Before his first fight, Sanchez was nervous. His nervousness changed to pure happiness when he won gold in the blue belt juvenile absolute division, which was open to all weight classes. Sanchez also won a gold medal in the blue belt featherweight division.
The two gold medals were added to the bronze medal he won at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship this June in Long Beach, Calif.
Sanchez became interested in jiu-jitsu after training with his cousins 2-1/2 years ago. He has been training at the Purebred/Lloyd Irvin Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where he received his blue belt. His main goal is to get a black belt.
Besides training five days a week, Sanchez also teaches at the academy. He helps Terence Aflague, who is a BJJ brown belt, teach students 11 through 16.
“It’s fun to work with kids,” Sanchez said. “They’re good training partners.”
His mentors are Stephen Roberto and Mike Fowler, who are also his role models. Sanchez said that he looks up to Roberto because he was the first Chamorro to receive a BJJ black belt on Guam. He looks up to Fowler because he was the first person with a BJJ black belt to teach on Guam.
“They always say that you want to improve at least one percent a day,” Sanchez said. “If you don’t, then you’re not progressing.”
Sanchez plans to play for Notre Dame High School’s rugby team next quarter. When he is not training in jiu-jitsu or practicing rugby, Sanchez likes to hang out with his friends.
Awesomeness in full effect! Be sure to check out Mike in action in the “Veejoos” section.
