Salford Fight Factory MMA class!

Was invited over by my good friend and long term grappling colleague Darren Sherlock this evening to take the senior MMA class; a good turn out greeted my good self and we quickly got into the swing of things with a number of grappling drills and the infamous Deadly Knees, courtesy of the Wolfslair, which the students embraced with, well, bendy knees!

Thoroughly warmed up, we carried on with single leg pick up drills and went from the pick up to the takedown and an old school knee compression submission, which involves triangling the legs over the thigh, with the hands in rear naked choke position behind the knee, a submission gleaned from my days at Atherton Submission Wrestling Club many moons ago, a heads up to Darren Morris and Jack Mountford for that one.

A few defences to the single leg were thrown in, including a nifty takedown to leg lock position and a few pointers on when the takedown has been achieved, how not to lose the advantage and have guard pulled on you, how and where to apply pressure in the right places.

Keeping it focussed on leg attacks, the session ended with another old school knee compression submission, for the old school among you, the Scorpion Toe Hold, with extra details to give the submission added sting; from there the last technique was a counter to this seemingly unstoppable submission, which culminates in an arm bar for the unlucky Toe Hold applier.

All too soon the session came to an end and some essential stretching finished the session, designed to help everyone with general guard flexibility and if applied on a regular basis, increased success with the flamboyant gogoplata and rubber guard that seems to be in vogue of late.

Big shout out to Darren for bringing me over and to all the students who worked hard and listened harder and all had a great time - I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

http://www.salfordfightfactory.com/

Tatamifightwear.com - Endorsed Athlete Programme!

It gives me great pleasure in announcing that by an immense stroke of good fortune (not to mention a well stuffed brown envelope) I have been accepted onto the Endorsed Athlete Programme with http://www.tatamifightwear.com/ . I join a group of recognised competitiors and jiu jitsu athletes that include Esther Tang, Yuri Simoes, Thiago 'Monstro' Borges and Ze Aduardo Azevedo.

I will keep you updated as and when things occur and more to the point when I will be next competing; one of my aims is to compete at the Scandinavian Open in Sweden in October. I last competed there in 2004, organised by my good friend Peter Blackwell, this is one of Scandinavia's premier BJJ events on the calendar and Esther Tang will also be there, plus Lee Jones and Gareth Dummer from Tatami.

So lots to be getting on with in readiment for the competition and lots of news to share with you all!

BJJ class @ Caged Steel tonight!

It's been quite a while since I kept you all updated with goings on the other side of the M62 and tonight I thought I'd update you all; after braving a trip over the M60 in what was one of the worst downpours in summer months, I grappled with extreme weather over Saddleworth Moors and managed to steer the Red Mist over to Junction 25, which greeted me with clearer skies and less rain.

I arrived at Caged Steel shaken but not stirred and took in the remainder of the Thai class, before putting the gi on and taking the BJJ class; months and months of hard work and perserverance is now bearing fruit and tonight I was rewarded with a packed class, all the students (bar one new starter) decked out in the best gi's money could buy.

Yes folks, it looks like BJJ has landed at Caged Steel - current class attendances for BJJ are rivalling that of the MMA and Thai classes, which can only be a good thing. There are now regular attendees who are picking up the drills and positions, after sticking at it week in week out - teaching here once a week has its problems in technique retention, but throw enough mud at a wall and one day it's gonna start to stick!

From myself and Neil Hall, keep up the good work!

BJJ in the sunshine @ Ceredigion, Wales!!

Had the pleasure of hosting a seminar in deepest Wales at Dean Hancox's jiu jitsu academy in Ceredigion, Wales, close to Aberystwyth on June 27th. Instead of the usual seminar indoors, attendees were given the rare opportunity to train outdoors in the sunshine, boosting their vitamin D levels as well as their jiu jitsu skills. Big shout out to Dean Hancox for arranging the afternoon and also to Rob Phelps who travelled from Leicester to join in the fun and to karateka Paul James from Aberystwyth who also supported the event. Look forward to a return visit in the near future!