The 2016 BJJ TOUR ALL STAR Tournament took place in Santa Cruz, CA on the weekend of June 25th. This is a full day of action packed jiu-jitsu from kids as young as 4 years old to Masters in their 40s and 50s. The pinnacle of the tournament was the Black Belt Pro division with cash prizes going to the winner of the division and absolute (open class) category. The BJJ TOUR is a local jiujitsu organization that brings the highest quality of tournament production across the nation. We’re very grateful to have them based out of northern California.

From El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we had five participants, and three of the participants were competing for the very first time.

Here are the quick results: 
– Michael: SILVER (Kids Yellow belt)  
– Brenda: SILVER (Adult White belt)
– Trixie: GOLD (Adult White belt)
– Mark: BRONZE (Master Blue belt)
– Allicia: BRONZE (Adult Blue belt) SILVER (open class)

This was also the first time we had three female competitors in the same tournament. It was great to see them prepare diligently and take on the challenge of competition. There were some great learning moments both in victory and defeat for each competitor. We look forward to see them bring back their experiences into the academy.

Trixie and Allicia took the breath away  from everyone in the audience with their stellar performances. Trixie, making her tournament debut fell behind in the opening of the match, but after a few breaths to regain her composure, quickly regained control of the match. She ended up winning by arm bar, but only after taking a near 10 point lead in the match. Allicia fell to a tough opponent by a close margin in the semi finals of the weight category, but when matched up agains the same opponent later in the afternoon in the open class, fought tooth and nail to beat the same opponent. Both competitors showed a lot of persistence and patience in their matches.

The Adult Black Belt Pro featured some of the best in the world at the BJJ TOUR ALL STAR Tournament this year. starting with Tarsis Humphreys, Joao Gabriel Rocha, Manny Diaz, Nathan Mendelsohn, Diego Hertzog, Jonatas Novaes, it was great to be able to watch some world class jiu jitsu take place in northern California. We look forward to training and participating in the next BJJ TOUR event, the US OPEN, at the end of October.

Here is one of the finals matches from the Adult Black Belt Pro divisions. Enjoy!