Santa does Jiu-Jitsu

Okay so here's the dilemma - do you purchase your own Christmas gift now, or wait until you 'think' your loved one has ordered you your heart's most desired gi on the actual day? Oh and what about the January sales? Surely there will be some fightwear bargains to be had after Christmas, right?

Well here are a few things happening right NOW that you really should try to get a handle on.

First, my good friends over at Scramble, MMAOutlet and BJJWeekly are joining forces to do something cute - they're offering you the chance to win a Scramble package including Scramble rash gear and tees, an incredible $50 voucher from MMA Outlet, and one of BJJ Weekly’s fine jiu jitsu t-shirts.

Here's what the Scramble boys say:

The competition is simple. Santa is practising his BJJ in five pictures which will contain clues as to the identity of a famous fighter. One will be released in the BJJ Weekly newsletter (be sure to sign up so you don’t miss out on the first clue) on 6th December. The remaining four will be hidden somewhere on both the MMA Outlet website and the Scramble website on the 7th and 8th of December. You’ll have to have a root around those sites on those two days to find the hidden images. Once you’ve found the pictures and the clues, you should be able to piece it together to find out who the famous fighter is. The first person to post the correct fighter’s name on the Scramble Facebook page will win the Christmas booty! Make your guess wisely though as you’re only allowed one guess per person; multiple guesses will be void! AND you aren’t allowed to start guessing until a post on the Scramble Facebook page tells you to.
The winner will be announced on Friday 10th December!  Good luck and happy hunting!

Oh and even if you don't win the three prizes on offer, you can at least console yourself with a free keyring and funky sticker whenever you purchase two or more products from the Scramble website (as seen hanging on my Christmas tree photo above).

Speaking of MMA Outlet, I'm pretty impressed with this US fightwear shop - Mike is on the email to me every few weeks with news of this and that so I finally asked, can readers of this blog get a discount? Mike said yes sure! so here it is:

MMA Outlet discount coupon code: type MEERKATSU at checkout for 5% off.
Now let's see, ooh they sell Sprawl, Vulkan, Break Point, Atama, Fuji...the list goes on omg I'm so filling up my Christmas shopping list right now!

That's not all friends, don't forget you can always get a handy 5% discount of all Tatami Fightwear products by just typing in MEERKATSU5 at checkout. And while I'm on the subject of Tatami, I see they've just produced a very slick video advert featuring my good friends David Onuma, Pippa Granger, Daniel Agard, Pedro Bessa, Greg Creel and Kevin Cox. Enjoy...

Tatami Fight Wear from Chris Reason on Vimeo.

:)

byMeerkatsu

in shopping

November 30, 2010

Santa does Jiu-Jitsu

Okay so here's the dilemma - do you purchase your own Christmas gift now, or wait until you 'think' your loved one has ordered y...

Read More

Best Fight in the World

There is an internet sensation sweeping the UK BJJ scene at the moment. He goes by the name of Faixaruakimonos and he has been lighting up fight forums with his unique brand of cutting humour. His posts are the stuff of legend. But who is Faixa Rua?

Some say he is from Brazil and a veteran of the BJJ scene now making his own brand of BJJ kimonos, some say he is an impersonator with a genius marketing plan. Who knows? What is true, is that his posts are side splittingly funny and provide welcome light relief from the heated debates that can rage on these forums.

Here are some of examples from the wisdom that is...Faixa:

On the subject of junior grades in BJJ:

frens,
here at Faixa Rua Kimono's we gonna make big promise to you guys we never gonna makey green belts in adult size for sure we carry on for make Green Belt in A1 but if fat kid
wanna green they gonna have lose wait first. So,for sure we gonna support the kids (cept fatty ones) but we NEVER gonna sell out and make adult green belt in brasil the guys already larfing at stupid americans and you guys need for make sure UK don't end up look dumb too.

In response to a rival gi maker:

we no make karate kimono,we no sponsor karate fighter,we only make best fight in world

A summary of how the sizes work out:
Here is special gi for make best fight in the world, not for Judo guy lie on front and turtle, made for jiu jitsu guy make best clock choke in the world.

