On 21st July, two teen students of Gracie Barra Frome competed in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Junior World Gi and No-Gi Championships, with Kai Melling becoming World Champion in the process.

Gracie Barra Frome, is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and self-defence school based in Frome. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a ‘grappling’ martial art that derives its roots from Japanese Ju-Jitsu and traditional Judo in the early 1910s.

Daniel Orford (14) and Kai Melling (14), are both students at Writhlington School, and have been training with Gracie Barra Frome for less than two years before recently competing in the Male, Teen 2, Grey Belt, under-65kg catagory.

Dan put on a remarkable performance competing for the first time in the Grey belt category, having previously won a British title as a white belt in May 2019, but unfortunately lost by a narrow two-point margin. Kai put on a stellar performance despite being one of the lightest entrants in the division, submitting all his opponents to take the win.

Having breezed a path to the final, not surrendering a single point to his opponents, Kai came up against the competitor who had defeated teammate, Dan, earlier that day. Not letting the pressure of the event take over, Kai finished his opponent in less than thirty seconds with a surprising loop-choke (that has become his signature move), thus avenging Dan’s earlier loss. This means Kai is now a Junior World Gi Champion!

Many would assume that Kai could not have outdone himself after his performance on the Saturday, but he decided to double-down by competing again on the Sunday at the No-Gi event. No-Gi refers to the removal of the traditional Kimono (Gi) uniform, where competitors compete in rashguards and shorts (similar to Mixed martial arts events). Kai maintained his winning form, again finishing all his fights by submission.

In the final of Sunday’s competition, Kai came up against a fellow Gracie Barra student, this time from the Blackburn school. This was one of Kai’s most competitive fights, but eventually came down to a triangle choke submission, where Kai usd his legs locked together to apply pressure to his opponent’s neck, eventually getting the submission at around 2 minutes, 25 seconds. After his hand was raised, Kai became a double world gold medallist and world champion.

Along with Kai’s individual success, Gracie Barra won the first-place team trophy (Gi and No-Gi), having secured the greatest number of medals over the course of the weekend by all Gracie Barra students in attendance. Kai’s victories counted toward the overall medal count, and as such, he was able to step onto the podium when the team trophy was awarded.

Gracie Barra Frome Head Instructor, Callum Swift, said: “Kai’s success at this competition is a testament to the hard work he put into his training on the mats. He is young and very dedicated, and would love to run his own Gracie Barra school once he is older. He is very respectful when he competes, and especially humble in victory, never celebrating a win or submission, instead his priority is helping his opponent to their feet and shaking their hand.

“Gracie Barra Frome is still a young school, having been open for less than two years. We are currently in the process of securing a new full-time facility where we can run classes seven days a week, including new Junior classes, a Ladies-only session, and high-intensity competition classes. This should be open later this summer.”

Visit: www.graciebarrafrome.com for more information.