Things didn’t go the way Bruno Ewald had planned when he travelled to Oahu last weekend. He didn’t plan on competing for the Gracie Pacific Rim Submission Championship, which was held at the Convention Center on Sunday. He didn’t plan
Things didn’t go the way Bruno Ewald had planned when he travelled to Oahu last weekend.
He didn’t plan on competing for the Gracie Pacific Rim Submission Championship, which was held at the Convention Center on Sunday. He didn’t plan on fighting Hawaii no-holds-barred top dog “Cabbage” in the tourney’s championship bout, and he surely couldn’t have planned on beating him, earning the heavyweight belt and collecting $3000 in prize money.
“I heard there were going to be 600 or so participants in the tournament, and that the prize money for winning a professional division was $3000,” said Ewald, whose original intent in going to the tournament was to coach eight of his Kaua’i students. “And when I found out there were only five participants in my weight class (heavyweight), I figured I’d give it a try,” Ewald added.
So 29-year-old Ewald, nicknamed “Longman” because of his tall and slender build (6-6, 204-pounds), paid the $100 in tournament fees and went to work.
In his first match, against a no-holds-barred 240-pound fighter, Ewald swiftly manueverd his opponent into an arm-lock which rendered a submission in just over one-minute.
On to the finals.
Ewald was then up against “Cabbage,” a much heavier fighter who is currently ranked the best no-holds-bar fighter in Hawaii, for the championship belt.
“Longman” ended it there.
Ewald forced “Cabbage” to tap out after three minutes, but the referee never saw it (the video proved “Cabbage” did tap out) and the fight continued. In the end, Ewald won the Pacific Rim Submission Championship by a comfortable point differential. In fact, “Cabbage” failed to score a point in the bout.
With his newly acquired fortune, Ewald treated his eight students to an “all you can eat” seafood dinner at popular Waikiki restaurant Todai before returning to Kaua’i. Victory tastes sweet.
Only one day following the championship, “Longman” received a phone call from a promoter of the popular Vale Tudo, a professional showcase of mixed martial arts prize-fights. The promoter wanted Ewald to face “Cabbage” in a pricey bout at Blaisdell Arena.
Ewald has not agreed to any terms with promoters on future fights, saying he is still in the negotiation stages.
In truth, the story of the jiu jitsu fighter doesn’t fall into the “rags to riches” category. Ewald is no slouch in the ring, and his career record is clear proof of it.
“Longman” was the heavyweight champion of Hawaii from 1993-1998, took third in the World Championships in Brazil twice, notched second-place in the 1997 Pan American Championships and won the Pan American title in 1998.
Ewald began learning martial arts a eight-years old, when he took up Judo. At 14 years-old he began fighting in jiu jitsu tournaments and has prospered ever since.
Ewald moved to Kaua’i in 1990, started teaching jiu jitsu to his friends in his backyard, and opened up his first class in 1993. In the first class, Ewald taught Carl Ragasa, Kai Garcia and Kendall Goo, each who have their own schools today.
Ewald will be the supervisor today for the jiu jitsu portion of the 4th Annual Kaua’i Open Martial Arts Championship, a tournament being held by the Garden Angels and Sifu Pete Gallardo at the Kilauea NC Gymnasium.
He will also be on hand to present Brazilian jiu jitsu legends Royler and Relson Gracie, who held a seminar last night at Sen Sei Kenn Firestone dojo and will attend the tournament and sign autographs for fans.
