Up to date list of Combat Base UK black belts

As I'm just switching over web sites and haven't been able to update the belt register, as it stands this is the full list of Combat Base UK back belts so if your name's not on the list, you ain't coming in.

Name, grade and promotion date.

Helen Currie 3rd degree - (05/2016)

Darren Currie 3rd degree - (08/2018)

Ryan Hunter 3rd degree - (11/2019)

Steve Muckle 2nd degree - (11/2017)

Ed Drysdale 2nd degree - (02/2019)

Graeme Allsopp 2nd degree - (02/2019)

Danny Mitchell 2nd degree - (06/2019)

Ian Jones 1st degree – (05/2017)

Gary Furlong 1st degree - (12/2017)

James Nardone 1st degree - (07/2018)

Phil Ounsley – 1st degree (03/2019)

Antony Griffiths - (04/2017)

Roberto Barbiero - (04/2017)

Phil Turner - (04/2017)

Marc Morrell – (10/2017)

Pete Guest - (11/2017)

Dan Boyle - (11/2017)

Simon Ball - (11/2017)

Laurie Major - (11/2017)

Josh Dilcock - (06/2018)

Matt Olson - (07/2018)

Nam Hoang - (07/2018)

Adam Simpson – (08/2019)

Josh Moorby - (02/2020)

Adam Russell - (02/2020)

Jay Furness - (02/2020)

Neil Audsley - (03/2020)

8 black belts from AVT and 6 black belts from CB North East. Come on everyone else, step up your giving out black belts game.

Happy anniversary Combat Base, 20 years of providing an alternative.

Damn, 20 years. Good opportunity to have a little reflection.

As the new millennium kicked off we decided to start an entirely new team, was criticised often for that decision but we saw what was available to us affiliation wise and decided that wasn’t for us, I’m not having anyone telling me what to do.

On a side note, we actually formed Combat Base on 17th January which was the same date that years earlier one of my all time favourite bands, Mötley Crüe, were actually formed, how cool is that!! Seems fitting that Haueter said that Combat Base were “a loose collection of misfits who decline to participate in the common regimented structures found in affiliations" Sounds like a motley crew to me.

We didn’t want titles, didn’t want uniforms and certainly didn’t want to be bowing to photographs of people. It was never the plan to have anything than more than a gym free of bullshit and some people to train with so when we grew organically to have 100s of members across a bunch of like minded clubs, it exceeded all expectations. My original vision of us both getting promoted to blue belt, having 8 training partners, getting them to blue belt and a regular base to train at was met early.

So, what do you do when you have achieved your goals? Keep going I guess.

Then the higher belts came, Helen being the first female black belt in the UK and being one of the UK ‘dirty dozen’. I think I was black belt #22. Not bad for a little gym in the middle of nowhere, figuring stuff out as we went along. We then had black belts promoted through us then in turn they had black belts promoted through them so we already have 3rd generation black belts. 

Turning away as many affiliation applications as we accepted has kept the quantity manageable and the quality high. Combat Base jiu jitsu is definitely not for everyone so we obviously lost some guys along the way with our attitude but I guess that is just natural selection. 

I was told a while ago that we are victims of our own success, we train people to such a high standard that they are inspired to do what we did and start their own teams, if that’s being a victim then that’s pretty damn cool.

Don’t know how much longer I’m going to be involved in jiu jitsu so I’d like to take this opportunity to say to everyone that has helped Combat Base over the years, that had any part of helping and supporting us, I salute you. I’ll leave you with this quote:

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

And to the naysayers, the ones that criticised, the ones that didn't believe, here's a photo just for you.

Team Training Day 15th July 2018

This year's team training day will be held at the amazing Aspire Combat Sports Academy in Liverpool. 

A beautiful state of the art gym offering a full range of combat sports and much more, one of the best looking gyms I have ever been to.

As usual there will be specific workshops, drilling time, rolling time and a few surprises.

