Rolling Arm Bar

Last night's post training meal

Regular readers will know I have mentioned Ben Sulston and his You Tube channel, Sulston's Kitchen, where he posts videos on easy to make meals and snacks for the hard training BJJ'er.

Last night I decided to try one of the post training meals, a Spanish inspired pork, prawn, chorizo and rice meal; I used chicken instead of pork and the result was the same, an extremely tasty and filling post training meal, one of which will now be a regular for me, especially after a hard day of training.

If you're passionate about your training, you need to feel the same way about what you put into your body, so you can train hard every week, without feeling tired and prone to injury, especially when you're at my tender age.

Check out the video, it's easy to prep and cook and a delight to eat.

 

Core drills for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Check out this cool video on developing core strength with black belt Mike 'Spider Ninja' Bidwell, who flies the flag promoting BJJ for the over forties.  You'll find seven drills in the video that you can easily integrate into your training regime, check them out and give them a try.

Mike is a black belt under Phil Migliarese and Ken Kronenberg (Team Tai-Kai / Balance) and has a large collection of awesome videos on his You Tube channel (BJJ AfterForty), be sure to check these out.

Last night's class

Another really enjoyable session last night, with another female student joining the club and taking her first steps along the BJJ path; hopefully this will encourage other women to come and take the plunge and take a class.  I know how daunting it can be for a female to walk into a male dominated environment such as a BJJ class, even males can find it hard to walk into the same room, I've found this out when I've spoken to my students and they tell me how they felt in their first class.

Checkmat Wimbledon welcomes everyone to the club, male or female; Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, so if you're a man or a woman reading this, umming and ahhing on whether to join in a class, just take a deep breath at the door, walk up the steps and join the rest of us on the mats, where you'll be assured of a very warm welcome.

 

Renato Laranja - black belt!

http://www.bjjee.com/bjj-news/actor-rhasaan-orange-alter-ego-renato-laranja-promoted-to-black-belt-by-eddie-bravo/

 

UK tops the European BJJ Black Belt charts!

At last!

The UK is number 1 at something and in what better area than the number of BJJ black belts per country in Europe.

For more facts and figures - http://www.bjjee.com/featured/bjj-black-belts-in-europe-uk-leader-followed-by-france-poland-sweden/

Holistic Fitness Studios - Newsletter

The Holistic Fitness Studios presents a newsletter every few months and this month I am delighted to announce that Checkmat Wimbledon have a full page devoted to their recent achievements this year.

This newsletter goes out to 1500 Merton based residents and whilst the club has featured in previous newsletters, this edition really gives the club a much needed boost in publicity.

Huge thanks to Dickie Wilkinson, the club secretary for creating the piece and to Stephen Dixon, for his ongoing support and encouragement on a regular basis.  With all new ventures, when I first started teaching, class numbers were very low for many months and I was wondering, had I made a big mistake moving here to teach?

As with anything, hard work, perserverance and a belief in what you are doing is the name of the game and now the club is thriving, with double figures every class and some awesome rash guards and shorts available for all the students.

It's been a great year so far, with a number of BJJ competitions to enter before the end of the year and lots more medals to be had from everyone.  

Watch this space!

 

Last night's class

Another hard working session last night, concentrating on striking into clinch work, with takedowns and a few submissions thrown in for good measure.  All good fun mixing it all up, doing something a little more challenging, as some of the students had never done any padwork until last night.

As always, well done everyone for working so hard last night and most of all, enjoying themselves and having fun at the same time of sharpening the tools of the trade.

Until Wednesday evening.

Ooossss!

How to fix your Gi pants!

Black belt Henry Akins shows a really simple way to fix the drawstring on your Gi pants.

 

LFF 2pm class

Joined in the fun at London Fight Factory this afternoon and dived into the 2pm class, which was taken by AP and Enrique; after a number of excellent drills it was straight into rolling and there's never an easy roll down here, male or female.

Had a great time, my back was 100% and I walked off the mats like everyone else and not like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

My preperation for the London Open in October has started!

Are you a champion?

Check out this article written by Guillaume Huni on competition mindset and the desire to become a champion.  

