Pans 2012 day 1

Nova Uniao AZ 2012 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Results (Day 1)

On March 29, 2012, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu News, by admin

Daniel Rodriguez

Photo by: John Cooper (ibjjf)

The largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the world is taking place in Irvine, California from March 29th to April 1st at the University California Irvine. The 2012 Pan JJ Championship is gathering over 3000 competitors in four days. With representatives from GDJJ, Nava BJJ and Lopez JJ, Nova Uniao AZ had a great first day. At the Adult Blue Belt Division, Alex Centner got double silver at the Ultra Heavy and the Open Class. Josh Rodriguez, John Owning and David Larson, took third at the feather, medium-heavy and the heavy weight division.

John Owning

In the adult white belt, Daniel Rodriguez won the rooster weight. Brandon Sees took silver at the heavy weight, and Jose Contreras and Thomas Keenan took third place at the feather and middle weight. Also in the white belt, Charles Bann won the Light/Senior 1. More results tomorrow.

Charles Bann

Nava BJJ representing!

Nava BJJ brings it at the 7th AZ Open

This past weekend was a very exciting one for Nava BJJ! We took 24 competitors to the 7^th annual Arizona international open, and came home with many medals! This was Nava BJJ’s first time bringing our kids program to compete in a tournament. It was such an exciting feeling for me as a coach to see these awesome kids take part in such an important event.  I am very grateful to have such a neat group of kids who all seem to carry the heart and soul of Jiu Jitsu. This definitely carried over into last week ends event as our kids team put all of their skills to the test. One of my young students Caine Morrow set such a great example of pushing himself to the ultimate limits. He was aggressive from the start, and accomplished his goal of bringing home the gold in his division! I definitely have to thank Daniel Rodriguez for dedicating so much time in working with Caine on various techniques, and preparing him for the event that was ahead of him. My team definitely comes through when it comes to supporting each other as we go into the various tournaments we compete in. Another great competitor of the day was Alex Sanchez who went into competition with some very crisp takedowns. That kid is one to contend with as we move forward in our day to day training. Alex made it into the 2^nd place slot bringing home silver in his division! Dylan Estep had a very tough match but pursued his opponent with a lot of energy! I love his attitude towards jiu jitsu as he always gives it his all. His brother Ethan Estep who is equally spirited fought two very tough matches! Ethan was very aggressive in each of his matches, and showed his knowledge of all learned skills in every move.  Declan Calhoun showed great strength, and excitement in his match. He gave his all throughout the entire match, and made us all proud.

As the next phase of competition moved forward my blue belts put their best to the test.  Aaron Wilson had 3 very tough matches, and took 2^nd in his division bringing home the silver! Gary Hatch also had 3 intense matches taking 3^rd in his division. My standout fighter in blue belt was Eddie Morrow! Eddie double medaled competing in both his division, and the open. He took bronze in his division, and silver in the open! Ross Brantner took 3^rd facing some tough matches bringing home the bronze. Jim Calhoun had also had a difficult match, but as always pushed himself throughout the entirety of the match. That first day of competition was exciting, and filled with moments that showed us what we are capable of, and what we will be capable of when the next tournament rolls around!

Day two of the tournament brought us all in pumped up for some wins. The day definitely did not disappoint. Every single person competing on my team that day showed me their absolute best! I am extremely proud of the efforts on everyone’s part that day. Starting off the wins with my white belts was Daniel Rodriguez bringing in the Gold with a clean sweep in all of his matches. Daniel showed great skill when winning several matches by triangle. Jose Contreras also brought in Gold when effortlessly submitting all of his opponents! Brandon Walker as usual did not disappoint, and submitted his opponent in each match. He displayed a few techniques such as the loop choke, and triangle winning his matches for the Gold. Kevin Tyrell in the white belt masters division kicked butt with great skill, and technique bringing in a Gold in his division. These guys represented fantastic skill, and time spent training to bring them where they are today!  Things continued on a good note when I had several first time competitors participate in their very first BJJ tournament! My student John Gorrie had 3 matches and brought home the silver in his division! Not bad for a first timer! Also Erick Cosio, and Chris Rottinger stepped on the competition mats for the first time showing they are definitely ready to take competition to the next level when given another opportunity. We also had some of our seasoned white belts compete with outstanding Passion. Ray Calderon had a tough match, but showed a lot of strength in his match. Keith Morehead as always showed true desire to win despite the challenging match he faced. My student John Villalobos put forth his usual tenacity when facing his opponent. It was also a tough match. Nolan Daniels brought the bronze home after a very competitive match. Last but not least Luis Varela who wiped the slate clean with his first match by points brought in a bronze after some outstanding matches! It was a weekend to remember. So now it’s time to prepare for the next event, and spend time looking at what we need to build on. I know one thing is for sure; victory is ahead. Whether we win or lose we have the hearts of winners.

Schedule change at Nava BJJ

Things are changing up a bit schedule wise at Nava BJJ! Our Judo instructor Jeremiah Easton will be taking several months off to start his own business. Things are always changing for us in life so we wish Jeremiah well as he pursues this new business endeavor. This does bring about a class change for Nava BJJ as the Judo spot opens up. The fundamentals of BJJ taught by Ben Shimano will move into the 6:30 to 7:30 time slot. These class times are on Monday, and Friday. This new schedule change starts this Monday. I hope this change does not present any inconvenience to anyone. I am always considerate of your time, and try to plan classes accordingly. As we grow, and classes grow there will be occasional changes. Thanks for always understanding, and feel free to share any thoughts or issues with me as we move forward with this new schedule.

