When Lance Glynn teaches Brazilian jiu jitsu at his gym in Santa Maria, he tells his students to immediately submit their opponents. That’s exactly what two of Glynn’s students did at the Kids World BJJ Championships on July 25 in Ontario, Calif.
Penny Delacruz, age 14, and 8-year-old Justin Cortez tapped-out every single one of their opponents on their way to first place finishes at the tournament.
Delacruz and Cortez competed with a team of at least six kids from Paragon of Santa Maria. Glynn said his team also had at least one second place winner.
More than 900 kids between the ages of 5 and 16 years competed in this year’s world championship, according to Glynn. Both boys and girl compete with each other.
But Delacruz grappled with only girls on her way to the top of the heavyweight division, submitting all of her opponents with armbars. Her first win came in 35 seconds, Glynn said, adding that Delacruz was bumped into the next weight class ahead of her because there was no one in hers.
Cortez also used armbars to defeat his two male opponents to win the featherweight division. Glynn said he was a bit surprised to see Cortez and Delacruz win their divisions.
“I knew they were both going to do well in the tournament,” Glynn said. “I was hoping they all took first, but sometimes that doesn’t happen.”
Paragon is both Delacruz’s and Cortez’s first exposure to the grappling martial arts, and they have been training for three and two years, respectively, according to Glynn.
Delacruz has advanced tremendously, said Glynn, who adds that she now trains in the adult program and assists in training kids. And she’s only an orange belt.
“That’s how far advanced she is,” Glynn said.
Graduating from Ernest Righetti High School in 1999, Glynn’s been been practicing Brazillian jiu jitsu for 12 years. Glynn teaches purely BJJ, and his gym is not geared toward competition in mixed martial arts or Ultimate Fighting Champship. He takes both kids and adults to tournaments.
The kids tournament is not his first such competition. In 2012, Glynn took a member of his team to compete in Brazil.
The reason Glynn teaches his students to immediately go for the submission is to end the match quickly and conserve energy. Going into the tournament, Glynn said he expected all of his students to use submissions instead of solely winning with points.
“Some people play the point system,” Glynn said. “I want to keep the game moving and keep it interesting. I want them to have a fun match.”
This article appears in Aug 6-13, 2015.
