Last night was special for us here at Ivey League Mixed Martial Arts. Master Danny Ives promoted Michael “Mouth” Garlington and Madeleine “WikiFish” Avila to the rank of yellow belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
For those not in the know, getting a yellow belt from Master Danny is a really big deal. We only have 7 kids who’ve made it to this rank out of close to 1000. It’s a rare sight to see and we’re happy to have had so many friends and students in attendance.
Before the promotion Master Danny gave a very touching speech regarding what it takes to be the best in anything you do. That and how anything worthwhile in life will require lots of hard work, sacrifice and plain old sheer grit.
CONGRATS to both Mouth and WikiFish. Words can’t express how happy we are for you kids. To see them come as far as they have, from white to now yellow belt, it’s truly something special.
Both kids not only excel in the practice room but also out in the field, in open grappling tournaments across the nation.
Mouth is one of the most active kids competing in the USA today. In fact he’s just coming back from winning the expert division at the PA Naga last weekend, something very few kids can ever do.
WikiFish is no push over either. She’s the defending Pan Kids Champion, having won the gold medal in 2013. A title in which she came out of nowhere to capture. Pan Kids is considered the toughest kids grappling tournament in the world and to do what she did is pretty amazing.
Now that they’ve reached this new level the party can’t stop now! Next week both kids leave for California to compete in the 2014 Pan Kids Tournament.
It won’t be easy to win the gold out west but then again, these aren’t the kind of kids who shy away from a challenge. They’ve got no problem battling for it, that is after all, the Ivey League MMA Way. They fit our mold just fine 😉
