Combat Base Jiu Jitsu

UK BJJ at th Euros 2012

2012-01-30T16:47:00.000Z

Glad to see that UK BJJ seems to be growing in stature with a few firsts at the Euros this year.

Our own Adam Adshead was the first ever UK brown belt to medal at adult with his silver medal.

Followed later that day by Luke Costello from Barra becoming the first ever UK brown belt to win gold at adult, double gold to be precise.

Then the day after Oli Geddes from RGA became the first ever UK black belt to win a match at an IBJJF major.

Onwards and upwards.

Pontefract gym Xmas schedule

2011-12-23T21:54:00.000Z

24th December - closed
25th December - closed
26th December - closed
27th December - open
28th December - open
29th December - open
30th December - closed
31st December - closed
1st January - closed
2nd January - closed
3rd January - closed
4th January - open

Back to normal after that

Happy B'day Combat Base!!

2011-12-14T13:24:00.000Z

January 2012 sees the 10th anniversary of the creation of the Combat Base team, from a small rented room in a small town to a group with 100's of members.

When I first started BJJ properly way back in 1997 after a few years of learning from tapes, seminars and studying with Professors Trial and Error the first thing we had to sort out was getting some real instruction and more training partners but how?

My first real goal was simply to train more and improve. I had to, as I once told John Machado that I wanted to be good enough to wear the Machado patch on my back. He assured me I would if I kept training so I did and competed a number of times with their logo on my back.

Next goal achieved was the blue belt, it is the only belt I ever REALLY wanted, I remembered rolling with Chris and he said something that kind of hinted I was going to get promoted and then got the belt. Great feeling and quite an achievement back then.

Next goal was to get more people training in BJJ, both me and Helen competed and won some relatively minor stuff which got some local press coverage. A few more guys joined, we continued to compete and took to judo as a way of getting more practice meeting Ryan as a young kid who would go on to become a black belt in both BJJ and Judo becoming probably the best competitor in the group.

People started to take note of what we were doing, some attention was not so great as I had to fight a couple of challenge matches against martial artists from other styles who we brought round to our way of thinking ;0)

People came and people went but I like to think that the good guys stayed and suddenly we had more than just training partners, we had friends, we had students, we had a team.

So we had a team, Helen and I were blue belts but everyone else was white so next goal to get some colour on the mats which we did and then some........Note, 5 of the original 7 blue belts are still training today with 2 of them being black belts and the others on their way that way too.

After 3 years of commuting from Northumberland every chance he got, Steve Muckle told me he wanted to open his own club in the north east and would he be able to use the name Combat Base. I agreed and then he let me out of his side control ;0)

I was absolutely honoured to have someone feel that way about something Helen and I actually created, it is the same feeling I still get now when I see anyone wearing our logo.

Then about 7 years ago whilst in LA, Chris Haueter asked if we minded him using the Combat Base name too. The guy that showed me what real BJJ looked like, the guy who taught me the attitude to take while training and the guy who actually coined the phrase 'combat base' was asking to use the name. That's Chris for you.

Fast forward to today and it is simply amazing how far we have come. Who would have thought that a small gym in a small town would end up with 4 black belts so far, with many more to come.

We have carefully added other like minded groups over the years so we have grown but kept the same vibe.

To produce the first female BJJ black belt in the UK, imagine if she had been part of one of the big Brazilian teams, how big a deal would they have made of it?

Combat Base UK have competed in everything from local inter clubs to the Mundials and everything in between. We competed in BJJ, no gi, judo, sombo, mixed styles grappling competition, sport ju jutsu as well as mma at amateur, semi and pro. Not to mention some of the guys competing in boxing, kickboxing, K1 and Muay Thai too.

We have won titles and more medals than I can count but more importantly have built a very strong team, a real team that cares about each other and supports all we do. A team that has raised a lot of money for charity, taught sessions for free and given back to the community. A team that promotes inclusion, everyone is as much a part of Combat Base as the next.

And this is just the first 10 years, who knows what the next 10 will bring?

It's not who's best it's who's left

2011-12-05T11:58:00.000Z

Quote:

"out of 10 white belts who start BJJ it is said that 1 will make it to blue belt

From 10 blue belts maybe 1-2 will get to purple...and so on

The factors that allow for someone to eventually reach blackbelt are not necessarily physical assets or talent.

If we can say that it is primarily mental/psychological factors that allow/result in 1 white belt eventually reaching black belt

It could be just that the black belt just has far more passion for BJJ than the others who didn't continue.

We might also conclude that the black belt has a far greater degree of resilience (rebounding from slumps, injuries and training interruptions); perseverance; lack of ego etc."

What keeps you training?
What do you enjoy most?
Would not getting promoted lead you to quit?
What might cause you to quit eventually?

DC

Ramblings of an old man

2011-11-25T10:52:00.000Z

Was teaching some countering back escapes this week and worked arm triangle for a while which started me off on the 'old man rambling about shit' memory lane trip which also goes to prove a point about how you can always learn something about competing even if you don't lose.

People always say you learn more from a loss but I think if you are analytical, you can learn from any outcome.

Was competing in a tourney a couple of years ago and the first match was going really well for me; got the takedown, passed to side, set up the arm triangle, slid over his body and squeezed. The smell of victory was already wafting into my nasal cavities when the guy DIDN'T tap. So I squeezed harder and still NOTHING! Tried again, nothing again!

I switched to the shoulder lock and got the tap.

I subbed the next 3 guys and won a big shiny gold trophy.

Was I happy? No I was not!!

I gave the trophy to someone and went to find my first opponent to ask about the arm triangle, he said it was tight but would never have tapped to it.

So began my study of the arm triangle. I collected every resource and competition footage I could find and drilled the hell out of it. Things were going great but still something was missing.

Then I got to train with Dirty Dozen member John Will at Factory BJJ and I finally got the last piece of the puzzle so now I have an arm triangle I am fairly happy with. Btw, if you never trained with JBW then you should.

I had subbed 4 guys and won a trophy but the best part of the whole experience was the fact that something hadn't worked and gave me a mission in my Jiu Jitsu life.

Where am I going with this? Maybe that even in winning there is always something to improve.

But then again I could just be an old man rambling...............

COMBAT BASE UK OPEN MAT

2011-11-11T19:26:00.000Z

To help welcome Allegiance MMA back into the Combat Base family and being open to all members of Combat Base UK we are holding an open mat session at Allegiance MMA on Sunday 27th November 2011 starting at 1:00pm.

Hopefully have representatives from our latest addition to the family, Voodoo Gym, so they can see how we do things too.

Allegiance gym is located above Brooklands Bar, Alexandra Mills, Alexandra Road (off Bradford Road) Batley WF17 6JA

There will be a few workshops on the day, Adam, Carl and Neil have all offered their services. It is a great opportunity to learn something new, meet and train with new people, all in a friendly environment.

No ego, no attitude, just a good training environment.

As we are donating the proceeds to a children's charity to try to improve someone's quality of life this Christmas, the minimum entry fee will be £5.00, if you can give a little more please do so.

Any more info email combatbase@hotmail.com

Combat Base Team Training Day

2011-10-23T12:57:00.000+01:00

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

Takedown MMA BJJ 2 Gi and No Gi Grappling Tournament Sunday 2nd October

2011-10-23T12:54:00.000+01:00

Results

Brown Belt Super fight

Antony Griffiths - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK Vs Rob Lawler Combat Base Pontefract

Winner - Antony Griffith via submission

Adults Under 99kg Gi
1. Phil Ounsley - Allegiance MMA/Combat Base UK
2. Neil Audsley - Combat Base UK
3. Ian Stesel - Combat Base UK

Adults Under 87kg Gi
1. Daniel Mason - Combat Base UK
2. Alex Etchells - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
3. Rick Lawanson - Predators MMA

Adults Under 80kg Gi
1. Jamie Lester - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
2. Łukasz Gradeckiz - The BJJ Labs @ Fighting Fit Martial Arts Centre
3. Jakub Alchimowicz - Manchester Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Stealth bjj

Adults Under 73kg Gi
1. Roberto Barbiero - Combat Base Dewsbury
2. Neil Blanshard - Combat Base UK
3. Mat Leigh - Factory BJJ / Combat Base Stockport

Adults Under 68kg Gi
1. Emiel Malczewski - Manchester Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Stealth bjj
2. Daniel Jones - Gracie Barra Essex

Juniors Over 50kg Gi
1. Leighton Massey - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
2. Gary Massey - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
3. Dylan Ellis - Combat Base UK

Juniors Under 30kg Gi
1. Taylor Martin - Combat Base UK
2. Blade Massey - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
3. Riley Stesel - Combat Base UK

Ladies Under 65kg No Gi
1. Jenny Sjodin - The BJJ Labs @ Fighting Fit Martial Arts Centre
2. Gemma C - Preston Reps Mma

Adults Under 99kg No Gi
1. Neil Bailey - Fightbase
2. Matt Condon - Manchester Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Stealth bjj
3. John Nezzi - 12 Gauge MMA

Adults Under 87kg No Gi
1. Rick Lawanson - Predators MMA
2. Stuart Meschia - MARKSMAN MIXED MARTIAL ARTS GYM
3. Alex Etchells - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK

Adults Under 80kg No Gi
1. Will Burke - Predators MMA
2. Alex McLoughlin - Fightbase
3. Jamie Lester - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK

Adults Under 73kg No Gi
1. Tim Jones - 12 Gauge MMA
2. Mark O'neill - Preston Reps Mma
3. Ben Blease - Lowe MMA

Adults Under 68kg No Gi
1. Gaz Pilot - Predators MMA
2. Stuart Berry - Fightbase
3. Emiel Malczewski - Manchester Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Stealth bjj

Adults Under 62kg No Gi
1. Jordan Chester - Preston Reps Mma
2. Jake Mclellen - 12 Gauge MMA
3. Jenny Sjodin - The BJJ Labs @ Fighting Fit Martial Arts Centre

Juniors Over 50kg No Gi
1. Nathan Lambert - The Pound MMA
2. Leighton Massey - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK
3. Dylan Ellis - Combat Base UK

Juniors Under 50kg No Gi
1. Alex Swales - Preston Reps Mma
2. Gary Massey - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK

Juniors Under 30kg No Gi
1. Kian Makinson - Preston Reps Mma
2. Riley Stesel - Combat Base UK
3. Blade Massey & Kane Kelly - Evade Martial Arts/Combat Base UK

Massive well done to everyone.

Combat Base North East blog

2011-10-23T12:48:00.000+01:00

If you are not reading the blog above already then you should be, there are some excellent posts in it. Steve is a great coach and the homework he sets is excellent.

http://combatbasene.blogspot.com/2011/10/well-done-brett-and-dan.html

http://combatbasene.blogspot.com/2011/10/well-done-adam-and-drew.html

If you take the 2 latest posts as above then consider the excellent work that is being done up there. They are a relatively small club that have been an integral part of Combat Base from the start, they are kind of isolated from the rest of us geographically but goes to show what you can do with limited resources if you have a real team set up and a real work ethic.

The club so far stands at 1 black belt, 3 quality brown belts, about 8 tough purple belts and a bunch of blues too. Even the white belts are beasts, as one of their brown belts, Graeme, posted on their Facebook page recently "there are no easy matches at Combat Base"

Considering guys at the club have competed in and won BJJ and no gi tournaments plus being undefeated in MMA says something about the versatility too. Guys that always give 100% and bring home the medals.

Don't know where I'm going with this but I just thought it was worth mentioning that from nothing they now have a solid team that is just going to get better and better.

Glad they are on my side.

Why structure the class the way I do?

2011-09-15T18:00:00.000+01:00

Class structure
1. Warm up
2. Techniques
3. Isolated drills
4. Sparring
5. Cool down

Descriptions and explanations

Warm Up

Sufficient warm up but nothing crazy, you are here to learn and train BJJ not do cardio. If half of the session is a ridiculous warm up you are not doing yourself any favours, sure you will get fitter but will your BJJ be better?

If you are already tired before you start drilling the techniques then you are burning tired application of techniques into your memory. It is ok to spar tired some times but not in the learning phase.

Remember that practice makes permanent, if you practice crap you will be crap.

So a 3 part warm up, general exercises to raise the pulse then into joint rotations for mobility then into sports specific movement drills.

The sports specific drills will vary on the topic for that session. For example, we recently worked a lot of single leg squat progressions (here) because we were covering faking guard pulling to taking a shot (here) so you see how the exercise will help the technique.

Now we are working attacking the turtle we incorporate drills like (this)

Techniques and positions

We will work a few techniques that are based around a particular scenario covering the gross motor skills (the main points) and details of the particular techniques considering set ups, combinations, "what if" scenarios etc

We will usually work something for an extended period of time, maybe a month or so as I believe that this will really help ingrain the things we are training.

I personally hate training something different every session, I have been subject to this and really think it is to the detriment of really learning something. One class it's foot locks, the next class it might be chokes then the next one is triangle escapes etc absolutely no flow so you don't get to learn a 'game' all you get is a bunch of techniques.

I want all Combat Base students to improve their BJJ, I don't have to teach something new all the time to try to keep people interested, if they truly want to improve they will appreciate what we do.

One guy had trained at a different gym before coming to us, he told me that he knew an arm bar and triangle etc but didn't know how to get to a position to apply them.

Do you think his previous "coach" had done a good job?

Drilling

Probably the most important yet under-trained aspect of BJJ, every one wants to spar but a lot of people aren't ready to spar. You have to put in time on the drills first or you will get lost and frustrated. Sparring is a great evaluation tool but more of that later.

Why do I believe that the drilling is where you really improve?

An example, we have 2 guys, one was used to playing top position and the other less experienced had to play from bottom. If these 2 just spar they will naturally gravitate to what they always do and won't grow.

So I give them a drill. Guy who usually plays top starts on the bottom, guy who usually plays from bottom starts in full mount. Guy underneath has to escape, guy on top has to control and submit.

