Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was created in the early 20th century. It is a sport with a focus on ground fighting and grappling. It is classified as a martial art with foundations in self-defense, according to United States Air Force Master Sgt. Ryan Blumberg, a 455th expeditionary force support squadron manpower analyst, Ryan Blumberg.

On March 1, 2014, the Clamshell at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan hosted the 2nd annual Jiu-Jitsu tournament. The tournament included about 85 participants who were organized by weight class. Participants were then divided into brackets by their experience level. The goal was to closely match competitors by weight and experience to even the playing field for the tournament. The four attending referees also had many years’ experience in this respected and interesting martial art.

Safety was their number one priority of the referees, but also to ensure that each match was played fairly and scored accurately. The Bagram Jiu-Jitsu team created this tournament in order to provide an opportunity for those who train on a regular basis to test their skills with other competitors. In addition, they wanted to bring something to the service members that they hadn’t had before.

The tournament had a large turnout and created a lot of noise within the clamshell. Blumburg, who is deployed from the Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, stated that the tournament was very successful and went off without any injuries or problems. He reported that his team had a tournament without errors and that they celebrated their successes.

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