Thursday 12 November 2015

UKBJJA Rankings - English Open Preview


In a break from my normal blogging format, here’s a little look at the front runners in the UKBJJA rankings going into the English Open. As a 4x weighted tournament everything is up for grabs in pursuit of a support package for the European Championships in January 2016.

Information taken from the UKBJJA rankings 
http://uk.ukbjja.org/ranking

Apologies I don’t know enough about white belts to comment.

Blue 

Looking at the top of the blue belt rankings Ashley Amos is the current favourite, with second place Reece Doran not taking part in the English, Louis Corazza is his next nearest competitor but is over 100 points behind. Ash came top of the White belt rankings last year and competed in Lisbon before having an extremely strong first year at blue belt.

One potential road block for Ashley is Gracie Barra Nottingham Super Heavyweight Tom Spibey. Tom leads the nogi rankings but until this weekend only had 9 points in the gi. Winning at Nottingham and taking the absolute in a close out with fellow GB Nottingham competitors has catapulted him up to 4th in the runnings. 

Sitting in the same division as Ash he proves the biggest challenge to the super heavyweight title and the 108 points for the gold would lead for a tight conclusion as both of these men would be expected to make waves in the absolute.

As the super heavyweights collide Spibey’s challenge could also be of benefit to Corazza, anything less than gold for Amos opens the door for Corazza who has shown to be strong in absolutes. With plenty of other strong competitors the blue belt absolute should be highly entertaining.

Purple

It’s a two man battle in the Purple belt rankings between Bryn Jenkins from Chris Rees Academy and Sean Coates from Gracie Barra Nottingham. Bryn has been nudging a small lead but a win for Sean in weight and absolute at the Nottingham Open this last weekend netted him another 67.5 points, giving him the lead with 432 points to 378. 

They are both favourite to win their divisions with Bryn having tougher task with a larger division including Carlson Gracie stand out Taylor Pearlman. The absolute should decide this one, netting the top spot would send either of them to Lisbon
Let’s hope they meet in the finals.

Brown

With a lot of names missing from the competitor lists at Brown belt (including Sean McDonagh and Jamie Hughes) no change is expected with Allan Love likely to remain at the top

Black

Relatively few black belts on the board at the moment. The man to beat Jack Mcghee, will be in action against Rob Taylor on Sunday. However if a competitor was to win their division and the black belt absolute they could topple Mcghee even if he wins his division so Jack also needs a strong showing in the absolute.


Womens

Blue

With Ffion Davies being promoted to purple belt following her World Nogi double gold this division is wide open any of the top 10 ladies could take the top spot with a commanding performance at the English.

Purple

Kat Hill is practically unassailable, the points difference between her and Sophie Walters is more than the points for gold absolute. I can’t see Kat losing in her division which will give her the top spot. 

Sadly there are no Brown or Black belt women’s matches taking place this year.

Thursday 22 October 2015

IBJJF London 2015

Blogging ain’t easy, or at least it’s been far too easy to put off, I’ve succumbed to writers block for over six months which I’m going to put down as a side effect from all the wrist locks Ed Ingamells slams on at the gym.

So a funny thing has happened since my last blog, I’ve been winning (fairly consistently). I became a British Champion in the masters division, won the fabled Kleos Warhammer (which I take to dinner parties) and I became an endorsed athlete for Meerkatsu, which is fantastic as I was wearing all the gear already.

So why is it harder to write about winning? I think the trials and tribulations of a tournament, all the little quirks and anecdotes that come from competing are more interesting that a collection of medals. Not that I don’t love medals, but my knowledge and understanding of Jiu Jitsu still isn’t on the level that I can provide a detailed technical analysis of my performance while maintaining a modicum of interest.

So.... Crystal Palace, as a north Londoner, it may as well be on the moon. If venturing to London Bridge is a challenge and going past Brixton unheard of, then the idea of trudging down to Crystal Palace strikes terror into the average north Londoner. There’s almost always engineering works to ruin your journey and if you’re travelling by car you may as well go to Birmingham.

I’ve described the European championships as a festival of Jiu Jitsu, almost like Glastonbury, if so then IBJJF London is more like V Festival or Wireless. The atmosphere isn’t as special, the corporate stench is undeniable and it doesn’t seem to attract the big names. It’s a long time since I’ve been to V, yet I once again make the journey to the London Open as despite my complaints and the ridiculous entry fees it is still a high level comp happening on my doorstep.

