I've mentioned Oli several times in my blog. He's a hugely prolific competitor and a real nice guy. So I thought I would speak to him and would you Adam and Eve it, my interview gets published in leading BJJ news website: TheFightWorksPodcast.
(Update 21st May 2025: full interview published below)
Competitor Spotlight: The United Kingdom’s Oli
Geddes
April 15, 2009
By Seymour Yang
Oliver Geddes is one of the UK’s most prolific competitors.
The purple belt instructor at the Roger Gracie Academy (RGA) in London, UK, is
one of the few Brits who could genuinely challenge for a gold medal at the
Mundials and is hoping to upset a few established favourites when he competes
at the forthcoming World Pro BJJ tournament in Abu Dhabi. Seemingly present at
every grappling tournament in the UK and abroad, commentators have suggested
his game is too reliant on one position.
Seymour Yang caught up with him at the recent Grab and Pull
tournament in Brighton to ask if this criticism was unfair and what his future
plans are:
Seymour Yang: Hey Oli, well done on your medals today and
also a belated congratulations on your European gold and Pan Ams bronze – isn’t
your trophy cabinet getting a bit full now?
Oliver Geddes: My trophy cabinet is actually a small wooden
box under a bookshelf at the moment. It is getting a bit full at the moment,
but I live in the hope that one day I’ll have a big glass cabinet to actually
display this stuff in its, uh, varying qualities. For now, it’s all about the
most recent one.
SY: You’re known by many as the half-guard wizard, as you
seem to almost exclusively rely on this position, what do you say to that?
OG: Well…I know a whole lot of people who are better than me
in half-guard, but since it’s pretty much my whole game, I suppose it makes me
stand out a little bit more than others on the scene. At the same time, it’s
nice to know that there’s at least one part of the whole jiu-jitsu spectrum out
there that you’re actually good at.
SY: You
post the videos to all your fights online for everyone to see. Are you not
worried about competitors learning too much about you?
OG: Not really. Honestly I don’t
think my potential opponents really care enough to watch forty or fifty videos
of one potential opponent. That said, there’s a big difference in knowing what
to expect from someone and actually stopping them from doing it. Look at Paul
Sass – he’s won every fight by triangle, people know that he’s going to try and
do it but he somehow manages to make it work anyway.
SY: Your website lists all your fights, which total over 40
(BJJ and grappling) tournaments and comprise over 200 matches (150 wins with 98
by submission) in a little over 2 years. That’s a phenomenal number of
competitions, why do you compete so much, are you attempting some sort of
record?
OG: It gives me something to do on Sundays! No, seriously…it
has a couple of purposes. On a basic level, I figure that the more I compete,
the more likely I am to win things. Everyone has good days and bad days in
jiu-jitsu, whether in the academy or on the mat in competition, and when you
have a bad day, if the opposition is good, then you’re going to lose. So by competing
more, you reduce the good day/bad day effect and you get to win things you
might not normally if you only competed once. Secondly, the more people you
fight in competition, the more times you have people ask questions of your competition
game, the more ready you are when you step up to the big IBJJF competitions and
have to fight guys who seem like they have all the answers to your game. Plus,
uh, winning a lot of stuff can only help with sponsorships, right?
SY: What was your toughest fight and who is your toughest
opponent?
OG: Toughest fight…jeez. I’ve had my fair share of
embarrassingly quick losses, but that’s not really a tough fight, it’s just me
getting whipped. My fight in the Bristol Open Absolute final against Ryan from
Mario Reis London was just an example of giving my all and getting beaten at
every stage, while the toughest fight I ended up winning…probably was the final
of the Abu Dhabi Pro European Trials against Helio Perdigao from Gracie Barra
Lisbon. Pulled it out with two seconds to go, but made me work for it every
step of the way.
SY: You teach and train BJJ fulltime, that must be an
awesome job, what’s a typical day?
OG: Well, I have the privilege of working at the academy,
so…I get in to work at about 12pm, take care of any jobs about the academy that
need doing. If I’m training that day, I’ll jump in for the afternoon session,
usually staying afterwards for an extra twenty minutes or half an hour of
sparring. Then back to work again, maybe help out a little with a beginners’ class
before training again in the evening, again staying for the extra sparring if
my body’s up for it. I might teach a private class or two or maybe do some
extra competition-specific training in the afternoon if there’s a group getting
together for it. Then close up the academy and home to rest, ready to do it all
over again.
SY: Are there any downsides to the job?
OG: I suppose the biggest downside is just how much of a
time-sink it is, and how little flexibility you can have in your schedule. You
never have enough free time, there’s always another session to do and…since it
is your life, I guess you lose a bit of appreciation for what you do. A lot of
guys have BJJ as their escape time, but when it’s your living, it’s not quite
as compelling as it might otherwise be. Of course, it’s still compelling enough
for me to choose to spend all my time doing it, so it can’t be that bad!
SY: So what’s the best thing about it then?
OG: The people you meet. Nearly everyone I’ve ever met in
the BJJ community has been friendly, interesting and happy to chat to a random
guy they’ve never met and likely never will again. I’ve had total strangers
give me lifts to airports, sat down for coffee with guys I’ve fought hours
earlier, and even shared a hotel room with a guy I’d seen fight my division
earlier that day but never spoken to. I mean, who else can say that about what
they do?
