LUTA LIVRE SEMINAR at KMMA 26 OCT 2016

When we talk about submission grappling most of us here in Borneo or Malaysia will be more familiar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But there's a another martial arts style that focus on grappling called Brazilian Luta Livre. It means wrestling in Portugal. That said, the term Luta translates to 'fight' and Livre translates to 'free'. Therefore, loosely the term means 'free fighting'. It is a complete Brazilian martial art, which is primarily a mixture of Catch wrestling and Judo.

The biggest distinction to a layman is that BJJ practitioner wears a Gi and BLL exponents don't. But when it comes to style, both arts share many similar moves, but adapting it differently due to the fact that BLL does not practice with Gi at all.

You can learn more about Luta Livre here, click on the link below
http://martialarts.about.com/od/styles/a/lutalivre.htm
http://thepoc.net/index.php/afonso-cego-brings-brazilian-luta-livre-to-the-philippines/

Last night at Keningau MMA (KMMA), a Brazilian Luta Livre seminar was conducted by Antonio Battistessa of Sabah Top Team and head instructor of BLL Malaysia and Afonso Cego , head instructor of BLL Asia Pacific Union (APU )

Founder of KMMA, Mohd Bakri was very glad that two of the top BLL instructor in this region were willing to go to Keningau to conduct this seminar. Bakri himself a blue belt under Anotonio said it is really a rare occasions and Keningau martial arts enthusiast are very fortunate for this opportunity, as most of the time such seminar is only available in Kota Kinabalu or other big cities.

Bakri (right) testing out some of the techniques being taught

Deadpool and Iron Man spotted in Keningau practicing Luta Livre

26 people attended the seminar, including a representative from the new Innovation Gym in Lahad Datu. According to Bakri, this seminar not only introduce to new comers what is submission grappling and gave them knowledge of self defense but at the same time fine tune and improve techniques of existing fighters, some of which will be competing in Fight fest 3 this weekend at Suria Sabah.

KMMA will be sending 6 participants to compete in MMA and 2 for K1 Kickboxing in Fight Fest 3

In conjunction with Fight Fest 3, the organiser has also arrange for a free BLL seminar:

Date: 28 OCT 2016 (FRIDAY) Venue: SURIA SABAH MALL Time: 7pm.

The head instructor of APU, Afonso Celso “Cego” dos Santos Silva Jr. is a 36-year-old mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete and grappler from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who came to Manila to introduce BLL. Afonso, who represents Academia Budokan – RJ , received his Luta Livre black belt from Joao Ricardo, is, a legendary figure of the sport in Brazil.

Afonso now resides in Manila. It was through Antonio's invitation to Aries Supremo, a Filipino Aikido master to come to Sabah for a BLL seminar conducted by Afonso that the connection was made to pave way for Afonso to further expand BLL in Philipines.

Afonso Cego

Antonio himself is a BLL brown belt. He is BLL head instructor for Malaysia. Antonio runs his own gym in Kota Kinabalu - Sabah Top Team (STT). He is a well known figure in the local martial arts scene. You can see him conducting muaythai demo in MIMMA and also regularly officiating fights as referee or judge.

Antonio Battistessa

He is now busy preparing his team for Fight Fest 3. STT will be sending 8 athlete to compete in grappling, MMA & Kickboxing. Warriors of Borneo manage to catch up with him out of his busy schedule for an interview.

Please click here to read the interview.

FIGHT FEST 3 - JOEL VS HASBULLAH (MMA Flyweight Superfight)

Fight Fest 3 will be bigger this year, as it combines not only fights ( grappling, K1 and MMA ) but also activities from the gaming scene (Cosplay & Console Games). There will also be trade booth from sponsors and retailers from the combat sports and gaming industry displaying and promoting their products.

The highly anticipated fight for MMA will be Joel Nickolson Lawrence (Sabah Top Team) vs ( Md Hasbullah Sanmin) in the Flyweight category. Both are looking to capitalised on weight advantage by cutting from Bantamweight. 

Joel is an ethnic Sabahan Dusun from Tambunan. He attended Sandakan Vocational College and came to KK to further his studies. Active in Taekwondo since young, he represented Sabah in national level competition and also in the MOHE-UMS International Taekwondo Fiesta. 

