Pinoy bags gold in Pan Jiu-jitsu Championships

A Filipino martial artist bagged the gold medal in the light featherweight division of the Pan Jiu-jitsu Championships held in University of California Irvine in March.

 

Muny Munoz beat Brazil's Jaime Villar Molina in the semifinals with the score of 2-0 to advance to the final round, where he faced fellow Pinoy Eric Abesames. He earned a dominating 8-0 victory.


 

Munoz, who won a silver medal in the World Masters last year, previously tried to pursue a career in boxing and mixed martial arts but got drawn into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instead.

 

"Key thing is that you consistently train, some people only train when a competition is coming up," he said in an online interview with GMA News Online. "I don’t think you can cover all aspects of your game two months before a competition. In BJJ, there are no shortcuts."

 

"Sobra addicting ang BJJ, because of its endless possibilities. You do not have to be athletic to succeed. Parang buhay ng tao ang BJJ, it has a lot of frustrations but you keep on moving forward, you keep on fighting. It’s real hard to explain why I love the sport but I feel that it saved my life," he also said. — Marisse Panaligan/JDS, GMA News