10 Nov 2008


With the news of a wonderful new president-elect over in the US of A, I thought it was time to celebrate by illustrating some of the more 'interesting' martial arts uniforms your average punter at Rex-Kwon-do can purchase over the net. Enjoy!






And let us not forget our style 'sensei', Master Rex himself. Ooooos!
byMeerkatsu
in ,
November 10, 2008

The Patriot

With the news of a wonderful new president-elect over in the US of A, I thought it was time to celebrate by illustrating some of the more ...
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6 Nov 2008

I love old jujitsu books. The funny costumes, the archaic language, the innocence and yet at the same time the dire warnings against the dangers of ruffians and vagabonds - all of it is wonderful in my eyes. Despite their historical and comical entertainment - many of the techniques shown in these old books are the same ones practised by modern jujitsu clubs today. The pictures here are from a 1920 manual produced by a Captain Allan Corstorphin Smith, Hand-to-Hand Instructor of the Infantry School in Colombus, Georgia, USA.
The photos above come under the chapter entitled: "THE SECRET JAPANESE DEATH LOCK - The most effective lock in existence. Superior to the ancient secret holds of Greece and Rome. Known to but a few Japanese and NEVER before published in any book."
Wow! Looks like a basic rear naked to me.



Vintage books usually run through a range of simple wrist and body grab escapes, with throws, elbow locks and usually a couple of techniques where a woman wearing impossible garb is seen throwing an assailant. All great PR. I think most of these instructors were influenced by time spent in Japan with early judo schools, rather than traditional ryu jujitsu.
Probably one of the great unsung heroes of vintage martial arts in the UK is Edward William Barton-Wright, the inventor of Bartitsu and, for a few years at least, quite the celebrity during late Victorian and early Edwardian England. I'll maybe write more about this fascinating gentleman, but savour the thought that Barton-Wright may have been one of the first promoters of 'mixed' martial arts in the West!
byMeerkatsu
in , ,
November 06, 2008

The Secret Japanese Death Lock

I love old jujitsu books. The funny costumes, the archaic language, the innocence and yet at the same time the dire warnings against the da...
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27 Oct 2008

How to get over a disappointing tournament result...I know, train with the world's greatest grappler - Roger Gracie!
Yep, multiple World Champion Roger Gracie popped down the Nick's Mill Hill BJJ club this evening and took the mat. Roger made us drill some simple techniques, but as is the case with very good instructors, it is the minutiae of detail that makes the difference between a successful technique and one that fails. Today's techniques included attacks from the closed guard, standing passing guards and a counter to the hip escape when in mount. As I say, simple stuff, but with small twists that make them special and very workable.
I've not met Roger before, but he is spoken about by his students with a hushed reverence. He came acrosso to me as a thoroughly pleasant chap. His instruction was articulate and fluent and best of all, happily posed for photos afterwards!
When we all sparred, with Roger looking on, one couldn't help but try that little bit harder to look good. So despite my despite my delapidated body, I put in as good a turn on the mats as I could. I managed to get a few nice techniques to work and moved quite well for an old geezer.
byMeerkatsu
in , , ,
October 27, 2008

Roger Gracie

How to get over a disappointing tournament result...I know, train with the world's greatest grappler - Roger Gracie! Yep, multiple Worl...
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26 Oct 2008

First the bad news:
Meerkat is annoyed. I'm annoyed cos I lost my fight in the first round today because I got my tactics all wrong. I played open guard from the bottom and found it hard to sweep or submit my opponent. I was very much counting on this and it didn't happen. My opponent didn't pass my guard or submit me so I thought I played an even fight but the judges saw it the other way. C'est la vie as they say. Now I know to be more aggressive and avoid fighting from the bottom. Anyway, here is the video for you to see, WARNING: it is very boring...


