Summerland’s Greg Nield never felt overwhelmed during the 2013 World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships because he enjoys the sport.
“I quite often have fun with it,” said Nield, who won bronze in the heavyweight blue belt division at the University of Long Beach Pyramid in California where the tournament was held May 30 through June 2.
Nield won his first three matches using choke hold submissions before being stopped by Teemu Koivisto of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu Finland in the semifinal round. Koivisto then defeated Dominic Pica of Gracie Elite for gold.
Nield was happy with his world championship debut performance.
“I didn’t really have too much expectation. In the back of my mind, I had the goal of trying to get a medal,” said Nield. “It was just a good way of me getting more matches and more experience.”
Nield said the quality of opponents he faced was different than regionally or in Canada.
“They are definitely a step above what the competition is here,” said Nield, who won a provincial championship in 2012 and a Western Canadian Championship in 2013. “You can definitely tell you are at a bigger tournament.”
Nield, competing in just his fourth event, faced opponents with considerably more experience. His focus is to continue gaining more match experience by competing in local tournaments and is also focused on the Canadian National Championships hosted in Burnaby in October.