As the California sunshine licks the hills of San Jose, the US Open yawns its doors to its seventeenth edition. A continuous wave of eager competitors throttle in to have competition jiu jitsu for breakfast. Even early in the morning, the smell of barbequed tri-tips waft through the midst – a clear sign that Brazilians are in the area.
Inside, a total of 850 competitors from 152 schools go for the gold. Not only from most of the states in the USA, competitors come from as far as Russia, Mongolia and Brazil.
Today, the right to go for gold was exclusive for the white and purple belts. The day closed up with the Purple Open weight bouts, with Kristina Barlaan taking it for the females and Jack Grantham for the males.
Tomorrow is the B day – Blue, Brown and Black belts going for the title. Strikeforce Camp Raul Castillo, local San Jose cop Carlos Mello, Oswaldo Queixinho, Augusto Tanquinho and Diego Herzog are some of the names promising to make the battle for the black gold interesting.
Below are some shots of the action today.
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