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23/05/13: New purple belt and new blue belt
Congratulations to Mike Edwards on being promoted to purple belt and Andrew Morgans on being promoted to blue belt.
20/05/13: New purple belt
Congratulations to Sean Browne on being promoted to purple belt after winning the British Open this weekend!
19/05/13: British Open results
Once again we had an amazing set of results and the biggest national competition of the year, the British Open. Medals were as follows;
ADULTS
Dan Gandy - brown super feather - gold
Rob Taylor - brown master middle - silver
Jon Hinkin - purple senior 2 ultra heavy - gold
Sean Browne - blue senior 2 super feather - gold
Jamie Roberts - blue senior heavy - silver
Ashley Bendle - blue super feather - bronze
Danielle Roberts - blue light - bronze
Benn Kerr - white master super heavy - gold
James Edwards - white senior super heavy - bronze
JUVENILES/KIDS
Ben Robson - juvenile white <70kg - gold
Nathan Spring - juvenile white <80kg - silver
Curtis Brookes - juvenile white <70kg - bronze
Luke Thomas - boys age 13-15 <75kg - bronze
02/05/13: Bridgend classes currently suspended
The Bridgend class on Saturday morning is currently suspended as we will be moving the class to a new and improved venue. Full details will be posted shortly but we expect the class to start back on 18th or 25th May.
26/04/13: Braulio seminar promotions
Congratulations to all the guys who were promoted tonight;
Brown belt - Dan Gandy
Purple belts - Paul Rogers, Ross Barrington, Tommy Docherty, Jon Andrew, Lee Carter
21/04/13: Plymouth Open results
A very small team traveled down to Plymouth today and brought back the following medals;
Bryn Jenkins - purple light - silver
Ashley Bendle - blue absolute - silver
Andrew Drayton - blue middle - silver
Karl Franks - blue medium heavy - bronze
20/04/13: Braulio Estima seminar - 26th April
The Braulio seminar is now less than a week away. You can book by paying Chris, Rob or Ash, at the Swansea academy during a class, or online (incl. small booking fee); http://braulioseminar2.eventbrite.com
The seminar will be 3 hours starting at 6.30pm and costs only £25.
For more info on Braulio see here.
09/04/13: Another new blue belt
Congratulations to Stuart Roberts on being promoted to blue belt tonight. Another of the gold medalists at the Welsh Open!
08/04/13: New blue belts
Congratulations to our two newest blue belts, Andrew Drayton and Josh Ellis. Both took gold in their respective white belt divisions at the Welsh Open.
08/04/13: Welsh Open results
This was the biggest Welsh Open ever with huge divisions at all belt levels. We won loads of medals and dominated the team points. Worth noting... Ash Williams fighting up 2 weight categories, Dan Gandy and Stu Tyrie up 1, Bryn Jenkins up 3!! Omi and Tom also fought up a weight category at purple belt and both won 2 fights.
Full results as follows;
Ash Williams - brown middle - gold
Luis Brauner - brown master medium heavy - gold
Dan Gandy - purple feather - gold
Bryn Jenkins - purple medium heavy - gold
Stu Tyrie - purple ultra heavy - gold
Alyn Weyman - purple senior medium heavy - gold
Wayne Samways - purple ultra heavy - bronze
Ross Barrington - blue medium heavy - gold
Mike Edwards - blue super heavy - gold
Jon Andrew - blue senior ultra heavy - gold
Ashley Bendle - blue middle - silver
Rory Evans - blue feather - silver
Simon Morgan - blue ultra heavy - silver
Leighton Hopkins - blue senior middle - silver
Sam Lee - blue senior ultra heavy - silver
Sean Browne - blue super feather - bronze
Tommy Docherty - blue light - bronze
Karl Franks - blue medium heavy - bronze
Mikhail Banica - blue super heavy - bronze
David Margetts - blue senior medium heavy - bronze
Josh Ellis - white light - gold
Andrew Drayton - white middle - gold
Stuart Roberts - white heavy - gold
James Edwards - white senior super heavy - gold
Rebecca Smith - white super feather/feather - silver
Kate Davidson - white light/middle/medium heavy - silver
Bronson Barron - white feather - silver
Liam Davies - white medium heavy - silver
John Pearce - white heavy - silver
Ceri McAleer - white senior middle - silver
Steve Page - white senior super heavy - silver
Karen Bexon - white light/middle/medium heavy - bronze
Kate Davidson - white absolute - bronze
Mike Evans - white super feather - bronze
Dion Sutton - white feather - bronze
Gerwyn Steele - white light - bronze
Dariusz Krak - white middle - bronze
Nigel Davies - white heavy - bronze
Chris Byars - white senior middle - bronze
Steve Hancock - white senior medium heavy - bronze
Ben Robson - juvenile -64/-69kg - gold
Jake Galbraith - juvenile -79.3/-84.3kg - silver
Danny Morgan - juvenile -64/-69kg - bronze
02/04/13: New purple and blue belt
Congratulations to Marley Swindells on being promoted to purple belt and Ashley Bendle, at only 16 years old, being promoted to blue belt!
