04/02/12: Spartan Grapple Challenge results
There were great performances today from a team of mainly inexperienced fighters. Many people missed out on medals by just one fight and our final results were as follows;
Ash Williams - advanced <68kg - gold
Ash Williams - advanced open weight - gold
Brad Thomas - advanced <100kg - gold
Wayne Samways - advanced >100kg - silver
Jordan James - advanced <93kg - bronze
Lloyd Gilby - novice <93kg - bronze
31/01/12: New blue belts
Congratulations to three new blue belts; Matthew Owen was promoted in Cardiff last night and Ian Moore and Taylor Waters were promoted tonight in Swansea.
18/01/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Owen Neil who was promoted to blue belt yesterday!
13/01/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Brad Thomas on being promoted to blue belt this Tuesday!
23/12/11: End of year seminar promotions
The end of year seminar was an amazing success with well over 60 people training. Probably 70 or more total in attendance although some had to leave early/arrive late.
Congratulations to those promoted including the newest purple belt, Stuart Tyrie! Also promoted to blue belt were Rob Davies, Jon Hope and Simon Gravell.
17/12/11: Chris Rees - Wales' first BLACK BELT!!
A huge congratulations to Chris on becoming the first ever Welsh black belt today. He was awarded his belt by Braulio Estima in front of 160 Gracie Barra UK students.
I have trained with Chris for almost 7 years now and his continuing dedication to studying and teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is second to none. He is passionate about helping others to learn and always goes out of his way to help everyone.
He was the first person in Wales to teach BJJ and nearly all the higher ranks in the country started their training with him. The club is the biggest, most successful and longest running in the country and so it's fitting that he received the honour of being the first black belt.
I am lucky to call Chris one of my closest friends and be able to learn jiu-jitsu from him. This is only the latest step in the ever increasing success of the Chris Rees Academy!!
Congratulations my friend! :)
Rob Taylor
16/12/11: Chris Rees Academy clubs annual gathering seminar
We will be holding a seminar for all Chris Rees Academy clubs and affiliates on Thursday 22nd December at the Swansea academy.
This is open to anyone who trains at any of our locations or at any classes run elsewhere by Chris or Rob. The seminar will run from 6-9pm but you are welcome to attend for any part of it you can make, arrive late or leave early if necessary. Cost is just £5 as per a standard lesson.
Chris and Rob will be teaching and there will also be the usual sparring time and possibly some awards given out.
We hope to see you all there :)
16/12/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Sam Hooker, the club's newest blue belt!
13/12/11: New blue belt
Congrats to Will Davies on being promoted to blue belt!
13/12/11: Christmas and New Year lesson information - UPDATED
24/25/26 & 31 Dec, 1 Jan: No classes in any location
23 & 30 Dec: No early morning (6:45am) class in Swansea
Swansea kids classes: last class is Thursday 15th December. Classes then start back on 3rd January.
For Cardiff classes, Chris will let you know during the next few lessons of any others which will be off.
For all affiliate classes (Bridgend, Pembroke, Aberystwyth, Caerphilly, Porth, Treforest, Cardigan) please see the usual places they have updates or contact the instructor if you are unsure.
11/12/11: Midlands Open results
The last competition of the year and we had our usual success. Special mention must be made of Matthew Rees who was fighting up TWO weight categories and won both his fights by triangle choke; one in 40 seconds and the other in 1 minute! Medals as follows;
Rob Taylor - brown middle - silver
Andy Harvey - blue master medium heavy - gold
Matthew Rees - blue feather - gold
Ian Moore - white light - silver
04/12/11: Hereford Open results
Even by our own standards we sent a huge team to compete at this competition and had one of our most successful set of results ever. Full medals were as follows;
Rob Taylor - brown middle - gold
Ash Williams - purple absolute - gold
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Dan Gandy - purple super feather - gold
Stu Tyrie - blue absolute - gold
Stu Tyrie - blue medium heavy - gold
Brad Thomas - blue super heavy - gold
Paul Rogers - blue absolute - silver
Kai Maybury - blue feather - silver
Omied Khakshour - blue light - silver
Shane Price - blue medium heavy - silver
Simon Morgan - blue super super heavy - silver
Ashley Bendle - female white feather - gold
Nial Sherif - white absolute - gold
Sam Hooker - white super heavy - gold
Gregg Hayes - white super super heavy - gold
Danielle Roberts - female white light - silver
Josh Collins - white feather - silver
Steffan Lewis - white middle - silver
Dean Symonds - white medium heavy - silver
27/11/11: English Open results
Only a handful of people travelled to this competition and brought home one medal;
Nial Sherif - white medium heavy - silver
13/11/11: New blue belts at Chris Rees Academy Pembrokeshire
Congratulations to Chris Holt and Kyle Rees on being promoted to blue belt!
06/11/11: New purple belts at Braulio Estima seminar
Congratulations to Leyton Bendle and Shaun Parry on being promoted to purple belt today!!!
04/11/11: Details of Rob Taylor's classes in Treforest
Rob's lessons at One To One gym in Treforest have now been confirmed to start on Thursday 10th November. Lesson details as follows;
Thursday: 7.30pm to 9.00pm
Saturday: 4.00pm to 5.30pm
Classes are £5 each or free to Fusion Combat MMA members. Both classes are suitable for gi or nogi training.
02/11/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Chris Kenwood on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
01/11/11: Rob Taylor to be teaching in Treforest soon
Rob will be starting classes in One-To-One gym, Treforest within the next few weeks. Please check here, full information will be posted as soon as lesson details are confirmed.
01/11/11: New Bridgend class
We have now added a second class to the schedule in Bridgend. This will be starting this Thursday (3rd November) and will be weekly 5.30pm to 7pm in the YMCA gym. See the Class Schedule for full information.
29/10/11: Spartan Grapple Challenge results
Only a handful of guys went to compete at this event. Results as follows;
Lloyd Ayris - novice <68kg - gold
Steve Borde - advanced 100kg+ - silver
24/10/11: Nogi British Open results
We sent a full house of belt levels to fight in the competition, with entries in every experience division. We also took gold in every experience division... which we ended up fighting in. Sadly, Chris Rees' opponent pulled out ill and so he didn't get to fight.
Great day as Rob took his second gold as a brown belt. Ash Williams and Dan Gandy closed out the purple feather division. Both submitted their opponents, neither had a point scored on them and Gandy was fighting up a weight. Gandy also won two fights in the absolute, both by submission, as the lightest entrant!
