N.A.G.A. May 9th, 2009
N.A.G.A. Grappling tounament, May 9th, Garland, TX. Coach Collins and Coach Beach, along with Francis May, Bryan Head, Patrick Collins, Josh Stout, and Freddy Benavidez.
N.A.G.A. Grappling Championships was in town on May 9th, and Collins Martial Arts students had a very good showing. The following is Mr. Collins' account of the event:
"We had many people go to N.A.G.A. (North American Grappling Association) tournament on May 9th. Everyone did very well, and our team brought home several medals. I am especially proud since N.A.G.A. is a nationally ranked tournament, and therefore one of the toughest to come around, with competitors coming from allover the country - and it was most of our competitors' first tournament to ever attend. Francis May brought home a silver medal in his stacked division. Bryan Head did not come home with a medal, but was not knocked off easily, as he first defeated a few tough competitors in his division, which was almost 30 people deep - one of the largest in the entire tournament. Wayne Coston defeated a couple of very sound opponents, and although he's old enough to be fighting a couple of age divisions up, he's got the heart and skills of the young, tough grapplers and chose to compete in the regular division instead of taking the 'easier' route against older, slower opponents. Wayne looked impressive as he fought his way to a 3rd place finish, despite, cracking his ankle up pretty badly along the way. He limped away from that tournament, but he did so with a medal wrestled away from younger opponents in their primes. Sam Lyle fought hard in his match, but wound up losing on points, fighting off many submission attempts and avoiding getting tapped. Jet Lyle came home with a silver medal for his efforts. Both Sam and Jet performed quite well, especially for their first tournament. Competition in all divisions, including their respective novice divisions, was extremely tough. The Lyles both deserve to be recognized for their hard-fought efforts at N.A.G.A., especially given the short time they have been training. Patrick Collins and Josh Stout were both in the same 225lb. division. Remember, N.A.G.A., along with having some of the toughest competitors around, is also a single-elimination tournament, (unlike most which are double-elimination), but sometimes competitors have to grapple a second time after they've lost one match, in order to determine who gets third place.
"This is the situation Josh and Patrick found themselves in. Each having knocked off some rather tough opponents along the way, they then each lost 1 match (to the eventual 1st and 2nd place winners), Josh and Patrick had to face off against one another to determine who got third and who walked away without a medal (which was still the equivalent of getting fourth place). I must say, it was nerve-racking as a coach to cheer them both on but not be able shout out any specific instructions to either man; to just let the match go as it would. At the end of regulation, it was determined the score was tied after a truly action-packed first portion. So, overtime was put into effect, which saw Patrick complete a double-leg take-down early on, which would be the only two points scored in the two-minute O.T. - making him the eventual winner by just two points. Josh tried valiantly several times near the end of the match to pass over to full mount, which would have tied up the points again, but ran out of time. This written summary, however, does the match no justice - you had to have seen it to have true appreciation for it - and you know what an exciting, back-and-forth match it was if you were one of the people fortunate enough to stick around to watch it. I saw both men scramble and fight for every position and point they got,( and I see them several times a week in the gym), but they both definitely raised their games in the face of the tournament competition.
"As a result of their efforts, and as well as Francis May's very impressive performance in his division, I decided to award the three men with the rank of White Belt in the Goju-Jitsu M.M.A. fighting system, without having to go through a formal test, which is extremely rare at our school. Unlike other systems, everyone in the Goju-Jitsu system at Collins Martial Arts starts as a completely non-ranked student. Even the White Belt rank must be earned. Rarely do I give out any rank without the person having to go through the formal testing process, but the three men had proven through their skills, demonstrated through months of hard training inside the school, and topped off by their performances at N.A.G.A. the fact that they were deserving of advancement, so I was compelled to award them with their White Belt rank without a formal test. This a a great accomplishment; I really mean it when I say that I do not just award rank without a test very often. In fact, I could literally count on one hand the number of times it's happened. You can now view the updated rankings on the 'Current Student Rankings' page of this website.
"Much congratulations is deserved by these guys, so if you see them, don't be afraid to give them the recognition they have earned for accomplishing this."
