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.
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?
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!
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.
Sean began jiujitsu with curiosity to learn and perfect the art of self defense. His explorations to understand the art eventually spread to his life off the mat. With time, his jiujitsu came to represent a philosophy, a way of thought, in not only understanding himself but also those around him. His pursuits to self understanding has become a path to understand the human condition.
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.”
One of her biggest strengths is patience. In times of adversity or difficulty she remains patient and maintains composure to tackle the challenge. In doing so she brings her teammates along for the ride, focused, patient, and determined to improve! Congrats!