Congrats to Alex and Colton of team Brasa for their success at this weekend’s Newbreed BJJ tournament in Houston!
Alex took 1st and 2nd in his two divisions, and Colton took 3rd in both his divisions. And it was Colton’s first BJJ tournament!
At the risk of sounding like Jerry Seinfeld; What’s the deal with… Jiu Jitsu referees?? Now, I know it’s a thankless job, and I always go out of my way to show respect to my referee. In fact, I’ve never disputed a referees call, and I’ve been on the losing end of some pretty sketchy decisions. However, there are a couple things I DO see happening that I think are completely avoidable in most cases.
How long can it take to count to 3?!?! I regularly see a 3-count take 6-8 seconds. (yes I’ve gone back over footage and timed it) We’ve all heard of using “One Mississippi” to accurately count seconds, but these can turn into more of a “One Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana” count instead. Surely in this day of small, handy, cheap gadgets we could find a 5 dollar, hand-held device to tell us when 3 seconds is up.
I’ve seen many times where a ref turns around to watch another match, or have a conversation. Most of the time these are brief occurrences, but in BJJ a LOT can happen in just a few seconds. Specifically with safety issues. An illegal move can be used and release all within a fraction of a second. Or toes/fingers caught in gis. Not to mention advantage points. Now I really don’t like playing a points game in my matches, but if we’ve both given it all we’ve got, and the score is even, and a decision needs to be made… 1 advantage point can make a huge difference in the outcome. I don’t mind losing on merit, but I do mind if it’s due to an avoidable mistake by the ref.
Last year, I took my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class. It became crystal clear for me, even on my first day, that Alex Henley was born to teach BJJ. In addition to being exceedingly skilled at BJJ, he is gifted at explaining and teaching BJJ skills, and one of the most encouraging coaches I have ever met. Therefore, when I made the decision to start competing in tournaments, it was Alex that I first asked to individually train me to accelerate my BJJ skills. After my first couple of individual classes with Alex, my BJJ skills improved so much that several higher belts commented on how much better I had gotten. I have no doubt that as long as Alex is teaching BJJ, I will turn to him to assist me in my BJJ journey.