Now the Good.
Team Imperial had a monster in its midst. This monster was not known to us until the moment the referee shouted Hajime! This mons ter, is now to be called...The Oscarnator. Yes, Oscar, our American chum with one lesson of BJJ and perhaps a handful of g/f sessions at my club BULLDOZERED his way to the most awesome bronze medal in the 80-89Kg group you will ever see. This man got armbarred like about half a dozen times and simply REFUSED to give in. Not only that, but The Oscarnator escaped one wincesome elbow cracking armbar to pin his opponent down and do what Oscar can only do best, hold the mount and crush the poor unfortunate individual. Trust me, the following videos ARE worth seeing, especially his armbar escape.


Round 1 and Oscar takes pretty good control early on against a bigger guy:



Round 2 and he is up against a very good technical BJJ fighter, and somehow, evades an awesome armbar at around 2'06'':



Round 3 - he loses by armbar to the eventual winner of the whole category (this guy is a London Fight Factory BJJer and very good he is too)



Bronze fight off - with NO REST Oscar is on again and watch how his route 1 tactic (take leg, side hold, full mount and hold) works its charm yet again. Magic!





Oscar had to wait to fight right until the end of the day, but boy was it worth it. Finally the camraderie of Team Imperial came out in force as we all gathered beside the mat to cheer on our hero.

Some more good.
Our man Bartek produced some outstanding groundwork skills, exactly as planned. He wanted to work his scissor sweep all week and produced a volley of them at will in his 70-79Kg category. He even secured a number of very excellent armbar attempts before his opponent, rubber jointedly escaped with amazing eel-like abilities! I thought Bartek edged a win but the judges scored two against one, so it was close.


Quick mention to John Hales who also fought in the 70-79Kg group. He lost to a guy who made it all the way to the final so no mean feat in holding him off with some good techniques and all this despite a stinking cold.

Ooh, before I forget. More good news - well done to sensei Grant, he won Bronze in the weapons kata (doing the sai kata with a pair of tonfas!) and Gold in the pairs with Eddie Garvey. It is a measure of their skill and talent that Grant confessed to not having any time to practise or rehease. He simply went on to the mat and did his stuff. Next year they really need to tell him to give the others a chance as it is not fair he always wins gold ;)

The seminar
Most years I plough my way through the dozen or so mini-seminars in the morning but my mind is constantly thinking about the tournament. But this year was really fun and I enjoyed all the instructors. Some that I remember:A very entertaining and funny sensei from Denmark explaining to us about risk assessment before using ju-jitsu on an assailant.Danny Burzotta getting all of us to work a Twister Eddie Bravo style. I loved this segment!A very tiny wiry chinese boxer who wowed us with his padwork session.Some classic JJ from Jikishin stalwarts Graham Seargent and Brian Mallon, and of course a smart and clever hand drills from sensei Brian.Oh and let me not forget our Belgium guests who this time, put way their BJJ techniques and offered us good old fashioned JJ knife defences.So overall, it was a well run and good event. My head was down a bit after my pathetic attempts and then when Bartek lost I was a bit miffed but the sheer delight at The Oscarnator made it all worthwhile in the end. So well done everyone!!!



byMeerkatsu
in ,
October 26, 2008

Southend 2008 - A mixed day of results

First the bad news: Meerkat is annoyed. I'm annoyed cos I lost my fight in the first round today because I got my tactics all wrong. I p...
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18 Oct 2008

It's one week to go until our big Jikishin JJ tournament in Southend and I've been putting in some serious mat time. I don't feel particularly ready, especially my cardio which is non-existent, but I do feel I am more tactically aware than in previous comps. I've picked up a lot of new techniques and re-worked some of my well-worn favourites. Groundfighting comps that start on the knees are a bit safer than BJJ comps, which begin by starting in stand-up, because you avoid being thrown and being subjected to jumping techniques. However, g/f on the knees can still be as technical as full BJJ. Recently, I've been working on rubber guard, spider guard, sitting-up guard, butterfly guard and various permutations of triangle chokes, armbars and sweeps - all from fighting on the bottom. And, since your opponent is not allowed to stand up, being stacked is less of a worry, as are standing versions of passing the guard. But there are dangers. Getting pinned in a side mount or locked in someone's very tough closed guard is a constant danger, not because they are winning positions, but because they can take a while to work an escape and within the 2 minute timeframe, one can easily lose a match just trying to escape all the time. The weight categories are not really in my favour. I weigh around 57Kg with a gi and the category I am in is under 65Kg. So I could struggle against a bully-boy 65 Kg fighter. The point I am trying to make is that basically - whatever the rules, the fundamentals remain the same when it comes to good groundwork technique.