Joel also does some coaching of Taekwondo under Courage Martial Arts Club. But to continue fighting competitively he began to look for an MMA gym to widen his repertoire, and found Sabah Top Team. Coming from TaeKwonDo background, with a 3rd degree black belt, his footwork is his main weapon. But he has add on wrestling and Luta Livre grappling into his arsenal through the guidance of coach Antonio Battistessa.

With coach Antonion ( center) 

This year was he first attempt at MIMMA. And Joel did well and progress to Semi-Finals where he met eventual bantamweight Champion Damon Soo. He lost the fight by submission as his injured knee disable him to counter fast enough.

After a month of rest he signed up for Jesselton Fight League and fought Australian Nathan Hynes, winning by a front choke in round 2. ( check out his JFL fight here below)

Joel acknowledge that Hasbullah is a tough opponent. But he has come well prepared. He is polishing his ground game with Antonio Battistessa with more complicated Luta Livre move and brushing up on his kicks and boxing. Joel is confident that wherever the fight go, ground or stand up, he can dominate.

Md Hasbullah Sanmin, created an impact in 2015. In Sept 2015, He fought in Fight Fest 2 in Citymall. Competing in the Bantamweight super 4, he convincing win with great submission techniques to emerge as champion.

In Jesselton Fight League (JFL) Semi-finals match he went against the odds by winning vs the highly touted Ahmadjon Karimov from Gymbox Kuching. Hasbullah then progress to the grand finals in Oct 2015, and fought a crazy round of war vs Sabahan muaythai specialist, Dean Hamsah to emerge as the winner for the Bantamweight belt.

Then he further add to his collection the medals of Bantamweight champion from Borneo Amateur Challenge - Labuan in Jan 2016.

Hasbullah's journey in MIMMA was not as successful as in season 3, he stumbled in the ladder match, but this year he manage to reach semi-finals. Hasbullah explained that in Season 3, his lack of grappling skills was the cost of his lost.

But after that lost, he focus on his ground game, learning earnestly BJJ from Allen Solomon Chong and Luta Livre from his coach at that time Mohd Bakri of Keningau MMA, he also took seminar of Luta Livre from Coach Antonio Battistessa of Sabah Top Team.



The improvement of his ground game is significant as can be seen from his victory in JFL, and Fight Fest 2. Even though he manage to improve on his MIMMA journey this year, but Hasbullah was not really happy with his performance. As this year he has venture out on his own. He now is in charge of Team karabaw Keningau branch.

Setting up the Karabaw branch, coaching and recruiting new members took up much of his time and he didn't have the time to train for his own fight. But now that Karabaw Keningau is up and running, Hasbullah have more time to focus on himself.

He promise that the old Hasbullah will be back and will put up a show for fight fans to enjoy.

COme and watch Joel vs Hasbullah. It's going to be a action pack weekend , don't miss out Fight Fest 3 at Suria Sabah.

Borneo Amateur Challenge 2 - The Review

For the tiny island of Labuan, the oil and gas (O&G) industries and offshore banking is the catalyst for vibrant business for hotels, entertainment, retail & food business. But in recent months, Labuan is going through doldrums as oil price has been down for months and these affected the industries which reduce the amount of workers and affect the spending power of existing workers.

Fortunately there is sports tourism to contribute to the economy of Labuan. It was good to see over 70 fighters converged here on 4-5 June 2016. Fighters and their team came from all over Sabah and Brunei. This was for Borneo Amateur Challenge 2 (BAC2). Organized by Borneo Combat Gym (BCG) at their state of the art gym. (read about my previous post about BCG here).

BAC2 is not only a fight tournament featuring International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) sanctioned MMA & K1 Kickboxing, but also a referee course. The first one was in Jan 2016. For this 2nd installment, 74 fighters from 15 martial arts clubs and gym participated for the tournament and 8 sign up for the referee course. Compare to the 1st one - 54 fighters & 5 for referee course.

Team Karabaw emerged as the top winner going back with 4 gold and 1 silver. Followed by the newly formed Kinabalu Kings with a hauled of 3 gold and 3 silver. Brunei’s sole representative-ADN secured 3rd placing with 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Host BCG took fourth placing with 2 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze; which also makes them the team that won the most medals, 11 altogether.

Medals tally

Team Karabaw United

Kinabalu Kings

Borneo Combat Gym

Kinabalu Fighters

Tomoi Labuan

Keningau MMA

Borneon Tigers

Revolution Gym

D-30 Muaythai

The tournament was well organized and it went smooth. The facility at BCG Labuan is also top notch with a separate cage and boxing ring for both MMA & Kickboxing matches. The gym was wide enough to accommodate the crowds. It is also comfortable as natural sea breeze blew in as its located on the 5th floor of Labuan Time Square building. The height also provides an amazing view of Labuan harbor.

