By JARROD POTTER
FROM Nar Nar Goon to the peaks of his beloved martial arts code, it’s been a rapid rise for jiu jitsu athlete John Chippendale.
Sparring out of the 76kg weight division, Chippendale, 19, won two state titles recently and is set to take his martial arts prowess to the next level – internationally.
He’ll get a chance to take his Brazilian jiu jitsu skills to Long Beach, California where he will compete in the world championships and hopefully excel on the world stage.
His stellar performance at the Victorian state titles – winning gold in the no gi and gi lightweight events with a number of submission victories – was in front of a number of important people. A humbling moment for the up-and-comer.
“It felt really good actually, it was quite an experience and I had some family there too for the first time and a lot of people from the club supporting me as well, so it was quite a feeling,” Chippendale said.
With a swag of trophies and medals full to the brim – just recently from the state championships in Victoria – Chippendale is ready to attend world jiu jitsu’s premier event – the Worlds in Long Beach California from 27-31 May.
Upping his training regime – sacrificing work for the time-being to focus on his jiu jitsu dreams – Chippendale hopes to push himself to the limit to ensure a top-notch performance at the championships.
“I’m competing in the biggest event in the world,” Chippendale said.
“All the superstars and everyone comes to it.
“Honestly I hope to do as good as I possibly can – I’m going to try and win and I’ve been training exceptionally hard.
“I train hard anyway, but I’m going to pick it up and stop working so I can basically train three or four times every day for two weeks before I go.”
Although dabbling in karate, basketball and football in his younger years, Chippendale found his way to jiu jitsu and has not looked back. After an exceptional start to his martial arts journey Chippendale encourages everyone to give it a go.
“I’ve been training for about three and a half years – started here in Pakenham with Jhunior – did a few classes then jumped into it as hard as I can or as much as I can,” Chippendale said.
“I never really excelled in those sports – I was always overweight and sport was very hard for me, but then I tried jiu jitsu and it boosted my confidence in everything.
“Started losing weight and now I really couldn’t be happier.
“I’ve tried a lot of sports and a lot of martial arts and nothing compares to this – you’ll fall in love with this and won’t be able to stop.”
He trains at the JG Cia Paulista Jiu Jitsu under coach Jhunior Guarnido – who believes his star pupil has what it takes to mix it with the best in the martial arts world.
“John has everything to be one of the best jiu jitsu athletes and future MMA athletes in Australia as he’s young, he wanted to train and has discipline,” Guarnido said.
“Discipline is everything and he has everything to be one of the biggest names in Australia.
“I think he can win it (world championships) – 100 per cent.”
For more information on Guarnido, he can be contacted at 0478 686 160, email at info@australiabjj.com or his Facebook page www.facebook.com/JGBJJ
Chippendale wanted to thank his sponsors – coach Jhunior and Aline Guarnido, Jolyon and Brenda Foster, Matthew and Fleur Charles, Chris and Fiona Collins – and everyone at JG Jiu Jitsu for their support and encouragement.