Full medal results as follows;
ADULTS
Rob Taylor - elite master middle - gold
Ash Williams - advanced feather - gold
Dan Gandy - advanced feather - silver
Matthew Rees - intermediate light feather - gold
Kris Lewis - intermediate super heavy - gold
Stuart Morton - intermediate ultra heavy - bronze
Steve Borde - intermediate ultra heavy - bronze
Paul Evans - beginner master super heavy - gold
Will Davies - beginner heavy - gold
Ian Moore - beginner middle - bronze
Dave Margetts - beginner master medium heavy - bronze
Mike Evans - beginner light feather - bronze
KIDS
Cameron Jones - juvenile beginner <73kg - bronze
Connor Elias - juvenile beginner <61kg - bronze
Ashley Bendle - girls <60kg - bronze
Ben Robson - kids <65kg - bronze
Ben Miles - kids <60kg - bronze
23/10/11: Nogi British Open results (preliminary)
We had an absolutely great day at the Nogi British Open today. Full results will be posted here once the official results are available online, but by our own records we think we took 6 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze. So that's another 6 British champions this year!
Detailed results will appear here shortly.
19/10/11: No class this Sunday (23rd October)
Due to the Nogi British Open there will be no class this Sunday.
19/10/11: Bridgend class back on from this weekend
The Bridgend class will be back on and running regularly again from this weekend. Apologies for the disruption but there is good news as we are hoping to add another weekly class in the YMCA gym.
19/10/11: New Friday morning class
Due to requests we have added an early morning class on Fridays. This will start on 28th October and will be 6.45am to 8.15am.
14/10/11: Braulio Estima seminar - 6th November
Braulio will be back for the next seminar on Sunday 6th November. The seminar will start at 1pm and will cost £25. Please book your place at the club and book asap as it will sell out.
13/10/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Bryn Jenkins on being the latest promotion to blue belt!
04/10/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Scott Dorrell on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
04/10/11: South East Open results
Jay Horley travelled on his own to fight in this competition and fought up two weight categories from normal. Result as follows;
Jay Horley - blue heavy - bronze
01/10/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Gareth Jenkins who recently got promoted to blue belt!
22/09/11: No class on Friday 23rd September
The class on Friday 23rd September is cancelled due to instructors travelling to the ADCC comp. However, good news is that the Saturday morning class in Cardiff will now be on as normal, and the Bridgend class is also on as normal.
22/09/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Dave Lewis on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
22/09/11: New kids class details and times
Due to the ever increasing class sizes we have now split the kids classes into two age groups; 4 to 7 years old and 8 years and above. The younger group class will be 5.45 to 6.30pm and then the older group will be at the usual time of 6.30 to 7.15pm. The class schedule page has been updated to reflect these changes.
21/09/11: New blue belts
Congratulations to the latest blue belts awarded during the last few weeks; Russell Hart, Owain Gulliford and Shane Price have all been promoted.
19/09/11: Hereford Open results
The latest Hereford Open white belt competition was held this Sunday and our medal results were as follows;
ADULTS
Gareth Jenkins - middle - gold
Shane Price - absolute - gold
Gareth Jenkins - absolute - silver
Dave Lewis - middle - silver
Shane Price - medium heavy - silver
Ashley Bendle - womens <64kg - silver
Simon Gravell - super super heavy - bronze
Kingsley Hyden - super heavy - bronze
James Wade - middle - bronze
Garry Davidson - super feather - bronze
KIDS
Ashley Bendle - girls <60kg - gold
06/09/11: No lessons on weekend 24/25th September
Due to our instructors and a large number of students travelling to watch the ADCC World Championships over this weekend, there will be no lessons in Swansea or Cardiff (Bridgend TBC) on Saturday 24th or Sunday 25th September.
04/09/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Jon Bull who was promoted to blue belt today!
30/08/11: UMA groundfighting competition results
This competition had gi and nogi divisions and our results were as follows;
Brad Thomas - gi, 18 months to 3 years, <95kg - gold
Brad Thomas - nogi, 18 months to 3 years, <95kg - gold
Simon Gravell - gi, <18 months, >95kg - bronze
20/08/11: North West Open results
Only two people went to compete at this competition and the results were;
Rob Taylor - brown middle - gold
18/08/11: Promotions!
Congratulations to the club's newest purple belt, Lee Mitchell. This is only the sixth purple belt ever at the Chris Rees Academy as we believe in keeping high standards for our promotions.
Also, congratulations to Mikhail Banica on being the latest member to be promoted to blue belt!
12/08/11: Another two new blue belts
Congratulations to Matthew Daves and Brett Johns who were both promoted to blue belt on Thursday night.
25/07/11: Two new blue belts
Chris Rees recently taught a seminar at our Pembrokeshire affiliate club, run by Stu Tyrie, and at the end awarded blue belts to Simon 'Simbo' Morgan and Andrew 'Bird' Griffiths. Congratulations guys!
22/07/11: New blue belt
Slightly delayed in being reported but congratulations to Wayne Samways on being awarded his blue belt!
16/07/11: Success at Brighton Open
Matthew Rees was the only club member to compete at the Brighton Open and, again fighting up a weight class, he is bringing home another medal!
Matthew Rees - blue super feather - silver
16/07/11: One more blue belt!
Congratulations to Gareth Penny who was promoted to blue belt today.
15/07/11: Rob Taylor teaching in Caerphilly
From 21st July, Rob will be teaching the Thursday class in Caerphilly. For more info on the classes in this affiliate club, please see the Facebook group HERE.
15/07/11: New Monday day class
Starting next Monday (18th July) there will be a regular weekly class at midday to 1.30pm.
15/07/11: ...and another new blue belt!
Congratulations to Sam Lee on being promoted to blue belt today!
12/07/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Ben Phillips who was awarded his blue belt today!
09/07/11: Spartan Grapple Challenge results
A small team travelled to Nailsea to compete in this nogi tournament with absolutely awesome results, as follows;
Ash Williams - advanced open weight - gold
Ash Williams - advanced <68kg - gold
Brett Johns - novice <68kg - gold
Luc Thomas - novice <78kg - bronze
03/07/11: Hereford Open results
A large but fairly inexperienced team travelled to Hereford to compete in the white belt competition held today. Full results as follows;
ADULTS
Andrew Griffiths - seniors white light - gold
Nial Sherif - white medium heavy - silver
Martain Goodrick - white super super heavy - silver
Kamil Erkadoo - seniors white light - silver
Ashley Bendle - white womens -55kg - bronze (Ash is only 14 years old!)
William Snell - white feather - bronze
Gareth Penny - white middle - bronze
Bryn Jenkins - white heavy - bronze
Simon Gravell - white super super heavy - bronze
KIDS
Luke Evans - <50/55kg - bronze
Ben Robson - <60/65kg - bronze
25/06/11: Rob Taylor teaching in Caerphilly
Did you know we have an affiliate team training in Caerphilly (at the leisure centre)? The training is run by blue belt Kai Maybury with lessons also sometimes taught by Tom 'Balls' Young and Dan Gandy. From 26th June, Rob Taylor will be teaching there on the last Sunday of every month.
