Gold Rush for local Brazilian jiujitsu club

A Brazilian jiujitsu club in Limavady is riding on the crest of a wave just now, with members having huge success on the competition scene.

Team Ryano Limavady took a squad of 10 grapplers to the National Indoor arena in Dublin on Saturday for the national Grappling Industries competition.

They returned to the Roe Valley with eight golds, five silvers and two bronze medals.

Then on Saturday evening, 17-year-old Sam Laschevoski got his hand raised for a win at the prestigious Scottish Grappling Invitational in Glasgow.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a predominantly ground-based martial art, using the principals of leverage, angles, pressure and timing, as well as knowledge of the human anatomy, in order to achieve a submission on the opponent, by either a choke or joint lock.

Just three months ago, the local team bagged three gold medals at the biggest BJJ event in the world, the IBJJF European Championships and two months before that, crowned 12 Irish national champions.

Club owner and head coach Andy Chapman puts it down to a positive training environment in the gym.

"Whether it's kids or adults, everyone really pushes each other on," he said.

"We are primarily a competition focused team, and because we have a relatively small membership, everyone supports each others goals so well."

The club, still only a few years old, now has a number of European and World Elite Events champions at kids level, and four IBJJF major champions at adult level.

So what's next for Team Ryano Limavady?

"We have four of our teenagers competing on the grappling card at Chaos Fighting Championship in Derry next month," said Andy.

"Adam Dunseath - who won double gold at the weekend - faces a strong challenger from Wales. Sam Laschevoski has a match against a huge prospect from London. Cora Lamont is fighting a tough opponent from Donegal town and Leon Davies defends his junior title against a great young grappler from Durham in England."