Make sense? Without this drill neither would have been in this position to practice.

Especially if you are a less experienced guy sparring should not be a priority!!

Sparring or rolling

Is basically putting it all together and if you manage to control your ego (which most people don't even though they think they do) can be good for evaluating your game.

Why don't I think most people control their egos? In one word, Helen.

A significant amount of guys that Helen rolls with use strength on her, why?

I have heard guys say to her 'I had to use strength there otherwise you would have got me' for God's sake she is an excellent black belt she will get you. If you rely on strength you are going to come unstuck, quick.

You might think you are doing well because you don't get tapped by a 50kg woman, ask yourself why you didn't get tapped, was it because of your technical escapes? If not, sort yourself out, you are restricting your progress.

If your ego is under control, you tap, ask her for advice then start again.

Sparring should highlight any weaknesses or holes in your game so you can fix the problems.

How do you fix these weaknesses? See drilling as above!!

Would welcome any feedback but don't ask me if I think you are one of those guys, ask yourself.

DC

Behind The Scenes At The Tatami Fightwear Photoshoot

2011-09-14T19:17:00.002+01:00

Team Training Day 11th September 2011

2011-09-14T18:58:00.003+01:00

http://thefightingphotographer.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-belts-at-training-day.html

Check out the write up of the training day, lots of photos on Combat Base UK Facebook page.

Take The Back, Finish The Choke

2011-09-14T18:37:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Graham in black gi and Mikey in white gi.

Australian black belt, John Will, was teaching us how to hook sweep properly and someone was taping it. When John saw him he said “put it on youtube and it will get no views at all. People will go, oh hook sweep, I know that already”

You might know how to take the back and choke but here is a step by step guide, practice it slow to start with and don’t miss out any steps otherwise you will be falling into the trap of thinking ‘oh I know this already’

Difficult to see the pressures but Graham is putting pressure on Mikey’s head and starts to switch his hips out the way he wants to go.

Graham’s right hand is blocking off Mikey’s right arm to take away Mikey’s ability to grab his leg on the way round.

Notice how Graham’s weight is right on Mikey’s hips NOT his back. Mikey has tight defence so Graham is setting up how to make some space.

Cupping Mikey’s right knee Graham bumps him forward, disrupting his base, making some space to put a hook in. (Notice how people tend to put their elbows inside their knees when trying to have a tight defence)

Graham puts in the near side hook, heel first, then rolls to the SIDE making sure that the one hook is the bottom hook. DO NOT try to pull them over backwards, always take the path of least resistance which in this case is sideways. Arms are setting up the over/under or seatbelt control.

Bottom hook and over/under are held super-tight as Graham pushed his hips into Mikey’s back to stretch him out to get his top hook in and start to expose Mikey’s neck.

Notice how Graham’s left hand rolls the gi collar and feeds it to the right hand.

From there he starts to withdraw his choking arm to start to pressure the neck. He then has to free his trapped left hand so pushes Mikey’s elbow forward with his knee and pulls out his left hand.

As soon as his left hand is free Graham grabs the gi pants to start making some pressure whilst pulling back on the choking arm.

IMPORTANT you now have to loosen/remove the hooks otherwise you are limiting your ability to move.

The detail:
Really concentrate on how Mikey’s hands control the collar, how it is rolled and gripped, how he uses his knee to help free his trapped hand then finishes the choke.

Attacking the back movement drill

2011-09-02T17:58:00.001+01:00

A little reminder of some of the key points to this month's topic that we just started.

Notice in the drill that even though Helen is constantly moving she never loses control, she always has some weight on me.

When she goes right around the back she clamps her knees onto my hips so she always keeps pressure on.

Take note how she exploits the gap between my knee and my elbow to establish grips.

Also note that every time she goes towards my head her hip always drops so that my head is forced down making it very difficult to sit through or pull guard.

The headstand into hooks works great for me (ask anyone who I have used my new back game on) as it is very difficult top stop the hooks coming in but more on that in the weeks to come.

Even though I am 47.24% heavier than Helen she makes the rolls possible because of the pressure she puts onto my head and neck. Forget hooks and stuff, if you have their neck they are going with you.

Even if you don’t have a partner to practice on you can still do the drill, use a gym ball or even just on the floor yourself, Jiu Jitsu is movement so practice, practice, practice.

Pull Guard To Low Single

2011-08-31T22:05:00.002+01:00

Why we work the single leg squats is to allow you to squat low enough to feint the guard pull but allow you to change direction and shoot instead.

A specialty of my our coach, Chris Haueter.

Give it a go.

Time to relax and enjoy the sun

2011-08-21T15:40:00.002+01:00

Been real busy recently, work, gym, family, travelling so time to kick back and relax with one of the finest bands of our time.

This is the best live version I could find but check out the studio version if you can.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Bad Brains.

Enjoy!!

Finally.........

2011-08-15T12:18:00.002+01:00

The last couple of months have been trying but now am fit to resume training, privates and seminars.

In chronological order:

Broken scaphoid wrestling with Helen, the smallest person in class
Ear infection from swimming in ocean, treated with natural remedies
Re-injured scaphoid
Ear infection came back, had to treat with antibiotics
Injured back, luckily wife is massage therapist
Bad reaction to antibiotics, felt sick for 2 weeks
Tried rolling, re-hurt back, more massage therapy and pain

Hopefully now I'm back, for a little while at least.

DC

Baiana Takedown

2011-08-12T10:47:00.000+01:00

In wrestling and Judo the purpose of the sport is basically to get the takedown or throw, then it’s game over. Jiu Jitsu is totally different, getting to the ground is just the start not the end.

Therefore the baiana, whilst resembling shooting a double or Judo’s morote gari, is different because whilst the purpose is still to take it to the ground you have to consider the position you will land in when you get there.

The lift and twist of the baiana is crucial as you are effectively passing guard in the air and saving yourself a lot of trouble later down the line.

So remember, as you lift to get the takedown pull your arms across one way and use your head to push the other way as the video above.

Also note the angle in which you approach the takedown and the angle in which you are driving.

In the first example, you level change correctly by bending the knees. Keeping the driving force parallel to the ground so if your opponent moves back you can still drive through.

The second example is the INCORRECT way. By bending forward and grabbing at the legs instead of level changing you are creating a downwards-diagonal force that has a vanishing point and therefore you cannot go any further than that. This will assist your opponent in sprawling on you so should be avoided unless that is your game plan.

Balance Drill

2011-08-10T18:34:00.000+01:00

A great drill for working your balance.

Sitting to kneeling to combat base to standing and back down again.

The kneeling and combat base part should be drilled as much as possible, you will often find yourself kneeling down in base with an opponent trying to off-balance you, this exercise get you used to having to quickly re-establish base and balance.

The standing part works the stabiliser muscles and makes the squat part way more difficult. It also works the adductors as you are having to hold the ball with your feet. You have to squat while fighting the multi-directional forces wanting to pull you around.

Grab a ball and start experimenting.

DC

Overhead Sweep

2011-08-03T18:38:00.000+01:00

Please note that the first clip is the way to initially start training this technique, don’t push away your partners hands until you feel comfortable that you wont drop them on their head or your head.

Don’t push their hands away until they are able to do a breakfall roll as to minimize the risk of injury.

*Make sure you have double sleeve control to start with.
*Put one foot into the hip and sit back on an angle, not straight back.
*Drive the heel of the foot into your partner’s hip as you pull with both hands to create pressure. The success of this technique at this stage relies upon the push/pull.
*NB do NOT fully stretch out the leg, you should never lock the leg right out.
*When you are ready, bend the leg in your partners hip so they start to come forward then bring your other foot into play.
*Break their balance forward and take their weight onto both feet.
*As you start to roll backwards, push both of their hands away from you so they cannot post.
*In this technique you stay attached and follow them over, other options are available.

Pulled muscles, scar tissue and re-injury

2011-08-02T12:04:00.000+01:00

http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/scar-tissue.php?utm_source=list&utm_medium=email&utm_term=sports-injury&utm_campaign=Newsletter_20110729

Good article, a must read for people that are injured as much as me.

Can't link it for some reason, copy and paste into a browser.

Training In Brazil

2011-08-02T11:53:00.000+01:00

Nice article here from Grapple Arts web site.

Notice the differences between training in USA and Brazil:

I found the jiu-jitsu much more "feint" oriented as opposed to straight ahead pressure. The majority of the techniques were explained in the context of setting it up with pressure to one direction and then reversing to take advantage of your opponent's reaction. The softer, more flowing style of jiu-jitsu was described by Ari as more pure jiu-jitsu - that is to say in Brazil, there was less influence of other arts like wrestling in the jiu-jitsu.

No one had stripes on their belts. The majority of the blackbelts were not competitive wunderkind - rather, guys who just had been training for a long time.

I felt that people were less concerned with "who tapped who" or needing to establish the pecking order than in North America.

And in my experience, England is even worse than USA for this attitude so forget "who tapped who" and just train to get better and have fun.

Sandbaggers and cheats

2011-08-01T12:47:00.000+01:00

Another competition over and more competitors walk away with medals they don't deserve.

Why do you say that I hear you ask?

All the no gi competitions are basically based on trust when it comes to training time and which division to enter.

If a competition says novice is under 2 years then only enter novice is you have trained under 2 years otherwise what is the point?

If you are an experienced guy but don't feel you can go into advanced division for some reason then you need to take a look at yourself and your training. If you don't think you can compete at that level and are really scared to try in case you lose then don't but FFS don't go into novice just to get a medal to feel good about yourself and spoil it for genuine novices.

Do you really not understand that it is CHEATING. Even worse if the coaches know about it and support it too.

One of our guys, Mikey, won a tourney last time and just got his blue belt. When he entered the tourney this time he entered advanced as a test, he could have entered novice again as he has trained less than 2 years but what would have been the point!!

These guys that are scared to go into the correct peer groups should take a look at the ladies from Leicester Shootfighters. They will jump in and compete against anyone even the men, they are always out-weighed and out-strengthed yet they go in and give it their best shot. Caz must be about 50kg and will still compete under 70kg against men!!

Who do you think comes out of it with the most credit? The ladies who fight anyone regardless of size, weight, gender etc or the guy who steals gold in the novice division because he can't compete with his peers?

Great weekend for Combat Base UK

2011-08-01T12:43:00.000+01:00

Spenna's Team Fu all won at Max 8
Griff's Evade team all won at Takedown
We won a load of medals at Mission Submission II
Factory guys raised money for charity at Summer Slam

Excellent team effort.

Wise Words From Lloyd Irvin

2011-07-28T12:55:00.002+01:00

Most instructors have no idea what approaches other sports use. It’s not easy to get access to any professional sports approaches. If an instructor played in the pro’s and knew how to convert it over for BJJ but most don’t.

Rolling in the club is often viewed as winning/losing, who tapped who, etc. In wrestling practice, nobody cares about who “wins”. In baseball practice, there’s no such thing as beating your own team. BJJ has an interesting paradox of being team oriented, but also competing against your own team members in training.

This has to be changed within the internal culture of the school, it is 100% based on what the instructor allows and doesn’t allow. I’ve been called a dictator of sorts, but I believe it is 100% my responsibility to dictate what mindset I want my team to have, the attitudes, behaviors etc. Whatever mindset you allow on your mats will become the culture of your mats. I have a saying, “if everyone on our team did what you did, what type of team would we have?” This is a question that I have made a standard at my school. The answer can only be a good team or a bad team.

So if a student gets tapped in practice and throws a fit, it would never be allowed on my mats. If I was to ask that student my question, “If everyone on our team threw a fit when they got tapped on our floor what type of team would we have?” The answer would be a bad team.

Many instructors allow things to happen on their floor that the answer would be ‘a bad team’ and since they allow others do it and it becomes an accepted behavior within that team then it results in a serious problem.

Exercise of the month

2011-07-26T18:44:00.004+01:00

One leg squat progression

Benefits? Both legs have to do the same amount of work independently, as you know one side is usually the dominant side which can create an imbalance as the stronger sides compensates for the weaker side. Especially if you are hurt or have an injury.

Not with this, everything has to work the same.

Guaranteed to burn the thighs and work your balance.

What Jiu Jitsu application does this have? Stay tuned.

Topic For July

2011-07-26T18:41:00.002+01:00

How do you get the fight to ground if your wrestling and Judo are not that great? How do you get through no man's land to actually get the initial grip?

Come find out...........

Robson Moura Seminar at Factory BJJ/Combat Base Stockport

2011-07-26T18:38:00.001+01:00

Champ Camp, the people responsible for bringing over some awesome Jiu Jitsu players, carried on that tradition by bringing Robson Moura to the UK for the first time. For those of you that don't know who he is, shame on you, google him then check out Rolling Reflections.

My friend, Leo Kirby, had trained numerous times with Robson and highly recommended him so to say I was excited about this opportunity was an understatement.

I had been told that as well as being an outstanding competitor he was also a very good teacher which turned out to be right on the money as he skilfully guided us through a nice section on guard making everything look effortless.

Robson will be back in September to enter the ADCC so if he gives any more seminars you really should try to get there.

How to use open mat

2011-07-26T18:27:00.002+01:00

The numbers in the open mat sessions have dipped a little and I think it may be partly due to people not using the sessions as productively as they could. When there is no instruction and you are pretty much left to your own devices a lot of people just fall into sparring.

This is the perfect time just to grab someone and try that new technique you have been thinking about or maybe try to perfect a part of your game that has been lacking a little.

If you combine the open mat sessions with the ideas of drilling it can make for some very productive training.

Got my mojo back!

2011-07-26T18:26:00.001+01:00

After feeling completely burned out and over-trained my holiday was something I was very much looking forward to.

My coach had advised me to maybe stop sparring for a week or so, just teach class but don't join in. Do something else athletic instead but no Jiu Jitsu.

Followed his advice then instead of sparring I just drilled scenarios for a couple of weeks and started to feel a little better but not much.

