Faixa Roxa!

Well it came, it passed and left me in a world of wonder!

I've been working hard and I always look at my training as learning and progression so I will never be 100% complete (as is the way with Jiu Jitsu) but at least I now have a clear path of what is ahead of me now that Its done and ill be here for many a year to come!

Thanks to Ricky for giving me a solid base of foundations and for giving me the space to expand and progress in my Jiu Jitsu and other sports activities and for letting me be a student.
I will always be part of the team!




On that day we were training for entry into the competition team and I wanted to test myself to see what I could do so I really went for it in the conditioning session.

Army Crawls, Armbars, Passing Drills, Nightmares and clapping pushups to which I can truthfully say I never missed a beat!

And then came some sharking which is more or less torture! But a good torture ! The kind of training you need to see how you really perform when you are tired and how you can defend yourself in a tough situations!

It was a bit of a shock to get called out after the competition class as it was a hard one and no-one was expecting it! I was still pouring with blood, sweat and tears!

I even done a bit of a runner for a laugh since the guys were telling me I cant avoid it!

Afterwards came the belt whipping which someone just so happened to record it haha
It was a sore one but It was worth it in the end!

A huge thank you to everyone who has helped me over the past few years helping shape my own Jiu Jitsu Journey!

Big shouts outs to Prof Ricky and the guys who have been with me since day one at the club!

Everyone is reaching a new level at GB Glasgow and its pushing everyone else higher in the process!

See you on the mats!

The dreaded cauliflower ear!

The cauliflower ear for some is a badge of honour that shows your hard work and consistent training is taking its toll of you in every way possible.....

For others its a nasty surprise which can impact your day to day life and affect your appearance to the point of feeling stressed.

For me personally I don't mind it, as long as I can get my earphones in then its not a big problem, if I do Jiu Jitsu forever then ill have them forever.

If not then I could get an easy surgery fix which i had to do in the picture right after getting my ear rubbed badly from a choke attempt. I couldn't actually get my earphones in and my ear hole was completely covered hence my surgery.

This happens when the perichondrium of the ear is dealt trauma via a one time incident or a occurring abrasion and then fills with a blood clot which then hardens between the two layers of skin which are then separated.

The cartilage during this process shrivels up and gives a wrinkled or cauliflower type look hence the name and dies if the blood supply is cut off for long enough. Appearance will be permanent if left on its own and a quick surgery as the pic above can show it can be sorted by stitching the skin back together tightly letting it reattach.

Self fixing is possible with a clean syringe and some extra hands to help! Just remember to throw away the items afterwards and use clean each time.

Of course we can all just wear a headguard but personally i cant do it, I have a great brute wrestling headguard which does work but it annoys me too much. Maybe ill try it again as my other ear has just started to flare up!

Then again we could just all go easier on our training buddies ears when in precarious positions such as triangles, d'arce, neck ties and of course guillotines!  The more we mature the more we see when an injury could occur so sorry to Mike on my part!

I'm sure it was a guillotine that caused mine so remember that and take care guys!!


UPDATE - Ear got gubbed last night (sami jo jenson! uppercut and ear smash lol) so ill be draining it tomorrow as the main area is covering my ear hole yet again. Here is a sneak peak of the damage + ill put up a video of the fix!

Been draining the ear every night with syringes I got from a local pharmacy for free. Approx 0.7 ml of crap coming out of it every time. Ive not made a makeshift compression bandage with cotton wool to pad out my ear so that the swelling does not come back and some zinc oxide tape I use for finger taping to hold it in place! Seems to be working so far!

UPDATE - ear got smashed today, 03/05/2015.  first time i have had my headguard off in weeks and the first ten mins some one ripped my ear badly. Thats weeks of recovery wasted so i was well pissed off lol

Leg Locks!

Where are they?
When do I learn them?
Why am I not already using them?


The prevalence of Leg and foot attacks in BJJ is really neglected until the later stages of your journey being at brown and black belt. I say that and then think of it being more restricted in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu solely as it is widely used in Traditional Jiu Jitsu and in the forward thinking no gi styles such as 10th Planet.


I personally think Jiu Jitsu has grown to the point that we can't ignore this until those stages as you are then losing 50% of the joint attacks that you can apply.

The old Gracie "its an dirty and urban way of fighting" philosophy is outdated and many new styles are making use of it to their full advantage against the guys that don't know it.

Imagine a 10th planet practitioner who has drilled leg attacks leading up to brown belt and then the other practitioner who has not. Not only will the specialist by that time have the upper hand in attacking but the unskilled practitioner will only then be learning how to not leave their legs vulnerable to submission.  

We all practice armbars and defences so imagine you had never learned an armbar defence or submission until brown belt and then all of a sudden they are in and you are getting smashed and tapped all over the place. It makes sense to familiarise yourself at an early stage with the availble positions,

Missing this piece of the puzzle will be damaging your game! Not only this but its exciting and fun to complete that part of the puzzle. It is all grappling in the end and it needs to be learned!

