11th September 2011 saw us back at Combat Base Bolton for the next installment of the Training Day saga, ever since we started planning it I knew it was going to be a special day. On our last trip to Redondo Beach we spoke to Chris Haueter about how everything was going and the promotions we were going to make and he couldn't have agreed more.
So before we actually started we gave out the big promotions.
The first was an absolute pleasure for me and I genuinely felt emotional to see Steve Muckle receive his black belt. Steve has been the epitome of BJJ since I met him all those years ago, his dedication to training and his ever enquiring mind made him an excellent fighter and coach. When life dealt him some bad luck (and there was plenty of it) he didn't submit, he dug in and got through.
I always thought that if he had remained injury free he would have been the first male Combat Base black belt in the UK but nevertheless he is there now anyway. I'm so proud that he got there, lesser people wouldn't have.
Then we had 3 brown belt promotions, Antony Griffiths, James Nardone and Carl Fisher all received new belts. All 3 guys are doing great work as coaches and competitors, racking up a nice haul of medals between them.
Simon Ball was promoted to purple belt
Catriona Barkley, Josh Dilcock, Ty Harrison, Tony Riley, Andrew Whitelam, Jody Clark, Andrew Morris, Lee Gilmore, Will Aston and Adam Lowes were all promoted to blue belt.
Final promotion was Lewis Shaw to yellow belt, despite being only 13 he has already competed in the adults division where he has given people a run for their money. If guys like this keep training, then God knows what they will be like in a few more years.....
To make things even better and thanks to everyone's generosity, we raised £319.73 for the nominated charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, so all in all a very good day for all involved.
A big thank you to all concerned.
Check out Fish's blog post here
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