Good news for BJJ fans - Xande is returning to the professional Jiu Jitsu circuit this year - and the man means business.

When I started at Toronto BJJ in the summer of 2007 there was Black Belt called Kareem in charge. I believe this was shortly after Cesar Rezek (his predecessor) had moved on to open Budokan. I had my first tournament fight at Ascension in February 2008 (pic). The first and last tournament I would do as a student of Kareem El Sayed.

It looks like the natural period of rest has started as we enter the holiday season for 2010.

The Academy has posted the Christmas hours, Professor Britto is in Brazil and the class sizes are already much smaller.

The 2010 Toronto BJJ annual has come and gone for another year. The tournament featured almost 200 fighters. The group photo took about 30 minutes to organise. The promotions swept through and many of my team mates are now wearing new colours around their waists.

(pics courtesy of Vernon Anthony Kee)