This years Will-Machado Asia-Pacific Championships was the best ever. With over 325 competitors, there was a huge variety in matches and some truly outstanding battles. Twelve Black Belts competed in two divisions – with the promise of even more competing next year. Rigan Machado refereed many of the Black Belt matches and later commented at how technical they were. On a personal note, I have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback, with dozens of e-mails from both contestants and spectators alike.

One of the new ideas this year was to run the Black Belt and higher grade matches first. This allowed everyone to watch these matches at days  beginning and in a way it set the tone for the rest of the day. We will definitely repeat that formula next year. In 2010 we will also add in a number of new weight categories to bring ourselves in-line with international standards. Previously we have not done this, as we preferred larger brackets over smaller divisons with less competitors; but we have now grown to a size that will permit us this new change.

A huge thanks to all the referees and officials who made the day what it was. A special thanks to Craig and Troy for their outstanding efforts in mat set-up and breakdown. I would like to thank our wonderful sponsors who added so very much to the day with their generosity and unflagging support. And lastly, a huge thank you to my wife (sorry if I come across as ‘gushy’) but she was there from midnight till nearly 4am on Friday, before the event started, setting everything up – with help from Hayden Wilson and the NZ crew. THANK YOU!!!

Best wishes all,

John Will

Competition Results:

Male White Belt

Superlightweight    1^st Ricky Budgen 2^nd Vishal Naidoo 3^rd Ryan Ford

Lightweight  1^st Jesse Yada  2^nd Drew Germaine  3^rd Ers Huseyian

Middleweight  1^st Paul Basterfield  2^nd Rhys Murray  3^rd Brayden Vallance

Light-heavyweight   1^st Raoul Smith  2^nd Bennet Gram  3^rd Sam Gallanos

Heavyweight   1^st Mark Dickinson  2^nd Nick Slattery  3^rd Matt Tatam

Superheavyweight   1^st Jai Smith  2^nd Matt Shell  3^rd Aaron Dawson

Female White Belt

Superlightweight    1^st Tina Anderberg  2^nd Samantha Lau  3^rd Lydia Green

Lightweight  1^st Adela Sukul  2^nd Sarah Langford  3^rd Chris Yeardley

Open White Belt   1^st Tracey Clayton  2^nd Melissa Spence  3^rd Lydia Green

Female Blue Belt

Lightweight  1^st Jennifer Torrance  2^nd Gabrielle Flugge  3^rd Rhiannon Thompson

Open Blue Belt 1^st Jennifer  Torrance  2^nd Rhiannon Thompson  3^rd Gabrielle Flugge

Male Blue Belt

Lightweight  1^st Travis Cook  2^nd Con Lazos  3^rd Lenny Palmer

Middleweight     1^st Stuart Allan  2^nd Warren Lambert  3^rd Sonny Brown

Light-heavyweight     1^st Daniel Keane  2^nd Kenton Campbell  3^rd Jose Gasset

Heavyweight     1^st Brent Lang  2^nd Hayden Wilson 3^rd Ben Keenan

Superheavyweight    1^st Josh Fraraccio  2^nd Kurt Andrews  3^rd Michael Mcivor

Male Purple Belt

Lightweight          1^st Ashley Powell  2^nd Regan Neof  3^rd Leigh Dunstan

Middleweight        1^st Lee Ting  2^nd Luke Gooding  3^rd Matt Monaghan

Light-heavyweight      1^st Daniel Okeeffee  2^nd Chris Stone  3^rd Troy Skidmore

Heavyweight           1^st Rory Cubitt  2^nd Martin Christensen  3^rd Daryn Daniel

Superheavyweight      1^st Bernie Florence  2^nd Leigh Barker  3^rd Leigh Impey

Open Brown Belt

Lightweight   1^st Lachlan Giles  2^nd Nathan Frost  3^rd Matt Cooper

Open:       1^st Byron Silvastin  2^nd Richard Sargeant  3^rd John Brown

Light-middle Black Belt

1^st Dave Hart  2^nd Cameron Rowe  3^rd Michael Johnson

Open Black Belt

1^st David Krstic  2^nd David Moore  3^rd Darko Zaric

Junior Division

15 yrs & under/Under 55kgs:  1^st Jake Rivett  2^nd Daniel Ting  3^rd Coralie Cornell

