Hello Hurtsbad Members. A wise philosopher once stated: "I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow." He was, of course, speaking of the generations that follow us. In the case of MMA, BJJ, and Submission Grappling, I have had a rare glimpse of the future, and it's very bright indeed.

In November of 2008 I took a student of mine, Devin Abdon (then 17 years old), to a tournament called The Revolution. It was his first competition, and he took 3rd place. While we were waiting for his matches to start, I started taking notice of a couple of the other competitors. In particular, there was a (then) 5 year old boy and his 13 year old sister, who were blowing away their competition with absolutely amazing skill and technique. As we watched them win match after match, I struck up a conversation with their father, and a good friendship with the family developed. As he just joined up with Hurtsbad, I would like to introduce everyone to my friend, Dean Batara, and his wonderkids, Dominic and Kyra.

Kyra Batara is your normal teenage girl-next-door. One with a great personality and a good head on her shoulders. The kind you'd call to babysit your kids and not worry while you were out. But, get her on a mat in a Jiu Jitsu or Submission Grappling match, and the transformation is amazing! A fierce competitor and tactician with some slick skills, Kyra makes short work of her opponents, who are mostly male, by the way. She recently took 2nd in both Gi and No-Gi competition at The Revolution on July 17th, 2010. An amazing feat, in as much as it was her first competition in almost a year and a half, due to a SEVERE shoulder injury that required surgery, and, in the midst of her physical therapy, she reinjured it in an auto accident. Watching her compete, she showed zero ring rust, and her smile after every match showed her spirit and sportsmanship.

Dominic Batara is simply amazing! He is a prime example of the old adage, "Never judge a book by it's cover". A small, quiet kid who barely weighs more than 50lbs., his youth and size hide an incredibly polished competitor with astoundingly mature skills. He has more submissions in less than 60 seconds than most adults I know, and, at age 7, he is sponsored by RevGear, Sinister, and Silver Star. Dom took 1st in both Gi and No-Gi at The Revolution. Both Kyra and Dominic are trained at Pedro Sauer's Purebred Fisticuffs in Vancouver, Washington.

I saw on Dean's FaceBook page that they are heading for the Kids BJJ World Championships in California. I hope all of HurtsBad will join me in wishing them a safe trip and the best of luck!

To see Kyra and Dominic in action at the July 17th, 2010 Revolution tournament, check out the videos I posted.

For more info on Dominic Batara, follow these links:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsilverstarnow.com%2Fbl...

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Frevgearmma.wordpress.c...