Whilst we were away we went over to stay with the Haueters for a couple of days so jumped into the open mat session knowing that with a couple of hours of hard sparring, it could be make or break. If I enjoyed the session then I would be ok but what if I didn't enjoy it any more?

As it turns out there was nothing to worry about, got some great training with the Garage guys, some quality black belts and some real tough brown belts so things are good again.

The moral of the story? Don't be afraid to take a little time off to step back and smell the roses.

Drilling Versus Sparring

2011-07-26T18:16:00.000+01:00

People ask how much time should be spent drilling and how much time should be spent sparring?

There is no definitive answer as the answer depends on the person and their experience but as a rule, the lower belts should always spend more time drilling than sparring. Drilling allows you to practice from positions that you may not be able to get into yet.

For example, if you are being taught mount in class but when it comes to sparring you may not be able to ever get to mount to integrate the techniques you were taught in class therefore drilling is irreplaceable as the drill should start with you in mount.

But as a higher grade don't think that you should be drilling any less as the above applies to you too. If you are one of the better guys in class you may rarely find yourself in a bad position so by drilling you put yourself in that bad position to start with.

The final word on drilling, the drills that you do should start with a compliant partner and then as soon as practicable the drills should go "live". You can practice cross choke from mount against a compliant partner for 10 years yet when you try to do it for real, when the guy underneath is really trying to escape, it's a different matter altogether. You have to be able to apply the technique under the very real pressure than you would get in sparring.

At this point drilling becomes 'isolated sparring' anyway.

Combat Base UK Royal Rumble

2011-07-26T18:14:00.000+01:00

Saturday 30th July sees a real clash of the titans at Factory BJJ in Stockport as they hold their next Royal Rumble to help raise money for charity.

As things stand every belt group is represented from the white belts to the black belts and back to defend his belt is James Nardone, the current reigning champion. James has grown real attached to his belt and is not going to let it go cheaply.

There are already rumours of the white belts ganging up to take out the big dogs to start with, could there be a surprise winner this time?

Is the belt going to stay put or will one of the Yorkshire raiders bring it back to the land of the white rose?

It wouldn't surprise me if one of the hippest Hollywood producers jumped on the rights to turn this classic struggle into this years summer blockbuster. Think Braveheart meets The Eagle with a touch of Napoleon Dynamite thrown in.

All I know is that it is going to be hell!!

Mission Submission II

2011-07-26T18:11:00.002+01:00

Mission Submission makes a return to sunny Selby on Sunday 31st July and features what promises to be an awesome superfight, James Saville versus Paul McVeigh. This match in itself is not to be missed.

So if you want to compete in a tournament where it doesn't matter which club you are from, where the referees actually watch the match they are refereeing and know what they are doing then this is for you.

Quality Not Quantity

2011-07-03T18:01:00.001+01:00

http://bjjhacks.com/2011/06/youre-wasting-your-time-how-to-avoid-sucking-at-bjj/

Check out the article above to illustrate the importance of purposeful practice that we have spoke so much about recently.

Thinking Out Aloud

2011-07-03T17:55:00.001+01:00

"What about a blog updated on a weekly basis covering the basic idea and content of the lessons with maybe a few videos thrown in.

Explain why we are doing things, how the warm up exercises translate to actual jiu jitsu movement, what are the key points of the drills we are doing.

Share anything else I find on the web that relates too.

Could also cover seminars and trips to other gyms.

Would maybe help people remember stuff.

Would take a bit of work but maybe I could do it"

Christmas Closure

2010-12-15T21:57:00.000Z

Please note the gym closures over the Christmas period.

The last sessions will be:
Saturday 18th December 2010 for juniors
Thursday 23rd December 2010 for seniors

The gym will then re-open on:
Tuesday 4th January 2011 for seniors
Saturday 8th January 2011 for juniors

It has been a good year for our gym and our group in general again, had some great seminars, did well in competition and had some belt promotions too including another black belt, which is an awesome achievement in itself.

Everyone should be proud of the achievements this past year.

Thanks to each and every one for your continued support, long may it continue as we have more things planned for 2011 hopefully getting a competition team together again too.

Keep up the good work.

Tatami Fightwear Commercial

2010-12-15T21:50:00.000Z

Patience Really Is A Virtue

2010-11-24T22:39:00.006Z

To reinforce some of the stuff we have been doing in class especially the tournament stuff, here is one of my matches from a while ago. The main things from this match are to have patience and not to rush through things, improve position then consolidate before moving to the next thing.

00:00 - Can't see it very well as we missed first part of match but as I pull guard I immediately go to sweep, didn't get it as he based out and came back on top but I had my hook in place by now.

00:18 - got the sweep, don't try to do anything else yet just get control and points. If you try to rush you can end up losing position.

00:21 – now start to pass. Got good head control and am threatening with a choke that you can't see but mainly as a distraction so I can go to mount.

00:42 – got mount and time to stabilise position again.

00:45 – notice how I cross my feet so I have closed mount, excellent control against a bucking bronco upa escape.

Then total patience, don't feel as though you have to rush anything.

01:02 – shot of Helen coaching me, this was the competition where they asked her to move away from the side of the mat because they didn't believe she was a coach.

01:11 – get a high mount and start isolating the arm. Notice how ineffective the upa is against a tight high mount.

01:28 – attack the neck to make him bring his arms inside then set up triangle from top.

01:34 – this the bit that Haueter was telling me off about when I showed him, don't give up position for an inferior position. I didn't get it at first as all I could see was I was going to submit the guy. I appreciate now not giving up mount just in case.

01:38 – seeing as I had rolled off, now I have to finish the triangle. Notice how the left hand controls his gi pants at the knee so I can start to make the angle.

01:41 – I keep hold of his gi pants and lift his leg so he can't step over and finalise my position.

Can't emphasise enough how you have to be patient in tournament Jiu Jitsu.

Changes To The Gi Class

2010-11-24T22:39:00.005Z

Up to this point I have always stipulated that people MUST have a gi before they attend a gi class but have decided to relax that rule a little.

To help promote gi training anyone wanting to come down and try a gi session can borrow a gi top to try before they buy.

So any of the open group classes are now truly open to anyone.

New 1/2 Hour Private Lesson For Beginners

2010-11-24T22:39:00.003Z

I have decided to do a 1/2 hour private for beginners mainly but anyone really to try to plug the gap between people wanting to try Jiu Jitsu outside of the class environment but feeling that 1 hour is too long or costly for their first private.

Scheduling now so if you are one of the guys that asked, get in touch now.

How Do People Live With Themselves?

2010-11-24T22:38:00.005Z

This past week as seen numerous people pull out from MMA fights and it was again highlighted that some people are still lying about what belt they are in BJJ.

The guys that call themselves fighters yet don't show up to fight!!

You can lie to promoters and fool people on Facebook but you can't lie to or fool yourself, you know inside that you have chickened out, how do you live with that?

And fake belts…..come on. The BJJ community is small enough to know that a UK guy doesn't suddenly get a black belt without everyone knowing about it especially when it is supposed to be from someone that I know well enough to actually ask. The web site says black belt coach; the reality is blue belt coach.

Just be proud to be the belt you are, don't start making crap up to try to get more business.

Fake BJJ black belts will always be outed.

So I ask again, how do some people live with themselves knowing they are liars!!

MAX 5, Wesleys, Pudsey

2010-11-24T22:38:00.003Z

Saturday 20th November saw the 5th installment of the MAX MMA shows and still attracting a sell out audience.

First Combat Base fighter saw Nathan Quinn against 'Jimmy' from Gracie Combatives, both guys meeting either each other in the middle of the cage and trading before the fight went to ground. Nathan was caught in a tight looking leg lock that he eventually managed to escape then start throwing some shots from top. The fight pretty much carried on this way until Nathan passed guard and took mount near the end of the first round and stayed this way until the bell.

Second round Nathan came out and started to put pressure on his opponent, who was happy to play from bottom, throwing hard punches from the top and standing to kick his downed opponents legs at every opportunity making for a pretty one sided second round.

The fight was scored a majority draw yet I thought we had won convincingly, the fight is on YouTube so make up your own mind.

Next Combat Base fighter was to be Gaz Firm but his opponent must have changed his mind on his trip up from Wales and didn't bother turning up. So frustrating that Gaz trained his ass off and had 2 opponents pull out and 1 no show so thanks to Barry Bolton's no show, Gaz had no fight.

Finally, the main event, was between Pete Hill and Mark Aldridge from Allegiance in a title eliminator. The fight went straight to ground with Mark working to top before Pete rolled him and Mark took guard. He immediately threw up an arm bar attempt that looked to be sunk in but Pete gutted out of it and passed guard, throwing some shots to Mark's head. Mark turtled allowing Pete to take his back where he sunk in the choke for the submission.

Pete advances to a title shot at MAX 6 which is being held on 12th February, see you there.

Good work by Spenna, Pete and the team to keep producing quality shows and will continue to do so.

New Black Belt @ Combat Base UK

2010-11-24T22:38:00.001Z

Huge congratulations on a massive achievement as Ryan Hunter was promoted to black belt by Chris Haueter on 2/11/2010 whilst at Factory BJJ/Combat Base Stockport.

Chris really excelled himself in the iron man division when he either had everyone start mounted or in Ryan's guard to take away his outstanding Judo skills. Then when he was wasted he had to have matches against brown and purple belts before going back to the mounted iron man. Brutal.

Ryan has trained Jiu Jitsu along side Judo that at the age of 26 he holds black belts in both and proves how well they complement each other.

Check out some of Ryan's Judo matches on the Archives page of my web site www.combatsport.co.uk

New T-shirts And Patches

2010-11-24T22:37:00.003Z

For the guys that have not seen them yet, the new colours for the T-shirts, anyone want any let me know. Example as above.

Colours available for shirt: Purple, royal blue, navy blue, brown, white and black.

Colours available for logo: Green, yellow, white, black and blue.

Patches in 2 sizes, 250mm for the back and 100mm for the breast, patches are circular with usual skull and cross bones logo.

Grip Fighting Seminar

2010-11-24T22:36:00.003Z

Sunday 5th December is a grip fighting seminar at Caged Steel being given by outstanding Judo black belt Ian Johns.

I would highly recommend attending this as I can't stress enough how important it is to be in charge of the grips, fights are literally won and lost at this point.

A must attend especially for the competitors but anyone will benefit.

Places are limited so please check with me if any places left.

Chris Haueter Seminar Tour 2010

2010-11-24T22:36:00.001Z

Chris's visit this time was not as long as we would have liked but it was either a short visit or no visit at all so that is a no brainer.

He managed to give 4 sell out seminars in the time he was here, leaving everyone wanting more.

Check the Combat Base UK Facebook page for links to all the photographs and reports.

Big thanks to Helen's sponsor Tatami Fightwear for sponsoring Chris's training gear whilst he was here and for providing Ryan's new black belt.

Thanks to everyone who supported these seminars, I really appreciate it.

Is It OK To Lose?

2010-11-24T22:35:00.001Z

If you do anything in the least bit competitive then at some point you will lose, what you do with that loss determines what happens from there.

From a recent interview I did with Allsports International Ltd

"Yes I have competed in every different style I have done. I think it is crucial to try competition even if it is only once just for the experience of the pressure and having to perform efficiently under stressful situations.

Competing has many benefits but one of the main things for me is that it helps you to overcome yourself. To hear the voice inside your head telling you that you will lose, you will be embarrassed and everyone on the internet will think you are no good, then over-ride that and still compete anyway regardless of the outcome, that's the healthy way. Whether you win or lose the sporting contest has no real world consequence and changes nothing, when you wake up the morning after, you are still you, you just hurt less if you won ;0)

Competition helps you overcome that fear because as long as you try then you never really lose".

I have these 4 rules for my students, and myself, when competing;

If you agree to compete, make sure you turn up and honour your commitment
Be professional, be prepared and make weight
Give 100% and do the best you can do
Enjoy the experience and learn from it

Nothing in there about winning, do your best and try to learn, everything in Jiu Jitsu should always be viewed as a lesson learned.

The path to greatness always starts the same way, you start at entry level, experience some success and some defeat, accept it, learn from it and use it for future reference then go from there.

Examples from people that are the absolute pinnacle of their sport:

Arguably one of the world's greatest grapplers, Braulio Estima, confessed in his interview on The Fightworks Podcast #196 that he lost in the first round of each of the first 5 majors that he competed in and considered quitting. Instead of quitting though he pushed through it and the rest is history as they say.

The current BJJ phenom Rafael Mendes "You learn more from defeat than from victory because winning makes you celebrate and think the mistakes you made were not enough to harm you. Now in defeat you analyze every second and it makes you reflect more.

And finally from one of the biggest legends in world sport, Michael Jordan "I have missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I have lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times I have been trusted to take a game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over in my life. And that is why I succeed".

My own coach Chris Haueter advises "prepare for the competition as though it is the most important thing in your life then on the day detach yourself from the outcome"

If you need inspiration then the Roosevelt quote I always refer to is as relevant now as it ever was and is on my gym wall "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better............."

So accept that competing is statistically a 50/50 chance of winning/losing and do it anyway, you will be glad you did.

Amazing Facts

2010-11-24T22:34:00.001Z

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

The King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs... but not downstairs.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

Turtles can breathe through their butts.

Stay tuned for more life altering facts.

NJJKC

2010-11-24T22:33:00.001Z

Unfortunately the NJJKC are disbanded so I just wanted to publicly thank Ross Iannocarro for all the support he has given me over the past 15 years.

Ross was responsible for bringing Carley Gracie to these shores in 1997 which was my first ever BJJ seminar. Since then I have attended all the seminars, done the courses and competed in their competitions.

Unfortunately due to the parasites using the 'no win no fee' as a way to try and make easy money, Ross had been reduced to working on these ridiculous claims rather than doing what he does best. He personally helped me with such claim made by someone against me when I wasn't even there and wasn't in my class, that's how stupid some of these claims are. Anyone reading this who is not insured, get insured NOW!

