Pans 2017

This past weekend was the 2017 Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships held in Irvin, California. Every year Pans is one of the biggest events on the calendar and this year was no exception with over 3200 competitors. 

Starting off the four day event were OSS athletes Andy Tomas Murasaki, and Taylor Kettler. They both did exceptional capturing gold in their respective divisions. Tayler has been doing well as of late and can't wait to see how well he does at Abu dhabi pro next month! 

Next up were the purple and brown belts Guthierry Barbosa, Jeremy Nitta and Rudson Telles. For Guthierry, Pans was his first major as a purple belt and he came up a little short. Not deterred he was in the gym next day training for worlds! Jeremy Nitta came up a little earlier to get some training in with the team. Going into Pans he was firing on all cylinders but also came up short. With a minute to go a strategic error cost him the match and although he lost the lesson he learned will only make him a better competitor.

The talk of Pans this year in the lower belt level was Rudson. After a year and half hiatus from competition in the US he came back on fire. After running through his division and closing out with team mate Benji Silva, he ran through the absolute capturing double gold! Great job Rudson!!

In the black belt division Moku Kahawai, and Chris Dealy played well and left it all on the mats. For Moku the defending Pan American Champion, his day ended in disappointment. This was the first year he did not medal and although its never easy to lose he was as positive as ever.  Off the mat this has been a crazy year for Moku as launched his brand Manao Apparel and  opened his own gym Beyond Jiu Jitsu. Look for big things from him and his team in 2017 and check out his line! For Chris his journey in Jiu Jitsu continues. He consistently works hard and evolves and we can't wait to see what 2017 has in store for him as well.

Congrats to everyone who competed! Next up worlds!!!