Gold and Silver at Abu Dhabi Continental Pro Jiu-Jitsu Competition

Simon Chandra Gold at Abu Dhabi Continental Pro 2020

Congratulations to Simon Chandra on winning gold yesterday at the Abu Dhabi Continental Pro Jiu-Jitsu Competition.

It was a good start to the year for Simon, as this was his first competition of 2020, and he had to go up a weight division as there was no one to compete against in his weight class. Simon weighed in at 66kg and then ended up fighting in the 73kg weight class. This is a great effort to win a gold going up a weight class in this event, especially when you consider you can weigh in the day before the event. So, some competitiors in the 73kg class could be closer to 80kg come the time of comp. With Simon, we were at the correct weight, we didn't do any water cuts or anything like that. 66kg is the weight he walks around at. It was the plan to just be at weight and not do any type of cut, which in the end turned out really well for Simon, even though he had to go up a class. Probably just shows that if your jiu-jitsu and strength are good, body weight itself doesn't mean all that much (up to a certain point).

Marverick Santos and Nathan Waters SJJA Crows Nest Feb 2020

Marverick Santos also come home with a silver medal yesterday. Like Simon, it was a huge effort having to go up a weight class as his opponent for the day ended up being heavy. Due to this Marverick had to go up to the 85kg weight division, after weighing in at 76kg.

Again, we didn't use any water cuts or anything like that. This is his every day weight. He would have been fighting guys who weigh around the 90kg mark or even slightly more.

So to get a silver medal in the adult black belt division is a great achievement.

This is also the first time Marverick has followed a nutrition plan or done any structured strength training in the gym. We have only worked together for about 1 month now, and speaking prior to and after the event, he said he felt really good.

I am excited to see how much he progresses over the course of this year.

SJJA won a fair few medals on the day as always. We are very happy for the team and all the hard work everyone puts in.