16 Sept 2009

Awful Analogies #1, BJJ is a bit like...science

Mention science to non-scientific types and they go all glaze-eyed and quickly find a way to make their exit. Science is not all lofty academia, but is just a way of looking at things devoid of emotion, hype or spin. By this token BJJ, perhaps more than many other martial arts, is very scientific. There is the simple formula: BJJ technique = observe+theorise+experiment+apply.


Science makes no judgement call on what is good or bad, right or wrong. It simply states, if an idea can be proven to work or can show overwhelming evidence that it can work, then it is most probably the right way.

BJJ is constantly evolving. From the countless trials and tribulations of hundreds of thousands of dedicated practitioners comes the techniques we know today. A new position is developed and within weeks, a defence to it is devised, and so on. Competitions enhance the idea of constant struggle, the survival of the best and the fittest.

But, like evolution, BJJ development is not linear. Man did not descend from chimpanzees, as so wrongly lampooned by Victorian cartoonists intent on mocking Darwin, but the idea of common descent is shared by all the various schools of BJJ.

However, like the natural world, the planet is full of niche groups, all happily co-existing in their little enclaves. One school might be full of half guard specialists. They can wreck havoc on the mats using just this. Or another school is the business at spider guard submissions. Every now again, they meet to snap heels at each other then go away, ruminating new ideas.

Scientific principles of the laws of motion and the physics of leverage fill every aspect of BJJ. Unscientific, or unprovable concepts such as invisible energy fields and mind tricks do not apply.

Yes my friends, BJJ is so scientific, it's practically an art form. Now there's a twist.

byMeerkatsu
in
September 16, 2009

Awful Analogies #1: Science

Awful Analogies #1, BJJ is a bit like...science Mention science to non-scientific types and they go all glaze-eyed and quickly find a way to...
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13 Sept 2009




I took my wife along to try out a kettlebell and conditioning class at the Mill Hill gym and afterwards got Andrew, the instructor to say a few words about himself:


ANDREW MARSHALL, STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH
Andrew Marshall is a full time professional fitness coach who, together with BJJ instructor Nick Brooks, recently opened up the Mill Hill Combat and Conditioning Academy in London. Seymour Yang spoke to Andrew about his background:


Q: Hi Andrew, tell me how you got into the fitness industry?

A: I started in the fitness industry in 1999 after years of underground strength training. I quickly outgrew commercial gyms and set up Renegade Fitness in 2004 as an outdoor fitness training company based in St Albans. I also started working with Optimal Life Fitness teaching fitness professionals how to use and teach the kettlebell.

Q: What types of training do you cover in classes?

A: At the Academy I am teaching my own style of functional strength and conditioning using many tools. My foundation are the kettlebells as they are so versatile, but we also use Olympic weight-lifting, plyometrics, gymnastics, tyres, ropes, kegs, sand bags, hammers, stones...you get the idea, if its big, awkward, heavy or hard we use it!!

Q:What is your martial arts background?

A: I have tried a few arts, including judo, traditional ju-jitsu and aikido. But BJJ is the only one I've stuck with for any length of time as I really enjoy the complexity of it. I'm hoping to start competing next year. And I think I have built up a few nice tricks that Daniel and Nick have taught me that I can use in competitions!!

Q: You've won like a few titles in the sport of kettlebell lifting, tell me about those?

A: Kettlebell sport is still a very small sport in the UK. I have done quite a few unofficial comps, but the first real event was held earlier this year, which i won [Ed: Andrew won the overall male division at the 2009 London Kettlebell Open Tournament.]

Like Olympic weightlifting, kettlebell sport consists of two disciplines: jerk and the snatch. But unlike the Olympics, kettlebell contestents have to perform both the two-bell jerk and the single bell snatch for 10 minutes continuously.

Q: Who have you trained?

A: I have trained all sorts of people of all abilities, from professional rugby players, athletes, celebrities, personal trainers, martial artists, fitness fanatics and people who are just interested in getting fit and losing some weight.


Q: Thanks Andrew, good luck with the set-up here at Mill Hill CCA.

A: Thanks Seymour.

byMeerkatsu
in ,
September 13, 2009

Meerkatsu Interviews: Andrew Marshall, Strength & Conditioning Coach

I took my wife along to try out a kettlebell and conditioning class at the Mill Hill gym and afterwards got Andrew, the instructor to say a ...
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9 Sept 2009


Gosh, what a whirlwind past few weeks my BJJ and MA life has been. First up, I wanted to say again what a great day we all had at the official opening of the Mill Hill club. For me, it was a great chance to meet up with BJJ friends I have not seen in a while, or indeed, met only online.
I also got to get quite a few rolls in - well in four hours of BJJ even I can't be that lazy and avoid rolling.

