NY BJJ International Open

Our representative in Canada Gerry DiSanto and 3 of his students from St. Catharine, Ontario, went to New York City to compete in the NY BJJ International Open. All of them ranked in their divisions, with Gerry taking a bronze in the Open Weight after winning his own division.

Our results and a report sent to us by Vince Cristelli:

Matthew Rocca – silver u82kg blue belt master
Paul Federici – bronze u76kg purple belt master
Vince Cristelli – silver u89kg purple belt senior 3
Gerry DiSanto – gold u89kg and bronze in open division brown belt senior 1

“On April 18th, our group went to New York City to compete in the I NY BJJ Open. Gerry DiSanto, along with Matt Rocca, Paul Federici  and I, flew into New York for the tournament.  I actually arrived a day later then the other guys, due to my work schedule.

We were able to take in some of the sights such as Time Square, the Apollo Theatre and NBC Studios.  This was my first BJJ competition, although I have entered Judo competitions as a youngster, and Karate tournaments.  I really enjoyed the experience. The tournament was very well organized.

Making weight is always a concern for these events, so much so, that Matt purchased a bathroom scale on Friday.  Then the guys decided to find a gym at 10:00 p.m. to workout and cut weight. We all took home medals in our divisions. Gerry took a gold in his division and bronze in the Absolute, Matt and I took silver in our divisions and Paul finished third.  We also had the opportunity to meet and take a picture with Renzo Gracie during the competition.

I need to acknowledge a few people along the way that help me realize this opportunity to compete.  My instructor Gerry, all my training partners over the years, and the encouragement and seminars that Roberto Atalla and Helio Soneca provided.  What a great bunch of guys.”

Vince Cristelli

I Buffalo BJJ Cup

On 4th of April, 2009, our associated club Horizon Martial Arts, located in West Seneca, NY, lead by Tim Hartman, held a grappling tournament in gi and no gi in the city of Buffalo.

The tournament was organised with the help of Defensive Arts Training Center from St. Catharine, Canada.  The competition was well attended and gave students an opportunity to compete at a smaller venue, rather than some of the larger national tournaments.

Winning and taking home a medal at the end of the event is always nice, but not the first and foremost reason for attending these kinds of events. However, our athletes did very well taking lots of medals, as can be seen from the picture below. Eight gold medals, five silvers and three bronzes, along with two wins in the Absolute divisions, an impressive score!

Huge congratulations for the initiative and the results. 

Group picture after the comp