On Guard Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

NAGA Washington!!

The squad came to Centralia and conquered on the weekend!! This is one of the strongest performances from the team to date. It's nice when the hard work and effort shines through on the podium!

Enjoy the belts, everyone! Huge Congratulations!!

Also Happy Belated Birthday to Coach Gio! Thank you for your dedication and commitment to these kids! We appreciate everything you do for the team and the Vancouver Kids BJJ community ♥️.

Wow Austin, that's a wrap. What a trip! The OG youth competition team and I competed at the ADCC Austin Open and the ADCC Youth World Championships over the weekend, and it was an incredible experience.

I won a bronze in the 76kg Adult Advanced division, only losing to arguably the #1 66kg grappler in the world Dorian Olivarez. Considering I bruised my rib really bad in the match before, I'm really proud of this result; fighting through 3 more matches after the injury to secure bronze. Despite the pain, there wasn't a chance in this world that I would miss an opportunity to face someone of Dorian's caliber; a truly once in a lifetime experience.

The kids brought home 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. The courage and skill I saw from our team was inspiring. We are right there with the best kids in the world, and tests like this show us that we are doing the right things, but also that we can always be better. We can always aim for perfection and make adjustments. I want to say well done to the squad and a special thank you goes out to the parents who support our kids team and helps them reach new levels.

I trained at Simple Man and Kingsway JJ with Saverio and Junior; bucket list activities for any grappler in Austin that could not be missed. I am bringing home not just a bronze medal, but lots of new insights and things to add to my game. This trip was one of the most productive weeks of my career, and it never ceases to amaze me how after 17 years, I can still learn new things in this sport.

I can't wait to talk about all of my experiences on the podcast, as that is the only way I can truly do this trip justice. For now, I will just say that my first trip to Texas (not my last) was incredible. The people, the food, the comedy, and the Jiu Jitsu makes me wonder how I ended up here in life. The best job in the world surrounded by people with the same passion and love for the sport... my heart is full of gratitude and happiness right now.

What a trip. What a life. Can't wait to get back to work on Thursday and get ready for the next one!

(PS in comments)

We just wrapped our 2 week summer camp! I just spent 2 weeks teaching 15 kids heel hooks and ankle locks (context: No gi, ADCC ruleset). Here are my findings:

Each day, I offered the kids an extra ration of gummies if they could make me tap to a leg lock. Near the end of week 1, I'd say 5 of the kids could make me tap, and by the end of week 2, only 3 kids could not make me submit.

Leg locks are obviously not allowed in competition, but the kids gained valuable time playing games based around destabilizing and attacking someone from bottom leg entanglements. I believe kids (and anyone) who understand ashi garami and x-guard situations will progress quickly in grappling.

We didn't have any leg attack related injuries as I would intervene the second I felt there was any chance of injury. We trained multiple sessions addressing the leg reaping position, how to escape, and creating counter-offense. Understanding when leg reaping is actually dangerous is the first step in educating the next generation about this taboo subject. Kids usually know reaping isn't allowed, but they don't usually know why or how this action can be dangerous... Knowledge is power, and ignorance is what is actually dangerous. I recommend you get your kids playing with leg locks ASAP. This will allow them to attack their opponents entire body with their entire body.

I used a combination of explicit instruction and positional games with constraints during the camp. I would let them make mistakes at first, and then follow through with explicit solutions. This yielded pretty impressive results, and many of the kids were using what I had shown repeatedly with intention.

We also drilled. A lot. Specifically with gravity drills from bottom leg entanglements. This helped the kids understand how they could blend leg attacks with takedowns, sweeps, guard passing, and taking the back. Say what you want about drills. They aren't all created equal, but they can absolutely help the student improve their ability to perform a task.

(MAIN TAKEAWAYS IN COMMENTS)

What a success. I can't wait to run another camp with these kids!!

Awesome work team. Thank you Prime BJJ Series for the great tournament.

Come to my BBQ!! Gonna be great training and food. I hope to see you all there!

Updated Schedule, effective immediately:

-Monday 9am class added
-Sunday free roll has been removed from the schedule

The 2026 ADCC Youth World Championships will be happening in August, and out of the 6 total Canadian competitors at the tournament, we are proud to be sending 4 athletes from On Guard BJJ!

Saverio Loria
Nicole Mojica
Samwise Curtis
Jonas Hanzely

These 4 athlete's ages span from 7-17, which speaks to the depth of our youth program. We are excited for them to represent OG at the biggest Youth No Gi tournament of the year!

ANNOUNCEMENT

Spring Break camp was such a success, I'm excited to announce that I will be running a Kid's Summer camp! This camp is open to all affiliations, ages 5-14..

Dates:
Week 1: July 20-24
Week 2: July 27-31

Cost for 1 week:
$400 (member) / $425 (non-member)
A $50 deposit is required to reserve a spot.
Single day drop in: $125

Come train with the Top BJJ Youth Competition Team in BC this Summer. This camp is open to all levels, will involve many fun games and activities, and will have a large emphasis on skill development.

I can't wait to train with your kids this summer! DM me to reserve your spot today!

Matt

Grappling Industries was a trip last weekend. Another Top Youth Trophy for the wall. Great job kids!

On to the next!

We are excited to announce that Saverio will be teaching classes on Monday nights from 6-9pm at On Guard BJJ!

Saverio just won double gold at ADCC Arizona in the -80kg/+80kg advanced 17 year old divisions, defeating both the ADCC East Coast Trials gold and silver medalists. He brings a ton of knowledge and competition experience to this class. We are lucky to have such a young talent take an instructor role at OGJJ.

Saverio's first class will be Monday April 10. Please come out and push the train with us!