Mortone eyes next challenge
By JON HABER Special to the Daily Press
MAIN STREET A chiropractor’s job usually involves getting people out of pain, not the other way around. But then again, Charles Mortone is not the typical chiropractor.
Mortone won the gold medal last Saturday at the Pan American Ju-jitsu Championship at California State University, San Dominguez Hills in Carson. The 32-year-old won all five of his matches in the light-weight blue belt masters division to capture the title.
“This is definitely my largest accomplishment ever with [Ju-jitsu],” Mortone said. “It was absolutely amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. It was so much fun to have support from all my friends and my wife. Just an exceptional experience.”
Four of Mortone’s five matches ended in submissions, meaning his opponents had to tap out before the five-minute round was over. His only other victory came by an opponent’s knee injury. Throughout the tournament, not one of the 32 competitors in the blue-belt bracket seemed to stand a chance against the soon-to-be champion.
“After the third or fourth round, [my wife and I] looked at each other, and I said to her ‘are we really going to do this?,’ and we started cracking up,” Mortone said. “Then, into the fourth and fifth rounds, it was just one of those things. Nothing could have stopped us that day.”
Last Saturday was Mortone’s first time competing in the Pan American tournament, one of the biggest Ju-jitsu competitions in the world. The champion first began competing in small tournaments about eight years ago in South Carolina before deciding to move to Santa Monica in 2003.
Once he arrived in Southern California, Mortone started training at Street Sports Jujitsu Santa Monica on Ocean Park Boulevard under the direction of Coach Renato Magno.
In 2006, Mortone began working as a chiropractor at Dedicated Wellness on 2210 Main Street, but he never let go of his hobby.
This past December, Mortone decided he would compete in the Pan American tournament. Within the next three-and-a-half months, the fighter dropped 10 pounds so he could compete in lightweight division.
“I had to basically fast and do tons of nutrition. The lightweight division is 167.5 pounds and under, so I had to lose some weight. Regardless, I train about six days a week during the year,” Mortone said.
After losing the weight, Mortone entered the competition with Magno right by his side.
“Renato was coaching me the entire time. He really gave me an edge,” Mortone said. “He was shouting body positions and things like that from the sideline and kept me aware of where I needed to be position-wise.”
Upon receiving his gold medal, Mortone earned a purple rank from his coach, which will place Mortone in a tougher field for future competitions.
Mortone is currently training harder than ever before to compete in the World Ju-jitsu Games in Long Beach this summer. And although Mortone knows purple-belt competition will be a tougher challenge than he has ever faced before,he still has high expectations.
“I really want to get that first place again,” he said. “I feel confident I can do it if I train right.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2008. Read the original PDF.