6 Jun 2008

Heel to toe

I managed to sneek some BJJ in last night at Mill Hill and I'm glad I made the effort as Jude Samuel, the first ever Brit to earn a black belt at BJJ, turned up to take the mat. We went through techniques from the De La Riva guard - a sort of sideways on open guard on a uke who is standing - it was my first go at De La riva and I must say I really enjoyed executing them. From the De La Riva, you can perform simple but brutally effective sweeps.
Jude is a good communicator and teacher, and took his time to look at everyone's technique, correcting as they went along. Of course he happily got stuck into sparring with various members, except me as usual I always end up missing out on sparring with the black belts. However I did have a jolly good run with young medal winning no-stopping him Daniel Strauss, I almost got a few sweeps on him before I inevitably succumbed to his back taking chokes. He was gracious enough to compliment me on my improvement - but all I could feel was a very fatigued nearly-40 year old self panting for breath. Actually, at Mill Hill, I always get to spar with either Daniel, Nick or the other high grades which really helps my game a lot. Sure I end up being easy prey for them, but it's the quickest way to learn, especially as my infrequent attendence can lead to some ropey habits creeping in.

Meerkat would like to take this opportunity to wish his trad JJ sensei - Grant - the very best in his attempt to grade for his fourth dan (with a broken foot bone too). Another one with a broken foot, is our club assistant instructor, David T, who suffered the indignity of breaking a bone during a warm up exercise. Hope it heals soon Dave!

About the Author

Meerkatsu

Author & Artist

Meerkatsu is the artist name for BJJ black belt Seymour Yang.

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