Upcoming Events

Glory 16 Denver
Up-and-coming K1 fighting promotion, Glory, is coming to Denver for the first time on Saturday, May 3rd. Pat Barry, Sergei Kharitonov, Joseph Valtellini, and Nieky Holzken will be fighting. Tickets are available here.
Girls in Gis
Girls in Gis will be returning on May 18th to celebrate the one year anniversary of Girls in Gis in Colorado. This event will be held at Easton Training Center Denver from 1 – 4 PM. The events are always free and open to women and girls of all ages, experience levels, and any and no affiliation.
Summer Camp
Summer is just around the corner!  Keep your kids active at ETC Summer Camps, offered in Boulder and Denver for children ages 4-11. Session 1 will be June 16th-20th, and Session 2 will be July 14th-18th. Sign Up Now!

Recent Events

Alabama Build-Vention
Professor Easton and his family traveled to Greensboro, Alabama, to participate in the Martial Arts Build-Vention. A group of 40 volunteers led by Tom Callos helped to build a home for a woman who has been unable to work because of her cancer. Between all the Easton Academies, we were able to raise $2,000 to contribute to the costs of building materials. For more about the Build-Vention, check out this article by Professor Easton. Thank you for your support!

 
Colorado State Muay Thai Tournament
Easton Training Centers sent 19 competitors to the Colorado Muay Thai Association’s annual Spring Tournament. Sixteen of our fighters won their matches, and Easton Training Center won the overall team title. We now have eight new state champions! For more about the tournament, check out this article by Coach Sean Madden.

Girls in Gis
On April 27th Easton Training Center – Littleton/Highlands Ranch hosted Girls in Gis. This event was led by Professor Leanna Dittrich and Coach Rossie Snow. Forty-five women and girls from many different academies participated, including some women who had never trained before! The purpose of Girls in Gis is to create a community of women and girls who train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We come together to share technique, learn from each other, and support each other. Women are the minority in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Many times a gym will have one or two women who train, so having 45 on the mat at one time is a rare occurrence. We look to support each other no matter where we train.
During the event we get to see old friends and meet new ones. Then we warm up and split up for technique. Professor Leanna worked with the more advanced group and Coach Rossie worked with the beginner group. After practicing technique there is time for an open mat. The participants can roll, drill, ask questions, or just hang out and enjoy new friends. Having access to so many different women and belts to roll with is exciting. Many times women who attend these events have never even met–much less rolled with–a female black belt.
Jiu Jitsu is a fabulous sport for women for many reasons. It allows them to use technique and leverage to overcome a stronger and larger opponent. Jiu Jitsu also enables you to fight from your back. As a woman, if I end up in a self defense situation, I will probably be smaller than my attacker. Knowing that Jiu Jitsu addresses this gives me great confidence. Many of the Easton locations offer women-only classes. Be sure to check the schedule if you know someone who might be interested!

IBJJF Boca Raton Open
Brian and James went to Florida to compete in the first ever IBJJF Boca Raton Open. Each of them won their divisions, and they closed out the Absolute division.  James submitted four out of five opponents with his famous Omoplata game.

Jake Bell
Last month we had to omit one of our favorite student’s from several announcements for his own protection.  He didn’t know it at the time, but his past was catching up with him.  Luckily, the issue has subsided and we can happily tell you that Jake Bell won his Pan Ams division, and was promoted to Purple belt last month.  Read about Jake’s past and why we needed to protect him.

Kids’ Martial Arts

Check out this video about Dane MillerHass, a 13-year-old Jiu Jitsu student at Easton Training Center Littleton. Dane has won multiple championships, both locally and internationally, and has some cool insights about the value of Jiu Jitsu in his life.

Student Highlight

If you’ve been to the Boulder Academy recently, you’ve probably seen Terrence “Dark Matter” Moore in Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Jiu Jitsu classes. Terrence hails from Texas, and moved to Boulder last year in order to continue training with his long-time coach, Chris Tramell. He started training in kickboxing with Chris in Texas in 2011, and picked up Jiu Jitsu soon after that. Competition has always been a priority for him, and he had his first kickboxing match in St. Louis, MO, in 2012. These days, Terrence is thriving in the Colorado martial arts competition scene. Recently, he won double gold in both his weight division and the open weight division at the Colorado Super Cup BJJ tournament. The very next weekend, he won his weight class at the Colorado Muay Thai Association tournament.