Above photo: Cole Dalton (middle) stands tall as he is awarded the gold medal at the True North Jiujitsu tournament, which took place in St Albert over the March 15 weekend. Photo provided.
Three members of the Tumbler Ridge Kanish Jiujitsu club were in St. Albert over the March 15 weekend, competing in the True North tournament.
Between the three students, they are bringing home seven medals.
The three athletes are Neal Smith‚ 39, who is coming home with three gold medals, and his eight year old son Michael, who is taking home one gold and one silver.
Rounding out the list of competitors is 12 year old Cole Dalton, who won one gold and one bronze.
Cole says he heard about the club shortly after it was formed a few years ago and joined as soon as he could. “I’ve been doing it now for almost three years,” says Cole. We train three days a week and I am now a grey with black stripe belt. I like Brazilian Jiujitsu because it’s fun learning and practicing all the different techniques.”
Cole decided to enter the tournament to see where his skill level is compared to other kids his age. “Me and eight other kids in my weight bracket and belt division showed up for the gi division. A gi is the traditional martial arts uniform,” he says. “Each match is four minutes and you try to get points for specific positions or transitions. You could also end the match instantly by making your opponent tap out, which is called a submission. I fought four matches in my division and won all by submission to win the gold medal!”
He also fought in the no gi division. “In this division, I had to go up against opponents that were higher belt ranks, which made me nervous but I learned a lot from the experience. In the end I won bronze in no gi.”
He says the experience was a lot of fun. “I really enjoyed this tournament because I got to see how many other people love the sport like I do.”
Coach Rick Ball says he’s proud of how his students did. though he wasn’t at the event himself. “I have a friend down in Spruce Grove, where we used to live for 18 years who said he would help,” says Ball. “It was really nice for him to do that and really helped our guys out a lot.”
Ball grew up in Tumbler Ridge, but moved away in 1998. “At that time I was teaching Taekwondo. I got my black belt and was teaching for about a year. It’s nice to come back in 2012 and teach a different martial art.”
Ball says he likes to take students to one or two competitions a year, but doesn’t focus on competing. “Every year we’ve tried to at least make one, but the True North tournament is the big one in St. Albert, Alberta. And then we have the Dawson Creek tournament here and a Prince George tournament as well.”
While each student competes in two classes—gi and no gi—he says that Neil Smith also fought (and won) in the open weight class division. “That is a massive thing for an athlete from a small town like ours to do: to go into the big city. So I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s incredible.”
But with that said, winning competitions isn’t Ball’s focus. “For me, tournaments have never been a huge, I don’t really push them because you can push students away by being too competitive, you know? It’s not for everyone. If I had somebody that was showing interest in tournaments and wanted to, I’d definitely be supportive in that. I let the students make that choice.”
The Tumbler Ridge Kanish Jiujitsu club has about 25 people who show up regularly, but Ball would like to see more.
“It really has been a dream come true to achieve a black belt and start my own club. Whether your reasons for doing Jiu-Jitsu is to get into shape or you’re looking to learn self-defense or you want to compete in a tournament, all that is secondary to the real benefit of doing Jiu-Jitsu.”
He says Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling sport, and that closeness, physically really brings people together.
The form comes from Brazil and is an variation of traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, a 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 non-violent submission of one’s opponent. “It is such a close quarter sport, more than any other martial arts. In karate or judo, there’s a distance between the people. With us, though? You’re always grappling each other. You’re always close to each other. I believe that builds a closer, close knit family.”
And family is important to Ball, who chose the name “Kanish” for the club after his father’s indigenous name.
He says he’s proud of the success of the club. “It’s just been a great journey. I’d love to do it full time if I could. If the money was in it, I quit my job and do and do that. I feel that passionate about it. And and I’m so happy to have the people that I do in our club.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