30/03/13: UMA Nogi English Open results
Only Mike Evans travelled to this comp today;
Mike Evans - novice <65kg - bronze
30/03/13: Scotia Cup results
Two people travelled up to Glasgow to compete today;
Jay Horley - blue middle - silver
25/03/13: New blue belts
Congratulations to Dan Thomas and Andy James on being promoted to blue belt!
24/03/13: Hereford Open results
Another white belt only competition and another load of medals. Massive congratulations to Ashley Bendle who, at only 15 years old, took DOUBLE GOLD in the adult division. She only had 2 points scored on her in both categories and that was by the heavier weight gold medalist!
Ashley Bendle - white feather - goldAshley Bendle - white absolute - gold
Anthony Pugh - white ultra heavy - silver
Rob McCallum - white senior medium heavy - silver
Steve Hancock - white senior absolute - silver
Andrew Drayton - white middle - bronze
Chris Byars - white senior middle - bronze
Steve Hancock - white senior medium heavy - bronze
Rob McCallum - white senior absolute - bronze
Jacob Hopkins - boys <55kg 12-14 - bronze
17/03/13: Bristol Open results
A small team traveled up to Bristol today and results were, as always, awesome!
Ash Williams - brown feather - gold
Bryn Jenkins - purple light - gold
Tommy Docherty - blue masters light - silver
Liam Davies - white medium heavy - bronze
12/03/13: New purple belt
Congratulations to Kyle Davies on being promoted to purple belt today!
05/03/13: New blue belt
Congrats to our latest blue belt Mo Ali Qasim.
01/03/13: Braulio Estima seminar - 29th March
The next Braulio seminar will be held on Friday 29th March at 6.30pm in our Swansea academy. The seminar will be 3 hours and the cost is £25. You can book by paying Chris, Rob or Ash, at the Swansea academy during a class, or online (incl. small booking fee); http://braulioseminar2.eventbrite.com
For more info on Braulio see here.
17/02/13: Hereford Open results
Yet another awesome day for us as we brought home a huge haul of medals today;
Luis Brauner - brown master medium heavy - gold
Kai Maybury - purple feather - silver
Omied Khakshour - purple light - bronze
Paul Rogers - blue feather - gold
Chris Holt - blue light - gold
Sean Browne - blue senior - bronze
Andrew Griffiths - blue senior absolute - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white feather - gold
Darren Mould - white light - gold
Radoslaw Klepczarek - white medium heavy - gold
Matt Vassak - white heavy - gold
Ben Robson - white super feather - silver
Andrew Drayton - white middle - bronze
Peter Davies - white senior middle - bronze
08/02/13: More promotions
Massive congratulations to Dylan Tanner on becoming the clubs latest purple belt and Lewis Long blue!
03/02/13 Spartan Grapple Challenge results
This Saturday at Spartan Grapple Challenge was the first competition of the year which we sent a big team to and we nominated, winning 5 divisions. Full results as follows;
Mike Edwards - advanced <93kg - gold
Owain Ap Gwyn - advanced >100kg - gold
Josh Ellis - advanced <73kg - gold
Paul Rogers - advanced <68kg - silver
Darren Woodward - advanced <93kg - silver
Darren Woodward - advanced absolute - silver
Josh Ellis - advanced absolute - bronze
Darren Mould - novice <73kg - gold
Dale Jenkins - novice <78kg - gold
David Davidson - novice <78kg - bronze
02/02/13: New purple belt!
