Monday 31 December 2018

2018 BJJ Globetrotters Calendar...

Huge thanks to my good friend Christian Graugart for designing this awesome 2018 calendar...can you find Wimbledon BJJ on there...???


Happy New Year!!

The Northern Monkey wishes everyone out there in the grappling world a very Happy New Year's Eve Night and a Happy New Year already to all my friends Down Under :)

Lots of success throughout 2019 to everyone, not too many injuries and lots of competition success and new belt colours too :)


Monday 24 December 2018

Merry Christmas from the Northern Monkey!!

The Northern Monkey would like to wish all his students, fellow Fight Sports brothers and sisters and all his grappling and striking friends all around the world a very Merry Christmas...



Friday 21 December 2018

London Fight Factory!!

Paid my last visit of the year to Luiz down at London Fight Factory and caught up with few familiar faces and joined Luiz and few of the guys for a bite to eat, before wishing everyone all the best for Christmas and New Year...back on it in the New Year!


Shouts out to Ted Chan and Borja, great to see you guys as always :)


Sunday 16 December 2018

Bon voyage to Graeme...

Yesterday, Wimbledon BJJ said au revoir and bon voyage to BJJ Globetrotters pin up boy Graeme Mc Kenna, as he leaves London for the last time, to start a new chapter in life under the sun in Australia.

Graeme will continue training at Absolute MMA in Melbourne and will be joining two ex students Kelz and Juliette, so I'll be looking forward to seeing pix of them all on the mats and kicking ass.

From everyone at the club, we all wish you and your partner every success in your new chapter in life and that the doors of the club will always be open to you here in London...also, a huge thanks from all the lads for sorting out a round from Gatwick Spoons to Wimbledon Spoons via the Spoons App...modern technology at its finest!

Saturday 8 December 2018

Northern Monkey banner!

One very proud owner of the Northern Monkey banner... :)


Friday 7 December 2018

BJJ Digest #94...

Delivery arrived today!

Now I wonder what this can be, that arrived on my doorstep a half hour ago...#northernmonkey #banner


Workshop with Deninho at Wimbledon BJJ...

What better way to start the New Year than with a masterclass with the one and only Deninho, from Fight Sports Miami...this will be our first workshop for Fight Sports London and I am really excited to have Deninho over at the club, during his two week visit to the UK...this session is open to all Fight Sports team members and to all other associations across the grappling and striking arts community...

Thanks to Enrique Villasenor for designing the poster :)


Tuesday 4 December 2018

Vagner Rocha in the house at LFF!

You never know who's going to walk through the doors at LFF and today was no exception...good luck to Fight Sports very own Vagner Rocha who's competing against Benson Henderson at Polaris 8 on Sunday, we're all behind you brother!


Last night's class...

Great session last night, mixing up some old school guillotines and self defence work, plus plenty of rolling, great fun for a Monday night, same again tomorrow night :)


Monday 3 December 2018

Anthony Pillage's Last Huzzah...

It was an honour and a privilege to be in Coventry yesterday to attend and support Anthony Pillage's last ever seminar, as he continues to look cancer in the face and keep moving forward; in order to make it yesterday Anthony had his lungs drained over the weekend, so if anyone is thinking of any feeble excuses to miss class tonight or any night, then think again.

Was great to bump into some old friends and like all these events, new friends and connections were made and I'm looking forward to working with these people in the near future...




Photo credits - Rob Phelps and John Dermott

BJJ Digest #92...

Friday 23 November 2018

BJJ Digest #87

Pressure drills...

Had a break from the usual training and comp preparation this week and put the lads through their paces with a barrage of pressure drills, designed to give an adrenaline dump...a couple of videos on here gives you a taste of the fun they all had and I'm happy to say they all loved it and are up for more next week :)



Wednesday night's class...

Another large dose of Applied Jiu Jitsu on Wednesday evening, with lots of pressure drills and learning to deal with adrenaline dumps, all good healthy fun...


Thursday 22 November 2018

Northern Monkey rash guard design......

Taking orders this week for the Northern Monkey rash guard, designed by subguards.com...


Tuesday 20 November 2018

Last night's class...

Great fun last night as we delved into the world of 'Street Jitsu' instead of the usual Sport Jiu Jitsu training; our competition year has come to an end so everyone brought their gloves and got stuck in to each other with a number of pummelling drills, dirty boxing and group attacks, all good fun...lots more for tomorrow night...


The Northern Monkey at LFF...

Spent the afternoon with the Bossmen over at London Fight Factory today, always a pleasure to spend time there with these guys and all the students too; I always leave feeling motivated to hit the mats and train hard... 

#youcandomore
#yourbestisyettocome
#fightsportslondon
#wimbledonbjj
#londonfightfactory








Monday 19 November 2018

Three silvers at the Rei Gi Sub Only comp...

A good day at the office yesterday, took three students to the sub only comp in Redhill and came away with three silver medals.  It was our first sub only comp and first experience of the EBI overtime rules, which I thought worked really well, all the competitors had a good grasp of the OT rules and there were some real wars in this section.

There was a lot of guys who would have won their match under the usual IBJJF points rules, only to lose out in the overtime section, my students included, a cruel twist of fate indeed.

Massive congrats to the lads on their well deserved medals and to all my students who turn up week in week out and help get the lads ready for competitions, it's a real team effort all round.

