Central Maine Brazilian Jiu Jitsu trainers Jesse Erickson, back left, and Travis Wells, back right, with their young fighters who will be traveling to Rangeley this coming weekend to compete in the Black Fly Tournament, take time out for a photo prior to a recent workout at their Lewiston gym.
LEWISTON — Ezra Mathieu didn’t expect to win his division at last year’s Black Fly Kids Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament.
It wasn’t even until a few days before the tournament that he even knew he would be competing. Then, the night before, he stayed up late at a friend’s birthday party and had to wake up early for the car ride to Rangeley.
Despite all that, Mathieu, who trains at Central Maine Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, won the boys’ under-100-pound division title.
“I did a lot better than I thought I would,” Mathieu said.
Mathieu attributed his success at the tournament to the training he receives at CMBJJ.
“(It was) my takedowns and my armbars. I submitted I think three kids with an arm-bar,” Mathieu said. “And my triangles, in the first few days (instructor) Travis (Wells) showed that move to me because it’s a really basic move. I won my first division with a triangle.
“So it was all those little moves. Those moves that they showed us in class, they’re all linked together. Like a triangle, you can switch to an armbar.”
Mathieu wasn’t the only CMBJJ-trained competitor to win a Black Fly title belt. Isabelle Langalier won the girls’ under-100 division. Like Mathieu, Langalier said the training she received from Wells and fellow instructor Jesse Erickson played a big role in her success at the tournament.
“Everyone did really well. I know we have a good program here,” Erickson said. “Some of them found themselves in a bad spot in the tournament, they hear us coaching them and they respond well. It definitely exceeded our expectations.”
“It was great. It just shows that we’re right on the technical level of where we want to be, and our program is, moving forward,” Wells added. “That’s what we want to be able to do, is grow our kids and youth program, and we’re definitely doing that.”
Last year was the first year that CMBJJ brought kids to the Black Fly Tournament, which started in 2014. Wells said he didn’t bring his students initially because he wanted to see what the tournament was all about.
But tournament founder Shawn Smith kept at it, trying to get Wells and Co. to come.
“Shawn contacted us, and said, ‘Hey, if you come out and support us, that would be huge,'” Wells said.
Last year — CMBJJ’s first year at the tournament — was a learning experience, according to Wells. Now that they know what to expect, Wells and Erickson are gearing up for even more at this year’s second trek to Rangeley.
“We’re definitely bringing more competitors this year, so that’s a step in the right direction,” Erickson said.
“This is a going to be a once-a-year tournament for us. It’s one that’s in the summertime, so there’s not a lot of tournaments in the summertime, so we’re definitely excited,” Wells said. “The kids are looking forward to it. For a couple of months now we’ve been training hard.”
CMBJJ’s youth program has grown since last year, allowing the training center to bring more kids. And it’s been another year of growth by the students who were already there.
“They’ve all been working really hard training,” Erickson said. “Some of these kids, they do other sports too, but they’re still here three, four days a week getting their work in. I feel really good about everyone competing this weekend.”
Mathieu, unfortunately, won’t be competing after suffering an injury in training. But he’ll be there at the Black Fly cheering on his teammates.
Erickson will be cheering on his pupils, as well — the same way some of his pupils cheer him on when he competes in mixed martial arts at New England Fights events.
“Some of them come to the fights and watch and cheer me on, and it’s really cool to see them there supporting me,” Erickson said. “Some of them, I don’t even know if they know what MMA is. They just like doing jiu jitsu. That’s cool too.”
“You kind of get used to it. You don’t really see him as an MMA fighter, you see him as a teacher,” Mathieu said. “It’s the same as Travis.”
“They see him fighting in the cage, but now he’s on the mat teaching jiu jitsu — so this is how we be technical, this is how you get out of this position,” Wells said.
The two teachers are giving their students training that neither of them had at the same age. The sport of BJJ and mixed martial arts in general have grown in the past decade.
“I’m excited to see how it all shakes out in the next 10, 20 years,” Erickson said. “Kids are starting jiu jitsu way younger than most adults do. So it’ll be interesting to see the level of competition that some of these kids reach.”
That’s the aim of the Black Fly Tournament, and Smith’s vision. It’s a goal that Wells — who has plans to keep growing CMBJJ — shares.
“I think in general it’s really pushing the martial arts,” Wells said. “Now we have a tournament that’s here, and expanding. And I think that that’s one of the things they’re really trying to do, is to grow the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments for kids. There’s not a lot of tournaments for kids in here. So this is actually a really good tournament. We’re able to help do our part in spreading jiu jitsu.”