The Blog of the Fighting Photographer!

Guard passing - Lovato Jr Style!

2012-02-02T14:07:00.001Z

The BJJ Gods have well and truly lined up the stars for me this week :) I had the pleasure of Darren and Helen Currie teaching at my gym at the weekend just gone, going through the finer points of guard passing and if that wasn't enough I was down the Big Smoke yesterday to train with Eddie Kone and Rafael Lovato Jr and as luck would have it, Rafael gave a seminar on guard passing!

Group photo

Rafael was in London after the Euros for a few days to hang out and train with Eddie and I was lucky enough to grab a few minutes with Rafael out of his busy schedule and interviewed him, so keep your eyes peeled when it goes online.

With Rafael and Eddie

Rafael showed the class his favourite way of passing guard and linked a handful of passes from this position, as well as 'what ifs' from each position and showed that all passes can be linked and chained together, giving you the upper hand when playing the top game. Every technique came with a few pointers to make each one more or less unstoppable and every pass ended you up in mount, seven points in the bag!

From the mount position, Rafael showed his favourite go to submissions, again packed with lots of useful tips, so I am looking forward to trying these out in class, you have been warned :)

After the teaching, Rafael took a number of questions and gave his thoughts on the importance of drilling techniques and his love for competing and the fact that he a BJJ geek, which he is unashamed to admit. This part of the class was very motivating and inspiring, as it gave an insight into the mind set of an elite level athlete and how they prepare for high level competitions, as well as how theyd deal with injuries, losses and plateaux.

Thanks to Eddie Kone for arranging the seminar and Rafael for taking time out for the interview.

www.okbjj.com
www.lovatojr.com
Facebook - lovatojrfans.com
Twitter - @lovatojrbjj

Eddie Kone gets first stripe from Lovato Jr!

2012-02-02T11:27:00.001Z

Huge congrats to my very good friend Eddie Kone, who last night received his first stripe on his black belt from Rafael Lovat Jr; this came at the end of a fantastic guard passing seminar from Rafael, who stayed with Eddie for a days after the Euros in Lisbon.

Lovato Jr and Eddie Kone

Eddie has been a black belt for over five years and the stripe from Rafael was given in recognition of his time served as a black belt so far and was presented to Eddie at the end of the seminar in front of all his students.

Well done Eddie!!

www.okbjj.com

www.ekbjj.com

Rafael Lovato Jr HL Reel!

2012-01-30T17:33:00.001Z

Really excited and looking forward to training with Eddie Kone and Rafael Lovato Jr in London on Wednesday; Rafael has just arrived in London and is at his hotel with Eddie and I'll be joining them on Wednesday dinner time to hang out and grab an interview, before attending the evening session with Rafael at 7pm.

Here's a HL reel of the man himself :)

Guard Passing Seminar!

2012-01-30T16:28:00.000Z

Had a great day of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu yesterday, hosting the first semianr of 2012 at the club; Darren and Helen Currie came over and delivered a seminar on guard passing, something we have been studying at the club for the last month.

Group photo

Brown belt coaches Mark Spencer and James Nardone were in attendance, as well as Runcorn based coaches Mike Ng and Russ Gates and were all treated to a master class from Darren and Helen. After a thorough warm up from Helen, Darren showed ways to open the guard from kneeling and standing and went on to show his favourite and high percentage passes, all of which complimented my teaching over recent weeks and there was plenty of new material to study this week and put into our respective arsenals.

Guard passing masterclass

Thanks to everyone who attended and supported the event, I look forward to having Darren and Helen back at the club later in the year.

www.combatsport.co.uk

Guard passing seminar Sunday 29th Jan!!

2012-01-23T22:02:00.001Z

I am pleased to announce that Combat Base UK head coaches, Darren and Helen Currie will be at Combat Base Bolton, delivering a seminar on guard passing; we were very lucky last year to have Darren and Helen at the club on several occasions and I hope 2012 will be no different.

With Helen, Darren and Spenna, Bradford 2011

The seminar is on 12-3pm and after that there will be an Open Mat for at least an hour, followed by fluid intakes at the local pub round the corner from the gym, by far the most essential part of training.

There will be a number of coaches from Combat Base UK clubs; brown belts Mark Spencer and James Nardone are confirmed attendees and am waiting for other coaches to contact my good self, so look forward to seeing you all on Sunday for a great afternoon of Jiu Jitsu.

Academy visit - Team Sukata Blackpool!

2012-01-21T02:11:00.001Z

Here's my latest report on the Jiu Jitsu Style website - http://www.bjjstyle.com/news/gary/savage/sukata.php

Had a great time with Gary and the gang, next report will be Team Sukata Warrington :)

With Gary Savage

www.martialartsblackpool.co.uk

Need some inspiration to train??

2012-01-20T15:54:00.000Z

This time of year, it's oh so easy to think of an excuse not to train and lose motivation when the nights draw in and it's cold and wet outside. If you're finding it hard to drag yourself to class, then watch this clip and if it doesn't inspire you to get out of the house and down to the gym, then take up knitting instead!

Caio Terra - Modern Jiu Jitsu (Trailer)

2012-01-19T16:01:00.002Z

Here's the trailer for the new release from Caio Terra, out in February!

New EKBJJ Affilate - in Brazil!

2012-01-18T11:38:00.002Z

My very good friend Eddie Kone has just returned from a very productive trip in South Brazil and Eddie gave me the good news himself; you can read all about it on the Jiu Jitsu Style website http://www.bjjstyle.com/news/eddie/kone/brazil/affiliates.php

Eddie and Jonas de Almeiada

Rafael Lovato Jr Seminar @ EKBJJ HQ!

2012-01-17T17:06:00.000Z

My good friend Eddie Kone is hosting a seminar with Rafael Lovato Jr on Wednesday February 1st from 7-9pm; Eddie has hosted Rafael before and delivered a very interesting seminar and based on the feedback received, Eddie has brought Rafael back to the UK.

Rafael with Eddie at the last UK seminar

Cost: £40 in advance; £50 on the door

Address:

EKBJJ FIGHT & FITNESS ACADEMY

Unit 4, Unity Works

Sutherland Road

Walthamstow

London

E17 6JW

Closest station Blackhorse Road, a 7 min walk from the station

Some of Rafael’s accomplishments as a Black Belt include:

3 x Pan-American Champion (2005, 2007, & 2008)
2 x Budweiser World Cup Pro Champion (2005 & 2007)
2 x Grapplers Quest Pro Champion
2005 CBJJE World Cup Bronze Medalist
2005 Rickson Gracie Budo Challenge Champion
2006 American National Champion
2006 Professional Submission League X-Mission Champion
2007 European Open Champion
2007 Brasileiro Champion
2007 World BJJ Champion
2007 BJJ Fighter of the Year
2008 World BJJ Runner-Up
2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships 4th Place
2009 No-Gi World Runner-Up
2009 World BJJ Bronze Medalist
2010 Pan-American Runner-Up
2010 Brasileiro Absolute Runner-Up
2010 World BJJ Bronze Medalist
2010 No-Gi World Champion
2011 European Open Runner-Up
2011 Abu Dhabi Pro Trials Poland Absolute Champion
2011 Abu Dhabi World Pro No-Gi Champion
2011 Abu Dhabi World Pro Gi Bronze Medalist
2011 World BJJ Bronze Medalist
2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships 4th Place
2011 Grapplers Quest / UFC Fan Expo Superfight Champion
2011 No-Gi World Champion
2011 Abu Dhabi Pro Trials San Antonio Weight & Absolute Champion

For more info and to book a place, contact: 07518 017 660 or info@ekbjj.com

IBJJF Rules - Updated English Version (PDF)

2012-01-13T17:16:00.001Z

Just downloaded and printed off the new English version of the IBJJ rules, which contains the general competition guidelines and competition format manual. Leafing through the rule book, there are plenty of clear photos explaining the hand gestures from the referee and examples of serious penalties.

There is a table of technical penalties, listing all the moves that may or may not get you DQ'd, depending on your belt, so this is a must read section for all belts; in addition a section on where patches are allowed on the gi as well as the gi checker and pointers on hygiene and state of gi prior to stepping on the mats.

The general competition guidelines lists all the divisions from Mighty Mite 1 to Senior 5, with regulation match duration for all divisions; the manual goes on to give guidelines on brackets, inter academy contests, prizes and registration and the competition format manual gives the requirements for the competition area and score keeping tables, as well as guidelines for staff and their duties.

Required reading for all concerned in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and something not to be read in one sitting, otherwise your brain will burst with all the info stored within; I'm off to the referee's course in London next week, so hope to have a good read on the way down to help pass the time; for now I will leave a link to the rules on the IBJJF website:- http://www.ibjjf.org/docs/rulesibjjf1stedition.pdf

Download and study well :)

Academy Visit - Fighting Fit Martial Arts Centre, Manchester

2012-01-12T12:38:00.000Z

Read my report on Jiu Jitsu Style's website - http://www.bjjstyle.com/news/fighting/fit/academy/visit.php

Thanks to Liam Wandi for the invite, great club, great people :)

Seminario @ Combat Base Bolton!!

2012-01-12T12:14:00.000Z

I am pleased and excited to announce that Combat Base Bolton will be having their first seminar of 2012 with Darren and Helen Currie :) Darren has put together a brand new seminar covering one of the most important parts of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, guard passing and we have the honour of being the first batch of students to receive the fruits of Darren's knowledge.

The fun and games will be held on Sunday 29th January, from 12-3pm and after the main session, there will be an Open Mat session, to allow people to practice their new found skills on one another. I'm really pleased to have Darren and Helen back at the club again, as we were very lucky to see a lot of them last year, let's hope this year's just as good!

2011 Fight team photo!

2012-01-04T15:55:00.001Z

Many thanks to Joel Williams for his editing skills and in making a fine photograph of my 2011 fight team.

2011 Fight Team

Looking forward to 2012 and another year packed with competitions and more medals than 2011!!!

Joel Williams can be contacted at jwflyerdesign@gmail.com

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:26:00.000Z

2012 is now upon us and if you believe the Mayans, we are all DOOMED!!!