The guy is a true martial artist and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do.

Darren

Bad Boy MMA Zone

2010-03-20T13:42:00.001Z

Just a little clip from Haueter's seminar in Joburg April 2009.

Joburg seminar

Irish Yoga (an old one but still funny)

2010-03-17T15:52:00.004Z

In honour of my grandad James, a proud Irishman, happy St Patrick's Day.

Combat Base Group Training Day 7th March 2010

2010-03-16T18:36:00.002Z

This time we were being hosted by Spenna and Team Fulinkazan over in sunny Bradford on the warmest day of the year so far.

To keep things fresh we changed (most of) the coaches this time as I feel it is important for all our students to have experience of different coaching styles, I don’t pretend that I know everything and with so much talent in our group it makes sense.

More here

Darren Currie interview with Allsports International Limited

2010-03-02T21:26:00.001Z

The combative art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a deep and complex fighting system that spawned the, now legendary, Vale Tudo matches in Brazil. The phrase Vale Tudo literally translated from the Portuguese means "everything is valid" or as you may know it 'No Holds Barred'. This particular form of competition was the forerunner for what is now termed Mixed Martial Arts or Cagefighting as popularised by the Ultimate Fighting Championships held in the USA since 1993.

The idea was simple; the Jiu Jitsu practitioner would fight any other style of martial art to prove the efficiency of their system in a match that had few rules and no time limits. The vastness of this ever evolving martial art is such that there has only ever been 20 British born black belts so far, now meet #21 our very own Darren Currie.

So you just got your black belt, how does it feel?

It feels kind of strange to be honest; the belt feels 'heavy' as they say but I'm growing into it.

When I first started training you were lucky getting to train with a black belt at all, the prospect of home grown UK black belts was a long way off. The only time I got to train with a black belt was when there was a seminar with someone who had travelled in specifically from Brazil or USA. I guess we are indebted to these guys for doing what they did and laying a foundation for the UK scene to be built allowing the level of home grown Jiu Jitsu to flourish to the point that we have our own black belts now. We have really come a long way in 10 years or so.

It is also a privilege to be part of the 1^st generation of UK Jiu Jitsu instructors, there are some very talented people passing on our art to the next generation but I guess that is our responsibility to keep the art flowing and passing it down teaching others as we ourselves were taught.

Does it change things at all?

Yes I think it does change things, with greater reward comes greater responsibility. I have black belts in other martial arts but the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt feels like there is more responsibility with it. Maybe because there are not that many of us in the UK compared to something like Taekwondo for example, I trained Taekwondo for about 10 years and saw some really good black belts and some pretty poor black belts too whereas I have NEVER seen a poor Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.

I would also say that being a black belt brings a much higher level of expectation, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts across the board will strive to meet this high level whereas, in my experience, some black belts from other arts fall a little short.

Again maybe because there are a relatively small amount of black belts in the country that the expectation from them is so high providing some extra motivation to keep improving all the time, not just in your own personal training but also in the coaching and just as you are as a person.

I also think that there are some brown belts in this country that are black belt standard and have just not yet been promoted for whatever reason. We are at a stage where there are quite a few of us who have trained 10+ years so I would imagine more black belts will be imminent.

How did it come about and what did you have to do for it?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is very informal compared to the majority of martial arts so there is no pomp and ceremony to my promotion. I was grappling some big guy who pulled up my gi top, my coach ran over and whipped me across the back with a belt, threw the belt to me and said 'congratulations, you're a black belt now' then just went back to training.

What did I have to do for it? Quite simple, I had to dedicate myself to training for about 14 or 15 years, make a lot of sacrifices, competed to test myself under pressure, taught to help spread the art and travelled to get some instruction/practice with some top guys. Reduced my hours at work to enable me to train more for the last 3 years and spend countless amounts of money to travel to train abroad a bunch of times.

My friend Simon Hayes, himself a black belt & instructor with the Carlson Gracie Revolution Team, sent me a message when I just got promoted that included "Many years of dedication, time, patience and injuries have been duly recognised".

This sums it up for me perfectly

Continued.....

Darren Currie interview part 2

2010-03-02T21:25:00.003Z

I believe your wife is a black belt too, how is it being a black belt couple?

I guess it's pretty good most of the time; we wear matching outfits for training.

It's good always having an experienced partner to bounce ideas off and work on new stuff with before we introduce it into the classes. She doesn't moan at me taking over the TV for hours to watch fight footage because she would rather watch that with me than some crap reality show instead.

She has been a black belt for a couple of years now, the first and only female black belt in the UK, there only being one other female black belt in Europe I believe. She is pretty awesome.

It's a pity that she got a competition career ending injury (sacral iliac joint) because I'm sure that she could have been world champion. Watching her spar with some of the world's best was amazing.

On top of that she is 50kg and will train with anyone; the closest guy in weight at our gym is still 68/70kg that is a massive +40% body weight difference. Imagine if everyone in the gym was way stronger than you and everyone outweighed you by at least 40% of your bodyweight, how would you do every session.

She exemplifies Jiu Jitsu, the smaller guy beating the bigger guy and that is why she is a black belt!!

Whilst all this sounds awesome and most guys think it is great that your wife would train with you so you don't get grief for being at the gym all the time, there is a downside. Imagine if you argue with your wife who doesn't train, you escape to the gym for a couple of hours for some "rolling Zen" and forget about her. I don't have that luxury!!

In what way does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu differ from other martial arts?

It differs from most other martial arts because of the training methodology but it is not unique, it shares this kind of training with other 'alive' arts and combat sports such as Judo and Sombo to name but a few. This is why I believe that these 2 examples make perfect add-ons to your Jiu Jitsu base.

With an awful lot of other martial arts there is usually one person doing something and their partner being compliant so the thing they are trying 'works'. With Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, more often that not, you have resistance. You start off trying to apply your technique on a partner offering some resistance then the better you get at applying the technique the more resistance you get in return until you can work the technique correctly against 100% resistance.

Another thing is about belt promotions. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is all based on performance, if you can do it then you are good enough, most other martial arts just have a syllabus that you have to complete which usually involves some kind of kata or pre-determined moves then you can get your next belt.

I went from being an absolute beginner in martial arts to black belt in Taekwondo in 3 years with no prior experience; it took me longer than that to get my first belt in Jiu Jitsu.

Have you competed at all? Who was your toughest opponent?

Yes I have competed in every different style I have done. I think it is crucial to try competition even if it is only once just for the experience of the pressure and having to perform efficiently under stressful situations.

Competition helps you overcome that fear because as long as you try then you never really lose.

I love this quote from Rafael Mendes, one of the best BJJ competitors around at the moment "You learn more from defeat than from victory because winning makes you celebrate and think the mistakes you made were not enough to harm you. Now in defeat you analyze every second and it makes you reflect more.

Everything is Jiu Jitsu is always a lesson learned.

I tell my students to try competition and have these 4 rules for competing;

If you agree to compete, make sure you turn up and honour your commitment
Br professional, be prepared and make weight
Give 100% and do the best you can do
Enjoy the experience and learn from it

I fought some very tough opponents and even though it's obvious and maybe even a little clichéd but my toughest opponent was always my wife............just kidding, the toughest opponent is always yourself for reasons including but not limited to the reasons as above.

Any time I got worried about the small stuff I would read Man In The Arena etc, the most inspirational quote I ever read.

Continued.....

Darren Currie interview part 3

2010-03-02T21:25:00.001Z

You have your own gym?

Yes, we are based in Pontefract in West Yorkshire but we also have other gyms affiliated to us for Jiu Jitsu although that wasn't always the case.

When we first started the gym it was purely through necessity, we needed somewhere to train and people to train with so we had to form our own team and take it from there. I had no intention of becoming a coach again but that's how it worked out.

There was only me and my wife so someone had to be the coach, I lost the rock, paper, scissors so I became coach.

The building itself is pretty basic and not what you would imagine of a gym, certainly nothing like the purpose built martial arts gyms that are available now. I call it a gym rather than an academy, school, dojo or something else more martial arts related because it's where people train hard in an athletic activity. I have been to martial arts schools where there has been no energy, no sweat flying, no anything yet they still call it training. That's not my idea of training.

Even though it is a very modest little place we have still produced some excellent competitors, with people training at the gym for everything from local tournaments right up to European and World Championships as well as the guys that we have fighting Mixed Martial Arts too.

Which role do you prefer competitor or coach?

I was kind of forced into the role of coach that I grew into so that is the role I prefer, I guess it's what you get used to.

The feeling that you get from seeing someone who came in to train with no prior athletic training, was overweight, no confidence or anything become a competitive athlete, to see them improve their lives, improve their confidence and grow.

This has happened so many times but the feeling is always awesome. Helping people goes way beyond the feeling I get from personal achievement. Seeing my wife get her black belt and knowing that I had helped her and coached her all the way was more satisfying than getting my own.

One of my favourite students was Gloria. She turned up training one day, a woman with no confidence, no self worth and the victim of domestic violence when her bouncer boyfriend had too much to drink. I worked some stuff exclusively to prepare her for the day in which she would stand her ground. That day came after around 6 months of regular training. He came home after a few beers, one thing led to another and he went to pin her against the wall, she deflected his force, kneed him in the balls then dropped him to his knees by a right hook to his jaw. As he looked up in disbelief she smashed him in the head with a vase and knocked him out. When he came around, she drove him to A&E to get stitches, after which he treated her with much more respect.

Isn't attitude adjustment awesome?

Saying this I looked into doing the Europeans in Portugal this year but was going to be too damn expensive. Was going to cost around the same money for me and Helen to go for a couple of days as it would to fly to LA for a week and stay at our coach's house, train every day, go to the beach every day and get some sun. Not much of a choice for me.

How do you view training as a 'senior' athlete?

For me personally the keys are quality training, rest and recovery, this has been at any point in my martial arts career but especially as a senior.

I started working full time again at the beginning of this year and so far had not had much of an injury, a few strains but not real injury and feel that I have improved, I guess by getting the recent promotion, this is validated. Last year when I was training everyday, I seemed to always be carrying an injury so I was getting more training time but less quality.

What I will do now is get quality, intense training time with our team. Gone are the days of training all day, now it's 2 hours short, sharp, shock. Get the work done then get the hell out of there. I have a great bunch of guys to train with no matter what we are doing - gi, no gi, Judo, MMA, whatever it is they are pushing me all the time.

Immediately after training I get my Aminoload advanced drink to get my recovery started immediately. After the drink I stretch a little to try to dispel the lactic acid build up. Whenever I get chance I will use the foam roller (self myofacial massage) to iron the muscles out again but more often than not I will pester my wife for a massage. She is a qualified masseuse currently studying sports massage so I am her guinea pig anyway but if you are an athlete and you don't get massaged then you are really missing out.

If I am hurting I will use heat/cold treatment if I have to but really dislike this, it's just necessary sometimes.

Correct nutritional is crucial pre and post workout to achieve your maximum potential.

I try to get in the occasional session of weight training, just a little strength training to help support my joints. I had a lot of trouble with my knee last year, I had a MCL partial tear with some bursitis and some tissue damage so after missing 4 weeks of training, have been doing some superslow leg extensions and leg curls to take care of that for the future

I have an exceptional personal trainer named Gaz Vause, anything I need to know he is the man to ask. I try and get some sessions in with Gaz whenever I can, I am trying to persuade him to write for our website to share his talent with the world so keep an eye out www.combatsport.co.uk

If you want to be a competitive athlete as a senior then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is perfect for you, they have divisions for age and weight. Between 35 and 40 years old you are considered Senior 1, 40 to 45 years Senior 2, 45 to 50 years Senior 3 and so on. You can just keep competing forever.

We have some great senior competitors in the UK, guys who have won gold medals at the International Master and Seniors tournament held in Brazil each year, guys like Dave Coles and Nick Brooks to name but a few who have won world titles despite being over the dreaded 40.

My own coach, Chris Haueter, just won his division at the Pan Ams in the USA and he is a little older than I am. My good friend Leo Kirby won his weight group and the open weight too at the Pan Ams and he is a little older than Chris.

In conclusion, train smart and you can continue while ever you have your health.

Continued.....

Darren Currie interview part 4

2010-03-02T21:24:00.001Z

Where do you get your inspiration/motivation to train?

Inspiration comes in many forms; it could be watching my wife beating way bigger guys showing exactly what Jiu Jitsu should be like.

It could be watching my coach and the way he lives and breathes Jiu Jitsu, so excited about training all the time.

Seeing my friend Leo still winning titles at 46 years of age.

Knowing that I am helping people to improve the athletic ability, confidence and lives in general of my students, knowing they will benefit the way I did.

Watching my students applying things that I have taught them, helping them win matches and win titles. That inspires me to train harder to try to stay ahead of these guys so I can continue to help.

Just came back from Barcelona watching the ADCC World Submission Fighting Championships, seeing the absolute best in the world and knowing that my journey has barely started, there will always be something new to learn, it really is a life long journey.

My motivation to train is my desire to improve my own performance, to improve my ability to coach and getting a good work out. I can't stand running, don't like lifting weights that much and don't want to join a fitness gym, so Jiu Jitsu is my work out too.

The extra pressure now of being a black belt gives me the motivation to train as no one wants to be a 'weak' belt, like I said earlier there is a certain level of expectancy with the belt so I have to hit at least that minimum criteria.

What next for you, any ambitions left?

I am not really an ambitious person, I don't tend to look too far ahead, I don't want to miss what is happening now for something that might not even happen in the future.

I'd like to bring through some more coaches so I have someone to leave my legacy to, keep expanding the Combat Base group with the right people.

Keep helping my students improve and watch them grow.

If I stay healthy I'll probably do a major competition as a black belt, maybe in USA, which would be cool. Keep travelling and training, great way to meet new people and pick up new ideas.