Congratulations to John Hinkin on being promoted to purple belt. John was actually promoted on Tuesday 29th, apologies for not updating the site sooner!
28/01/13: Promotions
Tonight in Cardiff there were three new blue belts and another new purple belt! Massive congratulations to all the guys.
Purple belt - Wayne Samways
Blue belt - Johan Den Hartog, Adam Johns, Dezzy
26/01/13: European Championships success
Only one of our members went to the European Championships this year and he took bronze in his division.
Jon Hinkin - blue senior 3 ultra heavy - bronze
14/01/2013: New blue belt
Congratulations to Jamie Decroos on being promoted to blue belt!
12/01/13: New BJJ advanced class
Due to the new MMA gym opening in Swansea next week, we will now have an additional BJJ class on Wednesday nights. This class will be for 3 stripe white belts and above and is gi only. See HERE for full schedule.
Full details of the new MMA gym timetable will be posted shortly.
07/01/13: Beginners courses starting in February
We will have monthly beginners courses in Swansea and Cardiff starting in February. Please see HERE for full details.
06/01/13: New blue belt
Congratulations to Dan Austin who was promoted to blue belt today.
20/12/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to John Carrington on being promoted to blue belt!
09/12/12: Gracie Barra Bristol Submission Only competition results
This competition was open to all the Gracie Barra affiliates in the UK and the format was no points, no time limit, only way to win by submission. Not only did we have amazing individual results but we also came top of the team points... a great way to end the year! Full results as follows;
Tom Young - purple light - gold
Kai Maybury - purple light - silver
Tom Young - purple absolute - silver
Kai Maybury - purple absolute - bronze
Stu Tyrie - purple heavy - bronze
Simon Morgan - blue heavy - silver
Simon Morgan - blue absolute - silver
Paul Rogers - blue absolute - bronze
Adam West - blue middle - bronze
Sean Browne - blue light - bronze
Andy Drayton - white heavy - gold
David Roch - white light - gold
Andy Drayton - white absolute - gold
Kyle Bonsor - white super heavy - silver
Paul Jones - white middle - silver
The fastest submission of the competition was also won by a CRA member; Dan Austin in 21 seconds!
02/12/12: Hereford Open results
Yet another great competition up in Hereford today and we had our usual haul of medals, as follows;
Ash Williams - brown middle - silver
Alec Mead - purple middle - silver
Tom Young - purple light - silver
Dave Lewis - blue middle - silver
Mikhail Banica - blue super heavy - silver
Andrew Griffiths - blue senior absolute - silver
Leighton Hopkins - blue senior middle - bronze
Simon Scott - blue senior medium heavy - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white feather - gold
Jamie Jones - white light - gold
Mark Connolly - white senior light - silver
Nigel Davies - white heavy - bronze
Ben Robson - white absolute - bronze
26/11/12: Nogi British Open results
We only sent a small team along to this competition but still had good success. Medals as follows;
Mike Edwards - advanced heavy - gold
Euros Jones-Evans - beginner master super heavy - silver
Mike Evans - beginner super feather - bronze
Ben Robson - juvenile white -65kg - gold
Jacob Hart - boys 6-7 -24kg - bronze
Jack Griffin - boys 8-9 -38kg - bronze
21/11/12: Braulio seminar belt promotions
At an absolutely packed out seminar with 81 adults and 13 kids training!!
Belt promotions were as follows, congratulations to all;
Brown belt - Ash Williams
Purple belts - Omied Khakshour, Alec Mead, Alex Jones, Bryn Jenkins
Blue belts - Adam West, Mike Edwards, Nathan Braddon, Biffy
11/11/12: English Open results
What an amazing competition, even by our own high standards! We sent 9 competitors to the competition and came back with 5 golds and 2 silvers, taking 3rd place in the team points. Absolutely awesome guys, congratulations!! Full results as follows;
Rob Taylor - brown masters middle - gold
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Alec Mead - blue middle - gold
Ashley Bendle - white super feather - gold
Lloyd Gilby - white masters medium heavy - gold
Nathan Braddon - white light - silver
Gareth Stamp - white masters ultra heavy - silver
07/11/12: Braulio Estima seminar on 21st November
Braulio will be with us again on Wednesday 21st November. Yet another chance to train with the 3 time World Champion, ADCC double gold medalist and ADCC Superfight champion (amongst many other accolades!)... do not miss out as places will sell out quickly!