Alvin Chong, founder of BCG and also representative of ISKA for Borneo said that one of the objective of this tournament is to introduce more people to the ISKA referee course. He is happy that there is an increased in participants for the referee course.

As more and more tournaments are organized in this region, there’s an urgent need of more qualified referees and judges. Organizers can save cost by hiring local officials compare to bringing them in from West Malaysia.

The course offered is for level C, which covers the basic theory and learning of the rules and regulations. Participants go through a lot of practical session with lots of role play. On fight day itself, participants are put into a real fight; this is to ensure that they can perform well under pressure. All this under the watchful eye of Master Khoo Meng Yang of TNT Kickboxing ; whom is the ISKA representative for South East Asia. The experienced Master Khoo sets a very high standard for his students. During fight day he will monitor the performance of his students and will give instructions as when needed from cage / ring side. Safety of fighters is always the top priority as Master Khoo emphasize this point earnestly to his students all the time.

Qualified officials that pass the course will receive their Level C certificate and are able to be judge/referee for amateur fights. The cost of the course is RM1200. For next level which is Level B, which will enable them to be judge/referee in amateur / pro fights at national level. For international events, officials will need Level A certificate.

They are still no Level B qualified officials in this region. To qualify for Level B course, Level C officials need to clock in at least 16 hours of fights and appointed as chief judge 3 times.

Alvin aspires to see that all the gym in this region send at least one representative to go for the referee course. This will indirectly improve the standard of fight as more gym will have their own in-house qualified referee to advice their members on how to score and win.

To Alvin, this referee course offers MMA as it’s the fastest growing sports in the world today; but sometimes crowd/spectator does not understand the ground game aspect of MMA and felt it’s boring to watch fighters grapple. Stand up fight provide much actions and in Malaysia Muaythai is the more established one; however not every fighters especially those from other martial arts discipline are able to fight following full Muaythai rules. Hence K1 Kickboxing can be a great platform for all different type of traditional stand-up martial arts such as TaeKwon-Do, Karate, Kung Fu, Silat, Muaythai to fight with a common rules set that is easy to follow and which allows fast pace action.
(Read more on the difference of Kickboxing and Muaythai here)

According to him, in-fact Sabah has become a pioneer for K1 as last year Fight Fest held 2 successful K1 Kickboxing events. In April this year, STAND with 146 fighters for Kickboxing, becoming the biggest tournament yet for kickboxing event in Malaysia.

More K1 Kickboxing action coming as STAND will continue in September and November and Fight Fest 3 in October, which means a really busy time for qualified referees. D-30 Muaythai from Miri has pass the course in BAC2 and this will be good for development of Kickboxing in Sarawak.

I also managed to catch up with Mohd Bakri of Keningau MMA (KMMA) on his team's participation in BAC2

Hi Matt, can you name me KMMA's full team for BAC2
Coach : Mohamad Bin Bakri, CornerMan : Mohd. Sharil
Fighters :
1. Writh Kataposan (Gold 60kg MMA.
2. Johari Aliakbar, (Bronze 70kg MMA)
3. Ericcory Lovejoy Akisin (Silver 70kg MMA)
4. Cheung Tien Loong (Bronze 52kg K1)

This is KMMA 2nd participation in BAC, how was the outcome compare to the 1st one? 

For BAC1 we only send 1 fighter only, and for this BAC2, we send 4 fighters, 3 for MMA & 1 for K1. So far I'm very proud with their achievement and they really did their best during their fight.

Please share about what you find is positive about BAC2.
BAC2 gives an opportunity for fighters to show their skills from what they have learned during training. It also gives opportunity for the fighters to learn something new and also for them to improve and add on their fight record.

Anything you felt need to improve? 

So far so good. I'm actually very impressed with their teamwork that make the event successful.

Usually does KMMA sponsor fighters to join competition, or basically fighters pay the travelling & accommodation on their own?

It depends. Sometimes we work hard to find our own sponsors, but if there is no sponsors, we will used our own money to cover the cost of food expenses and accommodation.

Usually the trainee that goes thru the ref course on Friday will be given a practical session in the competition day, what is your opinion on this?

