Young grapplers get taste of unique competition

The turnout of 75 total competitors between the ages of six and 15 from across the National Capital region demonstrated the rising interest in grappling, a sport that encompasses tactics from numerous forms of martial arts.

“It gained a lot of popularity from the Ultimate Fighting Championship,” event organizer Alain Moussi notes. “If you watch that, the whole ground game that they play is grappling.”

The worldwide interest in mixed martial arts has had a reciprocal benefit for grappling since many of the top fighters are trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, well-known for its effective submission holds.

Grappling also recently came under governance by FILA, the international wrestling sporting body, and will be featured as a demonstration sport at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Despite all the hoopla, what Moussi noticed is that no one in Canada seemed to be running grappling events tailored specifically to kids, which inspired him to organize the first competition of a series that will continue next spring.

“People are not focused on that right now. They’re all focused on the UFC and big tournaments for adults, which is cool, but what about the kids? They’re next,” the owner of the Youville Drive studio says. “If you really want grappling to really grow, it won’t happen with guys in their 30s, it’ll grow with kids.”

Strategies Moussi employed to make his competition friendlier to rookie competitors included an adapted format so that a submission wouldn’t automatically end a bout, and guaranteeing everyone three matches to showcase their skills.

NX students came away with about 10 medals in total from the event, with podium performances spreading out nicely amongst all seven participating clubs.

“It’s super,” Moussi says of his athletes’ strong performances. “But even those that didn’t medal still had a smile on their face, so that’s what I was happy about.”