The seminar will be gi only and you can book your place with Chris or Rob, or you can book online HERE for a small booking fee.
Details as follows;
Date: Wednesday 21st November
Time: 6-9pm
Cost: £25
06/11/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Rory Evans on being promoted to blue belt.
19/10/12: New kids class in Cardiff
We now have a kids class in Cardiff on Saturday mornings at 9.30am.
15/10/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Rhys Lewis on being promoted to blue belt tonight.
03/10/12: New purple belt
Congratulations to Kai Maybury on becoming the club's latest purple belt!
02/10/12: Change to Wednesday midday class (Swansea) and update on Cardiff kid's class
The midday class on Wednesdays in Swansea will now be a normal class open to all levels. This takes effect from tomorrow.
We are still waiting to arrange a Monday night kids class in Cardiff in our new location (UFC gym). This should be sorted out in 2-3 weeks and we will update the website as soon as it is confirmed.
22/09/12: New blue belts
Chris Rees taught a private at our Pembroke affiliate today and awarded three new blue belts; Charlie Batten, Matt Lewis and Sean Meaney. Congrats guys!
22/09/12: Bournemouth NOGI Open results
Mike Edwards - advanced <90kg - silver
21/09/12: New blue belts
Congratulations to Ceri Phelps and Gerard Barnett on being promoted to blue belt!
16/09/12: Hereford Open
We had a lot of first time or inexperienced competitors in this competition and it was a great day with everyone performing well and gaining invaluable experience. Medals were as follows;
Ashley Bendle - white female -60kg - gold
Chris Byars - white senior middle - silver
Robert McCallum - white senior medium heavy - bronze
Ashley Bendle - blue juvenile female -53.5kg - gold
Ben Robson - juvenile -65kg - gold
Kai Mulcock - junior -34kg - bronze
09/09/12: Welsh Open NOGI results
Another great Welsh Open and we once again dominated, winning the team event with almost four times the points of the second placed team. Individual medals as follows;
Ash Williams - purple light - gold
Alec Mead - blue absolute - gold
Wayne Samways - blue ultra heavy - gold
Alec Mead - blue middle - gold
Kai Maybury - blue feather - gold
Neil Gould - blue senior middle - gold
Wayne Samways - blue absolute - silver
Steve Borde - blue ultra heavy - silver
Liam Bennett - blue heavy - silver
Will Davies - blue medium heavy - silver
Alex Jones - blue light - silver
Kai Maybury - blue absolute - bronze
Zack Jones - blue absolute - bronze
Gareth Jenkins - blue medium heavy - bronze
Zack Jones - blue middle - bronze
Jamie Jones - white middle - gold
Jon Mills - white absolute - silver
Jordan Marshall - white medium heavy - silver
Darren Mould - white middle - silver
Nathan Braddon - white light - silver
Mike Evans - white super feather - silver
Euros Jones-Evans - white super heavy - bronze
Rhys Lewis - white medium heavy - bronze
Nathan Morgan - white feather - bronze
Ashley Bendle - juvenile girls -60kg - gold
Ben Robson - juvenile boys -60/-65kg - gold
05/09/12: Changes to Cardiff classes
We are very happy to announce that all of our existing Cardiff classes will now be taught in one location; The UFC Gym on Penlline Street (just off City Road). In addition to this we have also added a Thursday evening class and a Sunday morning class. Please see HERE for full details.
02/09/12: Nottingham Open result
Ash Williams travelled to Nottingham to compete today and won gold in his weight division!
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
14/08/12: Changes to monthly payment options
We think everyone agrees that we offer great value on the monthly options considering the number of lessons and quality of instruction. In order to be able to maintain this we are going to bring in a few changes to the monthly payment system. The existing monthly fees will stay but will be available only via direct debit. There will also be a cash payment option available, but this must be paid in the last week of the month before and the rates are higher than the D/D option. Pay per class will also still be available. If you want to pay monthly pro-rata for training in Sept to 1st Oct then that will be possible.
We will post more information about the direct debit option soon but it's available to sign-up straight away, speak to Chris Rees or Rob Taylor.
New rates;
DIRECT DEBIT-
unlimited = £50
2 x week = £30
Minimum term = 3 months
Cancellation notice = 1 month
New members will get a month free if they sign up within their first two weeks of training.
