Nyjah Easton won three different advance divisions including the women’s open weight no gi division while placing 2nd in the women’s open weigh gi division.

Beginning with the women’s no gi advance lightweight division, Nyjah immediately executed a successful leg reap takedown on her opponent gaining two points. Landing in half guard Nyjah passes the guard and takes the full mount. Just as quickly as she mounted she immediately goes for a triangle from the top. After the triangle is fully locked in she rolls to he back and works the submission. After about 45 seconds her opponent taps. Awarding Nyjah her win.

Nyjah second division is the women’s No gi open weight division. Her first opponent comes in weighing 146 lbs. and is a stable wrestler. As the match begins Nyjah immediately pulls guard to avoid the take down. Working for sweep points, Nyjah manages to take her opponent down using her famous “Eiffel tower” technique. Going straight to mount Nyjah begins working for the submission. Working for her prior submission Nyjah is able to triangle her opponent from the top. She rolls to her back and immediately submits her opponent.

Nyjah’s second match in the no gi open weight class she was faced with a young lady around the same weight who reputation is know to be a “very aggressive” fighter. After pulling guard Nyjah is able to lock the triangle up. Pulling her opponents head down to secure the submission she is slammed. After her opponent is warned they continue the match. Nyjah is able to sweep her opponent to the mount and finishes her with an Ezekiel choke.

Nyjah’s Next division is the women’s purple belt and above gi division. During her first match she is able to gain the take down, landing in the guard she passes to mount and finishes with the Ezekiel choke. Nyjah’s second match in the women’s purple belt and above she pulls guard and walks her legs up for the triangle. She then grips her opponent’s gi and finishes with the cross choke.

CONGRADULATIONS TO NYJAH EASTON ON HER WIN’S AT THE NAGA NATIONALS!

East Coast Grappling Championships III 9/30/06It was a banner day for Team Lloyd Irvin, as every established competitor won his division, and a group of newcomers stepped up and showed that they will be making their marks in tournaments to come. On the last weekend in September, the third incarnation of the East Coast Grappling Championship was held at The Showplace in Richmond, VA. Fresh off her bronze medal showing at the Mundial (World Championships) in Brazil, Nyjah Easton would be facing off against Yael (Balance Studios) in a women’s grappling superfight in the evening, but the main tournament took place during the day.

The advanced no-gi divisions saw a lot of good action on the day. In the flyweight division, Mike Easton prepared for the Abu Dhabi trials by defeating all of his opponents in impressive fashion, including the always-tough Yamasaki black belt, Dave Jacobs.

The lightweight division featured Ryan Hall, who would choke his first opponent completely unconscious with a triangle set up from the rubber guard before going on to finish his second opponent with a triangle, as well. With these two, as well as a triangle to win his purple belt division, Ryan’s triangle submission count climbed to 132.

The welterweight division was taken by Seph Smith, who submitted his only opponent via a slickly set-up reverse heel hook from the butterfly guard.

The gi divisions would go much as the no-gi, with Mike Easton, Seph Smith, Julius Park, Ryan Hall, and Lenny Maggio all winning their respective divisions. The purple belt open class was closed out by four Lloyd Irvin members (Shin Kim, Julius Park, Seph Smith, Ryan Hall), and Elkridge, MD Lloyd Irvin affiliate, 88 BJJ’s Malcolm Vaughn, took the blue absolute crown.

In the white belt divisions, Nia, Chris, Angelico, Dale, and many others impressed, winning a number of matches and closing out their divisions.

The star of the evening for Team Lloyd Irvin was Nyjah Easton, as she participated in her first no-gi superfight against a very tough opponent in Yael Young. Two of the most active female competitors in the country, their match lived up to its billing as it went down to the wire. After an early takedown by Yael, Nyjah was able to hit a sweep, coming on top. At the end of regulation, the score was 2-2 with an advantage for each competitor. The referee decided in Nyjah’s favor, as her aggressiveness gave her the edge in this extremely tight match. Congratulations to both ladies for stepping up and representing well, and a special congratulations to Nyjah for picking up another big win against a top opponent as she prepares to battle the best female grapplers that America has to offer for a spot in the ADCC World Championships.

Overall, it was a good tournament, and an excellent warm-up for the upcoming Grapplers Quest on October 14th and 15th. Be sure to keep an eye on Mike Easton, who will be representing Team Lloyd Irvin in the North American Abu Dhabi Trials, and Ryan Hall, who will be all over the country, matching up against the best competition available over the next few months.

Anyone who has attended the east coast tournaments know “Iron” Mike Atkin - probably from the medal stand. For the last few years, he has dominated the Masters & Seniors divisions locally and earned his nickname, not only for his “old-man” strength but also for his iron vise on the division. What people don’t know that Mike Atkin probably should be dead.
Approximately three years ago, Mike was in a car accident which left him with a broken neck and a long stay at the hospital. The paramedics even told the other driver that Mike probably would not survive. Well, he did.

