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This year’s Rickson Gracie Cup treated Jiu-Jitsu lovers in Japan to a weekend of plenty of action and emotion. There were few surprises though, as the favorites all ran roughshod through their respective brackets. Just after the absolute final was closed out, however, there came an outpouring of emotion, as you can see in the photos taken by Kinya Hashimoto of brothers Roberto Satoshi and Marcos Souza (Bonsai), who had lost their father and master, Adilson, to cancer last April.
The joy of winning overpowered the pain, and the Bonsai students in Japan persevered. “We went in with 11 students and too home nine gold medals, 16 medals in all,” remarked Marcos, who took in and trained with the Atos delegation there. “We’d closed out the black belt absolute last time around, and I let my brother have the win for his birthday. This time he reciprocated and I took the title. I also won the medium heavyweight division, and he won at middleweight.”
Check out who won each of the divisions featured at the tournament:
Roosterweigth: Koji Shibamoto (Tri-Force)
Lightfeatherweight: João Paulo Kuraoka (Axis)
Featherweight: Guilherme Mendes and Rafa Mendes (Atos) close out;
Lightweight: Bruno Frazatto (Atos);
Medium heavyweight: Marcos Souza (Bonsai);
Ultra heavyweight: André Galvão;
Absolute: Marcos Souza and Roberto Satoshi close out.
The post Absolute-winning bros’ emotions at Rickson Cup first appeared on Graciemag.