Hermosa Valley School fifth grader Jean Paul LeBosnoyani readily admitted to having felt nervous on the drive to the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation Pan Kids Championships last month at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
He calmed himself, he said by “taking deep breaths and visualizing coming home with the gold medal.”
Two hours later, when his fight was called, the nervousness was gone, replaced by the centered calm characteristic of gifted athletes. In the moments leading up to the match, while Hermosa Beach Firefighter Captain James Crawford taped a broken big toe on the 11-year-old’s right foot, and a dozen Hermosa View schoolmates cheered him on, LeBosnoyani, as he put it afterwards, “put on my meanest face and stared at my opponent.”
LeBosnoyani’s opponent for the gold in the 11- to 12-year-old, 90 to 95 pound division was Gustavo Vargas from Clan Gracie Barra, Brazil.
Coincidentally, LeBosnoyani’s father Nono was Royce Gracie’s stand-up coach. Royce’s branch of the legendary Gracie family, established mixed martial arts in the United States by founding the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993.
LeBosnoyani began competing in jiu jitsu only last year. But he has been “on the mat” in his dad’s downtown Hermosa Beach gym Beach since he was four, soaking up knowledge not only from professional fighters like Gracie, and public safety officers like Captain Crawford, but also his father’s favorite students – local beach kids.
Physical chess
Like LeBosnoyani, Vargas’ dad was also his coach. Both 11-year-olds looked tall and lean for their age as they stepped on the mat to cheers in English and Portuguese.
LeBosnoyani hopped up and down and then sank to the mat, doing the splits. Vargas stood still, a look of deliberate indifference on his face.
The referee brought the two together for the handshake, and then barely had time to step back before both fighters went on the offensive. LeBosnoyani grabbed Vargas’ gi in an attempt at a cross choke. Vargas wanted a takedown. After the two circled the ring several times, he lifted LeBosnoyani’s left leg and the two dropped to the mat.
Ordinarily, the single leg takedown would have earned Vargas points. But it was difficult to tell who took whom down because by the time they hit the mat, LeBosnoyani had pulled Vargas into the guard, locking his legs around his opponent’s waist.
LeBosnoyani’s dad teaches his students that jiu jitsu is like a chess match. For ever move, there is a countermove. And like chess masters, good fighters think at least three moves ahead.
Vargas regained his feet, lifting LeBosnoyani upside down, in an effort to break free of the guard. LeBosnoyani countered by grabbing Vargas’ gi.
Vargas bit the bait. To block the cross choke, he let lose of LeBosnyoani’s left leg.
“You need to see the submission. It won’t come to you. You have to find it,” LeBosnoyani said after the fight.
What LeBosnoyani saw when Vargas first grabbed his leg to take him down, was the guard, followed by a triangle choke, followed by an arm bar — his favorite submission hold. Chokes are slow to take effect, and physically taxing. Arm bars bring immediate results.
LeBosnoyani is called Monkey at his father’s gym. While still upside down, he whipped his freed left leg around Vargas’ neck and secured it with his right leg for a triangle choke.
The counter to a triangle choke is to walk forward, over your opponent. But because of the limberness LeBosnoyani demonstrated when he did the splits at the start of the match, the more Vargas moved forward, the tighter the choke became.
A lesser opponent would have tapped. But Vargas was also well coach.
“Gira, gira. Pasa, pasa,” his father shouted.
Vargas backed up and dropped on his butt to the mat. As he pushed with his right arm against LeBosnoyani’s left leg to relieve the pressure on his neck, LeBosnoyani pinned the outstretched arm under his left armpit. Then he rolled on top of Vargas, and abandoned the triangle choke for an arm bar.
Vargas refused to tap as his elbow was bent backward. The referee hurriedly ended the match.
The scheduled four minute round went 52 seconds.
The work behind the wins
Last year, LeBosnoyani could have laid claim to being the best 11-year-old jiu jitsu fighter in his weight division in the United States. He won gold in eight of eight matches in competitions that included the Gracie Kids World Championships, the State Jiu Jitsu Championships, and the Abu Dhabi Championships.