Best get as much training in as possible then.....................

New Year's Eve Open Mat!

2011-12-31T19:47:00.000Z

Rounded off a fantastic year with the last ever Open Mat of 2011!

NYE gathering!

Great turnout wirth a few lads coming up from Runcorn to join in the fun; big shout to Tony Riley on becoming the last KOTC champion for 2011, can he defend it in 2012?

Zoolander - King of the Cage!

To all my students and fellow grapplers the world over, I wish you all the best for 2012 and may it be injury free and acked full of medals and submissions :)

Attention Mr Anonymous!

2011-12-30T17:53:00.000Z

All comments on the posts on this Blog are moderated by myself, which means I get to delete your inaccurate and totally misguided and abusive comments. If you had the balls to post with a real name I would allow them, but in true gutless style you remain anonymous.

If you have that much of a problem then why not go to the gym direct and voice your opinions face to face?

No, didn't think so.................

Tuesday Open Mat!

2011-12-27T20:22:00.002Z

Had a great turn out today for the Open Mat, arranged on behalf and at the behest of fellow Brazilian Jiu Jitsu addicts across the North West; had a drop in guest in the shape of Adam Sankey, who was up visiting relatives from sunny Cornwall and trains with Rafael dos Santos, alongside Tim Lukes who I competed against at the last Hereford Open in December.

Open Mat addicts, Adam Sankey back row left

A great afternoon of training jiu jitsu, no gi MMA and plenty of S+C was had by everyone and a great way to burn off the excesses of the last few days.

BJJ class tomorrow at 6pm - see you on the mats!

Open Mat tomorrow!

2011-12-26T18:30:00.000Z

If you're like me and can't wait to get back training, the good news is the club will be open tomorrow (Tuesday) for an Open Mat session :)

Christmas meal at the Chinese Buffet

The fun starts at 230pm and will be a minimum of two hours training, followed by post training fluid intake at the nearest local :)

Everyone welcome from the CB family and all my other grappling addicts are invited for a fix too!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T13:09:00.000Z

As ever, my fave Xmas picci :)

Merry Christmas to you all :)

Christmas Eve Open Mat!

2011-12-24T18:00:00.000Z

A fantastic pre Christmas session of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, No Gi Jiu Jitsu, MMA, Thai Boxing, S+C and the infamous Royal Rumble, all packed into two hours, came to an end at 3pm this afternoon. Special shouts to my good friend Chris Brown and fellow Combat Base brother Hanif Rehman (who trains with the Cheesecake Assassin) who both travelled over to join in the fun.

Christmas Eve grapplers!

The Royal Rumble came round at the usual time and it was time for a new winner and the start of the teenage domination, as 17 year old Liam Holt, duked it out in the cage and emerged the winner of the most coveted title on the planet :)

King of the Cage!!!

To all my students, my Combat Base family and all my other jiu jitsu addicts up and down the UK and across the world, a Merry Christmas to you all and see you on the mats next Wednesday :)

Guard Passing - Eddie Kone style!

2011-12-23T15:44:00.001Z

My very good friend Eddie Kone lends his attention to the closed guard pass; pay heed to the tiny details that are in the video, this is a really cool, technical video that can be applied whatever colour belt you happen to be.

http://www.ekbjj.com/

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Applied Jiu Jitsu @ Lotus Karate Do, Heywood!

2011-12-23T15:28:00.002Z

With my Karate Warriors!

There are a number of styles of martial arts taught at the KP Combat Centre in Heywood; alongside Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are a number of Karate clubs that teach and train at the unit and last week I was approached by black belt instructor Liz Daves and asked to teach her class a little bit of self defence and some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

It was the club's last session and Liz wanted the students to try something different to their normal training, so it was time to spread the gospel according to Jiu Jitsu :) I started the session with fun drills like the headstand, that were fun to play with but also had real application in developing balance and stability. Carthwheels followed along a number of BJJ warm ups, all designed to increase strength, endurance and that all important balance and stability.

On the way up via the Crow Position :)

After the fun and games in the warm up, it was time for a spot of self defence and I showed a number of ways to escape the double collar grab, one of the most common used attacks out on the streets. These techniques have been used in live sitautions by myself and my Trad JJ instructor Trevor Roberts and many others from Trevor's Association over the years in pubs and clubs and are quite easy to learn and add to your arsenal.

Double collar grab defence

Getting stuck in!

Time for twisting up!

After twisting each other up and most of the kids having a go on my good self and giving me a good hiding, I took the class down to the ground and showed some simple submissions; from side control I showed ude gurame to give its Japanes name and for the Brazilians is better known as key lock/kimura. With time running out I ended the class by showing them one of my all time favourite subs, the good old bow and arrow and after being bow and arrow'd by all of the kids, it was time to cool down and a fun filled session came to an end.

Huge thanks to Liz for inviting me over to share the knowledge and look forward to doing more in the New Year and Lauren Davies for the fine pix and last but not least all the students for showing an open and training so hard......OOSSS!!!!

Old Skool Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pix!

2011-12-19T11:32:00.001Z

My good friend Simon Hayes has started a group on Facebook (UK BJJ Underground), inviting all the UK BJJ community to come together and talk about everything Brazilian Jiu Jitsu http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/286498698062505/

It is already packed with photos from the early days of BJJ and I have added a few of my own and thought I'd drop some in here. Over time, I'll drop more and more in from my early days training, travelling, competing and reporting.

GB Brum 2001

Mauricao and Roger Gracie seminar at my GB club in Bolton 2004

Tiro Luta Vale Tudo comp 2001

With Chris Haueter, 2003

With Dan Inosanto, Machado Academy LA, 1999. Where the journey really started.

2011 BJJ Competition Team Medal Haul!

2011-12-18T14:36:00.002Z

The last Brazilian Jiu Jitsu event of 2011 was held in Birmingham last weekend and with it brought an end to a year of jiu jitsu competition for my competition team; comprising of students from my clubs in Bolton, Runcorn and Heywood, we have been busy competing all year, nine months in total and at all the main events that we could possibly manage, hopefully competing in the ones we missed in 2012.

Competitions entered:-

Hereford Open (all colours)
North West Open - St Helens (Gi)
British Open (Gi)
Ground Control (Gi)
UMA ( BJJ and No Gi)
NW Open Cleveleys (Gi)
Glasgow Open (Brown belt Gi Superfight, the first ever brown belt match in Scotland)
Grab and Pull Birmingham (Gi)

It's been a very busy year and all the lads have given it 100% in all their matches and we have medalled in every event entered; special credit to the juveniles aged between 14 and 17 who have entered Adult brackets all year without complaint and gave them a good fight and have learned so much by doing so.

Bolton and Heywood crew

It gives me great pleasure to announce that our total medal haul for 2011 is fourteen gold, twenty five silver and fourteen bronze, a grand total of fifty three medals; a fantastic achievement that has truly surpassed anything I could have envisgaed for this year as a coach. It has taken me a long time to get the students to see the benefits of competition, but once all the lads had all met together and got to know each other better this year, the real team spirit and bonding has grown and gone from strength to strength.

Runcorn crew

It has been an absolute pleasure to coach every one this year and that includes the guys that haven't competed yet, but have been there in training sessions to help the guys competing sharpen themselves up and I know in 2012, these guys will have been training long enough to start stepping up themselves, so looking forward to the new influx of competitors.

So once again, a huge well done to you all, you should all be very proud of your achievements, you are all a credit to Combat Base UK; so rest up, eat and drink well until the New Year and then get back onto the mats and start training hard for the year ahead!

More UK Black Belts!

2011-12-18T13:23:00.001Z

The UK Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community has gone black belt mad the last few weeks, with a number of very well deserved promotions. Most of the guys promoted I have known, trained and competed against over the years and am proud to be their friends and to have shared the journey with them.

Braulio Estima held a huge get together yesterday with over 160 on the mats and promoted the following to faixa preta:-

Ebe Ghansah
Neil Simkin
Lee Catling
Rob Stevens
Chris Ress (first black belt in Wales)
Norbi Norbert

A number of people were promoted to purple and brown on the day.

Excellent news to everyone promoted and to the newly minted black belts, the real journey begins :)

Team photo of the black belts taken from the EFN forum thread http://www.efnsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=14832.0

Braulio and Victor with the new black belts

Terere Signature Gi - video!

2011-12-15T17:02:00.000Z

Happy birthday Combat Base!

2011-12-14T13:48:00.002Z

http://combatbase.blogspot.com/2011/12/happy-bday-combat-base.html

Gareth Dummer - brown belt!!

2011-12-12T14:06:00.000Z

Huge congrats to one half of my sponsors Gareth Dummer, who was awarded his brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu yesterday from Pedro Bessa. An interview I did with Pedro can be found in issue number 2 of Jiu JItsu Style (http://www.bjjstyle.com/).

Gareth Dummer pictured on the right @ Hereford Open 10

Well done Gareth, next stop faixa preta :)

http://www.tatamifightwear.com/

Another UK Black Belt!

2011-12-11T03:59:00.001Z

In addition to Oli and Tom getting promoted, I am pleased to hear that another friend of mine, Kev Capel was promoted to black belt, by Roger and Mauricao.

In addition to this promotion, Pablo Cado, Tomasz Redeski and Bruno Zancanar were also promoted, a fine day for UK Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!!

With Kev Capel at the Hereford Open

Two new UK Black Belts!

2011-12-10T18:01:00.000Z

HUGE congrats to two very talented and prolific competitors, who were awarded their black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu today. Oli Geddes was promoted by Roger Gracie and Tom Barlow (GB Plymouth) was promoted by Braulio Estima; great news for the UK Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community, it goes from strength to strength each month.

With Oli Geddes @ Hereford Open 10 last weekend

Outstanding achievements all round and look forward to them both smashing up their respective weight brackets :)

Grapplefest at the UMA No Gi Grappling Championships!

2011-12-07T16:27:00.001Z

Jim Mc Sherry hosted the association's last grappling event of the year, in the guise of no gi grappling, on Saturday December 3rd; this event has always been one of the UMA's busiest and popular of comps and this year was no exception.

