Fighting spirit

A remarkable first year for the Central Newfoundland Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy reached its pinnacle last weekend, as five of its students' hard work paid off during their belt graduation ceremony in St. John's.

Victor Dray, Chad Lewis, James Follett, Evan Penton and Matt Vaters travelled to the capital city, where they were graded by Prof. Pedro Sauer, an eighth degree black belt who trained under the sport's founder and patriarch of the famous Gracie family, HÉlio Gracie, as well as his son, retired mixed martial artist Rickson Gracie.

The five were tested on 88 techniques during the two-hour grading, which was held after an extensive 12 hour seminar by Prof. Sauer.

"To put this in perspective, I took two years to get my blue belt and just got my first stripe last weekend," explained Matt King. "Vic's been doing this for seven months - that's how dedicated these guys have been.

"To be doing this less than a year and to get their blue belts under Master Sauer, that's a big accomplishment and shows a lot of determination on their part."

Dray added the respect is mutual and that determination is shared by all members of the dojo, in all facets of operation.

"It takes a big commitment from Matt too, because he's the guy that has to be here. That's a big deal for us, because we never had the opportunity to be able to do this," said Dray. "Of course, some people have work schedules and stuff like that, so it takes a lot of dedication, but it's definitely worth it."

With the grading behind them, the academy is keeping a steady pace to finish out the season.

"We've competed at three tournaments and took home a lot of gold medals, so for a school that's only been on the go for less than a year, we've done great," said King.

"Right now, we're just going to take it as it comes. If there's a tournament, we'll talk about it. There's not going to be another seminar until fall. Usually in the summertime it drops off a bit, so we're just going to continue with classes - no big plans yet."