Road to the World Championship

This Saturday is the Pan No-Gi Jiu Jitsu Championship in New York City. A friend of mine (his name is Jack) is competing along with one of my jiu jitsu instructors from the jiu jitsu club at my Catholic school, CBA. The tournament is about an hour drive from the area I live in. Although I am not competing, I might go and support Jack and my instructor. 

This is a huge tournament. This is arguably the biggest tournament Jack will compete in. About 2,000  fighters from all over the nation will be competing this Saturday. The tournament will last the entire day. It will be administered under the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), which hosts the biggest tournaments in the world. The organization is based in Brazil and is headed by Carlos Gracie, Jr., who is part of the legendary Gracie family. This tournament is exclusive to teenagers over 16 years old and blue belts and higher. My friend Jack is part of the Juvenile 2 division, defining him as a 17-year old blue belt. To add on, Jack also practices Judo, which is a form of martial arts that consists if throws and take-downs. So Jack has quite the fighting experience. He may also have an advantage in the tournament for having knowledge in two different fighting styles. 

Every Wednesdays and Fridays in the mornings, the jiu jitsu club at my school meets before school starts. We warm up, learn different moves from the instructors, and have matches with each other at the end. This past Wednesday I had a short match with Jack. During our roll, I noticed that he was being very aggressive and quick with moves. This showed me that he is ready for the tournament, because that is how you have to be, prepared and aggressive. Jack is considered the best on the team; he has been practicing jiu jitsu for a very long time, longer than I have. I believe Jack will do very well, and hopefully he will win most of his matches!