Get ready to grapple

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This article was published 29/12/2022 (1180 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Let’s get ready to grapple.

The Strangle Submission Series is preparing to host 50 athletes from across the country at Brickhouse Gym 24/7 (104 King Edward St. East) on Jan. 7 for the province’s first ever charity grappling event. There will be exhibition freestyle wrestling and judo matches, as well as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) — essentially wrestling with submission holds — tournament. The main card will also feature a five-versus-five team challenge between Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

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Event director Michael Santarsieri, the operations manager at Brickhouse Gym, started BJJ nearly a decade ago and has wanted to organize an event like this for quite some time.

“I love the sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission grappling. I compete all over North America regularly and I just figured Manitoba needed something like this,” Santarsieri said.

“Other provinces do it, there’s a promotion that does it in Saskatchewan a couple times a year. And I thought this would be good opportunity to raise awareness about jiu-jitsu and also give the people in Manitoba the opportunity to compete on a stage that was professional and run properly.”

Santarsieri, 32, didn’t know what the response would be when tickets first went on sale in October, but with a week to spare, the event has already sold 90 per cent of the 350-seat capacity.

“There’s been a lot of growth in Manitoba as a whole. This year for the first time there was a tournament run in Winkler. We have a really good team from Brandon coming out, so the academy there has really grown and I’m happy to be featuring four or five people from Brandon at the event,” Santarsieri said.

“There’s a team from Steinbach coming out as well and a member from The Pas coming to compete. It’s nice to see different people coming to compete and have their gyms represented.”

Santarsieri first began training in BJJ at Gracie Humaita Winnipeg under coach Rodrigo Munduruca. Santarsieri is now an instructor at Socius Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on Waverley Street.

“It’s the fastest growing martial art in the world. I think in five to 10 years it’s going to be a lot bigger than what it is right now. It’s growing tremendously. For mixed martial arts, it’s basically the founding art that founded MMA and made the UFC what it is,” he said.

“But more than just that, it’s exciting to watch and it’s going to be a very unique experience. It’s also going to take place in a boxing ring so it will be elevated above the crowd. And I’m going to have a light show going on, a smoke machine, so it will have a real professional feel to it.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31