CASH-
unlimited = £60
2 x week = £35
Must be paid before 1st of the month, no credit!
06/08/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Ash Hudson on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
05/08/12: Bristol Open results
These are unofficial results and will be updated (if necessary) when official results are posted. We only had a small team competing but brought away loads of medals as follows;
Ash Williams - purple absolute - gold
Ash Williams - purple feather - silver
Gareth Jenkins - blue middle - silver
Omied Khakshour - blue middle - bronze
Gareth Jenkins - blue masters absolute - bronze
Johan Den Hartog - white masters absolute - gold
Johan Den Hartog - white masters medium heavy - bronze
26/07/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Wayne Gravell on becoming the latest of the blue belts.
25/07/12: New blue belts
Congratulations to Neil Gimbel, Danielle Roberts and Jamie Roberts on being promoted to blue belt.
18/07/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Ryan Bassett, our latest blue belt!
15/07/12: Welsh Submission Challenge results
Although a small competition, the standard of grappling was awesome. Our results were as follows;
Ash Williams - 4 man Invitational - bronze
Dan James - advanced <79.5kg - gold
Shane Price - advanced absolute - bronze
Shane Price - novice 80kg+ - gold
Lloyd Ayris - novice <80kg - gold
Dave Margetts - novice 80kg+ - silver
Wayne Gravell - novice <79.5kg - silver
Gareth Jenkins - novice 80kg+ - bronze
09/07/12: Two new blue belts
Congratulations to Thomas Scarrott and Simon Scott on becoming our latest blue belts and the first at our Aberystwyth club.
30/06/12: Spartan Grapple Challenge results
Another week, another competition, another haul of medals and ANOTHER gold medal for Ash Williams (15 golds at purple belt and nogi advanced comps!!!)
Ash Williams - advanced <68kg - gold
Kev Reed - advanced <84kg - bronze
Mike Edwards - advanced absolute - bronze
Ramesh Swaminathan - novice <68kg - silver
29/06/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Matthew Kinsey on being promoted to blue belt.
24/06/12: Hereford Open results
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Tom Young - purple light - gold
Andrew Griffiths - blue senior absolute - gold
Leighton Hopkins - blue senior middle - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white super feather/feather - gold
Stuart Roberts - white absolute - gold
Danielle Roberts - white middle - silver
Rory Evans - white light - silver
Jamie Roberts - white senior medium heavy - silver
17/06/12: Bournemouth Open results
We sent a small team to the Bournemouth Open yesterday and results were as follows;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Lloyd Ayris - blue feather - bronze
Danielle Roberts - white light - gold
06/06/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to David Gray, our latest blue belt and second of the day!
06/06/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to new blue belt Justin Scott-Morgan!
05/06/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Josh Jones on being promoted to blue belt!
02/06/12: London International Open & NOGI SENI Challenge results
London International Open
John Maflin - blue medium heavy - bronze
John Maflin - blue absolute - bronze
NOGI SENI Challenge
Mike Edwards - 6+ years <89kg - silver
01/06/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Lloyd Ayris on being promoted to blue belt!
21/05/12: New Youtube account
We now have a new Youtube account for all our competition videos. This can be found here; http://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisReesAcademy
If you record any footage at competitions and would like it to be uploaded, please provide a copy to Rob Taylor or Ian Moore.
Remember that older videos can still be found on Rob's account; http://www.youtube.com/user/RobJT
20/05/12: British Open results
We only sent ten competitors to the British Open this year but they brought back an incredible 8 medals and 3 of those were British Champions!
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Alyn Weyman - purple senior medium heavy - bronze
John Hinkin - blue senior II ultra heavy - gold
Chris Fowler - blue senior medium heavy - silver
Ross Barrington - blue masters medium heavy - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white female super feather - gold
Jamie Roberts - white senior medium heavy - silver
Lloyd Ayris - white feather - bronze
29/04/12: New blue belts at Pembroke Dock
Following a seminar taught by Chris Rees at our Pembroke Dock affiliate today, four new blue belts were awarded. Congratulations to Gregg Hayes, Martin Goodrick, Jay Meaney and Richard Hughes!
20/04/12: New blue belt
Congrats to Paul Warlow on being promoted to blue belt today!
17/04/12: New purple belt!
