Congratulations to all the RONIN ATHLETICS Competition Team Members who participated in The Good Fight: New York Open on Saturday Feb. 13th in Nyack, NY!

Our 12 Competitors took 17 Overall Medals Overall: 8 GOLD, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze!

Results:

Manny Villafane

1st place No-Gi division

3rd Place No-Gi Advanced Absolute

Chris Froelich

1st in his division

1st place Absolute No-Gi Advanced

Adrian Cziemelewski

1st place No-Gi Intermediate

Jon-Jon Maresco

2nd Place No-Gi Intermediate

Eli Elias

1st Place No-Gi Intermediate

Sasha Strenger

1st Place No-Gi Intermediate

Roger Dardis

2nd place No-Gi Advanced

1st Place Blue Belt

3rd Place Blue Belt Gi Absolute

Justin DeGrazia

1st place No-Gi Beginner

2nd Place White Belt Gi division

Dan Peterson

3rd Place No-Gi Beginner

James Han

3rd Place Blue Belt

Christian Montes

2nd in No-Gi Advanced

3rd in Purple Belt Gi

Great job, everyone!

Check out this highlight video from the event put together by Matt Kaplan!

Congrats to the Team RONIN ATHLETICS competitors who made the trek up to Rhode Island this past weekend to battle it out at the NAGA New England Championships!

Results:

• Christian Montes wins First Place – Master’s No-Gi Advanced Welterweight.
• Vinh Hua wins 3rd Place in Mens Intermediate No-Gi Flyweight
• Eric Gaspar goes 1-1, Teens Beginner No-Gi Lightweight

Great job, guys!

it’s my plan to compete as much as possible in the next few years, as i feel it will serve the purpose of not only helping me improve as an athlete/coach but also help me guide my higher level students through the ranks of world class competitions (www.ibjjf.org) through first hand experience – it’s always been instilled in me that one should lead by example, and i will do my very best, win or lose, to live up to that. – Christian Montes
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Congrats to Team RONIN ATHLETICS competitors: Christian Montes, Emalee Heim, and Liz Milizio for their performances at the Gracie US Nationals this past weekend in Los Angeles!

Christian has been hitting a number of tournaments recently and decided to jump into the US Nationals before jetting off to Portugal next weekend for the IBJJF European Open, and our women’s team competitors Liz, Emalee, and Lola (who unfortunately couldn’t compete due to injury) were in town for the competition to kick off the week-long, Women’s Grappling Camp.

We’re happy to report that all three of our competitors placed on the podium!

Results:

Christian Montes

First Place — Master’s Advanced No-Gi 170 lbs division

Second Place — Master’s Purple Belt 170 lbs division.

 

Emalee Heim

Second Place — Women’s White Belt < 135 lbs division.

 

Liz Milizio

First Place — Women’s Blue Belt < 135 lbs division.

Pics (more soon!):

Many thanks to our friends and supporters including: Danny Suarez, Jen Flannery (who also placed 1st in her division!!!), and Ryan Hall (who also placed 1st in his division and the absolute!!!). Also an enormous thanks to Lola for cornering/coaching/keeping time and keeping it real! :)

Great job everyone! Have a great time at the Women’s Camp, Emalee, Lola, and Liz!

HUGE congrats to RONIN ATHLETICS Founder, Christian Montes, for his performance at today’s The Good Fight: Baltimore BJJ Championship!

Christian is bringing home 2 Golds (gi & no-gi divisions) and 1 Silver (gi absolute)!

In his purple belt, gi (170lbs and under) division Christian won 2 matches—armbar from mount (after a 9-0 lead) and a 2-0 points victory via “old school” sweep in the final match—for the GOLD medal!

In the gi absolute, Christian went 1-1 to grab the Silver Medal, and in his no-gi advanced division final, Christian, was up 5-0 on points, and won the Gold via DQ for getting slammed out of a triangle from his guard.

Due to a slight back injury issue from the slam, Christian was unable to compete in the no-gi absolute, but with 3 medals around his neck, we’re certain he’s still pretty psyched.

Congrats, Christian!

Congratulations to the three RONIN ATHLETICS Competition Team members who jumped into the mix at last weekend’s World Grappling Games: OTM 2010 Northeast Regional Championships in Philadelphia!

Results:

• Christian Montes: Silver Medal!
• Josh Bonacci: Silver Medal!
• Roger Dardis: Fearless!^*

Thanks to OTM for putting on a great show!

Great job, Team!

* – with no one in Roger’s advanced division, he stepped up to compete against a 6′4″, 220lbs Black Belt… twice!