Thursday 29 March 2012

No Gi classes @ Fight Factory, Heywood!

Had the pleasure of teaching my first no gi jiu jitsu session for Kenneth Richardson and all the guys at Fight Factory, in Heywood this dinner time.  The class runs from 12-130pm and delivers BJJ techniques for MMA fighters and is open to all levels of fighters and grapplers.
With the Fight Factory crew - Kenneth Richardson (fourth on left)

A decent turn out today, as daytime sessions are generally low in numbers, a number of guys missing from today, but a most enjoyable none the less.  Took the guys through a number of guard passes before ending the session with specfics and some rolling; a great set of lads and looking forward to the next class next week.

More info on the gym and classes can be obtained from the website and email links below:-

http://www.bodymattersgym.com

info@bodymattersgym.com

Medal success @ the Hereford Open!

Huge congrats to juvenile warriors Harry Lockwood and Liam Holt, who entered the Hereford Open last weekend and came away with gold and silver medals at white belt; Liam Holt walked away with silver after coming back from being 5 points down and gaining the lead by one point before subbing his opponent with ten seconds left on the clock, a real Rocky moment :)

Harry Lockwood won all three matches, winning two via lightning quick submissions and winning the finals match via points and advantage over a tough opponent.  Both students have worked really hard preparing for this event and all the dedication and sacrifices they have made have been well worth it.

Fellow fight team member Alex 'Sex Bear' Cannon from NGT Combat Base Runcorn, won gold medal in a totally dominating performance, winning his match on points, with a very commanding 18-0 points victory.

Hard work really pays dividends :)

Harry Lockwood (left) and Liam Holt with the bling!

New Judo promotions!!

It's been a really hectic last few weeks and having very limited access to the Internet hasn't helped in updating the Blog; I am pleased to announce that last week saw three members of the club being promoted to orange belt, by Judo coach George Launders.

Everyone at the club are benefitting from George's tuition and it makes sense to train Judo when competing in BJJ, as every BJJ match starts from standing; over the last twelve months, George has been adapting his Judo tuition to help compliment the BJJ classes and the transitions from standing to groundwork are getting stronger week after week, which can only be a good thing.

With this in mind, the training and competition preparation continues in earnest, as the clubs prepares for battle at the Manchester Open in April; the competition preparation brings every student up to scratch, whether they compete or not, as all the training for comps such as the Manchester Open involves everyone, so this is really a team effort in every sense of the word.

Huge congrats to Lee Gilmore, Will Aston and Adam Berry on the new grades and onwards and upwards to the next grade for everyone at the club; the club is gathering momentum in both Judo and BJJ and progressing at a rapid pace, so expect more medals throughout the year!

Will Aston (left), Adam Berry, George Launders and Lee Gilmore

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Sweeps Seminar @ EKBJJ Rotherham!

Had a great afternoon teaching the finer points of sweeping on Sunday March 4th, at the invitation of Jonathan Keeley, head coach at EKBJJ Rotherham; three other brown belts were on the mats and a mixture of whites, blues and purple belts graced the mats gave up their free time to join in the fun. 

The first half of the seminar looked at sweeps from the closed guard and after a short break, the second half looked at a number of sweeps from the open guard; the three hours flew by and ended much too soon and after the team photo, it was over to the Flaming Dragon for refuelling, before heading back home.

Huge thanks to Jon Keeley for bringing me over and all his students for supporting the event and to my students Adam Berry and Lee Gilmore, for supporting the event and joining in the fun.

Group photo

Friday 2 March 2012