Soaking up the atmosphere!

With over 100 competitors toughing it out on the mats for bragging rights, the referee team of Pippa Granger, Jim Mc Sherry, Josh Palmer and my good self were kept very busy througout the day and were rewarded with some high level grappling across all the weight brackets and years experience.

With MMA commentator and UMA ref, Josh Palmer

I only had a few guys compete this year at the event, but the Demolition Man, aka Lee James, remains undefeated both in gi and no gi, winning his weight bracket in commanding style and picking up gold medal number 5. Parabens!!

The Demolition Man - #1!!

Shouts out to Jim and his band of helpers for running another smooth event and keeping us officials fed and watered throughout the day; to the referee team of Jim, Pippa and Josh for their hard work on the day and to all the teams that came down and entered the event, without you guys there'd be no competitions at all, we can't do it without you guys :)

Ladies with the bling!

Thanks to all the clubs that have supported the UMA events this year, we've had a great year this year and look forward to seeing you all again in 2012. Have a great break at Christmas and train hard in the New Year!

http://www.umauk.co.uk/

BJJ Bonanza at the Hereford Open 10!

2011-12-06T17:15:00.000Z

After a long day reffing at the UMA no gi comp on Saturday, I drove down to Hereford with the Pipster and dropped anchor at Dave Coles's residence, in readiment for the competition on Sunday. And what a competition! Black and brown belts were lured to the competition via way of free entry and this made for some really exciting fights and I'm proud to say that I was involved in the event, both as a ref and competitor.

With Dave Coles

In the black belt superfights, Scott Pickering from Team Sukata was in fine form, submitting the game Bruno Leta from Roleta BJJ, as was Kevin Webb who beat Rafael Heck from Checkmat, making it UK 2 - Brazil 0.

This was my first proper comp as a brown belt and I was to face Tim Lukes from team Rafael dos Santos, based in Cornwall and we had the additional honour of having Braulio Estime ref our match; towering over me at 6'5'', I knew I would have problems from his closed guard. I intended to take him down and work from side control, but Tim jumped guard from what looked liked a mile away and I was trapped in a leg and arm nightmare.

With Tim Lukes

With such long legs, the only choice was to stand and pass guard, leaving me open to sweeps and yes, you guessed it, I got swept :) Stuck in mount, I relied on my fundamentals and managed to reverse my position and ended up back in guard, where I again started to stand to try and pass. After a failed attempt, I was then swept into mount position and Tim maintained his position and subbed me with a nice little choke. Overall, a good match up, lasted three minutes and gained a lot from the fight. Roll on Feb 19th 2012 for the next Hereford Open!

Braulio Estima

Shouts out to Dave Coles for running another great comp, Seymour Yang for the funky t shirts, my lovely sponsors Gareth and Lee from Tatami, Creely, Wagon, Pippa, Oli Geddes, my referee partner Rob Stevens, all the lads from Team Sukata, Tim Lukes, Braulio Estima and everyone else I met on the day.

Lee and Gareth from Tatami

Results:- http://www.thecombatacademy.com/HO10Results.html

With the Meerkat, Seymour Yang

Lee 'Demolition Man' James - gold medal # 5!!

2011-12-05T14:33:00.000Z

Once again, Lee James lived up to his nickname at the UMA No Gi Championships, blazing a trail through his weight division to pick up his fifth gold medal in a row this year!

Lee has competed in UMA events and the Blackpool Open this year and has bagged the gold medal in commanding style at all events; I have had the pleasure of coaching Lee since February 2011 and to see him winning again and again is fantastic and am wondering just when will the Demolition Man be beaten??

Lee James on the #1 spot!

We will have to wait for 2012 to arrive before we see Lee back in action on the mats and hopefully in the cage as well, joining the other half of Team Legion of Doom, Mitchell 'Maximus' Richards..................

Team Legion of DOOM!

A weekend of grappling action!!

2011-12-02T17:39:00.001Z

Looking forward to a great weekend of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, gi and no gi, as myself and a number of my students are competing in grappling events across the UK.

First port of call tomorrow is the UMA No Gi Grappling event in Stoke (www.umauk.co.uk); organised by Jim Mc Sherry, I will be there to referee and watch a few of my lads make their opponents 'Taste the Rainbow' and bring back a few medals.

After that event, I will be driving down to Hereford with the Pipster (Pippa Granger) to spend the night with my very good friend Dave Coles, organiser of the Hereford Open 10, which runs on Sunday (http://www.thecombatacademy.com/HO10.html). I will be joining the referee team and in the afternoon will be competing in my first proper tournament as a brown belt, facing two experienced guys, namely Lee Catling (Braulio Estima) and Tim Lukes (Raphael dos Santos).

A few other students are competing this Sunday at the Takedown grapplefest (www.takedownmma.co.uk) so once again an extremely busy weekend for Combat Base Bolton and Combat base UK in general. Keep reading the Blog for full reports and pix :)

Is Judo good for BJJ???

2011-11-28T18:12:00.001Z

Combat Base Bolton student Dave Sloan argues the case quite well, for the 'YES' corner :)

Open Mat @ Allegiance MMA, Batley!

2011-11-27T18:32:00.002Z

If having one Open Mat yesterday wasn't enough for one week, then having two is just plain greedy! After the regular fun and games at the club yesterday, myself and a few of the lads took a drive over the M62 to what is widely regarded as the epicentre of life as we know it. Yes, reader we were at Batley, WF17, attending a charity open mat at my very good friend Neil Hall's Mixed Martial Arts gym.

Darren, Helen and Neil

For me this was a step back in time to the early days of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts back in 2000, when we all used to train together; namely the likes of Darren, Helen, Neil, Spenna, Steve Muckle, the Butlins, Team Colleseum and many more longstanding members of the BJJ/MMA fraternity. I have many fond memories of the Legends bar across the road from the gym, with the infamous Hollywood sign outside and not forgetting of course, the legendary Frontier nightclub, a hop skip and a few shrimps away from Neil's.

My good self, Darren and Neil

If you couldn't pull a lass in there of a weekend (or a weekday, back in the good old days, most night was a club night) there was definitely something wrong with your sexual persuasion :)

The session started with a well deserved promotion to purple belt for Roberto Barbiero from Helen and Darren and then the fun began; as with usual open mats, there was plenty of time for rolling with everyone and with people you don't usually roll with. There were over forty people on the mats, with belts of every colour from white right through to black, plus a current no gi world champion in the guise of Phil Ounsley.

Danny and Jay

The Cheesecake Assassin Danny Mitchell graced the mats with his trade mark pony tail and fetching Tatami spats, combining good looks with sartorial savvy; MMA fighter Jay Furness was also present, as was EFN forum member Hanif Rehman and lots of old faces from back in the day.

Roberto, Phil and Hanif

Once everyone had worked up a sweat, Neil Hall took to the mats and took the guys through and number of gi and no gi takedowns, stressing the importance of keeping an open mind within jiu jitsu; as more and more people are combining Judo with their BJJ, it makes sense to drill the throws and takedowns. From the takedown position, Darren showed how to apply the same techniques from the guard position, when one person comes up on one knee. Slick.

With Hanif Rehman

After another half hour of drilling and rolling, an aging, yet ruggedly handsome 41 year old brown belt gave a small clinic on lapel chokes, covering the Brabo choke; how to set it up and how to use the position as a set up from which to hit basic moves like the scissor sweep, arm bars, omoplatas and triangles.

By the end of the clinic, it was time for a few more rolls before whipping newly promoted Roberto to within an inch of his life, as he walked the gauntlet bare chested. Nails.

Combat Base UK in da house!

The good news is that £200 was raised for charity, namely the NSPCC; overall, a great day training and rasing money for a worthy cause; I'd like to thank my guys for coming with me and giving up their day and on behalf of Darren, Helen and Neil, to everyone else for turning up and supporting the event.

Neil's website:- http://www.neilhallallegiance.com/

Saturday Open Mat!

2011-11-26T18:15:00.000Z

Open Mat Warriors!!

Another awesome Open Mat today at the club; nice to see fellow blue belts Lee Whitehead and Tony 'Zoolander' Riley over at the gym, preparing for upcoming Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts comps over the next few weeks. Got quite a few students competing in December, myself included, so it was good to have a few blue belts at the session to help push everyone.

The Combat Base Fight Team will be in action throughout December at a number of gi and no gi events, plus Andy Devent from Frontline MMA, will be fighting at the Manchester Velodrome, December 16th, in a winner takes all £10,000 extravaganza, so it's another busy month and a fine end to an extremely busy and productive year for all at Combat Base Bolton, Ng Gar Tien Runcorn and KP Combat Centre in Heywood!

Combat Base Bolton on Google +

2011-11-25T18:54:00.000Z

Embracing the age of the internet and getting into inbound marketing to stay one step ahead of the competition :)

Busy making a Google + page for the Combat Base website, as well as setting up Twitter accounts and much more.

https://plus.google.com/111456681861629683854

Mitchell 'Maximus' Richards wins at Full Contact Contender MMA event!

2011-11-22T17:38:00.002Z

Team Legion of Doom - Mitchell Richards far right

Back in Britain earlier than planned, I was now able to corner one of my lads, who was fighting in his home town at the Full Contact Contender MMA event in Bury.

Mitchell 'Maximus' Richards was facing Shaun Hampton (who incidentally owns the business Funkypigeon.com) and Mitch came to the cage ready to fight with an evil look in his eye.

At the start Mitchell was more cautious than in his previous fight against Luke Taylor, where he walked into a big right hand and circled the cage, feeling out his opponent. He took Hampton down into side control, where his opponent held onto his neck and went for a guillotine. Mitchell defended the sub and managed to mount Hampton and pounded his head and body with heavy shots.

From here, Hampton gave his back up and Mitchell took the back quickly and ended the fight with a text book rear naked choke. For Hampton, it was time to taste the rainbow :)

Awesome performance from Richards, watch this space for more of Maximus in the cage!