Saturday brings the Gi competition, everyone looks slightly brighter than normal, presumably bringing out their newest gis to avoid the gaze of the overzealous gi checkers. My team had been primarily training for the nogi so I see fewer familiar faces, those that are here are our battle hardened competitors that seem to have less rest days and more silver wear than I do.
I don’t remember much about my first match, I hadn’t warmed up properly and felt stiff and slow both physically and mentally but ended up with some combination of points which gave me the win.  By the second match I was a lot more relaxed and managed to lure my opponent into my guard to secure a triangle.

There was a little minor controversy in the final when my opponent came up for a sweep, I was able to defend grabbing a single leg which allowed me to return him to the ground for which I was awarded two points. My opponents corner went crazy, shouting that it shouldn’t warrant takedown points, I’m inclined to agree but given I cannot speak to the ref or want to interrupt the flow of the match I kept quiet and focused. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance and avoid any appeals so continued to work my way to the mount and secure an arm bar.

It was getting pretty late by the time of the absolute, the hall was beginning to empty and several of my team had gone home to rest for the next day. The brackets had put me in with all the heavy guys leaving one ultra-heavyweight to steam roll his way through a field of lightweights.

My first match was against the heavy champion who rather than muscle me around the mat confused the hell out of me by pulling deep half guard. I managed to block his sweep attempt and pull my foot out to pass the guard, I was braced against the coming storm that occurs whenever a heavy weight is about to concede points. Regardless of how technical they are when they know they’re just a 3 count away from a pass they hulk out and try and launch you overhead with a massive bench-press. Having survived this I switched to knee on belly, my opponent seemed desperate to come up, so I slid my arm under his throat as he did so allowing him to come up into a patented Deathatine (all rights reserved APE industries). While guillotines aren’t strictly ‘gi moves’, I figure if it’s there, it’s there.
Next up was the super-heavy champion who I needed to beat to meet the ultra-heavy guy in the final (I was really questioning my life decisions at this point). There was quite a bit of back and forth with me sweeping and him looking to come back on top, I eventually managed to flatten him out in half guard working a tight crossface but unable to release my foot. I kept him there for what felt like two minutes, fighting the whole time to release my encumbered appendage to no avail.


With 40 seconds remaining I gave him a glimmer of space and looked to retreat backwards towards open guard, but I stopped halfway looking to knee slice through his freshly recovered guard. But my technique abandoned me and he rose up from the ground using all the strength his 100kg frame would allow lifting me up high and planting me through the canvas for a last second sweep. I scrambled to prevent the pass coming to a rest in half guard as the whistle blew. Sadly the advantages went in his favour and I’d blown it in the final seconds.  


I then proceeded to watch the final as my conqueror faced off with the ultra-heavyweight beast. I witnessed my tormentor brought low by the weight of the rotund (but surprisingly athletic) colossus. I thought as to my game plan for facing such a man, how to avoid his death grips and overcome, but I would have to wait to step onto the mat as I put this to the test on Day Two of the London Open... 

Friday 3 April 2015

English Nogi Open

*as in the pizza eating ninja not
not the genius painter /inventor
Training for the English Open Nogi heralded the Renaissance of Nogi training at Mill Hill BJJ. Considering we have the Michelangelo of British Nogi* Daniel Strauss as an instructor it is near criminal that this aspect of training is marginalised to one class a week.

Dan worked hard to shape the team with an enhanced Nogi programme, extra sessions, structured drills, tons of sparring and inspirational rants that eventually devolved into character assassination on whoever was foolish enough to miss the sessions.

Oh and guillotines, Dan loves guillotines!

By the time of the tournament we were a team, a cohesive fighting machine, a happy few, a band of brothers. We were even supposed to have custom rashguards but were let down by the manufacturer who clearly didn't want the publicity of a dozen podium pics.

Lacking any viable means of transport I managed to blag a ride with Dan along with my teammate Michael Hawkins. Dan had messaged me to ask if I was allergic to dogs so shouldn't have been surprised when he turned up with one yapping away in the front of his car. I was put on dog protection duty or rather car protection duty, tasked with sitting in the passenger seat and ensuring that the dog at my feet didn't make contact with the plush leather interiors of Dan's BMW, I was given a basket and used it to erect a dog proof blockade while trying to maintain a comfortable balance in leg room between the dog and myself on the journey down to Dartford.

