As you may know, all three kids practice Jiu-Jitsu here in Vancouver. They are incredibly lucky to have a wonderful instructor who is the only 8th degree black belt Master in Canada, Marcus Soares. We like the sport because of the skills that it allows the kids to learn and develop discipline, control, self-confidence, the ability to win and lose with grace and sportsmanship, as well as the physical aspects such as strength, self-defense and coordination. They are very lucky that their uncle Aaron (also a black belt) and their cousin Oli, also do Jiu-Jitsu in Calgary!

In January, the boys participated in a tournament that commemorated the 10 year anniversary of Carlson Gracie Sr. Ineke decided to pass on this one as she hasn’t been training quite as hard, but helped the team out by working at the concession. Bas and Willem had some very good matches and Bas came out with a Bronze and Silver and Willem finished with a Bronze. We are super proud of how they did, but most of all, I was proud of how much they have grown since last year. There were no tears, no anger, no complaints of things not being fair. Only a super high-five  and a smile from Bas after losing a very close match to his training companion, Zeke. And Willem, although a bit disappointed, was pleased to sit and watch his teammates compete and cheer them on. All in all, a super showing!

I know that some of these photos were already posted in the previous post, but I wanted to add a few others in that weren’t included in the first batch!