Mike credits God and grappling for his survival. Strong neck muscles, built from years of exercise, minimzed the damage to his spine and gave him a second chance. He applied the work-ethic developed from competitive grappling to his recovery, diligently exercising and > slowly working. He later told me that this was when he realized how much time he had wasted in his youth and that whatever he wanted to accomplish, he had to do 100%.

And so Mike began focusing on his dream of becoming a World Champion. Although he lives an hour away from the gym, he attended every practice. He sat down with the coaches and planned out a competitive schedule so he would be ready for Brazil. Master Lloyd Irvin ran him through special practices, simulating different situations so he would be ready for anything. And he even did the infamous Team Lloyd Irvin Circuits. This is a 52-year old man, with a full-time job, with a mortgage, with family responsibilities, making time to do what it takes to be a World Champion.

However, Mike didn’t want to take the easy road just so he could call himself a World Champion. Mike should have competed at Senior 4 which is for grapplers between age 51-55. Unfortunately, Mike would get only one match in that age division. The situation at Senior 3 was the same - only one match! Rather than settle for an “easy” Gold, Mike exhibited his competitive spirit when he decided to drop down to Senior 2 in order to get more matches. His opponents would be 41-45 years old, almost a decade younger than Mike.
His first match was vs. a grappler representing Carlson Gracie Team. After a few moments of gripping, the Brazilian realized he would not take Mike down and he jumped guard. From there, Mike was able to use his heavy-hip passing style to get up 3-0. He added a knee-on-belly for good measure and won the match 5-0.

His 2nd opponent was from Royler Gracie’s school. He had received a bye in the 1st round and seemed very nervous. As soon as the match started, he pulled guard but it was sloppy. He essentially pulled Mike on top of him into side-mount. Well, you never look a gift horse in the mouth so Mike wrapped up his arm and Kimura’d him. Very quick match!

In the finals, he faced Cassius Titus from Renzo Gracie NYC. Mike was very confident going into the final - his opponent had spent a few minutes hanging on the railings afte rhis match, exhausted. Mike was in ridiculous shape and could break his opponent’s will just with conditioning at that point. The match started and his opponent jumped guard. Mike struggled to pass but his opponent controlled the grips very well. Just when it looked like Mike would lock his opponent down in 1/2-guard, the NYC grappler hit a nice sweep, unbalancing Mike and coming on top! Thanks to the 30-second drills, Mike countered immediately, coming out the back door and up for a double-leg! No Points! After the restart, his opponent wearily began gripping and pushing into him…bad idea. Mike hit a beautiful Seio, sending his opponent right to his back. Later during the day, Brazilians would come up to Mike, making the Seio motion with their arms and congratulating him - it really was a great throw! Once on the ground, Mike passed his opponent’s guard, winning the final 5-0 and becoming world champion.
Filled with confidence, Mike entered the 16-man Open Division with high expectation and he didn’t dissapoint. He faced off against a strong European first-round. Mike’s opponent had won the lightweight division the day before and his talent showed. He held Mike to 2 advantages. Although the score was close, Mike remained in control of the match from beginning to end.
In the quarterfinals, Mike used an outside-trip takedown and a pass to outpoint his opponent from DeLaRiva BJJ 5-0. Funny enough, Mike’s opponent here was the Middle-weight division winner. It seemed Mike was taking out the other champions in weight order.
I’ve always heard it said that the semifinals are the toughest matches in tournaments. It definately was in this case. Mike faced off against a Brazilian Giant, the champion of the Heavyweight class, and had the fight of his life. Outside of Mike’s finals match at the PanAmericans, this was the roughest match I’ve seen Mike in. Mike would jump over his opponents leg and would get rolled right over. Both fighters would scramble back to the feet. During one exchange, Mike managed to get what seemed like a fight-finishing armbar but his opponent just stood up and swung Mike off his arm like an insect. Mike even tried his Seio but even when Mike went under his opponent, nothing happened - his opponent was too strong. The Giant put his hooks in on Mike but Mike hustled and managed to escape rear mount before points were awarded. This was a hard-fought, scrambling WAR. When the whistle blew, Mike was ahead by a few advantages and would go to the Finals! With his face covered with gi-burn, Mike told me he was exhausted, that his grips were shot. Lucky for us, the officials misplaced the tournament bracket sheet, giving him ample time to recover. Most of the time, this type of nonsense is rough on the mind , however in this case, we were quite happy with the lack of organization!

Almost half-an-hour later, Mike walked onto the mat for the Finals of the Open division. Ironically, it would be another East Coaster that he would face in the finals. He faced Jim Wing, the Super-Heavyweight class winner. Both fighters brought strong takedown skills and the match was uneventful, each one countering the attacks of the other and neither affording the other any opportunity to score. Mike remained aggressive throughout and the referee would award him a decision! Mike was OPEN DIVISION CHAMPION.