Swissair shambles!

2011-11-22T16:42:00.000Z

Had a nightmare experience at the weekend, never made it to Serbia :(

The flight to Zurich ended up running late by ten minutes and we were told the connecting flight had been contacted and informed that we would be running ten minutes late. After a frantic dash to the gate, we were told the plane had left without us; the next flight was 8 hoursd away and after waiting an extra two hours, we were then told it was cancelled and no other flights to Serbia were happening that day.

The next flight on Saturday didn't get in to Serbia until 2pm so I would have missed the comp, so I had no option than to return to Manchester, first flight 0730H Saturday morning.

So a long night awaited me and I finally came home at 0930H, broken and exhausted.

Not the best of weekends!

Serbia here I come!

2011-11-17T23:31:00.000Z

All packed and ready to enjoy a weekend of living the zhoo zhitzu lifestyle, this weekend, over in Serbia. I will be meeting up with Guillaume Huni and the rest of the Team Zerjal lutadors, (http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/278388432183698/) and will be training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu over the weekend, as well as competing in the Serbian Open BJJ event.

If that isn't enough there will be a post competition beerfest on the Saturday to get through and plenty of sightseeing, as well as making a raft of new friends, who all share the same jiu jitsu addiction as I do.

Bon Voyage!!

Fighting Fit, Manchester - academy visit!

2011-11-17T23:21:00.001Z

Spent a fine evening last night training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Fighting Fit Academy in city centre Manchester; as a contributor for Jiu Jitsu Style magazine (www.bjjstyle.com), as and when I can, I intend to hit the road and visit as many BJJ and MMA clubs in the region and make a report on each training session and help promote the club through the magazine and online.

A busy weekend ahead in Serbia awaits, as soon as the dust settles, a full report on my visit will be done on my return; thanks to Liam Wandi of http://parttimegrappler.blogspot.com fame for inviting me over in the first and to Martyn and Jay Cahill and Ian Wilson, owners of the academy and to all the students for making me feel so welcome :)

www.fightingfitmanchester.co.uk

IBJJF Scorecard and Referee signals video

2011-11-14T14:49:00.001Z

Check this video out, watch it and study it well :)

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class at Frontline MMA, Stretford!

2011-11-10T16:09:00.008Z

BJJ classes are going well at the gym and nice to see a few females taking up the gentle art :)

Just back from the Thursday afternoon class, which was well attended, as far as afternoon sessions go in Manchester.

There is an open invitation to all BJJ players, male and female, young and old, to come and join in the afternoon sessions; if you're a shift worker then sometimes these classes are a bonus, if you've missed your regular evening classes through that dreaded four letter word, work (boo, hiss).

There is a Friday evening session at the gym 6-7pm, again, an open invitation is there for the taking, hope to see you on the mats real soon.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu adventures in Serbia!

2011-11-09T16:16:00.003Z

On the strength of two private messages between fellow EFN (http://www.bjj.eu.com/forum )forum user Guillame Huni (username PinoyBJJ) and myself, a long weekend of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Belgrade, Serbia, awaits my good self next weekend, commencing November 18th.

This is one of the reasons why I love BJJ so much; the fact that you can have a chat with another BJJ'er, who are total strangers at first, in another part of the world and in next to no time, you are to be their guest in their country and get to train jiu jitsu. Simple as that!

I will be training with the Carlson Gracie guys out in Belgrade, training with Team Zerjal over the weekend and if that isn't enough to make a little bit of wee leak out, it just so happens that the Serbian BJJ Open is taking place on the same weekend! Surely the BJJ Gods have well and truly lined up the stars for this little weekend away.

The flight ticket is booked and a trendy and comfortable apartment for the weekend awaits, so watch this space for photos and an update on the event and my time training with the Carlson warriors of Belgrade.

In addition, I will be covering the competition for Jiu Jitsu Style magazine http://www.bjjstyle.com/, as well as news and interviews and photos galore for both the magazine and usual internet outlets.

New blue belt @ Combat Base Bolton!

2011-11-05T19:01:00.002Z

Huge congrats to new blue belt Lee James, who I promoted this afternoon on behalf of Helen and Darren Currie; unbeaten in BJJ comps as a white belt, it's time to tear up the blue belt division!!

New blue belt @ Combat Base Runcorn!

2011-11-04T00:10:00.005Z

Had the immense pleasure this evening of awarding Chris Lewis his blue belt at the request of Darren and Helen Currie; Chris has been competing regularly throughout the year and after taking the gold medal at the recent UMA BJJ event in October, it was enough to get the nod and move up to the next colour. Chris's face was priceless when he heard the news.

Huge well done from myself as a coach, really proud of you and just shows that hard work and dedication gets results.

The photo shows Chris in the middle with myself and Runcorn coach Mike Ng on the right.

Weekend Budo course - BJJ on the menu!

2011-11-01T15:55:00.014Z

Ah, the traditional martial arts Budo courses. The backbone of any decent martial arts association. An excuse to shoot off for a weekend or a week to combine the pleasures of training martial arts with the appreciation of fine ales and food. My background in martial arts stems from the traditional side, where I trained in Karate and Applied Jiu Jitsu and weekend courses and a yearly week long course were the norm in both arts.

The most memorable course were the summer Budo camps run by Martin Clarke at Herne Bay in Kent and I attended my first one way back in 1994, as I was then training Jiu Jitsu with Trevor Roberts. I hadn't been training long with Trevor and it was a week that was to change my life and opened up the world of grappling to a young lad in his twenties.

During that week, I trained Judo, Sambo, Jiu Jitsu and Karate and at the end of the week I graded with Trevor and was awarded my blue belt and I was hooked. My Karate training held me in good stead for the blocking and striking parts of Jiu Jitsu, but now I had the other side of the coin and was learning throws, locks, chokes and all manners on immobilisations and defences against collar attacks, head lock bear hugs and everything else one needs to stay one step ahead of the thugs.

Happy days and many happy memories and after 17 years, I was back on a weekend course, held in Bury and organised by my Judo coach, 5th Dan George Launders. I had the privilige of being the first BJJ coach to teach on the course and I was sharing the mat with 5th, 6th and 7th Dans in various arts. Aikido, Judo, Wing Chun, Jiu Jitsu, Atemi Jitsu and Aiki Jutsu were on offer over the weekend and I took some of my guys along on the Sunday to join in the fun and in turn, train something other than BJJ.

I had one slot on the Saturday and enjoyed a session on the mats training Aikido with 5th Dan Stephen Mitchell, head honcho at Masters 121, a company that organise training courses and a yearly shindig at Butlins in Bognor Regis every Easter. I shared the mat with George and went back in time and trained some very effective counters against wrist grabs and forgot just how much these techniques hurt.

The second day started with a sesssion of Aiki Jutsu with 4th Dan Leeroy Clarke; an ex doorman with years of experience, Leeroy showed the lads some very simple but very painful defences against, grabs, bear hugs and chokes, with everyone having a go as the attacker. This was the cause of much fun and laughter at their expense as everyone found out just how effective the techniques were, as they were taken to the ground and twisted up.

I took a session in the morning and one at the end of the class; there were a lot of Judo guys and girls on the mats and they really enjoyed the session and opened their eyes somewhat to the groundwork that lies within BJJ. After dinner, the lads and I did a session of Atemi Jitsu with 4th Dan Mohammad Tahir and went through a range of strikes on various parts of the body. This was a really fun session, with much bitch slapping and again, laughing at other's expense when they were Taz's dummies for the techniques.

A final session of BJJ at the end of the day rounded off a superb action packed weekend of martial arts tuition, from a number of open minded and quality instructors.

I'd like to thank the organisers for allowing me to attend the course and have the chance to show Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to other martial artists, as well as all the instructors who came on to the mat when I was teaching and gave the jiu jitsu a go. Thanks to my students for coming on the Sunday and joining in the fun and last but not least the Judo Widows, who fed and watered us all weekend with tea, coffee, cakes, biscuits and hot beef and onion sandwiches at dinner.

The organisers of the weekend course will be hosting their annual course at Butlins next Easter and I have the pleasure and privilige of teaching BJJ over the Bank Holiday weekend, so thanks once again guys and thanks to all the instructors for providing a top class weekend of martial arts for all the students.

Steve Peil - 5th Dan Jiu Jitsu
Laura Peil - 4th Dan Jiu Jitsu
Keith Harby - 4th Dan Judo. 2nd Dan Wing Chun
Gordon Lawson - 7th Dan Judo
Leeroy Blake - 4th Dan Aiki Budo
Steve Mitchell - 5th Dan Aikido
George Launders - 5th Dan Judo
Mohammad Tahir - 4th Dan Wado Ryu. 1st Dan Judo
Neil Hopkinson - 2nd Dan Judo
Carl Fisher - 2nd Dan Applied Jiu Jitsu. 1st Dan Karate. Brown belt BJJ

http://www.masters121.co.uk

BJJ classes at Frontline MMA!

2011-10-26T16:28:00.005+01:00

I am pleased and excited to announce that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes will be running at Frontline MMA gym in Stretford, Manchester, starting this week :)

The gym is run by well known pro MMA fighter Andrew Devent and classes will be Thursday 1-2pm and Friday 6-7pm.

I am very much looking forward to teaching at the gym; I've been training with Andrew and the lads since May this year and I have him to thank for dropping down to a svelte 32" waist, thanks to his legendary and not for the faint hearted Caveman and Shark Tank sessions.

The classes are open to beginners and seasoned players, especially on the afternoon class, ideal for people on shift work, come on down and join in the fun :)

Address:-

Mr M's Fight Factory

Talbot Rd
Manchester
M32 0AY

54 steps to better Jiu Jitsu!

2011-10-25T17:23:00.003+01:00

I am the proud owner of the book and DVD release from 4th degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend 'Draculino' and this video is a super condensed version of the DVD; take some time to study the video and add some of the techniques to your overall game and hey presto, you'll be a black belt in no time :)

http://www.graciebarratx.com

Medal success for Combat Base UK!

