Tournaments

Some reflections about competition and my overall experiences

 I plan on competing as much as possible in 2022. Competition is one of my favorite parts of Jiu Jitsu. I love the feeling of stepping on the tournament mat to challenge myself against another competitor. I think the benefits of competing are huge. The lessons I’ve learned at tournaments have been so much more meaningful to me than anything I’ve learned in the practice room. It feels like the true test of where my Jiu Jitsu is at.

I did my first Jiu Jitsu tournament in my first 6 months of training. It was such a fun and intense experience I could not wait to do it again. I remember feeling so nervous as I waited for my bracket to start. My anxiety peaked when me and the rest of my bracket were standing by the mat waiting for our names to be called but once my first match started my nerves dissapeared and I was full of excitement. I lost my first two matches (it was a double elimination tournament) and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to do another one so that I could do better. Six months later I did another tournament and got silver. I think the dissapointment of losing those first two matches made me improve much faster than I would have if I never competed, it made practice so much more important to me because now I was working towards a specific goal. I just wanted to win a match.

I think everybody who trains should experience competition at least once. It’s such a fun and rewarding experience. It is also stressful and a little bit scary but that is part of what makes it so special. I’m very excited to test myself on those mats again this year and excited to watch my teammates do the same. 

Coach Danny

Tournaments

Jiu-Jitsu World League Tournament: AJJ Syndicate wins 1st place!

 JJWL Golden State III Reflections

On Saturday many competitors from El Dorado Hills BJJ drove down to Stockton for the Jiu Jitsu World League tournament. It was a very fun and well organized event. The day started off with the kid competitors, then later adults in the gi and no gi last.

Coaching the kids is always an incredible experience. It was so amazing to watch them go out there and do their best. A couple of our kids made it to the podium but what I was most impressed with was the way all of them displayed good technique, hustle and a lot of bravery. It will be fun to study the matches and use them to learn and improve as a school.

All of the adult competitors went home with a medal! American Jiu Jitsu Syndicate won first place against the other teams competing at the event. Watching and coaching the adults was interesting because of all of the various gameplans and styles. We had some athletes with a takedown oriented game, others with some impressive guard play and even some aggressive submission focused Jiu Jitsu! I thought everybody did really well and had a great time.

I had a total of four matches. I won my first match by points, lost my second by points and then won my next two by points earning a bronze medal. I made some technical and strategic errors that I will be working to fix in the gym before my next competition but overall I fought pretty well. I was able to get a few takedowns and guard passes but unfortunately I was not able to get to the back and finish like I had planned.

Jiu Jitsu tournaments are always great experiences. They are especially fun and memorable when we have a big team presence and can support, coach and cheer for each other. I am very excited for more to come. 

Coach Danny

Adults Jiu Jitsu, community

“If you want to be strong, you need to be healthy.” Thinking about strength, health, and jiu-jitsu

 I recently read the book Modern Weight Lifting And How To Gain Strength by Edward Aston. It was a short and interesting book written by an English strong man athlete published in 1912. Edward Aston held the title of “Britain’s Strongest Man” for over twenty years and created a training tool called the anti-barbell.

Early on in the book Edward gives a brief history of the sport of weight lifting. I thought this part of the book was really interesting. He told stories about athletes back then challenging each other to do different lifts. These athletes had funny nicknames like “Hercules” and “Sampson” and the judging criteria for these competitions was completely subjective. Learning about how far that sport has come over the years was one of my favorite parts of reading this book

In the “How To Gain Strength” chapter of this book there were a lot of basic training guidelines along with a section about diet and bathing. I thought it was interesting that even over one hundred years ago athletes knew that a healthy lifestyle was one of the most important aspects of their training. He also mentioned in this chapter that he believes everybody should lift weights and that the most valuable asset to an aspiring champion is a knowledge of how to train.

The thing that I found most interesting about this book was one of Edward’s opinions on competing. He talked about never thinking about the match leading up to game day to avoid getting nervous. I thought this was interesting because it is the exact opposite of what I do. I love thinking about my matches leading up to a competition, it makes me feel excited and makes me push myself a little harder. Reading what Edward had to say about it made me think about how different people can be and how there is more than one way to do most things. 

Coach Danny

Tournaments

BJJ TOUR ALL STAR in Stockton, CA

BJJ TOUR ALL STAR
On Saturday several competitors, coaches and supporters went to Stockton to attend the BJJ Tour All Star tournament. All of the EDH BJJ competitors did really well, many of us took home gold medals. It was really nice to see people from the team there just to spectate and support their friends.

