Fighters at Kaiten MMA are preparing for the Galbraith Memorial Cup on May 17.

By Tommy Osborne

Jiu Jitsu Tournament

Prince George set to host close to 200 jiu jitsu fighters

May 14, 2025 | 4:24 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Prince George will be welcoming close to 200 Brazilian jiu jitsu fighters from many regions as it prepares to host the 7th annual Galbraith Memorial Open. Fighters from Merritt, Kamloops, Fort St. John, Prince Rupert, Grande Prairie in Alberta, and more, are all travelling to Prince George to take part in the tournament.

“Especially nowadays it’s expensive to travel and train, so to have the northern region tournament helps make it sustainable for young athletes to be able to compete here locally,” said Kaiten MMA Owner Karmjeet Manhas.

“With the northern competition, we have all this opportunity of people coming in and creating the bigger community, and that’s what really what we want,” said Chadwick Bellwood, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach that has travelled the world coaching and is currently in Prince George.

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The tournament is hosted by Kaiten MMA at the Prince George Secondary School, and it welcomes all age ranges. The ultimate prize is quite unique to Northern B.C. and this tournament, as fighters will compete for a hand crafted Spartan helmet!

“This helmet actually has a $700 value, handmade all the way from Greece, for the top fighter open class of Northern B.C. Usually you’ll see belts quite often, or trophies, but you don’t see the gladiator helmet, which is now enshrined with Northern B.C. Combat Challenge,” Manhas said.

The helmet helps shape a unique aspect of Northern B.C.’s fighting culture, and Manhas says it represents much more than just the financial value. Northern B.C. has produced world-class fighters, and the unique prize of the helmet represents the talent found in our very own communities.

“There’s such an amazing pool of martial artists here in the north, of all martial arts. So this is all about supporting the martial art community and growing martial arts in the North,” Manhas said.

While the goal of the tournament is obviously to win, both Manhas and Bellwood stressed the value of events like this for personal growth and development.

“You’re going to start to grow in areas in your life that you didn’t necessarily know you can grow in. So when you start bringing these young people into town that maybe don’t get the opportunity, we’re going to give them an opportunity and a skill set that they can go back to their community and help others with,” Bellwood said.

“When someone completes a tournament, a young child or an adult, when they come back into the gym, everyone in the gym can notice and feel the change. And it’s an amazing thing, and it really makes a big difference,” Manhas said.

The fighters are all excited to compete, including some of Prince George’s youngest fighters.

“I’m excited, because then when I learn and my mind says ‘you’re gonna win,’ your mind does make you win when you think it,” said six year old jiu jitsu fighter Leigh-Ann, a student at Kaiten MMA.

“It’s a very great thing to learn, and I get better and better,” added eight year old jiu jitsu fighter Kishore, also of Kaiten MMA.

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