I just wanted to congratulate all of my students who competed in the Grappler’s Quest tournament this weekend in London, Ontario. Great job guys!

When the smoke cleared and the tournament was over, we ended up taking home a pile of medals. In total I believe the numbers were 6 gold medals, 5 silver, 4 bronze medals and one fourth place finish.

• Shane Callaghan – 2 Golds
• Wyatt Leblanc – Gold
• Mike Hoad – Gold
• Joe Martin– Gold,Silver
• Michelle Fulton– Gold
• Dave Mark- Silver
• Cory Dunne– Silver
• Rudy Sbranchella– Silver
• Ryan Dickson– Bronze,Bronze
• James Long – Silver,Bronze
• Eric Dufresne – Bronze
• Lam Ngo– 4th place

(I think I have all of the results in. If I missed anyone please let me know.)

It’s great to see everyone’s hard work paying off. Also I’m loving the new BJJ schedule and am fired up about now being able to teach more gi classes than ever before.

See everyone on the mats tomorrow night!

On Saturday night I lost my voice for a bit but before I did I was able to scream my lungs out for nearly six rounds of MMA action as two of my students battled it out inside the cage at the XCC.

In the end, both team Joslin fighters Steve Bingham and Ryan Dickson earned wins for their records, but those victories did not come without some serious challenges.

Steve battled Ryan Thomson, a very talented fighter from London, Ontario’s Adrenalin Training Center in a fight that had them both working hard, each showing some solid abilities on the feet and on the ground. A rear naked choke sealed the deal deep into the fight giving Steve the victory. I was really impressed by Steve’s toughness and composure throughout the entire bout. It was definitely a great match from start to finish that the crowd really enjoyed.

Ryan Dickson took on Josh Taveirne, a skilled fighter from Windsor, Ontario I believe. He had an 8-1 record and it was obvious that he was coming in with great confidence and some very solid wrestling skills. Ryan did great! Scoring some strong take downs, several nice strikes and a tight triangle choke just before the bell sounded to end round two, I really felt that if the fight went to a decision he’d get the nod. Fortunately it didn’t last that long. Midway through the third round Ryan took his opponent down, passed the guard, secured a tight mount and worked his way into applying a rear naked choke that forced his opponent to tap out.

After that I could barely speak — due to all the yelling I did from the corner — but it was all worth it. I was so happy to see all the hard work that Steve and Ryan had put into their training, pay off inside the cage. A bunch of people from Joslin’s and friends of both Ryan and Steve made the three hour trip to cheer the guys on. Thanks to you all for coming out!

Time to train hard for the next one…

Here’s a vid posted by CanadianProFighter on Youtube of Ryan’s Fight. (If they post up Steve’s I’ll throw it up as well)

Part 1

Part 2

Last weekend, a small crew of us headed out to the Xtreme Cagefighting Championships in Michigan.

After a hard training camp Ryan Dickson was set to make his MMA debut and Steve Bingham was prepared to enter the cage for the second time in his career.

With the event having a Canada vs. U.S theme, the crowd really got into the fights, chanting their countries name loudly many times throughout the night.

When all was said and done, Canada ended up with more wins although I don’t remember the exact count.

Both Steve and Ryan did great! Each of them won their bouts in the first round, Ryan by triangle choke and Steve by TKO.

Here’s some highlights of the two Team Joslin fighters in action.