A Blue belt, a roll of the dice and pizza: The Borderlands end of year grading 2025

Last Saturday marked a massive day for Borderlands Grappling. We held our annual grading, training, and social event, and the energy on the mats was absolutely electric.

It’s hard to believe how far we have come in the last 12 months . We had 13 students step up to be graded, and the turnout for the social afterwards was double that of last year—a true testament to the growing grappling community we are building in Ludlow.

A Historic Promotion: Our First Blue Belt

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly a huge milestone for the club. We are incredibly proud to announce that Melissa Davies has received her blue belt.

Mel has been training for five years (both with us and prior clubs) and has become a staple of our mats. This promotion is particularly special for two reasons:

1. Mel is the very first Blue Belt to represent Borderlands Grappling

2. She is the first student Coach Owain has promoted to Blue since receiving his own black belt almost exactly one year ago
   

It feels like a full-circle moment for the club, and we couldn’t be happier for Mel. It is a well-deserved recognition of her technique and consistency.

The "Dice Roll" Tournament

We didn't want the training session to be just another standard drilling class. We mixed things up with skill-based games and a mini-competition with a chaotic twist.

Opponents were drawn out of a hat, but before the round started, they had to roll a dice. The roll determined a specific advantage or disadvantage for the match. For example, some students had to start with their opponent already on their back, while others were restricted to finishing the fight with only one specific submission.

If there was no winner after the round has ended, rolling the highest number on the dice decided the winner.

It forced everyone to think outside the box and adapt their game on the fly.

Despite the fierce competition and the tricky rule-sets, Damian Lewis-Colledge emerged as the champion of the day, taking home a fresh Borderlands hoody for his efforts.

A massive thank you to our special guests who joined us on the mats: Tye Janes, a brown belt and long-time friend of the club, and Ashley Moss from Three Points Martial Arts. It was great to have you both with us.

Pizza and Awards

After the mats were cleared, we headed into town to celebrate. We took over Sourced Pizza with 21 attendees—a huge jump from last year's gathering.

It was a fantastic night of food and laughs, and the perfect setting to hand out our annual club awards. There were several contenders for each award, but we had to whittle it down to one for each title. We want to recognise three individuals who have truly embodied the spirit of the club this year. Each winner took home some Borderlands merch:

• Community Award: Melissa Davies (Topping off a massive day for her!)

• Perseverance Award: Dominik Karol Maciejewski

• Improvement & Commitment: Andrew Lloyd
  

Thank you to everyone who trained, graded, and came out to eat. The club is nothing without the people on the mats. Here is to another year of growth, chokes, and pizza!

See you on the mats.