All sizes from A1 to A5. If you very small then you A1, very fat man is A5, most guys A2 or A3

A1 really small guy, maybe girl.
A2 normal guy, wishes he bit taller though.
A3 Normal guy, make good fight,
A4 Tall guy, always hard find nice gi.
A5 tall guy who fat also, if get side position you big trouble.

Some advice to a poster worried about body odour:
make sure carry spray deodorant in kit bag and when guy in changing room
befor class get tough purple belt hold him from back while you spray him for
least 1 minute in face and all over body shout "now you not gonna smell like grannies pussy!"
this how we deal with problem in Brazil
Faixa Rua's favorite spray is Lynx Oriental for this job

Advice to a beginner on what not to do on your first lesson:

no go to academy with sperm on stomach

On the subject of alleged 'fake' dojos selling on-line BJJ tuition:

man those guys faggot cocks i clock choke those mother fuckers in name of BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU those guys not even pass guarde of my granny,Rob T you me hangry now-why those guys llowed operate?
who gonna smash them?? someone need for go academy and get mount and punch in face front of students then burn their patches and confiskate belt and kick down road until for bleed in gutter.
IS BULLSHEET,NO?

On the subject of differences between the BJJ belt levels:

blue belt=gonna submit most beginner ease include guys from karate and kung fu.blue belt able not get hurt if fight muscle head steroidy on beach or outside club.
purple belt=he nasty guy.gonna be able smash people.SMASH THEM.
brown belt=able twist evryone up real good and still not breath heavy.he not even gonna fight in street no more incase he kill someone.
blackbelt=professor.sometime nice sometime if upset bit dangerous.if pass his guarde he gonna be upset so careful.some blackbelt crazy other nice guy.some gonna contrate on vale tudo,other gonna teach jiu jitsu for student.some gonna be very technical other just tough if guy both he gonna do well in mundial.
ALL CAN DEFEN USING BEST FIGHT IN WORLD

In response to a heated debate between a rival gi maker and Carlson Gracie Club:

man you guys crazey. Argue with karate guy on Internet like argue with woman on minstrel cycle. in Brazil we jus have fight an then never talk to other again an swear life long blood feud
so our children never can be frens as well. maybe that Brazilian way best,is more simple no?

Finally, some thoughts in response to a poster who wondered if Krav Maga was any good?

my fren,
is shit.
i choke most guy for fun but for a krav maga guy i gonna twist him up reel nice.

So watch your back, Faixa Rua is coming and he gonna clock choke you real good if you not wear his nice new gi.

byMeerkatsu

in BJJ, shopping, uniforms

November 20, 2008

Best Fight in the World

There is an internet sensation sweeping the UK BJJ scene at the moment. He goes by the name of Faixaruakimonos and he has been lighting up f...

Read More

The Patriot

With the news of a wonderful new president-elect over in the US of A, I thought it was time to celebrate by illustrating some of the more 'interesting' martial arts uniforms your average punter at Rex-Kwon-do can purchase over the net. Enjoy!






And let us not forget our style 'sensei', Master Rex himself. Ooooos!

byMeerkatsu

in shopping, uniforms

November 10, 2008

The Patriot

With the news of a wonderful new president-elect over in the US of A, I thought it was time to celebrate by illustrating some of the more ...

Read More

Shop 'til you Tai Otoshi

I missed SENI08. Completely forgot about it. Some people fought, some won, some lost. Who cares. Actually I do. SENI is Europe’s biggest martial arts expo. And the Gracie Invitational is the biggest tournament in it. One day I will compete, one day…
More on this later as I find out who won and who lost from my small BJJ circle of sparring pals.
Actually I can probably tell that the Roger Gracie Team won their usual haul of bling - if last BJJ class was anything to go by. I got tapped four times in a row, by exactly the same four techniques. As usual with many of these things, the very simplest of things would have prevented me from falling into the trap each time. Nick showed me how to defend that trap, then I fell for it again. Duh!

