JAMES SHII - MALAYSIAN WORLD CHAMPION AT 2018 WORLD MASTER BJJ

Few years back when I started this blog just to keep myself updated with the martial arts scene, I realised that my article can also be a source of inspiration to others. I am glad that the story I write not only able to help promote combat sports events but also to bring spot lights to talents that needs the exposure.

But I must admit, the people I interview I would always dig deeper and try to ask questions about how they overcome personal challenges, the stories they shared in return inspire me too.

When I learnt about James Shii's achievement, I was impressed and wanted to know more.

In August this year, Mr. James Shii became the first Malaysian to win a gold medal in a BJJ World Championship. The event was 2018 World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship. It's the biggest IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) tournament of the year.

Held at las Vegas, USA...the 2018 edition was the 7th. It was introduced in 2012 to cater to the growing demand of competitors over the age of 30. Why the age of 30?..well usually when you reach 30, you are either settling down in your career or already have started a family. Commitment to training usually becomes very hard as you need to divide your time between BJJ, wife, kids & work. 

So anyone that can still compete at a very high level going into their 30s and beyond surely is someone special. This year itself saw over 4000 participants in a humongous event that runs 4 day on 21 mats, with hundreds of top level athletes & plenty of grappling legends from all over the world in attendance.

pix by Graciemag.com

So now that you understand the scale & how prestigious this event is, this is James' achievement, he competed in Master 7 category ( above 60 years old ) - Purple Belt. Winning that gold surely is sweet & special...and to win it at an age when most people would be living a retired life sipping coffee in their favourite coffee shop is certainly amazing.

In the month of the World Master, James celebrated his 62th birthday. Born in the capital of Sarawak, Kuching he moved to Malacca in West Malaysia when he was around 12. 

He is an Accountant by training and currently work as Group Financial Controller for a group of companies that include a PLC and mid-sized property developer.

Warriors of Borneo talk to James to learn about his  BJJ journey.

How did you got started in BJJ? Have you any martial arts experience prior to BJJ? What other sports do you do? What are the achievements in other sports?
I started BJJ 7 years ago and was introduced to it by a good friend who had started BJJ 2 weeks earlier. Before that I learned Chinese Kung-fu for about 7 years. And years before that I did Tai Chi for 5 years. I have always been interested in martial arts. I did play badminton as a sport many years ago. I have not been all that competitive so I have not had any notable achievements in sports.

What do you like about BJJ? How often do you train?
I like BJJ because it is very applicable and effective and I like the emphasis BJJ place on sparring. I believe sparring is a very key component of learning martial art and in this regards I have high regards for boxing, Muay thai, wrestling etc. I train twice a week and make it a point to be as regular as possible. More recently I have increased my training to 3 times a week.

How often did you compete in BJJ? Will you be competing again soon? tell us your competition record.
2018 World Master BJJ is actually my 1st competition. It is not easy to find opponents at my age category. I have not thought of competing again at the moment. 




In The World Masters, how many matches did you have to go through? Tell us about the whole experience participating in World masters? The people, the venue , food, the competition, etc...
I had one fight at the recent Masters. I contemplated taking part in June and got my IBJJF membership accepted end of July. Due to the heavy work load and reporting deadline in August I almost didn’t register for the competition and only decided to sign up on 8 August on the encouragement of my coach Aaron Goh. So I haven’t really had a lot of preparation and only came up with the game plan a week before I left for Las Vegas. 

The World Masters is an amazing experience – the ambience of the venue, the BJJ community people from all over the world, the energy on comp days and the many BJJ superstars gracing the event. Las Vegas is of course unbearably hot in summer with temp reaching almost 110F. 

I am impressed how efficient the whole event was run with about 20 mats and 3000 competitors over the 4-day competition. My match was in the afternoon of the last day. 

celebrating with Aaron & team mates after the win in Las Vegas

At your age, besides BJJ, what is your lifestyle to maintain your fitness? What is your diet like?
I do some cardio and light weights for 1 ½ hours once a week and generally eat a healthy diet like brown rice for dinner and cut out sugar where possible. I am usually in bed by 11.30 pm except for the once a week drink session with the guys. I do take multivitamins, glucosamine with chondroitin and fish oil for joints health, and also citrulline and arginine for heart and better recovery.

What motivates you to train? I believe you train with mostly people younger than you right? Tell us about your gym, your coaches & your training partner.
I do BJJ mainly for the health and self-defence purpose. The people I train with are mostly much younger than me. I am lucky to join one of the oldest and best BJJ gym (Leverage BJJ) in Malaysia and there are many very talented training partners who smashed me week in week out. Thankfully they also don’t go as hard with me. 

