Clinton666 crowned Jiu Jitsu champion

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:





SINGAPORE - After producing world champions in sailing, table tennis, bowling and silat, among others, Singapore can now add Brazilian jiu jitsu to the list after Amos Chua emerged best in his category at the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu championships in California last week.

The 15-year-old white-belt holder beat top fighters from the United States and Latin America to clinch gold in the featherweight category for his age group.

In the final, Chua forced a submission from his Brazilian opponent Anthony Joseph Ramos, executing a chokehold with his feet.

"It was a dramatic win," said Amos' coach Takeo Tani, the 2007 world champion in the 54.5kg weight division. "Amos was behind on points and on the brink of losing with the clock running down. Then, he showed incredible instincts to turn his body and force the opponent to tap out."

The fact that Amos needed to lose weight to make the featherweight limit of 58.5kg made the win even more remarkable.

From 62.5kg a month before competition, he managed to reduce his weight to 55.9kg for the weigh-in.

"I ate six small meals each day, mostly consisting of fruits, steamed fish and steamed chicken," said Amos, who goes to TMS Academy, a private school.

"I had to avoid carbohydrates completely as I needed to shed the kilos fast. But ultimately, I lost too much weight and my opponents all seemed bigger."

A relative novice to the sport, Amos took up Brazilian jiu jitsu early last year when he joined the Evolve MMA gym where he was introduced to Tani, who also coached Nicole Chu, Singapore's first female professional MMA fighter.

Amos' development into a world champion has, according to his coach, been "rapid" but the grade 10 student is hungry for more success.

"I aim to be a professional fighter in the future and the challenge now for me is to up my ability by achieving the higher ranking coloured belts," Amos said.

That could entail trips overseas to train, which the 1.70m tall fighter looks forward to.

"I don't have a fixed training area at this time. We hop around to different gyms and this may not be the most conducive for training," he added.

"I might settle overseas in order to train with the best to be the best. But I will always fly the Singapore flag in future international competitions."


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