Entry is donation based, £10 or more with all proceeds going to the Action For Children charity. Every single penny raised goes to the charity, the instructors are all donating their valuable time free of charge to this 
very worthwhile cause.

The proposed schedule is:

12:00 - warm yourselves up ready to start at 12:15

12:15 - workshop 1

1:00 - drill / roll / rest / talk about people that are not there.

1:15 - workshop 2

2:00 - drill more / roll / rest / talk about people that are still not there!

2:15 - presentations and photos

2:30 - workshop 3 

3:15 - drill more / roll / rest / talk about people that are still not there, questioning whether they are dedicated to the cause or not!!

4:00 - finish

The first workshop will be taught by BJJ brown belt Matt Olson and will cover his patented 'stack a sequence' training model in which he will teach a sequence of techniques and strategies that gets the takedown, has a couple of variations to pass the guard and finish with a submission.

The second workshop will be delivered by BJJ and Judo black belt Marc Morrell and will be covering Kimura attacks from closed guard and counter options when they defend the initial attack. The Kimura is such a great weapon that is sometimes overlooked in favour of more fashionable techniques.

I usually leave the teaching to everyone else but since my recent injury I am unable to train or roll so I am going to teach this time just to keep me involved.

So for the final workshop, I am going to be covering leg lock control focusing on immobilising the non-locked leg to prevent escape, a concept I have been pushing for years but is still largely overlooked. This can be done gi or no gi but is not on the whole IBJJF competition legal which I don't really give a shit about, I don't just teach to one very limiting rule set, I want everyone to be well rounded so expect to be reaped, don't worry no one is going to die.

Don't fear the reaper.

The team training days usually have a good turn out so let's make every effort to get there and support it, you don't have to stay all day, even if you are just dropping in for an hour or so, come through and join in the fun.

Let's get some quality training in and raise some money for a good cause.

Hope to see you all there. 

Darren

Show them the big picture first

Speaking to one of my students a while ago after I had taught something to him again, he commented that he must have missed the details the first time around.

He may have if I taught them to him at that point but I explained about a simple concept I got from reading about how Steve Jobs gives a presentation way back in the day "show them the big picture first"

Maybe I just taught the bigger picture to start with, too many details too soon can be a hindrance. If you try to deal with too much information you might miss the actual point.

Consider me giving you a step by step list of 20 details you need to make a triangle work but you were never shown what a triangle was!

To keep things simple, teach the big move first then when they have the gross motor skills you can introduce the fine motor skills.

Jiu Jitsu often feels like you are doing a jigsaw puzzle but you don't know what the finished picture will look like because you don't have the lid off the box, don't make things more complicated than they need to be.

I have taken many other concepts from Steve Jobs to apply into my Jiu Jitsu, if you coach try looking outside your specialist area to see how other people handle things, you'll be surprised how much is transferable.

Stay tuned for the "Power Of 3"

DC

TEAM TRAINING DAY

Date: 9th April 2017

Venue: Team Fulinkazan


Address: 114 Sunbridge Road, Bradford, BD1 2NE

*Watch out for the speed cameras in and around Bradford!!


Start time: 12:00 noon

Finish time: 4:00pm

Cost: Minimum £10 donation, all funds raised to go to local charity tbd

Combat Base members and extended family only, open to all grades and levels


Proposed Workshops

Yoga For BJJ - Lloyd Cooper

Half Guard - Nam Hoang

Side Control - Josh Dilcock

I have purposely only gone for 3 workshops this time so there is more time to drill and roll. It is not often that there are so many black belts and brown belts at any one time so a perfect opportunity for anyone that doesn't regularly roll with higher grades to get schooled.

Lots in store on the day, going to be EPIC!

DC

Jiu Jitsu And Chess

I often hear that chess and jiu jitsu are similar.

In one respect they are not; in chess you get a move each in turn, not simultaneously, in chess you get time to consider your next move whereas in jiu jitsu if you stop to consider a move, you get killed!

