17 Aug 2005

The first of the series of seminar extravanganzas was held last night at our club - Eddie and club regular Richard kindly came down to offer our members some BJJ techniques. For many of the 20 or so members that came down, it was quite an eye opener and from the look of rapt concentration on everyone's faces, it appears to have gone down a storm.

We had talked previously about what techniques Eddie would be doing, but in the end, he taught a sequence of mount submissions and guard sweeps that were along the lines of what we know in our syllabus, but modified to be used against a resisting opponent. They were fairly basic but the technical adeptness needed to perform some of them were what made the difference between a failed technique and a successful one.

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I seem to get the hang of it!!


Despite some similarities between the two styles of ju-jitsu, there were obvious differences - an amusing one being the way our club formally lines up and performs a respectful rei to our instructor (sometimes with an added 'ooss', or 'yes sensei'!!). This was amusing because BJJ clubs simply do not have any of this type of formality and it seemed to slightly embarrass our guests. But if things are going to be done, I think it was right for us to go about them in the way we know best. Crucially, throughout the seminar, Eddie was keen to point out the self-defence applications of the many techniques he showed. BJJ is a great sport, but also an important platform for self defence, or self protection as we prefer to call it, whilst on the ground.

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Eddie demonstrates a technique on Richard


All in all, a very worthwhile seminar and one I am proud to have hosted for the benefit of our members. One regular reader of my blogs has posted his views here, saying that in the USA, such seminars rarely, if ever happen, due to self interest and the worry that they will lose students if they see a better art. For me, this has never been a concern. If anything, you will gain the respect of your students if they can see that we are open to outside ideas, whilst still maintaining the integrety of our base art. BJJ is no different, in many respects to traditional jiu-jitsu. ie the idea of not using power or strength to defeat an opponent. Only the manner in which it is practised is the difference. And one we should all learn from.

Next seminar to come, the head of our association will make his debut on our mats in September. Another session definitely not to be missed.

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Aubrey finds the funny side

A taste of Brazil

The first of the series of seminar extravanganzas was held last night at our club - Eddie and club regular Richard kindly came down to offer...

3 Aug 2005

One of the joys of running your own club is the feeling of spirit and community. Not only with one’s fellow members, but with the martial arts community in general. If you attend another style or totally different MA and mention that you already run a club, you get treated differently. It is only a small and subtle difference in tone of voice of mannerism but generally, my other instructors seem happy that another instructor has chosen to learn from them. I too fall into that category since one or two of my club students also do another MA at a very high level but still find it beneficial to learn from me. It is a humbling experience.
Going back to the community spirit thought – one of the things I love doing is making friends with other instructors and asking if they would give us a seminar. I like the idea of opening doors and opening minds so that our members get to experience and practice stuff outside the immediate circle. Last year, we had a very successful and much praised Systema seminar. Over the next couple of months, I am hosting seminars from: my BJJ instructor, our head of association, our friends at Mill Hill and hopefully, my old sensei from Kent. You cannot fail to learn something valuable at seminars. The benefit of having one in the club environment is intimacy – in a big sports hall with hundreds of jitsuka it can be very hard to follow everything.
So, our little club looks forward to the arrival of our esteemed guests and Meerkat will report on how each one goes here on this weblog.

Special guests

One of the joys of running your own club is the feeling of spirit and community. Not only with one’s fellow members, but with the martial ar...

 

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