We had a bit of an incident on route when a cheerful van driver took exception to Dan's driving, this quickly escalated to slanging match at the lights with both parties goading each other to get out of there vehicles. I was trapped between the two combatants, sitting completely deadpan with a dog on my lap praying we would get to the competition without Dan choking some poor guy unconscious in the middle of the North Circular.  Yet another reason for not starting fights with strangers, you never know if the other guy is and ADCC competitor. Thankfully the lights changed and we speed off, once again cutting up the van driver.

Arriving at the venue I was impressed by the level of skill shown in the white belt division as I followed the progress of my teammates. One guy who had been desperately cutting weight in a sweatsuit thirty minutes before was wearing a groin guard (illegal) under white vale tudo shorts and clearly no underwear (super illegal and really gross). Having already armbarred two guys the referee finally spotted the infringing object and gave him two minutes to remove it, as he went to the changing rooms I was praying he'd come back with some pants as the last line of defense had now been stripped away.

Our two white belts made it to the bronze medal match and decided to fight each other in the spirit of friendly competition. This started out with a bit of back and fought, a flowing series of positional exchanges that got progressively harder as the match progressed, like when you say you'll roll light but by the end of the round its turned into the Mundials finals (ok maybe that's just me?).

I also got the privilege to watch Dan tear through the black belt division, demolishing seasoned competitors in seconds to the point that whole fights fit easily on instagram.

In fact the whole team did fantastic with too many great performances to note, (although if I don't say how well Mike did then I'm liable to loose an arm) we came together providing support and advice where appropriate or just shouting the time.






As for me, I managed to take gold in my division, starting off slow in the first match I managed to catch a couple of half guard sweeps ending the match 6-0. My opponent was attempting to guillotine me but I didn't feel they were dangerous, opting to use his resulting lack of base to come on top and work to pass.

My second match was over quickly as I was able to use my faithful triangle set up (details of which are too secret to mention here). In the final I managed to sweep and pass before it ended up back on the feet after a scramble.

There was a quick medical break to attempt to stem the flow of blood from my opponents ear, I wondered at the time how it happened but remember now my attempts to go knee of face (a rather painful technique but it's a Carlson Gracie run competition so it would be rude not to). After the restart I worked my way to my opponents back and sunk in a rear naked choke.

I also had a disastrous run at the absolute division, initially drawn against one of my teammates we managed to switch the brackets which put me against an ultra heavyweight. I was able to break his closed guard and was moving around his open guard when he wrapped my foot, the referee warned him that he was close to reaping but given the weight discrepancy even at this point my knee made an audible pop and both myself and my opponent stopped what we were doing leaving the referee bemused. I moved off the mat and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting with an ice pack, a bit of a downer to an otherwise great day.

Video courtesy of Louis Coakley 

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Tuesday 3 March 2015

IBJJF European Championship 2015

In the last installment I turned to the internet to get hold of a competition legal blue belt, it was actually a huge success. I turned down my girlfriends early offer which featured a couple of unfair contractual terms and settled on a deal that included two packets of cashews and half a bar of chocolate.

I would like to thank my European belt sponsor The Raspberry Ape Daniel Strauss, who came through in my hour of need. A world class black belt, strength guru, nutritional expert  and ninja, Dan is available for seminars, superfights, weddings and bar mitzvahs.
                                                                                                       




The European Championships is big, with over 3,400 competitors this years comp was the biggest Jiu Jitsu tournament EVER. It is a festival of Jiu Jitsu spanning five days, the halls of the sports centre lined with merchandise and acai, throw in a falafel stall and a couple of bands and you'd have a weirdly violent glastonbury.

Just like a festival I had planned meticulously what I wanted to watch, preparing a colour coded clashfinder listing all the times my team mates would be competing allowing me to fit the sightseeing in around the important stuff.

Tasty Bacalhau
Lacking a set of scales at the hotel and after indulging in some Bacalhau (salted cod a Portuguese speciality), I was pleased to make weight the day before I was set to compete.

The uniform checks at these big tournaments are verging on fascist, they seemingly have a quota of people to disqualify before they step on to step on the mats. Guys I had never met where asking to borrow my immaculately new blue belt, I was more worried about my patches and sat in the changing rooms biting off the loose threads from around the edges of my trousers.