I guess I just want to keep doing what I am doing, only better.

One Of Life’s Lessons

2010-03-02T21:23:00.001Z

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who sh*ts on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh*t is your friend.

(3) And when you're in deep sh*t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

www.cagefilm.com

2010-02-26T23:40:00.003Z

If you haven't checked out this site yet, you really should.

Tons of videos, instructionals, seminars etc

Including old footage of a Rickson Gracie seminar

Check it out.

Braulio's Posture Within Guard

2010-02-26T23:36:00.002Z

On Cagefilm

Class cancelled

2010-02-24T21:22:00.001Z

There will be no training on Tuesday 2nd March, rest of schedule as usual.

The Cheesecake Assassin

2010-02-23T14:24:00.006Z

Congrats to Danny Mitchell for his 3rd round stoppage of M1 veteran Simon Phillips. Was to be Danny's hardest test so far but came through it as usual with an excellent performance.

Quick interview with the man himself here

www.combatsport.co.uk web site..........

2010-02-22T15:05:00.001Z

.......is down at moment so having to just use blog for info.

Words Of Wisdom

2010-02-10T22:55:00.001Z

from Mr Homer J Simpson

1. Never work hard
2. Don't make emotional attachments
3. Don't be a cow

Wise words indeed.

Blast From The Past #5 - Spenna Vs The Ninja

2010-02-10T22:52:00.001Z

It happened at one of our first open grappling tournaments in April 2001, it was a no gi tourney so most people turned up in T shirts and shorts as you would imagine, some wore gis but one guy.......

Maybe it's my memory playing up but I think I remember a puff of smoke then this guy walks up to register at the desk. He had got ready to compete and was kitted head to toe in black including black pumps, black fingerless leather gloves (no, it wasn't Chen) and a black head guard.

Everyone got weighed in then came the decision; who would be mighty enough to take on a ninja? Enter the Spenna.

In a classic match that could have been featured on Deadliest Warrior, Spen Fu v Ninja took place with the skilful Spen Fu master emerging victorious after a tough battle, I remember the Ninja being very strong.

The Ninja guy went on to take 3^rd place before disappearing without a trace.

You Shouldn’t Judge a BJJ Book by It’s Cover

2010-02-10T22:51:00.001Z

Way back when most people were still at white belt stage, we attended a seminar with a BJJ guy who was very popular at the time. When it came to the rolling section of said seminar, popular BJJ guy just stuck to rolling with a handful of his students and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves.

A big meat head white belt out to impress popular BJJ guy asked one of my students to spar. My student Pete, who was an older athlete but had a phenomenal guard for a white belt, pulled guard and right off the bat arm barred the guy.

Meat had to find someone else to redeem himself against and spotted Helen, way smaller but was a blue belt so would make a good scalp. He started really hard, was aggressive then fell straight into a triangle and decided he had enough of Helen.

Meat then decided that a younger prospect might be a better idea so asked my 14 year old white belt student to roll. Meat tried to steamroller him but my student arm barred him hard and fast. Enough was enough so Meat sat out for a while.

At the end of the seminar we all gathered around whilst popular BJJ guy gave out some belts and sure enough Meat got his blue.

Combat Base Group Training Day 7th March 2010

2010-02-03T20:13:00.003Z

This one is being hosted by Team Fulinkazan at Kings Gym in Bradford. Hoping to get one of these at everyone’s gym eventually.

Check out the small clip from the last one at Caged Steel.

Starts at 11:00am, finishes round 3:00pm

There will be a 40/45 minute workshop in every hour segment so schedule is something like this:

11:00 Warm up with Helen Currie
11:20 ½ guard with Carl Fisher
12:00 Offside Kesa gatame with Adam Adshead
12:40 free time to drill, spar, rest, talk
1:00 Butterfly guard with Steve Muckle
1:40 free time to drill, spar, rest, talk
2:00 Chokes with Ryan Hunter
2:40 free time to drill, spar, rest, talk
3:00 Finish

We have all different coaches this time so I guarantee that there will be someone there who most of you have not trained with before.

Whether you want to train on the mats or in the ring there will be someone who will train with you without any ego or hidden agenda, it will be a friendly environment because it is only open to our group so be sensible, be a good training partner and train hard.

£5 entry fee to train, coaches train for free. After paying for the gym, all the rest of the money will be donated to charity.

People don’t have to stay for the entire session, just turn up when they want and stay as long as they want, as long as they come through to support us that is all that matters.

Hope to see you all there.

Helen Currie on Youtube

2010-01-25T18:27:00.000Z

Confirmation of details for inaugural ladies only training camp

2010-01-12T16:23:00.002Z

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

2010-01-12T16:12:00.002Z

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

2010-01-12T16:07:00.003Z

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

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

2010-01-12T16:05:00.001Z

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.

Blast From The Past 4 - My Most Favourite Match Ever.......

2009-11-13T22:46:00.001Z

Was around 2000 and was an amateur Vale Tudo match (which is a contradiction in terms and quite funny when you think about it) as the phrase Mixed Martial Arts had not really been used at this point. The match took place at the inaugural amateur trials held by Lee Hasdale's Total Fight Forum and was against a Brazilian guy who's name I can never remember, might have been Pereira or maybe not. Anyway he was over here to help teach at the Anaconda BJJ club in London (which by the way, spawned some awesome competitors despite the fact that the instructor didn't have the best reputation but had some cool gloves)

At that time I was watching tons of Brazilian Vale Tudo stuff and thought that the Brazilians were the be all and end all of fighting, after all the guys I had been watching were some of the world's best, so to have the opportunity to fight one was awesome, there is just something about competing against someone from the home of the style you are doing.

The fight was up and down, we both landed strikes, got takedowns and had a roll around before the fight ended all too quickly. The fight was declared a draw.

I was real happy with my performance and thought that maybe us English had a future in BJJ after all.

Blast From The Past 3 - Marco Ruas

2009-11-13T22:43:00.001Z

I remember watching UFC 7 seeing this big Brazilian dude smashing the hell out of everyone which really inspired me to try this 'Vale Tudo' as it was called then (more about that another time) to see how people performed under this extreme pressure. I was very fortunate that a little while later I heard Marco would be in this country so decided that whatever the cost we would have to go train with him.

Drove down to Worcester on the Sunday and got there late but just in time to see Marco guillotine a guy unconscious because the guy did not tap quickly enough. The seminar was brilliant and picked up some excellent Luta Livre anti –jiu Jitsu techniques that I still use today in no gi.

Hearing then that he would be in St Helens on the Friday we decided that we would have to make the trip over and get in another session with him. Arriving a little late again (it's a curse) I walked in first and Marco stopped the seminar, he made his way over and came to shake hands thanking me for travelling over. He started the seminar then stopped it abruptly again when Helen appeared doing the same with her.

The guys there must have wondered who the hell we were, 2 random people turn up and he stops the seminar for them, they never realised we were just 2 people who had trained with him previously and were bad timekeepers.

He got the seminar back on track and taught another excellent session.

Got to hang out with him afterwards and mess around getting some photos and stuff. He told me to get him in a rear naked choke so he bent down so I could reach around for the choke. Before the photo was taken he just said "can you breakfall?" I replied "sure" next thing I was launched over his shoulder with seionage from hell, as I hit the deck he dropped into a perfect arm bar just as the photo was taken.

The photo ended up in Combat magazine with Marco laughing his head off as he was arm barring me.

Absolutely awesome guy, so humble and friendly. It's a pity that he stopped coming over to the UK because I would have loved to train with him more.

Check this out the highlight reel

Blast From The Past 2 – Team Colosseum @ Kickers Interclub

2009-10-25T13:57:00.002Z

1^st September 2002 was the first time I met the likes of Widge and Aaron as they came to compete along with Richie Westwell at our interclub in Bradford. I had heard good things about the Colosseum guys that thankfully turned out to be true.

This particular day was (I think) the initial appearance of Matt Thorpe (who recently started teaching an MMA class at Factory BJJ a member of Combat Base UK, check out the Factory website) who you know went on to much, much bigger and better things.

The interesting thing though is that Jennie Taylor, Matt's then girlfriend but now wife (I think) also competed that day.

Wonder if that has happened in UK MMA before that husband/wife or bf/gf have competed at the same event on the same day!!

Blast 1 - How cool is John Machado!!

2009-10-25T13:54:00.002Z

October 6th 1999

Training with John Machado, at one point he was holding down a strong looking guy, the guy was thrashing around frantically trying to escape. John calmly reached over, took out a bottle of water and had a drink all the while the guy underneath is trying to escape. John casually puts the top back on the bottle, replaces it and carries on rolling without the guy even knowing what he had just done.

Everyone was laughing like crazy and the poor guy didn't know why.

My series of blasts from the past

2009-10-25T13:52:00.001Z

As I am getting older and the old memory is going I thought I would put into words some of my memories from training over the years. The next bunch of blog posts are some of those memories.

Hope you enjoy

Scandanavian BJJ Open 17th and 18th October

2009-10-18T20:39:00.001+01:00

Big congrats to James Nardone who took gold in his weight group and to Carl Fisher who got bronze in absolute division.

Calendar Of Events

2009-10-03T22:29:00.002+01:00

Updated the Calendar Of Events, from local to international competition, something for everyone.

If you are interested in competing, let me know and we can find something suitable for you.

ADCC Barcelona Part 2

2009-10-03T17:44:00.003+01:00

My predictions didn't turn out to be that great after all. Helen beat me as usual by predicting Mendes, Braulio, Xande, Jacare and Staack. Barral was invited after all so got to see 2 mundial champions against each other, the old & the new as Barral took on Saulo.

Having eventually settled for Cobrinha on the day, he got 2nd. Marcelo got 2nd, Braulio took 1st, Xande took 1st and Cyborg took 2nd too.

Drysdale got 2nd and Penny Thomas got 2nd too.

I seem to be able to pick 2nd places though.

Main thing is it was an awesome tourney, got some photos to post up when I get them sorted.

Roll on ADCC2011.

ADCC Barcelona 26th & 27th September

2009-09-23T21:38:00.004+01:00

ADCC Barcelona

ADCC this weekend and probably the most stacked tourney so far, only really Romalo Barral & Roger Gracie missing from the world's best.

Follow the link & make your picks, see if you agree.

Men’s -67.9 kg Having to make 2 choices as I just can’t split Cobrinha and Mendes
Men’s -76.9kg Marcelo
Men’s -87.9kg Braulio
Men’s -98.9kg Xande
Men’s +99kg 'Cyborg'
Men's absolute tbc

Superfight Drysdale

Women’s -60kg Megumi Fuji
Women’s +60kg Penny Thomas
Women's absolute Lana Stefanac

Mainly obvious choices but a couple of outsiders.

Going to be an awesome tournament.

Check out the fighters on the web site, some great coverage of them on there.

New belts @ Combat Base Sept 2009

2009-09-23T21:32:00.004+01:00

Congrats to 4 very well deserved new belts at our gym.

Ian “Mongoose” Jones promoted to purple belt
Wayne Murrie promoted to blue belt
Gaz Vause promoted to blue belt
Paul Keegans promoted to blue belt.

Disorder in the American Courts

2009-09-23T21:27:00.002+01:00

Things people actually said in USA courts, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
...................................................

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
....................................................

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ.
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
....................................................

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid.
....................................................

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
...................................................

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
...................................................

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
...................................................

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
...................................................

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?
....................................................

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

MENSA Test

2009-09-23T21:18:00.002+01:00

As you will never be as handsome as me, see if you are as smart as me. Finish the 5 questions below in 10 minutes or less.

1. Which 3-letter word can you add to the words below to make 4 new words?

Doctor
Alien
Carbon
Fabric

2. Find the number.

RM = 5
XK = 13
JC = 7
SP = ?

3. What do the following words have in common?

Yarn
Hurt
Lone
Army

4. What is the missing number?
3 7 13 27 53 ? 213

5. Ben has 4 dogs, 8 hamsters and 7 rabbits. How many horses do he have?

USA 2009

2009-09-09T23:06:00.002+01:00

Its been a couple of years since my good lady and I trained in the USA what with one thing and another so to say we were excited about going to train at Chris Haueter's new school in San Pedro was an understatement. Especially for the open mat whic has loads of people turn up to train.

Friday morning was no exception, over 20 guys mainly black belts, browns and purples turn up at 10:00am for the open mat. Yes, 10:00 on a Friday morning attracts over 20 quality guys. I have seen less than that at seminars, doesn't anyone have to work!!

Knowing it was going to be a tough session we had to be in shape so took some time to go to Venice "Muscle" Beach to get in some good training. Seeing a HUGE ripped guy that couldn't lift any of the big weights deterred me from the weights area and onto the gymnastics section instead. I was never that good at chemistry anyway.

Now we were pumped it was time for the open mat. It was already over 90 degrees F by 10:00am which is pleasant to sit in but horrendous to train in especially for Helen being a Scot, a few generations ago they were running around barefoot in the Highlands.

I had tried to warn her of the oppressive heat after my trip to Johannesburg when they opened the gym windows and it actually got warmer, at least San Pedro is a little, and I mean little, bit cooler than Jozi.

The level of the guys there was awesome, yet everyone still had time for everyone else, a true laboratory for learning, everyone bringing something different to the table. Guess I'm just not used to training with a room full of black and brown belts.

Helen was especially impressed that all the people there actually rolled with her instead of trying to overpower and outstrength her just to tap out a black belt, that they understood the concept of TRAINING. What victory is there in a 200lb guy outstrengthing a 110lb woman just to get a submission? Or just ragging something on for the same reason. If you can't do something against someone your own size, don't do it. She doesn't always get that luxury over here.

You know who you are so stop it!!