This was the first time I have worked and competed at the same event. Working as a score and time keeper is a pretty fun and easy job. I got to watch a lot of matches and joke around with the referees, it’s always fun to make new friends at tournaments. That being said, I would have much rather spent the day coaching the kids before it was my turn to compete. I probably won’t work at a tournament again if we have many kid competitors going.

Watching my adult and master teammates compete was exciting. Everybody looked really sharp and was hunting for submissions. For a couple of them it was their time competing. It was nice to see those guys have a fun first tournament experience, they went out there and fought hard. I am excited to see how everyone grows at the gym after this one.

I was disappointed after I lost to my first opponent in the Gi. It was a frustrating match for me because I ended up in a couple positions that I usually do well in and still got beat. I also ended up in positions that I have been working hard on getting better in and got beat there too. I won my No Gi division later on in the evening taking down all of my opponents and getting a submission in the final. I feel really motivated to get back on the mat and to keep improving. 

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

EDH BJJ COMPETITOR REFLECTION & RESULTS

Grappling Industries Reno
I had a great time competing at the Grappling Industries Reno tournament. I took gold in the gi and was able to execute my gameplan really well against all of my opponents. I took gold in this event last year but still made huge improvements this time. I was able to get more submissions, more takedowns, and competed in a weight division higher than I did last time.

Doing small local tournaments like this are great practice and a great opportunity to get feedback before doing some of the bigger tournaments. I know that I have to be able to win matches at these smaller tournaments if I want to have any success at Worlds or Nationals. When I first started competing I had no idea how big of a difference there was between local tournaments and major IBJJF tournaments. Now that I have experienced both, I view the local tournaments as a chance to test out my game plan and see what I need to work on before doing a big tournament.

One thing that is really nice about Grappling Industries is that I get a lot of matches every time I compete at their events. They do a “round robin” format that guarantees a minimum of four matches. That is pretty rare for Jiu Jitsu tournaments, at IBJJF tournaments you may only get one match. At this event I had seven matches total. I was exhausted by the end of the day. It feels rewarding to see my improvements at each tournament and it is fun to figure out what needs to be worked on based on each performance. 

Jamie was also in action this weekend at jiujitsu tournament. After a 2 year break from competition, she was excited at the opportunity to compete and get back to competition. Jamie also competed in both styles (Gi and NoGi) and finished with a silver in the nogi division.

Thank you to Max and Kiet. Max and Kiet both made the drive from El Dorado Hills BJJ to support the two athletes in their competitive bouts. It’s great to compete, but it’s great to compete with a team knowing they are there to support you in and out of competition.

Coach Danny

Kids Jiu Jitsu, Tournaments

Ruckus in the Hills Jiu Jitsu Tournament

This weekend I refereed for my second time at the Ruckus in the Hills in house tournament at EDH BJJ. It was a very fun experience for me as a referee and as a spectator. At this tournament there were a lot of PeeWee competitors, which is something we did not have at all at the last event. It was great to see some of the PeeWee students getting their first competitive Jiu Jitsu experience and it looked like they all had a great time. My daughter is in the PeeWee class and competed at the tournament for her first time so it was really special for me to get to watch her go out there and play. All of the kids in that age group showed a great attitude and exceptional sportsmanship.

I was really impressed with the kids and juniors who competed. They all displayed good technique and fought hard in their matches. Those were my favorite matches to referee. The brackets were put together well and there were a lot of competitive matches that were fun to be a part of. I hope the in house experience inspires a lot of the students from these age groups to do some more tournaments, it would be awesome to go coach those kids at some bigger events.

There were not a lot of adult matches but the ones that we had were great. Even though it was an in-house tournament and the people competing were teammates there was definitely still a competition level of intensity in the matches. Everybody was working hard to finish with submissions which made the matches very exciting to watch. Overall it was a great tournament and I look forward to doing more of them!

