European BJJ Championship 2017 – Competition Team

Now all the holiday time eating and drinking is over it’s time to focus on the new year. At Stealth BJJ that’s not only welcoming all the new people wanting to start BJJ. This also includes getting ready for the 2017 competition season. The first big competition of the new year is the IBJJF European Championships.

Even with the competition being held in Lisbon Portugal, people from all over the world will be going there to compete. Already big names like Gianni Grippo and Mackenzie Dern have entered. With around 3,500 competitors in 2016, the IBJJF European Championship is one of the biggest competitions of the year. Stealth BJJ have a team of guys going over again this year. The team will includes both adults and masters competitors. This is a great opportunity to compete at a prestigious competition, without having to fly to the USA or Brazil.

With the IBJJF European Championships starting the third week of January the team have been getting ready for a number of weeks already. Jake Corrigan one of the brown belts at Stealth BJJ has been planning and running specific competition classes. Helping the competitors prepare and focus their game plans for the upcoming event.

In addition to the actual training the guys have to make weight. It seems strange to think that during this period of excess the team of the guys at Stealth BJJ will have been exercising some restraint. (I do stress the some!) Actually hitting your weight category for any competition does take a lot of commitment. Besides the training, some people may consider this the hardest part of competition.

It has been great to see everyone at Stealth BJJ pulling together to support the competitors with their training. It may be individuals competing, but it really is a team effort with the preparation. None of the competitors from Stealth BJJ are full time athletes. They all hold down full time jobs or parenting responsibilities and compete for the enjoyment of it. That is why just making weight and training for a major competition like this is an achievement in itself.
Currently the Stealth BJJ Team will be

Chloe Duffy – White Belt
Peter Wilson – Blue Belt
Emil Malczewski – Purple Belt
Wing Chau Cheung – Purple Belt
Richard Thompson – Purple Belt
Alan Howcroft – Brown Belt

We are hoping that all the work will pay off for these guys and they can all bring home some medals and start 2017 off strong.