The other argument that they are too dangerous is my opinion is also outdated.

Jiu Jitsu has came along way in the last few years and maybe once where most were under skilled and unable to practice this safely with the little supervision available, nowadays we all have a black belt at a club and we (speaking about my bjj team) have the control to be able to practice this without injury being an issue.

Surely not practicing the movement, transitions, submissions and escapes from these positions means that it could be more dangerous for our partners incase this does happen and we need to be knowledgeable on it.

How is a kneebar any more dangerous than an armbar?  The joint itself is much larger and takes a much larger generation of force to hyper-extend so if anything it gives the same or not more time to tap to if need be.

I can appreciate the difference in angles when it comes to the heel hook as its a twisting submission so there is no time where you feel you should tap except when it is locked on. But for training sake between yourself and your partners feeling and getting into the submission without cranking it on would be more than possible without an injury occurring.

Using leg attacks in not also just great for creating new combinations from other submission and position attempts but it is a great counter against top positions and during transitional periods.

Practice makes perfect as with all Jiu Jitsu.

Lets open our eyes a little wider to appreciate all the art has to give us rather than limiting ourselves to a set path which may be right or wrong from our peers.

The student has as much to teach the teacher as the teacher to the student!

Training Regression and Progression

Currently training 5 times a week for the past few months I am at last feeling another progression in my game which is great because sometimes you feel stagnate like you aren't getting anywhere with your movement., but after speaking to others I'm not alone.

It it my regression and lack of progression or others progression outwith my control?



I can only give account for my own techniques and movements.

Recently Ive been focusing on my stand up game as what is a (near purple belt) Bjj player if he cant take anyone down and get them in a position to win?

Double legs, single legs, foot trips and Judo throws have been on the top of the list as to what I need to master and luckily for me I have two experienced Judo practitioners to help guide me on my way.

One is a male brown belt heavier than myself and the other a Female black belt who is smaller which has actually turned out to be much more beneficial as I get two very different body types to train with which in turn helps me make decisions as In techniques Id use against different opponents.

Self defence techniques have also been getting drilled more than usual as I feel that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a sport is not as effective in a real life defence situation and that most people forget it to the point of not drilling and practicing it. Ive never been a points fighter or bothered if someone gets position on me In a sport bjj roll and always look for the finish if I get the opportunity so Traditional Jiu Jitsu really strikes home with me as it is so direct.

Straight to the point! Sub not points...

On the ground my movement and transitions have been a major focus in hooks, nelsons, sprawls, windshield wipers, neck snaps, arms drags and leg drags. As this should be in place at a good level for a purple belt at this day and age.

Of course my usual array of submissions has been topped up more this time with nogi chokes and leg attacks which I seem to see everywhere at this time. It doesn't matter where I end up I always have a leg which is a good thing as it shows my perception and understanding is changing and even though I'm not permitted to go for the leg attacks at this belt I can see them (and go for them with regular training partners during friendly rolls).

My main focus was to improve everything before the next belt, too many people have been hitting me with "you should be this and that" when all I can think about is what to learn next while keeping focused.

I feel personally that I could do with a longer road to faixa roxa as this will help me battle my own Jiu Jitsu demons before taking another step up the ladder.

And it just goes to show how you mature with your BJJ game and mindset!

When I was a white belt I couldn't wait to get the next belt and finally have some colour in me. Now I'm a blue belt of 2 years all I can think about is what I need to learn next and how to improve to the point where I can actually hold my own with the guys already above me.

Only time will tell whether I feel like I am ready to be put forward and whether my own version of my skills is what my professor see's when he is looking in.

Bjj In Barcelona!

So I'm planning on moving to Barcelona in 2015 to spend some of my younger years in the sun and to actually enjoy myself more than I am currently in the U.K.

One of my best-friend lives there already so I have someone to give me pointers and help me with the official stuff needed to live and work in Spain.

And also my fab girl is also looking to move over later in 2015 after she has finished her University degree so I am lucky to have people in my life that are willing to let me follow out some of my dreams and I am grateful for that!



When it comes to finding friends and keeping fit I have to find my own way and seek out the right gym for me to train at to keep my Bjj flowing and progressing at a good level.

Finding and picking a new gym is no easy feat and as my research so far is giving me a total of 6+ Bjj gyms in the city that I have to scope out and approach before I make a decision on where I will be based.

Where did it start?  What team do I choose? Am I a creonte for changing teams abroad?

I started Bjj classes in 2009 in a small church hall in Rutherglen with Royce Gracie Scotland.

During travelling in 2009 I also done some grappling/Bjj with a friend who I was living with in Germany and a then Czech mma team in Prague.

When I came back I was primarily striking (Freestyle Kickboxing) as I always have until I reconnected with my old Kickboxing coaches Allan and Martyn who were taking classes in the Battlefield gym (Glasgow Kickboxing). The gym also done Bjj so it was an easy transition in 2011 when I decided to focus on it full time.

