Local judo star Elias Sabin to compete at World Championships in Ecuador

Elias Sabin began competing in judo at age seven and has traveled from Elk Grove all the way up to Rocklin Judo since he was 10 years old. Now, at age 17, Sabin is competing in major tournaments and is the Number One ranked athlete in the nation at the International Judo Federation (IJF) 100-kilogram division. "Right away, when I started coaching him, I noticed that he had a lot of drive and determination," Rocklin Judo instructional director Shane Thompson said. "He was very tenacious in that when I would show him something, I could see the frustration if he couldn't get it right away. I knew if he stayed with me and continued to train, he would get a lot from the training because of how hard he would push himself." Thompson has been involved with judo for 40 years and has been instructing for 30 years. He has trained Sabin for seven years and has noticed what his biggest strengths are. "When you see a martial artist, you will always recognize the mat hours," Thompson said. "His body to move the way it does at 17 years old, a lot of mat hours had to be put in. What makes him special today is he fears no outcome. He truly has the black belt mentality in that he only lives in the moment and doesn't look ahead for the result." Sabin is competing in a division where athletes are between the ages of 18 and 21 and he already dominated the division when he was just 16. Sabin is currently preparing for the IJF World Championships that will be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador from Aug. 10 to Aug. 14. This won't be the first event Sabin has competed in outside of the United States as he was at the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara in November 2020 where he finished fifth in the U21 division. Sabin went on to finish first at the Presidents Cup in Irving, Texas last November and was second at Junior Nationals in Michigan back in March. "It was a lot of pressure before as I was also number one in the nation a couple of years back, but after a while I realized in my own mind that the pressure was coming from myself to stay at the top," Sabin said. "I had to tell myself that this is just for fun but I still want to win. You have to find that balance of being prepared to lose but also wanting to win." Judo is an Olympic martial art where competitors face off in single combat in an elimination tournament. Competitors wear a judogi, which consists of a jacket, a trouser and a belt. Each fight is up to four minutes long and gripping of the jacket is essential in controlling the fight. The highest score is known as an ippon, which wins the contest outright and is scored by either throwing an opponent on their back with force, gaining submission or controlling the upper part of the body for 20 seconds on the ground. The second-highest score is called a waza-ari, which is awarded for throws less powerful than an ippon or by a 10-19 second control of the upper body on the ground. If the score is equal at the end of a combat, it goes to a golden score that continues until a waza-ari or an ippon is scored. For Sabin, most of his contests end in ippons and he is able to get the job done either by throw or submission. "I think my strength lies in that the coaches here were able to teach me a variety of both," Sabin said. "On the ground, I'd say I'm better than most because most people don't really focus on the ground game in judo and it's more of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu thing, but here we really get well-rounded. People don't expect a good ground game person in judo." Sabin got into judo with his family as his brother and sister competed. He also competes with his father, Manuel. Sabin recently moved up to a first degree black belt earlier this year. "It was a big deal for me and my sensei here called in a bunch of other coaches that I look up to," Sabin said. "It was good because I really studied for that, so being able to be proud of myself after having completed it and talking to all of the judokas felt great. After that was a tournament so it was a big weekend for me." Sabin is a Pleasant Grove High School senior in Elk Grove and has a passion for film but sees himself sticking with judo in college and for the rest of his life. "My goal is to keep doing judo and it's just a love of mine," Sabin said.