Spartan Daily

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu U.S. Open throws down at SJSU

Jiu-Jitsu competitor David Henson looks over to his coach as fellow competitor Mike Dughman clutches around Henson's neck during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San State University Event Center. Photo by Jesse Jones / Spartan Daily

On Saturday and Sunday, the cavernous volume of the SJSU Event Center echoed with the sound of cheers, jeers and the heavy thunk of bodies hitting thin matting.

These were the sounds of the 16th annual Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu U.S. Open competition, which was being held in San Jose for the first time.

Teams of fighters in colored uniforms from all over the state and country descended on the Event Center to wrestle for a medal in their respective categories.

Overall, the Coalition 95 team came out on top, with the Ralph Gracie and Gracie Humaita teams taking second and third, respectively.

For the last fifteen years, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu U.S. Open had been held at a much smaller venue in Santa Cruz, Calif., said event chief Claudio Franca, who was also the head of the team that bears his name.

“San Jose is a big city, you can get bigger sponsors … more TV coverage,” he said, explaining the move.

Franca, who had a central role in the creation of the annual competition, and has been running it now for nearly 16 years, said the event had outgrown its small location in Santa Cruz and felt that moving to the Event Center at SJSU provided more growth potential for his beloved project.

He said the move went relatively smoothly, with only the expected hiccups when dealing with a new facility staff and policies — all in all, he said things had gone well.

“This particular tournament here, they run it pretty well,” said Rob Morales, who had just taken the gold medal in the Light Feather Blue Belt category.

Morales trains and fights for the Heroes Martial Arts school, which is only a few blocks away from campus on South Market Street.

Heroes Martial Arts took 7th place overall in this weekend’s competition.

In fact, Morales said one of his coaches, Dave Camarill0, is an alumnus of SJSU’s renowned Judo program.

Morales said San Jose fighters and SJSU martial arts alumni, have a strong presence within the Jiu-Jitsu community, and finds the move to the Event Center appropriate.

Some of the fighters said they appreciated the move for other reasons as well.

“I like it a lot better here,” said Tania Cinquini, a female fighter and medalist, citing the Event Center's superior facilities and ample parking compared to the Santa Cruz location.

Like many of the other fighters, she also appreciated the sheer space advantage of the Event Center, which she said is considerably larger than their previous venue in Santa Cruz.

"It’s also a lot cooler," she said.

One complaint among some of the fighters concerned the Event Center's concrete floor.

“I face-planted on the concrete,” Denise Henry, the Women’s Light Blue Belt gold medalist, said with a laugh.

As one of Claudio Franca’s black-uniformed team members, Henry won third and second place in the last two years' competitions.

This year she stepped down from the winner’s podium grinning broadly and brandishing gold.

Her teammate and friend Sebastian Villanueva also came away with a gold medal in Juvenile Light Blue Belt.

Henry dismisses the concrete as a serious issue.

"The floors at Santa Cruz were wood," she said. "But getting your face planted into the ground is always the same. It’s a full-contact sport and these things come with the territory."

Presiding over the weekend’s fights was Grand Master Francisco Mansur, one of only seven living Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Grand Masters in the world, and according to the fighters, a revered patriarch of the sport.

“I am the dinosaur of Jiu-Jitsu," Mansur said with a jolly laugh.

The stocky bald man with his crimson belt looked out over the arena with a benevolent smile, constantly surrounded by a throng of admirers, young and old.

Mansur oversees many different Jiu-Jitsu competitions all over the world, and he approved of the U.S. Open’s change to a bigger venue.

He said Jiu-Jitsu is changing, always growing and expanding, and is now bigger than it has ever been before.

Looking out over milling the arena, Mansur summed up his feeling about the competition succinctly.

“It's beautiful,” he said.

20111017_JUJITSUUSOPEN_NR_10 Blue belt Angelo Guerrero-Barden (right) tries to put a tiangle choke on his opponent Nate Gotti at the Jiu-jitsu US Open on Sunday, Oct. 15 2011 at the Event Center. Photo by Nick Rivelli / Spartan Daily

20111017_JUJITSUUSOPEN_NR_09 Blue belt Nate Gotti (center) tries to ward off an attempted take down by opponent Angelo Guerrero-Barden at the Jiu-jitsu US Open on Sunday, Oct. 15th 2011 at the Event Center. Photo by Nick Rivelli / Spartan Daily

20111017_JUJITSUUSOPEN_NR_01 Blue belt Mozart Gutierrez (left) attempts to put his opponent Arby Maytibay in a triangle choke during his match at the Jiu-jitsu US Open in the Event Center on Sunday, Oct. 15 2011. Gutierrez won 3rd place in his weight class and skill level. Photo by Nick Rivelli / Spartan Daily

20111016_jiujitsu_006 Jiu-Jitsu competitor Rene Eduardo Lopez concentrates on his next move while his opponent Edmund Li attempts to gain position during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San State University Event Center. Photo by Jesse Jones / Spartan Daily

20111016_jiujitsu_005 A jiu-jitsu competitor celebrates his win while his opponent looks away in anger after losing during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San Jose State University Event Center. Photo by Jesse Jones / Spartan Daily

20111016_jiujitsu_002 A jiu-jitsu competitor is swept to the ground during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San State University Event Center. Photo by Jesse Jones / Spartan Daily

20111016_jiujitsu_001 A jiu jitsu competitor is suspended in the air by another competitor during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San State University Event Center.

20111016_Jiu-Jitsu_US Open XVI_San Jose_California-355.CR2 The US Open XVI Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fills the Event Center at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., with competitors and spectators Oct. 16, 2011. Photo by Stan Olszewski/ Contributing Photographer

20111016_Jiu-Jitsu_US Open XVI_San Jose_California-272.CR2 Sergio Montanez shows the strength of the competition at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu US Open XVI at San Jose State University's Event Center in San Jose, Calif., with competitors and spectators Oct. 16, 2011. Photo by Stan Olszewski / Contributing Photographer

20111016_jiujitsu_010 copy Jiu Jitsu competitor David Henson looks over to his coach as fellow competitor Mike Dughman clutches around Henson's neck during the U.S. Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament on Saturday at San State University Event Center. Photo by Jesse Jones / Spartan Daily