My coach is Aaron Goh who is a brown belt. I have very high regards for his knowledge of BJJ and am continuously amazed by the techniques he comes up with every week. Aaron is also really good at breaking down the finer details of the techniques that demonstrates his understand of BJJ.

At your age, you must have seen a lot, be it career wise, family & social life. What is your message for the younger generations of Malaysian.
The younger generation as we know spend way too much time on the internet and their smart phones. I would encourage them to take up sport-related activities that bring them out to the outdoor, promote health and cultivate social skills. I really enjoy the social interactions and comradeship at our gym and I think it is one of the things I look forward to at every class.

Training for 2018 World Masters

James train at Leverage BJJ under coach Aaron Goh.

Aaron first met James 7 years ago and was impress at how a guy at James age was very open minded. Aaron explained that at that time the BJJ community was very small and mostly made up of younger guys, and being the oldest in the group he was impress that James was very willing to learn.

On James competing in World Masters. Aaron explained that as a coach he encourage all his students to compete. 

" It's not about the win or the lose, but because it will make you a better person. The entire process of preparing for a competition will make you a better person. There's no downside to it, win or lost. I've never have a student that compete come to me and say arghhh... Aaron! 
I wish I didn't compete."

Aaron said it was he himself that actually trained for World Masters, in a conversation one night he suggested to James to come along as he believe James have a chance as it's an even playing field for his age bracket. In the World Masters, with the amount of people competiting James would have competitors in his age group compare to competition in Asia where older age group is very rare & participation there usually will ended in James competing in a category with exponents half his age or younger.

As a coach, Aaron says he see potential in everyone whatever their age is. Aaron said James, during training is very technical and one of the most dedicated member of his gym.

In the small knit group that Aaron coach, Aaron believe James is the oldest active BJJ practitioner and even the oldest Purple Belt in Malaysia. Aaron said he don't really take it easy on him, he expect the same technical proficiency from James.

In that sense, as a coach usually Aaron will not pair him up with a hungry younger person whom wanna make his mark in competition, as this will easily leads to injury which at James age takes longer to heal. He would pair James with someone that can push him enough and at the same time both learn from each other.

On this story about James, I couldn't get James to commit in the beginning as he politely decline. 

Aaron felt that James deserve this coverage. 

" He is rather humble and in a way shy and does not felt that the win is a big deal, but at his age and becoming a World Champion is definitely a damn BIG DEAL! "

" He has been one of my strongest supporter since I started my gym and have been very helpful not just to me but also to other fellow team members...for example when we sometimes bring in special Black Belt guest to teach in a seminar, when there's a team member that couldn't afford the fees, Uncle James usually is the first one to step up and offer to pay for him to let him be able to learn and benefit from the seminar. "

Personality wise he finds James as a person with good character, humble and kind, but he doesn't like standing next to him...

" Well because Uncle James is so tall that standing next to him for picture makes me look like a midget! hahaha. 

--------#WRB-----------

Damon Soo (middle)

I will end this story with quotes from James's team mate, Damon Soo- MIMMA two division champion.

"James is actually my cousin in law. I met him when I joined Leverage and he was already a blue belt then. He has been one of my idols since then because despite his age he was and still is very fit and aggressive.

Before the World Masters a number of times I met my uncles and aunties and they would always ask me about James as they know we train in the same gym, they would ask if James really trains BJJ and does it seriously.

I could tell from their questions and remarks that they didn’t believe that he actually trains hard and spars/rolls hard even after I told them he did and that he gives all the younger guys a hard time during sparring/rolling.

He definitely defy the physical limit of people his age. Hence why he is one of my idols and my goal is to be like him when I am at his age."

--------------#WRB------------------


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DAMON SOO BECOMES THE FIRST MALAYSIAN TO WIN MIMMA TITLE IN TWO WEIGHT DIVISION

There’s no denying that the fight game world can be very superficial sometimes. Combat sports is a visual feast where we like to see two fighters go at each other.

As fight fans, a lot of the times we make judgement by the outer appearance. We see some fighters that have a buffed body and wins easily and our mind began making an opinion that he had it easy because he is blessed with good gene and gifted talent. Not knowing the amount of sheer hard work and sacrifices they have to make to achieve success.

One such fighter fights in MIMMA. One look at Damon Soo and he looks like a fitness model who won’t look out of place on a fitness cover mag cover. 


Damon was MIMMA 4 Bantamweight champion. On 30 March 2018, he was crowned MIMMA 5 Featherweight Champion. Thus, becoming the first Malaysian to become MIMMA’s 1st two weight division champion.

As a kid growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Damon had an interest in martial arts & he took up Karate. But after he got into a fight with his brother, his mother stopped his Karate lessons.

As a young adult he attended HELP University College taking a Diploma in Business. His interest in martial arts again surfaced and he tried Wing Chun but then quickly switched to Muaythai. 

