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




Tuesday 16 October 2018

Congrats Pete...

Huge congrats to Pete on his well deserved stripes in class last night...it's been an absolute pleasure to teach this guy, seeing him come to his first class last year and seeing how much he's improved and watching his confidence each month.


A regular shark tank participant and feared by all students for his unforgiving pressure in mount and side control, I look forward to seeing him compete again early next year and twisting us all up on a weekly basis...

Ooos!

Congrats Kevin...

Huge congrats to the young mat rat Kevin Solomovitch who bagged a gold medal at the London Open on Sunday at Crystal Palace...always a pleasure to have him on the mats and helping out with the white belts, very much appreciated mate :)




Last night's class...

Another busy session last night, had a real blast teaching, with great vibes on the mats and lots of banter with all the students...shark tanks started the class off, then I showed a few of my favourite Applied Jiu Jitsu techniques which have saved my skin at work many times.

Two sweeps and specifics rounded off the night in fine style and lots of hard work and sweat were put in by all the students as per usual and another class was at an end way too quickly for my liking.

Looking at our options for our next competition, quite a few to choose from on the competition calendar, plus the Grading Day at LFF looms on the horizon, so plenty going on to keep us all busy...

Ooooss!

Monday 15 October 2018

BJJ Digest #74...

Destroy Inc BJJ comp - Dartford Judo Club

Took one student over to Dartford Judo Club yesterday to compete in the Destroy Inc BJJ competition; sadly didn't get there result we wanted, but that's the way it is, some times you win, some times you lose.

Lots of positives to take from the match and great to see my student's confidence increase since his last competition, both before the fight and during the match itself; always room for improvement for everyone and tonight we'll be back on the mats, working hard on all our Jiu Jitsu and getting ourselves ready fore the next competition, venue as yet undecided.


Was great to meet up again with a real old school legend Lee Johnstone at the event and fellow Fight Sports competitor, Sam Amidi, who trains at New Wave Academy in Croydon.

Fight Sports at the London Open...

It's been a busy weekend for the old Northern Monkey and a major one for Fight Sports London, who competed as a team for the first time at the London Open at Crystal Palace over the weekend.

Forty students entered the event across the weekend and the team ended up in fifth place on the Saturday for the Gi event and finished a very impressive third place on the Sunday in the No Gi event.

A massive team effort all round both from competitors and supporters, who made themselves known in the stand throughout the whole competition, cheering the fighters on in all their matches.

Huge congrats to all the Fight Sports clubs for their hard work and dedication to training over the last few weeks, we can definitely hold our own with the larger academies in the UK and look forward to the next big London IBJJF event next year...we're comin' to get ya!

Wednesday 10 October 2018

How NOT to act in tournaments...

Check out this funny little video about mat etiquette at tournaments...we've all seen these guys at comps, so watch and learn, you don't want to be THAT douchebag...

Fight Sports in the Himalayas!

Awesome photo from one of my students Jack up the mountains in the Himalayas :)


Tuesday 9 October 2018

Two years a black belt...

Two years ago this length of cotton was wrapped around my waist by Luiz Ribeiro, in front of Leo Vieira and over 100 students, one of the best days of my life...it seems like yesterday this happened and after the dust had settled, I asked myself, is this the time I get all my super powers and become an unsubmittable wrecking machine?

Apparently not...no major shifting of tectonic plates occurred after the belt was wrapped around me, no swelling of the oceans...the next day I was the same person as the day before, albeit with a newly coloured belt.

In the last two years, I have learned so much more about Jiu Jitsu, both as a teacher and student; I have gone back to basics and stripped them down and rebuilt them and pass this knowledge on to my students and am always telling them how I wish I had a black belt teaching me when I was a white almost twenty years ago.

Jiu Jitsu never gets boring and that's what keeps me motivated to keep on training, even when I can't get my socks on every morning and reaching for the painkillers...my students are a never ending source of support and encouragement as well as my coach Luiz and all his students and fellow instructors.

I look forward to the years ahead and hitting the mats when I hit 50....

Oooos!





BJJ Digest #72...

Last night's class...

One more session this week before we head off to Dartford Judo Centre for the Destroy Inc competition...lots of hard work and sweat from everyone and a few shark tanks thrown in for good measure :)



BJJ Digest #71...

Monday 8 October 2018

BAIN Hunter/Trapper promo video...




Hunter/Trapper fighter apparel range from BAIN...

Some really cool new fighter apparel from BAIN, introducing the Hunter/Trapper fighter range, a selection of rash guards, spats and hoodies, all available from bainstore.com...type in MOUNTAINMAN at checkout for a discount :)


GCP Episode 327 - Curran Jacobs

New club patches...

Wimbledon BJJ is now officially recongised through the medium of the club patch :) 

These awesome and eye catching patches were produced by Osss Patches UK and I can't recommend them enough, the quality of the patches are amazing and they were ordered and delivered in less than one week!

Outstanding customer service and you can find them on Facebook at Osss Patches UK...


Monday 1 October 2018

Wimbledon BJJ in the news...

Here's a link to an awesome article from the Healthy Wimbledon Girl, who came to the gym a while ago and joined in a class...this is what she had to say...



Fight Sports London - The Gathering...

Had a truly epic day on Saturday at LFF, as all four Fight Sports clubs met under one roof for the first time and hit the mats for some serious team photos...a couple of surprise promotions happened as well and I do mean surprise promotions, they really came out of the blue for the guys involved and was a great way to kick things off...


HUGE thanks to Luiz and his team for sorting the day out, it was an honour and a privilege to be there with my students and to be a part of such a momentous event and is no doubt the first thing of many memorable occasions for the whole of the Fight Sports London posse.

Next stop the London Open...we're coming after you!