See the Facebook group HERE for more info and contact details.
23/06/11: Old competition results - Essex Open
Apologies for these results being missed off the page originally;
Essex Open (30/04/11)
Dan Gandy - purple light feather - gold
Ed Ingamells - blue heavy - gold
23/06/11: Another new blue belt
Congratulations to Lewis Reynolds on being promoted to blue belt!
21/06/11: Two new blue belts
Congratulations to Ross Barrington and Graham Williams on being promoted to blue belt tonight after a hard sparring session!
19/06/11: Success at the Bournemouth Open
Congratulations to Matthew Rees who took gold in the Bournemouth Open fighting a weight category up. This was also Matthew's first competition as a blue belt!
Matthew Rees - blue super feather - gold
14/06/11: Congratulations to Ricky
Congratulations to Ricky Hall on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
07/06/11: New blue belts
Congratulations to Chris Cookson, Chris Stark and Chris 'Godders' on being promoted to blue belt. The updated belt rank register can be found HERE.
26/05/11: Roger Gracie and Braulio Estima seminar was a massive success
The club was absolutely packed for this seminar, with 70 people training. Amazingly only 2 of those people were from outside of our clubs!
Roger and Braulio showed some awesome guard opening and passing techniques, finishing with Roger Gracie showing his technique to obtain the cross choke from mount.
14/05/11: Manchester Open results
A small team of four fighters travelled up to Manchester today and brought back five medals! Results as follows;
Dan Gandy - purple absolute - gold
Dan Gandy - purple feather - silver
Ed Ingamells - blue heavy - silver
Ed Ingamells - blue absolute - bronze
John Maflin - blue middle - bronze
12/05/11: Day class added to Cardiff schedule
Starting on 19th May there will be a class at midday every Thursday in the Ultimate Fitness Centre, Cardiff. Full details of the class can be found on the Class schedule page.
Private lessons will also be available throughout the day at the same venue. Please contact Rob Taylor to book a session.
11/05/11: Class starting in Porth, Rhondda
From Sunday 15th May, Rob Taylor will be teaching a BJJ class in 3D-MMA gym located in Porth, Rhondda. The class will be 2pm for 2 hours, cost is £5 but is not included under the monthly payment options as it is being held in a third party gym. Information on the MMA gym can be found HERE.
Please note there is no change to the Sunday morning class in Swansea.
08/05/11: UK Team Open & Absolute competition results
Ed travelled on his own to compete in the blue belt absolute tournament held at this event. He smashed through all his opponents to take gold!
Ed Ingamells - blue absolute - gold
30/04/11: Neil Salomi - new blue belt!
Congratulations to Neil Salomi on being promoted to blue belt last week.
26/04/11: Change to seminar date
The Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie seminar has had to be changed to 21st May. Please see HERE for full details.
20/04/11: New open mat session
There will now be a weekly open mat on Saturdays at midday to 2pm. This is a free session for members only.
15/04/11: New blue belt - Jarryd Hoy
Congratulations to Jarryd on being promoted to blue belt on Wednesday night!
10/04/11: Spirit Challenge 2 BJJ Open results
A small team travelled to fight in this competition held in Paris, France. Results were as follows;
Dan Gandy - purple super feather - gold
Ash Williams - purple feather - bronze
Ed Ingamells - blue heavy - bronze
Florence Nottage - female white - bronze
10/04/11: Spartan Grapple Challenge result
Only Miles went to compete at this event... and he brought home a gold medal!
Miles Edwards - 1-3 years experience <80kg - gold
09/04/11 - Samurai Fight Night 3 results
We had a number of members fighting at this event and full results were;
Sam Hooker - win round 2 TKO
Dean Lewis - win round 1 rear naked choke
Chris Cookson - win unanimous decision
Ricky Wright - unanimous draw (fight of the night)
Graham Williams - loss split decision
Sean Meaney - loss unanimous decision
05/04/11: New blue belt - Rob Thomas
Congratulations to Rob Thomas who was promoted to blue belt today!
04/04/11: Massive seminar news - BRAULIO ESTIMA & ROGER GRACIE
On 8th May we will be hosting a seminar by Braulio Estima AND Roger Gracie. As the top two current BJJ players this is an opportunity not to be missed! Full details can be found on our forum, HERE.
03/04/11: British Open day 2 results - FOURTH BRITISH CHAMPION!
Four more members of the team fought at the British Open today and brought back three more medals, as follows;
Chris Rees - brown medium heavy - bronze
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Rachel Perry - white feather/super feather - bronze
02/04/11: New brown belt - Rob Taylor
Congratulations to Rob Taylor who was promoted to brown belt after winning the British Open today. This makes him only the 4th brown belt in Wales!
02/04/11: British Open day 1 results - THREE BRITISH CHAMPIONS!!
With six people fighting at the British Open today we managed to bring home four medals! Full results as follows;
Rob Taylor - purple belt masters light - gold
Alyn Weyman - blue belt seniors middle - silver
Ashley Bendle - girls under 55kg - gold
Jodie Newell - girls under 65kg - gold
29/03/11: Congratulations to Alex Jones
Alex was promoted to blue belt today after recently winning the Welsh Open, submitting all 4 opponents. Congrats!!
27/03/11: Hereford Open results
Just a small team travelled to compete at the Hereford Open today. The relatively inexperienced team of blue belts fought well with a number of wins and submissions while Rob Taylor won his division in convincing fashion;
Rob Taylor - purple belt light - gold
24/03/11: Congratulations to Will Bendall
Will was promoted to blue belt today... congrats!
09/03/11: Recent blue belts
A number of people have recently been promoted to blue belt. Full list is as follows;
Jay Horley
Kai Maybury
Jon Maflin
Neil Gould
Big Stu
Leighton Hopkins
David Wosman
Congrats to all!
09/03/11: Braulio Estima seminar - 30th April
The next seminar with Braulio will be held in the Swansea academy on 30th April. Full details will be posted shortly, see HERE for information.