Training update
Sparring with Carmen Jahnke (female brown belt from Germany) was a great experience. Fluent, technical and pretty strong, Carmen made mince-meat of me. She is the perfect example of someone who uses jiu-jitsu smartly to get into great positions and submit without overpowering.
Carmen hopes to get back into competitive action early next year and I am really keen to follow her progress.

I had a great roll with Matt Benyon of Martial Farts fame. He documents our hilariously half-serious-trying-to-kill-each-other grappling session here. And photo above to prove I am a drama queen, as well as a poor BJJer.

But rolling with unknowns is my nemesis. One chap, Rich, came to the opening day without his kimono so I could only roll no-gi with him. Now I might be able to play ok using the gi, but nogi, I am a child stuck in quicksand. And he made mincemeat of me too.

Finally, I should mention my old training partner Ozy. He has recently come back from Brazil where he trained in a number of world class gyms and I was worried he would completely and utterly destroy me. But there lies the crazy paradox that is BJJ - one day you can suck and tap at the merest sight of a gust of wind, and the next, you are holding your own against top level competitors. Ozy's trademark moves are his De lariva and x-guard tricks, which I kinda knew, but perchance, during our roll, I slipped into high half guard (my knee across uke's torso) and he was rather stumped for a while. I managed to hold him and almost sweep him and, to his credit, he did not use his superior strength against me. It was a good technical roll and I must say, he's really improved a heck of a lot since we last rolled about 2 years ago. And yes, he did eventually make mince meat of me too.

But mincemeat or not. I always thank my partners for the experience of rolling with them. Every minute on the mat is a learning experience and I try not to forget that. By now, I am long over the 'God I had to tap out again' mindset that bedevilled me in the early years. For a start, I am improving enough to be able to ply a few tricks of my own. But most importantly I realise it is the journey, not the destination that is most important. To that end, I thank each and every one of my training partners for helping me improve.

Ninjutsu news
My interview with Simon Yeo for On The Mat drew a lot of positive comments so I decided to put my money where my mouth was and ask him to provide a ninjutsu seminar to me and my old trad JJ colleagues. My sensei, Grant, was kind enough to provide his premises so it's game on, here are the details:

Bujinkan Ninjutsu Seminar with Simon Yeo, 12th Dan under Masaaki Hatsumi
Thursday 19th November 2009
CSSC Sports Centre, Chadwick Street, London
19:00 - 21:00
Price: £22.50
Booking by prior appointment only,
please contact: grant.wakeman388@mod.uk
This seminar will introduce ninjutsu
concepts and techniques to students of other martial arts.


Writing news
I wrote a press release for newspapers and magazines about the opening of Mill Hill. The lay-person friendly version was published in a local Mill Hill news website here.
I'm hoping to get a more detailed BJJ-friendly version published in Martial Arts Illustrated soon, so fingers crossed.

byMeerkatsu
in , ,
September 09, 2009

Minced Meerkatsu for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Gosh, what a whirlwind past few weeks my BJJ and MA life has been. First up, I wanted to say again what a great day we all had at the offici...
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7 Sept 2009

Just spent a hugely enjoyable session down at the BJJ club. Although the new place at Bunns Lane has been open a while now, today was our official opening event. Some more photos...





There must have been 50-60 bodies on the mat including Roger Gracie, Nic Gregoriades,
Luciano Cristovan and loads others from RGA and other BJJ clubs.
Roger awarded a long awaited purple belt to Daniel Strauss, blues to Toby, Dan, Gareth and David, and a host of stripes to others in our club.
It was great for me hooking up with a load of old friends and making new friends too.
Here's to the future success of MHCCA.
Finally, a big Meerkatsu props to Dan and Clint who, together with Nick, personally oversaw the entire refurbishment of the academy.An awesome achievenment guys!





byMeerkatsu
in
September 07, 2009

Mill Hill Open Day

Just spent a hugely enjoyable session down at the BJJ club . Although the new place at Bunns Lane has been open a while now, today was our ...
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2 Sept 2009

My instructor Nick Brooks is interviewed in a new online BJJ-Judo magazine here:

http://www.kombatclinic.com/interviews_Nick_Brooks.htm

Meerkatsu wishes the Kombat Clinic digi-mag the best of luck for the future.
byMeerkatsu
in ,
September 02, 2009

