Clinch BJJ & MMA

🔥🔥Our juniors and teens showed such exceptional courage, confidence, and skill in our in-house competition over the weekend!

Congratulations to all participants and medalists. We are so proud of your dedication and determination .

Teen Girls
1st - Llondon
2nd - Ruth
3rd - Nishi

Teen boys
1st - Charlie
2nd - Tyler
3rd - Njrew

Junior girls
1st - Eve
2nd - Taylan-Mallan
3rd - Riria

Junior Boys
1st - Hercules
2nd - Vandilyn
3rd - Esera

Special thanks to coaches Salil Joshee and Jay Goldie for their unwavering support and guidance to our tamariki. And to our parents and supporters, your unwavering commitment to getting the kids to training despite hectic schedules is truly inspiring. Keep up the awesome work!

So awesome to have our Rangatira John Bernard Will in this morning to take our BJJ seminar.

Headlock control with all the micro details. An honor and privilege to have John on the mat with us !.

Thank you John

Awesome to have the Mangere East Hawkes Rugby league team in tonight for some grappling training 🔥

🔥Our tamariki were simply AAMAAZING today💯

✅ Courage, confidence, challenging, skills, whanau, community, fun. Nothing else matters.

Super proud of our juniors and teens for giving it a go at our first in house completion of 2024. A test of skill and emotions for all, and the tears we saw weren’t of pain or fear, but that of growth, learning about yourself, and being resilient.

❤️ Thank you to our whanau for getting our kids to training and for your support. You must be proud
🙌 Thank you to our sponsors for your support and showing up today: Brett Homan from Pryors Apparel Master, Tawhiri Mahara and whānau, Russel Clark from Licensed Renovations and Carol from Urban Dental Studio . Changing lives and making an impact to our community together. Ka nui te mihi
🔥 To my awesome coaches for your mahi today, Salil Joshee, Jay Goldie, Mark Watson, Ida Anna Emma Larsson, Grant Leslie, Chris Cunningham - love you guys
🌭 and Mayple - our ringa raupa. Simply the best

And to the many others, thanks for making today awesome.

Mauri ora ki a tātau katoa!

Clinch juniors in house BJJ comp is on 🔥🔥

We're very saddened to hear of the passing of one of our members last week – Elizabeth Ulberg.

She was brave & true fighter to the end with a beautiful story.
When she first joined Clinch her goal was to compete.
She doubted herself at first doing martial arts but she grew in confidence every session, she was a quick learner and in no time had the basics down pact and levelled up taking on anyone in the class.

Elizabeth had been battling illness for a while, and Clinch became a safe haven for her.

After a period of treatment, we had been talking and planning for her to return to the mat last month. I thank all our members for wrapping around Elizabeth and making her to be the best she can be. RIL Elizabeth ❤

E te taonga o te mate, moe mai, moe mai, moe mai ra. kua whati atu ki Hawaaiki nui, okioki e.

Congratulations to Salil, Chris and Dean for their first hit out at the Stealth grappling comp today.
And great effort to Deano for putting in 8 matches on his first comp!!.

Way to represent team, we are proud of you all. And a big thanks to our support team cheering the boys on.

Kōrero!

🔥Congrats again to the final students that leveled up 2 night !!🔥

2 new BJJ BROWN Belts 🥋- big mihi to Mark Watson and Michael Michaels Michaelson - over 23 years combined experience, both loyal and hardworking students, and Mike one of the OGs - congratulations guys.

And congrats to Jay Goldie on catching his Blue 2nd. Put on the spot to teach fundamentals class with no notice and syllabus techniques of my choosing. Made it look easy💯 - well done Jay !

That’s a wrap whanau - over 40 students graded in the last 2 weeks - so much talent and colour on the mat. well done everybody, massively proud.

What’s your goals for 2024 !

Ka rawe!. 🔥🥋. Awesome way to head into the end of the year with our last in-house juniors and teens comp of the year 👏

Skills 💪, confidence 💯, Courage ❤️ , pride 🦚 , manaaki 🤗, Tuakana Teina 🥰whanaungatanga ☝️ and much more were all the values on display today. Congratulations to all our competitors and finalists - We are proud of you all 🎉.

Here’s a few pics of our winners - thanks to the parents for pushing their kids to show up to training every day, shout out to our awesome trainers Jay and Salil, our support crew on and off the mat, Junior and Mayple on the BBQ and our sponsor Pryor Apparelmaster for the bucket hats and Tawhiri for providing the Kai.

And congrats to Mason on catching his Grey Belt !

Tumeke!

End of year Gradings continued last night - massive congrats to Grant Leslie on catching his Blue belt - great student on and off the mat and great role model to his boys and fellow students. Congrats to Kyran, Monica, Aaron, Jake and Maika for catching their stripes. Putting in the mahi and getting the treats !

🔥NEW GRADES🔥🥋
Super proud of those that graded today with 2 new shiny belts also awarded. Congrats to Josh Johnston on catching his BLUE, joining our online classes during lockdown, Josh has developed a solid ground game both defensively and on attack, has been a keen competitor and consistently put in the mahi for the past 2 and a half years 👊

A special congrats to one of the OGs Gwion Thornley (Hikurangi Thornley-campbell) on catching his Purple, Gwion trained with me at Maai Hyoshi Dojos with Mike Gent and Steve Cockell (Pri N Steve) in the day a wealth of knowledge and a pleasure to see him achieve this rank 👏

And to those that caught their stripes - well done and deserved, you all worked hard today
Ida Anna Emma Larsson to white 4th
Chris Cunningham to white 3rd
Hikurangi Thornley-campbell to white 2nd

Proud of you all 👏

Congratulations to our newest Purple Belt Salil Joshee !!!

