Helio Perdigao Seminar!

As most of you will be aware, I have the pleasure of teaching the Arte Suave at a number of venues outside of Bolton and the bustling metropolis of Ormskirk is one such destination and is home to Ross 'Hoss' Hudson's Forca Academy.

 

Ross's academy is part of the Royce Gracie network and Ross is a very open minded coach, wanting the best for himself and his students and adopts an open door policy at the gym.

 

Back in October, Ross invited over black belt Helio Perdigao for a three day training camp and I was able to attend the final Sunday evening class; Helio is from Portugal and a black belt with the Royce Gracie Association and is a medallist at the Europeans.

 

After a thorough warm up, Helio taught the Judo throw Yoko Tomoe Nage, the side stomach throw, adding plenty of tips and pointers on foot positioning and making the throw smoother and more controlled.

 

Standing up in guard came next, with a neat way of opening the closed guard, which culminated in getting into the right position for the straight foot lock and plenty of advice on hand positioning to finish the sub every time.  A really cool sequence to drill over and over, looking forward to seeing one of my students pull this off in a comp.

 

Escaping back control rounded off the technical part of the class and it was time for free rolling and I was fortunate enough to have a roll with Helio; Helio fights at light and feather weight and was really technical and let the action flow, full of sweeps, passes and positions. A really fun and enjoyable five minutes.

 

Massive thanks to Ross for inviting myself and two of my students to the event and to Helio for being such a welcoming individual and a really cool guy.