Grapplers Quest 2003: Evolve Academy and Team Lloyd Irvin

2010
09.13

Grapplers Quest 2003: Evolve Academy and Team Lloyd Irvin

I was digging through some of my old collection of grappling pictures and found some old photos. In 2003, I lived in Germantown, Md. and I needed a place to train jiu-jitsu. Master Mike Moses had a dojo in the area so I called him up. He said, “Yeah! I’m here in Gaithersburg! Come on by!” I said, “Sure! I need to get in shape.” That’s when I formally met Instructor Nakapan Phungephorn. I had previously seen him around at BJJ tournaments. When I first got there, we were training in part of the area they call “Area 51″. While at Evolve, a lot of people trained to have fun, and there were also a lot of people that wanted to compete.

Back in the early 2000′s, submission grappling was still growing. No-gi tournaments were getting bigger but tournaments such as Grapplers Quest still hosted the Copa Atlantica, in addition to their no-gi tournaments. Gi tournaments were a smaller draw but still fun to watch. One fateful day in 2003, the Evolve Academy team decided to go up to the Grapplers Quest Copa Atlantica and compete. This was when the formal association with Team Lloyd Irvin was still in its infancy, but the friendships still remain. Seeing UFC Fighter Brandon Vera compete was really a treat. Here are some people that were at the BJJ tournament.