Last night's class

As always, a great class last night packed full of hard work and Jiu Jitsu goodness; London Fight Factory is hosting their second interclub on May 10th and I have a couple of students enetering their first ever BJJ comp, so lots to do until then.

Checkmat Wimbledon welcomes its newest recruit in the shape of young Dylan Fowler, sixteen years of age, who moves like lightning and makes us old timers out of breath just watching him move. 

Dylan repping the Venum gi!

Keep up the good work everyone and see you all tomorrow night :)

The Chilean Neck Tie with Jeremy Arel

One of my favourite submissions from side control; I'm a big fan of lapel chokes, you can hit the tap with the lapel, be it your own or your opponent's from all positions, just let your imagination run riot and experiment with your training partners, that's what it's all about.

Fake black belts exposed!

Nice work from the guys over in East Europe, keeping a vigilant eye out for fake black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu............keep up the good work guys!
 

http://www.bjjee.com/articles/exposed-2-fake-brazilian-jiu-jitsu-black-belts-in-croatia-serbia/ 

Strength Training for BJJ

Here's a neat little video by Joe Garcia of Arena Fitness in LA, showing an exercise routine that's great for BJJ'ers looking to make gains in improving strength and conditioning; in addition to the exercises, what made me smile is the resident gym dog, just walking on by, casual as you like :)



 

Get planking!

I had the great pleasure of training with Sebastian Brosche at Gordo's in Rio back in 2010, he's a beast on the mats and a very funny one off them; check out this short clip of Sebastian demonstrating a plank sequence that one can easily intergrate into one's training programme.

(No trees were harmed during the filming of this video)

 

London Fight Factory review!

Don't take my word for it, check out this review of London Fight Factory and if you like what you read, why not drop in and take a class?

https://whatthefahida.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/review-london-fight-factory/

Eat Films Presents: Jackson Sousa

A double helping of Jackson Sousa, what better way to end the week?  Brutal lapel submission from Jeremy Arel, sound advice on reducing injuries, a triple treat from Kurt Osiander rounded off with a triple helping of Checkmat related goodies.

It don't get much better than this.

Hope you've all had a good week on the mats, have a great weekend and remember, keep training and keep smiling.

Spider Lasso Guard to Spinning Omoplata Sweep by Jackson Sousa!

Here's a video of one of my favourite open guard sweeps, ably demonstrated by Checkmat black belt Jackson Sousa. I was living and training in Sweden way back in 2003, not long after receiving my blue belt and was training with Richard Bohlenius and this was the first time I was introduced to the Lasso guard.  At the time, this position didn't have a name and I was swept time and time again by Richard and his students, as well as being submitted from some crazy upside down spinning positions.

 

Back then, there weren't many people spinning upside down and catching submissions, so it came as quite a shock when Richard kept firing one leg over my arm and spinning onto his back to look for submissions and it was very disorienting when it happpened and by the time I'd figured out what he was trying to do, it was too late.

 

After a few days of them all having fun and using me as a test dummy, they showed me the technique and it's now one of my all time favourite moves, both used as a sweep and to spin in for submissions, so thanks to Richard and all the crazy spinning Scandinavians for showing me such a super cool technique.

 

No go train!

 

 

 

 

Escape like Osiander - Part 3

Couldn't resist treating you all to a triple helping of Kurt Osiander, because I'm such a nice guy :)

In DVD land you will find a DVD on just about every technique, guard passing systems and much more but not so many on escapes. I do own a very good DVD on escapes by black belt Gustavo Machado, who worked with Tinguinha on his open guard DVD series that I reviewed many moons ago. If I can dig out the review I'll post it on here, if not I'll make another one :)

When we start off as white belts, it feels like all we do is make mistakes and you would be right; hell, you're a beginner and not expected to magic your way out of every bad position. Instead of wanting to pull off a Berimbolo, Tornado guard or omoplata from rubber guard, become proficient at your escapes, beacuse you're sure as hell gonna need them at white belt and at every other belt. 

Everyone fucks up what ever the belt colour, so become proficient at them and train them over and over and over, so when you find youself in a bad spot, you won't freeze and give your opponent the chance to submit you.

In this video, Kurt shows an escape from back control, pay close attention to what he does with his left hand when it grabs the foot, or more importantly what he does to get the foot in his hand.  

Watch the video and go hit the mats!

Escape like Osiander - Part 2

Here's another video from Kurt, showing one of my favourite mount escape that I've been using since I was a blue belt.  It's a great way to escape a bad position and opens up options to sweep, submit or take the back, which really opens up your game and makes you a real threat and can provide you with a great Rocky moment if you manage to escape and sub your opponent :)

Escape like Osiander - Part 1

Here's a trio of super cool, expletive filled videos from the legendary Kurt Osiander, concentrating on escapes.  These are always handy to keep in your arsenal, because, as we all know, when we end up in these bad positions, we all fucked up a long time ago!