06/03/11: Welsh Open results
We had huge team competing and an amazingly successful day. A total of 27 medals... 10 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze!!! Full medal table as follows;
Ashley Bendle - juvenile girls - gold
Riccardo Lewis - juvenile blue belt open - bronze
Rob Taylor - purple belt light - gold
Ashley Williams - purple absolute - silver
Ashley Williams - purple belt light - silver
Mike woods - purple senior open - silver
Steve Borde - blue belt absolute - gold
Kristian Lewis - blue belt heavy - gold
Tom Young - blue belt light - gold
Tom Young - blue belt absolute - silver
Lee Mitchell - blue belt heavy - silver
Alyn Weyman - blue belt senior middle - silver
Jay Horley - blue belt middle - silver
Neil Gould - blue belt light - silver
Ed Ingamells - blue belt heavy - bronze
Leighton Hopkins - blue belt senior middle - bronze
Tomasz Jeziorski - white belt super super heavy - gold
Mathew Evans - white belt super heavy - gold
Mathew Davies - white belt heavy - gold
Alex Jones - white belt feather - gold
David Wosman - white belt super feather - gold
Sam Lee - white belt super heavy - silver
Bryn Jenkins - white belt heavy - silver
Sean Yuen - white belt feather - bronze
Andrew Griffiths - white belt senior middle - bronze
Paul Warlow - white belt heavy - bronze
Tom Hall - white belt super heavy - bronze
28/02/11: Results from Bristol Open
Only two members went to compete at this event but we still brought home a medal;
Ed Ingamells - blue heavyweight - gold
27/02/11: Results from Hereford Open white belt competition
Another great set of performances and results today. A massive congratulations to Leighton Hopkins who received his blue belt after winning his division in convincing fashion, even with an injured shoulder! Full medal list as follows;
Leighton Hopkins - seniors medium heavy - gold
Tomasz Jeziorski - open weight - gold
Ashley Bendle - girls -55kg - gold
David Wosman - super feather - silver
Matthew Evans - super heavy - silver
Tomasz Jeziorski - super super heavy - silver
Andrew Griffiths - senior absolute - silver
Adam Piwowarski - light - bronze
Andrew Griffiths - seniors light/middle - bronze
Mihail Banica - heavy - bronze
Florence Nottage - womens open weight - bronze
Luke Evans - boys -55kg - bronze
Nathan Spring - boys +65kg - bronze
22/02/11: Results from Spartan Grapple Challenge
This competition took place back in January but official results have only recently been posted online. Medals were as follows;
Jordan James - 3 years experience <80kg - gold
Rory Evans - 1 year experience <75kg - silver
Will Davies - 1 year experience <100kg - bronze
Simon Gravell - 1 year experience >110kg - bronze
07/02/11: Llanelli class cancelled - Swansea Monday class back on
The class in Llanelli will no longer be running. However, the good news is that the Monday evening class in Swansea is now back on with Rob teaching it.
05/12/10: Hereford Open results
A small and relatively inexperienced team travelled to compete in the Hereford Open today. There were great performances all round and full results were as follows;
Ashley Bendle - girls under 55kg - gold
Will Bendall - white belt featherweight - silver
Sean Browne - white belt seniors featherweight - silver
Darren Potter - white belt super super heavyweight - silver
Callum O'Neal - white belt medium heavyweight - bronze
Kris Powell - white belt heavyweight - bronze
Rob Thomas - white belt seniors absolute - bronze
18/11/10: More blue belt promotions!
Congratulations to Giordano and Riccardo Lewis who were promoted to blue belts today by Chris. They only recently turned 16 and so have been promoted from their old grade of green belts and are now the youngest ever blue belts at the Chris Rees Academy.
07/11/10: Promotions at Braulio Estima seminar
Congratulations to those promoted today, a whole load of new blue belts and two more purple belts! Full details as follows;
Purple belts
Ash "Natalie Imbruglia" Williams
Dan Gandy
Blue belts
Rich Williams
Guto Crompton
Miles Edwards
Matthew Rees
Paul "Prodigy" Rogers
Derek Burton
Paul Harries
Andy Spender
Alun Harvard
Jon Hinkin
01/11/10: Welsh Open Nogi results
We had a massive team competing at this event, and just as expected we came away with loads of medals and no.1 in the team standings. Full results as follows;
Juvenile
Ben Miles - under 65kg - gold
Dominic Taborda - over 65kg - gold
Connor Elias - under 65kg - silver
Kyan Morgan - over 65kg - silver
Adults
Owain Ap Gwyn - elite super super heavy - gold
Ash Williams - intermediate feather - gold
Dino Gambatesa - intermediate light - gold
Guto Crompton - beginner medium heavy - gold
Derek Burton - master/senior beginner heavy - gold
Neil Gould - master/senior light - gold
Alex Chrysanthou - beginner heavy - gold
Owain Ap Gwyn - elite absolute - silver
Alun Harvard - master/senior intermediate absolute - silver
Taylor Waters - intermediate middle - silver
Sean Browne - master/senior feather - silver
Dan James - beginner absolute - silver
Derek Burton - beginner heavy - silver
Graham Williams - beginner middle - silver
Neil Gould - beginner light - silver
Brett Johns - beginner feather - silver
Paul Rogers - beginner feather - bronze
Chris Barry - beginner light - bronze
Dan James - beginner middle - bronze
Jay Horley - beginner medium heavy - bronze
Kai Maybury - beginner absolute - bronze
29/09/10: Braulio Estima seminar - BOOK NOW! ### UPDATED ###
We will be having another seminar from Braulio on 7th November in Swansea. See HERE for full info.
26/09/10: British Open Nogi championships results
We travelled up to the British Open with a strong team of blue belts (the majority of the team for the first time ever I think), experienced white belts and some guys getting the first experience of competition. Results were as follows;
Dan Gandy - intermediate super feather - gold
Steve Borde - intermediate super super heavy - silver
Kris Lewis - intermediate heavy master/senior - silver
Ed Ingamells - intermediate heavy - silver
David Wosman - beginner super feather - silver
Derek Burton - beginner heavy senior - silver
Lee Mitchell - intermediate medium heavy - bronze
Sam Hooker - intermediate super heavy - bronze
Kyan Morgan - 12-15 years +65kg - bronze
Connor Elias - 16-17 years -55kg - bronze
19/09/10: Hereford Open white belt championships results
Another great day for our competition team, full results as follows;
Sean Browne - seniors white feather - gold
Neil Gould - white light - gold
Kris Powell - white heavy - gold
Ashley Bendle - girls -55kg - gold
Matthew Rees - white super feather - silver
Simon "Simbo" Morgan - white super super heavy - silver
Ross Barrington - white medium heavy - bronze
15/09/10: Massage Therapy available at the Chris Rees Academy
Massage Therapy by Mike Woods is now available at the Chris Rees Academy in Swansea. Please see HERE for full details.
14/09/10: New blue belt
Congratulations to Stu Tyrie who was awarded his blue belt today!
12/09/10: Staffordshire Open Championships
We sent a small team of just 5 fighters to the first Staffordshire Open (a white belt only competition) and came back with... 5 medals!! Full results as follows (see forum for a full write-up);
Matthew Rees - white super feather - gold
Derek Burton - white heavy - gold
Graham Williams - white middle - silver
Rob "The Bull" Davies - white super super heavy - silver
Will Bendall - white feather - bronze
04/09/10: U.M.A. British Open Gi Championships
Congratulations to Derek Burton who fought in the U.M.A. championships and took silver.
