Karate doesn't work in a phone box - book review

I'm delighted to post my latest book review for my dear old friend, Blackpool based old school legend Gary Savage...a book about martial arts, life and mental health issues.

https://www.wimbledonbjj.com/karate-doesnt-work-in-a-phone-box-book-review/

Last class of the month

Another solid competition class last night, double figures all through January and February, long may this continue...

The Equaliser - Street Combatives Seminar

BOOK EARLY TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE!!

Last night's class

The Nova Grappling competition is drawing ever nearer, so every session and every second counts as we put the finishing touches to our game plans and sharpen the iron...

Saturday competition class

Awesome session this afternoon, with the monthly Saturday class in full flow, pushing everyone competing at the Nova Grappling event in March.  The session culminated in a social and cultural enrichment session in the Wetherspoons after training, just what Saturday's were made for!

Last night's class

Only a few more sessions left before the comp in March; sadly people getting a little too excited when rolling and needlessly cranking on submissions, in turn leading to injuries which could have been avoided in the first place.

Slow down and respect your training partner, they're not there to be your crash test dummy! 

The Equaliser - Street Combatives Seminar!

After the Street Smart seminars in Chesterfield at the weekend, the feedback was extremely positive, so much so that both Gary and myself will be hosting our next seminar in May back in Chesterfield, date and times TBC.

The seminar will be covering unexpected attacks using counter offensive techniques, so put the date in your diary and book early!

Northern Monkey T shirts

Just taken delivery of the new Northern Monkey t-shirts, landed this morning and modelled elegantly by yours truly :)

New video - Nelsons

Last night's class

Only a few more sessions to go before we have our first BJJ comp of the year, at the Nova Grappling in March...

Street Smart Seminar - Well Fit Warehouse Highlights

Street Smart Seminar - Buzzbox Fitness Highlights

Street Smart Seminar at Well Fit Warehouse, Chesterfield

After the great start to the weekend over at Buzzbox Fitness on the Saturday, Gary and my good self had another seminar lined up the following day, with the ladies over at Well Fit Warehouse in Chesterfield, operated by Sharon Clifton and Jade Hendon.

A very good turn out welcomed us both and after a quick warm up and a talk on the soft skills, it was straight into action with a number of pad drills that quickly had everyone sweating.

Pad work was combined with disengagements from a number of positions including bear hugs front and rear, hands in and out, double collar grabs and some specific ground work positions suggested by the ladies.

Overall, another very well received seminar, so much so that the ladies were asking to come back half way through the seminar, excellent feedback indeed and who are we to disappoint, as we will be back in May for another session!

Street Smart Charity Seminar - Buzzbox, Chesterfield

Both Gary and myself had a great time launching Precision Self Protection at the weekend, with two days of seminars up in Chesterfield; Storm Dennis was scheduled to make an appearance but that didn't stop people travelling from as far as Hull and Cumbria to join in the first seminar, which was held at Buzzbox Fitness in Chesterfield.

Both Gary and myself barely scratched the surface of what we have to offer in the three hours we had with everyone, but suffice to say the seminar went down a treat with everyone and we have already scheduled our next seminar for May, full time and dates to be confirmed real soon.

Precision Self Protection - new banner

The new PSP banner has arrived today and is in safe hands with Gary Hilton until the weekend...huge thanks to Bolton based company AB Memorials & Signs for the awesome banner, they do all my work and come highly recommended...

https://www.facebook.com/abmemorialsandsigns/

Ooos!

Happy birthday Oliver Reed!

Many happy returns to legendary hell raiser Oliver Reed, born on this day in 1938 in Wimbledon no less...Oliver is now an honorary posthumous black belt here at Wimbledon BJJ :)

Cheers!

Shark tank Wednesday

Lots of hard work from everyone last night at Wimbledon BJJ, whether or not they are competing...everyone improves in training camps, it's a real team effort getting the competitors into shape.

There's been plenty of shark tanks for everyone and many rounds of rolling as the Nova Grappling event looms on the horizon and once that event is over, students will be preparing themselves for the Fight Sports Cup in May, so no time to rest on our laurels, more hard work from everyone over the next few months...

Ooos!

Last night's class

One thing about teaching here in London is that you never know who's going to come into the gym out of the blue; last night the club had the pleasure of two Jiu Jiteiros coming to train and check the club out.

Kris is in the middle row, blue Gi

The first one through the door was a young man by the name of Kris, fresh in from a flight from Australia, who has relocated to London and was on the search for a place to train whilst in the area.

The other young man was a white belt by the name of Alex and trains at the New Wave Academy in Croydon; Alex works around the corner in Wimbledon town centre and wanted to drop in and have a session with the monkeys and both were made every welcome by the students and we hope to see them both again real soon.

With Alex from NWA

Oooss!

New video - defence against overhand right punch

Here's the latest video from the Northern Monkey...enjoy!

Last night's class

Another busy session last night with the Monkeys, nothing really to add on these posts, as we are preparing for the Nova Grappling event in March; it's competition style classes all the way through January and February, light on techniques, heavy on competition specifics and rolling, with plenty of shark tanks to whip everyone into shape and in the end, everyone improves, so as Errol Brown once crooned...everyone's a winner baby!

Oooos!

Sweep from Lasso guard

Thanks to Rob Mc Kenzie for another video, filmed at Wimbledon BJJ, showing a nice little sweep from the Lasso guard...let me know what you think :)

Last night's class

Kicked off a new month with a busy session, as the countdown to the Nova Grappling event continues its way ever downwards to D DAY...hard work from everyone last night whether competing or not; preparing for a competition requires a team effort and in the end everyone improves, so as always, a win-win situation for everyone :)

Same again tomorrow!

Situation Awareness

The photo below shows the Cooper Awareness Scale, created by Jeff Cooper and shows the different levels of mental awareness that we can find ourselves in; the scale has been an invaluable reference tool for martial arts and self protection instructors the world over, as an aid to help people understand the different levels and how to react when the level threat begins to increase.

It really isn't rocket science to be mentally switched on when out and about and to be aware of our environment, but too many people walk around oblivious to their surroundings, heads down into their mobile phones for example, a prime target for the predator, who is always on the lookout for an easy target.

Print the photo and put it on your fridge door, to remind you to be switched on at all times...be aware, be safe!

Fight or Flight Response

The fight or flight response is a topic that will be discussed at PSP seminars throughout the year, which will help you recognise your body's response to potentially dangerous situations and to be comfortable within them, instead of freezing up and becoming the victim.

Fear is psychological, emotional and biological and listed below are a number of points on how to combat fear on the street...

• don't think of the negative aspects of a confrontation
• have belief in your abilities
• be confident that you can deal with a predator by becoming the predator
• understand the face to threat parallel
• understand the law and self protection
• learn to train the startle reflex (flinch response) which is a Brian stem reflectors reaction that serves to protect vulnerable parts of the body (cover-crash-counter)
• an understanding of the fight or flight response can further help you use this physiological process to your advantage

Fear is not your enemy...

Precision Self Protection

Not long to go now, before we roll out the first weekend of seminars with Precision Self Protection...coming at ya from Saturday 15th February :)