It was in 2013 that he watched MIMMA 1. It left a huge impression on him that he made a firm decision to be part of it in season 2. 

He quit his job as a real estate agent and started training full time, enrolling in Leverage BJJ, MEBJJ and Wesgatos Fight School to prepare for MIMMA.

Two years in a row Damon’s MIMMA 2 & 3 journey ended at the quarterfinals. But this loss does not dampened his spirit. With renewed vigour, he made sure he is well prepared for 2016.

Damon takes his preparation very seriously. After stumbling twice in MIMMA, he is more determined to improve on his skills. Towards the end of 2015, he took some personal savings and borrowed some money and flew all the way to Brazil to train in his BJJ coach’s Prof Marcos Escobar team - Nova Uniao (this is also the former UFC featherweight champion Jose Also’s team). Damon trained there for 5 months. 

“Training there was insanely tough as the Brazilians train hard and spar hard as if it's a real fight (I got knocked out once, also fractured my nose and got other injuries during MMA sparring over there). 

The experience of training there definitely improved my MMA game”

Coming back to Malaysia, he put in hours of training to sharpen his skills. MIMMA 4 was his time. In the tournament, he won 4 fights in a row and met Effendy Kalai in the grand finals. It took Damon less than two round to win the bouts via choke to be the new Bantamweight Champion.

Season 4 achievement was certainly hard earned as he went through some tough journey. The biggest challenge was to maintain weight. Walking around at 73kg, Damon had to cut to 61kg for all his fight in featherweight. 

cutting weight is pain in the butt but necessary evil

Then it was dealing with multiple injuries, not just from the fight itself but also from training as Damon always go hard during sparring. One of the injuries was a cut below his eyes. It got worst when it was infected. Damon had to bear with it as he took.

MIMMA 4 Championship belt firmly on his waist

"In season 4, I almost gave up a number of times because of the big weight cuts and injuries I sustained before the Contenders and Grand Finals fight. 

Because of all that, the sweet victory will definitely be remembered by me for life;

it proved to me that success will follow with hard work, perseverance and sacrifices."

In 2017, Damon actually planned to take a break and focus on his BJJ by training more and also compete more in grappling, but there was too little local BJJ comp. Most comp are out of Malaysia and it was costly for him to travel often.

The idea of winning another weight division in MIMMA appeal to Damon, because if he succeeds, he will go down in history as the 1st fighter to do so. Furthermore season 4 new league format intrigue him as it present an opportunity to keep active.

“The desire to compete more frequently was the drive and the motivation was the prize of being able to be the first Malaysian to become MIMMA champion in two different weight categories.”


But Damon’s season 5 plan did not start well. He was experiencing headaches and feeling tired most of the time. Worried, he went to had it check. When league 1 started, the medical results was not back yet and Damon had to miss it.

It was a huge relief for Damon when the results came back and proof that he is in perfect health. So he confirmed his participation for MIMMA 5, this time in featherweight to avoid the stress of cutting weight as the new league format requires fighter to fight 9 months in a row from league 1 to grand finals).

At start of the league, looking at the featherweight pool, Damon was confident that he can win it, the real challenge was keeping himself healthy and injury free throughout season 5. But that was tall order, he was injured but he fought through it.

By league 2 he was ready, but his opponent pulled out. He won league 3 & 4 by submission. Dropped league 5 as he sustained a knee injury. League 6 again his opponent pulled out. League 7 & the semis, he came out victorious both times via arm-lock. 

winning in league 3

winning in league 4

Damon win all his league fights and the semis by submission. This was part of the plan even though he trains equally hard in striking. The plan was to bring the fight to the ground to avoid injuries. Standing and striking puts himself at a higher risk of injuries as anyone can get a lucky shot when trading blows but, on the ground it’s all about skills.

“For the finals I felt comfortable with striking more because even if I get any injuries its already the last fight anyway so I can take time off to recover."

"I wanted to showcase my striking and prove to everyone that I am not just a one-dimensional MMA fighter who is only deadly on the ground but also dangerous standing up.”






Though Damon won MIMMA 5 featherweight title in record time, but season 5 was a tougher journey compare to season 4. On paper his medical results showed that he was fine. But he does not feel so right inside. The headaches were gone but he couldn’t shake off the fatigue. He sometimes gets rashes on his chest.

“I had to drink lots coffee to push myself through training and on sparring days I would get punished and eat a lot of strikes or get taken down hard as I was not 100%. 

I guess because of this, I suffered a lot of injuries too.”

Physical challenges he can overcome, what really affected him was the mental challenges.