-Coach Christopher Collins
Seminars
Mr. Collins is holding the next Mixed Martial Arts seminar specifically for black belts (or instructor-level students, and only if vouched for by their black belt instructor) of other martial arts, on June 13th at 3:30 p.m. This is the sixth in a series of M.M.A. seminars which are aimed at certifying the students at Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels of Mixed Martial Arts (M.M.A.) knowledge, and will enable the participants to implement legitimate, properly learned, and tested M.M.A. training into their own schools or personal martial arts training regimens. The is the day of the last review, and the actual test for the Beginner Level Certification. This test is NOT open to the general public. However, family members and students/colleagues of the participating students are welcome to attend, if invited by the person testing. There will be an area for spectators to sit and observe the test. Taping/filming WILL be allowed.
As stated above, this seminar is the sixth class of the Beginner level certification course, and is NOT for anyone who has not been attending the previous classes in the series. Any new individuals or groups of qualified instructors who wish to become certified may contact Sensei Chris Collins using the information below. If you are considering the classes but would like a bit more information than what you can gain by taking the courses, you may request special permission from Mr. Collins to receive an invitation to come and observe the certification test.
Participants of these last classes of the current series who DO pass their test will immediately become eligible to begin scheduling their next level (Intermediate) M.M.A. certification courses whenever they like.
For information on how to pre-register (required to attend for M.M.A. Certification class participants), please contact Chris Collins at Chris@CollinsMartialArts.com, or call at 1.817.791.1565. Mr. Collins does NOT just hand out these certifications just because people are willing to pay for the classes and take the test. It is NOT a pay-to-play scheme or situation. The test CAN be failed, and WILL be, if the participant doesn't meet the requirements to make a passing grade. The test must be re-taken if the student wishes to receive certification from Mr. Collins. Rules are not bent, and grades are not changed, due to timely class payments, personal affiliations, friendships, or for any other reason. This is nothing meant to be harsh or personal; it is simply crucial to maintain the integrity of the certifications and the M.M.A. knowledge of those people who really earn them. Along with paper certificates, those successfully completing their test will be listed on the Collins Martial Arts website, so that those who claim to be certified can be either easily verified or debunked. Just as with awarding ranking in Sensei Collins' Goju-Jitsu M.M.A. system among his regular students, he takes the M.M.A. certifications - whether Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced, very seriously. This is why such measures are taken to show that a person claiming to have been certified in M.M.A. by Mr. Collins' training course can be easily verified. To be eligible to begin taking the courses at all, pupils must already be black belts in one or more martial arts, OR must be high-ranking, instructor-level students who are vouched for by their qualified black belt instructor. If you have a group, large or small, who is interested in the M.M.A. certifications, and believe you would qualify to do so, please contact Mr. Collins to verify your eligibility and then set the dates for the courses. You may be Black Belts all from one school, or a group of people from different schools, as long as you meet the above listed pre-requisite requirements.
Mr. Collins also offers specialized Womens' Self-Defense/Rape Prevention courses, which generally span between three to five separate classes. There is no 'certification' earned for these, and unlike the M.M.A. courses, there is no ranking or martial arts prerequisite at all. These are open to the public. In fact, it is encouraged for all women to take these classes in order to learn to properly protect themselves from various tyoes of physical or other assaults in our unfortunately increasingly dangerous society. While there is no requirement to take a certain number of these courses, Mr. Collins recommends a minimum of three to five of the two-hour courses in order to properly learn and remember the techniques well enough to be able to apply them properly if in a real situation.
Specialty Courses
Mr. Collins is also well-known for teaching other specialty courses, from weapons defense classes (prerequisite of high-level martial arts training is required in order to tak the weapons defense classes). Other classes, which do require ranking and/or training background prerequistes, (although not st stringent as the M.M.A. Seminar course), include the Footlock/Leglock seminars, techniques for which Mr. Collins is particularly well-known, among other themed seminars.
If you are interested in a specialty class that you do not see listed here, feel free to contact Chris and find out if it is something that he offers, and if he does not, there's a good chance he has someone he uses who specializes in the particular field to teach the particular course.
