On May 17, nearly a year after the death of Prince George mixed martial arts pioneer Travis “The Gladiator” Galbraith, dozens of disciples who followed his jiu jitsu teachings at Northern Capital Judo Club will gather at Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary School for a one-day tournament.
To commemorate the sixth-annual event for combatants in the open divisions, instead of belts for winning their respective titles they will be competing for gladiator helmets in honour of Galbraith, one of the province’s most successful mixed martial artists.
Galbraith died in a rafting accident on Willow River, 35 kilometres east of Prince George. His body was found after a four-day search on May 28, two days after his 43rd birthday.
In a 10-year career from 2001-2010 he competed in virtually every professional MMA organization except UFC. Galbraith fought the likes of Georges St-Pierre and finished with a pro record of 18-7-0.
“He fought in every major league except UFC, Pride, Elite XC, all the Canadian organizations, until UFC bought them out,” said Manhas. “We have a few different things planned for that, some pageantry for him.”
Last year’s one-day tournament featured close to 170 bouts and will include jacket and non-jacket forms of submission wrestling. Most matches will end in a submission, such as an armbar or rear-naked chokehold. If there is no submission the match winner will be determined through a points system.
“I used to (showcase) kickboxing but I found it really challenging with the new regulations they put in place, you need a doctor and there’s no doctors available for anything and they also want an ambulance and two drivers there all the time,” said Manhas, owner of Kaiten Mixed Martial Arts.
“We lost half our striking divisions, but the grappling is strong. Actually, jiu jitsu is the fastest-growing martial art in the world and there are tournaments popping up everywhere. Before, we were the only jiu jitsu school in Northern BC, now there’s three other schools (in Prince George).”
Manhas is anxious to show off his youth team, some of whom will be fighting this weekend on an MMA card in Vancouver. The Kaiten team includes Cooper Bond, the 14-year-old grandson of former MLA Shirley Bond and Manhas’s 11-year-old son Akosh.
