By Jeff W. Rosser

On Sunday, June 3, 2012, the Gwangjin Residents Sports Center in Seoul, South Korea, was the site of the 6th Motorone Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship hosted by John Frankl Jiu-Jitsu. This competition, which is held semi-annually, is one of the biggest Jiu-Jitsu competitions in Seoul. This time, the competition featured over 180 competitors from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as practitioners of other styles of Jiu-Jitsu, judo, sambo, and hapkido. Competitors competed in both gi and no-gi divisions. All matches were carried out under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition-style rules. The majority of competitors in this competition were white, blue, or purple belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in South Korea is still fairly new but is quickly growing and becoming popular. In a land dominated by taekwondo and judo, there is little room for other outside martial arts to come in and gain a foothold but Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seems to be doing just that.

John Frankl, an American and third-degree black belt in BJJ, studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Rickson Gracie and Roberto Maia. Aside from organizing this event, Frankl was also in attendance to watch and support the many competitors from the John Frankl Jiu-Jitsu Competition Team and many of his affiliated schools.

The following are the gold medal winners from this competition:

No-Gi Division Champions:

-62kg Gold Medalist: Jo Jun-yong
-68kg Gold Medalist: Jeong Yun-ho
-74kg Gold Medalist: Jeong Do-yeong
-80kg Gold Medalist: Jang Guk-jin
-86kg Gold Medalist: Seo Hyeong-jun
-92kg Gold Medalist: An Hyeon-jun

White Belt Division:

-57.5kg Gold Medalist: Song Ha-jin
-64kg Gold Medalist: Jo Jun-yong
-70kg Gold Medalist: Lee Su-min
-76kg Gold Medalist: Park Jae-hyeon
-82.3kg Gold Medalist: Ryu Gyeong-gwan
-88kg Gold Medalist: Gang Mun-su
-94kg Gold Medalist: Go Byeong-jin
– 94kg Gold Medalist: Kim Yong-u

Blue Belt Division:

-64kg Gold Medalist: Lee Ba-reum
-70kg Gold Medalist: Kim Min-u
-76kg Gold Medalist: Sin Hae-su
-82.3kg Gold Medalist: Gil Hyeon-gwon

Purple Belt Division:

-70kg Gold Medalist: Chae Wan-gi
-76kg Gold Medalist: Jeong Do-yeong