Derek Burton - novice <95kg - silver
03/09/10: Adrenaline MMA results
Sam Hooker won his fight in 1:03 of the first round by ground and pound. Dino Gambatesa lost by guillotine in the second round after winning a very tough first round.
20/08/10: Success in Hong Kong
Jay Horley recently competed in Copa Kowloon 5 Hong Kong BJJ Open (held on 15th August), taking gold in the medium heavy division.
Jay Horley - white medium heavy - gold
18/08/10: Paul "Prodigy" Rogers MMA debut
Congratulations to Paul who made his MMA debut last weekend at Savage Fight Night 3. Paul dominated the action although the fight was judged a draw. Watch the video and decide for yourself...
Round 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjucqPe19UU
Round 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-NMx9CgNw
Round 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq0en1c8mvc
24/07/10: Spartan Grapple Challenge results
Another amazing competition day! Full results as follows...
Dino Gambatesa - advanced <68kg - gold
Alec Mead - advanced <84kg - gold
Sam Hooker - advanced >100kg - gold
Ed Ingamells - novice <93kg - gold
Paul Rogers - novice <68kg - gold
Kirk Baldwin - novice <68kg - silver
Ash Williams - advanced <68kg - bronze
David Wosman - novice <68kg - bronze
Danny Lerwell - novice <93kg - bronze
Rob ??? (from Cardiff) - novice <100kg - bronze
See HERE for more info. Videos will be posted to our Youtube account over the next few days.
07/07/10: Rob Taylor interview
Rob was recently interviewed by an online BJJ blog. You can read it HERE.
04/07/10: Hereford Open results
Only Rob went to fight at this competition, and the result was...
Rob Taylor - purple middleweight - silver
21/06/10: Bournemouth Open results
We had just a small team competing at the Bournemouth Open this weekend. Results were as follows;
Ed Ingamells - blue heavyweight - gold
Alec Mead - blue middleweight - silver
Ed Ingamells - blue open - bronze
Kris Powell - white heavyweight - bronze
13/06/10: New purple belt and blue belts
Congratulations to everyone who was promoted by Victor Estima today. The promotions were as follows;
Mike Woods - purple belt
Jon Andrew - blue belt
Ed Ingamells - blue belt
Mark Springate - blue belt
Tommy Docherty - blue belt
Lee Carter - blue belt
Jody was also promoted to 3 stripe white belt.
12/06/10: New blue belt
Congratulations to John Tierney who was promoted to blue belt by Chris.
26/04/10: Victor Estima seminar - 13th June
Full details available HERE.
28/03/10: British Open results
Full results as follows;
KIDS
Ashley Bendle - tbc - silver
Jodie Newell - tbc - bronze
ADULTS
David Wosman - white belt super featherweight - gold
Ed Ingamells - white belt heavyweight - gold
Steve Borde - white belt super super heavyweight - gold
14/03/10: Success at GRIP grappling competition
Congratulations to Gareth Lewis who travelled to Newport to compete in the GRIP nogi competition today. Even though he hasn't been training very long Gareth ended up having 7 fights winning 5 by submission, 1 by decision and losing just 1 by decision. Medals were as follows;
Gareth Lewis - novice -93kg - gold
Gareth Lewis - novice absolute - gold
Gareth Lewis - advanced +100kg - bronze
07/03/10: Welsh BJJ Open results
We had our biggest team ever competing at the Welsh Open and took 24 medals. Results as follows;
KIDS
Jody Newell - girls roosterweight - gold
Giordano Lewis - juvenile lightweight - gold
Riccardo Lewis - juvenile lightweight - silver
Ashley Bendle - girls roosterweight - silver
Jody Newell - juvenile roosterweight - bronze
ADULTS
Steve Borde - white belt absolute - gold
Steve Borde - white belt super super heavyweight - gold
Ash Williams - blue belt super featherweight - gold
Ed Ingamells - white heavyweight - gold
David Wosman - white belt super featherweight - gold
Thomas Docherty - white belt lightweight - gold
Steve Pascoe - purple belt middleweight - silver
Russell Evans - blue belt lightweight - silver
Alec Mead - blue belt middleweight - silver
Ed Ingamells - white belt absolute - silver
Kirk Baldwin - white belt featherweight - silver
Rowan Evans - white belt middleweight - silver
Mark Springate - white belt heavyweight - silver
Richard Davies - white belt super super heavyweight - silver
Leighton Hopkins - white belt seniors middleweight - silver
Matthew Rees - white belt super featherweight - bronze
Matthew Davies - white belt heavyweight - bronze
Andy Spender - white belt super heavyweight - bronze
Graham Williams - white belt medium heavyweight - bronze
21/02/10: Hereford BJJ Open II results
The usual great results for our team. A special mention goes to Ashley Bendle who took gold in a division where she was the only girl fighting against boys. Congratulations to everyone who fought!
Medals were as follows;
Kids
Ashley Bendle - under 46kg - gold
Giordano Lewis - over 65kg - bronze
Adults
Omied Khakshour - lightweight - gold
Dylan Tanner - super super heavyweight - gold
Derek Burton - senior heavyweight - gold
Lee Carter - senior heavyweight - silver
John Tierney - middleweight - silver
Ed Ingamells - heavyweight - bronze
01/02/10: European Championships results
Chris, Rob, Andy Harvey and Stu Tyrie travelled to Lisbon, Portugal the past weekend to fight in the IBJJF European Championships. This is the most prestigious BJJ tournament in Europe.
Winners were;
Rob Taylor - purple belt masters middleweight - silver
Chris Rees - brown belt masters medium heavy - bronze
Congratulations to all the guys for travelling out and fighting. For more reports, see the forum. Videos will be uploaded to our Youtube account soon.
20/12/09: New blue belts
A massive congratulations to Alyn Weyman, Josh Williams and Zack Jones. They were awarded their blue belts today by Braulio Estima.
07/12/09: Christmas closing times
Please see HERE for details of Christmas closing times for both Swansea and Cardiff clubs. The thread will be updated if there are any changes so please check regularly.
07/12/09: Hereford BJJ Open results
Congratulations to everyone who fought at the first Hereford BJJ Open competition. Many of our fighters were competing for the first time and the experience will be invaluable.
Medal winners were as follows;
Josh Williams - adult <64kg - gold (17 years old fighting adult division)
Alec Mead - adult <82.3kg - gold
Alyn Weyman - master <82.3kg - gold
Leighton Hopkins - master <82.3kg - silver
Kai Maybury - adult <76kg - bronze
Jacob Hopkins - kids <42kg - gold
Ben Southard - kids <27kg - silver
Ashley Bendle - kids <46kg - silver
Giordano Lewis - kids >60kg - silver
Congratulations to Giordano and Riccardo Lewis for also competing in the adults division despite only recently turning 15 years old.