15 yrs & under/Over 55kgs:   1^st Oliver McRaith  2^nd Lorne Locke  3^rd Austin Jacobs

12 yrs & under/Under 34-42kg:   1^st Daniel Rivett  2^nd Liam Basan  3^rd Joseph Mole

12 yrs & under/Under 42-50kg   1^st Dominic Brew  2^nd Hollie Rochow  3^rd Deniz Ramadan

12 yrs & under/over 50kg  1^st Corey Enright  2^nd Jack Williams  3^rd Dertis Davtovic

10 yrs & under/Under 24-32kg  1stShannon Pickering  2^nd Kerin Davtovic  3^rd Jake Farnsworth

10 yrs & under/Under 32-40kg  1^st Masie Allen  2^nd Imogen Colls  3r  Deren Ramadan

7 yrs & under / under 20kgs:   1^st Will Murray  2^nd Destiny Jasmine Minh

7 yrs & under / 29- 28kgs:  1^st Jordan Allen  2^nd Matthew Mrzljak  3^rd Austin Brown

Special Winners:

Adult Encouragement: Marco Ebeyer

Female Encouragement: Gabrielle Flugge

Junior Encouragement: Lachlan Beckworth

Teenagers Encouragement award: Sarah Walker

Fastest Finish:  Josh Fraraccio – Choke 11 seconds

This years competition was a big jump up from last year. There was a much larger spectator crowd and sixty more competitors over last year. The base is really building with some of the white belt divisions having over forty competitors. And what a great day.

A few organisational ‘tweaks’ allowed the day to run more smoothly than ever before with the comp winding up by 5pm. For any who have been to other tournaments, you will understand what an amazing achievement this is! I have seen tournaments with less competitors and more mats, not finish until late in the evening. And we have a few more ideas that we hope to put in place to make next years run even better still.

There were always the few small fires to put out on the day (all behind the scenes) and these were mostly due to the odd competitor ticking off the incorrect box on their entry form and ending up in the wrong division; as well as a few very late entries that arrived on the day of the comp itself. But apart from those few hiccups, everything went perfectly.

Rigan Machado commented that it was the best-run tournament he has ever seen. And he’s seen a few – so that’s high praise. He also commented that the atmosphere was the friendliest he has ever seen and feels that this is the direction more people have to take if they want their schools (and the sport of BJJ) to grow.

Once again, we made best use of the day by making presentations of new belts to the three newest Will-Machado Black Belts: Steve Perceval, Tony Morris and David Hart – all great competitors and very knowledgeable BJJ coaches. For myself personally, this was the highlight of the day; the crowd, all BJJ-savvy fully appreciated the importance of the presentation – it was absolutely fantastic!
As Steve Perceval was one of the three to receive his black belt – in true BJJ tradition, he passed his old (well-worn) brown belt on to long-time student – Richard Sargeant!

The next day, Rigan Machado taught seminars at Dominance MMA in Richmond. The mat was packed for both the advanced and beginners seminars. Rigan brought out a few techniques and ideas from his ‘private stash’ and left everyone buzzing with excitement. No doubt there will be some surprised people when these competitors return to their respective schools this week!

An awe-inspiring talk was presented to the school-owners at Café Grace in Richmond by Frank Monea on the Sunday; laying the foundation for greater growth and prosperity in the year to come. I have already had tremendously positive feedback from several of the school-owners on how they felt that talk alone was more than worth the effort and expense of making the trip to Melbourne. Frank came down and had a meeting with me this morning and brought with him some ideas for the continued growth and development of BJJ Australasia as an organization. I anticipate some serious growth and some very positive changes for many of the schools over this coming year.

