Summer's almost over and training has resumed for good. Getting ready for competitions in october and november before the first big test in january at the european championship.

You can find an overview of the major upcoming competitions here:

http://www.mixfight.nl/forum/showthread.php?t=94870

I will soon be posting the ones we will go to.

We've added an exta day to the training schedule in Gent. You can now come and roll with us on sunday. So far it's been really cool, fewer people but very good trainings.

There are a few stages coming up in Belgium with Marco Barbosa and Mauro Chueng. Check out mixfight for more info. These are definitely worth checking.

If you dont know what to do I suggest you to check out these videos...





Now go train harder.

Jp-

New season.

Yesterday I went to train at Exit Leuven together with Thomas and Ben. We had a very good time with the guys from Exit who are great BJJ practitionners. As a result, today I feel really sore, my right ear and my right eye hurt but the sparring was worth the pain.

The new season in Gent will start on wednesday august 5th. This is the new weekly schedule for 2009-2010:

Wednesday: 21.00 - 23.00
Saturday: 12.00 - 14.00
Sunday: 12.00 - 14.00

There will be an announcement regarding the new structure of BJJ Gent in the next few weeks. Some things have changed for the better and we will let you know in due time.

Jp-

New Blue Belt in Gent.

And my ass still remembers it...

Thanks to Thomas for his time and patience with me. Thanks to the team and all the people I've been rolling with for the last 12 months.

Videos from my fights at the World Championship are up now on www.bjjedge.com. Use the search button and type in "sequana academy" or visit the following links:

Round 1: http://www.bjjedge.com/josef-de-la-vega-vs-jean-pascal-bolle
Round 2: http://www.bjjedge.com/jose-yanez-vs-jean-pascal-bolle
Semi-Final: http://www.bjjedge.com/carsell-swain-vs-jean-pascal-bolle


Last but not least, I went to fight at the Brabant Open in Tilburg on June 20th, two days after I received my blue blet. The least I can say is that I got roughly welcomed in the blue belt division. I lost my first two fight by submissions at -88,3 kgs (armbar and choke). I got to win my first fight in the open class by armbar (against a white belt, but at least a very good one as he got voted most technical fighter of the tournament) and finally lost my second fight by armbar to a very good blue belt this time. Niels came with me for his first BJJ competition experience. Niels got to fight 3 times and despite 3 losses, I still think he won the very first fight in his BJJ journey by stepping on the mat after only 2 months of training.

Jp-

World BJJ Championship results.

Adults White Belt -88kg
1. Vasili Nikolaev - (Cesar Gracie - US)
2. Carsell Swain - (Brazilian Top Team - US)
3. Stuart Tyrie - (Gracie Barra - UK)
3. Jean-Pascal Bolle - (Sequana Academy - Belgium)

Full results: http://www.ibjjf.org/results/2009mundial.htm

Needless to say that I had a blast in Los Angeles last week. I got to see so many great fights in all classes and categories and even more amazing competitors during these 4 insane days. This was a truly wondeful experience and I hope to be part of it again next year.

On a personal level, I want to thank once again my trainer Thomas Zenthner for his knowlegde and the hours spent training and sweating together. I finished both my first 2 fights by submission (triangle) and lost in semi-final to decision (2-0).

Most of all I want to thank all my teammates for making this possible. Without people to roll with, there would have been no serious training and in no way I would have ever thought about going to Long Beach for the mundial. This is a podium for the entire academy and all the dedicated people training relentlessly week after week. The academy in Gent is only about 18 months old and we struggled a lot in the beginning due to a lack of people to train with. Now things are coming together and we've gathered a much larger group of people to roll with which makes things way cooler and way better for all of us. So thanks again to all of you for your presence and support.

Jp-

The Long Beach State University pyramid.

Competition started early every morning at 9.00 am

Faixa branca - meio pesado - podium mundial 2009

New Blue Belts + Limburg Open 2009 results

Congratulations to Robin and Dominique who received their blue belt from Thomas and Ben last week. This is together with our first blue belt Stef, the second and third blue belts awarded at the academy in Gent. This proves that hard work and motivation remain some of the most important aspects of BJJ. Both Dominique and Robin have been with us since the begining and Robin recently won his first competition at the Limburg Open.