07/12/09: Grapple & Strike results
Gracie Barra Swansea has produced another Grapple & Strike champion as Lee Mitchell claimed the middleweight belt this weekend. Lee won his semi-final by decision and then the final by kneebar submission in the 2nd round.
Jon Andrew finished second place in the heavyweight division, losing to a tough opponent by armbar in the final.
Congratulations guys!
02/11/09: Nogi British Open results
This was an absolutely awesome day for the Chris Rees Academy. Everyone fought brilliantly and did the club proud.
Special mention has to be made of Ash Williams. First him and Josh dominated the juvenile category, submitting all opponents, to take gold and silver. They were also competing between themselves to see who could get the fastest submission! Ash then stepped up to the adult intermediate (blue belt) category and took silver (winning four fights on his way to the final). Sadly, the final was stopped due to an injury as Ash was unable to continue.
Full results are as follows;
Kris Lewis - beginner super heavy master/senior - gold
Sam Hooker - beginner super super heavy adult/master - gold
Ash Williams - juvenile 67kg - gold
Ash Williams - intermediate feather adult - silver
Steve Borde - beginner absolute - silver
Steve Borde - beginner super super heavy adult/master - silver
Josh Williams - juvenile 67kg - silver
David Wosman - beginner feather adult - bronze
The team event was won by Team Braulio Estima and all our guys who medalled scored points for the team (gold=9, silver=3, bronze=1). The Chris Rees Academy would actually have taken third place if our points were scored separately! This is an absolutely amazing achievement considering the top two teams were the biggest in the UK (Braulio Estima and RGA). Chris would like to thank all the members of the Academy (Swansea & Cardiff) for making this possible.
Videos will be uploaded to Youtube within the next few days.
28/10/09: Hereford nogi groundfighting results
A number of novice fighters along with some experienced competitors went to the Hereford nogi groundfighting competition on the weekend, bringing home another haul of medals.
Josh Williams - under 65kg advanced - gold
Alec Mead - under 86kg advanced - gold
Wayne Samways - over 95kg - gold
Jon Andrew - over 95kg - silver
Lance Jones - under 65kg novice - silver
Zack Jones - under 78kg advanced - bronze
Zack Jones - absolute - bronze
29/09/09: Congratulations to Braulio Estima
Braulio put on another awesome performance at the recent ADCC World Championships. He defeated 8 opponents to take double gold, winning both the under 87.9kg category and the open weight division.
Videos of the event can be viewed here - http://www.adcc2009.com/index.php (at a cost of $14.95)
29/09/09: More wins at Predator Fight Night 3
A number of Gracie Barra Swansea fighters had matches at the recent Predator Fight Night, with the following results;
Dino Gambetesa - win by triangle, round 1
Marley Swindells - win by TKO, round 1
Dean Lewis - win by TKO, round 1
Sam Hooker - win by RNC, round 1
Joe Jones - win by TKO, round 1
Dan James - win by TKO, round 1
Jordan James - loss by armbar, round 1
Unfortunately Rob Taylor and Alec Mead did not fight as their opponents pulled out.
20/09/09: Hereford Groundfighting results
Well done to everyone who competed in today's competition. A number of people were competing for the first time and everyone fought well.
Medals were as follows;
Kids
Isaac Thomas - under 35kg - silver
Jodie Newell - under 50kg - silver
Isaac and Jodie both also fought in a team competition and both won their fights.
Adults
Jon Andrew - 95kg+ - gold
Steve Borde - 95kg+ - silver
Steve Borde - open weight - gold
Will Diaz - under 78kg - silver
15/09/09: New blue belt - Lee "Conan" Jabarian
Congratulations to Lee Jabarian who, on behalf of Braulio Estima, was awarded his blue belt by Chris tonight.
31/08/09: Promotions
Congratulations to Andy Harvey, Chris Cooke and Dean Lewis on being promoted to blue belt by Braulio Estima on 30th August.
Also, congratulations to Chris Rees on being promoted to one stripe brown belt.
12/07/09: Dino Gambatesa wins at Ultimate Challenge
Congratulations to Dino who won by stoppage due to ground and pound after only 40 seconds of the first round! Dino was fighting Brad Wheeler in the main event of Ultimate Challenge Heat.
The event will be on Sky Sports 3, 10pm this Wednesday.
(photo from MMAHitPit.com)
05/07/09: Combat Academy nogi groundfighting results
Our fighters once again did the club proud at today's Combat Academy competition. Medals were as follows;
Steve Borde - over 100kg - gold
Steve "Biffy" Barfield - under 95kg novice - gold
Steve Pascoe - under 80kg advanced - silver
Chris Eynon - under 95kg novice - silver
Johnnie Davies - openweight - bronze
24/06/09: New purple belt!
A massive congratulations to assistant instructor Steve Pascoe on being promoted to purple belt today by Braulio Estima.
21/06/09: Grapple & Strike results
Lee Mitchell and Jon Andrew both fought in the 2nd leg of the Grapple & Strike league today;
Mitchell drew one and won one by armbar.
Jon drew one and won one by head & arm choke.
Congratulations guys, both now well placed to make it to the finals! The league tables (not yet updated after the 2nd leg) can be found HERE on the Grapple & Strike Wales website.
21/06/09: British Open results
Despite only having 7 entrants we won 4 medals and everyone who fought put in awesome performances! Medals were as follows;
Stu Tyrie - white belt adult <88.3kg - gold
Rob Taylor - purple belt adult <82.3kg - silver
Shaun Parry - blue belt adult <94.3kg - bronze
Ben Kerslake - white belt masters <76kg - bronze
Congratulations to everyone who fought, there were some really tough fights!!
There should be a full write up on the forum within the next few days. Videos will also be posted shortly.
20/06/09: Congratulations to Jay Davies
Jay won his debut semi-pro fight tonight by rear naked choke in the first round.
09/06/09: Estima brothers success at World Championships
Braulio became a three-time world champion this weekend, taking gold in the heavyweight division.
Victor took bronze in the highly competitive middle-heavy division.
Congratulations to both!
07/06/09: Stuart Tyrie takes bronze at the International Novice competition
A massive congratulations to Stu who won bronze at the International Novice BJJ competition (a competition for white belts run before the Mundials). This is an amazing achievement for Stu who has only been training for 8 months!
Check out the forum for more details!
27/05/09: GRIP grappling tournament success
Gracie Barra Swansea pretty much dominated this competition last weekend, taking a large haul of medals.
Results as follows;
Zack Jones - advanced <73kg - gold
Zack Jones - advanced absolute - gold
Marley Swindells - advanced <77kg - gold
Alec Mead - advanced <84kg - gold
Ashleigh James - advanced <93kg - gold
Stephen Harries - advanced <73kg - silver
Lee Hodge - novice <84kg - silver
Jon Andrew - novice 100kg+ - bronze
Johnny Davies - advanced <77kg - bronze
Congratulations to everyone who fought!
