It’s all in the family for jiu-jitsu show

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2023 (1138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not many fathers and daughters are able to work out their frustrations quite the way Nia Aitken and Ren Bouchard can.

The two jiu-jitsu practitioners are both members of WAMMA Brandon, the club founded and owned by Chris Kading. Both will be in action on April 1 when Brandon hosts its first-ever major jiu-jitsu show when Brandon Bouts 1: Submission Only Grappling debuts at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium.

“It’s really fun to be able to roll with my dad,” Aitken said. “It’s really a bonding experience because it’s something that we do together as a family. My brother (Caleb) comes to the gym as well so it’s a nice activity at night for us to do together.

“It is a bonus that he is my dad, because I’ll admit, it gets a little rough and intense between the two of us and Chris has to tell us at the end of the night ‘OK, let’s take a break from you two rolling for a little bit.’

“Then when mom (Kendra) comes home, she knows the black eyes and bruises are from each other. It amazes people when I tell them ‘Oh ya, me and my dad fight all the time.’ When I put it into context that we actually really do physically fight, it just amazes some people.”

Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art and combat sport originally developed in the 1920s. The sport, which doesn’t allow any striking but is instead based on finding submission holds, has become better known as one of the foundational building blocks of mixed martial arts in the last 20 years.

Bouchard who is 36, has been in the sport since about 2016.

“She keeps me going because she loves the sport,” Bouchard said of Nia. “Sometimes she’s not comfortable coming to a full male class so when I come with her, it’s her time to beat on me and to share that love of the sport so that I can help her perform in it. That makes my day.”

He did karate when he was younger, earning a brown belt, and did some mixed martial arts through a military colleague.

He competed in kickboxing events when he was younger, but the jiu-jitsu event is entirely new to him. The blue belt will be facing purple belt Kyle Schofield of WammaCanada in the 180-pound division. (The belt order is white, blue, purple, brown and black.)

“I’m going to enjoy it,” Bouchard said. “My main part is that I can compete alongside my daughter. That’s my goal for myself. I’m excited for that part. For me, going on the mat is just another day at the office.”

Aitken has previously competed in both wrestling and jiu-jitsu events, but the Vincent Massey student had to miss some time after injuring her knee during a rugby game. She’s thrilled she’ll be able to display her talents at home.

“It’s really exciting,” Aitken said. “They’re aren’t many jiu-jitsu competitions around Brandon, and for me being younger, my family doesn’t really get to see me when I’m rolling at the gym. It’s nice to have an event where everyone can come and see what happens.”

The 17-year-old Aitken has been in the sport for seven years after a neighbour invited her to try a kids’ class. She was instantly hooked.

“We’re just a big family,” Aitken said. “I’ve grown up with these guys and they’re all like my brothers. It’s just really empowering knowing that I’m one of the only female competitors. I just want to keep on going because I see the little girls in the small classes and they all come up to me and want to fight me. “I love to see that because they’re so vicious with their little pigtails. It just brings me joy knowing there are going to be more opportunities for girls in such a male-dominated sport.”

Kading has 18 bouts planned for the show, plus a unique team event that will give 10 of the competitors another chance to showcase their skills.

The two teams have a maximum team weight of 950 pounds, with the captains setting the order of their competitors before it begins. Each match is five minutes long. If someone gets submitted, that person is eliminated and winner stays in and faces the next team member. If neither person earns a submission, both are eliminated and the next two begin.

It continues until all the members from one team are eliminated. If the final match ends up with two anchors failing to earn a submission, a special two-minute overtime will be held, with the two beginning in back control. From there, the quickest submission or escape wins.

The largest previous jiu-jitsu event in Brandon was an inter-club competition about four years ago, but this is drawing 34 competitors representing 17 different gyms from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

“I think it’s very important,” Kading said of the show. “One of the main reasons we’re having it is we’re trying to grow the sport and inform the public about the beauty of our martial art. For a lot of the fight fans who watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship, this competition of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is what every person who fights in the UFC trains in. We’re not going to be punching or kicking each other, we’re going to be trying to submit each other with the same techniques that all their favourite fighters in the world know and practise.”

MMA has certainly captured the imagination of many combat sports fans, although Kading noted boxing is also on the rise again. When people without any combat sports experience call him about taking classes, he says by a 10-to-one ratio, they’re most interested in the MMA classes. He generally counsels them to take some Muay Thai classes for striking and jiu-jitsu classes for grappling to put a solid foundation for MMA in place.

“A lot of people think MMA is its own unique sport, but realistically, it’s just a blend of the other martial arts,” Kading said, noting boxing, judo and wrestling are the other combat sports most heavily relied on.

There will be five black belts, five brown belts, 13 purple belts and 13 blue belts competing at the event.

Blue belts are only allowed to do non-twisting leg attacks such as straight ankle locks or knee bars, even though anything goes at many events. The duration of the matches also varies from six to eight to 10 minutes based on belt level.

“Our rule set is erring to the side of caution,” Kading said.

There are seven affiliate WAMMA gyms around the province, with the main club located in Winnipeg. All but one bout has someone who currently trains at a WAMMA gym, and that match features a former WAMMA Brandon competitor.

Steven Jones is another one of Kading’s students who is competing. The 34-year-old Albertan, who grew up south of Calgary, moved to Brandon for work a few years ago. He has been in the sport for five years and has a blue belt.

“I just love it,” Jones said. “It’s a great way to stay in shape. The competitiveness of it and the physicality of it are just a lot of fun, competing directly against another person.”

His athletic background includes football, rugby and wrestling, so it wasn’t a huge stretch for him.