Nick Brooks interview by Kombat Clinic

My instructor Nick Brooks is interviewed in a new online BJJ-Judo magazine here: http://www.kombatclinic.com/interviews_Nick_Brooks.htm Meer...
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28 Aug 2009

BJJ tournament poster designs are usually a mixed bag. Typically you'll get a grungy photo or line drawing of some combatants and BIG TYPEFACE of the title of the comp, something like GRAPPLING FESTFIGHT or words to that effect. Oh and really loud colours appear to be the norm. Having said that, most BJJ posters in my opinion are nicer to look at than MMA posters.
Scouring the net I came across these which I reckon are pretty cool poster designs. In no particular order:











OK, the DREAM.10 poster is not BJJ but MMA but it was soooo cool I had to include it. And below, a little effort from me. I decided I quite liked to see if the Blue Note album cover style worked with a BJJ theme. Mmmmm, not sure so far, what do you think?



byMeerkatsu
in
August 28, 2009

10 Cool BJJ Posters

BJJ tournament poster designs are usually a mixed bag. Typically you'll get a grungy photo or line drawing of some combatants and BIG TY...
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27 Aug 2009


Recently I've been lucky to interview a few people who are experts in both a traditional martial art and also highly ranked in BJJ. Simon Yeo is a 12th dan in Bujinkan ninjutsu and a brown belt under Roger Gracie.

The full interview is here on the ON THE MAT website.

But here are some excerpts:

Q: Ninjutsu and BJJ are so different, what aspects do you see that they both share?

A: On the face of it Ninjutsu and BJJ are very
different. In both you have to start by learning the dos and do nots. Generally in both you start with poor natural instincts, as more often than not the necessary movements are counter intuitive. However once you have learnt these laws, things are pretty similar and by using biomechanics you can see how to manipulate the opponents body into weaker positions and capitalise on it.

I now always try to look for the similarities rather than the differences. For example the need to flow from one technique to the next, or Nagare, to catch the opponent, rather than just insist on one technique.

I also view training in ground fighting as reuniting the complete Ju-Jutsu skill sets, so I will know both ground and stand up ju-jutsu. It is possible people haven’t trained like this for more than 100 years.

Q: What do you say to people who think that the original UFC and Gracie style challenges proved that traditional martial arts are no longer viable.

A: I think what the early UFC’s showed to the traditionalists, is that they needed to adapt what they are doing. Some people have done this, others as I have said have not heeded the message and are deluding themselves. It is kind of like a blind faith. The amount of people I have told to go to a BJJ academy around the world and see what I am talking about, who don’t need to because “they know they will survive” is unbelievable. These people do have to give their heads a shake. It is really naïve.

I have black belts from other schools who come to my class and they get really disturbed about being tapped by my students who have only been training a few months. Often what happens is, that instead of realising there is a massive hole in their game they never come back and pretend it was bad luck and by not putting themselves in that environment again, can validate their delusion.
...full interview here on OTM.


Simon Yeo runs the Yeo Dojo in Fulham, London, and is available for seminars and private lessons in both Bujinkan ninjutsu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
His book: Ninjutsu: The Secret Art Of The Ninja, is available from Amazon and most good book stores.

My thanks to Simon and to OTM. More Meerkatsu interviews coming soon!
byMeerkatsu
in
August 27, 2009

Meerkatsu Interviews: Simon Yeo, the Ninjutsu Grappler

Recently I've been lucky to interview a few people who are experts in both a traditional martial art and also highly ranked in BJJ. Simo...
Read More

19 Aug 2009

An 'incident' occured during training the other night that I did not really want to mention, and, now that I've had a few days to calm down and reflect on matters, it's better not to give the details, but suffice to say it led to me having a major hissy fit in class with one of my training partners.
I want to repair any damage between him and I and move on. I should add that in my many years of doing martial arts, I have very rarely seen flare-ups between two people in a class. It has happened but it's all usually handbags at dawn and after short while, the two usually kiss and make up...and then proceed to the usual routine of legally killing each other during sparring. I don't want to the be the jerk who moans and has a tantrum each time so I'll be on my best behaviour. All's fair in love and war after all.
Mind you, it did remind of one incident about 5 years ago when a fellow white belt found it funny to continually land his knee into my ribs during sparring. I got so mad I went a bit mental and nearly choked him into hell and back. But I didn't because (a) my technique sucked and (b) my technique sucked. Oh well some things don't ever change.

Roy Dean
Other than that, I was going to say my training has been going really well. I'm really trying to engage techniques in combinations of 2's and (admittedly rarely) 3's just like Roy Dean said a purple belt should be doing in his new DVD (Roy Dean, purple belt requirements).