There are similarities in each game that are worthy of study. Of course, both are games of strategy, of in game tactics and ultimately submitting the opponent.

Chess, as jiu jitsu, I see as being a game of 3 distinct sections. In both, you need a strong opening, a middle game and the end game.

You need a well drilled opening then a middle game that causes chaos for your opponent then you are in for the kill in the end game.

The middle and the end are full of tactics and in-fight decision making but, for me, the opening is key to getting you ahead. You don't want the early part of the match to be playing catch up.

If you walk up to a game of chess knowing that your opening is a classic pawn to king 4, you have a well drilled considered opening but I see in a lot of cases where people enter jiu jitsu matches with no clear opening strategy and are just going to "see what happens" or "go with the flow".

I don't this this is the best strategy, immediately you are reactive rather than proactive.

If your game plan is to start strong, get your preferred grips and then either throw, take down or pull guard, you are getting to where you want to be to get the rest of your game going. If you just wait and see, then who knows!

Sometimes things don't go your way and your opponent has a stronger opening than you, that's just one of those things, we all experience that at some point.

So, in conclusion, if you are one of those people that doesn't have a pre-determined game or just want to wait and see what you are given, I would strongly advise having an opening gambit, however small it may be, maybe just get your grips then I believe you are putting yourself in the strongest position possible to help you chase victory.

Coming next, the chaotic middle game and the critical path.

DC

Hang With Live Broadcast

No Gi class 28th May 2015

Just a reminder of the class as promised, see notes below to accompany video. Please note this is not meant to be instructional just a reminder of techniques covered.

Thursday no gi class 28^th May 2015

Take down techniques worked from typical pummel position

Revision

Hip toss / koshi guruma – details

·         Good control of the head, drop centre of gravity

·         Pull the arm across your body

·         Push the hips through

·         Load them onto you before completing the throw

Finishing options – Americana with legs, diaphragm compression, arm triangle

·         When you catch the Americana with your legs, pull your hips down before lifting for the finish. To intensify, put on a little neck crank too.

·         To make effective pressure with the diaphragm compression, loosen the grip and ‘stir’ to tighten up before putting on the pressure.

·         Also need to ‘stir’ to get good pressure on the arm triangle. Pay attention to the trapped arm, this needs to be into the neck not face.

Hip toss / koshi guruma against leg drag position

·         Catch the nearest wrist

·         Elbow their hand off you ribs if required

·         Control the head, break the posture

·         As you pull your elbow under you it brings their arm around and loads them so you can complete the roll

Introduction of techniques

Single leg from clinch - details

·         change the angle against the under hook

·         change your head position and use your head to prevent partner following you

·         level change by dropping laterally

·         block the other leg to avoid them stepping around the single

Finish the single into BJ Penn pass position

Hook sweep against BJ Penn pass position – details

·         over hook

·         pull the hook in towards you before lifting for the sweep

·         use your free hand if you need to

Knee bar from hook sweep – details

·         use the scissoring of the legs to isolate partners bottom leg

·         move yourself to the knee bar position

·         head on top of the foot and control the heel

·         curl your heels up against your partners butt to emphasise the hip pressure

Team Training Day July 2015 update

Date: 5th July 2015


Venue: Team Fulinkazan


Address: 114 Sunbridge Road, Bradford, BD1 2NE

IMPORTANT - watch out for the speed cameras in and around Bradford!!


Start time: 12:00 noon


Cost: Minimum £10 donation, all funds raised to go to local charity tbd

Invited: Combat Base members only, open to all grades and levels


Proposed Schedule


12:00 - A brief warm up session of Yoga For BJJ taken by the Yorkshire Gripper himself, Lloyd Cooper. Lloyd has been studying Yoga for a while now and has taught for me at HQ, this can really help your Jiu Jitsu. Lloyd has used this in his training to help him achieve excellent competition results starting as a purple belt and now at brown belt. Anyone who wants any longevity in Jiu Jitsu should supplement with Yoga.