Ooos!


Friday 16 November 2018

BJJ Digest #84...

All set for Sunday...

All the hard work and sweat has been left on the mats from the past seven weeks; it's been a team effort as always and on Sunday three students will be doing their first ever sub only comp at the Rei Gi competition in Redhill...

Looking forward to seeing them all compete and come back home with some bling...


No Gi sessions for deaf and visually impaired with MMARAP...

More great work from Jonny Buffong and MMARAP...

MMARAP in the news...

Nice to see my good mate Jonny Buffong keeping up the hard work with MMARAP here in London, helping young disabled and disadvantaged kids...published in the Metro and Evening Standard.


GCP Episode 337 - Harry Smith

Sunday 11 November 2018

Big Jim and the Saturday Session...

It was great to see my dear old mate Big Jim Mc Sherry yesterday, who came down to Wimbledon BJJ for a training session; thanks to my students for supporting it, it was a great turnout with lots of rolling and sweating, which was duly rewarded afterwards in the local Spoons Drinking Emporium...a proper weekend, without a doubt :)



BJJ Digest #83...

Thursday 8 November 2018

Northern Monkey rash guards - coming soon...!


Looking forward to getting the Northern Monkey rash guards in stock, courtesy once again of subguards.com :)

We're coming' to get ya...!

Exciting times ahead for the Fight Sports London team...announcements in the near future :)


Last night's class...

Hardcore session last night, a simple format of specifics and sparring pushed everyone out of their comfort zones, with no time to rest; everyone had to dig deep and learn how to find the pitstops when rolling and during the specifics.


Lots of hard work from everyone and no one gave up...the Northern Monkey salutes you all :)


Tuesday 6 November 2018

Saturday 3 November 2018

How many of these are you guilty of...?

Cool little article on some of the major things us BJJ guys do our long suffering partners...how many are you guilty of?

https://www.bjjee.com/articles/things-bjj-guys-do-that-drive-their-girls-nuts/


Tuesday 30 October 2018

Last night's class...

It was a very special night for Wimbledon BJJ, as I had the pleasure of seven new blue belts on the mats; it's been a lot of hard work over the last four years, but it's been worth it to see a splash of new colour gracing the mats.

All the white belts last night really upped their games and gave the new blue belts a hard time, which in turn made the blue belts up their game, so it's a win-win situation for everyone.

Can't wait to get the rest of the current white belts up to blue and the new blues on their way to purple belt...


Stripes for the lads...


Huge congrats to the lads with their new stripes, two of whom are edging ever closer to the faixa azul... :)

New blue belt!

HUGE congrats to Big Ade on his well deserved blue belt last night; sadly Adrian couldn't make the Grading Day at the last minute, so he got his belt at the start of class last night in front of a packed class :)


Monday 29 October 2018

Grading Day - team photo...

An unforgettable weekend at the London Fight Factory Grading Day, with over 60 people graded from blue to black and a first degree on the black belt for Enrique Villasenor...not forgetting six of my guys getting promoted to blue belt as well, plus kids promotions and stripes for many...

HUGE thanks to Luiz, as always for arranging such a special day for everyone, the energy and passion in the room was unbelievable and I can't wait to get on the mats tonight with my new blue belts and start the next journey for all my students...

Oooos!

Photo credit - @flip_michael


Sunday 28 October 2018

LFF Grading Day...

Huge congrats to all the guys and gals in the photo who were duly rewarded with newly coloured belts for all their hard work and commitment to training at their respective clubs...


Saturday 27 October 2018

Six new blue belts!

Today was a very special day for Wimbledon BJJ, as I had the immense honour of promoting six of my students to blue belt at the LFF Grading Day :)

These guys are the backbone of the club and help me out every week and are always at hand, covering classes when I'm injured, helping new starters and much more.

I'm extremely proud of these guys and look forward to helping them on their next step of their journeys and in getting the rest of the team onto new belts in the future.

Oooos!



Tuesday 23 October 2018

BJJ Digest #77...

Last night's class...

Another busy session last night, we now have three students registered for the submission only competition in November, so lots of hard work and shark tanks for everyone, as we prepare for our next comp...


Monday 22 October 2018

Awards for MMARAP...

Huge congrats to my good mate Jonny Buffong on receiving recognition from the Mayor of London for all the hard work and positive impact on disadvantaged and disabled young children and adults around the London area.

I've worked with Jonny on a number of after school projects and community centre evening sessions and have seen first hand, how empowering these sessions are for the participants and it's great that Jonny's hard work has been duly recognised and rewarded.

For more details about MMARAP visit www.mmarap.co.uk

Friday 19 October 2018

Patches at London Fight Factory...

Spent the morning at London Fight Factory today and gave Luiz a little treat, consisting of two patches, a club patch and my favourite Northern Monkey patch, all designed by the legendary Gartista and put into patch reality by Osss Patch UK...cannot recommend these guys enough!


Northern Monkey patches in the house!


GCP Episode 331 - Rondel Benjamin

Thursday 18 October 2018

Last night's class...


Another busy and sweat filled session last night, with three guys registering for the Rei Gi submission only event in November, so plenty of hard work ahead for everyone...





Grapple Kings Gi's in the house...

Flying the flag down here in the Big Smoke for Manchester based company Grapple Kings, run by Omar Javed...if you want to get your hands on one of these awesome Gi's then visit