{"id":794786,"date":"2019-04-12T22:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiu-jitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california\/"},"modified":"2019-04-12T22:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T04:08:00","slug":"lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiujitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiujitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s roll: Pair of Summit County jiujitsu athletes podium at Pan-American Championships in California"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8233009708738\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-364377-868\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Lawrence Beek, left, and Asti Alexandria grapple on Wednesday, April 10, at Summit County Jiu Jitsu in Frisco.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1.jpg\" alt=\"Lawrence Beek, left, and Asti Alexandria grapple on Wednesday, April 10, at Summit County Jiu Jitsu in Frisco.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Lawrence Beek, left, and Asti Alexandria grapple on Wednesday, April 10, at Summit County Jiu Jitsu in Frisco.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (left) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph on the mat at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (left) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph on the mat at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (left) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph on the mat at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy Summit County Jiu Jitsu | Last month, Asti Alexandria (center) took first-place in the women's blue belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"Last month, Asti Alexandria (center) took first-place in the women's blue belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Last month, Asti Alexandria (center) took first-place in the women&#8217;s blue belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy Summit County Jiu Jitsu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"KenPhotogy | Last month, Douglas Owens (left) took second-place in the men's purple belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-3.jpg\" alt=\"Last month, Douglas Owens (left) took second-place in the men's purple belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Last month, Douglas Owens (left) took second-place in the men&#8217;s purple belt, middleweight competition at the 2019 Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California<\/strong><br \/>KenPhotogy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com | Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (right) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/JiuJitsu-SDN-041319-1-4.jpg\" alt=\"Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (right) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (right) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym in Frisco.<\/strong><br \/>Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiu-jitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiu-jitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">If you ask Asti Alexandria what she remembers from a Brazilian jiujitsu grappling match, unfortunately for you, it\u2019s not much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI blackout during most of my matches,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">What her memory pulls up from competitions, such as last month\u2019s Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, California, first comes down to slapping her opponents hands before the match. Then, maybe a few flashes of her opponent\u2019s garment colors before the experience of her hand being raised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With that, the better question for Alexandria might actually be what kind of mindset she brings into matches like those at the March 20-24 Pan Ams. That\u2019s where she won four matches en route to the blue belt, middleweight women\u2019s tournament title for adults between the ages of 35 and 39.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI went out there and I was there to win it,\u201d Alexandria said. \u201cBefore I get on the mat, there\u2019s a square you have, and it\u2019s your section. And I look at it as, \u2018That\u2019s my hunting area, and I\u2019m the hunter. I\u2019m the wildcat, and they are the prey. And I\u2019m winning. They are mine.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAnd that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Three weeks ago in Irvine, Alexandria and the owner of Summit County Jiu-Jitsu in Frisco, Douglas Cuomo, each podiumed in their specific 35-to-39-year-old weight classes and belt levels at the Pan Ams, which is the largest Brazilian jiujitsu tournament held in North America annually.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Brazilian jiujitsu is a martial art that has skyrocketed in popularity in the United States and across the globe in recent years, primarily due to its prevalence in mixed martial arts promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC. Since the launch of the UFC in 1993, Brazilian jiujitsu and its focus on no-strike grappling \u2014 with an emphasis on ground fighting \u2014 has been the most important martial art within major MMA competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But back in 2008 when Cuomo, quite literally, stumbled across the sport commonly referred to as \u201cBJJ,\u201d he had little knowledge of the UFC. When Cuomo \u2014 a tall, light and gangly man living in Fargo, North Dakota \u2014 peered into a corner store window and saw BJJ being practiced inside, he wasn\u2019t sure what it was. It looked like wrestling to him. And he knew wrestling was a sport that demanded fitness from its athletes. With that desire to get in better shape, Cuomo gave the sport a try.