You can read a very thorough review of this video on Slidey's blog here.

Without wishing to make any crass presumptions, but at 4-stripe blue belt, I guess I should be thinking ahead at what it is I should be doing when I am a purple belt. Roy Dean's DVD explains his take on the subject - and very enlightening it is to. I love watching Dean's elegant style. He's very up front and honest. He'll happily talk about his losses as well as his wins - all in the name of helping YOU, ie me the punter learn something valuable. On the disc, he shows lots of examples of him rolling with his students. You can clearly see the difference between how white and blue belts roll and how purple, brown and black belts do it. It's not about how many techniques they know, but in the timing and tactical chess that goes on at the higher level. It's marvellous to watch. If Roy makes it to the UK again, I would really love to attend one of his seminars.

And finally...
I had a little spare time so I redesigned my Meerkatsu banner picture. Bye bye mock-Kill Bill, hello mock-Streetfighter pastiche! Hope Capcom don't sue my ass.
byMeerkatsu
in ,
August 19, 2009

Red mist, purple dawns

An 'incident' occured during training the other night that I did not really want to mention, and, now that I've had a few days t...
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15 Aug 2009


A little poster I concocted in honour of our new dojo (click for full size version). Yep, the new place is up and running, just a few bits to finish off but in effect, it is in full operation for BJJ and it's all ours! Permanent matting, more classes, more hours, better facilities, more space...this place rocks!
byMeerkatsu
in
August 15, 2009

New Mill Hill BJJ Academy

A little poster I concocted in honour of our new dojo (click for full size version). Yep, the new place is up and running, just a few bits t...
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14 Aug 2009

How do you explain your hobby to someone with no knowledge of the sport. Harder still, how do you convince them that what you do is fun, fairly safe and useful too? This was the task set before me as my boss wanted me to write a short article for the staff newsletter explaining what I did out of the office. So here is my piece, apologies for over-simplifying stuff...

MY HOBBY: Once a month, we ask a member of the company to tell us about their interests. This month, Seymour tries to convince us that wearing baggy pyjamas and grappling sweaty men us a pursuit worth doing...

To the outsider, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) looks like nothing more than sweaty grown men wearing pyjamas hugging and rolling around a lot. And I suppose that's precisely what a lot of it is. Obviously there is a lot of skill and technique needed too. I've been doing this martial art for over 6 years now and I train 3 or 4 times a week.

BJJ is a bit of a cross between wrestling and judo. 99 percent of the action happens on the floor, after the contestants have chucked each other around a bit. You are allowed to pin a person down, strangle him, choke him and apply painful force on various joints, but there is no punching or kicking allowed (thankfully!).

It was made famous in the early 1990's when a Brazilian chap called Rorion Gracie thought it would be a good publicity stunt to challenge anyone in any martial art style to a no-rules fight within a cage...winner takes all. He called it the Ultimate Fight Challenge (UFC) and, to the astronishment of everyone except the Brazilians, the BJJ guy (Rorion sent in his younger brother Royce to do the fighting) easily beat up experts from karate, wrestling, judo and many other styles. Fast forward to today and the UFC is a major pay-per-view sport event and BJJ is fast growing around the world.

We're lucky in the UK. Some plucky Brazilians seem to ignore the fact that in Britain, we have rubbish weather compared to Rio de Janiero. In London, we're especially lucky as the 7 times, and still current World BJJ Champion - Roger Gracie - bases his school here. Roger is incredibly famous in the BJJ world. It's the equivalent of taking lessons from Tiger Woods, or Roger Federer, right on your doorstep.

I compete in tournaments roughly once every couple of months, with moderate success. I have won a few and lost many. But the great thing I love about BJJ is the genuine cameraderie between practitioners young or old, big or small - I've even roped the wife into taking part every now and then too. It is an addictive passion that keeps you incredibly fit, could serve as useful self-defence and is very exciting to take part in. Just don't call it hugging in pyjamas!

Roger Gracie Academy: http://www.rogergracie.com/
More about BJJ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjj

byMeerkatsu
in
August 14, 2009

Explaining BJJ

How do you explain your hobby to someone with no knowledge of the sport. Harder still, how do you convince them that what you do is fun, fa...
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11 Aug 2009

Here's a photo slideshow:



All photos by me, but feel free to copy and paste ones you like. Just credit "Meerkatsu" if you print any.

...and here's my full tournament report on the very excellent Fightworks Podcast website.

