Monday 19 September 2011

Billy Robinson seminar in Stockport!

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!

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