Results BJJ Limburg Open 2009:

Open class, Adults White Belt

1. Robin Venneman (Sequana Academy)
2. Wout Westra (Gracie Barra Eindhoven)
3. Chango Eersel (Team Agua)

Congratulations to Robin for his 4 (!!!) triangle submissions in 5 fights during the open class.

In other news, there's some change to the payment system of the Academy in Gent so head over to http://www.bjj-gent.be/ to find out more about it.

I'm in Los Angeles right now where I'm waiting for the World Championship to sart on thursday. I'm really excited to be here and I cant wait to fight. The weather is not as warm as I expected it to be which is a good thing right now. I'm already over the time change as I prepared myself to it during my last weekend in Belgium. I will try and post regular updates as the competition goes on. There are a lot of fighters I want to see especially in the black belts divisions but also in some of the purple divisions.

"Kill the snake of doubt in your soul, crush the worms of fear in your heart, and mountains will move out of your way" ~ Kate Seredy

The arena at the California State University of Long Beach

First Blue Belt in Gent ! ! !

On wednesday april 29th, Stef Ballyn received his blue belt from the hands of Thomas and Benoit and became the very first person from the academy in Gent to be awarded a blue belt. Stef has been training since day 1 in Gent and was among the first people from Gent to compete in BJJ. His dedication to BJJ and to the academy make of him a very valuable training partner and a very good friend. Congratulations to Stef and Jan De Paepe who also got his blue belt on the same day. Jan trains in Brussels and comes from time to time to Gent to train with us.

In other news, there's a competition in Tilburg on June 21st where I think some of us will be going. If you're still tempted to compete but never took the step, this is yet another chance to get at it. It's a small scale tournament with a double KO system which means you get to fight at least twice. It'd be awesome to go there with a whole team. More details can be found here: http://www.mixfight.nl/forum/showthread.php?t=92365

Starting from wednesday may 6th, trainings in Gent will be shortened due to restrictions from the sporthal. From now on and until the end of june, we will be training every wednesday from 20.30 to 22.00.
Saturday's schedule remains the same as usual.

The dictionary is the only place where succes comes before work.

Jp-

Results IX BJJ Spartakiades 2009

6 fighters from the academy where at the last Spartakiades in Brussels this past saturday april 25th. The results are excellent. We came back with 4 medals and a lot of extra competition knowledge. I had a good time and tried to stay injury-free. I fought 3 times and learned that you cant rush things even if you feel like it. Congratulations to Jessica, Jan and Stef for their performances! ! !

Videos of my fights are up now on the new BJJ Gent Youtube channel.

Jp-







Adults Female White Belt - 64kg
1. Schaalckx Am-Katheim (Gracie Barra Hamburg - Germany)
2. Jessica Cantineau (Sequana Academy - Belgium)
3. Nele Dujardin (Challenge Roeselare - Belgium)

Adults White Belt -64kg
1. Ivan Cmaionny (Breizh’il - Germany)
2. Jan De Paepe (Sequana Academy - Belgium)
3. Frederic Morlan (US Pecq - ??)

Adults White Belt -88kg
1. Mahamadou Soumare (Urban Team - France)
2. Vaklil Babak (BBJJA- Belgium)
3. Jean-Pascal Bolle (Sequana Academy - Belgium)

Adults White Belt - 94kg
1. Nsomboli Deli (Urban Team - France)
2. Stef Ballyn (Sequana Academy - Belgium)
3. Verdoncy Jean-François (Yawara - Belgium)


From the International BJJ Federation:

D-) THE MOUNT: is when the athlete sits on his opponent’s torso;
the opponent can be lying on his stomach, side or back. The one mounted can
be on top of one of his opponent’s arms, but never on both. It will also be
considered a mount if he has one knee and one foot on the ground, 4 POINTS.
OBSERVATIONS: no points will be awarded if his feet or knees are on his
opponent’s leg. Also if an athlete applies a triangle while in the guard and
in so doing lands mounted on his opponent, it will be considered a sweep,
not a mount.