For me, the Jikishin comps are special. It may not be SENI or ADCC and it is not noticed much outside the trad JJ radar, but our trad JJ association is a community and when you win an event here, it feels amazing to be acknowledged in that community. This year, my club - Team Imperial - will be entering three competitors: me, Oscar and Bartek. I'm pretty hopeful of some good results, especially Bartek who has been tearing up the mat at the Roger Gracie club where he has recently started a beginners course.
But whatever the outcome, for me, it is hugely enjoyable training and working towards a target. Sport JJ, including groundwork and stand-up grappling, are crafts that need time and energy to master and I've been lucky to work with some great players. The actual competitions are just the icing on the cake. It's the journey that is most fun, and at my advanced age, to be honest I'm lucky to even be able to leave the mat in one piece!

So let the games commence...
byMeerkatsu
in , ,
October 18, 2008

Hajime!

It's one week to go until our big Jikishin JJ tournament in Southend and I've been putting in some serious mat time. I don't fe...
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10 Oct 2008

One of the hardest aspects - well one of many, many - in my BJJ training is trying to break away from my old habits. Despite learning and drilling loads of new techniques every week, I still rely on the same old techniques when it comes to live sparring. You know the ones - closed guard, scissor sweep, maybe a passably bad one legged guard pass etc. They are the same techniques I did at white belt and still do at blue. But look at any brown or black belt. You hardly ever see them use closed guard, or any of the same techniques that white and blue belts do. Why?

One of the things I have noticed is how my instructors Nick, Eddie and other high grades I have sparred with all are adept at open guard. So I've resolved to change my habits and open up my guard and play a more loose game - attempting to transition between various guard positions. My current favourite is the Del La Riva guard and it's variants. It looks really loose and easy to pass, but when I've started using it against a standing and sometimes even a sitting down uke (who is in combat base), it is amazing how durable it actually is. During my private sessions with Nick, I've been playing with the reverse Del La Riva and X-guard. For me, it's a whole new world that has got me all dizzy. But I am trying to make the effort and use them in live sparring. With some interesting, though encouraging results. I feel this is the start of a new phase in my BJJ journey.

Mind you, none of this is useful in our own trad JJ groundfighting competitions as the rules state - knees on the ground and no standing. This is fine with me, I have no skills in stand-up sparring so starting on the knees is all I know. But it means some aspects of the open guard game is not applicable. Which is a shame as they are really cool. So, come October 25th, watch me as I attempt my same old, same old - passably ok closed guard, dodgy scissor sweep, ropey armbar and choke defying escapes. Who knows, it might just work again.
byMeerkatsu
in ,
October 10, 2008

Opening up

One of the hardest aspects - well one of many, many - in my BJJ training is trying to break away from my old habits. Despite learning and dr...
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28 Sept 2008