2011-10-22T19:37:00.004+01:00

Back from a fantastic day of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Stoke, where Jim Mc Sherry hosted the UMA NGB BJJ Championships; Combat Base clubs from Bolton, Heywood, Runcorn and Dewsbury came together and flew the flag for Combat Base UK and battled it out for the prestigious team trophy.

Bagging 5 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals, a formidable achievement in itself, alas was not enough to earn the bragging rights, only a very credible third place. First place was taken by Gracie Barra Lagarto Sheffield, with Team Sukata taking second place, with some superb jiu jitsu matches from all clubs concerned.

There will be a huge picture gallery online from the UMA over the weekend, which will be posted on here as soon as its live.

Congrats to all Combat Base players who fought valiantly and with great sportsmanship, as well as everyone else on the day, it was a great day to referee some quality jiu jitsu, as well as meeting up with all my good friends and making some new ones on the day as well.

Shouts out to Gary Savage, Scott Pickering and Thomas Hanlon from Team Suakata, the referees and table officials for doing a great job all day and to Jim Mc Sherry in arranging a superb tournament and to everyone else I spoke to during the day :)

http://www.umauk.co.uk/

Jiu Jitsu Style Issue #5!

2011-10-19T16:07:00.004+01:00

Yes, it's that time again :)

Issue # 5 is now available; as ever it's packed full of interviews, reports and as much Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as you can handle. The cover feature's the legendary Fabio Gurgel, aka The General. Fabio was recently here in the UK and gave a number of seminars in the UK and was interviewed for the magazine.

I'll be getting copies delivered to my door, so if anyone wants a copy, give me a shout :)

UMA UK Open BJJ Championships - Saturday 22nd October 2011

2011-10-19T11:05:00.002+01:00

REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED!!

All the entries have been collected and the brackets are now being drawn up at the UMA HQ. I will be there at the weekend refereeing and I look forward to seeing all the regular faces on the day.

Here's to a great day of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu :)

http://www.umauk.co.uk

Scissor sweep seminar - part deux.....

2011-10-17T11:08:00.011+01:00

Sweeps. I love 'em. Can't get enough of 'em. As a BJJ blue belt going through the path to purple belt, I wanted to know every sweep that ever existed, the flashier the better; the lowest percentage, hell yea let me have 'em all, bring them to me! At purple belt, I seemed to calm down a little and returned to the 'old school' sweeps as it were, which as you'd probably guess are the high percentage sweeps. Sweeps that work a hell of a lot against grapplers of all belts and ages. Sweep to mount, six points please!

One sweep in particular is the scissor sweep and happens to be my all time favourite sweep; my Traditional Jiu Jitsu instructor, the legendary Trevor Roberts put me onto this technique way way back in the mists of time in 1994, when I attended a week long Budo camp in Herne Bay. The Budo camp was organised my Martin Clarke and has now been running for 30+ years and during that week, my addiction to sweeps began.

I've since used the scissor sweep in both gi and no gi comps, the last time was at the Hereford Open earlier this year as a purple belt; it's a quick fire way of changing your position to a more dominant attacking position and everyone knows the scissor sweep, so there's nothing better for me than catching people with an old skool sweep time and time again.

So it was with much excitement to once again host Darren and Helen Currie (http://www.combatsport.co.uk) at the club to deliver the second part of the scissor sweep seminar, the first one being held at Runcorn in June this year. This session was built upon ways to smash the sweep from the start and then showing ways to pass the opponents guard.

The session started with some specific BJJ and grappling drills to get the blood flowing and a quick overview of the sweep followed and once everyone was au fait with the sweep, the fun began. Darren demonstrated a number of easy ways to stuff the sweep, before showing a few ways to pass the guard from the initial tie up, which mirrored some of the moves from the Training Day in September, albeit from a different position at the start.

From there, a number of grappling and jiu jitsu concepts were shown and really made the students to think outside the box, as the saying goes and one of the best parts of the seminar was for the guy that had just been swept. Instead of accepting the sweep and lying there like a damp cloth, Darren showed what to do to get yourselves out of the brown stuff; instead of letting the guy mount you quickly, Darren showed a number of ways to get back into attack mode, via sweeps and guard passes.

This really impressed me in its simplicity and echoes the teaching that I have been doing at the club the last few months. Don't be content with being passed or swept. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition rules you have a three second window before your opponent gets their points, plenty of time to start your defence and turn it back into a sweep and follow up with a guard pass.

This part of the seminar was your get-out-of-jail-card for when you get caught with the scissor sweep and there are many many more of these cards waiting for you from all the sweeps and guards passes you get hit with, as well as all the other attacks and subs that are out there on the mats with your name on it.

Once again, a sterling seminar, packed full of tips and concepts and technical know how that we've come to expect from Darren and Helen this year and I'd like to thank Mark 'Spenna' Spencer (BJJ brown belt) for supporting the event, as well as all my students, without you guys there would be no seminars.

Glasgow Open - more pictures........

2011-10-17T09:48:00.002+01:00

A few more shots from the Glasgow Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships:)

Glasgow Open in pictures.......

2011-10-17T09:38:00.006+01:00

Huge thanks to organiser James Mc Intyre and his army of helpers who hosted the Glasgow Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships at the weekend; it was a good opportunity to test myself in my first brown belt match. The event is the biggest on the Scottish calendar and this year it attracted 200 competitors, which shows the scene is growing from strength to strength.

The level of jiu jitsu was very impressive and of a high technical standard in both the gi and no gi divisions and across all age brackets. Shouts out to Mark Taylor from Team Sukata who made the long journey up to compete and came away with some bling, as well as catching up with my old buddy Trevor Mitchell and Marty Young from Aberdeen and to everyone else I met on the day.

Superfight @ the Glasgow Open 2011!

2011-10-16T20:18:00.014+01:00

I had the pleasure and privilige of facing three stripe BJJ brown belt Christian Graugart from Denmark at the Glasgow Open on Saturday 15th October; many of you will know Christian through his well read Blog and website http://www.bjjglobetrotter.com/ and from the pages of Jiu Jitsu Style magazine http://bjjstyle.com/

I have been duly informed by the organiser James Mcintyre that this was the first ever contest between two Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belts held on Scottish soil, so that's definitely one for the record books :)

Even when you lose you can always take away something positive and for me that was three fold:-

1 - I didn't get swept :) Christian attacked me with four sweeps and I managed to keep my base and composure. Only after defending the last sweep, did he manage to fire in a super fast diamond and go for the triangle.

2 - I didn't get injured :) For a creaky old Senior 2, competing against the young guns doesn't come without the risk of injuries; I am not as lithe and fast as I used to be and I knew I had to be super aware of not picking up any injuries during the match and that made me very cautious at the start. At the end of the comp I walked off the mats in one piece and with all my faculties in working order.

3 - I didn't get SMASHED :)

Afterthoughts:- I was very pleased with my first outing as a brown belt and wanted to get it out of the way as quick as possible; I was pleased I didn't get wasted within thirty seconds and I didn't feel out of my depth as a newly promoted brown belt. I was complimented by Christian, telling me I was 'old man strong' and gave him a good fight and that made me feel good. I enjoyed the chance to test myself against a very well rounded and seasoned brown belt and I am very much looking forward to my next competition at the Hereford Open on December 4th.

Scissor sweep seminar - Part Two!

2011-10-11T14:41:00.006+01:00

After the highly successful and well received scissor sweep seminar, held at Ng Gar Tien in Runcorn back in June, husband and wife black belt duo Darren and Helen Currie return to Combat Base Bolton on Sunday October 16th.

The seminar will be a continuation of the June seminar and will start with a quick review of the sweep itself and then cover ways to counter the sweep and pass the guard.

The scissor sweep is my all time favourite sweep; I used to train this sweep way back in the early 90's in my Trad JJ days and when BJJ came along in the late 90's I'd had a good few years' practice and it has served me well in my no gi and gi comps since 1999.

We have been very lucky at the club to have had Darren and Helen a number of times this year, so once again this a great chance to meet up with your head coaches and spend a fine afternoon covering one piece of the jigsaw with a fine toothcomb.

Seminar starts at 1pm - see you on the mats :)

Lights Out - Keith Owen DVD review!

2011-10-10T13:29:00.005+01:00

Following a highly successful DVD series of Favourite Moves, Pedro Sauer black belt Keith Owen presents the first volume in a series of collar chokes, for jiu jitsu players and coaches at all levels on the belt spectrum.

There are 25 techniques on the DVD, but one choke in particular is given a thorough review; the choke in question is called the Fog Choke and it first appeared as a single technique on Favourite Moves 1 DVD, roughly four years ago.

Keith describes this choke as one of his favourite chokes in the entire world and since the release of Favourite Moves 1, Keith has explored and experimented with the technique, culminating in nine variations of the choke from all positions, which are on the DVD.

Another tried and tested competition favourite on the DVD, especially from my experience as a BJJ referee this year in the UK, is the always lethal Ezekiel Choke; Keith shows four variations to strike fear and elicit a quick tap out from your opponent.

From then on, there is a collection of chokes from all positions, giving you a comprehensive arsenal of choking techniques available at your disposal, should your opponent defend your arms bars and omoplatas. Once a choke is sunk in tight there isn’t much your opponent can do, other than tap out or go to sleep.

This is a great opening DVD from Keith; in line with recent releases, the production and presentation of the DVD are second to none and the actual coaching content always excels, as Keith leaves nothing out, always keen to pass on all his knowledge and help make you a better jiu jitsu player.

The DVD is available from http://www.bjjmoves.com/

My first brown belt fight!

2011-10-10T11:28:00.005+01:00

The time is drawing near. I am on a date with destiny. There's no hiding place. Just me and my opponent. The ultimate testing ground. Yes, folks, it's competition time!

My first as a newly minted brown belt, I will be testing my skills against fellow brown belt, Christian Graugard, whom many of you will know from bjjglobetrotter.com fame. We are scheduled to meet in what I am led to believe, will be a Superfight at the Glasgow Open on Saturday October 15th at the Kelvin Hall International Arena in Glasgow. So no pressure there then!