Entering the bull pen full of expectant competitors it was remarkably calm, everyone taking part has come a long way, training hard and competing often before they get to this point so nerves were not apparent. I put aside any trepidations about the quality of competition and readied myself for the coming storm.

Called to the mat I strolled with purpose past three other matches and waited on the outcome of the previous bout.  When my match started I did the awkward shuffle of someone with no real stand up skills, clearing my opponents grips I used his momentum to pull him deep into my guard. My collar grip remained in place and his head was fortuitously stuffed under my arm pit. Locked in my close guard I didn't think a guillotine attempt would be successful at this level and maintained the head control to look to set up my traditional guard game. Having noticed my opponent was doing little in the way of hand fighting I shot my other hand and raised the elbow towards the sky drawing the tap in fifty seconds.

Winning your first match at the Euros anything seems possible, you know that everyone is beatable and just want to face them all one at a time until there's no one left, so imagine my disappointment when I went out in the next round. There were a number of extenuating circumstances (also known as excuses), with my opponent sinking his teeth into my arm. There was also an unfortunate referee intervention, a stalling penalty for my opponent he interpreted as a restart from the feet (I am clearly at fault for letting him up) and then immediately dived for a knee slide attempt.

The guy who beat me went on to take the gold medal, leaving me with regrets and dreams of what could have been. At one point in the match I had the European champion locked in a submission but didn't have what it took on the day to finish it, despite all the work it was just not my year.

Over the next few days I was on an emotional rollercoaster following my team mates and other UK competitors journeys through the tournament, the highlight seeing Sophie Walters take gold a few weeks after being promoted to purple belt.

I also celebrated my 31st birthday out in Lisbon (now being deep into the heart of the masters division), with a great night out on the cobbled streets of Barrio Alto, drinking with friends and bumping into recognisable faces I've met over the years and once again seeing Jiu Jitsu as a community who come together in the towns and cities across the globe to hang out and attempt to choke each other unconscious for medals and souvenir t-shirts.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

One Blue Belt

Ol' Bluey
I'm all set to travel to Lisbon in two weeks for the IBJJF European Championships, I've got my flights booked and my hotel sorted, in fact the only thing I am missing is One Blue Belt.

In the last two years as a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu I have competed countless times, in countless matches (well 51 last year), putting in countless hours on the mat (I lie, I've got a spreadsheet) all of which has left my belt banged up and frayed, which is precisely how I like it as it reflects all the work I've put in along the way. However my faded belt is unlikely to pass the rigorous inspection of those exceptionally well dressed individuals who make up the referees and officials at the Europeans.

So I'm turning to you, the internet for help! I'm seeking a new or decent condition A3 blue belt and promise in return 100 karma points* (*karma points are non refundable).

Last years bling has been melted down for scrap
If you run a sportwear company you could see your little piece of cotton travel to foreign lands and possibly ascend the highest podium in the continent.

If you own a dodgy plumbing firm and provide financial backing (RRP £10-15 plus postage) then I could wear your t-shirt while drunkenly reveling in victory on the streets of Lisbon.

Maybe your a politician looking to distract the public from a scandal with a display of unbridled generosity, or perhaps your a purple belt who has no use for your old belt and would like to see it once again strike fear into your enemies (yes that's right, I'll fight your enemies).

Plus you'll get to see my successes and failures documented on this very blog in what promises to be enthralling fashion. So to paraphrase Princess Leia's impassioned pleading at the beginning of Episode IV 'Help me... You're my only hope'

Monday 5 January 2015

Grapplenation III: The lost comp diaries

New year = New start, as my comp blogging fell off at the end of the year (thanks a lot new X Box!)
This was supposed to be the first in a three comp odyssey covering Grapplenation, the English Open and Nottingham Open but now stands alone like a confused puppy separated from it's siblings.

Signing up for three competitions in three consecutive weekends seemed like a good way to wrap up 'comp season'. An attempt to reach and sustain an athletic peak in performance and the maintain the dietary necessities to tip the scales at a somewhat lean 88.3kg. In actuality I've been left emotionally drained and physically battered with a strained hip flexor, ambling back to work like someone twice my age.

