Lunchtime class at LFF

No easy rolls here at London Fight Factory, regardless of belt colour...always pushed to the limits and tested every roll.

With Sharpey

Spent a good half hour of drilling and the last hour was spent rolling, had a great time, now I'm back in full health and managing to get down and train here on a regular basis, something I've not been able to do for over a year.

With Martyn Sklayne

To say it's been frustrating not being able to get down and train is an understatement and many times over the last year, I've been a whisker away from throwing my Gi in the bin and packing it all in...

With Bolinha and Aaron

Somehow, I've resisted the urge to give up and now I'm back training regularly here and at Wimbledon BJJ, so the moral of this post is to never give up, there IS light at the end of the tunnel and it's not necessarily the headlights of an oncoming train!!

Ooooss

BAIN and Narducci

A few photos taken after class last night, repping the BAIN Neon Belly Cafe rashguard and the Narducci Black Dragon Kimono...

bainstore.com

narducci.uk

Last night's class

Lots of hard work from everyone last night, more importantly, lots of FUN had by everyone...if you ain't enjoying the classes or having a smile in between rounds, then it's not for you...it's hard work coming to class every week and getting squashed, but we aren't made of glass and one day, instead of being the nail, you'll be the hammer :)

Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, but it's not for everyone...

LFF Tuesday 1230 class

Session #4 and the final one of Gary's visit was over at London Fight Factory, where Sharpey was taking the lunch time class... lots of fun all round, drilling side control positions and submissions, with some killer rounds to really finish us off...

All this fun and it's not even Wednesday!!

Over at The Pit with Dave Hydra

Had a great day today with my very good friend Gary Hilton, as we headed over to Leyton to meet Dave Hydra, where we had a very illuminating hour talking about self protection and all things knives...

The Northern Monkey with Dave (middle) and Gary (right)

I even tried my hand at a little knife throwing and managed to successfully get the knife into the matted wall, without loss of limbs to all in the room :)

LFF Thursday 1230 class

I managed to get myself out of bed this morning just about in one piece and had a real good stretch and a half hour with the foam roller, until I was in a half decent shape to get myself back down to LFF and do the lunchtime session.

With Aaron and John

The first thirty minutes was spent warming up and drilling with a few of the guys, most notably Lorenzo, who showed me some wicked little moves from the 50/50 position (yes the 50/50) and a few other guard passing gems and then it was down to business of rolling for the last hour.

In the best company...

In total I managed to rack up a good half hour of rolling with guys much heavier than myself, so I was well and truly out of my comfort zone in every roll, but lots of fun at the same time.

I'm hoping to make it a hat trick and get back down tomorrow for the lunchtime class, time for an early night and lots of stretching before I go to bed...

Oooosss

Last night's class

Bit of a quiet one last night, excuses coming in thick and fast, but that never stops the gold being passed on and those that showed up were in for a treat last night.  Warmed the lads up with a good half hour of striking and clinch work and then passed on the guard passing drills that Kalil had shown in the lunchtime class at LFF.

It's never a good time to miss a class...unless your limbs are hanging off, then you can get yourselves to class and do SOMETHING, no matter how big or small, there is always something you can practice.

You'll never get these missed sessions back...

LFF lunchtime class

Took myself down to LFF yesterday for the lunchtime class and I was not to be disappointed, as we had a special guest instructor for the session, all the way from Fight Sports Miami, by the name of Kalil...

With Kalil...

Kalil took the class through some wicked guard passing drills, which fits right in with what I'm working on at the minute at Wimbledon BJJ, so it was well worth it for me attending the class, as it always is going to LFF.

Rocking the Masters Division rash guard from BAIN...

You never know who's going to walk through the doors at this place...

With the main man Enenko...

Ten years ago today...

Published this video on You Tube, ten years ago today, after a session with black belt Gabriel Kitober, whose Jiu Jitsu comes from the Fadda lineage; we were very lucky to have him around, learned so much from him...

Last night's class

Another busy class last night, lots of hard work from everyone as per usual...started the class with striking and clinch work to warm up the hands and ended the class with spider guard specifics...things are starting to sink in on this section, sweeps are being set up and finished, great progress in only two weeks!

More of the same tomorrow...

wimbledonbjj.co.uk

Message from the Northern Monkey...

Saturday session

Had our monthly Saturday session here at Wimbledon BJJ and decided to go sans Gi for a change and brought in the boxing and MMA gloves, to mix it up a little...as always, a great time had by all including my good self, drilling some old school back takes, twisters and vaporisers, ending the session with a half hour of takedowns against strikes, then it was time for the pub and some well earned food and refreshments.

