Jason Atrero and other members of the All Round Jiu Jitsu gym pose for a group photo.
Jason Atrero poses with the gold medal along with the other top finishers in the white belt 67kg division of the Prova Brazilian Jujitsu Championship at the Hwaseongsi Sports Stadium’s indoor gymnasium in South Korea on Saturday.
THE CNMI’s Jason Atrero represented his home proudly with a gold medal win in the 67kg white belt division of the Prova Brazilian Jujitsu Championship at the Hwaseongsi Sports Stadium’s indoor gymnasium in South Korea, on Saturday.
The 28-year-old Garapan Elementary School special education teacher bested two opponents to claim the gold medal.
In Atrero’s final match, he said it was his aggressive approach that led to victory. He swept his opponent to gain two points and collected four more points for maintaining top position. His performance was then highlighted by a submission victory using a kimura lock to force the tap and claim the gold medal.
“Honestly, this was my second competition but my first time to win not just gold but anything in a jiu jitsu tournament. So, it was an awesome experience,” said Atrero.
Professor Park from All Round Jiu Jitsu in Ilsan, South Korea provided Atrero the opportunity to compete by inviting him to join one of the participating teams.
“It was an honor to compete with them, especially since [Park’s] gym is a competition team and everyone on his team is very skilled and each have won in a competition,” Atrero said. “It made me more motivated to try and win plus I wanted to gain more experience competing in jiu jitsu.”
Atrero said his teammates cheered him on in his journey to gold.
Asked about the level of competition in Korea, he said: “The level of competition is always different everywhere and anywhere you go. But I would say that the people in Korea are very strong and technical with their jiu jitsu which made me want to increase and better my skill and game.”
Atrero said he is grateful to Professor Park, the All Round Jiu Jitsu gym, his Trench Tech Purebred teammates, most especially Cuki Alvarez, as well as coaches Ken Tanzawa and Rey Kim.