SY: You’ve stated quite openly that you want to be the first
Brit to win the Worlds at black belt, how realistic do you think this is?
OG: I did? Um…I think I may have been kidding! My target in
BJJ from close to day one has just been to go and fight the Mundials at Black
Belt Adult and win a fight. But first of all, I’d just like to medal in the
Worlds at any belt at all. When I eventually get to the black Belt division – I
didn’t start when I was seven years old, I didn’t get my Black Belt in three
and a half years…but just for one day, I’d like to be able to be up there with
the guys who did.
SY: You also dabble in MMA (8-0-0), is this something you
want to do more of in future and how much of a difference do you find it?
OG: Well, I’ve been keeping myself busy with Amateur MMA,
which is basically grappling with slams and body shots allowed. It’s not
exactly as ‘real’ as full Pro MMA, and the rules are kinda stacked in my favour
as a grappler, but it does take you out of your comfort zone somewhat. When I
feel ready I’ll step up to Semi-Professional and then eventually to full
Professional rules. I don’t think I’ll ever make a career out of it, but I’d
like to try it just once. If for no other reason than to say that I did.
SY: Who are your influences in BJJ and who do you admire?
OG: Phew. Influences could take a long time. I suppose the
obvious ones are Roger, his father Maurição, all of the instructors at RGA and
Eddie Bravo. But every one of the techniques I use regularly can be traced back
to something I saw somewhere or tried out, with nearly every one coming from a
different source completely.
SY: Yes, you have a lot of admiration for Eddie Bravo,
spending time at his academy and even cheekily dubbing yourself ‘Teddy Bravo’
in MMA.
OG: That was never my choice! Blame a couple of my training
partners for that one! Technically speaking though, my whole base came from
Eddie Bravo – even though I was taught a lot of techniques, I ended up using
his old Jiu-jitsu Unleashed material from somewhere around six months into my
training. I’ve added a whole lot onto it from a whole lot of sources, but
that’s where it all started, however much it might annoy some members of the
BJJ community.
SY: Yes, why do you think Eddie Bravo causes such
controversy in the BJJ community?
OG: I think partially because he isn’t Brazilian, partially
because he only beat Royler and no one else ‘high level’ (or so people say, anyway)
and partially because most people who use his stuff limit themselves to his
stuff. They end up sticking to one or two techniques that just shut people down
but don’t really create opportunities or help anyone advance their jiu-jitsu,
which annoys training partners no end. Finally, he is very vocal about his
opinions and some people find that rubs them the wrong way. Which is
understandable, really.
SY: How did you find the training at Eddie’s academy?
OG: Strange, but really great too. Not just because I got to
train a fair amount with the man, but it’s just the weirdest melting pot of an
academy. Not only does it have a very small percentage of long-term students
(when I was there, there was a huge number of visiting students, jiu-jitsu
tourists, mundial competitors, whatever), but you never know what you’re
getting into when you start a roll. There’s no belt, no preconceptions, you
just have to start and then figure out where the roll is going to go. Also,
where else can you train where you have a whole load of guys from different
backgrounds: gi guys, wrestlers, MMA fighters, all doing no-gi? It’s just so different to RGA that it just seems like the most
sensible place to go when I’m in town
and looking for something a little out of the ordinary.
SY: You seem to enjoy teaching, are you planning on opening
your own academy one day?
OG: I think I’d like to
hold off on opening my own academy until my top-flight competition days are
done. You don’t have that much time to spend on
it, so might as well spend it wisely. Six or seven years down the line, I’d
definitely be thinking about it. I like teaching, and I wish I had more time to
invest into students even now. There’s no greater experience in jiu-jitsu than
teaching someone something and then watching them pull it off in sparring five
minutes later. Puts competition success totally in the shade. Plus it takes a
lot less pain and effort, which is always a plus.
SY: What else, apart from BJJ do you like to do to unwind?
OG: Sleep! Seriously though, the same old things most other
people do. Watch TV, surf the net, normal things. Since I’m at the academy most
hours, when I get home it’s late at night and there isn’t a lot going on, so I
just chill. And surf the net hunting for other events to compete in, obviously!
SY: What’s your one tip for the average BJJ student who just
wants to raise his/her game?
OG: Spar more. I know it sounds obvious, but in my humble
opinion, if you’re not rolling every round of sparring, you’re not fit enough
or you’re not relaxed enough in how you roll. And once you’ve done every round
of sparring, stay after the class, find someone you know will give you a good
roll, and do another twenty minutes or so straight. Mat time is basically the
secret to success in my opinion, so the more of it, the better.
SY: Finally anyone else you want to thank? OG: I owe a lot
to my gi sponsors, Black Eagle Martial Arts, as well as to everyone in
jiu-jitsu who has ever helped me get to a competition, offered to help me out
with anything, or done anything for me without asking anything in return. You
guys rock!
SY: Cheers Oli, good luck at the forthcoming tournaments,
especially the World Pro Cup, see you at the next comp.
I've mentioned Oli several times in my blog. He's a hugely prolific competitor and a real nice guy. So I thought I would speak to h...
