Raspberry Ape

I'm so incredibly excited to write about this design. It's my first ever collaboration with uber cool fightwear brand Scramble.

Let me explain a little more about the 'Raspberry Ape'. It is the nick name for British grappler, and fellow Mill Hill BJJ team mate, Daniel Strauss. I have no idea why he calls himself that moniker, and I suspect neither does he. It's a sort of mash up of two words that should never be. But it be.

At the weekend Daniel set the UK BJJ scene buzzing with news of his exploits in Finland at the European qualifiers for the ADCC finals. For those who don't know, ADCC is the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. It is a no-gi grappling tournament, originally established by some very rich sheikhs, aimed at attracting only the very best of the best to compete for the lucrative cash prizes. Daniel won the European qualifiers in utter style. Submitting four opponents and winning one by points. It means he gets to compete in his division against the likes of JT Torres, Kron Gracie, Leo Viera, Marcelo Garcia, Gunnar Nelson...the list goes on. It is unarguably the single biggest no-gi grappling event on the circuit and we're all very proud of how far Daniel has come, and I rather suspect could continue to go very much further. We'll find out come September.

Here's a photo of him in action from the weekend (sorry photographer, I don't know who you are):

Oh, coming back to the T-shirt. Daniel asked me ages ago to draw him a mascot for his new nick name and I must have drawn about a dozen failed attempts at a raspberry themed ape of some sort. Then it hit me. After his awesome performance at the Submission 1000 event, why not draw a gorilla in full wrestling mask and cape regalia?

I think I probably spent a total of 20 minutes on the whole ape design which is unusual for me as I normally spend weeks on something. Anyway, Matt from Scramble loved the logo and requested to make the official Raspberry Ape t-shirt. He added his own, brilliant Planet of the Apes spin to the design and voila! The Scramble x Meerkatsu x Raspberry Ape signature T-shirt. Quite a mouthful!

The back:

and my not too modest trademark:

They're so tasty even I bought a bunch. I'll be giving a couple away on my Facebook page so tune in and see what cunning quiz I can devise this time!

Or you can buy them from the Scramble website. Hurry, they're selling out fast already I hear.

http://www.scramblestuff.com/Scramble-Raspberry-Ape-Signature-Tee_p_65.html

:)