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Little did he know this weird-looking version of wrestling is a sport predicated on leverage and length, two attributes the tall and long Cuomo naturally possessed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A few BJJ sessions later, Cuomo \u2014 who at the time was a firefighter while attending paramedics school \u2014 was hooked on the sport and the chess-like elements of strategy that came with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen I started, I realized this is probably the most in-depth puzzle I\u2019ve ever come across,\u201d Cumo said. \u201cAnd I really like puzzles. So I just kept getting farther and farther into it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About a decade later, Cuomo now finds himself coaching at his own BJJ gym in Frisco, where he imparts knowledge on athletes like Alexandria. For Alexandria, it was her own realization of how BJJ is kind of a version of \u201chuman chess\u201d that led to her love for the sport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBy the time the hour was up,\u201d Alexandria said of her first time trying BJJ, \u201cI realized I hadn\u2019t thought about any of the stresses in my life. I went to a different zone in my brain that I had never really tapped into. It kind of feels like physical chess, trying to stay one step ahead of your opponent. But it\u2019s hard to stay one step ahead of your opponent, because your opponent dictates what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That game of staying one step ahead of your opponent was on full display for both Cuomo and Alexandria at last month\u2019s Pan Ams. Their second time together at the competition, Cuomo had previously finished in second place in his age, weight and belt division at the Pan Ams in 2018, and was hoping for a repeat performance. For Alexandria, the 2019 Pan Ams was about proving to herself and the assembled BJJ community that she had improved her open-guard skills enough to advance through the tournament. In BJJ, a guard is when a grappler is on their back on the mat and \u201copen guard\u201d means legs are not fully engaged with an opponent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In advance of the Pan Ams, Cuomo consistently told Alexandria that he thought she would win her division. To the coach, she had shown Cuomo enough skills at recent competitions in the Denver area against higher level BJJ athletes, both men and women, that he felt she should be one of the strongest grapplers in her specific tournament at the Pan Ams. Alexandria quickly proved that, advancing through her four blue belt, middleweight matches to claim tournament victory. Throughout those matches she was also dominant in the guard position, not allowing a single opponent to break, or \u201cpass,\u201d her guard a single time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI just jumped up and down on the mat,\u201d Alexandria said of the moment she realized she won the tournament. \u201cI ran over to Doug. Doug ran over to me. I was crying. And I thought, \u2018Tears of joy are a real thing. I thought that was just fake.\u2019 It was probably the coolest feeling I ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The tournament championship then advanced Alexandria to what is referred to as the \u201cAbsolute\u201d tournament. At Pan Ams, the Absolute competition \u2014 or \u201cAbsolutes\u201d \u2014 pits podium placers from each weight-class tournament against each other in what is effectively a super tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In the end, Alexandria advanced to the semifinal round of her Absolutes tournament before she lost on points. That said, Alexandria had improved her skills so much so in the open-guard position over the previous year that she actually had her semifinal opponent in an arm bar at the end of that match. Alexandria\u2019s opponent gutted it out, withstanding the pain and not tapping out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For all intents and purposes, though, Alexandria won the actual fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cShe spent the last ten seconds of the match arm-baring the girl, breaking the girls arm,\u201d Cuomo said. \u201cEven though she lost the match, her conceptual attack was flawless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As for Cuomo, he grappled well out of his preferred open-guard position throughout his early matches before he lost by a narrow margin, ending up in second place in his specific 35-39, middleweight, purple belt tournament. In the Absolutes, Cuomo lost in the semifinal round to a grappler he said presented him with a technique he wasn\u2019t prepared for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But that\u2019s Brazilian jiujitsu. That\u2019s the game. That\u2019s the life. To Cuomo, it\u2019s about figuring out just what kind of human-chess move that opponent did to him and preparing to counter it the next time they meet, whenever that will be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI have to figure out how to adjust my game to one thing,\u201d he said. \u201cHe did something to me no one has done before. So I have to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/lets-roll-pair-of-summit-county-jiu-jitsu-athletes-podium-at-pan-american-championships-in-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawrence Beek, left, and Asti Alexandria grapple on Wednesday, April 10, at Summit County Jiu Jitsu in Frisco.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com Summit County Jiu Jitsu owner Douglas Cuomo (left) and gym member Asti Alexandria pose for a photograph on the mat at Summit County Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday, April 10, at the martial arts gym [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 14:08:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}