The event is run and organised by James Mc Intyre and is one of the most prestigious grappling events in Scotland and will be the first time I have competed in Scotland, so there are many things to look forward to this coming weekend.

Excited? Yes!

Nervous? Yes, but in an excited way!

Both Christian and myself have spoke to each other via the EFN forum and we're both looking forward to putting on a good show at the weekend; win or lose, it's the taking part that counts and as a competitor who is now at Senior 2, it's actually getting to a competition with as least injuries as possible!

You can read up on Christian's adventures at http://www.bjjglobetrotter.com

Those medals keep on comin'!!

2011-09-28T15:51:00.005+01:00

A proud photo for a coach, when you see your students winning medals at competitions, you know you're doing something right :)

All three train every Tuesday night at KP Combat Centre in Heywood, as well as attending the Open Mat session every weekend and have walked away with the King of The Cage trophy a few times :)

Lee James (left) is on a winning streak with three gold medals in three events and Mitchell Richards wowed the crowd at Fight IKON 8 with a balls-to-the-wall MMA fight against Luke Taylor from Wolfslair Gym. Young Ed Kelly entered into his first comp this year and came away with a silver medal, so a fine run of form for all three and with a few more comps left before the end of the year, more medals are imminent :)

New belts!

2011-09-28T14:19:00.009+01:00

After a fantastic Training Day on September 9th, a large number of promotions were handed out from Helen and Darren and I am glad to say that I now have three new blue belts and a junior yellow belt to add to the team :)

Tony Riley from Ng Gar Tien was rewarded for his sterling competition achievements and commitment to training, as well as Lee Gilmore and Will Aston, who were all promoted to blue belt. All three guys have been training consistently every week, always at training, the first to arrive and last to leave and have been a pleasure to teach - next stop purple!!

Last but not least, young warrior Lewis Shaw was promoted to yellow belt, which was in recognition of his dedication to training and of competing with the adults at BJJ comps, facing people double his age, without complaint and generally giving them a hard time :)

There are people quick to criticise teenagers these days, saying that they're all up to no good; Lewis is a shining example of all that is good in teenagers, he trains every week and rarely misses class and has competed all through the year and win or lose and has displayed great sportsmanship. I wish there were more teenagers like him.

Now we're all back on the mats, ready to get a new set of blue belts up and ready to rock and the race is now on for my first purple belt, with seven contenders in the running....................

Goodies from Tatami!

2011-09-28T14:12:00.004+01:00

A quick shout of appreciation and thanks to Gareth and Lee from Tatami, for sending me up a much needed package of training gear :)

Teaching and training full time takes its toll on rash guards and shorts, especially the velcro on the MMA gloves, they pluck and generally ruin the rashguards, so I am more than happy with the rash guard and shorts that dropped in through the letter box the other day :)

Hereford Open 9!

2011-09-19T15:15:00.010+01:00

After a super seminar with Billy Robinson on Saturday, I drove down to Hereford in the evening and stayed over with event organiser and good friend Dave Coles, for an early night, in readiment to referee on the Sunday.

Sharing the house with Pippa Granger and Oli Geddes, much fun was made of my attempts to blow up the inflatable bed, which deflated during the night, leaving my to sleep on the floor, which has to be said, did my back a world of good :)

Up bright and early the next day and headed down to Hereford Leisure Centre and spent the day refereeing and catching up with friends and Gareth Dummer from Tatami, who supplied me with much needed rash guards and shorts, cheers dude!

The level of skill at the event was on top form, from juniors and seniors, male and female and thankfully no serious injuries on the day; big shouts to Dave Coles for letting me ref, Oli, Pippa, Simon Small, Kevin Cox, Callum Medcraft, Kev Capel, Neil Simkin, Richard Shore, Stacey Davies and everyone else I talked to on the day.

Billy Robinson seminar in Stockport!

2011-09-19T15:01:00.009+01:00

Spent a great afternoon training catch wrestling Ian Bromley's gym on Saturday, ticking off another name on my Bucket List, as grappling legend Billy Robinson was over in the UK for a week of seminars.

For those who haven't heard of Robinson, hang your heads in shame and take up knitting instead of grappling; Robinson is a living legend of grappling and it was an honour and privilige to share mat space with him.

Robinson's knowledge of the human body and using their weight to their disadvantage was immense; when he stepped onto the mats, the lads went silent as he started to talk about the human body and the seminar content consisted of the CACC wrestling stance, hand grips and attacks, the pivot for throws, neck cranks, two on one wrist control, grovits and a number of brutal subs.

Although his body is racked with injuries, he never complained, just walked about the mats, shouting at people when they got their hands mixed up (guilty as charged) but when you got the move right he gave you a big grin and a 'well done son' and a pat on the shoulder. Priceless.

There was a poor guy called Alex who he used to demo the moves and boy did he get some abuse from Billy, all light hearted and I have to say I will be using the throws and takedowns in no gi and may even try one in a BJJ comp, together with the double wrist lock, catch style :)

Roy Wood, another living legend, who I've also trained with, dropped in for an hour with his daughter Andrea, to watch and I spoke to Roy and he said it was great to see another coach share their take on catch wrestling.

Huge thanks to Ian Bromley for hosting the seminar and to Andy Crittenden for getting Billy over to the UK!

New belts at the Training Day!

2011-09-12T11:53:00.016+01:00

The Training Day got off to a flying start yesterday with a number of promotions being given out by Darren and Helen Currie, before any real teaching began; three brown belts were awarded and a new black belt was crowned, as Steve Muckle finally came to end of his belt journey and began the day as a newly minted black belt.

Anthony Griffiths started the session with a workshop on throwing guard, with a neat little series of ways to be the first man in for the grips and taking the fight to the opponent by throwing guard and getting ready to attack.

James Nardone followed, with a triple attack on the open guard and ways to pass the guard from each attack, really easy to implement into anyone's game, regardless of belt colour.

Steve Muckle, carried on from the last Training Day and took the students through the butterfly guard with overhooks and again, showed some slick jiu jitsu and all that was left was Darren Currie, who gave everyone food for thought on ways to pass the half guard, mainly giving concepts for people to think about and take back to their repsective gyms to try out.

Once again, a fine day for Combat Base UK, who grow from strength to strength and as is the case at these events, £319.73 was raised for the nominated charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, so all in all a very good day for all involved.

New belts:-

Steve Muckle - black

James Nardone - brown
Anthony Griffiths - brown
Carl Fisher - brown

Simon Ball - purple

Catriona Barkley - blue
Josh Dilcock - blue
Ty Harrison - blue
Tony Riley - blue
Andy Whitelam - blue
Jodie Clark - blue
Andrew Morris - blue
Lee Gilmore - blue
Will Aston - blue
Adam Lowes -blue

Lewis Shaw - yellow

HUGE congrats to everyone and thanks to everyone who attended and who helped raise an outstanding amount of money for a very worthy cause :)

http://www.c-r-y.org.uk

Thanks to Mike Ng for the photos, more can be see at http://www.blogger.com/www.flickr.com/photos/63650314@N07/

Special thanks to Lee and Gareth at Tatami for sponsoring the brown and black belts awarded on the day :)

ADCC Souvenir Programme!

2011-09-06T17:14:00.002+01:00

The guys at Jiu Jitsu Style are producing a souvenir programme for the upcoming ADCC event on the weekend of September 24th, more details can be found at http://www.bjjstyle.com/news/story53.php

To gi or not to gi?

2011-09-05T16:54:00.007+01:00

This argument has been around on the forums since Day One and I dare say it will be around for many years to come, as grapplers and pyjama fighters continue to question the efficacy of their chosen art.

The topic recently reared its ugly head on the Cagewarriors forum, prompting a reply from Carlson Gracie black belt Simon Hayes, whose reply I post on here, because I couldn't have put it better myself :)..............................

'The gi encourages technique over strength and athletic attributes. To escape a technique in the gi you have to employ a methodical, sequential technical escape.
This allows you to learn correct technique instead of 'powering out'. This has a knock on effect when you take your gi off and meet a stronger, better grappler than yourself,to be able to escape his submission attempts technically when powering out is not possible.

Wearing a gi also gives you more grips to learn the art the art of sweeping, making sweeps easier so its possible to learn the art of balance breaking with extra tools, tools that will encourage the correct leverage and hip technique by giving you a successful sweep. When the gi is eventually taken off the sweep has been mastered and the principles of leverage and hip technique are so strong the grips are now unimportant, yet while learning the sweep the grips helped when the hips and leverage were less than perfect.

The gi creates 80% more submissions meaning the game is more exciting, the threat of being submitted is greater and the chance of submitting someone is greater meaning when the gi comes off defence should be somewhat easier because there are far less techniques to tap you to defend and attacking should become more focussed due to the speed at which your brain should have been working while wearing the gi as more techniques were available.

No Gi is easier to learn than Gi. In my opinion the perfect balance for becoming a formidable opponent when there are no rules is 2x Gi sessions per week,1xNo Gi,1xMMA,1xJudo or Wrestling,1x Muay Thai.

Just my opinions.'

Alex 'Sex Bear' Cannon - HL Reel

2011-09-05T14:22:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Tony Riley for giving us a HL reel of one of the club's more colourful characters, Alex 'Sex Bear' Cannon or Big Gay Al, as he's affectionately known as :)

Combat Base UK Training Day 2011!

2011-09-05T13:05:00.009+01:00

I am excited to announce that this year's Training Day will be held at Combat Base Bolton :) The Training Day sessions are a chance for all affiliated clubs to get together under one roof and share techniques, network and enjoy a fine day of jiu jitsu tuition, as well as raising money for charity.

The charity this year is Cardiac Risk in the Young, that helps raise awareness of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) and campaigns for improved coroner's service across the UK, which is now at best a postcode lottery.

Four workshops will be held on the day, with Darren Currie, Steve Muckle, James Nardone and Anthony Griffiths showcasing various elements of the grappling jigsaw, together with plenty of rolling, drilling and generally having a good time.

The fun starts at 11am, see you there!!

More medals at the UMA Groundfighting event!

