Coach's profile

Mandeng, extreme right being awarded blue belt by
BJJ World Champion Xande Ribeiro

Mandeng in action, Singapore '08

This is the profile of a friend and training partner of mine, who will be sharing the coaching duties with me.

Tirmizi Muhd Yew or 'Mandeng', as he is affectionately known to his friends, started his BJJ training in Fall 2003 when he was a student at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. During his time in the States, Mandeng was an active BJJ and submission wrestling competitor, and among the tournaments that he won or placed were Arnold Gracie, Gracie US Nationals and Canadian-American championship (his full competition record can be found on <www.umich.edu/~armbar/compresults.html>).

During his competitive days representing the University of Michigan's BJJ club, weighing 120 pounds, he would naturally face bigger guys either in under 145 pounds, or the open weight category as there was nobody close to his weight category ("It's America and I was just a skinny little Asian dude"). He became a reliable competitor and earned the respect of his teammate, and in summer 2004, he was appointed as the competition team captain of the club. ("Well, I got pretty good because I was consistently training and competing then. To be honest though, as a student then, besides class and homeworks, I had plenty of free time. And I am glad I found BJJ and got hooked on it. Now as a working adult, BJJ is a only a hobby- a hobby I take seriously though. BJJ keeps me healthy and strong,and it provides a good balance in my
life")

After close to 2 years competing as a white belt, Mandeng received his blue belt from Xande Ribeiro (the current Absolute World Champion and brother of BJJ legend Saulo Ribeiro) in June 2005. He returned to Malaysia shortly afterward and lay-low from BJJ for a while, until he met Janson and gradually eased back into training in late 2006.

Outside BJJ, Mandeng is currently an executive at a Big 4 Firm while pursuing his MBA. His interests besides BJJ? Watching MMA fights and BJJ videos, and reading on economy and business strategy (yeah,he can be a geek).

Direct Instructors : Sean 'Abdula' Bansfield (Saulo's Black Belt),
Rodrigo Nunes (Marcelo Corleta's Purple) , Matt Jubera (Saulo's Brown
Belt) and Quincy Rice (submission wrestling).

Favorite Submissions: Armbars (all kind of 'em)

COMPETITION RECORD:

GI

1. Wolverine Classic, Apr '04, white belt, Under 140lbs - 2nd place
2. Canadian-American Championship, June '04, white belt, Under 150lbs -2nd place
3. Gracie Nationals, October '04, Absolute Division- Semi Finalist; white belt, under 130lbs-1st place
4. Arnold Gracie, Apr '04, white belt, Under 127lbs, 1st place
5. Saulo Ribeiro Spring Invitational, May '05, white belt, Under 150lbs- 2nd place
6. Alive Singapore "Lordz of the Pain" BJJ tournament March 2008 - bronze medal, blue belt, under 66kg
   

NO-GI (INTERMEDIATE)

1. Wolverine Classic, Apr '04, under 140lbs, 1st place