A new class for men and women that are past the age of 40 will start Friday, April 2nd. Oregon Pound is proud to introduce a self defense and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class designed specifically for people over 40 that want to get in better shape and increase their self confidence while learning proven self defense skills.

The classes will be held on Tuesday and Friday evenings at 6:00 pm with an optional class on Saturday morning. If you are interested in learning Jiu Jitsu but have held back because you felt uncomfortable working out with high school and college age athletes then this is the class for you.

Oregon Pound Jiu Jitsu head instructor Mike Downing will be teaching the class along with several assistant instructors. All of the instructors in this class will be over 40 and the program is self paced. Call Mike for more details at 541-929-5503.

The Oregon Pound school will be closed for both BJJ and TKD on Thursday Dec 24 and Thursday Dec 31.

Rylan Lizares put on a terrific seminar at the Oregon Pound on Nov 7, 2009. We had a good turn out of current and former members. After the seminar concluded Rylan conducted the belt tests and six of our white belts were promoted to blue belt. Andrew Harris, Michael Detienne, Matthew Lewis, Jon Uffleman, Andrew Taylor and Tristan Ferrill all earned their blue belts. Rylan also surprised Mike Downing by awarding him a brown belt. Congratulations to all those promoted.

Following the Jiu Jitsu seminar we all had dinner at Mozafar's house. Amber assisted him again and as usual there was an excellent dinner and great company. Many thanks to Mozafar and Amber.

The TKD class for Wednesday Oct 14 is cancelled due to illness.

Rylan Lizares conducted the annual spring Jiu Jitsu seminar on Saturday May 16, 2009. Rylan put on a superb seminar that was attended by many of our current students as well as most of our former Purple Belts. Everyone gained a lot of knoweldge and technique from Rylan. Rylan also put six of our white belts to the test and then promoted them to blue belt. Promoted to Blue Belt were James Worley, Andy Szabo, Louie Kramer, Klint Sheets, Ben Egli and Scott Bigelow.

Rylan tested Dave Hawley during the Friday night Purple Belt Clinic and then promoted him to Purple Belt.

All of the promotions were well deserved - congrats to James, Andy, Louie, Klint, Ben, Scott and Dave.

Following the seminar Mozafar hosted dinner for everyone at his home. Dinner was excellent and there was plenty of it as usual. Many thanks to Mozafar and to Amber who assisted Mozafar with the dinner.

Last December he took first in his division at Grapplers Quest in Las Vegas and he just returned from the Pan Ams where he again took First Place in his division. Stuart and Apo also travelled to California and competed in the Pan Ams. Congrats to all three of them.

Promoted to Blue Belt were: Brian Hammon, Jim Hardison, Matt Kiesse, Cody Hufeld and Julian Wallace

Promoted to Purple Belt were: Scott King, Nick Haloski and Yosof Wanly. Congrats to all of them.

• Shelly 2nd in traditional forms
• James 3rd in sparring
• Angela 2nd in traditional forms
• Christian 4th in traditional forms and sparring

Due to adverse weather, class is cancelled tonight.

Congratulations to John Elder on his mixed martial arts victory at Corvallis Cage Fight #5. John demonstrated his boxing skills and his takedowns and then submitted his opponent with a rear naked choke.

The Jiu Jitsu seminar conducted by Rylan Lizares on Sep 27, 2008 was a huge success. We are looking forward to having Rylan back for another seminar this winter. Congratulations to Nick Chang, Chris Brumley, Dax Strubb and James Glover on their promotion to Blue Belt. Congratulations to Mozafar Wanly on his promotion to Purple Belt.

Due to an "open house" at Cheldelin on Wednesday evening 09-17-08, the Oregon Pound school will be closed.

The Wednesday night TKD class is cancelled until further notice...

Oregon Pound held the 8th Annual Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar on Saturday May 3, 2008. Master Pedro Sauer conducted the seminar and was assisted by Black Belt Anibal Lobo. The seminar was a huge success with a lot of expert technical instruction and students from several Northwest Schools attending. Rylan Lizares, former Head Instructor at Oregon Pound, flew in from Hawaii and also assisted. Saturday evening Mozafar hosted the post seminar dinner and it was outstanding as usual.

Rylan Lizares will be conducting a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar on Saturday, December 1, 2007. The seminar will run from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and will be held in the mat room at Cheldelin. Cost is $50.00. Rylan is a brown belt under Pedro Sauer and is the former head instructor at Oregon Pound Jiu Jitsu. Rylan recently won third place in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships (Mundials). Contact Mike or Josh for more information.

Thursday, Nov 1 TKD class will end early and we will adjourn to Woodstock's for pizza! Pleae let me know if you will be attending so I can pre-order the food. -Poul

Three members of Oregon Pound Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team competed at the 10th Annual Mighty River Classic Martial Arts Tournament in Vancouver on September 29th. James Glover took Second Place in his division. Cody Hufeld won First Place in his division and Matt Kiesse also won First Place in his divison. Congratulations to James, Cody and Matt.

Rylan Lizares (head instructor at Oregon Pound Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 2003 - 2005) competed at the Mundials ( BJJ World Championships) this summer and won Third Place in the Brown Belt Division. Congratulations, Rylan!

Jeff Rockwell (head instructor at Oregon Pound Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 2005 - 2006) was recently promoted to Brown Belt by Pedro Sauer. Congratulations, Jeff!

James Wohlmacher has left the Oregon Pound since he relocated to the Portland area due to his employment. James will probably be training with Mel Locke in Camas, but is certain to occasionally drop in at the Pound to train.

Below are the scores for the 2007 Oregon Pound Pentathlon. The bag kick and bag punch events were new and the scoring definetely needs some tweaking - expect those events to be combined for next year, and for scores to be more consistent and somewhat lower!

Oregon Pound is back in the mat room at Cheldelin starting Monday September 10. Sorry for the short notice everyone.

Congratulations to Angela and Roy who earned their purple belts this evening.

• Angela B
  • 2nd place in traditional forms
• Cindy L
  • 3rd in traditional forms
  • 3rd in open forms
  • 3rd in sparring
• Roy M
  • 2nd in sparring

Congratulations to Breanna who earned her yellow belt this evening. Great job!

Rylan Lizares was recently interviewed by Mike Onzuka of FCTV. Check it out on youtube

This year's pentathlon event was attended by 10 Tae Kwon Do students who braved the rain to participate in the outdoor activities. The events this year changed slightly from last year and included:

• 3-mile run
• 1-mile run
• 100yd dash
• sit-ups in one minute
• push-ups
• pull-ups
• jump rope in two minutes
• bag-kick in one minute
• bag-punch in 30 seconds
• dips

After the gruelling morning activities, attendees and spectators alike convened at Poul's house for a barbeque.

Oregon Pound held the 7th annual Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar on Saturday May 12, 2007. Pedro Sauer taught the seminar which was of his usual high caliber. We are looking forward to his next visit.

Promotions: Josh Figueroa and Jonn Nishiguchi were awarded their purple belts by Pedro Sauer following the seminar. Congrats to both Josh and Jonn.