16/04/09: Celtic Open results
We only had a small number of competitors at this competition, but that didn't stop us getting another haul of medals!
KIDS
Ashley - silver
Isaac - silver
Kieran - silver
Jodie - bronze
ADULTS
Rob Taylor - purple belt open weight - silver
Jordan James - white medium heavy - gold
Leighton Hopkins - white medium heavy - silver
Congratulations to everyone who fought!
29/03/09: Welsh Open results
Awesome results from the Welsh Open held on 22nd March. Congratulations to everyone who fought;
Zack Jones - white belt lightweight - gold
Stu Tyrie - white belt medium heavy - gold
Alyn Weyman - white belt senior middleweight - bronze
Andrea "Angrea" Bennet - white belt female absolute - silver
"Big" Matt Jones - blue belt super heavy - silver
Giordano Lewis - juvenile - bronze
Steve Borde - white belt super heavy - gold
Steve Borde - white belt masters/seniors absolute - silver (EDIT: originally said gold, apologies)
Mike Trow - white belt featherweight - bronze
16/03/09: Grapple & Strike amateur MMA league results
Following on from the last two weekends we had another great set of results in the Grapple & Strike amateur league.
Lee Mitchell fought in the 84kg catergory and won both his fights by armbar. The first submission came in just 20 seconds and then he followed that up with another at around 2 minutes 30 in his second fight.
Jon Andrew went along to the event in case there was a chance he could fight and managed to get matched up for a heavyweight bout. Jon fought well but as there was no submission the fight was automatically ruled a draw.
Congratulations guys!
09/03/09: Predator Fight Night 2 results
Another great night with four fighters representing Gracia Barra Swansea. Results were as follows;
Zack Jones - win by rear naked choke, round 1
Marley Swindells - win by KO, 21 seconds round 1
Dean Lewis - loss by ref stoppage, round 1
Dino Gambatesa - win by rear naked choke, round 1
08/03/09: Jordan James MMA result
Jordan fought at the Cage Gladiators event this Saturday against Lee Chadwick of Team Kaobon. Jordan dominated the fight and won by guillotine choke in the 1st round. Congratulations Rhino!!
02/03/09: Bristol Open and MMA success this weekend
Congratulations to everyone who fought in the Bristol Open. Many of them were competing for the first time and everyone fought well. Medal winners were as follows;
Russell Evans - blue belt lightweight - silver
"Big" Matt Jones - blue belt absolute - silver
Alyn Weyman - white belt masters middleweight - silver
Stu Tyrie - white belt medium heavy - bronze
Also this weekend was the Rumble in Rhondda MMA event. We had four fighters taking part and the results were as follows;
Josh Williams - draw in a grappling match (automatic draw as there was no submission)
Ash Williams - win by triangle, 2:40 round 1
Alec Mead - win by head and arm choke, approx 1:00 round 1
Zack Jones - win by triangle, approx 4:00 round 1
Congratulations to everyone who fought, everyone at the club is proud of you!!
14/12/08: Chris Rees promoted to brown belt and new blue belts
Chris Rees was today promoted to brown belt by Braulio Estima. Gary Richards, Lee Owen, Chris Fowler and Shaun Parry were promoted to blue belt.
Congratulations guys!
08/12/08: Combat Academy results
As usual, amazing performances in the recent competition. Full results are below and there is a write up of the day on the forum.
KIDS
Girls u35
Ashley Bendle - Gold
Girls u45
Jodie Newell - Gold
Under 30
Isaac Thomas - Gold
Under 35
Ashley Bendle - Gold
Under 45
Jodie Newell - Gold
ADULTS
under 86
Stuart Tyrie - Gold
under 95
Shaun Parry - Silver
over 95
Jon Andrew - Gold
Gary Richards - Bronze
Masters
Mike Woods - Gold
Blue Belt Open
Steve Pascoe - Silver
Ladies
Andrea Bennett - Silver
White Belt Absolute
Stuart Tyrie - Gold
19/11/08: Stripe promotions
Congratulations to Chris Rees, Rob Taylor and Chris Fowler who all received stripe promotions today from Braulio and Victor Estima. They were promoted to the following ranks;
Chris Rees - 4 stripe purple belt
Rob Taylor - 2 stripe purple belt
Chris Fowler - 3 stripe white belt
17/11/08: Congratulations to Daniel James
Dan won his MMA fight this weekend by unanimous decision after dominating his opponent for two rounds. See the forum for a full report.
10/11/08: MMA success at Predator Fight Night
The club had a clean sweep of 4 wins from 4 fighters at the Predator Fight Night MMA event held in Oceana on 9th November. Dino, Zack, Watkins and John Phillips all won their fights in the first round. Please see the forum for more details (link to the forum above).
20/10/08: More medals and apologies!
First off, apologies for not updating the site regularly for the last month, I have been having some technical difficulties. I.e. the program I use for this site telling me I should use different software and lower internet security settings... no thanks, I am virus free and would like to stay that way!!!
So, updates...
Ash, Shaun and Jodie all took golds in their categories at the last Hereford Combat Academy tournament. Jodie also took gold in the British Juniors Judo championships!
In the Combat Academy gi groundfighting competition; Chris Fowler took silver (-86kg), Alec Mead took bronze (-95kg, fighting at 77kg!) and Calvin Lewis took silver in the masters category.
Zack was the only GB Swansea competitor in this year's British Submission Grappling Championships and he took silver in his weight category (under 80kg) and also gold in the absolute division!
Another lot of amazing results, well done to all. You continue to show how strong a club we are!
22/08/08: Non grappling success for the club!
Congratulations to Amy and Andrea (who train fitness with Chris) who recently completed the Kilvey Hill cement run. This race is an uphill run up an increasingly steep slope, while carrying a 25kg bag of cement!
Amy and Andrea finished 2nd & 3rd in the womens category and 14th & 15th place overall. Congratulations!!
03/08/08: Braulio seminar (including belt promotion news!)
Braulio gave yet another excellent seminar, covering a number of sweeping techniques from spider guard. There was an excellent turnout, with 41 people in attendance. With the enlarged mat space there was still plenty of room for everyone to train.
As usual Braulio joined in with the sparring and the results were the same as usual; lots of big sweeps! We will try to get some video of this up shortly.
Finally, at the end of the seminar, Braulio awarded a number of promotions;
Promoted to blue belt were (left to right in the photo below); Gavin Gates, Mark Waters, Lee Mitchell, Russell Evans, Ash Williams, Will Powell, Calvin Lewis, Marley Swindells and Johnny Williams.
Congratulations to all as these belts were really well deserved after so much hard training and some amazing competition results. Extra congratulations to Ash Williams who received his blue belt only a week after his 16th birthday!
