BJJ Academy Visit: Royce Gracie representative Forca Martial Arts in Ormskirk, UK

I've known several of the guys at Ormskirk Martial Arts / Royce Gracie Jiu jitsu Representative Forca Combat Academy up in Ormskirk for some time now and have been meaning to visit them but only got around to it recently. Ross, the man in charge, and I have been nipping down to our mutual friends over at the Stockport Gracie Academy representative (See visit review here) a few Sundays here and there and in the car after one of these visits, we decided that I should go to Ormskirk, teach a jiujitsu private or two then teach the evening class. A date was decided during my Easter break from university / school and it was nothing short of a great day.

The Place To Be In Ormskirk

The massive first mat. There's another one,
equally as impressive, through the doors to the left.

The theme for the evening classes had been attacks from side control so I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the jiujitsu curriculum. I got everyone started from standing with two options to transition to the side control:

1. Close the distance to the safe clinch -> Hip throw -> Knee on belly
2. Establish grips -> Pull Open guard -> Sweep -> come up to knee on belly

BJJ Amsterdam - Academy Visit to Rickson Gracie Representative, Black Belt Raoul Hiwat

Rickson & Kron Gracie Amsterdam is tucked away in the gym hall of a school in central Amsterdam. With it being my birthday last weekend, my wife asked where I wanted to go and my choices were Amsterdam or Barcelona. Having been to Barca recently, Amsterdam won, and it won well!

Other than all the fantastic merriment of drinks, food and what not in the gorgeous place that is Amsterdam, I contacted my friend Raoul Hiwat, Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt under Rickson and Kron, and asked if I could book a private session with him. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite time that right, but I was kindly invited to the group class which was nothing short of fantastic! Raoul's level of detailed knowledge of his master's trade is very deep. His "invisible" jiujitsu was very tangible. 

The walk to the academy. Such a gorgeous city.

Connection in the stand-up phase.

Notice the upright posture.

BJJ / Grappling DVD Review: Dean Lister - leg locks in the K.A.T.C.H. System

I honestly can't remember
who's foot this is

Dean Lister is the man. He's one of the most accomplished grapplers out there, but he's also much more, more on that in a future post.

When I saw the opportunity to review his latest DVD set centering around his system of leg attacks I jumped at it. I loved the content, which was expected, but I also believed that it had nothing to do with where I am in my grappling journey. In other words, I didn't think I liked it because I'm a brown belt, but rather because it was good. To prove a point, I asked my good friend and training partner Mr Don Barr to do the review. Don is a blue belt with a great game but, in his own words, is no foot locker. The result was a very thorough and beautifully written BJJ / grappling DVD review:

Dean Lister’s K.A.T.C.H Leg Lock System - review by Don Barr

When Liam suggested I review this DVD set I initially told him to get stuffed. Although we’ve covered basic foot locks in class plenty of times, I’ve never really took to them. I patiently explained that I was probably one of the least qualified people to review this as I can count the number of people I’ve submitted with a foot lock this year on one hand, and under IBJJF rules I can’t even use most of the techniques Lister shows in competition anyway (at the time of writing I’ve been a blue belt for just over two years). Right now it makes sense to concentrate more on guard passing, I said. However, he insisted that it’s aimed at people like me so I relented because it’s Dean Lister.

You can buy the K.A.T.C.H. system DVDs here.

MMA review: Gloves, Shin guard & Bad Girls

BadBoy are a huge name in the martial arts industry. I was very happy to hear they are launching their BadGirl range here in Europe so I asked my friend Marie to review their Muay Thai gloves and shin pads. Marie, aside from practicing jiujitsu and judo, is a seasoned Muay Thai competitor and coach so I knew the review would be in great hands, full pun intended!

Marie's Bad Girl Review

I've been aware of the Bad Girl range for a while so I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to try out their gloves and shin guards. The reality is, especially when it comes to striking kit there is very little in the market for women. You may get some token pink in a range but the women's market tends to be very much an after thought. This is certainly not the case with the Bad Girl range. First impressions show that a lot of thought has gone into the branding and design, the Bad Girl logo is a twist on the unmistakable Bad Boy brand. With the usage of some distinctively sassy female eyes. I was sent the blue version of the kit (it's also available in purple). The blue branding and stitching is a great contrast with the black base colour and the result is two pieces of kit that a woman can proudly wear to the gym. Although looking good is obviously only part of the story!

Starting with the shin guards; I currently use very traditional muay thai style leather shin guards which whilst offering fantastic protection are very heavy and definitely can limit mobility from an MMA perspective. So I was curious to see how these would compare and how well they would work me.

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Open Guard Passing with tips from Stephan Kesting, David Onuma and Rico Vieira

Pass the open guard!

Dealing with the open guard in jiujitsu is a challenge, but it's also an inescapable challenge. Without a guard passing game, there is no jiujitsu.

In this first video, Stephan Kesting of GrappleArts.com share his 4 top tips to passing any guard. These tips are:

1. Grip fight, Grip fight, Grip fight.
2. Don't be a one trick pony
3. Be fast for mobility or heavy for pressure
4. Stabilize the pass



Stephan is a great jiujitsu communicator and his words and video really sum up his valuable grappling advice very well.

Self Defence Judo: Store Clerk hip throws robber!

The major hip throw - aka O Goshi in Japanese - is one of the corner stones of both judo, Gracie jiujitsu and in fact most self defence systems. The following is one of the most charismatic judo instructors I've ever seen: 65 year old, 7th dan Korean judo master, Go Cheong Pil:



Here's the beautiful and deadly Ronda Rousey demonstrating an interesting variation on a completely unsuspecting Renato Laranja:

BJJ / Grappling tips: How to defend against the Darce choke

The latest Metamoris III event was a great event full of submission threats and excitement. One that caught my eyes was Babalu's Darce attacks against Dean Lister which he, successfully, defended.

Renzo Gracie 3rd degree black belt Joe D'Arce,
the man behind the famous arm triangle choke

I love defence, especially technical and intelligent defence. I've included below a few technical tips by some high level black belts on how to prevent and defend the Darce choke.

Ralph Gracie Beating Up Lloyd Irvin and a bunch of other people

In this blast from the past Vale Tudo instructional, we see Ralph "The PitBull" Gracie demonstrate techniques of Gracie Jiu Jitsu to defend against and defeat punches, knees, headbutts and headlocks. His demo partners are a blue belt Lloyd Irvin and three others I've not heard of before (which doesn't mean they are not awesome practitioners by now!)



One More Time: Bye Bye Baby!

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ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!