The whole team at Toronto BJJ and other affiliates. Photo: Vernon Anthony Kee
Professor Jorge Britto and his students from Toronto BJJ, a proud Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu representative, including affiliates 905 BJJ, Stratford BJJ and MTC Windsor celebrated another year together with their 6th annual in-house tournament and belt promotions recently in Toronto, Canada.
Over 200 students of all ages and belt levels competed in the end-of-year tournament held on four mats with IBJJF rules that included special male and female no-gi divisions and a brown belt absolute division. For many it was their first time tasting competition and experiencing a real tournament. For others it was another chance to sharpen their skills in front of family and friends with familiar training partners.
To begin the event, the students from the kids and teens programs provided an impressive demonstration of traditional BJJ self-defense and modern BJJ.
The new black belts. Photo: Personal archive
Additionally, Toronto BJJ celebrated many promotions as students reached the next level in their BJJ journey. Most notably nine students, some of who are also instructors at Toronto BJJ, reached the level of black belt! The new black belts in Toronto are: Nathan Rector, Michael Zaniewski, Firdavs Sulaimonov, Mike Nomikos, Eyal Cinamon, Sandro Tucci, John Serio and Steve Ramos.
The total of 100 new belts:
Adult
7 x Green
25 x Blue
6 x Purple
16 x Brown
9 x Black
Kids / Teens
6 x Grey/white
6 x Grey
2 x Grey/black
5 x Yellow/white
7 x Yellow
5 x Orange/white
4 x Orange
1 x Green
1 x Blue
Andrea Martyn receives her award. Photo: Personal archive
Furthermore, two students, Andrea Martyn and Nicolas received the Seana Rossi Award for their display of the warrior spirit in 2014. This award honors the legacy of student Seana who passed away in 2012 after a long fight with cancer and whose memory and spirit still inspires and motivates the team to this day. Seana’s parents alongside TBJJ Director Josh Rapport presented each award.
The academy also collected food donations for The Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto with a goal of collecting 1000 kg of contributions for the holiday season.
Professor Jorge Britto surprised with a birthday cake. Photo: Personal archive
To finish the day the team surprised Professor Britto with a cake to combine the day’s celebration with his birthday. Keeping up with tradition, the group picture was captured and the party came to a close after another successful event was in the history books.
Congratulations to everyone at Toronto BJJ and we look forward to hearing of more success in 2015!
Learn more about Toronto BJJ at www.torontobjj.com
