British Champions for local martial arts team

GRACIE Barra Frome, a local Brazilian jiu-jitsu team are riding high following the British BJJ Open Championships held at the University of Warwick last month. 

The club reports, “With a team of 18 Frome students/competitors, with the youngest being 9 years old, this event saw over 1,200 individual bouts of competition across the weekend. Winners are decided based on submission victory, or points scored by controlling you opponents. 

“Taya Jones, aged 9, took the first gold of the event in the Girl Juniors 2 under 34kg category in a tightly contested final which went to a referee’s decision in favour to the Frome fighter.  

“Cohen Burton, 9, also made his way to his final (Boy Juniors 2 under 38kg), but was unable to clinch the win dropping 4 points to his opponent, and taking home a Silver medal, his first loss in competition this year. 

“The Gold rush continued with Mike Rose, contesting the Men’s Masters 2 under 79kg, who racked up an impressive 30 points across all his bouts without dropping a single point to any of his opponents. 

“Luke Wareham, Men’s Masters 1 under 64kg, took less than 90 seconds to win his final match and claim gold, finishing his opponent with a choke submission. 

“Ryan Allcott, Men’s Masters 4 under 88.3kg, added to his previous competition success with third successive gold, having only loss two points in his entire 2022 season. Following this he was awarded his Blue belt onto of the podium by his instructor Callum Swift, meaning he will be moving into a new division for future competitions. 

“‘Super Saturday’s’ final gold medal went to Blue Belt Norbert Suwala (Male Masters 1 under 94.3kg) who stormed to the final in a very talented division. Following his first place finish, Norbert entered the Absolute division which features no upper weight limit. Despite giving his best performance, defeating two of the heaviest competitors, Norbert was unable to progress into the final, but was able to take a Bronze medal. 

“Saturday saw Bronze medals in the Master categories from Paul Humpage, Reg Price, Louis Curtis and Rafal Cygan. 

“Unfortunately day two of the competition did not see the same medal haul, and became a ‘Silver Sunday’. Bran Findley was able to claim a Silver medal in Male Adult under 94.3kg category losing to a submission in the final match. Instructor Matthew Dossett also stepped onto the mats alongside teammates and students, taking Silver in the Men’s Brown Belt under 82kg division, and narrowly missing out on a bronze in the Brown Belt Absolute division. 

“Following the final bout of the day ‘Gracie Barra Frome’ managed to secure a TOP 10 position in the ‘Best Overall Academy’ standings, which ranks all clubs nationwide based on team medals won.  

“As a Team, Gracie Barra Frome exceeded expectations and this was highlight by instructors Callum Swift and Matthew Dossett being able to claim the 1st Place Team Trophy (Master Category).” 

Coach Callum Swift said, “To finish in the top 10 overall, as well as being awarded the first place team trophy, is the highest achievement for our club to date. We have been working so hard to grow our team since we returned from lockdown, and seeing repeated improvement in competition record stands as testament to countless hours of training that happen in our school on a daily basis. Next year we hope to double the number of British champions that we produced this 2022!” 

If you are interested in finding out more about our club, or would like to give it a try yourself, you can find more information at: www.GracieBarraFrome.com