Avant Guard

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!

Last week, Denny promoted one of the school’s most diligent students, Alan “Chong Li” Chang. Alan was new to jiu jitsu when he started training in 2008, and he’s made impressive gains since then. He had this today about getting his blue:

“I started jiu jitsu in search of a few tricks for self-defense. I ended up being introduced to a comprehensive system of ground fighting, good friends, and a great new way to stay in shape. Getting my blue belt from Denny helped confirm that I’ve made some progress since I first started training. But, if anything, it just motivates me to keep hitting the mat and improving a little bit each day. I still have a long ways to go, but I know it’ll be a good time.”

Keep up the good work, Alan!

Here’s the footage of Denny’s matches at the FILA No Gi Grappling Worlds in Poland. The first video shows the quarter-final and semi-final matches against Italy and Germany; the second video shows the final match against Poland. (Note: Poland’s ironic attempt at mission control at 3:59).

Quarter Final and Semi Final Matches
Final Match