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

Ruckus in the Hills Schedule

SCHEDULE 

February 5th 2022

8:40 – Doors Open 

8:50 –  Weigh in – Group 1 – 5 

9:00 – Opening announcements 

9:05-9:45 – Competition –  Group  1 – 5

MEDALS  for Group 1-5 

9:30 – Weigh in – Group 6 – 8

9:50-10:25    Competition – Group 6 – 8

MEDALS for Group 6-8

10:00 – Weigh in – Group 9 – 12

10:25 -11:15 – Competition – Group 9-12

MEDALS for Group 9-12

11:00 – Weigh in – Group 13- 16

11:15-11:55 – Competition – Group 13- 16

MEDALS for Group 13-16

11:30 – Weigh in – Group 17-22

11:55-12:55 – Competition – Group 17-22

MEDALS for Group 17-22

11:30 – Weigh in – Group 23-26

13:00- 14:00 Competition Group 23-26

MEDALS for Group 23-26

GROUP 1:     2min     White belt         2016-2017
Emberly Deal 16  40lb 
Lane Syputa 16 40lb 
Akaash Chand 16   42lb
 Marceline Norton 17  43lb 

10m

GROUP 2:     2min        White belt       2016
Brayden Keane 16   45lb 
Major Begbie 16   48lb
 Will Fisher 16  49lb 

8m

GROUP 3:     2min      White belt      2015-2016
Easton Criswell 16  50lb 
Carter Eckert  16  53lb  
 Koa Saito 15 54lb
 Alaina Johnston 16 55lb 

10m

GROUP 4:      2min     White belt      2015
Dylan phelan 15  76lb  
Exhibition 1:  2min
Exhibition 2:  2min

5m

GROUP 5:         2min     White belt 2014-15
Luke Mcghehey 15   45lb 
Hunter Wells 14 51lb  

6m  

(9:50)

GROUP 6:         2min     White belt      2013-14
Jacob Cajucom 14 56lb
 Elan Klippel  13   55lb 

6m

GROUP 7:    2min     White belt   2014
Jack Fisher 14 59lb 
Dalian Silva 14   60lb 
Marco Del Pozo 14 61lb 

8m

GROUP 8:     2min      White belt     2013-2014
Claire Mills 13  59lb
 Renner Klick 14   64lb 
Noah Schwegler 13   65lb 

8m

(10:25)

GROUP 9:     2min   White / Gray-white belt     2013-2014
Bryce Miller 13 70lb 
Nolan Zamora 13   73lb
 John Paul Foster 14 74lb
 Noah Farrag 14  75lb

10m

GROUP 10:     3min      Gray-white belt    2013-2014
Eva Mobley 13 60lb 
Ryder Lockwood 14    64lb  
Brett Mills 13 65lb 

10m

GROUP 11:     3min     White belt      2012
Shane Perham 12   47lb 
Katrina Vella 12  55lb
 Bill Vella 12   57lb 

10m

GROUP 12 :     3min      Gray / Gray-white belt      2012-2013
Ella Mobley 13 60lb  
Chloe Stinnett 12   60lb
Emma Truong 12  72lb 

10m

(11:15) 

GROUP 13:     3min     White / Gray / Gray-white belt      2012-2013
Ella Truong   12    72lb 
Weston Smith   12   75lb 
George Bergamo 13  79lb
Drake Scollard 13  80lb

10m

GROUP 14:     3min     White belt      2011
Julian Watts 11     75lb   
Bradley Zamora 11   78lb 

10m

GROUP 15:     3min       White / Gray white     2011-2012
Ethan Farrag 12  120lb  
Hazel Velle  11   131lb

10m

GROUP 16:     3min     Gray / Gray-white belt    2010-2011
Gunnar Smith   10   79lb     
Michelle Mobley   11   82lb
Miguel Werthman 10   83lb

10m

(11:55)

GROUP 17:     3min   White belt      2010-2011
Cole Haddix 10 95lb 
James Clapson 10 109lb
 Allie Nicholas 11 105lb 

10m

GROUP 18:     3min      White / Gray-white belt    2009 
Eli Berg 09   105lb 
Colton Cruz  09  110lb

10m

GROUP 19:     3min      White / Gray-white / Gray  belt   2008-2010
Creigha Cockrell 10 120lb
Liliana Cardenas 09   120lb
Cooper Nicholas 08  110lb 
Colin Johnston 11 130lb

14m

GROUP 20:     White belt    2009
Eli Welch 09    150lb white 
Exhibition 1:   2min 
Exhibition 2:   2min 

5m

GROUP 20:     3min      White / Gray-white / Gray belt      2007-2008
Aiden Himmelman 08  117lb 
Jack Johnston 07 125lb 

10m

GROUP 21:     White belt    2007
Antonio Esteves  07   187lb 
Exhibition1:    2min
Exhibition 2:   2min 

