BBC Member and brand new BJJ Yellow Belt Michael “Mouth” Garlington continues his success in national level grappling tournaments. This time it was at the NAGA Rhode Island. Mouth won 3 straight matches to capture 1st place and the championship belt in the 12-13 years old nogi expert division.
Mouth’s been competing all over the country this year with great results. Winning in Rhode Island is a nice start to the summer time season of grappling tournaments.
What’s even more impressive is that Mouth only has 20 months of training under his belt and he’s already winning the very highest level kids division available. These divisions feature other kids with 10+ years of training!
Lately people have been asking me about the success Mouth’s been having and reasons behind it. I’ll tell you what I tell them; He’s successful because he sets high goals and then works extremely hard to achieve them. His work ethic is second to none and he routinely outworks everyone in the training room.
I’ve pretty much gotta force him off the mats and make him go home. This kind of work ethic is hard to come by. But those willing to train like this are more often then not the ones who make it to the top of the hill.
I’m not shocked one bit to see him doing so well and I predict more championships in the near and far future.
I should also point out that Mouth owes a lot to his amazing support system which includes Mom Sarah “Darts” and Dad Jonathan “Wolf” Garlington as well as younger brother Sean aka “Ladies Man”.
So yea, the little Tomato Can made out well in Rhode Island. Another great victory and the journey goes on. The road to black belt is long and only gets tougher, but I’m not worried about Mouth because unlike most kids, the tougher it is the more he likes it 🙂
Congrats again to Mouth! Below are some photos from the event.
