Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Applied Jiu Jitsu @ Lotus Karate Do, Heywood!

With my Karate Warriors!

There are a number of styles of martial arts taught at the KP Combat Centre in Heywood; alongside Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are a number of Karate clubs that teach and train at the unit and last week I was approached by black belt instructor Liz Daves and asked to teach her class a little bit of self defence and some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

It was the club's last session and Liz wanted the students to try something different to their normal training, so it was time to spread the gospel according to Jiu Jitsu :)  I started the session with fun drills like the headstand, that were fun to play with but also had real application in developing balance and stability.  Carthwheels followed along a number of BJJ warm ups, all designed to increase strength, endurance and that all important balance and stability.

On the way up via the Crow Position :)

After the fun and games in the warm up, it was time for a spot of self defence and I showed a number of ways to escape the double collar grab, one of the most common used attacks out on the streets.  These techniques have been used in live sitautions by myself and my Trad JJ instructor Trevor Roberts and many others from Trevor's Association over the years in pubs and clubs and are quite easy to learn and add to your arsenal.

Double collar grab defence

Getting stuck in!

Time for twisting up!

After twisting each other up and most of the kids having a go on my good self and giving me a good hiding, I took the class down to the ground and showed some simple submissions; from side control I showed ude garame to give its Japanese name and for the Brazilians is better known as key lock/Americana.  With time running out I ended the class by showing them one of my all time favourite subs, the good old bow and arrow and after being bow and arrow'd by all of the kids, it was time to cool down and a fun filled session came to an end.

Huge thanks to Liz for inviting me over to share the knowledge and look forward to doing more in the New Year and Lauren Davies for the fine pix and last but not least all the students for showing an open and training so hard......OOSSS!!!!