He’s previously had a mixed martial arts fight and a kickboxing bout in Alberta, but this will be his first jiu-jitsu match. It comes against blue belt Joe O’Donnell of Shilo BJJ in the 275-pound weight division.

“I want to do as well as I can,” Jones said. “The guy I’m going up against is in really good shape and I hear he’s a strong competitor so I want to do the best I can. I want to win.”

Sahba Zehtab, 38, of Brandon will also see action, against fellow blue belt Ryan Rajczakowski of TopNotch in the 180-pound division. He has been in the sport for a year, and takes an analytical approach to it.

“There is lots of nuance to everything you learn,” Zehtab said. “It’s like golf. Anybody can learn to swing a club, but to learn how to swing it well and get things to do what you want it to do, there is a lot of little things you have to work on repeatedly over time.

“You never stop working on those fundamental things because there are levels to it. There is always something to be learning.”

He trained a bit in boxing when he lived in Vancouver, and decided to put his nine-year-old daughter Leva and seven-year-old son Darius in jiu-jitsu classes five years ago. Even his wife Vanessa took a self-defence course and may give the sport a shot one day.

“I sat on the sidelines watching and one day it was ‘Well, why not me too?’” Zehtab said. He’s never competed before so it’s a new experience entirely. He’s philosophical about it.

“There are a lot of nerves involved in it but you have to throw your hat in the ring and go out and do what you do best, and you win or you learn,” Zehtab said. “It’s one or the other.”

The biggest name at the event is former UFC fighter Joe Doerksen, a jiu-jitsu black belt who compiled a 51-16 record in mixed martial arts and fought nine times in the UFC before retiring in 2014 on a four-fight winning streak. Now 45, Doerksen lived in Brandon for a couple of years before moving back to Winnipeg.

“It’s absolutely incredible to have Joe compete on our card,” Kading said. “Joe is such an advocate of the sport. He’s retired from mixed martial arts. We were fortunate enough to have him living in Brandon for two to three years. He came and taught us and trained with us when he was in town.

“… When we started talking about this event, because he’s such a lover of the sport and he wants to see the sport grow, I was quite humbled when he said he would come and compete on our card if we are able to find someone for him to compete against.

“Fortunately now he’s on our quintet team and also has a singles match against a really tough brown belt (Logan McDonald), who was the only person in the province who would agree to fight him.”

Doors open for the no-gi bouts at 6 p.m., with the first match currently slated to start at 7 o’clock but it could be moved up to 6:30. It’s expected to last until about 10 p.m. However, the start time could be moved up to 6:30.

Food is available, and since the WMCA is licensed, alcohol will be served.

Tickets can be purchased for $29 each online or in person at the WMCA.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson

 

UNDER CARD

(Club and belt colour in brackets. All listed bout weights are the maximums.)

1. Daniel Moroz (WAMMA Canada, blue) vs. Andrew Place (DST, blue) — 180 lbs.

2. Bergen Justice (WAMMA Dauphin, blue) vs. Peter Olchowik (DST, blue) — 165 lbs.

3. Brett Jamison (WAMMA Brandon, blue) vs. Franklin Martin (Balance BJJ, blue) — 210 lbs.

4. Nia Aitken (WAMMA Brandon, blue) vs. Ashley Reimer (Level MMA, blue) — 180 lbs.

5. Sahba Zehtab-Jadod (WAMMA Brandon, blue) vs. Ryan Rajczakowski (TopNotch, blue) — 180 lbs.

6. Steven Jones (WAMMA Brandon, blue) vs. Joe O’Donnell (Shilo BJJ, blue) — 275 lbs.

7. Ren Bouchard (WAMMA Brandon, blue) vs. Kyle Schofield (WAMMA Canada, purple) — 180 lbs.

8. Luc Bernard (WAMMA Canada, purple) vs. Nicholas Agliam (Balance BJJ, purple) — 140 lbs.

9. Said Dzafic (WAMMA Canada, purple) vs. Peter McCarthy (DST, purple) — 190 lbs.

QUINTET TEAM COMPETITION

• WAMMABrandon — Chris Kading, Troy Stanley, Travis Ratzlaff, Aidan St Laurent, Joe Doerkson.

• Leading Edge — Jesse Veltri, Brady Duggan, Donny Thivierge, AJ Coffey, Ryan Quinn.

MAIN CARD

10. Cole Leblanc (WAMMA ThePas, purple) vs. Michael Santarsieri (Socius BJJ, purple) — 195 lbs.

11. Matthew Flynn (WAMMA Brandon, purple) vs. Aloysuis Coffey (Leading Edge, purple) — 215 lbs.

12. Aidan St Laurent (WAMMA Brandon/Shilo BJJ, purple) vs. Allan McDonald (Dave’s Gym, purple) — 170 lbs.

13. Joe Doerkson (WAMMA Canada, black) vs. Logan McDonald (Iver’s Gym, brown) — 215 lbs.

14. Lee Gaudet (WAMMA Canada, black) vs. Ron Prawdzik (DST, black) — 180 lbs.

15. Kevin Camara (WAMMA Brandon/Shilo BJJ, brown) vs. Alan Devries (DST, black) — 205 lbs.

16. Jason Geiger (WAMMA Canada, black) vs. Jesse Veltri (Leading Edge, brown) — 175 lbs.

17. Travis Ratzlaff (Control BJJ/former WAMMA Brandon, brown) vs. Peter Huynh (Lidstone, purple) — 195 lbs.

18. Troy Stanley (WAMMA Brandon, brown) vs. Alexander Ross (Forge BJJ, purple) — 170 lbs.