WHAT IS LIQUID SWORDS NOGI SUB ONLY?
Liquid Swords BJJ was founded out of a need in the DMV (the DC, MD, VA, and DE area) for nogi exclusive jiu-jitsu competition opportunities. While there are plenty of jiu-jitsu tournaments in the DMV, and there are even some submission-only tournaments that come here, there are no tournaments that focus exclusively on nogi jiu-jitsu or nogi submission grappling. In our area, nogi grapplers always seem to take a backseat to the more traditional gi jiu-jitsu that has dominated the sport for so long. So we decided that it was time to give nogi jiu-jitsu and the athletes who love it a place to shine in the DMV.
WHY SUPERFIGHTS?
With the popularity of larger nogi jiu-jitsu and submission grappling events like ADCC, One Championship, Who’s Number One, Fight-2-Win, etc., it occurred to us that there are really no events in the DMV that give local athletes the necessary experience to help prepare them to step onto the big stage. We decided that Liquid Swords NoGi Sub Only events could help to fill that gap between local tournaments and big stage superfights. Liquid Swords NoGi Sub Only is intended to give local jiu-jitsu and submission grappling athletes a place to show their skills and hone their craft either for the sake of competing itself or to prepare them for the bigger shows.
Note: We are not bound to the superfight format and we have some other fun competition formats in the works for 2024!
WHY THE NAME ‘LIQUID SWORDS’?
Liquid Swords is the album title for Wu-Tang Clan member GZA’s first solo album released in 1995. The album’s title is a reference to the 1993 Hong Kong kung fu movie called Legend of the Liquid Sword. Looking for a name for KD Events’ nogi submission only superfight series, Robert Van Valkenburgh thought that Liquid Swords would be a good fit as it pays homage to the music and movies he grew up with, as well as being a good metaphor for jiu-jitsu which, in its most beautiful manifestations, is both fluid like liquid and deadly like a sword in how it manages incoming forces and issues force.
WHO ARE WE?
Liquid Swords NoGi Sub Only is a division of KD Events LLC which was founded by Robert Van Valkenburgh, Matthew Van Valkenburgh, and Dwayne Bowie in 2023. The goal of KD Events LLC is to host and run niche Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai events that fill in the gaps missed by the bigger events in our area. In addition to Liquid Swords NoGi Sub Only, KD Events also runs Older Grappler 40+ Scrimmages, Shrimp Roll Youth Jiu-Jitsu Scrimmages, and is the East Coast representative for the Muay Thai Development League. We are also looking to run some women’s only events in the upcoming year. Each of these events is specifically focused on a group of people or a subset of an art that is either overlooked, underserved, or simply does not have access to as many competition opportunities as we feel is possible. Our goal is not to run the biggest events, but to run the best events for the groups we aim to serve.
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To inquire about other upcoming events, CONTACT KD Events.
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