12:20 - Wrestling For Gi taken by Kam Atakuru.A lot of you know Kam already but for the ones that don't Kam has worked extensively with the Combat Base group helping people prepare for gi and no gi competition plus MMA matches right from local shows to UFC level. Kam is head coach at ASW plus a BJJ brown belt, pro MMA fighter and excellent competitor.


12:50 - Drill, roll, relax


1:00 - Passing the open guard with James Nardone. Another excellent brown belt competitor will take you through his passing game, one that has allowed him to win numerous matches and medal at tournaments at brown belt level. James is a great coach and will break down in detail his hard earned knowledge to pass on to you.


1:30 - Drill, roll, relax


2:00 - Leg locks with Adam Simpson, yet another excellent brown belt competitor, Judo black belt and NAGA no gi elite champion. Adam will share the set ups, strategies and details for finishing your leg locks in the most painful but efficient way.


2:30 - Drill, roll, relax

3:00 - Taking a break from the physical aspects of training, performance specialist Rich Cadden will give a talk on mental preparation. As well as being a Jiu Jitsu competitor and twice Muay Thai World Champion, Rich is in demand for his work through Star Performance Mind Coaching. He has helped people with performance anxiety, confidence, self esteem, goal setting, fears and phobias, fitness programmes & even diet plans. Rich also worked with the British Olympic Squad prior to the last games.

3:30 – Drill, roll, relax, pictures etc

WWID - what would I do

I recently watched a world renowned black belt teach a double underpass that was supposed to have amazing details but I thought he missed out quite a bit of important information.

Then I watched another world renowned black belt teaching a scissor sweep and again I didn’t think it was that great, some critical details missing.

I wondered if I had developed some kind of arrogance where I know better than world renowned black belts but maybe it’s not arrogance, maybe I do know better.

If so, then why and how?

I think it is down to not having a resident teacher which was a curse and a blessing back in the day. I saw Chris Haueter once or twice a year and did a few seminars but ultimately playing trial and error with my training partners was the way I learned.

If I was totally baffled, I would wait until Haueter came over, he would give me one of the light bulb moments and I was back on track.

Although we always need direction and a healthy training environment from people that are more experienced, I wondered if you learn better when you are taught or when you figure something out for yourself.

When you find things for yourself instead of being told, you instantly have the how, when and why feedback so you retain the information better.

I now realise that Haueter taught me so much by not teaching me so much.

I know some people see it as a waste of time and think they are re-discovering the wheel as they could have just asked their instructor but we are still developing new stuff even now thanks to this idea.

Which do you think will give the best results?

Years later when we trained with SBGi, Matt Thornton always pushed the ‘Inquiry method’ which is basically what we were doing and probably why I liked his approach. Not surprising Matt thought this way as Chris was instrumental in helping Matt form SBGi.

We developed so much Jiu Jitsu training this way. There would just be a few of us exchanging ideas “if I do this, what would you do” put in 10 reps while we got the basic idea then tried it against a little resistance building up until you can do it against full resistance.

While Lloyd Irvin and his medal chasers were micro-drilling 1000s of reps of a real small part of the puzzle, Cobrinha was on the other side doing what we had been doing. He told me that he would do 10 reps of a technique then straight into drilling against resistance building up to restricted sparring, this suited me personally because I always hated specific drilling and always loved situation sparring.

I'm not saying one way is better than the other across the board, you have to find what works for you personally. Some people explore and others have to be told. Pick the one that suits you.

Ironic that when I tell people they should question things, they never ask why :0)

DC

P.S. The Socratic Method is relatively similar to this approach and fits quite well with this concept.

Socratic method (also known as method of elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate), named after the classical GreekphilosopherSocrates, is a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving a discussion in which the defense of one point of view is questioned; one participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, thus strengthening the inquirer's own point.

Check out the Wiki definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method