In a show of skill, ADF members took to the mat and collected three gold medals at the recent Australian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) Championships in Melbourne.
With a mix of beginners and experts among the contingent, the podium finishes kept coming.
Taking out gold in the ultra-heavyweight and silver in the absolute division, Captain Dylan Voncina said it reflected the hard work he put in.
“It was a stacked and talented absolute division, so I was pretty happy to come away with a medal in it, let alone a silver,” Captain Voncina said.
“We always prefer gold. Gold is prettier, but we take what we can get in a division like that.”
Competing in BJJ for two years, Captain Voncina said he hoped to keep the momentum rolling throughout the year.
Migrating to Australia 20 years ago, Private Jung Kim joined the ADF in 2022 and is a black belt in BJJ at the age of 46.
Winning gold in the black belt middleweight division, Private Kim said he couldn’t use his favourite submission, the leg lock, in the final.
“I think he studied me. He knew my game and defended himself well,” Private Kim said.
“I tried to find him but there was no information on him so it made it a bigger challenge than other competition.”
Being in an older age bracket, the civilian welder said he was used to regular niggles after a competition.
“You might get some body aches, but I just sleep and eat well. There’s no special way to recover and I’m used to it after all these years,” Private Kim said.
Competing for 12 years and instructing at a Melbourne gym, Private Kim said researching opponents was standard because of the sport’s strong mental aspect.
He said at the black belt level, there was no such thing as an easy fight, so he always had multiple scenarios planned.
A student of Private Kim, Corporal Anthony Zambory was the third gold medal recipient at the championships, coming through with a tight win.
“My opponent was pretty strong, I think he was the same age and basically the same experience level,” Corporal Zambory said.
“It was pretty low-scoring and I had a few submission attempts but wasn’t able to fully commit so it ended up in a points win.”
Beginning the sport 10 months ago, Corproal Zambory was pleased with his results and said representing the ADF on a larger stage was testament to the team’s success.
All three competitors of the ADF Combat Sports Association will take part in the 2023 Pan Pacific Jiu-Jitsu Championships, an international level competition, in October.