A number of stripe promotions were also given out and these were as follows;
Chris Rees - 3 stripe purple
Rob Taylor - 1 stripe purple
Steve Pascoe - 2 stripe blue
Big Matt - 2 stripe blue
Johnny Davies - 1 stripe blue
Again, congratulations to all!
If anyone has pictures of video footage, please contact Rob as we would love copies of these.
02/08/08: Ashleigh James' semi-pro MMA debut
Ashleigh made his semi-pro MMA debut (with full head shots on the ground) this Saturday in dominant fashion.
Ash took no time in putting his opponent on his back with a huge slam, then followed this up by taking mount and unleashing a barrage of ground and pound which caused a referree stoppage after only 1:50 of the first round.
The fight can be seen HERE. (links to Youtube)
Congratulations Ash, awesome performance!
02/08/08: Success at VT Jiu-Jitsu competition
A team of 4 kids and 2 adults travelled to this competition and brought back 6 medals! The results were as follows;
Kids
Nathan - gold under 40kg
Ben - silver under 25kg
Isaac - silver under 33kg
Jodie - bronze under 50kg
Adults
Dino Gambatesa - gold under 66kg advanced
Marley Swindells - silver under 77kg novice
Another amazing day. Of note are Ben and Isaacs first round fights, they both won by over 20 points to nil! Jodie fought against much larger opponents and still nailed some excellent throws. Nathan fought two very tough fights and showed excellent composure in the final to win 4-3.
Dino's weight category was novice and advanced divisions combined; he fought three matches and finished them all quickly with submissions. Marley was fighting above his usual weight and still managed to submit his first opponent and then repeatedly sweep his second, much larger, opponent to win on points.
Congratulations to all, brilliant performances all round!
14/07/08: Bristol Open results
Yet another great day of competition for the club with the usual success;
Shaun Parry - gold (medium heavy)
Ashleigh James - silver (heavy weight)
Jon Andrew - silver (super heavy)
Chris Cook - bronze (juvenile)
Congratulations to all who fought; Shaun, Ashleigh, Jon, Chris, Jarryd, Mitchell & Jonnie Davies.
01/07/08: Ash Williams gets double silver at the British Ju Jitsu Championships
Congratulations to Ash who took silver in the open weight pairs demonstration and open weight random attack at the British Ju Jitsu Championships held in Manchester last weekend.
29/06/08: ADCC results
More gold medals! Amazing performances from all the competitors and especially Marley Swindells and Ashleigh James. Marley took gold in the novice absolute division and Ashley took gold in novice 100kg+ division.
Marley lost in the 2nd round of his weight category (on points) but then later fought the same opponent in the absolute, tapping him out with an armbar in under a minute! Ash got some monsterous takedowns, as usual, to dominate his division on way to gold.
Some videos will be posted soon. Keep checking back.
19/06/08: More amateur MMA success
Stephen "Biff" Barfield competed at the Grapple & Strike amateur league on 15th June, his first competition after approximately two and a half months training with Chris in private lessons. He had two fights which resulted in a win and a draw.
Congratulations Biff! Another great result for the club.
15/05/08: Combat Academy results (UPDATED 18/05/08)
Confirmed results are;
Juniors;
Ashley Bendle - bronze (under 40kg)
Shaun Bendle - silver (light heavy)
Aaron Vickery - bronze (light heavy)
Josh Williams - silver (heavy)
Ash Williams - gold (heavy)
Adults;
Ash & Josh Williams shared bronze (under 71kg)
Ashley James - bronze (open weight)
Ashley James - silver (over 93kg)
Chris Fowler - silver (under 93kg)
Lee Mitchell - gold (under 93kg)
Please keep checking the site for updates as some videos from this event, the Gracie Invitational and Welsh Open should be posted sometime this week!
28/04/08: SENI success!!
As is now the usual story, Gracie Barra Swansea had great success this weekend at the Gracie Invitational. Results were as follows;
Chris Rees - bronze (purple belt under 88.3kg)
Chris Rees - team bronze
Russ Evans - gold (white belt under 76kg)
Lee Mitchell - gold (white belt under 88.3kg)
Ash Williams - gold (juvenile under 64kg)
Amazing performances guys and congratulations to everyone else who competed; Rob, Marley, Sam, Jarryd and Gary. See the forum for more details.
31/03/08: Welsh Open 2008 results
Another awesome event for Gracie Barra Swansea. Medals for the club were as follows;
White Belt
Super Feather --64kg
Ashley Williams - silver
Feather - 70kg
David Thomas - silver
Lightweight - 76kg
Russell Evans - gold
Jarryd Hoy - bronze
Middle - 82.3kg
Jordan James - gold
Middle Heavy - 88.3kg
Chris Fowler - gold
Jamie Phillips - bronze
Super Heavy - 100.5kg
Paul Mathias - gold
Ashley James - bronze
Super Super Heavy - +100.5
Gary Richards - bronze
Absolute
Ashley James - gold
Blue Belt
Middle - 82.3kg
Jonny Davies - bronze
Congratulations to everyone who competed. Everyone fought well and showed the strength of the club!
03/03/08: Another MMA win
Alex Evans, who has recently joined the club, won his MMA fight against Jamie Banks in the Ultimate Warrior Challenge this weekend. Alex took the fight to the ground immediately and secured a rear naked choke at just over the 3 minute mark of the first round. Congratulations!
Next to fight are Dean and Zack in Angrrr Management on 29th March, then it's Jordan James on the Cage Rage Contenders show on 12th April.
16/02/08: Results from Bristol Open - Winter Leg
Today's Bristol Open brought more medals to Gracie Barra Swansea. Russell Evans dominated all 5 of his opponents on route to the gold medal in the under 76kg white belt category. He won one match by points, one by rear naked choke and three with armbars!
Ash Williams once again stepped up to fight in the adult division (under 64kg white belt) and put on an amazing performance to take the silver medal. Ash finished his first fight with a triangle, then won the semi-final on points. In the final he escaped from a number of bad positions to eventually secure the mount on his opponent with a choke locked in. Unfortunately, with only seconds remaining, he was unable to secure the tap out in time and lost on points.
Steve, Jarryd and Dave also fought with both Steve and Jarryd winning their opening fights.
Congratulations guys, awesome performances all round!
Amazing results with numerous medals won once again! Congratulations to all who entered.
Adults
Ash - Gold under 65kg (only 15 years old winning an adult division!)
Alec - Gold under 78kg
Zack - Silver under 78kg
Zack - Bronze absolute
Dai - Bronze under 65kg
Kids
Ash - Gold
Aaron - Gold
Special mention also to Lee Mitchell who fought in the under 86kg category. Winning 3 fights and losing 2 he finished in 4th place.