On Sunday 20^th June 2010, the beautiful Bournemouth city located on the coast of the United Kingdom (UK) was the host for the first Bournemouth Bjj Open. The event was organized by the Brazilian Bjj black belt Alex de Souza. Malvado was there as one of the main sponsors for the event awarding the winners of some categories with brand new Malvado kimonos.

Overview

Upon our arrival it was clear to see that a huge amount of time and effort had gone into setting up this event by Alex and all his co-workers.  The whole arena set up including the fighting area looked amazing. Seating for all the spectators, a fenced off competition area with 4 matted area for the competitors to use to battle against each other.

The competition attracted almost 200 competitors from well respected Bjj clubs from all around the country, most notably from the following associations; Roger Gracie Team, London Fight Factory, De Souza Dojo, Carlson Gracie Team, Gracie Barra and Checkmat Bjj London amongst others.

Close to the competition area there was a matted warm up area, a podium for the medallist, and not too far away from our stall there was a refreshment counter, keeping us, competitors and spectators topped up with coffee and other drinks.

This event had taken Alex and his team several months to organise, and given the outcome it certainly was an event worth attending. Men and women competed, in all weights groups from white belt up to and including brown belt. Beautiful medals had been especially designed in bronze, silver and gold for the top 3 fighters in each category.

One competitor we were paying particular attention to was Luiz Finocchio; as he is an excellent Bjj purple belt who also happens to be sponsored by Malvado. His amazing performance made him the winner of his weight category and a guaranteed place in the absolute division which he then went on all the way to the final losing for a much stronger and experienced opponent. With the skill and the enthusiasm that he has shown it is clear to us that if he keeps up with his hard work and dedication it won’t take him too long before he reaches his black belt in bjj. We were more than pleased to see Luiz going winning most of his fights wearing one of our Bjj Kimonos (Gis).

But, he was not the only star, so many great displays from so many good fighters. There are a lot of people now, who can be proud of their achievements at this event, not just the fighters, but the organisers too.

With the beautiful scenery down on the south coast, and the effort put in by all, we here at Malvado are booking our place at next years show, and we hope you will do too.

Those who were present will agree that the event was:

• WELL ORGANIZED
• GREAT ATMOSPHERE
• PLENTY OF INFORMATION GIVEN TO COMPETITORS (I.E. FIGHT TIME, EVENT AND GENERAL TIMING ETC)
• FIGHTS HAPPENED AS PLANNED / SCHEDULED
• ALL MATTED COMPETITION AREA WERE USED AT ALL TIMES
• ON-SITE STALL FOR COMPETITORS AND EXPECTATIONS TO BROWSE AND BUY PRODUCTS