It goes white, grey, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black.
For 13-year-old Ben Bigelow, his ultimate goal is to wear a black belt, but for now he’ll settle for international Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion.
The Pan Kids IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship took place in Long Beach, California on February 15 and the orange belt from Regina took home a gold medal.
“I really enjoy doing this. I just enjoy getting down and gritty,” Bigelow said.
“When I watch him and see the expression on his face I can tell that he is very calm here,” said head coach of Complete MMA, AJ Scales. “He knows what he wants to do, he knows the technique to apply to get out of certain situations, or to submit somebody and it’s amazing to see at such a young age.”
The two have formed a strong bond over the course of three years, and have travelled and competed in many regional tournaments, prompting Bigelow to look for more diverse competition.
“When you do the regional stuff you meet the same kids and you get those nemesis’ which is cool. Now he’s going into the deep end of the pool and he doesn’t even know how deep it is, but he’s up for the challenge,” said Scales.
Bigelow trains with Scales four times a week -- Two kids classes and adult classes.
“When he comes to adult class and I mention that he’s 13, people are surprised. They don’t like that and it makes it worse because they just got finished getting choked out by him,” Scales said.
“I don’t want to put him on a different level than other students, but sometimes I have to because he does have goals and I got to help him with that,” said Scales.
Bigelow was the first junior student that Scales has taken to an international tournament.
“We were thinking about it last year, but we didn’t know if I was ready,” Bigelow said. “This year when it came around, I was beating a lot of people and winning tournaments so we thought I was ready.”
A “Go Fund Me” page was created to help Bigelow get to Long Beach. Of the $5,000 goal, $1,395 was raised. Complete MMA also held a steak night fundraiser to help out with the costs.
“All of the support we’ve been given thus far is huge. [Ben’s parents] invest a lot in their kids, and it’s nice to see people trying to help out. Any type of support is good. Financially it can become heavy and travelling all the way to California is a big hike and we’re just trying to help out,” said Scales.
Bigelow is not the only one with international accolades at Complete MMA though.
Scales has been a prominent figure in Saskatchewan jiu-jitsu for over 15 years. He received his black belt under Wagnney Fabiano and Leo Santos out of the world-renowned Nova Uniao Gym in Brazil. He most recently won two gold medals at the IBJJF New York Summer Open and has rolled with MMA greats such as Jose Aldo, Renan Barao, and Georges St.Pierre.
“It’s not a hobby. It’s a full time job and I treat it like a business. But it is a passion, it’s one of those jobs that it is such a passion, it doesn’t feel like a job,” said Scales.
Like many at the time, Scales says that he was inspired by watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship and watching the undersized Royce Gracie defeat larger men by using jiu-jitsu.
Scales began studying the art through magazines and VHS tapes and practiced techniques with a small group of friends. Since opening Complete MMA in 2007, Scales says he has tapered down his own competition and has focused more on his students like Bigelow who is now an international champion.
“I remember not seeing a purple belt within 1000 miles. The sport has evolved so much and we’re getting higher level guys, “ said Scales. “Kids all say, ‘I want to be a police officer’ and ‘I want to be a fireman’. This kid says he wants to grow up and be martial artist and make a career out of that, and I believe he’s going to do that and as long as I’m kicking, I’ll help him reach those goals.”
