Fresh Jiu-Jitsu club members: (back to front, left to right) Tai Hohua, OT Melrose, Arona Marsters, Tere Marsters, Urban Bell, 15, Stella Marukore, 10, Tere Marsters, 10, Joe Mathis, 9, Charlee Marsters, 15, Louis Mathis, 11, Conall Firmin, 11, Harry Mathis, 8, Mason Taia-Grace, 8, Tregin Marukore, 12, Save Marukore, 7, Gus Mathis, 6.
Fresh Jiu-Jitsu club members: (back to front, left to right) Tai Hohua, OT Melrose, Arona Marsters, Tere Marsters, Urban Bell, 15, Stella Marukore, 10, Tere Marsters, 10, Joe Mathis, 9, Charlee Marsters, 15, Louis Mathis, 11, Conall Firmin, 11, Harry Mathis, 8, Mason Taia-Grace, 8, Tregin Marukore, 12, Save Marukore, 7, Gus Mathis, 6.
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Members of Rotorua’s Fresh Jiu-Jitsu Gracie Gym are fundraising $63,000 for the World Championships in Japan.
The club is hosting a quiz night on May 23 and seeking sponsorship from local businesses.
Nineteen competitors, including 11 children, will attend, marking the club’s first World Championships appearance.
Great attitudes, a willingness to learn and dedication to their sport have set members of a Rotorua jiu-jitsu club on the path to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships in Japan.
The Fresh Jiu-Jitsu Gracie Gym needs to raise $63,000 for the team’s flights and accommodation for the competition, and they are seeking sponsorship from local businesses.
Club co-owner Melody Marukore said jiu-jitsu was one of the fastest-growing sports in the world and had become hugely popular in the Rotorua area.
“We have a two-year waiting list for our kids’ class,” she said. There were 50 students in the kids’ class and another 50 on the waiting list.
She said the Fresh Jiu-Jitsu gym emerged from the dissolution of the Spartans, the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu club in Rotorua, which was formed in 2009 by Leon Corbett.
This year, the club started its competition team, the Elite Team, who were chosen based on Marukore’s key desired qualities for her top competitors.
“They have great attitudes in training, a good willingness to learn; they show dedication to the sport and good sportsmanship and respect when they compete.”
Stella Marukore,10, getting a choke submission.
The club would be taking a team of 19 competitors, including 11 children, two teenagers and six adults. The youngest competitor was 6 years old and the oldest was 61.
The team had two black belts, including Fresh Jiu Jitsu co-owner and Marukore’s husband, Graeme, and Arona Marsters, both coaches and professors in the sport.
Several members of the team were related to one another, contributing to the team’s closeness.
Joe Mathis, 9, has his hand raised as the winner.
Arona Marsters will compete at the worlds alongside his granddaughters Charlee, 15, and Mairiki, 11, his nephew Tere, and his grandnephew Tere Jr, 10.
Graeme Marukore will compete alongside his daughter Stella, his niece Tregin, 12, and his nephew Save, 7.
“We have heaps of people from the same whānau and lots of sibling groups in this team going to Japan,” Melody Marukore said.
Many of the club’s members have competed nationally and internationally in the past.
“But this will be the first time our club has ever been to the World Championships,” Melody Marukore said.
Gus Mathis (6) hand raise, winner. Photo / supplied
The club earned multiple gold medals at the Pan Pacific Championships in Melbourne, as well as a third-place trophy for one of the kids’ divisions.
“Most of the members that we’re taking over have won multiple national championships, especially one of our teenage girls, Charlee Marsters.
“She is highly competitive, and she trains almost every single day.”
Marukore said she was grateful to the local businesses who had already provided support to get the club to Japan.
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The club is fundraising through garage sales, Bunnings barbecues, bake sales and raffles, and now has planned a quiz night on May 23, at the Pig & Whistle, 1182 Tutanekai St.
