Onra:February8th,2011

Hafa Adai,

It was a big weekend for Guam on February 6th as Congratulations again goes to Team Purebred/LloydIrvin’s Mikee Sanchez for another gold medal finish in the Purple Belt Division of the North American Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Tournament on February in California.
On Guam, That same weekend The Guam Amateur Wrestling Federation put together the 2011Best In The West Wrestling Tournament hosting a former Olympic Gold Medalist and a Freestlye Wrestling world champion along with 30 other wrestlers from Japan’s Nittai and Kokushikan Universities as well the Aoyama Junior and Taku Shijyuki wrestling clubs,
And on the east coast Frank Camacho returns to competition earning a bronze medal in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in NewJersey.

While this coming weekend also in New Jersey– Guam’sRichard Chou earns is keep as Strikeforce’s Official Matchmaker as they present World Mixed Martial Arts most talked about tournament this weekend with the first round of the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix at the Izod Center in East Rutherford.

Universal Alliance is sending out a number of competitor’s to resonate Guam’s name in the2011 Philippine BJJ Gi & No Gi International Open at the SM MegaMall on February 19th and 20th in the Philippines and on that same weekend Team PurebredLloydIrvin is sending out a dozen under-18 competitors for the Pan American Juvenile Brazilian Jiujitsu Championships in California

That’s lot of information to take in for Guam Grappling– All within 2weeks time we’ve seen Guam competitors traveling east and west for success in Brazilian Jiujitsu, we’ve seen elite athletes making repeat visits to Guam in Freestly Wrestling, and as our industry players are making noise loud enough for the world to hear, in the very first group effort of its sort–our youth juvenile competitors are making the footsteps for success in further horizons.

If we take all that information we can easliy recognize that Guam is more-than-ever harvesting its ingredients for a tremendous serving of industry and athletic landmarking for Guam’s combat sports ventures.

By setting our targets on the horizons abroad we are not only magnetized and destined to a higher level of performance but we are also enlightened to the reality that for us to be successful in this,for a more permanent harvest of quality ingredients, we have to plant good seeds for the necessary steps to provide a more fluorishable local atmosphere so that we can better develop our athletes and industry locally.

Unfortunately this was a task many of us were hoping to see engaged by our newly formed Guam Unarmed Combat Commission, but depite any of their gains from their recent regulation and taxing of professional Mixed Martial Arts, we are still in the waiting to see our returns.
All set aside and respect in the front seat–this is no easy task for any single entity. And like the GUCC, many of us are doing our part.

By far Guam competitive martial arts does not have a perfect record but on any table we can each stand proudly during a role call of events and happenings in the sport and industry world picture. Something to be taken into consideration here is the results our Submission Grapplers, Brazilian Jiujitsu stylists, and Mixed Martial Artists, have been able to secure in igh level competition. We are already returning with bronze, silver, and gold from respected tournaments abroad yet all of this is minus a structured youth combat sports competitive environment.

With a lot of the other countries that you see successful in professional and amateur combative sports today, we find that a lot of the talent from these places come from well developed youth wrestling, judo, boxing, and/ or kickboxing programs. Locally, Youth Combat sports for the most part in the past has existed mostly with Tae Kwon Do and amateur boxing–and even with those it’s been relatively infrequent. A lot of the talent that we’re discovering and developing here are already performing impressively, even without the benefits of structured training and competition from an early age.

Imagine the athletes we’d have if we had a developed youth wrestling, judo, or kickboxing program. Imagine, for instance, if Jiujitsu were a high school sport. For those who might scowl at the idea–safety is of course the number one concern and its not like we havent been taking risks already with high school football, wrestling, or rugby. Maybe we could have modified rules, i.e.. regulating submission holds or maybe even only competing for position. Not too sure and surely our collective minds can think of somthing feasible– but it’s important that we pay attention to this and keep these wheels of thought turning because aiming for bigger tournaments alone is not enough to prepare us for the hordes of talent to unfold as the sports of Jiujitsu,Submission Grappling, and MMA continue to sweep the planet.

Of course easier said than done–but at the very least, if we are serious about producing champions–we are in the best interests of our sport if,( while we are planning for bigger things) we take advantage of what we already have. and that we offer oxygen to the sparks of interest that are offered by the many efforts that seem genuinely trying to push our island forward. we need to remember that quality athletes are willing to come to Guam to compete. we need to remember that our connections run deep in the world of combat sports. we need to remember that how much we can accomplis individually is exponentially enhanced when moving collectively. We need to remember that we are not only doing this for ourselves but moreso we are doing this for our island. And we need to remember that while competitive World Martial Arts has heard our name–it goes well in our horizons to make them feel our anthem.

For the sake of this conversation, we do have something good with this product. Times and events recent such as the growing invitations from promoters for our fighters to compete and train abroad, the growing phone calls from fighters abroad to compete and train locally, and the increasing traffic of world champion competitiors to name a few— have showed us that The World is returning the interest Guam has placed into competitive and non-competitive martial arts. And while eyes are on us and if we do our part to showcase real effort ( as in everything magnetic we’ve proven Guam to be in the past) –opportunity will be sure to follow.

Thanks for dropping by