5m 

GROUP 22:  4min    White belt    
Wade Clapson 07   157lb 
Shane Bailey  05    143lb 

14m

(1300)

GROUP 23:     5min  White / blue belt    Adult + 
Matt Garvin 88   139lb 
Steven Nasrallah 87  154lb 
Quinton Stocker 00   163lb 

15m

GROUP 24:      5min    White belt     Adult +
Wyatt Nethercott 92   215lb
 Josh Smith 77 208lb  

15m

NOGI: 

GROUP 25 :  4min  White / blue belt   Juvenile & Adult + 
Matt Garvin 88   139lb
Shane Bailey  05    143lb 
Steven Nasrallah 87  154lb 
Quinton Stocker 00   163lb 

16m

GROUP 26:  5min    White belt    Adult +
Wyatt Nethercott 92   215lb 
Josh Smith 77 208lb  

15m

Uncategorized

Winter kids camp at EDH Jiu Jitsu

The winter Jiu Jitsu kids camp was a lot of fun. We started with an hour of Jiu Jitsu class where I focused mostly on helping the kids improve their takedown skills. We drilled our usual attacks from the feet and introduced the fireman’s carry which is a great takedown in the gi. It was fun watching the kids improve their new technique as the class went on.

 After we ended class the mat games began. This was the highlight of the last camp so I added some games and spent more time playing than last time. We played relay races, sumo matches, sharks and minows, tug a war, and two new dodgeball games that I learned from coach Aaron. One dodgeball game keeps everybody playing by having the kids who are “out” run to the other side of the arena and still be able to tag the other team with the ball. The other one has 1 person start on each wall and everyone else in the middle. The people on the wall have to stay on the wall but can throw the ball at the people in the middle if they get tagged then they pick a wall and can throw the ball. We spent the most time on the two new games the kids liked them a lot. 

Snacks and Board games are what came after mat games. It is a pretty chill way to spend the last half hour of camp. I’ll have to invest in some more board games to give them some more options for the next camp in April. My goal is to do these camps for every major school break in 2022 and a couple others for small holidays. I would like to get twenty kids at each camp I think that will be a perfect number to make the camp as fun as possible. Spring Break will be the next one I’m very excited to start planning it and see how I can make it better then the last two.

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

New year reflection & plan to action

 2021 was a pretty good year. My goals this year were to compete in two major IBJJF tournaments and three local tournaments, get my purple belt, transition to making a living doing Jiu Jitsu and finish every match on my opponents back. I was able to accomplish a few of these; I competed in 5 tournaments, two of them being major ones (worlds and nationals), I transitioned to being a full time Jiu Jitsu coach, I finished a few matches on my opponents back but not all of them unfortunately. 

Worlds was my last tournament of 2021. My expectations for myself were very high. I lost my first match and was really disapointed with myself. My two biggest mistakes in that match were pulling guard after getting frustrated with not being able to quickly get a takedown and going for a choke instead of sprawling on my opponents single leg. I’ve also learned that I can do way better preparing for tournaments. I think my biggest lesson from competing this year is how far behind my guard is and that I badly need to improve it. Naturally, I’ll be working hard on that in 2022. Right now I’m working on categorizing my goals for next year and getting a little more detailed on how I will accomplish my goals for 2022.

Teaching BJJ this year was awsome and I have learned a lot. The most important thing I learned is the importance of an organized curriculum. Having that organized curriculum gives a clear path from belt to belt and stripe to stripe. This year also taught me the value of getting stripes for the kids, I always knew it was important but I didn’t really understand what it meant and why it was important until now. Teaching has forced me to think more about techniques that I already know so that I also know how to explain and teach them which has made my Jiu Jitsu better. Something as simple as the scissor sweep that I would never think about since I can just do it becomes something I have to study and learn why it works and what can make it fail so that I can explain those details to seven year olds. I love teaching the kids class and am grateful I get to do it. I can’t wait to see how much better everybody gets in 2022.

Coach Danny

Uncategorized

Edhbjj belt promotion

Sisters, Ella and Emma, lead by example and have embraced the idea of being ok being uncomfortable. When they first started jiujitsu the class full of unfamiliar faces and contact was a bit overwhelming. They made adjustments and worked through adversity. Now the two are the leaders of the kids jiujitsu class. They may be smaller in stature but don’t let that fool you, they are relentless and persistent, a real force to be reckoned with.