I do not quite agree with this, if they only become as an observers it is still acceptable, but if they become ref during competition, the quality of the ref will be disputed.

What do you think of the ref standard in BAC 1 & 2? 

I am not involved with BAC1 so I don't really have any comments, but for BAC2, I think that the ref should be given more exposure before becoming ref during real competition to avoid any problems. But overall, they have done a very good job during the BAC2.

How do you find the facilities in BCG? 

Very good, complete and I think it is the largest gym compared with the gym in Kota Kinabalu.

For BAC2, what do you think of the quality of fights?

The quality of the fight was very good, every fighters trained hard for this and did their best during the fight.

What do you think of Labuan?
Labuan is a fascinating place, although we only had time to visit in the urban areas, ( since there is not enough time). In terms of tourist attractions, I personally think that Labuan should have more relaxed oriented waterfront seaside outlets.

How do you think Coach Alvin of BCG has done right for BCG and BAC?
A very successful effort shown by Coach Alvin in promoting the art of Muaythai, Kickboxing and MMA. We can see that he is very successful when he established BCG Labuan with advanced facilities and I'm sure that it is the largest gym compared to the gym located in Kota Kinabalu. He's success can really inspired others.

KMMA is located in Keningau and always have to travel out from there for competition, how do you feel about this?
We do see this as a challenge, but if you want to be successful, you need to sacrifice time and effort and travelling cost. We try to join any event that we can.

KMMA lately is also very active in running events...is this part of the training for your fighers?

Yes, you can say that. Besides exposing things to them, this can also instill their courage, determination and spirit. Plus, it can also improve their breathing for their fights.

  

Come STAND with me

The sun is setting and its ray strike your face but you are not bothered coz you got your shades on. Breeze from South China Sea sweeps your hair as the smells of smoked meat aroused your appetite. Hand on a cold drink, you move your feet on the soft, loose sands as your hearts thumps to the beats from a 3ft speaker. As the sky turns darks,… the sound of bell ring and the crowds roar to life as the attention shifts towards a ring where two warriors are throwing bombs at each other.

Where is this you ask? Phuket? Bali? No people…it’s K.K. (Kota Kinabalu)! Yup, right here in the heart of Sabah Borneo. Bringing to you … STAND. A new concept of fight event in Malaysia, where it will combine the action of boxing and Kickboxing with the excitement of a beach party.

STAND will happen on 22-24 April at the stunning resort of NEXUS Karambunai, just ½ hour drive from KK. This award winning beach resort that has seen many international functions being held at it’s sprawling 65 acres beachfront landscape. When STAND happens there this April it will be the 1st fight event with a beach party concept in Malaysia.

STAND will feature amateur boxing and K1 Kickboxing. Co-organised by 2 of Sabah’s top martial arts gym, namely; Team Karabaw and Keningau MMA (KMMA), with the collaboration with Kaza Musa Fight management .

According to Rayner Kinsiong (Team Karabaw’s founder cum STAND’s event director) STAND will feature boxing & K1 Kickboxing matches. Both at amateur level. Rayner sees that boxing is the least promoted fight sports in Sabah currently and he hopes STAND can be a platform for amateur boxer to build their fight experience. As for K1 Kickboxing, it may not be as well known as Muaythai in Sabah but it’s an upcoming martial sports that is gaining popularity due to its fast pace action.

STAND will open up lots of category for boxing & kickboxing and will be held over 3 days. For K1 Kickboxing 11 category for men and 5 for women will be competed. Meanwhile boxing will have 10 category for men & 3 for women. Day 1 will be registration, weighing in and photo shoot for fighters and team. Day 2 will see fights for all preliminary rounds and day 3 will feature finals rounds to determine the champion. Winners will be bringing back cash prizes and medals.

Fight Five is the sponsor for fight gear. This is a new high quality local Malaysian brand and it will be making its debut in a fight event at STAND. Fight Five apparel will also be available soon, with fantastic design from New York designer....witness it for yourself at STAND.

The organizer is looking forward to large participations by team. For their convenience of accommodation, venue sponsors NEXUS Karambunai is giving a special rate of RM288 per night for any team. Team with most medals collected will get to bring home a big a$$ challenge trophy!

The organizers hope to bring great fight action in the ring to entertain fight fans but around the ring too will be many entertaining activities. Auto and bike show has been planned to satisfied motor-heads. Food and drinks will also be available with a menu focus on BBQ dishes. And of course, DJ’s will be in the house to spin you all the entertaining beats.

