91原创 City Jiu Jitsu champion Lincoln Costello is one of three Canadians who have been invited to compete at the ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Youth Championship in Las Vegas on Aug.16.
Lincoln, 12, describes the appeal of the sport as "the ability to wrestle with older kids and be able to beat them," where he can use leverage to defeat bigger opponents.
"It's [Jiu Jitsu] like built for the smaller person," Lincoln told the 91原创 Advance Times.
His dad, Clint, said Lincoln was a natural who discovered a knack for grappling when he was just seven.
"He was at school one day, and he was wrestling with the older kids, and he was doing really well," Clint recalled.
"He was instinctively really good at it, doing the right things. That day, he came home to me and he was like, 'you know, dad, I'd love to try wrestling.' And I was like, well, 'there's not too many wrestling programs for your age.'"
When Lincoln tried Jiu Jitsu instead at his father's suggestion, he "just fell in love instantly" with the sport, Clint observed.
Training under Matt Kwan at On Guard Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Pitt Meadows, Lincoln currently holds an orange belt.
Last year, he won gold in his category (11-12) at the ADCC Vancouver Open, then took bronze at the ADSS Open in Austin, Texas.
He is one of 16 invited to the international youth competition.
"There's only three Canadian kids that were invited to the thing, and I was one of them," Lincoln enthused.
"That's amazing."
On the day of the competition, Clint predicted his son will be calm, like he always is, but it will be a different story for dad, who will be attending the event.
"He doesn't get nervous," Clint said.
"Whereas, of course, I always have nerves [at first]. Usually it's the first fight or two he needs to get out of the way, and I settle down."
Wikipedia describes ADCC as the "," noting it is commonly referred to as "the Olympics of grappling".
ADCC was established by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the son of then U.A.E. leader Sheik Zayed,
In 1993, while he was studying in the U.S. Sheik Tahnoon became a fan of Mixed Martial Arts and began started studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
On returning home, Sheik Tahnoon created the ADCC to encourage martial arts not only in his native U.A.E. but also creating an international standard by which all ground fighting martial arts would be measured.
Thousands of submission grappling tournaments around the world are said to use elements of the ADCC format and rules structure.
In 2023, ADCC head organizer Mo Jassim announced a children's version of the ADCC World Championship would be held for the first time in 2024.
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