Congratulations to Travis and Quentin on their recent promotions!
Travis Magalit is Denny’s first purple belt, and he was also the first to receive a blue. No one can disagree that he deserves this recent distinction, for his dedication to improving his own 10th Planet skills, as well as for teaching and encouraging his teammates.
Quentin Ludwig has made marked progress since joining the school, becoming a beast on the mat, in class and on the competition circuit.
Eddie Bravo traveled north this weekend, to check up on Denny and the school, and he was impressed with our growth and with the hard work and intensity that was obvious in every student’s game. He gave Denny the first black because of his mastery of the system, but it must have been reassuring to see this matched by the quality of his teaching.
Thanks for stopping by, Eddie.
Hasad “The Big Piamp” Freitag – pictured here, standing next to his bearded, Amish cousin – shows off his new blue belt. Hasad is a model of consistency, showing a steady pace from utter novice to competent practitioner. He’s been with 10th Planet SF from the beginning and is sure to collect a few more belts as he maintains his devotion to the school and the discipline.
Congratulations, Hasad!
Last weekend, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu competed at the Grapplers Quest, Tachi Palace Challenge in Lemoore, California. Adam Sachnoff took 1st Place, and Raul Diaz, Jr., Travis Magalit and Trevor O’Hare each took 3rd Place. Alex, Matt and Hasad also fought hard and demonstrated their 10th Planet proficiencies.
Thanks for representing, everyone!
In a rare, first-person post, our own 10th Planet Administrator tells about his battle with Avant Guard:
Two months ago, I logged into the mat, expecting a friendly bout to test out my skills. I hadn’t prepared myself for the consequences of what happened in the beginning of the match. Although the sparring started amicably, I accidentally kicked Avant Guard right in the config file. I thought this would just stop the match and we’d re-install after some injury time, but the blog came back swinging furiously. After trying everything I could think of to evade its erratic responses, it jumped guard and entangled me in a mission control like I’d never seen before. I entrenched and tried to think my way out of this precarious position, but for the next two months, it could not zombie and I could not posture, as we faced a bitter standstill. Although I’m reluctant to admit it, I finally beat Avant Guard this morning by muscling out and re-posting everything in a brute-force maneuver, which ended with this post – a meta-submission.
Sorry for not having a blog for two months, guys. Please keep checking for updates, and visit the message board to discuss jiu jitsu with your classmates, at http://www.10thplanetjiujitsusf.com/board/
10th Planet SF has a solid showing at ModCom Smoker. Congratulations to Matt Walsh, Alex Yocum, Johnny Ho, and Adam Sachnoff on their performances.
The event challenged participants to tap their opponent as many times as they could during the five minute matches. The team collected a total of 28, with Alex Yocum winning the “Most Submissions” award for the tournament.
Congratulations to Adam Sachnoff, the latest 10th Planet SF blue belt. Adam undoubtedly earned his belt after his amazing performance at the recent Jiu Jitsu By The Bay tournament, submitting all three of his opponents in under two minutes each. Little known fact, his complexion comes from his mother, who is Irish, and his father, who is a bright orange shipping freighter.
The class made a strong showing at the Jiu Jitsu By The Bay tournament. 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, San Francisco too 3rd Place in the overall competition (which awards points for gi and no-gi matches) even though we only received points for no-gi competition. (Who wants to spend a day in those giant bathrobes anyway).
The class took home the following medals:
Keep up the good work, everyone.
Congratulations to Alex Yocum and Peter Hendricks, the latest students to receive their blue belts at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, San Francisco. Both have been dedicated students for years, with these belts serving as mere symbols of what we all already know – they’re badasses on the mat.
Peter receives his belt mere weeks before leaving San Francisco forever (maybe). Since he is clearly dead to us all now, if you see him in class, pretend you can’t see or hear him.
Alex is still cool.
Congratulations to Raul “Junior” Diaz, Quentin Ludwig, Travis Magalit and Mike Murrell, who all placed at last weekend’s Golden Gate Internationals Jiu Jitsu Tournament. Diaz took 3rd place at 154lbs at the blue belt level. Ludwig took first at 154lbs at the white belt level, winning both of his matches by submission. Magalit placed in two blue belt divisions, taking 2nd at 154lbs and 1st at 167lbs. Murrell won the 195lbs blue belt absolute division.
Great job representing 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, San Francisco everybody!