So 2 1/2 hours and 3 litres of water later, the session ended, we managed to exchange details with new friends who are hoping to make a visit to the UK as well as catching up with old ones. Had not seen Chance Wanlass since 1999 when he visited the UK as a purple belt but he informed me that California tradition dictates that Haueter should buy me a steak as he had just given me my new belt. I decide to find the nearest eating establishment to see if this tradition is true, it's not :0(

Refuelled and rehydrated we jump into the Combat Base-mobile and head out to Redondo Beach again, the scene of some ridiculous cardio training, for some body boarding and general down time. Never was a beautiful place more brutal, Haueter says he does the cardio training for all his tournaments right here, it's amazing what you can do with a slope, a bunch of steps and a lot of sand.

Goes without saying that we had an awesome time training with everyone and can't wait to get back.

Might put all training fees up to raise some trip money!

The African Adventure

2009-05-06T18:59:00.009+01:00

I had read prior to my trip that the kind South Africans anticipated me being homesick so duly obliged with reminders of home; an apartment block called Ponte City and the Kaiser Chiefs in Johannesburg whilst Durban hosts the Currie Cup and is even twinned with Leeds.

Day 1, 3pm, London

Following a smooth, traffic free drive down to Heathrow, some awful yet expensive service station food, a quick farewell to Helen and a successful negotiation of the Krusty Kreme stand, I started in my quest to track down my coach and travel companion, the elusive Mr Chris Haueter. He had just returned from taking gold at the Pan Ams so I figured that I would hang out with him and get some reflected glory, success by association. Unfortunately no one recognised him, damn minority sports.

I checked in without getting stopped and searched for the first time ever then spent the next hour trying to find Chris. He wasn't answering his phone and wasn't returning email so I would have to do this the old fashioned way; walking and looking.

I spotted what looked like an old tramp lying across 3 seats sleeping soundly and upon further investigating turned out to be Haueter; I left him to his much needed beauty sleep and went to grab a coffee.

After killing another hour or so, we boarded the plane and settled down for an 11 hour flight. I got a great window seat next to a guy that didn't fit my racial profile of being a terrorist so my journey was going to be effortless.

Once in the air I went to check Haueter's whereabouts and found him sandwiched in his seat by his 150kg flight mate, the guy was so big that he spilled into Chris's seat so much that they couldn't put the arm rest down properly. His flight was going to be hell, quality.

South Africa Day 2

2009-05-06T18:59:00.007+01:00

Day 2, 8:30am, Johannesburg

Arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg (aka Joburg and Jozi) the largest and busiest airport in Africa, sampled some of the local cuisine then headed over to check in for the last leg of the journey to Durban.

We were flying Mango Airlines who have bright orange coloured 'planes, I wondered if it was to make it easier for the crash investigators to spot them, at this point I couldn't have cared less as it would mean an end to 26 hours of travelling and waiting.

As soon as we departed the 'plane at Durban, the increase in temperature was ridiculous, I knew right away that training in this heat was going to be a test in itself, at least it was all no gi.

Our host for the trip, Morne Swanepoel, met us and whisked us away in his 'bakkie' which was proper 'lekker'. A brief stop at his place to quickly dump our stuff then immediately down to the beach for a rejuvenating swim in the ocean with it's subtropical climate. Perfect.

All too soon it was time for our first training session. A short drive delivered us to the Muscle and Fitness Gym in Pinetown, the headquarters for Morne's Association, where we entered the gym to a heat that I was just not used to, anyone who has trained at our gym knows that heat is not usually a problem; this atmosphere was even hotter than training in LA which is saying something.

Thankfully we didn't do an intense warm up otherwise that may have been my demise right there and then. We progressively worked through side control drills and escapes which linked nicely into the ½ guard section that I would teach. The first workshop was completed with rolling as always and a brief Q & A session to iron out any queries the guys may have had along the way, all in all a great session for this very warm and weary traveller.

Everyone congregated outside for a while in an attempt to cool down, awesome that after training you can stand around outside wearing only shorts, might try that when I get home.

Need food and sleep.

South Africa Day 3

2009-05-06T18:59:00.005+01:00

Day 3, 9:00am, Durban

Today was our day off so we set off to do some sightseeing whilst trying not to look like a tourist.

KwaZulu Natal is said to be "South Africa's most African province" and has everything the country is known for; beaches, wildlife, the melting pot of cultures and, of course, crime. Also with this province are the famous battlegrounds of Isandlwana and Rourke's Drift (as seen in the movie Zulu), coming off an upset victory at Isandlwana where the Zulu masses obliterated 1200 British soldiers, between 3000 and 4000 Zulus (against the wishes of their King) were repeatedly repulsed for 12 hours by only 100 British veterans, many of them ill, protecting the field hospital restoring British "honour"

KwaZulu Natal's principal city, Durban reflects the melting pot culture perfectly , the European architecture alongside Zulu and Indian influences, Hindus being the second largest ethnic group in Durban (making it a great curry district). There are many fine (and not so fine) things to see in Durban; Francis Farewell Square, for example, is the site of the first white camp set up by British adventurers to trade with the natives even though these days it is populated by the down-and-outs. This is sadly echoed throughout the city, history being swamped by over population and general disregard.

Onto the beaches, the obvious choice is to head to Beachfront traditionally called The Golden Mile due to it's outstanding beaches, restaurants and entertainment (yes, even better than Blackpool's Golden Mile) although it is known as 'Muggers Mile' these days, as discovered by one of my friends as he was robbed at gun point when he stayed here. Where tourists are, criminals are. Who better than someone who doesn't really know the area, carries cash and has cameras & other cool stuff with them, you can't blame anyone for not suspecting some inoffensive little child but these kids are master pickpockets and bag snatchers.

Armed with this knowledge and packing nothing worth stealing, we go for a much needed walk on the beach. My friend, Jase, said I had to try a bacon and avocado burger from Steers whilst here, I spot a Steers too late as we had just literally eaten but consider bringing him one back. I doubted I would get it through customs so don't bother (it turns out I could have got it through after all)

Back to the car to continue our trip saw us taking a quick tour down Marine Parade which looked like a quaint old British seaside town but turns out to be just as dangerous as anywhere, no wonder people wander into these areas especially with the plentiful stalls supplying all your touristy souvenir needs (some may call it tack)

As it's starting to get dark we decide to leave the sea front all together to head home, stopping only for Haueter to get a photograph with a shotgun-toting security guard.

Another meal and another early night ensued.

South Africa Day 4

2009-05-06T18:59:00.003+01:00

Day 4, Durban, 9:00am

Saturday arrived with a temperature of mid 80s so a beach session was the order of the day before the gruelling seminar in this heat. The locals were still telling me it wasn't a great beach day, they don't realise we would call this a heat wave. Having the benefit of local knowledge meant we avoided the main tourist (crime) areas and found the perfect beach spot for plenty of boogie boarding, swimming and sun. Again it was over too soon as we had to head to the gym, I had to keep reminding myself that the main purpose for the visit was to train.

Met a local fighter, and cool guy as it turned out, named Victor who gave me a lift to the gym. Got into a conversation about the fight game straightaway so made the journey more interesting and much quicker.

Arriving back at the Muscle And Fitness Gym, the heat was there already waiting for me, we had a quick introduction then straight into the warm up. I taught some sport specific movement drills which seemed really easy being so warm as was the stretching then Haueter took over for the first section which was to be controlling and escaping side control following on from his previous session, finishing with ½ guard retrieval which led nicely into my ½ guard section.

Again everything seemed to be well received as evidenced in the sparring as someone pulled Z guard on me (1/2 guard with shin across stomach). When I enquired how long they had been doing that, they said that they learned it that day. As a coach it is awesome when someone uses something against you that you have taught them.

We then split into 2 groups, I got to work with the Fight Team whilst Haueter took everyone else. We worked through some more continuous passing versus sweeping and submission drills where winner stays on. This is probably my most favourite of all the training drills.

I explained my philosophy on passing guard for mma; I personally feel that some people try to punch their way through the hole in their game or are even happy to sit in guard whereas if they put the time in to learn to pass properly it would open up a whole new world to them. When they can pass without striking then they can pass with striking. Just my opinion.

Finished with the rolling and another Q&A, again I really think these are worthwhile just to clarify a little (or large) detail that you might not have got right away.

I had a great time training with these guys, everyone was really cool and would have fit perfectly into my own gym. It is always a pleasure to train in that sort of atmosphere where there are no egos, everyone shares a joke and we all benefit from each other.

South Africa Day 5

2009-05-06T18:59:00.001+01:00

Day 5, Durban, 3:00am

Yes, 3:00am!! Needed to be up early to set off on the long drive to Joburg, unable to get a flight in time for the seminar which was an important one so had to drive or rather Morne had to drive, I needed to try to sleep.

Being the seasoned traveller Haueter was asleep almost as soon as we left; the guy can sleep anywhere. He awoke just in time to see the most awesome African sunrise which kind of rejuvenates you as we pulled into the services for breakfast and his coffee fix. (Anyone who has ever been anywhere with Chris knows how important the 'proper' coffee is).

Being bright daylight from 6:30am onwards getting back to sleep was not an option so spent the rest of the journey taking in the countryside as we passed it by reinforcing what a truly beautiful country it is. Finally we hit Joburg about 10:00am and got to see the other side.

We got to temporary home and as the security gate rolled back I got the first glimpse of what Paradise must be like. The property was amazing; tennis courts, swimming pool, mini nature reserve and more, this was going to be an awesome few days.

After a more than generous traditional South African breakfast, Morne and Chris decided to catch up on their sleep whilst I went for a wander round, deciding that a swim would be the better option for waking me up as we were due to teach a big seminar at 1:00pm. I got warning from the locals that the pool temperature may be less than 20 degrees C therefore much too cold to go in. They can't believe that their average winter day is as good as our best summer day. So I am quite happily swimming around with everyone giving me the same look that British tourists get everywhere they go in the world that has weather better than ours, the disbelieving 'it's not even warm' look.

Afternoon approached so we headed to Oakdene to the Box Office Gym for another outrageously warm training session. Morne has sponsorship from Bad Boy to film the seminar and have it aired on national TV so this would be an important seminar to see if we ever get invited back ;0)

Chris started off the seminar with some clinch work, starting right back at the pummelling basics then building up to single and double leg takedowns followed by attacking the quarter position when they managed to sprawl.

He then disappeared to his usual Hollywood lifestyle of doing interviews and photo shoots while I got to take over the seminar. Starting off with taking the back then progressing to establishing correct over/under back control and eventually how to finish the RNC, we moved onto the arm bar from back control. I was guessing that not many of guys had trained that before because there was then a kind of feverish drilling associated with trying something new.

Finally I showed my favourite 3 ways to break the grip of someone defending having their arm locked out from the arm bar position, I like this bit as there is always pain involved with #3 – the biceps crush.

Haueter returned from his celebrity duties to complete the technical part of the seminar with further options of attacking the back. As always with Chris I picked up new details that I hadn't seen before, his approach is not always a 'typical' game and can be quite unorthodox but effective. When he is attacking your back he was constantly trying to kill my base so no movement was really possible; most other guys teach you to make space, get the hooks and go from there. Chris seems to give you so much pressure you almost put yourself in a bad position by being steered into the direction he wants you to go, all without realising it. You know to defend hooks so as you are spending your time doing that you are twisted and turned without mercy, knowing he can still get hooks any time he wants. Not a great description but you have to feel it to fully know what I mean.

The rolling part concluded the seminar as always and, as mentioned before, it is always gratifying to see people trying to implement in sparring techniques you had just taught that day rather than just going back to the ego fueled win at all costs, try nothing new mentality.

A brilliant session today even if I do say so myself, a room full of happy people and I thought I was starting to get used to the heat (man, would I be proved wrong tomorrow)

Now for food and what better way to finish off a great day than with the South African version of our humble barbeque called a "braai". The braai is central to the Afrikaans culture, being an abbreviation of the Afrikaans word "braaivleis" literally meaning meat grill.

After consuming my own body weight in delicious food, an early night was in order so retired back to our "rondavel" a circular building based on the traditional African hut complete with a thatched roof although to be honest I was so tired I would have risked the mosquito attacks and slept on the grass if I had to.

Awesome day all round!!

South Africa Day 6

2009-05-06T18:58:00.003+01:00

Day 6, Joburg, 10:00am

I am so getting used to these big traditional breakfasts, a little different to the bran flakes and toast I have back home.

We are not due to train until 7:00pm so we have another day to sight see, this time Joburg, 'the murder capital of the world' let's see if the title is justified.

Joburg lies in the province of Gauteng which means "Place Of Gold" so it is no surprise that Joburg's origins lie in the exploitation of the country's gold, of which there is still rumoured to be masses of un-mined gold. From these beginnings it has, in just over a century, rapidly become the richest metropolis in Africa although these days seems to be more renowned for being a place to avoid at all costs. From what I have seen in the city centre, this is good advice. The city centre is a kind of 'Escape from New York' meets 'Zulu'; the stories I have heard just reinforce this view.

The extremes of riches and poverty are also well exampled in Jozi, sitting atop a hill stands a collection of mansions with Hollywood style houses on stilts working their way down the hillside to meet a corrugated steel shack at the foot of the hill that someone calls home; the huge houses sitting behind solid concrete walls and electric fences barely a ½ mile away from the sprawling shanty towns, certainly two extremes.

The local newspapers report though that was the old Jozi, the new Jozi is being born with falling crime rates and shrewd property developers pumping money into the area. A CCTV system has been installed on every street corner in Johannesburg central which is operated by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), which can also detect stolen or hijacked vehicles by scanning the number plates of everyone travelling through the Central Business District, then comparing them to the eNaTIS database. The CCTV system has proved it's worth with the average response time by police for crimes committed in the CBD is under 60 seconds. Rumour has it that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani had been enlisted to help bring down the crime rate especially in preparation for the World Cup finals.

I truly hope this is the case as Joburg, very much like Durban, is an awesome city that is over-populated and in need of some renovation.

