Team Odyssey Wins Its

25th

Team Championship Title

Team Odyssey of Odyssey Martial Arts Academy/Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu VA, located in King William County, has become one of the world’s most well-known and respected Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Mixed Martial Arts academies through its quality instruction and performance in top notch competitions. The team has competed and won titles in State, National and World competitions through the sport’s most prestigious touring circuits. Team Odyssey competitors have won countless individual titles, medals, trophies, belts etc… However the team prides itself on “Team Titles”, in which they just earned their 25th team championship title this past weekend. 
 
Team Odyssey traveled to Riverdale, Georgia to compete in the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) Georgia State Championships. Team Odyssey, led by head instructor John Simons III, travels the country hunting for the country’s toughest competitions to test their combat skills. The team houses youth and adult competitors ranging from beginners to experts. Team Odyssey competitors are not only King William locals, they have acquired competitors from North Carolina, Chesterfield, Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, New Kent, King and Queen, Essex, Tappahannock and more. NAGA is known as “The World’s Largest Grappling Competition” and is used as a farm league for Mixed Martial Arts organizations as large as the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC).  The NAGA Georgia State Championships packed out two gymnasiums with over a thousand competitors ranging from children weighing under 49.9lbs to Professional adult fighters over 250lbs.
 
Team Odyssey had some serious competition at NAGA facing teams from all across the country. At the end of the day the team had managed to dig deep and earned 26 Gold Medals, 19 Silver Medals and 9 Bronze Medals. With nearly every Team Odyssey member medaling at NAGA they acquired enough over all points to win the NAGA Georgia State Championship Title making the team undefeated at NAGA and 2 time Georgia State Champions. Team Odyssey has now earned the NAGA VA State Title, GA State Title and the US National Title.  The team continues to press forward in every aspect of Combat Sports; Team Odyssey is now focused on Team Odyssey competitor and assistant instructor Emily Dawson (15 years old) in her upcoming Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) debut on September 18th at the Showplace in Richmond, VA. 
 
Odyssey Martial Arts Academy and Team Odyssey would like to thank all of the families and fans that traveled and supported the team and academy in their battle in Georgia. We would also like to thank the US Army of Fort Eustis VA for supporting the team and supporting its Army competitors. Last but not least Team Odyssey would like to thank Tammie Dawson of www.Dawsonsphotos.com for being the team’s official photographer.

King William Combat Challenge

Odyssey Martial Arts Academy rocked the Hamilton Holmes Middle School Gym at Spring Fest 2010 with the first Mixed Martial Arts event ever held in King William County. The gymnasium was packed to capacity surrounding the 30’ MMA Cage by 5:00pm when the Benedictine Color Guard did the presentation of the colors and a two man rifle demo to get the event started. Directly following was a Modern Army Combatives demonstration led by Level 4 MACP instructors John Simons III and SFC Mike Craig. The demonstration was performed by SSG Joseph Cole, SSG Jamal Deward, SSG Jason Tramell, and SSG Jeremy Wilkens who are all graduates of the first Level 3 MACP instructor certification course ever held at Fort Eustis US Army Base. Over 100 US Army soldiers were bused from Fort Eustis in support of the event and their US Army fighter, SGT Scott Colley, who was the main event of the night.

Local and nationwide competitors graced the mat for this Mixed Martial Arts event. Youth and adults of all ages gathered to witness America’s fastest growing sport live. This event was requested by the King William County Chamber of Commerce and was hosted as a fundraiser for the Mattaponi Volunteer Rescue Squad.

The fight card included local MMA competitors such as Markia Anderson, Paul Bourque, John Cross, Emily Dawson, Bobby Harding, Kayla Hill, Jonah Ibanez, Bryce Leuchtman, Chase Leuchtman, Darwing Mesa, Eric Nichols, Alex Nizami, Safia Nizami, Randy Oakley, Zak Perkins, Shaun Price, Travis Price, Chris Shipes, Alex Taylor, and Ryan Wood. Other MMA competitors represented hometowns as far as Michigan, California, Oklahoma, and Florida from US Army and Air Force, Such as AJC Mike Gray, SrA Davis Weeks, TSgt Antonio Tamayo, and SGT Scott Colley.

This night of action was one to remember with an onslaught of action being performed by the top notch competitors. Action included powerful strikes, big throws and take downs, snake like submissions, and nonstop ground & pound. Every competitor on the card showed great skill, class, and sportsmanship before and after their entertaining battles. At the end of the event the crowd was asked if they would like to see live Mixed Martial Arts again in King William County and the crowd exploded with cheers of support for this honorable sport’s return.

If you are interested in becoming a student or competitor of Mixed Martial Arts, Guerrilla Jiu-Jitsu, Self-Defense or even After School Martial Arts and Summer Camps please contact us. Spread the word that Odyssey Martial Arts Academy trains all active duty US military FREE OF CHARGE!