Reduce your injuries - train smart!

Here's a very interesting article on the three worst types of conditioning, well a worth a read on your dinner break.

  https://www.t-nation.com/training/3-worst-types-of-conditioning
 

Technique of the week - reverse Pedron choke!

Another cool video from my Stateside buddy, Jeremy Arel, showing a lethal gi choke, one of my faves from side control.  There's quite a funny story behind my introduction to this submission, which happened back when I was not long a purple belt.

John Kavanagh hosted the first BJJ competition in Dublin and was after two referees to help out on the day; Ben Mallows and myself offered our services and we headed over to Dublin for the weekend and referee'd for John.

After the event, John took all the event staff out for a slap up meal and drinks and took us to a night club, got us free entry into the venue and pretty much free drinks for the rest of the night.  An excellent night was had by everyone and we returned back to the guest house well and truly rehydrated.

After a few hours slumber, the guest house owner, a little old Irish woman, woke the pair of us up and we staggered down to be given the full works Full Irish breakfast and endless cups of tea and we literally had to beg her to stop feeding us, we were stuffed!

We managed to crawl back into our rooms and get back into bed and sleep it all off, when there was a knock on the door; it was a very sober and cheery John Kavanagh and he invited us both to go to his gym and do some training, just the three of us. John was a brown belt at the time and even though we were both dying and terribly hungover, one cannot pass up an opportunity like this.

Off we went to the gym and after a warm, we started rolling with each other and it was on my first roll with John that I was introduced to this submission.  Relentlessly introduced I'd like to add.  Over and over again, John took the two of us through sheer hell, all the while grinning from ear to ear and to this day I am sure the two of us were set up by John, getting us blind drunk and in cahoots with the guest house owner.

That said, I have never forgotten this technique and it's now one of my high percentage subs I use from side control, so thanks John for an horrific hangover fuelled training session and showing me such an awesome and torturous submission.

Checkmat BJJ Team Highlight!

Cool little video that will certainly fire you up and make you hit the mats.............

Good advice from the BJJ Mental Coach!

Here's a very informative article from the BJJ Mental Coach, Gustavo Dantas.

Foot lock like Victor Estima!

Some weekend foot fun for you all to enjoy.............

Technique of the week!

Here's a cool video on a real high percentage guard pass, well worth studying and drilling out in class.

Essence of Jiu Jitsu!

Watch.

Be inspired.

Breakfalls!

Check out this cool video from the BJJEE.com website...................... something to try out in class tonight!

No one to train with? Here's the solution!

Taken from the BJJEE.com website, check out this awesome video of a very resourceful young man, who made himself a makeshift grappling dummy with what looks like a kick shield stuffed into a belt and tied off with a belt. Now you have no excuse not to train, get one of these made and get rolling!!

 

 

 

Lunch time drill session at London Fight Factory!

Way up North when the time comes to 12 noon GMT, schoolchildren and workers go on what is known as their dinner break.  Down here in London they go on their lunch break. After a hard days toil and the clock slowly reaches the 5pm mark, northerners leave work to go home and have their tea, while southerners go home and sit down to dinner.

 

Should a Northerner at 5pm, loftily announce to his co workers that he is off home for dinner, he will be greeted with a barrage of feet and fists and questions of his sexuality will be asked in earnest.

 

If I arranged to meet a Southerner at the gym at dinner time and was still in Northern time mode, I'd be waiting there from 12pm and the Southerner would casually tip up after 6pm.

 

Such are the time based hazards that befall me while living in the Big Smoke, so with these time based discrepancies ironed out, I took a tube down to Old Street and made my to London Fight Factory for the 'lunch time' (Southern GMT) class.

 

Thursday is drill day and after a good warm up, the drills started; Jackson took the class and showed five drills that were practiced one minute at a time, taking it turns to complete them all, then two rounds of drilling out all five in one five minute round.

With Jackson and Luiz

A few rounds of rolling ended the session and after a long session on the foam roller, I was good to go.  I've been away from the gym for more weeks than I care to remember due to combination of work and lower back related woes, but work issues have been resolved and I'm as good as I'll ever be physically, so it's back to the hard grind of getting my fitness and sharpness back.

Approach with caution!

Being in my 45th year, any extended absences off the mats does not bode well upon one's return and I thought I was in for a very hard time; however, I was pleased to find I wasn't as knackered as I thought I would be. The drilling was fun and not too taxing, the rolls were tough although I did find it hard cardio wise and my timing was out, but I survived the session and all in one piece.

 

Result!

 

So, for all you readers out there in the 40+ age bracket, find solace in this post; if you're coming back from a lay off, tell your coach (who'll already be aware of this) and more importantly tell your sparring partners, especially if they're under 25, regardless of belt colour.