Been shopping recently for MA gear for my club. I’m going to use this opportunity to review and rate online martial arts shops:

BLITZ – This is a very well established brand and store. Only sell their own stuff.
PROS: Tons of trad and MMA stuff at very good trade/club prices. Quality of their own brand equipment is high and they update and upgrade their stock frequently.
For example, a basic Blitz gi I bought ten years ago is still in excellent condition despite hours and hours of sweaty training and rigorous grappling. They've also got a great Bargain Bin. I've found all manner of end-of-line stuff at knockdown prices. I love bargain bins.
CONS: Usually I visit the actual store and buy on site, but the one time I ordered online and they cock up big time. The telephone sales help was useless and it took a stiffly worded letter to the Managing Director to get them to respond and refund me. This gave me the chance to try some other stores out. It's also rubbish for return of faulty goods. Forms to fill, purchase order numbers to quote etc etc.

BYTOMIC – Lots of own-brand and name brand equipment.
PROS: Great easy to use website. Lots of choice for both basic trad, MMA. Also have a lot of interesting novelty and alternative MA products. Fast online support and helpline. Fast delivery. I've been using these guys a lot recently.
CONS: Slightly more expensive club/trade prices than Blitz. No BJJ uniforms. Other than that, nothing to complain about.

BLACK EAGLE – Recently established, selling own brand and name brand gear..
PROS: Good quality products. They make a very good and surprisingly cheap BJJ kimono. Excellent customer support. The owner gets back to your emails or calls you personally within the day.
CONS: More expensive than Blitz, not a great choice of equipment overall. I think it is one of the owners who poses in all the photos, looks a tad unslick since bless him, he's no finely honed athlete.

TAO SPORTS – Small high street shop recently expanded into large online store.
PROS: Quality, quality, quality. I’ve bought from Tao for years and their own-brand stuff is top quality. My kickboxing trousers have been worn for years and years and my own knees are more likely to wear out before the trousers do. Similarly, their boxing gloves are wonderfully garish and excellently made. My Tao judo gi could survive a nuclear war.
The customer support is one of the best, with almost immediate response.
CONS: Well you got to pay a lot more for good quality. Not a huge range of gear, but got all the basics.

MMA Universe - Very popular site solely dedicated to MMA and BJJ.
PROS: Probably the best place to buy MMA and BJJ gear, although their range is a bit limited. Eg millions of Wanderlei Silva, Koral and BTT stuff, but the MMA and BJJ world is vaster than just those brands. Would like to see more choice. Keenly priced though.
CONS: You need to purchase a minimum of £65 to claim the club or trade discounts, which is too steep if all you are buying are a load of groin guards. Blitz have no minimum fee. As for choice, BJJ and MMA punters should also check out...

Dragon Bleu - This French company sells a large range of trad, MMA and BJJ gear.
PROS: Huge range, keenly priced, postage is surprisingly affordable considering they have to ship to another country.
CONS: No club or trade discount. I bought an Atama gi from them and although the spec was the same as the one I ordered from USA, it was physically very different. I presume Atama tweek the design for different markets, but you don't know this until it arrives. Customer support is adequate.

International purchases - I've also purchased one-off items from lots of other shops including from the USA. Buying from the States doesn't really save much money since you pay huge amounts for shipping and tax. And it could take months to arrive or days, just pot luck. But you do get the chance ot buy stuff not available in the UK and the customer service I have found to be pretty high. I have read on forums that buying kimonos from Brazil can be a nightmare, so watch out. Finally, ages ago I saw one shop seriously selling an outrageous Stars and Stripes karate gi. I can't find it now. I'm dying to see it again, and of course laugh at the hilarity of such a concept. In fact, I might just blog an article about hilarious martial arts products.

Coming soon...Meerkat's recommended martial arts books.

byMeerkatsu

in BJJ, shopping, websites

April 30, 2008

Shop 'til you Tai Otoshi

I missed SENI08 . Completely forgot about it. Some people fought, some won, some lost. Who cares. Actually I do. SENI is Europe’s biggest ma...

Read More