27 Mar ONRA: FOKAI & THE MARIANAS OPEN
ONRA: Fokai&theMarianasOpen
Hafa Adai,
Brazilian Jiujitsu arrived on Guam at a time when No Holds Barred Fighting and Gracie Jiujitsu were virtually synonymous. It was a time when fighting proficiency was previously defined almost exclusively by kicks and punches. It was a time where the surprise onslaught of Jiujitsu’s combat worth had its representatives hardly ever losing in professional and amateur full-contact fighting competition.
Jiujitsu had flipped the script forever changing the world’s approach to self-defense training. It was the infant days of the UFC and the awakening of the beast that professional MMA has become today
As the sport of No Holds Barred Fighting evolved into Mixed Martial Arts competition, the curtains of secret techniques and strategies were opened wide for a receptive world to walk through. Martial Arts evolved speedily beyond the confines of style versus style and more towards conditioning and strategy. In due effect the rules, regulations, and point scoring system expanded Jiujitsu from “the Gentle Art” of self-defense to one of the most demanding facets of combat sports, high-level athletics, and unprecedented hand-to-hand martial science today.
Though no longer as dominant in MMA competition today. Jiujitsu has been cemented as the art and science that most significantly changed martial arts forever–paving the way for a still-evolving multidimensional approach to fighting, and offering to the masses a comprehensible and ready-to-use system of self defense.…
The Marianas Open was created in the thick of Guam’s Mixed Martial Arts heyday, and at a time when Guam Jiujitsu’s ambition began to sprout towards the light of larger tournaments. Under the council of World Competition decorated Jiujitsu Instructor/competitor Mike Fowler and Spearheaded by the efforts of Steven Shimizu and Tony Bashaw, the event modeled itself consistently with the International Brazilian Jiujitsu Federation events and standards—preparing Guam Jiujitsu practitioners with a test model and launching pad into larger events throughout Asia, The United States and towards creating the drive for a Guam-based Jiujitsu World Champion.
In a time when Mixed Martial Arts was catapulting throughout the community, The Marianas Open started as a project to reset Guam back into basics and provide Guam with a preparatory event that would get our Jiujitsu competitors ready for larger tournaments. In the beginning, this extended hopes of a better training environment for our MMA hopefuls; but I n the process further distinguished Sport Jiujitsu from MMA competition. This effort has since expanded to evolve Jiujitsu far beyond the shadows of Mixed Martial Arts and into its own light.
Today , alongside the Copa De Marianas, its mission has been successful with its veteran competitors garnering medals and gold medal finishes in events across the world as well as the ADCC Combat Championships and the Jiujitsu World Championships. With the momentum of 14 successful events, the Marianas Open and Copa de Marianas serves as the Ultimate Gathering for Guam’s Jiujitsu and Submission Grappling Community.
This 12th edition of the MarianasOpen, with four Copa de Marianas to add inside of 10years in the making—–the vision of the promoters and long-time supporters
of the event has taken form.
GuamJiujitsu has fast improved to dominate tournaments in the Asian-Pacific region times over with more medals than we can count in the PanAsian Brazilian Jiujitsu and No-Gi tournaments in the Philippines and repeat outstanding individual and team performances in the TokyoOpen and Asian Open tournament in Japan.
Through the baby steps taken from the MarianasOpen, Guam athletes have been kept in a motion that has helped to elevate our athletes to the mats and even podiums of World BJJ Power tournaments such as the Pan-American Jiujitsu Championships, the Pan-Kids, the US Open, and even the World Championships in California.
As a longtime supporter of the Marianas Open, FokaiIndustries is taking this opportunity to salute the organizers, competitors, champions and sponsors of the Marianas Open for helping walk the steps for the positive footprints that Guam has placed firmly in World Jiujitsu today.