Great things are happening at Nava BJJ

Lots of things have been happening at Nava BJJ over the course of the past few months. One of our recent events was our very own Aaron Wilsons 1^st amateur fight that took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico!  January 13^th a handful of us headed out to support  Aaron at the King Of the Cage. The event took place at the Buffalo Thunder Casino. It was myself, Aaron Wilson, Brandon Walker, and Mike Leonard. We made the 6 ½ hour drive in record time in order to check Aaron in, and start the process of what turned out to be a 4 lb weight cut. This required a lot of working out, and a salt bath to help draw out any water weight. We did have a little bit of down time to hang out, and check out the casino itself. At one point I was headed to elevator to go back to my room for some rest, and ran into Herb Dean the regular UFC referee. I had run into him before years back when I was headed out on a flight at LAX  airport. He is a super nice guy, and had a good visit with him. Saturday evening rolled around , and it was time for some fights. Aaron was the 1^st fight on a 12 fight card. It ended as quick as it began. He took his opponent down in the first 10 seconds. He then elbowed him until the ref called TKO. So needless to say I am super proud of Aaron as he continues to represent Nava BJJ in a big way!

 

Another exciting event recently was our blue belt promotions! On February 2, I promoted Anthony Iloreta to blue belt. Anthony has been a student of mine for approximately 2 years. He has been very dedicated, and has always trained hard upon all his competitions. Anthony won Gold in his division at the Pans 2011. He also recently won his division at the Nova Uniao invitational! It was definitely time for him to take the next step. On February 4^th we all gathered to promote two more students to blue. It was a super packed house with some great rolls to get things warmed up. Another long time student Mike Leonard was promoted to blue belt after being a NAVA BJJ student for approximately 2 years. Mikes career requires him to be overseas most days, but he comes home around 3 times a year for long periods of time to train. When he is home he trains hard, and can always be counted on to show up to class ever day, and sometimes twice a day! He is such a dedicated student, and very much earned his blue belt with hard work, and determination. Last but never least, I promoted my long time student Wayne Stalcup to blue belt as well. Wayne definitely deserves blue from all of the time he has put into training Jiu  Jitsu over the course of the past two years. Wayne’s job requires a lot of his time so he sets aside two days a week for private instruction. Every now, and then he stops by for an evening class to test out his skills. Wayne has proven he has what it takes to wear his blue belt, and has the technique to back it up! All three of these guys have followed their desires to keep taking Jiu Jitsu to the next level. I am very proud to have them as students , and really look forward to watching them grow as the future provides them more opportunities to pursue such an awesome sport!

Kicking off tournament season 2012

I recently headed out to California for a combined family vacation/Jiu Jitsu tournament. The trip turned out to be super relaxing on the way down. The highlight on our way was the giant elephant seals that we stopped to look at out by the ocean. The week was filled with a lot of fun family time before all the craziness of the weekend ensued. I had several opportunities to go train with some of my local Jiu Jitsu buddies in the Monterey, and San Jose area. I love these opportunities to go see what some of the other schools are doing, and maybe pick up some new techniques. I also enjoyed the rare chance to train with my son, David Nava. Good times! Towards the end of the week it started to rain A LOT, but that didn’t dampen our drive to kick some butt at the All Star Tournament in Santa Cruz California!

Friday rolled around, and I headed out to go pick up the first group of guys coming in. My first students to arrive were Brandon walker, Jose Contreras, and Daniel Rodriguez.  It felt nice bringing my students to my hometown so they were able to see where it all began for me. Everyone stayed the night at my moms, and we filled the living room with air mattresses, and sleeping bags. The next day we made pancakes, and turkey bacon despite the requests for Chorizo and eggs. We then headed out to get some downtime at a local coffeehouse called Rollick’s. It was a great opportunity to clear our minds, and focus on just being a team. Scrabble was the game of choice, and I’m pretty sure they were making up words along the way. After some hang out time I drove the guys around to see a little bit of where I grew up. It was a nice Saturday, but at the end of the day it was time to head out and pick up my second group of guys. First to arrive was Gary Hatch, and then GD Jiu Jitsu’s Arnold Monteerroso. Finally all the team was here, and with just a few more air mattresses to blow up we were ready to call it a day.

So this finally brings us to Sunday January 22 the main event.  We had to stuff six people into the Scion XB which was no easy task. Then we headed down to Santa Cruz. Gary, and Arnold headed into competition with Gary winning his 1^st via armbar. Gary goes on to lose his second match taking the bronze in his division. Arnold made it all the way to the finals! He then lost in the finals bringing home the Silver in his division. Then it was my turn to hit the mat. I was aggressively playing my open guard winning my first match with 2 sweeps, and 3 advantages. It was an honor to compete against such an accomplished black belt from Alliance! I later went on to compete against Tyson Kamp from Coalition 95, and lost a very tough match in the finals taking silver in my division. My student Daniel Rodriguez had to move up to a higher weight class since no one showed up in his division. This put him with guys 15 pounds heavier! Regardless he was able to win his first two matches. He won two by triangle, and lost in the finals by points taking silver in his division. Jose Contreras had three very tough matches, but won his 3^rd through decision by the referee. He was able to bring home the Gold in his division! Brandon Walker had two matches, and won both by armbar making him a Gold medalist in his division as well. To round out the day Gary, and Arnold competed in the Open division with Gary taking the Silver, and Arnold the bronze! I could not have asked for a better vacation. I am extremely proud of Nova Uniao as they clearly put forth their best skills, and effort. I am always looking forward to the next competition, and the next opportunity for another win. GO PNNU!