Bruce Sek, the promoter of the Jiu Jitsu Kumite is not your average jiu-jitsu event promoter. The Texan donut maker’s daughter, Cora, is his main motivation for putting on some of the most talked about and interesting matchups in jiu-jitsu through his event, The Jiu-Jitsu Kumite.
Bruce is putting on an ambitious event tomorrow, Saturday May 27th which will feature some amazing heavyweight competitors along with rooster weight giant killer Estevan Martinez.
Jiu Jitsu Kumite started out of frustration. I was frustrated of driving 4-5 hours to a tournament, only to have no one in Cora’s division. Then they have to smash her in with a kid that is 30 lbs bigger.
I had a friend who has an invite only tournament, I was unloading all my ideas on him, but he didn’t listen. So like they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself. But I still needed some extra push. I have my friend who trains at Cobrinha, his name is Marlon Ransom, he kept on telling me “why do you pay to go to other people’s tournaments when you know so many people and have so many connections to make your own tournament?” He kept pushing me for a whole summer until I gave in and started brain storming JJK.
First it started out as me wanting a platform to invite top level girls around Cora’s size and age together for a big open mat. And to reward them, they would get paid for beating up Cora. We started out with only 6 girls. And you know how I love EBI rules. So I incorporated that, but with a twist. You see, we hate traveling so far just for one or two matches. So I basically put all the things I love and hate into the Jiu Jitsu Kumite when making the rules and format.
After 5 years of competition, I know what people are looking for in a tournament experience. I just want to provide that. So the 6 girls had a blast and they swore to do it again. Then I start getting calls from boys’ dads. They wanted me to create a boys division and show them love also. So I did. It was great, many more boys showed up to play than girls. Then the men started knocking on my door. They wanted me to create the men’s division also. This started out with me wanting to invite girls to beat up on Cora to what we have here, high level black and brown belts traveling the country just to come to play at our tiny event.
By the way, I do not train. Many people see that as a negative, but what they don’t understand is I’m not using jiu jitsu skills to run a tournament; I’m using my business management skills and marketing skills. I’m actually the perfect person to run a tournament, I love jiu jitsu for my daughter, but I don’t train so I have plenty of time to promote my fighters properly.
Bruce’s tournament has in fact garnered some top level talent. I was interested to learn about some points of pride in his promotion’s roster of former and current competitors.
The biggest name I’ve had on my cards is the legend Bill the Girl Cooper which became our 190 lbs champion. Oliver Taza 170 lbs champ, Ethan Crelinsten 145 lbs, and Jonathan Calestine 155 lbs champ. There is also John Battle, EBI vet Mike Davila, too many other guys that need to be named, but there are too many. These guys travel all over the country.
Bruce likes to put on a show; he likes matches that give his viewers a spectacle. Like many, he is very excited to see Estevan Martinez go against far larger competitors. But there are plenty of amazing matchups to be seen on Saturday’s card.
There are so many good big men coming over. And all of them deserve recognition. But the one that I’m super excited about is the tiniest one of them all. He is jumping in last minute replacement. He’s driving 15 hours to be a last minute replacement. He is only 4’10” and 130 lbs. YES you heard that right, he is the “Giant Slayer” Estevan Martinez from Albuquerque, NM from Clube de Jiu Jitsu Pitbull. Any one of his matches will be exciting for the obvious reason that he’s giving up 100 lbs to these men.
Leon Jackson is also a powerhouse. He came very highly recommended. And a tough vet and black belt name Patrick Miller from here in Austin, TX. The one that is very out spoken and has declared his intentions is a catch wrestler name Joshua Hightower. I don’t know if he is trolling me, but he isn’t short of confident. He is looking to put his catch wrestling against all these BJJ guys.
I got a guy from Oregon that is focused on taking all of JJK title from 155 to Heavyweights, he’s very confident also, his name is Elijah Carlton. He’s the only one that tapped out Bill Cooper in the 190 lbs division a couple of months ago and he is only a purple belt. He just recently won SUG super fight with the same submission that he caught Bill Cooper in…
Bruce Sek, in spite of not being a jiu-jitsu practitioner, has shown his love for jiu-jitsu by putting on some impressive shows.
I want to reach as many people as I can with Jiu Jitsu Kumite. That is my goal. To be able to help these competitors to showcase what they got to the world. That is why I offer the free live stream. I want as many people to know who these guys are. Especially the champions because it’s no fluke that they are on Jiu Jitsu Kumite. They have to go through many people to earn that title and if I can help get them out there to the world, then I am doing my job.
The more people know about JJK, the easier my job will be when I recruit these competitors. It’s a life cycle. The bigger Jiu Jitsu Kumite gets, the more top level talent will show up to play. We started out with 6 teen girls. I’m not looking to make it into a big production, which takes too much work. I’m just having fun and enjoying top level jiu jitsu and try to learn from them. When top level guys come and play, I ask them to do seminars. I don’t have to travel the country for that, they are coming to me. And I hope the people of Houston will take advantage of that also!
In closing Bruce had these shout-outs and closing thoughts for the reader:
I want to thank my friend Marlon Ransom at Cobrinha for pushing me to do this. He believed in me before I believed in myself. So he has affected so many people. Also I want to thank my coach Eddie Avelar for allowing me to run this event in his gym. He’s so open minded and supportive, I can’t ask for a better friend and mentor.
Ultimately, I’m no saint. I do this because it’s another avenue I have to help keep my daughter motivated about training and competing. Many girls don’t last this long in this sport so all these competitors who are coming to play at JJK are helping me keep her in the game. Surround her with what is good for her. There are so many outside forces that can drag her out of this art. I am just trying to do what I can to fight against those forces.
You can view the Jiu Jitsu Kumite live stream as well as past matches for FREE on their Youtube channel .