As with any city though having some awareness and not looking like an easy target will help you avoid a lot of trouble. Joburg was known as being a hot bed of carjackings, particularly if you drove a German car for some reason but general rules apply again; keep the doors locked, keep windows up, don't get too close to the car in front to avoid being boxed in etc although a previous car attachment is by far my favourite, the flamethrower!! Anyone who came near your car became toast; I believe they are outlawed now but how cool to have a flamethrower attachment.

Now to the last training session of the trip, back to the Box Office Gym. Rather than do a seminar/workshop we were to just do a regular training session and focus primarily on passing the guard. Just what I needed, the heat was oppressive, the open windows were letting heat in from outside rather than letting warm air out and this was going to be the hottest and hardest session of the trip. After a brief warm up I was struggling already.

Chris had everyone pair up and just start working passing guard in the way you normally would whilst he observed and made mental notes of points to review and correct in the technical section. I worked with Victor again so couldn't even slacken off a little as the guy is pretty good.

Haueter then ran through the principals of passing guard, posture, how to break the guard open, control, passing hips, etc then sent us back to practice these areas. The heat was really getting to me and even though I was consuming copious amounts of water couldn't cool down.

We then moved onto the line drills, passing versus sweeping, winner stays on. I had pretty much had enough as my body was rebelling and just wanted to leave but these are the times you have to dig deep. I had just watched the Renzo Gracie 'Legacy' documentary where he says when his body wants to quit he hits it harder to let it know that brain is in charge not body.

What the hell, I thought, it's my last night, I am going to try that so told Haueter I was going to do iron man for a while, take on one guy after the other. Damn, what a mistake that was, by the 4th match my left calf was cramping badly. I pushed on a little more and by the 8th match I was done, my calf completely cramped beyond anything I had felt before, I had anaconda body lock around my partner's body but had to let it go as the cramp was that bad. It was one of those where it looks like there is something under your skin running up and down. There was only 2 guys left to spar and I couldn't continue, I was gutted.

I had someone grab my leg and start stretching me out, I kept stretching all the time through the Q&A and tried to get some fluids back in. I was cursing the fact that we had gone to the pharmacy that day where I was going to buy some electrolyte/mineral replacement drink and got sidetracked by biltong (sun dried, salted strips of meat) instead. Oh well, trying biltong was on my 'to do' list anyway.

Turns out that it took about 3 days for my calf to start feeling better but that was the only down side as again I had a great time training here and got to spoke to like minded people who were serious about training but light hearted enough to have fun at the same time.

As far as the Q&A sessions go, unfortunately most people (everywhere) don't take advantage of this time for fear of looking dumb in front of everyone. I know I have done the same but not any more.

The first time I trained with John Machado he asked us what we were struggling with and no one replied so he took his belt off, threw it into the middle of us then said "congratulations, you guys are all black belts. If you aren't struggling with anything you guys must all be black belts" He then asked again what we were struggling with so I asked him how to counter being stacked when applying arm bar and/or triangle and he produced one of the best sessions I have ever been to, still using the material today.

If you never ask, you never know!!

Back to our hosts' place where I had a ½ chicken, pumpkin fritters and roast potatoes which raised my spirits then straight back to the rondavel for our last night in South Africa which turned out to be the scariest/funniest night of the whole trip.

We had heard tales of gangs of guys armed with AK47s doing home invasions pillaging and murdering anything in the way. A gang of 6 guys had invaded a house down the road from us previously and slaughtered everyone. We actually encountered a couple of guys outside our property on the way home who may have been drunk or may have been pretending, playing some rope-a-dope.

As I laid there I realise that our building is the only one with no bars so would make an ideal target for a gang invasion, we then start philosophising about how unprepared we are with only our Jiu Jitsu against 6 Aks to save us, This is the point where everything gets crazy, I guess it's gallows humour, but I found a stick for my protection so Haueter went off to search for a weapon too. He found a brush. I never felt so safe, 2 guys in shorts armed with a stick and a brush against a gang with automatic weapons. Man, would I sleep sound tonight! I guess it's one of those times when you just had to be there but I just laughed myself to sleep especially after Haueter got a text from his wife, Melissa, asking him why we were laughing. She makes a good point.

South Africa Day 7

2009-05-06T18:58:00.001+01:00

Day 7, Joburg, 8:00am

Awoke to a face outside our door which turned out to be the gardener, I'm sure glad he didn't come around last night otherwise he may have been beaten to death with a brush. Haueter received another text from Melissa who asked if we had survived the night. Do you know what? I think we did.

With everything packed up we set off early to again take in some sights on our way back to the international airport in Johannesburg which is not called Johannesburg International Airport any more but O.R. Tambo International Airport under the new regime of renaming everything.

As we started to get into the more built up areas there were more and more adverts for FIFA Football World Cup 2010, everything about it has disaster written all over it. If South Africa could get any more dangerous the World Cup could well be the catalyst; the football supporters spill out of the airport to find transport a major problem, the buses are unreliable, the train system has a poor reputation, the minibus taxis are dangerous with the 'turf wars' still raging which has even seen shoot outs on the roads between rival drivers and the taxi ranks are a hot bed for petty criminals.

If you are thinking of getting around on foot, make sure you have up to date everything otherwise you will end up screwed with all the name changes of the roads. The last thing you want is to wander into a tourist 'no go' area such as Joubet Park or Hillbrow. Maybe there will be safety in numbers but imagine all the nationally proud football supporters combined with cheap and plentiful booze in one of the most violent cities on earth where the majority of locals are armed, some with automatic weapons and violent crime is a way of life for some.

Let's hope everything works out ok because the authorities are putting a lot of effort into this sporting event that will have the eyes of the world on it and from what I have seen, the nee stadia look awesome.

We arrive at the airport, say our farewells to Morne, who has been a great host and head straight to Nandos. Whilst waiting in the queue, a big local guy walks to the front of the queue where the manager comes flying out to greet him and starts making a fuss of him. Not being in the country very long I wasn't sure but it looked a lot like Jacob Zuma, SA's Deputy (but soon to be) President, he was in Joburg to see charges of bribery, corruption and more against him dropped. He had probably followed us to the airport to make sure Haueter left the country!

After a bizarre experience with a guy asking us how tall we thought he was, Chris took off to get a massage (what an airport) whilst I wandered around aimlessly killing time which led me to food again. After being served by a local African girl I tipped her 10 rand and saw her face light up as though she had just won the lottery, it equates to about 70p so you realise how cheap life is over there.

We landed back in Heathrow and saw the 'Welcome To Britain' sign so I knew I was home, reinforcing this was the obscene amount I had to pay for breakfast, I was home indeed.

Maybe I can get to go back one day and do the things I missed this time, going to one of the many safari parks, swim with the sharks, visit Table Mountain, the usual tourist stuff, it really is a beautiful place but unfortunately I can see it getting worse before it gets better.

Competition Motivation

2009-03-14T00:21:00.000Z

The Carlson Gracie guys are organising a UK Masters & Seniors Tournament which I think is a great idea and one that I would like to support if I remain relatively injury free, healthy and more importantly whether I can get motivated.

My problem now seems to be with my motivation, why is it so hard to get motivated to compete these days. Various factors make up the competitive experience so I’ve analysed each one to see where the problem may lie.

Dieting for a tourney can be tough if you are unrealistic in your weight goal, I am naturally around 73kg so I could compete comfortably in the lightweight without any weight management and is only a small step down to featherweight so that is not a problem. An occasional diet is pretty cool anyway for shedding those pounds that creep on.

Extra cardio or conditioning for the tournament? No, the best training for a competitive match is to have as many competitive matches that you can in your gym in my opinion. Extra training means extra Judo and extra Jiu Jitsu which is a pleasure (usually) not a chore.

What about resources, time and money? Well I am working full time again now but with a little effort and some scheduling I can get 3 or 4 X Jiu Jitsu and 1 X weight training session per week which is sufficient for me, gone are the days when I could train every day.

Is cost a factor? A lot of people cite cost as being one of the reasons why they don’t compete and in some cases it’s true but in other cases I feel it is just another excuse. Especially the guys that complain that £30 is a lot of money to enter a tourney but would spend at least double this on a night out! It’s all about priorities.

Is it nerves? I doubt it, if I get to feel nervous at all which I don’t usually do then I remind myself that I am here by choice, that this is my hobby and is no different to having a game of squash or football and the result has no real world consequences, it’s not like I will lose then die!

Maybe the fear of losing? Losing holds no fear for me at all and I really can’t understand how people can be afraid of losing unless you define yourself as a person by how many matches you have won or what belt you are or some other such nonsense. You have to accept that in a sporting contest there is a 50/50 chance you will lose but they are the same odds of you winning too. When you accept this there is no pressure.

Add into the mix that there are some really good brown belts my weight in the UK, guys that have competed and won all over, losing to one of those would be no disgrace anyway.

Haueter always says that when you are preparing for a competition or a match, train as if it is the most important thing ever and then on the day detach yourself from the result. Train your ass off, do your best and move on. If you win, cool but if not, no big deal.

My friend Leo Kirby, 2 X Pan Ams champ, NAGA gi & no gi champ, books a restaurant for the night of the tourney and whether he wins or loses (although he hasn’t lost for years) he follows the same ritual, go out and celebrate. You have done the hard part now reward yourself.

There is also the argument “if you are doing what you truly love to do, have you ever lost?”

Have I lost the competitive drive? This could be a part of it but I still love to go to new places and competitively roll with new faces, it keeps everything fresh. I have another trip booked that will take me into a completely new environment where I haven’t trained before and really relish the challenge of taking on all the new sparring partners.

So could it be the competition environment itself? This could also be a reason; the long days sure are a pain in the ass. If you have waited a long time to compete can sap your enthusiasm a little especially if you have other guys to coach and sort out too but I guess this is all part of the process and needs to be experienced.

So what the hell is it? Writing this I have thought of all the competitions I have been to and what the problem of my lack of motivation may be and I may have the answer. Maybe it is my longevity in competitive combat sports, I have trained for a little over 20 years and began competing within 6 months of starting my first style.

I started fairly late (22 years old) in the martial arts world and am not naturally a fighter so have had to push myself to compete every step of the way. I set myself a goal of having 50 matches in a variety of styles that gave me the necessary experience to pass on to my students and to provide a little inspiration showing that if I can do, they can do it.

For me, competing was always about beating myself. If I can deal with the voice inside my head telling me that I am going to lose or be embarrassed in front of everyone and still get onto the mats then I have won. I remember John Machado saying that “he doesn’t mind losing to someone else but he would never lose to himself”

Well, the target of 50 came and went so I slowed down with the competitions (injuries helped too) and in retrospect, which was probably the beginning of the end. I guess 20 years of preparing for and competing would test anyone’s motivation.

Saying this, I still hope to see you at the UK Masters And Seniors.

Why Aren’t You A Black Belt?

2009-03-11T22:20:00.002Z

>How many times have I been asked this question? It all started with “why aren’t you a purple belt?” and went from there.

I’ll explain why not....................

1998 brought me into contact with my coach Chris Haueter and trained with him whenever possible when after a couple of years, my wife and I were both awarded our blue belts (Jan 2001 I think). With Chris’s blessing we opened a class where I took the role of coach whilst Helen mainly just trained, this making the big difference as I was to find out later.

Built up a great club and hooked up with SBG Pres Matt Thornton which worked out great because not only being a very knowledgeable and cool guy, was also a student of Haueter’s so we were on the same page regarding training so to speak. After a few visits Matt promoted some of our guys which became the norm, eventually 3 of them being promoted to purple belt whilst I was still a blue, these being Pete Guest, Varqa and Helen, all of them very well deserved purple belts in my opinion.

I then started to have discussions and telephone conversations with various people from outside my gym, that went something like this:

Person: I hear (Pete, Varqa, Helen) got purple belt

Me: Yes they did

Person: Are you a purple belt

Me: No I’m blue

Person: How does that work then?

Me: How does what work?

Person: With them being higher grades than you, who’s going to take the classes?

Me: I will continue to teach class, I taught these guys so I am maybe doing a good job.

Person: It just might look a bit funny if you are taking class and there are higher grades than you training.

Me: I doubt anyone will care.

Fast forward to 2008 and more than a few people have asked “are you a black belt” and when I answer they follow up with “how come Helen is then”

My stock answer is that she is better than I am. Whilst I have always done the gym coach route she has always trained hard and sparred with everyone. That is why she is better than I (and I am a better coach) because that is what we have mainly done over the years respectively. Would I trade places? Not on your life, the amount of satisfaction I have had from coaching is far better than achieving any belt.

One time in the USA at the Machado Academy Helen rolled for an hour straight with 2 outstanding female black belts in Cindy Omatsu and Felicia Oh, only getting caught once in an hour. Could I do that?

She also had an awesome sparring match with Megumi Fuji at our gym where neither lady subbed the other.

On top of that she is 50kg and will train with anyone, the closest guy in weight at our gym is still 68/70kg which is a massive +40% body weight difference. Imagine if everyone in the gym was way stronger than you and everyone outweighed you by at least 40% of your bodyweight, how would you do every session.

She exemplifies Jiu Jitsu, the smaller guy beating the bigger guy and that is why Helen is a black belt!!

As for me...................the short answer is I’m just not ready yet.

The Champions IV - Return Of The Chicken Legs.............

2009-03-11T22:15:00.001Z

The ups and downs of MMA were in full force for me on Saturday, where to begin?

When guys from our gym want to compete, whether it is MMA, sub grappling or Jiu Jitsu, I have 3 criteria.

Make sure you turn up, if you say you are going to do it, then do it, no excuses.
Make weight, there is no excuse for not making weight.
Do the best you can and try to enjoy and learn from your experiences.

So Jonny Smith, Andy Krlic and Andy Lanes all turn up as they say they would so off to Bradford we go. We arrive in good spirits, see some old faces when we arrive at the venue then go to weigh in.

