Powell River Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club has come a long way from its humble beginnings in Andrew Thistle’s basement. So too have its athletes in the five years since the club first opened. After an impressive showing at the Roots Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Challenge, held July 5 in Richmond, BC, other clubs are starting to take notice of Powell River’s young martial artists, both on and off the mat.
“The one thing with this club, we’re small and we’re out of the way but these guys, they’ve dedicated themselves and they train really hard,” said Thistle. “The first couple of tournaments were kind of learning experiences but ever since then they’ve been medaling and really giving people tough times and now they’re starting to take home gold consistently or place in the top three.”
The Roots Challenge was a prime example. Five athletes from the Powell River club brought home gold, silver or bronze medals from the tournament.
Abby Lloyd was one of them. In addition to her wrestling and judo achievements, Lloyd is a blue belt in jiu-jitsu. It was her first time competing in jiu-jitsu after a two-year hiatus, although her opponents might not have guessed. “She ended up clearing her division and winning gold, in pretty good fashion too, apparently,” said Thistle. “I was told by everyone that she played a very strategic jiu-jitsu game in beating these other women. Some of them were quite a bit bulkier than her so it’s a pretty good achievement. If there’s not enough people in your division they just group you in the next available division, so not only is she 18 but she’s given up 10 to 12 pounds and going against adults.”
Graeme Martin and Nicolas Ouellet also dominated in the blue-belt division. “They both compete in the same weight category and they’re both the same belt level,” explained Thistle. “This is, I think, the second tournament that they’ve cleared out the division and they’ve both met in the finals, and then they basically flip a coin to see who takes gold and who takes silver. They’re in the deepest division with the most competitors so both of them usually get about four or five fights before they get to the end. Graeme won every single match by submission and Nicolas went through and won a few by submission and a few on points. These guys are starting to make a name for themselves in the Lower Mainland.”
It was Nicolas who won the coin toss, in addition to a bronze medal from the open weight category. Danny Carto took home two bronze medals—one for his division and one for the open weight category.
It was a big day for Nicolas’s younger brother Raph as well, who celebrated his first time on the podium after a win in the white belt division. “This is his second tournament and he got a bronze,” said Thistle. “He ended up getting a couple of wins and had another really good showing. He hasn’t even been training a year yet.”
In September, the club’s growing roster of athletes will begin training in a new venue. Thistle has plans to relocate from the current space in Town Centre Mall to the former home of Sheridan Dance Studio on Glacier Street. The move will allow the club to expand further and offer more classes for children. “We’re planning on moving August 1,” explained Thistle. “I plan on having our grand opening September 1 to start that kids’ program up. It’s big news for Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Powell River because it started so small and now we’re actually getting our own space, quite a large space.
“The cool thing about it too is a lot of these guys who came and started jiu-jitsu, weren’t even doing anything [athletic] before, from what I understand,” he continued. “And then they found something with jiu-jitsu. I’ve watched guys shed 20 to 30 pounds just coming out and doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu and then they’re going down to tournaments and winning. That’s a pretty big accomplishment in itself.”