Looking forward to class tomorrow, with some more striking before we hit the spider guard specifics...not to be missed!

It's all about respect...

Wimbledon BJJ had the pleasure of having photographer Earl Duncan at the club recently, taking photos of the class in session and he has captured some awesome images, of which I'll be sharing on here...

These images beautifully capture the epitome of respect that training partners have towards each other, both at the start and end of class; respect is a two way street and every time you fist bump and get down to drilling or sparring, you're putting your health into the hands of your partner and vice versa.  

Training starts and ends with respect to everyone you train with that session, never forget this; be the best training partner you can be, strive towards helping your partners improve every class and you'll become a valuable member of the club.

Now go train!

IG: earlduncan

W: earlduncan.co.uk

E: earlduncanphotos@gmail.com

Well done Jack!

Huge congrats to young Jack who was awarded his first stripe last night, it's been a real pleasure to teach him and he was put through his paces last night and showed his mettle by finishing a double shark tank without complaint or giving up...excellent work!

Last night's class

Another solid week of training here at Wimbledon BJJ, packed mats for both sessions and two new starters through the doors as well, which is always a good thing; new starters are the lifeline of the club and we are always on the lookout for new starters, male and female, to join the team and share the team vibe and enjoy lots of great training...

The next class will be this Saturday afternoon at 130pm and the session will be No Gi, looking forward to seeing you all on the mats :)

Spider guard hands...

Gotta love the spider guard, especially training the specifics side of things...it's great for developing a powerful grip but it doesn't half put grief on the finger joints...my finger joints aren't on a par with Cobrinha or the Miyao brothers (yet), but my pinkie fingers are up there with the elite spider guard joints :)

Before class...

Got it all to look forward to tomorrow night...

After class...

Last night's class...

Brilliant session last night, solid numbers as we delve deep into the delights of the spider guard...more of the same tomorrow night :)

Open guard scissor sweep - Part 1

Last night's class

A great week of training here at Wimbledon BJJ, as we delve deep into the delights of the spider guard; not so great for the finger joints, but there's no better way to develop a vice like grip, than round after round of sparring from the spider guard and specifics from spider guard...

Armed with a handful of sweeps from the spider and lasso guard, the Summer will be spent sharpening up this position which can then be added to the students overall game, so lots of hard work, sweat and used finger tape lie ahead for everyone, myself included.

Ooos

Northern Monkey BJJ - Brabo choke

Open guard sweep - a decade ago!

This video was published ten years ago this day and was filmed at my old club in Bolton, sadly no longer there, after being destroyed in a fire...this video and one other that was shot on the 18th June still remain and keeps the club's spirit alive.

This was filmed with my right hand man at the time Ben Ogunby and right after a class with black belt Gabriel Kitober, whose lineage comes from the Fadda dynasty and not the usual Gracie lineage and we were very fortunate to have Gabriel teaching at the club, well not so fortunate for our wrists, as he had a wickedly savage wrist lock game from any position...

Happy 5th birthday to Wimbledon BJJ

Can't believe it's five years to the day since I started my first class at Wimbledon...a lot's happened since that class with just four people, lots of people have come and gone, but I now have a solid core of blue belts with me and a handful of solid white belts, on the cusp of making the transition to a new belt colour...

Starting a new club from scratch and watching it grow over the years is not without its frustrations, but to get anything good in life you have to put the hard work in and experience the ups and downs that go with it and I'm looking forward to the next five years of teaching, developing myself as a black belt and an instructor and watching my students progress through the belts...

Here's to the next five years!

Spider Guard Summer

Kicked the week off in style last night at Wimbledon BJJ with the start of Spider Guard Summer...technically not Summer until he 21st, it's as good an excuse as any to start playing with the open guard...

Everyone's ready to get into the nitty gritty of my favourite open guard position and we've got the whole Summer to immerse ourselves in sweeps, submissions and passes...

It's going to be a lot of fun :)

New photos of the Northern Monkey

Huge thanks to Tessa Bell for spending the whole weekend taking photos at the multi style seminar I was teaching at in Southampton last weekend...these are just a handful of the photos she took of my good self whilst I was teaching; I'm usually the one taking photos of others teaching when I'm reporting so it's nice to have some of my own which will be put to good use, helping to promote Wimbledon BJJ...