Grapplenation sounded like a good excuse for a team roadtrip, we had plenty to celebrate with Jack Cronin returning from a lay off to take gold in the Advance nogi category as well as Ed Ingamells dominating performance against a local MMA favourite. Ed's affable persona being severely tested by an opponent who denied his cries of pain constitituted a verbal submission as well as driving his elbows into Ed's severly swollen knee, a technique most frequently employed by white belts and brutes.
In the North they have fog... Indoors

The clue was in the name but Grapplenation attracted a lot of MMA types, unused to the intricacies of the rules they're competing under, not that most people are aware of the rules at an average BJJ tournament.

My opponent in the second round was clearly a strong wrestler, I watched in his previous match as he bullied the other guy on the feet. I quickly pulled guard and managed to shut down his wrestling and frustrate him with the closed guard, after a few minutes of searching for sweeps and subs the guy falls back for a straight footlock allowing me to come up he switches for a heel hook drawing the disqualification.

Due to a couple of drop outs the organisers decided to put this guy straight back into the bracket to compete against a guy who had got a couple of byes, this would make the winner my next opponent in the semi final. I told the table that I would not fight him again as a felt he was unsafe, which drew derision from his team mates and almost got me disqualified. After explaining my position to the organiser Mr Heel Hook was switched to the other side of the bracket, he was quickly caught in a triangle from which he picks his opponent up to head height, at this stage all the spectators as well the referee are yelling for him not to slam, but hey he's an MMA guy so channels his inner Rampage Jackson and spikes the guy on his head.

I'm sure he is a talented grappler but DQ's are there for the safety of all competitors and lightening will strike twice. Thankfully neither I or the victim of the slam were injured and MMA guy was likely disqualified from driving on the way home from the competition.
 


Monday 27 October 2014

IBJJF London 2014

Despite the high cost and the fact that Crystal Palace is so far south it should no way be classed as London, I have always enjoyed IBJJF competitions. The perceived importance and the questionable lure of international ranking points draws competitors from across Europe and I embrace the multiculturalism of engaging in combat with people of all creeds and races.

Competing on successive days in both gi and nogi, the London Open is a festival of Jiu Jitsu with all the trimmings of your modern music festival, hipster beards, ironic t-shirts and overpriced coffee. I considered deviating at this point to compare the various BJJ teams to musical tribes with their black belts substituting for iconic musicians but I'd likely offend someone and have already overplayed the metaphor (no one wants to be compared to Bono).  

Saturday was the gi day, I managed to pull off a triangle in my first match though not without a lot of effort. One of the hardest things is keeping track of time and ensuring you maintain a consistent pace, with only 5 minute matches in my category time can slip away and history is not often written by the guard player.

My second match saw me on the bottom end of a simultaneous guard jump, trying to fight my way back after being squashed into deep half guard. The real story of the match was having to rely on my B-game, failing to lock in the infamous Baratoplata conceding the pass and the decisive points on the buzzer.

I decided to wait around the 4-5 hours before the absolute, my patience was rewarded by facing an ultra heavy competitor in the first round (+100kg). The score ended up 0-0 as I was able to effectively utilise the knee shield to prevent myself from being put on my back while hunting for sweeps and attacks. Despite my activity and his inability to capitalise on the size difference I lost out on referees decision, however I'm taking it as a mental victory.

Sunday saw me matched against my first opponent from Saturday, without the gi it was difficult to break posture and I had to again fight the clock as well as my opponent. In the division final a felt good, passing and scoring points but lost out to a triangle after ending up back in guard.

In what was thankfully my last match of the weekend I came close to serious injury when my arm was twisted backwards approximately 240 degrees from its starting point in a violent and very sudden motion. I was remarkably lucky not to sustain any damage from this maneuver, popping up to my feet to the incredulous looks of cameraman Doug who had stopped filming immediately, fearing the worse. 

For all the discussion of what does and doesn't constitute a fight, it is worth remembering when stepping on the mat that it is a combat sport and opponents have the ability and inclination to break limbs in the pursuit of victory. While I have no wish to injure anyone during a match that decision is often in their hands, they know their own body and it's limitations and can stop a match at any point and without the will to 'finnish' a submission you won't get far at the higher levels of competition.

So I managed to walk away with no ill effects and one silver and two bronze medals and a couple of t-shirts to my name, shooting up a mighty 3 places in the Masters 1 Blue belt rankings. As always many thanks to everyone at RGA Mill Hill and my sponsors (If I had any).