Revisiting the past

Many martial art philosophies believe in the circle as the ultimate symbol of their art. For me, this is true as I have recently revisited my old martial art haunts. Whenever I spend a considerable time indulging in one activity - and then leave it - I never forget about my time, always thinking that it will come back around again.So it is with kickboxing. I left the gym around 18 months ago. Mainly to spend more time on BJJ and JJ but also to leave more time for my family too. But since Mrs Meerkat gave birth, she has been bemoaning her lack of fitness. So I hooked back up with the kickboxing gym and our coach has offered to give private training sessions just for Cat. It was weird going back into the gym. Nothing really has changed and the staff greeted us as if we had never been away. It strongly tempted me to restart my kbxg training.
I often wonder how many of my ex-students who had to give up JJ, actually intended to come back, but were too afraid to make that step back into the dojo?

I've just had 5 hours of kobudo training (traditional weapons) and finally managed to nail a couple of the new katas. Kobudo is an art that you must contstantly practise as they always grade you on the previous katas as well as the new stuff. Towards the end, our head showed us a new way to twirl the bo staff and I must say, I really took to this more dynamic option.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 26, 2006

Revisiting the past

Many martial art philosophies believe in the circle as the ultimate symbol of their art. For me, this is true as I have recently revisited m...

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Rolling with Royce

Just got back from a seminar with the legend that is Royce Gracie. Once again, his tuition was first class and every technique was sweet and simple but no less effective. You can almost imagine being in the ring tapping out some big UFC fighter using the same trademark subs that Royce just showed us.
The particularly nice thing was that 7 of my JJ colleagues came down too and the grins on their faces at the end of the session said everything it needed to say. Although BJJ was very new to them, they followed the techniques effortlessly and I hope they went away knowing they learned some very useful solid techniques. Thus proving my personal opinion that trad JJ and BJJ do make for a very nice combination of styles.

This year, I came better prepared than last year's seminar and brought my camera, permanent marker pen and a copy of Royce’s latest book for him to sign. The one thing I am kicking myself for not doing was rolling with Royce. Towards the end, he was offering to spar with us students and I could easily have offered myself but I lost the nerve! Typical. Definitely next year though.


Grinning JJ buddies, left to right: Steph,Eddie,Wayne, Grant,Royce,Meerkat,Pete,Phil and David

Finally, a big shout out to KJ and Greg who received their well earned blue belts by Royce. I look forward to the big man's next visit, and I wish him well for his next fight.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 18, 2006

Rolling with Royce

Just got back from a seminar with the legend that is Royce Gracie. Once again, his tuition was first class and every technique was sweet and...

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Rumble in the docks

Meerkat popped down to Tilbury last night to pick up some club merchandise and managed to wind up training with head of JJ. Actually, what happened was I ended up groundfighting with a 4th dan sensei who was three times my size. We were only practising escapes but put it like this - the fact that I could not get the full extent of my legs around his waist to do a closed guard says something about the size difference. Still, I managed to think my way out of a couple of pin downs, and was quite pleased but he casually mentioned that he was letting me do that. What made it a little more awkward was that everyone seemed to know that I have been training in BJJ, so they were keen to see what I could come up with. Erm, not very much seemed to be my reponse. Oh well, maybe Royce Gracie, who is coming this Friday, can offer me a few tips on handling giant opponents. The good thing was that I did show my face, especially in the light of the news below:

A few rucktions within the JJ association have happened this week. Four very senior senseis, representing about a dozen clubs, have declared their split from the association with immediate effect. This has been very sudden and no one seems to know the true reason. I am assured that it was an amicable split, but it is still sad to see their departure. The JJ association remains healthy though, with clubs expanding all the time and students joining in their dozens each week, so I am sure it will take the news in its stride.

Off to revise my defences against titanic sized opponents now....

byMeerkatsu

in

February 16, 2006

Rumble in the docks

Meerkat popped down to Tilbury last night to pick up some club merchandise and managed to wind up training with head of JJ. Actually, what h...

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Crazy Training

Blimey - had to share these pics with you.






They came from Rob's friend Kaoru Kawai, a karate instructor in Japan.

Hmmm, training ideas for the next session...

BUT, not before I attend them mighty Royce Gracie's forthcoming seminar. I really enjoyed it last time and hope, a year on, I will be able to understandmore of the techniques he shows for my own use.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 07, 2006

Crazy Training

Blimey - had to share these pics with you. They came from Rob's friend Kaoru Kawai, a karate instructor in Japan. Hmmm, trainin...

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Cage Rage 15

I managed to get away from the little one last night and enjoyed another scintillating night's entertainment at Cage Rage 15. Good to see Brad being taken to very edge by a very good opponent, and still maintaining his crown as UK featherwight champ but sad to hear the booboys who disagreed with the decision. I thought it was close but Brad edged it.
Good to also see the Americans coming over and using solid BJJ groundwork to eventually tap out their opponents. Although one chap, who is a boxer by training, refused to mix it up on the ground against a Japanese wrestler. That fight got a bit predictable and boring in the end.
Bizarrest match up of the night was giant handlebar-moustachioued newcomerDave Legeno versus Japanese wrestler simply known as 'The Punk'. What the punk lacked in size, he made up for in technique and won with a rare ankle lock. Something tells me though that we'll see more of Legeno as his ego is as huge as his presence.
Another interesting fight was that of Jason Delucia. Representing his own style called 'CombatAikdo' he is a veteran cage fighter of mixed fortunes. Tonight, he fell victim to a classic armbar within two minutes by Brazilian fighter Fabio Piermonte.
I think my favourite fight of the night was the wiley Jean Silva against young Brit Paul Daley. Jean, a BJJ specialist seemed to want to prove himself as a stand-up, and Daley, clearly a stand-up, was playing tactical cat and mouse. It lacked the big gun fireworks but I found it enthralling as each one tried to size the other up. Daley was more than amatch for Silva but unfortunately broke his thumb during the fight and had to stop, handing Silva the victory. There will be a re-match and I lok forward to it.
There were lots of other fights but my time away was limited so I missed the mighty Cyborg being defeated by Muay Thai expert Melvin Manhoef.
Roll on CR-16!

byMeerkatsu

in

February 05, 2006

Cage Rage 15

I managed to get away from the little one last night and enjoyed another scintillating night's entertainment at Cage Rage 15. Good to se...

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