Gracie Barra Manchester Invitational BJJ Competition

With a veritable scarcity of BJJ competitions in the Manchester area, it was time to take the bull by the horns and attempt to organise a BJJ event closer to home;

Gracie Barra Manchester Invitational BJJ Competition - testing the waters.

With a veritable scarcity of BJJ competitions in the Manchester area, it was time to take the bull by the horns and attempt to organise a BJJ event closer to home; ever mindful of the inherent pitfalls that can befall event organisers, I decided to make this an Invitational event, ensuring that the clubs invited would turn up, which in turn gave the competitors ample time to train in readiness for the event.

The event was a mini interclub, round robin style, with students from GB Manchester and Preston, Dave Carnell`s Impact Academy in Stoke and Chris ‘The Squid` Brown from Oldham MAC; the event was split into to white and blue belt brackets, with two brackets in the whites (under and over 75K) and one under 75K bracket for the blues.

Having no real experience of reffing the points game, we decided to give the fighters the full five minutes in the middle, with no subs equalling a draw, as well as tallying the total of subs per fighter per match, if they occurred - this gave the fighters greater time on the mats and more competition experience and led to a more attacking style on the mats.

Thankfully, no injuries occurred on the day and the guys gave it their all in all their matches, notching up a total of five fights each in the white belt division, which gave way for a few guys throwing up after their matches - proof that they`d tried their best! All matches were exciting to watch, with the fighters unnerved by large crowds and pressure that come with the bigger events such as SENI and suchlike; it is hoped that these interclubs will give the beginners the confidence to step up a level and compete in the bigger events in the future and to this end, many more Invitationals will be held throughout the year and well into 2006, with additional clubs being invited along the way, as well as a few star guest referees.

The trophies and medals are already ordered and paid for in anticipation for the next event, so keep ‘em peeled for the results and your invitation!

Special thanks to Dave Carnell and Paul Hartley for the judging and Maureen Hartley for her sterling assistance in sorting out the round robin brackets.

Results

White belt under 75K

1. Tim Connolly (GB Manchester)
2. Steve Wan (Impact Stoke)
3. Warren Hindle (GB Manchester)

White belt over 75K

1. Matt Callaghan (GB Preston)
2. Mark ‘Sparky` Oliver (GB Manchester)
3. Nigel Appleyard (GB Preston)
3. Stuart Fell (GB Preston)

Blue belt under 75K

1. Chris ‘The Squid` Brown (Oldham MAC)
2. Adam Ashton (GB Manchester)
2. Simon Mc Govern (Impact Stoke)

Fighter of the day Tim Connolly