Excerpt:
"The very first ‘London Open’ held in 2003 was a landmark event – at the time it was one of the very first major BJJ tournaments to be located in London, England. Fast forward to today and the 2009 ‘London Open’, run by Grapplers Showdown, evoked strong memories of that tournament 6 years ago."
byMeerkatsu
in ,
August 11, 2009

More Grapplers Showdown

Here's a photo slideshow: All photos by me, but feel free to copy and paste ones you like. Just credit "Meerkatsu" if you p...
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9 Aug 2009

On Saturday I entered the 2009 London Open run by the Grapplers Showdown crew at the Westway Sports Centre in west London. I wrote a formal report of the tourny for Fightworks Podcast which should publish in the next few days, so I'll save the wider details of the event for you to read there. But here is what happened with my fights...


Super Feather Animals

I turned up at the venue nice and early to find that there were no other rooster (galo - 57.5kg) or super feathers (pluma - 64kg) fighters listed at either adults or masters in my blue belt division. I had no choice but to agree to fight in the featherweight (pena - 70kg) division. I was a bit disappointed as I feared this heavier weight division would be too much for me (I weighed 58.4kg this morning without a gi).

So I just killed time by taking photos and chatting to folk. But after a while I saw one guy in a blue belt who looked my size. His name was Mark Stevenson and I think I've seen him in previous comps, but we've never fought since he is only 21. After a quick chat we both realised we were the same weight so the organisers agreed to let us fight in our own division, thus avoiding the feathers.


Well, as you can see from the video, I was outclassed. Genuinely I was out of my depth as I did not have any control (or grips) from the moment we started. It was a stark lesson on why old men like me should not be fighting 21 year olds! And 21 year olds who are both judo black belts and very very good blue belt BJJers on top! He got me with a RNC that didn't quite choke me, but his forearm was pressing so hard into my jaw that I had to tap.

But something very interesting happened after our fight, and medal presentation (a silver for my troubles). For some reason, the ref asked if we wanted another fight in the weight above?
We both said yes and so I waited, for my next fight...

Bish bash, how to squash a meerkat

Heck, this match was awful for me. I'm not really sure I gained anything out of this other than a real crushing. I did not get subbed, at least I can take comfort from my just-about-capable defending, but man my opponent was just too strong and too fast. Notice the easy foot sweep he gets at the beginning, and at one point, late in the fight, when he stands up and comes storming back to engage - I am bludgeoned into a pulp.


So what about my other pluma conqueror? Well Mark went on to defeat his first pena opponent by 2 points. Nice job but it was close and he was behind for quite a while. Mark's second fight was against my first round opponent. And remarkably, in this final, Mark won by submission (I think a lapel choke) fairly easily - to the shock of the pena crowd, and the delight to his Nova Forca team mates. So, little super feather animal Mark Stephenson, a humble, quiet and almost shy 21 year old blue belt wins gold in both the super feather division AND the featherweight division. An awesome accomplishment.

Team Mill Hill
Dan Strauss blitzed his way with submissions aplenty to win his lightweight blue division. It's high time he gets promoted to purple now.
Big man Salam won bronze in the super heavy whites and Dean lost on points in his divison.
But RGA scored some big wins; Oli Geddes won purple at his weight and in the absolutes. the top four fighters in the blue absolutes were also from RGA. David Khoza, a sometimes visitor to Mill Hill won his division.
Full results by clicking here.

Conclusions
I was pretty gutted after my first fight, and the second fight crushing just added salt into my wounds. I've had time to reflect and listen to wise words from my friends and peers and I don't feel quite so bad now. But losing really sucks. Especially if you lose really badly. I don't mind that I lose if, say, I am hanging in there pretty close and giving it back some - as per my previous competitions - but on this day, I felt like a little wabbit, lost in a scary hole.
It didn't help that Dan Strauss was fighting his final at the same time as me and so I was without corner support. My opponents in both matches had lots of encouragement and technical support from their coaches. I never realised how much having vocal coaching and support from the sidelines can help boost you in times of need. As discussed before about the mental talking that goes on within ones head during a match, mine was less conversation, more blind panic and helplessness. Quite overwhelming really. But I'm not complaining. It was a fun day out and it all adds to the BJJ 'experience-o-meter.'

It's not put me off competing. But I'll probably take a few months off the comp scene to concentrate on my BJJ without the pressure of an impending tournament, then we'll see. I think the Kent Open in November looks like a really good one to attend. Hopefully I'll get a division that suits me more closely than today.


byMeerkatsu
in
August 09, 2009

Grapplers Showdown Gi Challenge London Open 2009

On Saturday I entered the 2009 London Open run by the Grapplers Showdown crew at the Westway Sports Centre in west London. I wrote a formal...
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