There can be only one.

http://www.bjjee.com/articles/bjj-competition-and-motivation-do-you-really-have-what-it-takes-to-be-a-champion/ 

Russell Jarmesty - Mean Streets App!

Check out this little teaser trailer from my good friend Russell Jarmesty's no nonsense approach to practical street defence. A lot of what's on the video, I personally teach and put to the test at the weekend on all the lovely customers that come my way, usually with their fists and feet flying.

This user friendly interactive App is available on Apple iTunes and GooglePlay. Search for 'MeanStreets' in your Appstore. 

The Mindset of a Champion - Rafael Lovato Jr

Very interesting video on what it takes to become a champion.

 

No need for Beast Mode!

Check out this great article off the BJJEE.com website, some great pointers on longevity in BJJ.  If you're in it for the long haul, you need to read this!

http://www.bjjee.com/articles/top-five-tips-on-how-to-be-a-long-lasting-bjj-student-no-beast-mode-here/ 

Another fake black belt exposed!

You can't hide from the BJJ Police.....................

 

Liam Wandi at Checkmat Wimbledon!

I had the pleasure of a surprise visit by a very good friend of mine, who's moved to London recently. Brown belt Liam Wandi turned up at the gym last night and joined in the class and helped me out with teaching duties.  Many of you know that Liam has an extremely popular Blog http://parttimegrappler.blogspot.com which is always worth a read in your dinner break. 

It really was a nice surprise and I hope to be seeing Liam again real soon.

New student!

Checkmat Wimbledon welcomes Josh as its newest member last night, making three new members this week, which can only be a good thing.  Onwards and upwards!

 

Another kettle bell work out!

Yes, here's another kettle bell work out to help you in your strength and conditioning training, with 8 reasons why it's good for you.  

Give these a try in the gym!

http://www.bjjee.com/articles/an-inside-look-at-a-judo-olympians-kettlebell-workout/ 

New student!

Checkmat Wimbledon welcomes Roman to the club, who turned up last night to join in the fun with the rest of the guys as they prepare for the Southend Open.

Welcome aboard Roman!

New shorts!

New club shorts just ordered for the students, thanks to Gareth Baxendale for the logos and Paul at Subguards.com for turning an idea into reality.

No more excuses!!

Here's a really cool video from Evolve academy in Singapore, addressing the issue of excuses not to train, so you'll have to think of other excuses now or just man up and hit the mats.

What's so bad about getting better each day that you have to make excuses?

http://www.bjjee.com/videos/5-most-common-excuses-to-skip-training-5-best-responses/ 

Palhares stripped of his title!

Good move and about time by Ray Sefo and the World Series of Fighting.

Wonder where he'll end up next? 

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/8/4/9095949/wsof-strips-rousimar-palhares-of-title-suspends-him-indefinitely

 

Carlson Gracie Academy in Rio set to close!

Really sad news on the BJJEE.com website, with the announcement that the legendary Carlson Gracie academy in Copacabana is set to close. I was fortunate to train there in 2010 when I was a purple and trained with black belt Saporito.
 

With Saporito

More info here - http://www.bjjee.com/featured/legendary-carlson-gracie-academy-in-rio-de-janeiro-set-to-close-its-doors/

Last night's class

Awesome session last night, hard work and plenty of sweat left on the mats, as we got to grips with the Electric Chair and The Vaporiser, together with back takes off the Chair and some closed guard attacks.  Then the sweating began with rounds of boxing, boxing into clinch work, ending up with boxing into clinch, takedown and finishing on the ground.  

Guard passing with one hand in the belt rounded off the evening and another milestone at the club was achieved - we had our first puker!

Hats off to Jan who pushed himself super hard in the sparring and paid the ultimate price, with a trip to the toilet; after throwing up, he cleaned himself down and returned to the sparring like a real warrior, can't ask more than that from anyone.

Next class is on Wednesday and I wonder who'll be the next puker?

Flow - Bruno Malfacine

Something for your lunch break :)

 

Training with an injured arm

Injuries are inevitable, whatever belt colour you happen to be and many people end up leaving training because of the length of time they've had away from the mats.  Most injuries can be trained around and black belt Stephan Kesting shows a number of drills that can be used when injured, so now there really is no excuse to miss training.

 

Technique of the week - the Samurai choke!