Postmortem – 2010 Atama Open a Resounding Success

With a clear impetus on efficiency, event organizers Brett Boyce and Seth Daniels should consider the result of this past weekend’s 2010 Atama Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling event nothing short of a success.

Very rarely do you see a tournament of any caliber run so smoothly as to have all eight mats running for the majority of the day but that is what spectators and fans saw at Legends Sports Complex. With over four hundred competitors, including many local luminaries in the expert divisions, the only fact that may perhaps be considered more impressive than the matches themselves is that the entire Atama Open event was concluded by 3:45 pm. From my stance as a witness, I can testify this to be a direct result of event MC and organizer Boyce, who was very proactive in ensuring all competitors were where they needed to be.

The crowd lucked out for the main events of the day, the Absolute division finals, as Sugarland MMA instructor / competitor Jason Soliz was able to submit Dallas-area competitor Jason Sampson via toe-hold in under two-and-half minutes to claim the Atama Open championship and a cool $500 in prize money. I say the crowd was fortunate because the countdown to start of the Absolute Gi final was almost to its end as this no-gi match concluded. With the quick victory, the crowd was able to witness each finale independently. In the Gi division, Paul Thomas BJJ’s Nick Schultz was able submit the much larger Raul “Gacho” Jimenez with a standing rear-naked choke to claim victory and $500 of his own. With both these competitors under the legal drinking age of twenty-one, they may not be able to toast their victory but they sure can savor its taste. Something tells me these upstarts will be able to eat at any table they choose for a long time to come when it comes to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling competition.

Overall, the most impressive takeaways from the 2010 Atama Open were the timing of the event, which truly ran like clockwork (no doubt due to hard work), the quality of the Texas-sized medals, and the amazing level of competition displayed by the competitors at hand, in all levels.

As far as the advanced divisions, expert grapplers came out in droves, including (in no particular order): Alvis Solis, Renan Chavez, Todd Moore, Nick Schultz, Jason Soliz, Julian Vega, Jason Sampson, Jarrod Clontz, Jeff Rexroad, and many other names I am sure to be missing.

If you are interested in viewing any of the matches from the 2010 Atama Open, I have posted a choice selection of recorded matches on my YouTube channel for you to access and comment on. Make sure to subscribe for future videos directly to your e-mail for convenience.

Amongst many others, these matches from the 2010 Atama Open include:

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