With his gold medal victory at the Pan Kids Jiu Jitsu Championships, he can lay claim to being the best in the world in his division. Competitors from eight nations competed for the gold at the Pan Kids Championships.
LeBosnoyani trains three hours a day, five days a week after school. His workouts begin with an hour of self-directed drills, followed by teaching private and group classes to his peers and younger kids. Then he trains with his dad’s teen and adult class.
LeBosnoyani also trains regularly in Hawthorne with kick-boxing coach Steve Fisher, a former national champion whose students include 15 national champions and an Olympic gold medalist.
For boxing instruction, he travels to the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood to work with Freddie Roach, whose other fighters include Manny Pacquiao, holder of seven world titles.
“Coaching Jean Paul is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We butt heads on the mat all the time. It helps to have him hear what dad tells him come from another coach,” his father said.
That observation is confirmed by Fisher’s experience with his young student.
“Jean Paul has a very calm demeanor under fire, a quality you see in most great competitors. He stays focused and doesn’t get frustrated. Tell him what to do and he makes it happen. He is very coachable,” Fisher said.
“It helps,” he added, “that he is also quick, very coordinated and hits hard.”
“When I heard he had broken his toe three weeks before the Pan Championships I assumed he wouldn’t compete because it would limit his mobility. But it doesn’t’ shock me that he fought. I had a feeling he’d be okay,” Fisher said.
Despite jiu jitsu’s hundreds of submission holds, LeBosnoyani’s dad attributes his son’s success to his mastery of three basic maneuvers: the arm bar, the triangle choke and the double take-down, which puts the opponent in the guard when the fighters crash to the mat.
I tell him, “Don’t make it complicated. Don’t be a Jack of all trades and master of none.”
Despite appearances, the dad insists jiu jitsu is as safe as other, more popular sport. He attributes concerns about its danger to a lack of understanding.
“It’s all about controlling your opponent. There are no punches or kicks in the kids’ competitions. “But let’s not kid ourselves. Chokeholds and breaks are lethal techniques. I tell the kids that just because police carry pistols doesn’t mean they go around shooting people.”
Two golds
“Definitely,” LeBosnoyani said when asked if he is prepared for the inevitable tournament loss. “I’ll learn by losing, the same as I learn when I lose to the students I train with.”
Manhattan Beach resident Scott Rusher, whose 7-year-old son Kalani trains under LeBosnoyani, said that off the mat LeBosnoyani is like any other 11-year-old. He skateboards, surfs, and plays basketball in the Manhattan Beach Youth League.
He also rides a 90 CC Yamaha dirt bike. “I want him to experience everything,” his dad said.
But Rusher noted that LeBosnoyani does have a distinguishing characteristic off the mat.
“He is the most mature 11-year-old you will ever meet,” Rusher said.
On the morning of the Pan Championships, LeBosnoyani went to his sister Bianca’s 9 a.m. MBYB basketball game at American Martyr’s School.
After the game ended at 10:05 a.m., LeBosnoyani told his dad to call Rusher. He wanted to ride to the competition with Kalani, whose match was at noon.
“I told him, ‘No, you haven’t had breakfast. Your call isn’t until 2:30 p.m.’ But Jean Paul insisted. He said, ‘Kalani’s my student. I need to prepare him.’ We argued. I told him to forget Kalani, to focus on himself. He said, ‘I don’t care if I lose. I need to be there for Kalani.’”
“I called Scott and told him, please, get Jean Paul breakfast.”
While leading Kalani through his stretching exercises, LeBosnoyani told his student what his father always told him.
“If you get an arm bar, rip his arm off. If you get a choke, choke him out. Do everything fast. Don’t get pulled into the guard. Don’t get mounted.”
Kalani ended his match in 35 seconds with a rear naked choke. B
Nono,
We had lots of fun reading this article. We see your studio and wondered if you were still teaching. We now know the answer to that. And you have a daughter, too! Good, everyone is active and athletic. It was great to get some insight into you and your family.
Love,
John and Debby
Congratulations to all the NoNo s and Jean Paul great work LOL
jean paul you are freakin awesome from sarah russell