Guam Jiu jitsu Shines @ the Asian Open

An article over two weeks overdue but better late than never as its time to give due credit to one of Guam’s most outstanding collective Jiujitsu achievement in 2012.

More than 50 competitors from Guam were in large attendance at the Tokyo Budokan in Japan on October 13th and 14th for the Asian Open Jiujitsu Championships, the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament held in Asia by the world authority International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation…
In an event where Guam was , in the years previous, well-represented primarily by the Purebred Jiujitsu Academy—additional participants from the Spike22Academy, Vida Jiu jitsu, Universal Alliance, and Carlson Gracie Jiujitsu Guam arrived en masse to secure numerous Bronze, Gold, and Silver medals in virtually every category in the region’s largest and most established Jiujitsu event.

TeamPurebredLloydIrvin Leads theWay
Securing 1st place team trophy in the Novice Division, The PurebredLloydIrvin Jiujitsu Academy led the pack securing an impressive 13GoldMedals,9Silver Medals, and 9Gold Medals for another stellar performance in their 5th tournament tour through Japan .
“It was an excellent showing from all the Guam athletes at one of the big 5 journeys on the IBJJF calendar Master Lloyd Irvin and i sat down at the worlds in June to plan all phases of training..14weeks, 12weeks, 8weeks and then to have our affiliate instructors from the EastCoast JT Torres and jared Weiner here for the final 2week phase helped to put the finishing touches as far as positive mindset and also refining everybody’s game plan. Having the largest contingency shows just how passionate the team is about the art….we are proud to represent Guam and appreciate all the support leading up to the Asian open. It was Awesome to see the other Guam gyms Take part and represent……this will help Jiujitsu on Guam evolve as a whole.Thank you to all the friends family and sponsors who supported us.”
Normally regarded for their successful and well-traveled mixed martial arts program–Members out of Spike 22 also enjoyed success as theywere able to walk away with 8 medals from their 11particpants.
Eli Monge, head instructor out of Spike22/NovaUniao Jiujitsu mentioned that
“I sat on the mat after a Saturday morning class and said to myself I am going to do Asian open as a black belt. I started training for it but I had some injures on my elbow but kept training. One morning It the pain was so bad so I got it checked. It was not good news that I had to get Surgery. That night I went to teach class and I looked at my students and said ‘who wants to do a Bjj tournament’? So we put together a Triathlon style training and a 14week Bjj camp. It was Tough.I am so proud of them. They did it in a short amount of time– Our SPK NovaUniao Bjj team is really just about a year old. What I felt seeing them on this Journey we took Together and seeing them on the Mat that day made me feel almost like when I had my two Beautiful Daughters. All the morning workout and Evening Bjj six day a week workout was Worth it. I am happy that there’s now a SPK22 NovaUniao BJJ Team. “
Local tournaments such as the Marianas Open and Docomo Pacific Copa de Marianas have maintained their events to prepare local competitors for these type of larger tournaments. Aligning the standards and protocols with the IBJJF has proven to be successful in setting a fluorishable environment for local competitors to succeed on a larger scale. With twelve successful events already in the books and also in Japan to support the Guam contingency– Tony Bashaw and Steven Shimizu, event Coordinators of the Marianas Open and Copa de Marians Jiujitsu Tournament commented that
“. Haters be hating ; We never said our events were perfect—but we love what we do, we do what we love—and doing what we can with what we got….. seeing all the blings come home from off-island tourneys from our competitors of many different gyms, makes us feel pretty good. It looks like we’ve been doing a good job with the Marianas Open.”
Within the past 5 years, theSpike22Academy has been competing actively in Japan in the highest levels of Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts—impressively including participation in events such as K-1World Max, Dream Fighting Championships, Deep Impact, Cage Force, and Professional Shooto. Though they had occasional success with MMA and Kickboxing n the far east—their most recent venture into competitive Jiujitsu has proven to be the most fruitful.
“When we send MMA fighters out to Japan , we were facing top ranked fighters which we were hardly able to come out victorious . With this being our first Jiu Jitsu Squad as well as being a young team , we were successful in bringing home some medals .I remember it was only Pat Ayuyu that we used to watch fighting in Japan, now its great to see a bunch of Guam faces –all under one roof aiming at the same prize was cool to see .”
-Melchor Manibusan, owner and founder of the Spike22Academy
“Our preparation for the Asian Open was one to remember! We focused on our mindset and gameplan so that we can be sharp for when we competeJT Torres and Jared Weiner helped to really sharpen everyones game. Being with the team and family is always a blast when in Japan! Taking gold means alot to me emotionally. with the help of GOD, the team and my girlfriend and son I was able to persevere and come out on top– Everything is possible through HIM.”
Alan Cepeda Purebred/Team Lloyd Irvin
Adult PurpleBelt Middleweight Division GoldMedalist
“The competition was a such a learning experience. Competing in tournaments like the IBJJF Asian Open is a great way to develop and enhance your skills in jiu jitsu. Training hard months in advance for such tournaments, alot on the line for you to fight for. You learn alot about yourself physically and mentally, especially about your jiu-jitsu game.
Having the support of your Coaches and Teammates behind you, is very important to success, and I am thankful that I had a wonderful team to support me throughout each match and throughout the tournament. It is a great feeling knowing that all your hard work has paid off and having your brothers and sisters by your side to experience that with you”.
John Eddie Moser
BlueBelt Adult HeavyweightDivision Gold Medalist/Open Class SilverMedalis

i believe you can find the results at this link for the tournament:

https://www.ibjjfdb.com/Campeonato/PublicResults?CampeonatoId=135&CultureInfo=en-US

While one Guam flag hanging proudly front and center from the main entrance of the Tokyo Budokan ,in front of the rafters that seated a unified contingency of about 80 represenatitves from Guam including competitors and supporters, and in front of more than a thousand spectators in attendance—a second flag was shared among the different academies on the many repeat visits to podium. On another historic day for our island’s sports almanac—Guam once again made a profound impact with the International competitive Jiujitsu community.