An outstanding Juniors coach, student and mentor to many on the mat. Well done Salil !

Congratulations to those that leveled up over the past week with their stripes.

Jay catching his blue 1st
Grant to 4th stripe
Ata and Moses to 3rd
Hiku getting his 1st

Congratulations men.

Tama Tu Tama Ora !

🔥🔥Clinch In-House Competition 🔥🔥
Was awesome to see our juniors and teens compete in our in-house comp yesterday. Some fantastic skills displayed, some tears, some laughs but all showed real heart and courage, especially some of the smaller kids going up against the older bigger kids.

Big mihi and congratulations to 🥇🥈🥉
*Teens Female: Ta'jae Clarke-Rotohiko (Gold), Keziah William (Silver), Ruth Thompson Reid (Bronze)
*Teens Male: Pranav Chandra (Gold), Tengere Rubena (Silver), Kenny Vuglar (Bronze),
*Juniors: Eljay Tara (Gold),Mason Stephens (Silver), Kanoa Newton (Bronze)

All 20 competitors were the winners on the day, proud Coaches indeed !. I whakarangatira matau i a koutou 👏

And thank you to all the supporters and parents that came to watch to see your childs progress and development, we appreciate all you do to get your kids to trainings, we are proud to serve you and the community.

Congratulations to those that leveled up tonight for their white belt stripe gradings.
Jake - 1st
Dom, Kyran, Chris, Kamil - 2nd
Aimee, Monica, Josh, Aaron - 3rd

At Clinch, the first 2 years of BJJ training we put a lot of focus on good basics, an understanding of essential attacks and escapes, and transitions.

All of my beginners know - the first three big secrets to good grappling are:

POSITION, POSITION, POSITION

The fancy stuff comes later.

Exciting news everyone! 🥋👊🏼 It’s been a hectic couple of months but finally am thrilled to announce that we have upgraded to a new premium Brazilian Jiu Jitsu martial arts gym in South Auckland and it is fantastic! 💪🏼🔥

The facilities are state-of-the-art, with 200+ sqm of hi quality retail space providing for an increased training mat, commercial air conditioning, designated reception area, changing areas, pro-shop and a significantly enhanced member experience that further strengthens our values of Manaaki, Kaitiaki, Hauora and Whānaungatanga

It was sad to leave our former humble gym - served as well for the past 13+ years but with the increasing requirements and significant growth of our programs and members, kua tae te wā 🤙🏼

No reira whanau mā, Auraki mai, tauti mai. 🥋👊🏼

🔥🔥Just WOW !!🔥🔥

Thank you so much John ❤️

John Will seminar 2023

🔥🔥Big mihi out to Ta’jae Clarke-Rotohiko for representing hard at the ASB Polyfest last week🔥🔥

Ta’jae is part of the roopu Te Pou Herenga waka, from James Cook High school - a long standing kapa haka group with a proud reputation.

Ta’jae always steps up to the challenge with confidence and courage, no matter what the task is. She exhibits all the values of a mana wahine, and we are all proud of her achievements on and off the mat. Keep up the amazing mahi !

Mahi rangatira Ta’jae

Jessie and Aniketh representing hard at ADCC in the weekend ! Super proud of you both

And Congrats Jesse on taking the gold !. Smashing those goals !! 🔥🔥

🔥LIT

What an amazing day yesterday!. So proud of all our team that competed at the stealth competition
Our juniors Eljay and Llondon in their 1st ever external competition and both walked away with a shiny silver medal.
Our teens Cale and Kenny also in their 1st ever external competition and also walking away with shiny silver medals.
In the adults we had Josh with a bronze medal.
Aniketh, Aaren and Jesse all coming away with wins and narrowly missing out on medals. And what a surprise for clinch to crack the top 10!
Thanks also to all those who turned up to support the crew. Absolutely mean day!

Busy night on the mats - Congratulations to all those that leveled up with their new grades for our end of year grading.

Salil to Blue 4th
Stoked to award Jay and Aniketh their blue belts
Jess - white 3rd stripe
Kyran, Chris, Dom and Kamil - white 1st
Aimee, Ida, Monica - white 3rd

Such a great team and Super proud of you all !

🔥🔥Massive mihi and congratulations to Jesse on winning gold at the North Island Open Nogi submission only tournament today. 🔥🔥

4 fights and 4 subs - Jesse has been putting the mahi in every day, and the fruits of his work paying off - even carrying a sprained ankle into todays comp !

Heart of a lion and an inspiration to your fellow brothers and sisters at Clinch ! We are proud of you.

Keep smashing them goals Jesse ! 👊👊

And Thanks to Full Force Fight Co for organizing a great event !

Congratulations to all our juniors that competed in our end of year in house comp today!.

Awesome courage and skills displayed, some tears too but all in the spirit of aroha and learning. The confidence, resilience and heart shown from all our young ones made all the parents and coaches so proud.!. Thank you all for attending and supporting our kids on their martial arts goals and journey. 2023 is going to be huge!

E Tū tamariki mā

Awesome combative session with John Will today, perfect sequencing and efficiency linking the clinch, to takedowns, to ground and submission.

Keeping it real and knowing when to pressure test with the right focus was a great insight.

2 group pics - our main shot and one that John’s going to photoshop someone in 😆

🔥🔥A big shout out and congratulations to one of our members Taupa on winning his Muay Thai title fight last night🥇🥊

Lots of hard work and consistency paying off, keep up the great work Taupa, you done everyone proud.👊

And to the coaches and crew that helped with his fight camp - you’s were all super awesome ! Thank you

Clinch kids and teens in house comp under way with record attendance and support from the parents

Ka hao te rangatahi