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Eight Days Martial Arts of Whitehorse has returned from another tourney with more medals.

The jiu jitsu club traveled to Port Coquitlam, B.C. for the AVA Summer Grappling Championships, June 25-26.

The club competed in the Gi (kimono) and Nogi (no kimono) divisions in a round-robin format.

鈥淚t was pretty big,鈥� said Eight Days Head Coach Robert Woodman. 鈥淭he turnout was a little less because it was summertime. People are travelling and stuff like that but there was still a lot of people.鈥�

Seven Eight Days athletes competed in the tournament.

They had quite the successful tourney, coming home with eight medals. The medal haul included one gold, five silver, and two bronze.

鈥淚t went really well, actually,鈥� recalled Woodman. 鈥淲e got our eight medals, which was excellent and even the two that went that didn鈥檛 medal, it was their first time and they fought really well. One guy (George Kokuryo) got a slight injury in the first day ... but he managed to fight through and still represent really well; took his matches to overtime in the second day, which is a big achievement for him.

鈥淎nd even Cole 鈥� he鈥檚 another one of the first-timers that went out 鈥� his first couple matches he was really hesitant and a little too energized 鈥� like a little too much (adrenalin) but thankfully by the third and fourth matches he鈥檇 settled down and he ended up winning his last match by a guillotine choke. After that, he鈥檚 super-pumped and said he wanted to continue, like, to compete again right away.鈥�

Of note is that Christopher Wood, 11, won a silver in the white belt age 11 junior middle weight division. Although he was one of only two competitors in the division, it was his first time competing in a tournament and according to Woodman, he did very well.

鈥淗e was pretty nervous. He lost both of his matches but even in the losses, he was still able to compose himself pretty well and he ended up losing by an arm bar but his defence was really good. He did all the right things. The kid just had a lot more experience than him.鈥�

Wood was happy with his result.

鈥淗e was super-pumped. He was ... smil(ing) from ear-to-ear. He had a lot of family that came down to 鈥� that came out to visit and watch. His grandparents were there, he had aunts and uncles. Even though he lost, everybody was super-supportive and I鈥檓 hoping he can talk to some of the other kids and get them excited for the next time, so maybe we can bring a few more out.鈥�

There were a few memorable moments that stuck out for Woodman.

鈥淛ames Minifie, it was his first time out as well and he鈥檚 ... very, very strong. He does a lot of mountaineering and stuff like that ... he was fighting guys that looked a lot bigger than him. One of his matches was against a powerlifter. He was a massive man and he was able to throw him around and he eventually got a choke (hold) on him. I believe it was a 鈥榬ear naked choke鈥�.

鈥淗e was a big, big man and he just kind of threw him down like he was 鈥� like nothin鈥�. It was very very exciting to watch.鈥�

It was a different situation for Woodman himself.

鈥淚t was more of a learning experience for me cause I got to fight a different black belt. I fought him before but for me, it was a learning experience.

鈥淏ut for Dave, he had a small division but he still was able to submit somebody in a bad position.

鈥淲hen the fights go to overtime, they start out with 鈥榖ack鈥� position, so they have back control on you. The very first thing you have to worry about is defending the choke, because they can go for your neck right away. But people forget about their feet and they cross their feet, which is a no-no in jiu-jitsu. I try to teach people that Day One but a lot of people still cross their feet and in all the divisions, except for the kids, ankle lock are legal ... if you trap your legs over their feet and start applying hip pressure up, it turns into an ankle lock, so you win even in a bad position. So Dave was able to get one of those and it seemed like a lot of people were hitting them in the tournament.鈥�

An ankle lock is applied by trapping another athlete鈥檚 ankles with your feet.

鈥淎s soon as you trap the feet, he can鈥檛 unhook his feet and then you apply upward hip pressure and then the ankle will snap if he doesn鈥檛 tap,鈥� explained Woodman.

He said everyone was happy with their results.

鈥淓veryone was really happy. James was so ecstatic. He was taking pictures throughout the day, sending it to his family and me, as a coach was just over the moon, so I can鈥檛 say how proud I am of those guys for all their hard work and the hours they put in and the sacrifices.鈥�

鈥淚 always think I can do better but I think I did fairly well for myself.

鈥淚鈥檓 more nervous to watch my guys go then go myself.

There鈥檚 always things I can work on; just not over-committing too much on hand fighting and stuff like that. That was where I went wrong,鈥� he added.

Up next for the club is another AVA tournament in Vancouver in early October.

鈥淚 know a couple of guys have expressed interest in going,鈥� said Woodman.

Here are the Eight Days Martial Arts medal results:

Dave Pompeo:
Gold 鈥� blue belt 18+ heavy weight division
Bronze 鈥� advanced 18+ heavyweight division (nogi)

James Minifie:
Silver 鈥� white belt 30+ heavyweight division
Silver 鈥� intermediate 30+ heavyweight division (nogi)

Robert Woodman:
Silver 鈥� brown black belt 30+ middle weight division
Silver 鈥� expert 30+ middle weight division (nogi)

Andrew Macleod:
Bronze 鈥� blue belt 30+ middle weight division

Christopher Wood:
Silver 鈥� white belt age 11 junior middle weight division