Anything goes - no, not the musical of the same name, I'm talking about 'vale tudo' which apparently translates as 'anything goes'. It is the style of MMA (mixed martial arts) fighting that was taught by the Danny Burzotta seminar I just attended. Danny used to train in our trad JJ system and won so many competitions in so many events they were thinking of just handing him the medal each time to save everyone the bother. Anyway, that was a few years ago and Danny has since carved an MMA career for himself, first as a fighter, now, mainly as a trainer and promoter.
Danny began the session with submissions and takedowns from the clinch. Immediately it was obvious to the group we were in for an interesting ride, as the seminar progressed we sampled techniques from Muay thai, submission grappling, BJJ and even a technique that reminded me of our JJ syllabus.
Let me say that Danny, is a huge man. Standing at 6'3'', weighing 105 Kg and wall to wall muscle, he also has amazing technique and agility.
I partnered Bartek, our club's Polish strongman, who in true Bartek fashion, threw in lots of cheeky moves and variations from the standard drills that goaded me into a full on sparring match with him each time. It was great fun, but we probably should have been a bit more respectful as it could look like we were mucking around.
There was lots of interesting techniques but I felt a little removed from the whole MMA concept as it is a bit far from where I personally want to go with my ju-jitsu, although I do of course enjoy watching MMA, it is not something I want to train in anymore. Having said this, the whole seminar was good. I learned several new things, including the 'anaconda choke' which I have never done before. This was wicked and me and Bartek rolled around thrilled to be able to hurt each other in such a technical and flashy way!
Finally, at the end, we were matched up by Danny for some groundfighting. My first bout was with Bartek but we both agreed we were just gonna go light. Then I was matched with a young lad who I did not know before. He was pretty aggressive but in the end I subbed him 5 times in a row including my newly acquired anaconda choke. But then I got complacent and got caught in a silly ankle lock (duh!). I must say, this bit of sparring at the end really got my competitive spirit going and acted as a lovely taster for the big Jikishin tournament ahead.
If I had to voice once criticism, I would say that, whilst hosting MMA seminar is a nice introduction to the art, I think most members of my JJ association require seminars that are more relevent to our style of sport groundfighting (which is more judo and BJJ based than MMA). Unless that is, our style is going to change to MMA, in which case I will definitely be up for it - anacondas, boa contrictors, pythons and all.
byMeerkatsu
in , ,
September 28, 2008

Anything goes

Anything goes - no, not the musical of the same name, I'm talking about 'vale tudo' which apparently translates as 'anything...
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24 Sept 2008

Meerkat just had an awesome three consecutive days worth of training. On Sunday I attended an instructors training day with my Association head, sensei Brian Herbert. This was awesome as we got to examine in minute detail various throws, kung-fu style blocking drills and stand-up sparring techniques. Favourite moments were a quick but more efficient way to do a winding throw and the spur kick as a better way to use the front kick in sparring.
On Monday it was BJJ class over at Mill Hill and I flukely managed to get a collar choke on another blue belt who was much, much bigger than me.
Tonight, as the photos here show, I invited Nick Brooks over to prep our guys on groundfighting, BJJ style, for those interested in our forthcoming tournament.
The session began with one simple premise - the hip escape. Nick then showed a wide variety of escapes from mount and side, all using the hip escape, but escapes that would also lead to a subsequent submissions. We then worked some very simple opening gambits when starting with knees on the ground (our style) which is different to BJJ where you start standing up. These simple techniques were so easy, everyone got them straight away and had fun attempting these when we sparred at the end.
Speaking of which, something I thought quite extraordinary happened. Nick offered to spar with each and every one of us, one after another without a break. He duly did this, against our biggest guys too, and subbed each one with, if my memory serves me right, a triangle choke in each case. It was a jaw dropping display of groundfighting at its best.

Triangle to finish


Erm, triangle to finish

Yep, that'll be another triangle to finish.

Imperial Ju-Jitsu Club London with Nick Brooks

Nick and Seymour possibly in their most aggressive fighter pose.

So there you have it, three days of training bliss, with much much more to come. Sometimes I hate myself.

More pictures on Flickr.

byMeerkatsu
in ,
September 24, 2008

Jitsu Inferno

Meerkat just had an awesome three consecutive days worth of training. On Sunday I attended an instructors training day with my Association ...
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17 Sept 2008


Unbelievable as it may seem, I do actually have interests outside of martial arts. Photography is one. But if they gave belt ranks in photography, I would be a white belt one stripe, ok maybe the one stripe is an over-promotion.
Regardless, I do appreciate good art, and they don’t come much finer than the image above, taken by top studio photographer Spiros Politis, and featuring our Escrima buddies Diana and Alex from the Doce Pares Filipino Stick Fighting System.
When Alex came to our JJ club a few months back, he showed us his full contact sparring and the big leap depicted in the image is no trick - he really does leap six feet in the air to attack you. It’s amazing to watch, and really scary to be at the receiving end.
I asked Spiros what inspired him to come up with the concept and how he managed to take the photo. He generously got back to me with his thoughts:


“I was playing around with the idea of doing a rain shoot for quite a while prior to knowing about eskrima. Inspired by films such as Sin City and The Matrix I wanted to create a situation where some kind of action took place in the rain.
I came across Alex and Diana purely by coincidence through a mutual acquaintance who is an eskrima practioner herself and having seen them in training several times approached them with the idea.
The set up was technically very complicated and needed a big studio and an elevated stage for them to perform their action on in order for me to capture them at their most dramatic angle. The addition of rain to the set up meant that it had to be lit in such a way that the light went through the rain and wasn't reflected by the rain whilst still being able to light the people.

Keeping the very powerful photographic lights dry and away from the water was also v important in order to avoid fried martial artists! We then had a collecting pool below to pick up all the excess water. Needless to say it was also a rather expensive set up!
Shooting martial artists really doesn't differ much from shooting other sports in action. Its all in the preparation of the photographer and the talent of the performer. Incredibly though at the very point of capturing the image I cant actually see it as the shutter goes up-so a modicum of premonition is always good.”

The full set of images appears in the October issue of Men’s Health Magazine and is possibly the most exciting visual depiction of martial arts I have ever seen in a long time. Thanks to Spiros for permission to use the images. In the meantime, I’m inspired to take photos of ju-jitsu myself. Sadly, the finger-over-the-lens, out of focus effect is not as striking as Spiros’s. But, as we say in the MA world, practice, practice, practice, then beat the crap out of it.
byMeerkatsu
in , , ,
September 17, 2008

Stickfighting in the rain

Unbelievable as it may seem, I do actually have interests outside of martial arts. Photography is one. But if they gave belt ranks in photog...
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16 Sept 2008

I used to think I was a bit different to other martial arts practitioners. No, seriously, I mean being an established instructor from a trad martial art who moonlights in another (almost rival) martial art (BJJ) can't be too common right? And for a short time it probably was the case, since most of the BJJ comrades I met in the early days were people who only trained in BJJ. But recently I have come across quite a wide variety of guys, several of them who are instructors at their own school of martial arts. At Nick's club, one chap I met told me he runs a taekwondo-based MMA school here: http://www.ukblackbelt.com/ As a two stripe blue belt I thought he would be good, and in the two milliseconds it took for him to sink an armbar on me, my thoughts were quickly realised. God forbid I ever engage in a stand-up spar with him if he is this good on the ground. In fact BJJ now seems to attract a lot of guys who also train in other systems, especially trad JJ, like me. And the BJJ instructors and classmates seem to be very cool about this. It speaks volumes about the confidence they/we have in the art. Clearly, the idea that including an effective ground-based strategy into your repertoire is widely agreed to be important. So I am the special one no more, but I’m glad. The more we all learn to appreciate each other’s style, the better the world of martial arts. No secrets I say. Oh yeah, here’s the blooper reel to illustrate just how special I am:



It was grading day for my club students on Sunday. I had quite a few guys grading and all passed, thankfully. But a couple of errors were pointed out by the senior senseis had me cringeing because I was the one that taught them the erroneous techniques. Invigilating gradings is also frustrating for me as I can't help but look on at other students and critically thinking, Nooo, that was wrong, wrong, wrong. But having to perform in front of a judging panel is a nervous thing and nerves can play havoc with your memory, coordination, and ability to do, erm, ju-jitsu.
So thankfully, the senseis grant a large degree of allowance for this.
Speaking of grades, as we all know, BJJ awards grades ad hoc and not on a formal grading like trad JJ. so it was a nice surprise for me to be awarded my third stripe at blue belt by Nick Brooks. I'm quite chuffed as I feel accepted into the fold at what is still a fairly new club for me. I'd better watch my back though. A three stripe blue belt I think makes me technically the most senior non-teaching regular at the club. Gulp!
byMeerkatsu
in , , , ,
September 16, 2008

