Trench Tech Gym wins 4 medals in Korea BJJ tourney

The four-man Trench Tech Gym delegation acquitted themselves well in the 2024 Marianas Pro Korea Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Tournament held last June 16 in Seoul, South Korea.

Sensei Justis “Cuki” Alvarez said Kier Agda, Baelen Song, and Giovonni Taitingfong all went home with medals. The fourth member of the team is Jason Artero.

“Overall, the team did great. Four competitors in total went, and three of them medaled. I believe Kier Agda had the ‘best performance’ because he won medals in two divisions—gi and no gi,” he said.

Agda competed in the adult blue belt heavyweight division and bagged a silver medal in the no-gi and a bronze in gi.

“My biggest takeaway from this tourney was the different styles/paces of jiu jitsu players that I went up against. Realizing that there will always be someone faster, stronger, and better than you. Those athletes make you better. That’s why when you train you always got to put in the honest work and train like you’ll fight. Another great experience in the books. We had fun and laid it all on the line. On to the next!” said the 25-year-old parachute rigger at Skydive Saipan and ground-handler at Micronesian Air Cargo.

Song, for his part, competed in the featherweight division and went home with a no-gi bronze.

“My biggest take away from this competition was, I believe I am exactly where I should be, and when it’s my turn to win am sure the time will come when I put in enough time and investment.”

Taitingfong, meanwhile, salvaged a bronze in the lightweight class.

“My biggest takeaway was returning to the competition stage after six years and deciding to compete two weeks out. Their skill level was good but I am not too far from getting back in to competition shape,” said the 26-year-old police K9 handler and U.S. Army reservist.

Alvarez congratulated Team Trench Tech for giving their all in the 2024 Marianas Pro Korea Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Tournament, considering it’s been five years since his students had any semblance of actual competition.

“I am just happy that they went and competed. The last time we went as a full team (adults) to compete was in 2019 in Japan. This past event in Korea, there were only four of them, but this is a definitely a revamped prelude of more team travels to come.”