Cartwheels and strangles

Following last year’s popular seminar, Eddie Kone popped down to Imperial dojo again yesterday. I asked him this time to begin with the Gracie’s take on self defence before moving onto sport BJJ. He was happy to oblige and began with defences to a two-handed strangle and pushes against the chest. There was something of a muted appreciation from the students. Uh oh, I thought, maybe they were giving the old ‘seen it all before’ attitude (we have very similar techniques in our white belt), but before long, these simple starters quickly progressed to more diverse techniques that got our crowd wowing with jitsu glee. From the hip throw, Eddie showed various restraining methods from the knee on belly hold down with armbars and chokeholds aplenty. After a brief interlude, the second half of the session was dedicated to sport BJJ starting with a standing takedown so cheeky it surely would never work (but it does!), counters, some simple chokeholds utilising the lapel, triangles and knee bar submissions. Eddie also showed that many of these could be done without the gi. The finale, was a very quick demo of the cartwheel guard pass (done properly, rather than my lame effort at the comps) and a takedown that somehow ended up in a foot lock that defied belief – and to the gasp of the audience. The session was clearly a big success with all the Imperial students chattering away about how cool the techniques were and asking Eddie for details about his classes.
Ju-Jitsu styles fall under many names and each purports to be the definitive art.

For me, IMHO, they are all valid and one should open the eyes to all the other systems out there and learn as much as one can. This will make you a better martial artist.My big thanks to Eddie, and to Greg and Brian from RGDA-UK who assisted. Eddie is off now for a whirlwind tour of Europe giving seminars and promoting the Gracie style of jujitsu. We wish him luck and hopefully another return to Imperial next year.