Team Trinity did great at the BJJ Texas State Championships held by Fight to Win and WGC. The day was fast and organized. Brett Boyce of World Grappling Circuit and Seth Daniels of Fight to Win have teamed up some time ago and I like how their tournaments are run. We were completely done and gone by 3:00. No hour long rules meeting or waiting forever either. Us Texans are used to tournaments having Kids Divisions going 1st on all mats and then adults after. FTW has a mat for each division so Masters, Teens, Adult, Kids and Women are all going at the same time. I think this is the reason the tourney goes fast. Only adjustment I would make if I were them is having the kids on 2 mats . 5-12 on one mat novice-expert, gi and nogi is a long time for kids to sit. Besides that its great feedback from all my parents and myself.
As for the results...My students Jordan Ramirez (gi/nogi), Faith Ruble(gi/nogi), Garrett Mowles(gi), Levi Mowles(gi/nogi/absolute), Edwin Lipsey (nogi) are new STATE CHAMPIONS!!! Dang I'm one proud Coach!!! All of the above are my Gold Medal winners. We also earned 9 Silvers and 5 Bronze from other competitors as well! I also had a few 1st time guys and one gal. It was so cool being able to see them go from training and then see them in competition. Becky did great in women's division and got robbed by a ref's decision. She passed all of the 1st round and overtime yet he gave it to an 'attempted' throw the 1st 5 seconds of the match. Lame. What about the 'attempted' passing from top half and 3/4 mount for 4 minutes and 1 minute of the overtime? Weak sauce, but hey its what happens when you leave it in the refs hands right? Roberto got smashed his first match in nogi. This surprised me. You see Roberto is a 225 lbs guys who isn't all muscle but is a natural go getter and trains everyday. Heck, he even has caught experienced bluebelts and he is only a 3-4 month whitebelt. I was taken back when he lost and wanted to go home and not compete again that day. I would not allow this. I literally had to push him back in the door to compete again to get over his fear and embarrassment. He was glad I did because he wrecked some in the men's absolute with a choke, a 12-0 and his 3rd opponent bowed out in fear, finally he lost to a solid brownbelt via omoplata. He was stoked! Running around all confident and ready for National competition. Ha! I love this sport.
Levi Mowles (http://www.youtube.com/user/rblgmowles) is my prodigy and mvp for the day. This kid will have been with me for 2 years in August and just turned 14. He won Advanced Nogi, Greenbelt and Teens Absolute! He has an awesome work ethic, is humble, listens and is calm in his jiu jitsu competitions. Be on the lookout for him in the future but for now check out his youtube.
Next post I will discuss the requested whole Gi/Nogi debate since I went back to gi and train with a currently competing, World Champ, Brazilian and ADCC vet with TONS of hardware after leaving the gi and training only nogi with the Twister
