Tuesday 12 January 2010

Confirmation of details for inaugural ladies only training camp

To be held on 21st March at Caged Steel, a purpose built training centre, in West Yorkshire.

Starts at 12:00 noon to allow people that are travelling in to be able to arrive in time without having to set off at a ridiculous time, instructors will teach/coach 2 hours each and time will be available for rolling/sparring also.

The instructors will be:
Helen Currie BJJ black belt
Rosi Sexton Pro MMA fighter

Taking into account travelling costs that many of you will incur we have tried to keep down the cost, so due to kind donations from a number of sponsors and the generosity of the instructors, the price for the session will only be £25 per person.

The sponsors, Caged Steel Fight Centre, Tatami Fightwear, Kombat Clinic and Allsports International Limited are delighted to be part of the team offering this outstanding opportunity to help promote an atmosphere in which women can train with their peers rather than just training with the lighter guys in the usual mixed sessions.

These camps are not aimed at replacing that training, just getting together all like minded women at the same venue at the same time.

There will be training gear for sale on the day from Caged Steel and Tatami Fightwear that is specifically designed and tailored for women.

I hope that this will be well supported to make it feasible to do more.

We would like to start taking names of interested parties to give us an idea of how many will be attending, anyone interested please email me at combatbase@hotmail.com

The session hopes to cover both gi and no gi grappling so there is something for everyone.

Join our Facebook group here to keep informed.

Tatami Fightwear Sponsor Helen Currie

Following on from her recent interview with Kombat Clinic that has dragged her onto the internet and exposed her to the rest of the country Helen has been snapped up by Tatami Fightwear to help promote and develop training equipment for women. This is looking like a great opportunity for both and can only assist the development of women in BJJ and MMA in the UK.

They have already released the first wave of women's equipment with more to follow.

Tatami Fightwear have a full range of competition regulation gis for all sexes including childrens range. Check out their web site here

To be honest, I'm surprised that someone hadn't approached her already being the only female black belt in the country and 1 of only 2 in Europe.

New Interview With Helen On Kombat Clinic

Check out Helen's interview on Kombat Clinic web site here.

Team Fulinkazan Inter Club, Wesleys Night Club, Pudsey - 13th December

Just like walking down memory lane, I enter the night club for the interclub and basically there were mats put down on the dancefloor, the fencing around the dancefloor had mats leant against them and it was cold.

This is how most of us 'old skool' guys started out, before purpose built gyms and wall to wall matting, we would train anywhere, sometimes without mats just on a piece of old carpet. The first interclub MMA matches we did was exactly the same, some mats, some space and some eager participants. Absolutely perfect.

In fact the interclub organiser, Spenna, fought his first MMA match in one of our interclubs that were exactly the same as this and he went on to fight pro in some of the country's biggest shows and competed internationally so if this interclub could springboard someone to that sort of level, that would be awesome.

Also reverting back to the no judges' decision rule that we used to use, either win by sub or stoppage, lose by same or draw, that's it. No points, no decisions, simple.

I had thought over this long and hard when we were doing regular interclubs that if a guy completely dominates another guy but ends in a draw, is it really fair? I came to the conclusion that it was, if you can't finish the guy then it means he has some defence and desereves some credit.

Anyway I'm rambling now so back to the interclub. A great turn out from the Fulinkazan clubs and invited friends kept the action going, no lulls just one great match after another. Mainly aimed at giving guys some competition experience so what they lacked in experience they made up for in enthusiasm, every guy giving 100% on the day.

From Combat Base we had Tom Keough making his amateur MMA debut who thoroughly impressed me all round, he dominated both opponents with some crisp striking, good takedowns and some dominating groundwork. Right at the end of the 1st fight he faked a leg kick and executed a superman punch that echoed round the club, something he had only learned 30 minutes earlier!!

Nige Tunningley was in the heavyweight grappling division and, though not small himself, faced some big guys. Against both opponents Nige showed some good standing wrestling getting good takedowns to go to ground where again he imposed his game. Managing to pass guard and having submission attempts both matches ended in draws after full time.

Final Combat Base guy was Paul Lawrence who is brand new to us but very game and wanted to try competition straightaway. He was doing some good work, got the takedown, escaped a tight looking guillotine and passed guard to side control. A scramble ensued and Paul showed his back to his opponent who didn't need a 2nd opportunity jumping on Paul working for the RNC eventually getting the tap.

After all the matches were done, trophies for sub of the day and fighter of the day were given out then ALL the competitors received a medal, whilst this has been criticised before by various people I think it is an excellent gesture to the guys that gave up so much time to train, put themselves in a stressful position having to fight someone they didn't know and whether it is a cliche or not, I firmly believe that everyone who competes is a winner regardless of the result.

As I finish off so many interviews and reports etc with the same thing I hope people now recognise how important it is to be the 'man in the arena'. Everyone wants to win, sometimes you do but sometimes you don't but the main thing is that you try.

Can't wait for the next one.

Well done Spenna and Team Fulinkazan.