 

If you're in a bad spot, tap out and start again; if you've explained beforehand to your partner they'll be cool with you and you can carry on rolling, refilling the cardio tanks along the way.

 

Don't let injury lay offs keep you off the mats. Train hard and train smart!

 

 

Wednesday night class!

Once again, another great class this week at Checkmat Wimbledon and nice to have one of my students, Matty Atkinson, from Up North back at the gym, joining in the fun. Matty is fighting on an MMA show in Epsom at the weekend and popped in for some last minute tweaks and a nice shark tank session.

 

Numbers were up on Monday and have been consistent all week, which I'm very happy with, as it's been a hard slog the last few months numbers wise, but a little hard work and determination always pays dividends.

 

Looking forward to next week classes.  Train hard, fight easy.

 

 

Two Ways to Convince Your Friends to Start Training BJJ !!

Check out this nice little article and pass it along to your friends, you know, the ones who keep saying they'll come down and train but don't actually make it through their front door. After reading this they'll have little choice than to drag their ass down to the gym and get on the mats................

 

http://blog.gameness.com/convince-friends-to-train-bjj

 

 

Thiago Ferreira - Coach of the Year!

Huge congrats to purple belt Thiago Ferreira who recently scooped up the coach of the year award at the Berwick and District Sports Awards.  Thiago runs classes up in Berwick upon Tweed and is a student of black belt Neto Nunes,who trains at London Fight Factory.

 

https://www.facebook.com/TfFitnessCentre

London Fight Factory!

In the words of Luiz Ribeiro..................

''Crossing inside that door will definitely change something in your day. You will leave with the feeling of achive something even if it was be able to do 10 pres...s ups never been here ??!! pay us a visit you are more then welcome but ...... NO SHOES ON THE MATS if you are already part of the "gang" share it so more people can discover what LFF is about.''

OSU 

‪#‎londonfighfactory‬ ‪#‎LFFTEAM‬ ‪#‎london‬ ‪#‎bjj‬ ‪#‎muaythai‬ ‪#‎boxing‬ ‪#‎wrestling‬ ‪#‎mma‬ ‪‪#‎friends‬ ‪#‎team‬ ‪#‎family

Where the magic happens!

Lubbock boy and family subject of death threats, after receiving Jiu Jitsu black belt!

Only in America................

Wayne Lakin video!

A really cool video, taken from the UK BJJ Underground, something to drill in your next class.

Post by Leicester Shootfighters MMA Academy.

What's your excuse??

1 - It's too cold
2 - I'm tired after work
3 - TOWIE is on the TV
4 - my little toe hurts
5 - my little finger hurts
6 - I'll go tomorrow
7 - My hamster is ill
8 - It's raining
9 - It's snowing
10 - I'm aching

Excuses, excuses, excuses!

If you're thinking of missing class tonight or any night, watch this video and hang your head in shame. Go get your gi in your bag and hit the mats, there's really no excuse!

Ronda Rousey @ UFC 184!

Blink and you'll miss it.................

Post by All Sport News.

Adolf Hitler's pissed!

It was going to happen sooner or later................

Last night's class!

Great class last night, numbers increasing, couple of new starters last week on the Wednesday class, all going in the right direction. Worked the lads hard last night, nice kettlebell based warm up and focussed on takedown into guard pass and finished off with takedowns against strikes, keeping it real!

 

Roll on Wednesday for the next class.

 

 

Triple gold at Munich Open!

Awesome result for London Fight Factory brown belt Luis 'AP' Gil at the weekend, where he bagged three gold medals, one in the gi division and two in the no gi (weight and absolute)! Two other LFF fighters medalled at the event, Darek with a silver and Lorenzo with a bronze.

Huge congrats to all three guys!

BJJ moves explained!

Here's a really cool article from Attack the back dot com, explaining how certain moves in BJJ came about.  Read this and amaze your friends with your new found knowledge :)

 

http://www.attacktheback.com/bjj-move-called-glossary-bjj-names/

 

 

7th degree junior Black Belt!!

Here's a link to an article about a BJJ academy in Texas, affiliated to Carlos Machado, where the instructor there is awarding black belts to kids, with one kid being a 7th degree black belt!

 

Read it here - http://www.bjjee.com/featured/bjj-academy-in-texas-promotes-children-to-junior-bjj-black-belt-rank/

 

A few days later, the website ran another article where Carlos Machado gave his support to the affiliate coach, which resulted in the website's head honcho, Guillaume Huni, receiving an email from a senior Australian Machado black belt (hint, hint) saying they may take legal action if they don't remove the piece from the website.

 

Read it here - http://www.bjjee.com/featured/bjj-academy-in-texas-promotes-children-to-junior-bjj-black-belt-rank/

 

Stay tuned for more developments folks.........................