Congratulations to Tom 'Balls' Young on being awarded his purple belt yesterday! This came the day after he won gold in the Welsh Open in a very tough division.
17/04/12: New blue belt
Congrats to Toby Woods on being promoted to blue belt at the Welsh Open!
15/04/12: Welsh Open results
We had a massive team competing at the Welsh Open today and won the team event, coming away with a huge haul of medals. Results as follows;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Ash Williams - purple absolute - silver
Wayne Samways - blue absolute - gold
Wayne Samways - blue ultra heavy - gold
Tom Young - blue middle - gold
Steve Borde - blue ultra heavy - silver
Brad Thomas - blue heavy - silver
Chris Kenwood - blue super feather - silver
Chris Fowler - blue senior medium heavy - silver
Sean Browne - blue senior feather - silver
Paul Rogers - blue feather - bronze
Andrew Griffiths - blue senior feather - bronze
Lloyd Gilby - white super heavy - gold
Tobias Woods - white heavy - gold
Dave Grey - white medium heavy - gold
Ashley Bendle - white female feather - gold
Lloyd Ayris - white feather - silver
Simon Scott - white senior middle - silver
Michael Jones - white senior light - silver
Richard Hughes - white super heavy - bronze
Danielle Roberts - white female light/middle - bronze
Yousuf Omar - juvenile medium heavy/heavy - bronze
Ben Robson - juvenile feather - bronze
30/03/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Dave Margetts on being promoted to blue belt!
25/03/12: Hereford Open results
A great turn out to compete in this comp. Loads of people competing for the first time and loads representing the Cardigan guys for the first time. Medal results as follows;
Ashley Bendle - white women super feather - gold
Dane Hardwicke - white super heavy - silver
Ben Robson - juvenile feather - silver
24/03/12: Scotia Cup results
We sent a small team to Glasgow to compete in this event and brought home a number of medals. Results as follows;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Ash Williams - purple absolute - gold
Tommy Doherty - blue light - silver
Jay Horley - blue middleweight - bronze
12/03/12: TUFF Grappling results
John Maflin was our only competitor in this competition yesterday, result as follows;
John Maflin - intermediate <79.5kg - silver
11/03/12: Irish Open results
Ash Williams travelled to Ireland yesterday to compete and continued his excellent run this year. Results as follows;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Ash Williams - purple absolute - gold
04/03/12: Abu Dhabi World Pro trials
Only three guys went to fight in this competition, results as follows;
Ash Williams - purple <65kg - gold
Ash Williams - purple <74kg absolute - bronze
01/03/12: New blue belt
Congratulations to Karl Franks on becoming our latest blue belt!
26/02/12: Gracie Barra competition results
We had three members competing at the Gracie Barra academies competition today, results were as follows;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Jay Horley - blue middle - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white women -63kg - gold
Ashley Bendle - white women -71kg - silver
24/02/12: New purple belt
Congratulations to Kris Lewis on being promoted to purple belt!
19/02/12: Hereford Open results
Another awesome competition performance with two double gold medalists and an amazing result by Ashley Bendle, only 14 years old, taking two gold and one silver in adult divisions. Full results;
Ash Williams - purple feather - gold
Ash Williams - purple absolute - gold
Omied Khakshour - blue light - gold
Sean Browne - blue seniors light - gold
Wayne Samways - blue super super heavy - gold
Wayne Samways - blue absolute - gold
Simon Gravell - blue absolute - silver
Jay Horley - blue middle - bronze
Andrew Griffiths - blue seniors light - bronze
Ashley Bendle - white women -64kg - gold
Ashley Bendle - white women absolute - gold
Ashley Bendle - white women -58.5kg - silver
Dave Margetts - white medium heavy - silver
Karl Franks - white middle - bronze
Danielle Roberts - white women -64kg - bronze
07/02/12: Two new purple belts!
Congratulations to Matthew Rees and Alyn Weyman who were both promoted to purple belt tonight. Awesome guys, well done!!
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: 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!
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!!!
02/11/11: New blue belt
Congratulations to Chris Kenwood on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
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!
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: New blue belt
Congratulations to Dave Lewis on being promoted to blue belt tonight!
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
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: ...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
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
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
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
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
12/06/10: New blue belt
Congratulations to John Tierney who was promoted to blue belt by Chris.
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: 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
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!
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
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)
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.
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.