2011-09-01T17:15:00.005+01:00

Once again, another very successful day out for the lads at Jim Mc Sherry's Groundfighting event, held over the weekend of August 27th. Jim ran two events on the same day, with gi and no gi groundfighting, which attracted clubs from Gracie Barra, Checkmat, The Combat Academy, Tamworth BJJ, Pure MMA, Chris Rees Academy and many more.

The level of skill on the mats was second to none and there were many closely contested fights on both mats, with excellent sportmanship from all competitors.

Lee 'Demolition Man' James, continued his winning streak with yet another gold medal in his third competition, maintaining a 100% record, Parabens! Mitchell 'Maximus' Richards picked up bronze medal in the no gi event and Tony Riley grabbed the gold medal, dominating his weight group with some solid jiu jitsu.

In all, the lads bagged four gold, four silver and one bronze medal, a great achievement and Combat Base Bolton took the club trophy with a total of 43 points and Ng Gar Tien took third place with 25 points.

Congrats to Lee James, Mitchell Richards, Steven Holt, Jay Watts, Adam Berry, Ed Kelly, Matt Philips, Tony Riley and John Martin for a superb performance :) The next event with the UMA will be the BJJ event on October 22nd, so see you there!

NW BJJ Open - Thornton, Cleveleys

2011-08-29T17:19:00.006+01:00

Had a great day out with the lads, refereeing and coaching at Gus Oliveira's BJJ comp; was nice to meet up with fellow Combat Base coach Steve Muckle and after a lot of hard matches, Lee James took his second gold in consecutive comps, tapping out a game and lively Dave Irvine with a clock choke - Parabens!

Young Lewis Shaw, aged 13 years, epitomised the warrior spirit by having a field day on the mats with five matches, competing way above his age in the adults and in the juveniles under 15 bracket, gaining tons of mat time and experience throughout the day.

Finally met Liam Wandi from the BJJ Labs in Manchester and had a good chat and reffed his matches and after the event, had a well earned drink with the lads and toasted Gary Savage's well deserved recent promotion to black belt.

Thanks to Gus for running the event and letting me ref and to all the guys that competed, without you there won't be any events to ref :) To everyone else I met on the day, it was nice to see you all, here's to the next comp!

Tatami's new sponsored athlete!!

2011-08-24T12:13:00.003+01:00

Tatami Fight Wear are proud to announce that they now sponsor BJJ Legend and 7x World Champion Robson Moura; Robson will be wearing Tatami gear at the ADCC Championships in the UK in September. Well done guys!!!

'Going light................'

2011-08-24T11:57:00.002+01:00

A classic spoof clip from black belt Ken Primola, witnessed this sooooooo many times :)

Technique of the week!

2011-08-08T17:15:00.001+01:00

A nice sweep from butterfly guard, is this week's tech of the week :)

Technique of the week!

2011-08-02T15:15:00.002+01:00

Another of my favourite open guard sweeps..........

Technique of the week!

2011-07-25T10:53:00.002+01:00

Another of my favourite open guard sweeps, recorded at Ng Gar Tien Combat Base in Runcorn; a really cool sweep with an omoplata finish as one option, give it a go in class and let me know how you got on!

King of the Cage Royal Rumble -the video!

2011-07-25T10:51:00.004+01:00

Footage of the Royal Rumble held at the weekend, which was won by Lee Mc Kerrow, a student of Andrew Devent's, well done Lee! Lee will be abck at the weekend to defend his title, so make sure you don't miss the chance to fight for glory at the Royal Rumble!

King of the Cage Royal Rumble!

2011-07-21T12:36:00.008+01:00

Held every Saturday at the end of the Open Mat, the King of the Cage Royal Rumble is shaping up to be THE premier no holds barred sumbission event of the Summer. The rules are pretty simple, there are none! If you are brave enough to take up the challenge, simply turn up to the Open Mat at 1pm and join in the session.

At 245pm sharp, the mood dramatically switches to one of serious menace and danger, as the King of the Cage Royal Rumble begins.........everyone enters the cage, the door shuts and the fight for survival begins.

Should you get tapped out, you leave the cage and this continues until there is one person left standing in the cage and for the winner, comes the spoils of war. A solid gold plated 8" trophy with the words 'King of the Cage' inscribed and a super state of the art plastic wrestling belt with gold plated design, which is theirs to keep for one week and MUST return the following week to defend the title. Should one person win the Rumble three weeks in a row, they get to keep the trophy.

So as you can see, this is one trophy worth winning and bragging rights are yours for one week, as well as wearing the belt in your local or out in town, where free entrance is assured to all the trendiest night clubs and lap dancing joints, just by wearing the belt round the waist and saying to the door staff ' Do you know who I am?? I'm a King of the Cage Royal Rumble Champion.'

Pro fighter Andrew Devent is the current title holder and will be under severe competition this weekend, as grapplers, gansgters and ne'er do wells the length and breadth of the UK descend upon Combat Base Bolton to do battle. Heavyweight duo Lee James and Mitchell Richards make up the Legion of Doom, Tony Zoolander Riley will be preparing his best ever walk off, Harry the Bastard will be dusting off his knuckle dusters, just a few of the unsavoury characters who will stop at nothing to be last man in the cage.

So who will be the King of the Cage this weekend????

Technique of the week!

2011-07-17T15:23:00.003+01:00

Here's my humble offering of one of my favourite open guard sweeps; this is a very high percentage sweep, six points in the bag and finishes off with a nice submission, what more can you ask for?!

Fight IKON 8!!

2011-07-11T13:00:00.005+01:00

Another superb show from Darren Sherlock and his crew, hosted again at IKON nightclub in Bolton yesterday. The club is tailor made for an MMA show, with staircases left and right for each corner's fighters to come down, plus a great atmosphere as always from the fight fans.

I had the pleasure of cornering one of my heavyweights, Mitchell 'Maximus' Richards, as he made his semi pro debut against Wolfslair fighter, Luke Taylor. Two BIG guys in the cage and the fight started in typical style from the heavyweights, fists and feet flying everywhere! Both fighters came out ready for war and gave the crowd some great action standing and a big pick up and slam from Taylor wowed the crowd. Sadly though, Richards took a nasty gash to the head and the doctor stopped the fight at the end of the first round, just as they were warming up to what promised to be a three round WAR!

Awesome performances from both fighters who really gave the crowd something to cheer and talk about after the show ended and you haven't seen the last of Maximus, that's for sure, plus a handful of other game fighters from the club will be fighting in the near future :)

Great Grappling BJJ!

2011-07-01T17:26:00.005+01:00

Gordo black belt and good friend Jeremy Arel is now the proud owner of a successful BJJ academy in South Carolina, where he passes on his hard earned jiu jitsu knowledge accrued from a very extended time in Rio. In addition to writing a very interesting and informative blog at www.greatgrappling.com , Jeremy has now set up an exclusive You Tube account, where he aims to upload all his techniques that he teaches at the class for that week.

Online black belt tuition and all for free, what more can you ask for? Jeremy's videos are crammed full of technical tips and pointers and I had the pleasure (and the pain) of starring in one video in Rio, covering the medieval technique known as the Pentagram.

Here's a little taster and be sure to check his vids out and subscribe to his channel at www.youtube.com/GGBJJ

Scissor sweep seminar @ Combat Base Runcorn!

2011-06-13T16:19:00.005+01:00

Had a very enjoyable afternoon over at Ng Gar Tien Combat Base in Runcorn yesterday, as Darren and Helen Currie were over giving a seminar on my all time favourite technique, the scissor sweep. This is a very high percentage sweep, which has worked very well for me over the years on the competition circuit in the UK and abroad, in gi and no gi events.

Helen took the class through a thorough warm up that included drills and movements all designed to help with the coaching section from Darren; once warm, Darren took the class through the basic set up for the scissor sweep, showing the right way to grip and where to place the legs for the sweep. Darren then showed the group how to break the opponent's base and balance, which of course is the key to all successful sweeps; from there, a number of options were shown to sweep the opponent when the first attempt failed and when the opponent defended the sweep.

A lot of the coaching from Darren on the day was pretty simple to execute, yet rested upon some very deep concepts of jiu jitsu, which Darren went at length to explain in order for everyone to gain a deeper understanding of not only the sweep, but of jiu jitsu as a whole.

From the failed scissor attempt, Darren showed a way to get out of the sweep position into stand up, which he felt many jiu jitsu players don't do often enough in rolling and competition; from the stand up came a nice loop choke and rolling loop choke and entries into triangles and flying triangles. Arm bars and triangle from defences against the sweep were also shown and as always, time was upon us and all that was left was for specific training and some rolling.

Another great session and Part 2 of the seminar, which will look at ways to beat the sweep, will be held at Combat Base Bolton some time in August/September, so make sure you don't miss it!

UMA Winners!

2011-06-07T14:00:00.003+01:00

As a coach, there is no better feeling than seeing your students do well in competition; all the hard work in the gym drilling and training week in, week out was duly rewarded at the UMA BJJ comp on the last weekend in May. Fifteen students took to the mats, flying the flag for Combat Base UK and hauled in an impressive two gold, nine silver and two bronze medals, as well as being crowned team champions on the day.

A superb result all round and a HUGE congrats to all the guys that competed and to all the guys that didn't compete, but have trained alongside the competition guys at the club, who by now have got the bug for competing.

Next stop Hereford!

New Fundamentals Class!

2011-06-06T15:10:00.003+01:00

Commencing Thursday 6th June, on a weekly basis from 6-7pm, there will now be a new BJJ Fundamentals class at the club; I cannot stress how important the basics and fundamentals of jiu jitsu are to every one of us that practices BJJ.

You only need to look at Roger Gracie and the way he applies the basics on a world class level, to appreciate and understand the need to be adept at the basics, which in turn gives you a strong base and foundation, from which to build your jiu jitsu skills and take your training to the next level.

BJJ Weekly.com Technique of the week

2011-05-25T13:56:00.004+01:00

Here's this week's offering from BJJ Weekly.com, a very simple and effective open guard pass, from black belt Emily Kwok :)

Ground Control BJJ Championships!

