Thank you: team new wave just completed one of the most successful team performances in ADCC history. This was truly remarkable given that one year ago a team split resulted in around three quarters of our competition athletes leaving. It was a dark time. We had no gym of our own, Our main athlete Gordon Ryan was so sick from a long term stomach illness he was contemplating leaving the sport, Garry Tonon was mostly focused on MMA, we were strangers in a new city – it seemed the grappling program I'd built over the years was dead in the water. Yet eleven months later we surpassed even the great success we had in 2019 ADCC. This success had many factors and I would like to thank the people who helped make it happen. First, my students. I took on new students to help those who had remained after the split. They gave everything they had in a very tough year of training up to four sessions a day every day. There are too many to mention, but in particular Oliver Taza, Luke Griffith, Dan Manasoiu, Nicholas Meregali and Giancarlo Bodoni trained with inspiring dedication and grit to get to championship level in record time. My remaining senior students Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon and Georges St Pierre took on an inspirational role as mentors and coaches while at the same time continuing their own growth and progress – an incredible achievement on their part. From the bottom of my heart – thank you. Second, my new local students here in Austin who flocked to my classes in small local schools to make tremendous progress and become worthy training partners to the competitors in record time whilst still working their daily professional and family obligations – thank you. Third, The staff and management of @roka who provided a stable training gym for a year of intense preparation and asked for nothing in return and showed such kindness of spirit to us that made us fight that much harder to improve and represent them well at the world championships – thank you. Fourth, to Bernardo Faria and Michael Zenga of @bjj.fanatics who help my students craft their teaching skill and become financially sound. Thank you all so much for the kindness, work and sacrifice you all showed.
