I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu informally in 1995 with Trent Suzuki a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt who had trained with Rorion in Torrance during the garage days. Trent was one of my Karate / Tang Soo Do Instructors. He taught me what the guard was a basic arm bar, collar choke and to pass the guard. Training with Trent I didn’t practice a lot of transitions and escapes but focused more on striking and would plug in the Jiu-Jitsu techniques as it came about. Prior to this I already had several years of high school wrestling. A few years later in 1998 I began formally training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Joao Morias. This was a fun tournament we flew from Oahu over to Maui to compete with the other schools in Hawaii at the time.
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2nd Annual Brazilian Freestyle Jiu-Jitsu Open Tournament
War Memorial Gym, Wailuku, Maui Hawaii
August 28th 1999
