sequence in his first match showing total dominance. In the qtr final round he was set short in a tight back and forth match of sweeps and wasn’t awarded a sweep from a technicality in the rule book. Compared to last year, it was a noticeable improvement in his technical game!

Kiet Se had an impressive series of rounds in the preliminary rounds attacking from the feet, on top, and from guard. In the semi final match he came through on a very close back to back match to win the judges decision and advance to the championship finals. In the finals, he faced a seasoned purple belt veteran. While Kiet had an impressive series of attacks, his opponent was able to make strong counter attacks, taking the lead. While Kiet continued to attack, he was unable to come back to secure the victory. He finished with an impressive Silver medal.

The blue belts competed on the second day of the tournament. Zack opened the tournament with some impressive wins in the preliminary rounds. In the finals he faced an opponent with an extremely strategic game. He came two points short of the victory, fighting hard to secure some points before time had expired. He had an impressive performance!

Mark, Pedro, and Kyle all made the Master World Championships debut with this tournament. Mark played a solid attack from his guard working for sweeps and submissions from his back. He was barely stopped from advancing to the medal rounds in the quarter finals. Pedro made a move to attack early in his match but was stopped short by the eventual champion of his bracket. Kyle dominated in the early rounds with an impressive series of flow attacks from submission to submission, position to position. He met a tough battle in the quarter finals and was stopped from advancing to the medal rounds.

Congratulations on the team and competitors!!

EDH Jiu Jitsu & Self Defense