2011-05-23T15:55:00.010+01:00

It's been a very busy last few weeks here at HQ, training hard and preparing for competition with the students; I'm a big believer in competing and the benefits one can get from it, but I've never forced any of my students into competition. If they show an interest I am more than happy to help them on their way and I'm pleased to say a large number of students have decided to take the plunge and compete.

I have a number of seasoned white belts who regularly compete in gi and no gi events and they have been joined by a number of teenagers and a 'Dad and lad' duo, both first timers, as are a couple of the teenagers. Having the experienced guys competing at the same events as the beginners, I feel this has helped them make the choice at this point in time; everyone that competes, whether they win or lose are always winners in my eyes, as it takes guts and a fair size of brass balls to step up on the mats and go at it against a total stranger.

However, by the end of the match, win or lose, two strangers become friends, united through the pursuit of jiu jitsu and for me, this is one of the best reasons to compete, to test yourself and to make new friends along the way.

Saturday May 21st saw a number of students travel down to the NEC in Birminghma to compete in the Ground Control BJJ event, where I was also reffing, alongside my mate Jim Mc Sherry; three lads entered and came away with a gold, silver and two bronze medals, so well done Alex Cannon, Tony Riley and Mike Ng for their impressive performances.

As always, nice to see the usual suspects at the events, too many to mention everyone, but shouts out to Ebe Ghansah, Mark Bottom and Martin Bentley whose photos are below, a pleasure as always gentlemen :)

Next stop is the up and coming UMA BJJ competition on Saturday May 28th, which is the UMA's first BJJ comp run under IBJJF rules and is for white belts only. I'm really excited to be refereeing and entering a large number of students into the comp, it's gonna be a cracker!

Eddie Kone seminar report!

2011-04-18T14:46:00.004+01:00

My latest report is now online, courtesy of the thoroughly nice chaps at BJJ Weekly.com on the other side of the pond in the US of A. Be sure to read the report and sign up to the weekly newsletter, which is brimming with all things BJJ and is delivered to your inbox every Monday morning. Can't think of a finer way to start the week :)

http://http//www.bjjweekly.com/bjj-gear-reviews/eddie-kone-bjj-seminar-report-by-carl-fisher.html

Jiu Jitsu Style Issue #2!

2011-04-14T14:08:00.005+01:00

The latest edition of this excellent magazine is on sale April 21st and features my first interview for the magazine, Bristol based black belt Pedro Bessa; be sure to pick a copy up and let me know what you think of the interview :)

Belated update # 2 - Helen Currie Charity BJJ Seminar

2011-04-11T13:07:00.003+01:00

Here's the link to my report for Jiu Jitsu Style - http://www.bjjstyle.com/club-news/cnews3.php

Belated update #1 - BJJ comp success!

2011-04-11T10:26:00.007+01:00

Thanks to a pesky virus on my laptop, I have been unable to update the Blog on my preparations and thoughts on my upcoming BJJ competitions; two events back to back saw me on the mats at the Hereford Open 7 at the end of March and the following week at the British Open in Birmingham in April. I enjoyed both competitions immensely, both were well organised and ran to time and it was a chance to try and test out techniques practised over the last few months in class.

At the Hereford Open, I competed in my weight group and the Absolute and came away with silver in my weight group and bronze in the Absolute; highlight of the day was competing against an adult in the Absolute, as two brackets were merged to make up one bracket, so we didn't have fight the guys we faced in our weight groups. The adult competitor was from Team Alliance, so he was going to be no easy opponent; after a tough match and scoring two points with my favourite sweep, I was lucky enough to win the match via submission, so there's still some life in the old dog yet :)

Six days later and I was down the M6 and in Birmighman, competing for the first time at the British Open, run by Braulio Estima and crew; a number of Combat Base students were also competing and we managed to end the day with a trio of bronze medals, not bad for a small club, competing against the bigger academies.

So, a pretty decent run for an old timer, three medals in two events. Plenty to take on board not just for me, but for the rest of the lads and once again it's back to the drawing board to prepare for a summer of competitions and hopefully more medals :)

Omoplata session @ Team Fulinkazan!

2011-03-14T14:10:00.005Z

Had an enjoyable Sunday session at my mate Spenna's new gym in Bradford, with Darren and Helen Currie taking a session covering the omoplata.

Darren took the class through a number of neat drills and entries into the submission, as well as ways of tightening up the submission, emphasising control of the elbow.

A number of flow drills followed and specifics and rolling from omoplata position ended the session, which was well attended and well received. Really nice to get out supporting fellow Combat Base gyms, making new friends and having fun!

Purple haze!

2011-03-12T17:22:00.005Z

Another awesome Open Mat session today at the club, with a new club joining in the fun today. Dave Minto and Vic Scott, from my good friend Steve Campbell's gym in Manchester, came down and trained with the regulars and Vic brought a friend along, a huge 19 stone Judoka 4th Dan and ex British squad player by the name of Jo, which made for fun and games for the afternoon.

In total there were five purple belts and two blue belts on the the mats(white belt heaven ;)) representing Team Sukata, Stealth BJJ and Fighting Fit Labs, not bad for a small club. The level of talent was second to none and everyone benefitted from all the years of experience from the senior grades, great training all round and long may this continue!

Eddie Kone BJJ App!!

2011-03-09T16:22:00.002Z

My good friend Eddie Kone takes his teaching to a new level, with the release of an iPhone/Android application for BJJ; so wherever you are in the world, should you find yourslef unable to train, just log on to the internet and let Eddie guide you through the world of jiu jitsu techniques and application. Here's the official press release:-

PRESS RELEASE March 2011

Eddie Kone (Royler Gracie black belt) and Atama Europe release BJJ App

Eddie Kone, Royler Gracie’s only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in Europe has teamed up with martial arts manufacturer Atama Kimonos Europe to bring you an innovative iPhone/Android application for competition tested Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Techniques.

The application entitled “Beyond Blue Belt” will be an in-depth insight into specific positions within BJJ and this is the first volume of 6 which has been filmed, directed and edited by Award winning directors the Shamisson brothers (Paul Shamission). “Volume 1” will cover all aspects of the mount position (Top and Bottom) and will include “Attacks, counters and escapes”.

The App will be available from the end of March 2011 in the Apple i-store and the Android Market. Apps will be priced between £2.99 to £4.99

More information here:
http://ekbjj.wordpress.com/2011/02/2...th-eddie-kone/

Competition time again!!

2011-03-08T12:35:00.004Z

A great turn out to coincide with the competition training that is under way at the club, as we prepare for battle over the next few months; the Hereford Open 7 and the British Open are in our sights and I will be leading from the front, competing in both events, as well as coaching a number of my white belts at the British Open.

I will be keeping regular updates on here as I prepare for the events, sharing my thoughts and ramblings and after the events, as well as providing post match analysis on all my matches, good and bad.

Started off last night with a series of takedowns that all work in tandem with each other, if you miss one you can switch to the next one and the other and these were drilled for most of the evening; butterfly guard sweeps and specific training from this position concluded the BJJ session and the MMA class covered the same butterfly guard, albeit with the adjustments necessary to make it work no gi.

Looking forward to the next few months, everyone will be pushed to their limits, whether they compete or not, as everyone improves as we train hard for competition and that's what it's all about, improving your game and skills!

Jiu Jitsu Style Reprezentz!

2011-03-08T12:32:00.004Z

Received a few gi patches from the powers that be at Jiu Jitsu Style magazine (thanks Callum :)) and have dutifully sewn them onto a few of my gi's, in readiment of my upcoming competitions over the next few months, where I will be mixing it up once again with the cream of the UK senior players.

Let battle commence!

Hereford Open 6!

2011-02-28T16:27:00.008Z

Rounded off the weekend with a day out in Hereford on Sunday, refereeing at the white belt only competition, organised by my good friend Dave Coles. After the seminar in Leicester, Lee and myself drove back to Jim Mc Sherry's and after feasting on pasta bake and chocolate, we hit the sack for a well earned early night, in readiment for the comp the next day.

Drove down to Hereford in the morning and when we got there, the hall was filled with white belts junior and senior, male and female, all ready to do battle on the tatami; I started off refereeing the junior brackets and I have to say I was very impressed by the standard of all the young competitors, if only I had BJJ when I was 7 years old!

Big congrats to Tony Riley, who fought valiantly in the repercharge for the bronze medal, well earned against some stiff competition; massive congrats to Lee Gilmore in his second competition with only four months training under his belt. Fought two tough matches against two tough guys and did everything but win the matches, losing by a one point margin in both matches, making them look average players. In time we'll be seeing more of Lee on the winners podium, you read it here first!

Shouts out to Dave Coles, Simon Small, Pat Baker, Jim mc Sherry, Brad Stewart, Stacey Davies and my lovely sponsors Gareth and Lee mwah!

Look forward to the coloured belts competition in March!

BJJ seminar @ Leicester Jiu Jitsu Club!

2011-02-28T16:21:00.005Z

Had a great afternoon of jiu jitsu at the weekend, spreading the BJJ gospel at Leicester Jiu Jitsu Club; always happy to be teaching at traditional jiu jitsu clubs, as that was where I started many years ago, long before BJJ arrived on UK soil. I was invited down by Rob Phelps and was ably assisted by Jim Mc Sherry and student Lee Gilmore, as we covered drills, fundamentals, take downs, guard passes, sweeps and just about had time for a couple of submissions!

Look forward to the next one!

Open Mat fun and games!

2011-02-13T16:13:00.007Z

Once again, another fine turn out for the Open Mat, with four purple belts and one brown belt gracing the mats for another great session. Shouts out to Scott Pickering, Tom Dolly and Thomas Hanlon from Team Sukata and Graemme Kidd from Fighting Fit BJJ Labs for coming down and continually supporting the sessions.

It's so nice to see different academies coming together on one mat, to train and swap techniques and advice; the white belts love these sessions, but I think I like them more, as it gives me a chance to roll with guys at my level on a weekly basis, without having to travel miles for the privilige.