08/19/2026
August 8th was a first for us. We had our first three students compete. We went out to Sacramento for a smaller tournament put on by United Grappling. Because there weren’t enough competitors, our 14 year old grey belt (E) got put with 12-13 year old yellow belts which was a touch break. E had three hard matches with three different opponents. He put up a hell of a fight each time and left everything on the mat, but he couldn’t match their skill level. Mikael had registered for 230- white belt but lost weight along the way. He updated his registration but, also because of too few competitors, he got put in the 230- weight class anyway. He had two hard matches. The first he had to tap due to a gnarly americana but the second went the full 5 minutes. He lost on points but made them work for it. Jake only had one opponent so they went best of 3. His opponent didn’t have a whole lot of game but knew what he had and stuck with it. Jake shot in for a double leg but got caught in a guillotine. He defended it well and escaped. After some scrambling they both got back up on their feet. On the second shot in, Jake got caught in the guillotine again, this time it landed and he was forced to tap. Knowing what he was up against he was more cautious in the second round. Jake kept shooting in for something and kept avoiding the guillotines. His opponent was not aggressive at all and just waiting. It was frustrating to watch. Eventually they went to the ground and, after the full 5 minutes, Jake lost on points. It was a learning experience for all of us. They are already looking forward to the next one and we are working to make sure they can defend themselves as well as attack. Thank you to all three of you and your families for your support. We are all in this together.