STAND’s fight night beach party is inspired by BBQ Beatdown organized monthly by Tiger Muay Thai (TMT) in Phuket. TMT is the No.1 fight gym in Thailand and has produced many top fighters in Muaythai & MMA. Foreigners from around the globe especially westerners flock to TMT as the training is facilities is top notch, great trainers and also the lure of the beach party. Even in Bali now a few fight gym has been set up as they see the success of Phuket drawing in serious fighters and also lots of casual fighters and fitness enthusiast.

STAND wants to replicate the mood in BBQ Beatdown, where fighters can fight and build their fight experience, at the same time his team can stay at the resort for a weekend getaway. Casual fight fans can enjoy watching fights and enjoy a beach party at the same time.

This could be a potential new segment for tourism in Sabah. Rayner was one of the trainer in Amazing Borneo package of tour for Sabah where tourist can come & enjoy the many outdoor adventure activities in Sabah such as climbing Mt Kinabalu, water rafting, scuba diving, jungle trekking and they add in training with ONE Championship fighters which include AJ Pyro and Ann Osman. With this concept from STAND,
I believe Sabah can also be successful in fight tourism. We have great beautiful beaches and resorts in Sabah. Bringing the fights to these amazing places and throw in a great party, this could be a great recipe to boost tourism in Sabah.

Let's get to know the sponsors, giving them the support as without their support we will not be able to watch STAND for free.

STAND is brought to us by Borneo MajuBina ( BMB ). BMB has been strong supporter of martial arts event. BMB also help support JFL and Team Karabaw grand participation in Ultimate Beatdown 17 in Johor Bahru. Warriors of Borneo had a quick chat with Hisham Michael, the CEO of Borneo Majubina.

May I know your role in Borneo MajuBina (BMB)
I am one of three directors in the company. The other two is Aidil Zakuan and Mustaqim.

BMB play a big role in Team Karabaw & JFL...why does BMB chooses to support martial arts?
Me and Rayner Kinsiong used to go way back to the good old Karate days where we used to compete along side in State and National events. Martial arts gave me the proper structure to be the person I am today. And I'd like to give the younger generations an opportunity to build their character whether competing in this sport or in fighting for their career in the same way Karate has given me the opportunity too.

What is BMB's main business? Can you please give the readers some background on BMB?
BMB is actually a construction company, we've been around since 2011. Our aim is to give our clients the best in comfort and ease that our projects are completed in the best possible manner whether it is a school project, government quarters, government offices etc. Our second aim is to bring up young locals that are interested to pursue their career in the construction industry by giving them the opportunity to handle every aspects of this very tough market.

What do you hope to achieve through STAND?
The same way we in BMB are giving the opportunity to young locals to pursue their career in the construction industry, the same way we hope to achieve in the martial arts industry. We hope to be a part of building our younger generations that will eventually be an asset to our society.

When did the idea for a beach party and fights came about?
My team and Rayner had a discussion at a mamak shop in 88 Market in Kepayan. The best ideas come out of teh tarik and roti canai session. We were discussing on how for us to make it interesting enough for the younger crowds to get involved in martial arts, hence the beach party theme event came about.



ELITEZ MMA is also a sponsors for STAND. ELITEZ MMA is the 1st MMA gym in Klang Selangor. It is headed by Andy 'The Bullet' Teh, a pro MMA fighter and recently starred in local chinese movie FIST of PASSION. Sabahan Effendy Kalai & Eddey Kalai of The Kalai Borthers Boxing is also a part of ELITEZ MMA team of coaches.

Andy Teh with the Kalai Brothers

Another sponsors is from the interior of Sabah, Keningau, the land of the legendary Murut warriors. This is where Keningau MMA ( KMMA ) is located. Headed by it's head coach Mohd Bakri, KMMA has produced a JFL bantamweight Champion 2015 in Mohd Hasbullah Sanmin. Find out more on KMMA in my previous posting here.

WARRIORS OF BORNEO supports STAND as a pioneer in fight tourism, fight fans let’s support this together and make it a success. Come and enjoy great fights and good food. Entrance is FREE!
This possibly is a first step for Sabah to be on the map for fight tourism. Let’s have fun and create history!

Check out STAND's Facebook for further updates, or call Rayner Kinsiong 013-888 8379 for further infor.