I know everyone had a great time – and thanks so much to all those people who have taken the time to provide me with feedback on the event. Best wishes all,
Till next time,
John Will

Photos are currently being uploaded and will be sorted and categorised in the next few days:

Click here for 500+ shots from the day >>

This weekend saw the coming and going of the Machado Nationals. A gathering of all those privileged enough to be part of the Machado BJJ organisation in Australia and NZ.

For someone like myself this is more about catching up with friends that have been found and forged through the blood, sweat and tears that come with the joy of BJJ. There is a certain honesty to the relationships you have with people that you have trained with, competed against, and grown with for so many years.

As is always the case the tournament was a great success and the technical level within our organisation is a testament to those teaching with passion every time they step on the mat. But more impressive still is the amazing level of respect and benevolence everyone has for one another. I have never been more proud to be part of this group.

The day was special again for myself in receiving my black belt from John Will (and Rigan Machado) along with two great patrons of the art and friends, Tony Morris and Steve Perceval.

Those that know me, know I am not the most emotional of people and likely attributed my very brief speech of “Thanks….” to that, but the truth is it was the exact opposite. It is a very hard thing to assimilate the emotions of reaching a milestone that took almost 11 years and always seemed far off in the distance. It just kinda sneaks up on you. And in that moment “Thanks” was all I could get out of my swirling head. Without crying

There are a few people that deserve a mention. First and foremost, John Will. He has inspired and guided me to become a better person as well as a better BJJ player and teacher. He is an amazing coach and person. and has my gratitude for setting me on this path.

Three other people are an amazing force in BJJ alone and my three most amazing friends. John Simon, Cam Rowe and Murray Ballenden. I am blessed to be able to have such gifted people with me on the mat. But more importantly such good people. Not only have they kept my BJJ honest, but myself as well.

So to these four, go my utmost respect and gratitude. Thank you.

“little” Dave Hart – DMMA

Things are shaping up well for the upcoming championships. We have had some great help from our sponsors – and have been able to put together some great prize packs for place-getters.

- Download the Competition Entry form >>

- Download the comp-2008 poster PDF >>

- Download the Competition waiver >>

- Download the competition rules >>

Rigan Machado has planned some fantastic seminars for the Sunday afterward – see attached poster for details. There is no need to pre-book – first 50
there for each session are good to go.
Coloured Belts: 10 AM
White Belts: 12 Noon
Dominance Academy on Bridge Road in Richmond

Accommodation: Check this link for a site offering good deals on Accommodation in Albert Park, where we are having our competition:
http://www.cheaperthanhotels.com.au/Australia/Melbourne/Albert-Park/

Best wishes to everyone,
I look forward to seeing you there.
John Will

South Australia recently had it’s first ever official State Championship for BJJ. This was an official qualifier for the AFBJJ Australian Cup which helped draw competitors from far and wide. There were over 90 participants and some very hotly contested divisions. Adelaide Will-Machado affiliate Matt Jones (ISO Health) took along 7 participants from team ISO Health. It was an exciting day with a good number of competitors and the ISO Health results were as follows…

- Lachy C: Silver; Adult White Belt: 67-73kg (biggest division of the day with 19 competitors)
- Wes P: Silver; Adult White Belt: 79-85kg
- Alan K; Bronze; Adult White Belt: 49-67kg
- Kieran V; Bronze…Adult White Belt: 85-91kg

The date is set and the wheels are in motion – this year’s championships is going to be our best yet. If past trends are anything to go by, the day itself should be both bigger and better run than ever before – and on the day after we have events planned for both students and school-owners alike.

Don’t miss out – start booking early airfares now and save a few dollars. Plan to be finished up by 6 or 7pm on the Saturday – and make time for the seminars on Sunday. All being well – Rigan Machado will be out again – teaching his latest ideas to both beginners and advanced students in separate seminars starting at 10 am Sunday morning at the Dominance Academy in Richmond.

Team info packs will be sent out to instructors in the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing you all there.
Warm regards,
John Will

- Download the Competition Entry form >>

- Download the comp-2008 poster PDF >>

- Download the Competition waiver >>

- Download the competition rules >>