Started when his grandmother in Ipoh fell sick. She called him during his training. Damon promise to return call but forgot all about it. Little did he know that it was the last he got to talk to her as she pass away shortly after; making Damon felt very guilty. He was focusing on his training so much that he didn’t have the time to travel back to Ipoh to visit her when she was sick, and he didn’t expect her condition to worsen so fast.

The guilt seriously affected him mentally and causes him to be bulimic. He ate a lot to comfort himself but afterward vomit it all out again. This problem persist during his league matches and he was considering pulling out a number of time.

remembering his beloved grandmother

“The one time that I seriously made up my mind to give up was 2 weeks before the grand finals but Aaron Goh managed to talk me out of it.”

Aaron Goh his BJJ coach in MEBJJ Academy is truly a pillar of strength for Damon.

“He isn't just a BJJ coach to me but he is like an older brother I never had before. 

I don't talk to people about my problems but I do talk to him and ask for advice. I believe to him I am also the younger brother he never had, he is always there for me, ready to guide, advice or help." 

clelebrating a win with Aaron Goh

"Character wise, Aaron is the same as I. He doesn't like to share with others his problems but he shares his problems with me. 

I guess it’s only natural that we are very close as we see each other 6 days a week.”

Ask on who impressed him most in this season's featherweight.

“Johan performed beyond my expectation. I didn't expect him to win all his fights and also winning it all by finishes and not decision. 

I thought I would be facing Joseph in the finals not Johan.”

Damon took us through his MIMMA 5 grand finals bout with Johan.

“My game-plan of standing up was to set up with my hands and throw a lot of leg kicks to cause damage and mess up his footwork." 

"Also I have watched/studied his last fight and knew that his guard on top was quite open so I knew I could land on top too if I could close the distance. 

During the fight I was focusing on closing the distance. I did some real damage when I countered his jab cross with a right body hook, left hook and right hook to the top but he managed to moved out around the cage and recover though I was on him. 

When we got back to the center of the cage, this was when I felt that I could go in and throw the overhand right which landed and dropped him to the ground.”

As Johan fell on the canvas, like a panther on a hunt, Damon pounced on him and unleased ground and pound. Seeing enough ref Olivier Coste stop the fight at round 1 0:49 sec. 

featherweight belt presented by Ayob of Potosan Corner (VENUM)

“ I have a lot of people to thank for my achievements. My coaches Aaron Goh, Wes Jaya, Alex Gym, Pourya Moradi, Joseph Lee."

flank by Aaron Goh (L) & Wes Jaya (R)

"My whole team from Leverage BJJ, Malaya Boxing, Alex Gym, Team X Fight Academy. 
Cheah Wen Khyn and Shammah my main and most consistent MMA sparring partners. Horng Yaw from Team X for always helping me with weight cuts."

On Damon's right, Cheah Wen Khyn & Shammah

"My sponsors Rendezbrew, Acai Lab, Finix Muay Thai, Aesthetic, Soluxe Protein." 

Fuel for the champion

"Also my head coach Marcos Escobar for always believing in me and giving me the opportunity to train in Nova Uniao, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The experience was really unforgettable and made me improved a lot as a fighter both mentally and physically." 

Prof Marcos Escobar celebrating Damon's MIMMA4 championship victory

"And sifu Kenneth Lam for letting us use his gym to do MMA sparring as his gym has padded walls and is perfect for MMA sparring.”

On what he thinks about MIMMA 5 league format
“I think the league format is good for fighters to gain more fights and experience as win or lose they still will get to fight a number of times. 

However, I think the amount of rest time in between fights need to be increase as fighting once per month for 9 fights takes too much out of a fighter's body. More time is needed to recover and avoid injuries." 

Stretching is an important routine for Damon for recovery of sore muscles

"Also, I feel that for the champions it is a bit unfair that they don't get to defend their belt anymore and they have to start from the bottom again if they want to be champions again.”

Currently turning pro is not on his mind as he noticed that pro MMA fighters in Malaysia does not get paid that much, unless they get a huge sponsor. What is on his mind is to able to cope financially for his own training, supplements, food and injuries treatment. 

To celebrate his victory of MIMMA 5, Damon and team mates went for a simple meal in a café. To them the job is still not done yet as they still have another hill to climb in Copa da Malasia Grappling comp in April.

Damon in 2017's Copa Da Malasia

Getting to know what Damon went through gave me a newfound respect for him and our other local fighters. The amount of hard work they go through, the sacrifices they have to make, even at amateur competition level are something we all should keep in mind when watching them fight. What we see for 3 or 5 rounds is the culmination of weeks & months of preparing the body and mind for battle.

Athletes like Damon Soo are the ones going through hardship to step in the cage, perform to their best abilities to give us all an entertaining fight to watch. They are truly warriors.

Warriors of Borneo salute Damon and all the MIMMA fighters!