All 3 guys make weight easily so that is 2 out of 3 on my list satisfied although I am always on edge until I know that our opponents have arrived. My edginess was not necessary as all the opponents turned up and made weight. I am now a happy man knowing that as soon as we get through the rules meeting we will be going out to eat.

Rules meeting and pre-fight interviews out of the way we head off to the Asda to stock up on food. The fighters, who were all starving by this point picked various foods to gorge (I may have been included in the gorging I don't remember now) then back to the hotel.

As we are sat eating I noticed Andy Krlic devouring exceedingly pink chicken, I commented how a good vet could have got the chicken back on its feet but he was hungry so ate it anyway. I put that to the back of my mind and continued getting some down time before the medicals.

Then it started...........Andy felt bad and began his toilet inspired shuttle runs, each time feeling worse and worse.

Went to the medicals with Andy still feeling bad, Jonny went first everything ok, resting pulse 60. Andy Lanes next, everything ok, resting pulse 72 (the guys are nervous so the pulse will be up a little) Andy Krlic gets on the stool, pulse 107!! He asks what the resting pulse rate will be and they replied that it was his resting pulse rate. Normally having a resting pulse rate of low 50s, something seems wrong.

Then the nausea starts. Damn, this guy is due to fight in the 2nd match and I'm doubting that he will live that long.

So the runner comes up for us and we are on our way down to the ring with Jonny, I see Andy attempting a warm up with Ben but clearly he was not up to it.

Jonny climbs into the ring and calmly waits for his opponent Daniel Bowes from Team Akurei to make his way down and join him in the ring. We don't know anything about Daniel so the game plan was to work around Jonny's strengths and take the fight to him. Jonny had been training some big pick ups so was looking for an early slam to get the crowd going. The fight started with both guys landing some shots, Jonny moved into clinch eating an uppercut on the way in but picked his opponent up, got the slam that he wanted and started to work his ground game. Both guys ended up back on their feet where Daniel started to shoot that Jonny sprawled out of and reversed it into another big slam. This time working knees on the ground to soften up the opponent before transitioning to mount. Jonny worked patiently towards Rickson position where he transitioned into taking the back and sunk in a rear naked choke for the win.

Great fight to start things off, both young guys deserve a lot of credit.

I had momentarily forgotten about Andy but true to his word he wanted to fulfil #1 by doing what he said he was going to do, that was he came to fight. Having watched his opponent, James Anderson, against Caged Steel fighter Phil Hoban we had devised a pretty solid game plan that I was convinced would give us the 'W' only I hadn't counted on Andy being sick. All through the first round he was implementing his game plan just with no power, he was going through the moves but unable to truly unload even when he caught James in his favourite achilles lock position he had no strength to finalise and ended up with one of those both-going-for-footlock moments. End of round one, Andy with a 10-9.

As he came back to the corner he was really in no state to continue and we should have thrown in the towel but he had come to fight. As round 2 wore on Andy got worse and James got the better of things landing some shots and taking it to the ground, at one stage James had a point taken off so by my reckoning if Andy could hold on to the end of the round he would win by j/d. Andy was now mounted and was desperatelt trying to defend and with a final burst of energy attempted to escape but fell right into a guillotine with only 30 seconds remaining and had to submit.

I mean no disrespect to James or his team (who I am friends with) but that wasn't the real Andy who was in the ring that night and I, for one, would like to see a re-match.

Our last fighter for the evening would be Andy Lanes who after only 6 months of training was to take on the tough Peter Rejdovjan. Based on Peter's last fight against Billy Glossop we thought he was going to come out like a steam train but came out a little cautious instead. After a feeling out process Andy Lanes threw the first combination that Peter counted with a thudding leg kick. Using that as the trigger point Andy Lanes stepped in for a single leg to try take the fight to the floor. Peter managed to catch Andy Lanes in a guillotine but he kept trying to take the guy down. Remembering the drills we had been doing for the past month, as Peter went to sit back into guard, Andy tried to block off the legs and pass on the way down. He almost had it but didn't complete the pass as Peter readjusted his grip and sunk the guillotine tight leaving Andy Lanes no option but to tap. Although disappointed with his first outing, he will be back. Congrats to Peter he took the chance very well.

In conclusion, a real rollercoaster day, one guy won in the first round, one guy lost in the first round and one guy lost in the Asda...............

My youtube channel

2009-02-07T18:45:00.002Z

http://www.youtube.com/user/DarrenCurrie

Osteophytes

2009-02-05T18:23:00.001Z

After suffering with my knee (as well as just about everything else) over the years, my faith that I would just heal naturally finally waned and I finally took the plunge and went to get it looked at.

I had a problem with a very sore spot on the front of the knee that felt like an electric shock every time I knelt on it which, as you know in Jiu Jitsu, is very common.

One such time I tried to alleviate the pain by rolling the knee sideways and injured inside the knee too. Turns out to be a Grade II MCL tear with some underlying bursitis which is going to keep me out of training for a while.

The main problem though is the osteophyte or bone spur. The physio told me that the injury I sustained initially is very common amongst young athletes, I can only assume that he thinks I am young and athletic, he is a very shrewd guy.

Or possibly meant that I sustained it when I was young and was forced to play rugby at school, I distinctly remember being kicked on the front of the knee that caused some trauma and eventually has lead me to where I am now.

I had fully intended to compete at the Europeans in Portugal this past weekend and have missed the opportunity because of the injury; I only hope that I can get in a few competitive matches this year before something else stops my fun.

Do yourself a favour, the next time you are injured get it treated properly.

The Helicopter Pass

2009-02-05T18:20:00.000Z

Synergy and the anatomy of a game plan

2009-01-07T23:20:00.002Z

“Synergy - The potential ability for individuals to be more successful working together than on their own”

Saturday 22nd November 2008 saw the culmination of months of hard work in the form of Andy Krlic’s foray into the world of MMA @ The Champions III show in Bradford.

Knowing he would be facing unbeaten fighter Paul Durber from Caged Steel, a guy who can hit hard as witnessed by his KO victory in his first outing then followed with a submission victory in his last fight after using his striking to good avail, Andy’s match perfectly demonstrated good preparation, the execution of a good game plan, good team work and a whole lot of heart.

It all started months ago with the match being agreed upon (which is weird in itself as Paul is a great guy and we have a good relationship with Caged Steel, me and Neil go waaaaaaaaaay back)

Paul was going to be a good test for Andy as Paul is bigger, stronger and can bang so we need to start right at the beginning and make sure everything is in place to give Andy the best chance of winning possible.

We assembled a good team to help Andy through all ranges, Andy sought out a good boxing coach to work his hands, had personal trainer Gaz Vause build a sick conditioning regime, whilst Pete Hill, Ben Mallows, Rob Lawlor and I took care of the sparring, clinch and ground.

Assessing Paul’s attributes and likely game plan we started working the counter game plan to help put us where we needed to be, we felt this would be the clinch game. Right from day 1, everything was geared around clinch as I feel that the key to MMA is clinch range. If you are mainly a striker you need clinch and takedown defence to keep you on your feet, if you are mainly a grappler you need clinch to take the fight to ground. A simple strategy that is so often overlooked in my opinion.

I anticipated that Paul’s team would be telling him to watch out for Andy to shoot, break the clinch and take the fight to his comfort zone, his striking, so we worked on an upper body clinch game where Andy could get the takedown inside rather than shooting from the outside.

Also paying close attention to the very real possibility of a guillotine, Paul has long limbs and a height advantage so if Andy is not careful he could get caught. The guillotine defence and takedowns from the guillotine were drilled until they no longer represented a threat, if one came we would use it to our advantage.

So as you know, then the hours and hours of drilling began, implementing our A game and working a few “what if” scenarios along the way. The work was really paying off as Andy was feeling more and more comfortable all the time.

Rob helped develop Andy’s ‘box to clinch’ game, really conceptualising it even putting it down in writing so Andy had it with him all the time, to constantly read and get into his psyche until it was second nature.

Taking a little time away from our gym he decided to go to the Quannum Training Camp weekend to get a little extra help from the Butlins, who are quality MMA coaches in their own right. Andy came back with a few more tricks in his bag of boxing to clinch; anything that helps is always gratefully accepted.

Fast forward to fight day, Andy made weight easily (there’s a story behind that too, maybe another time) then got some down time to focus on the task ahead.

Onto the worst bit of any competition, the waiting and the anticipation. So we are in the dressing room, waiting, watching other guys go down to the fight area and come back up either elated or dejected, just waiting for our turn. Spenna wraps Andy’s hands real well, we warm up, Andy gets a massage then a last minute talk, keep him calm, keep him focussed and don’t expend any unnecessary energy now. I try to convince Ben to carry Andy down to the ring but …………..

Some guys like to get really pumped up, really aggressive but I feel that can be counter productive, I would much rather see our fighter calm and collected but each to their own.

Finally the runner is here and we are on next.

We get to the entrance and wait for our music, it didn’t come, damn they are playing the wrong song. Oh well, lets get in and get it over with, we didn’t come for the music. We get into the ring first and wait for the opponent, an eternity later the crowd roars and Paul is making his way to the ring, now it’s very real.

The crowd are singing and chanting for the “Durbanator”, I have to remind Andy of Leo’s Law number 7 “Keep out the white noise” Don’t listen to how popular he is, how many supporters he has, just let it go. Andy remains calm.

Paul and his team face us from the other side of the ring, surreal to see guys that I sometimes train with and always friends with looking back across. Paul looks huge, way bigger and stronger than Andy. I hope the game plan is good enough!!

After a few last words of encouragement and reminding Andy of plan A, hands up, chin down, he meets Paul in the middle of the ring and it’s on.

A tentative start as both guys throw out some jabs then the inevitable clinch happens, Andy fighting to stay close and Paul trying to make some distance to strike with both guys having some success in a back and forth battle. Paul lands a couple of hard shots, Andy replies with a couple of his own as he works back to upper body clinch.

The round was getting into the later stages when Paul, using his height advantage, reached around Andy’s neck to take a guillotine as they went to ground. Andy pulled his head free, passed guard and took mount. From there he threw down some shots, keeping his position despite my best efforts screaming at Andy to take an arm as there was only 20 seconds left to go but he didn’t hear me over the crowd which was deafening. End of round 1.

Close round, too close from my point of view, depending on the judge, it could go either way. We need to stamp some authority on round 2.

Round 2 starts off as round 1 did, Paul throws some shots, a nice leg kick, then goes straight to clinch again. Both guys now start to turn on the pressure, Paul, again with the height advantage, reached around for the guillotine as they went to ground. For the second time, Andy pulled his head free, passed guard and took mount. This time he was close enough to hear me shouting for the Americana which he took, getting the submission win half way through the second round.

A really good match and, as I thought, was a real test for Andy. He was understandably concerned about taking a shot from the MMA gloves but he passed the test admirably because Paul does hit hard and landed some clean shots.

Down to the bar for Andy to get a celebratory Coke (although other cola beverages are available) then out to watch the final couple of matches, finally being able to relax a little and enjoy the rest of the evening, especially Helen pointing out to a guy that just got subbed that he really isn’t a good grappler despite what he thought and Pete Hill..….well, Pete is just Pete and is really funny.

In conclusion, this game is hard and you should only enter into a match if you seriously want to test yourself, be prepared to make sacrifices, all the bases have to be covered, your weight management has to be disciplined and your all round game has to be tight. Get yourself a good team, structure a good plan and stick to it. Oh, and be prepared to get hit. Hard.

The key to the success, in my opinion, is the psychology that we used every step of the way. It’s true to say that the mental aspect of a fight is the most important to master but that would take a whole other article to explain.

As a footnote, I would just like to add that I really like Paul, he is an ‘older’ guy willing to fight whoever in the ring or cage, just doing what he wants to do and for that we salute you. So many people make excuses about how they would do it if only [insert your favourite excuse] but he is in there and win lose or draw, you can bet he will be in there for as long as he possibly can.

Combat Base Group Training Day - details

2009-01-07T23:15:00.001Z

18th January 2009 at Caged Steel

Starts at 12:00pm, finishes round 4:00pm

Only £5.00 entry fee minimum (see below)

This is the first in what will hopefully be a regular session to get everyone in our group training together, whether you want to train gi, no gi, mma, wrestling, striking or whatever.

Whether you want to train on the mats, in the ring or in the cage there will be someone who will train with you without any ego or hidden agenda, it will be a friendly environment because it is only open to our group so be sensible, be a good training partner and train hard.

There will be a 20 minute workshop in every hour segment so:

12:00 to 1:00 will be workshop 1 plus free training & sparring
1:00 to 2:00 will be workshop 2 plus free training & sparring
2:00 to 3:00 will be workshop 3 plus free training & sparring
3:00 to 4:00 will be workshop 4 plus free training & sparring

The workshop coaches and material are still to be confirmed but I assure you that there will be someone who you have never trained with before teaching in a way that may be a little different to what you are used to, which is of benefit to everyone, it’s always great to have a different perspective on things.

Now the serious stuff, we have decided that some of the entry fee for the day will be donated to either a young girl who goes to the school where Andy K is a teacher (honest, he is a teacher) who was recently diagnosed with leukaemia and who’s family are having a hard time or we will make a donation to kids cancer charity Candlelighters who I have done fund raising for before and are a very worthwhile charity.

We are only asking for £5 entry fee to train for 4 hours so if you wish to donate a little more we will be having a collection on the day too. To raise more money we may have an auction or a raffle or something, any ideas?

We are due to start at 12:00pm and finish at 4:00pm but you don’t have to stay for the entire session, just turn up when you want, stay as long as you want then leave when you want, as long as you come through to support us that is all that matters.

We have some really talented people in our group, some great coaches and some great facilities but we are not really utilising them all. We all get caught up in our own little worlds sometimes so let’s all open up, support each other and make these days a real success.

DC

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-18T15:06:00.002Z

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to thank everyone for their friendship and support over the last 12 months.

Long may it continue.