Special One

I used to think I was a bit different to other martial arts practitioners. No, seriously, I mean being an established instructor from a trad...
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7 Sept 2008

I've finally finished my epic showreel. For a long time, I have wanted to produce some video clips to add to my JJ Club home page. So that newbies can see what our style of ju-jitsu entails and perhaps to add a little flair to static words and pictures. In the world of martial arts, moving footage seems to connect quickly with people, and in today's YouTube generation, one can't afford to be left behind. It was good fun making the video and producing it. I learned alot about editing and the tedious process it involves. I hope it gives a fair reflection of the wide variety of techniques that we practice at the club - including throws, punches, kicks, locks, strangles, kata, kobudo weapons, groundfighting, stand-up etc.

So sit back, get out the popcorn, chill to the sounds of DJ Krush and enjoy.

Coming up soon, the sequel - IJJC - the lost blooper tapes!

byMeerkatsu
in , ,
September 07, 2008

It's Showtime Folks!

I've finally finished my epic showreel. For a long time, I have wanted to produce some video clips to add to my JJ Club home page. So t...
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2 Sept 2008


I’ve been slightly obsessed with leg locks recently. It’s probably because my ankle injury highlighted just how vulnerable this part of the anatomy is. Our own Trad JJ style has a surprisingly diverse and full array of ankle, knee and hip locks incorporated into the syllabus. I say surprising, only because I never really looked at them in close detail, since they are generally integrated into a ‘locking set’ kata that you learn as a whole piece, or tagged on as a ‘finish’ at the end of a throw. But when I read through my recent purchase of ’65 Vital Leg Locks’ by Steve Scott, I realised that our style covered most of those contained in the book, including old skool wrestling favourite –the Boston Crab (as illustrated so touchingly above) In fact most grappling styles incorporate leg locks, there are a few in judo, Russian Sambo is most famous for them, and of course wrestling, oh and BJJ willingly includes them all.

The book is pretty cool as an introduction to this diverse facet of submissions. But my impression is that it really only offers an introduction and I personally would only feel comfortable using them if I was shown how to get a good position first by an instructor. In BJJ class, we’ve covered leg locks on occasion, but it is only rarely. My favourite is the knee bar. You can transform a giant uke with tree trunk legs into a weeping baby, tapping for mercy with this awesome lock. Having said that, I only ever managed to get this lock on once ever in sparring. I was quite chuffed, but only for a fleet moment since my uke was injured and out of the game for several months (not just due to my knee bar, but it didn’t help in his long list of injuries).

So I quickly realised that leg locks, although an awesome submission, are quite dangerous in training since a lock can go from ‘nearly-on’, to torn ligaments with just a few millimetres of leverage. In BJJ, MMA and subgrap sparring, inexperience or stubbornness could result in a serious injury if the uke does not tap out soon enough. In fact I seem to recall that only blue and above are allowed to attempt leg locks when rolling, and I think even heel hooks are disallowed until purple or brown. Maybe someone can clarify that.

So all this recent fascination of mine with leg locks culminated in a recent episode of
Cage Rage Contenders on TV. Brazilian fighter Jean Silva fought against Japanese MMA fighter Masakazu Imanari, a fighter who was billed as the ‘Master of leg locks.’ See his video here and you’ll see what they mean.Now if you fought against someone billed as a leg lock specialist, why would you willingly tempt fate and offer him your legs, as Jean seemed to do when he went for a crowd pleased spinning guard pass? Naturally enough, Jean ended up being leg locked. It was horrendous to watch since he got caught by what looked like a heel hook and in order to get out, he twisted and rolled frantically, only making it worse. Finally he tapped but Imanari held on until the ref pulled him off. Silva was seriously injured and remained on the mat for ages. Post match reports indicate that he suffered bad ligament damage to his knee – but it could easily have been worse.
byMeerkatsu
in , ,
September 02, 2008

CRABBY STYLE

I’ve been slightly obsessed with leg locks recently. It’s probably because my ankle injury highlighted just how vulnerable this part of th...
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