The Battlefield gym then got an affiliation with Gracie Barra and changed its focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (The best choice for everyone involved!) and I have stayed there for the last 3+ years keeping true to the team apart from training abroad with other teams/affiliates.

I do like Gracie Barra and what it has given me apart from just Bjj such as friends, lifestyle changes, new outlooks in life and the drive to study sports at higher level.

But I also feel that Bjj in a whole as a martial art is like that to many people and not just the Gracie teams so when I move to Barcelona I am going to be more focused on what team can give me specifically what I need!  

Where are the best guys that will run through me, the team spirit and cooperation, the laughs and falls of the group and of course the coaches have to be passionate about Bjj so much that it radiates from them every day and creates a positive influence for the rest of the us.

I'm also looking for a team with striking classes and a conditioning area as I dont want to have 2 memberships to different gyms just to tick all the boxes of modern day training like the CPT model.

As I previously stated I have found at least 6 Bjj gyms that need inspecting before I make any decision so I will be visiting each and writing up each review as it happens!

Lucky for me I have been to Barcelona multiple times before and have already been to 2 gyms so far - Atos and Gracie University.

Gracie University - Headed by Robin Gracie (Helios youngest son).

The gym is near the Sarria train station and to be quite frank was a pain in the arse to find as it was tucked away in a quiet street with one sign and a buzzer entry system so you cant see anyone around the building or a reception area until inside. (30min-1hour finding it)

The gym itself as you can imagine from a chain of Gracie Uni affiliated gyms has a nice interior with a separate office for Robin and shop upstairs leading to the bottom area which is near fully matted (decent size) with shower and changing area (also decent size).

I had a PT session with Robin 60Euros/1 hour. We ran over what Jiu Jitsu was to him and his family and we rolled in basically straight away. This was a great way to teach as i then saw as it allowed for Robin to feel my movement and patterns straight away and fix any bad habits I had while filling in the gaps of my Bjj so it flows better.

I then stayed for a class with the rest of the team which involved another black belt from the club teaching some side-control positions and escapes. This was presented well and broken down in English as there was a large amount of foreign students present at the time for a black belt grading of a friend.

All in all the club had good facilities and good instruction all be it a little bit out of the way. I would give it a 6.5/10.

ATOS -  Headed by Gustavo Galvao who is the current world champ Andre Galvaos brother and a few time national champion.

Atos was situated near Hospitel De Llobregat which is a 25min train journey from the city centre to Bellvitge station and then a 5-10 min walk.

The gym was well signed outside and is pretty massive inside as it looks like a renovated warehouse for storing goods.
It boasts a reception, kitchenette for making shakes and food, 2 large training zebra mats, a full crossfit section with bars/battling ropes and also a cage for mma making it far better equipped for the athlete who wants to train multiple martial arts in one gym.

The training started off a little later than expected as Gustavo was around an hour late so I was stuck outside the gym until the crew arrived to open up.

The afternoon class was pretty quiet with around 10 of us in the class although the evening classes are supposedly much busier with a larger variation in belts.

We started with passing drills and movement drills for a warm up then led into a session primarily involved with full guard and the breaking of grips and sweeps similar to a flower sweep.

The class was taught in Catalan and was broken down in parts to English to make sure I was still following the steps as being shown which was fine.

All in all I was happy with my time at the gym and will be going back this week for some further training which I will log on here soon!

I would give my time at the gym a 6/10.

Anaconda Bjj - Chen Moraes

Chen Moraes is a longtime practitioner with at least 40+ years of experience and sports a red/black belt. He grew up in Brazil and was good friends and training partners with Renzo and the rest of the Gracie family.

His academy was around 20 minutes outside of Barcelona with a short walk along a busy road which was easy to navigate around which was great as from experience the other acadmies have been difficult to find.

The academy itself was a small academy with a reception area, 2 matted areas and shower/changing areas. Classes were nogi in the afternoon/gi classes in the evening 5 days per week.

Classes were relatively small with the highest belt being blue belt 2 tabs when I was present although that was not a problem as Martin my now friend is a strong player and dedicated so it was good to roll with him and learn most days.

The training varied each day depending on Chens choice of techniques although what I did like was that I would go in early to drill before class and Chen would take notice and base classes on the positions I was drilling. This made me very happy as I had the chance of a master of the art to look at my game and fix holes in it as he saw fit.

His teaching was calm and collected and his game seemed to be also very direct and straight to the point which actually flowed into my Jiu Jitsu well and out of all the academies in BCN I have visited so far I took the most out of  his teaching. Someone of that level has points to make and things to say that you just cant ignore.

Chen also let me teach the warm up drills and take the guys through some partner drills to see where my level was at which was great as I love coaching and taking exercises even if my Spanish wasnt upto scratch.

All in all a very good trip to the academy and the guys training there were very welcoming to me and i can say I made friends that week that I could rely on again in the future for training partners.

I would give my time here a 8.5/10.

NEXT UP -

Gracie Barra - Leonardo Gontijo
Haubert Team - David Blankenheimer

Energy Systems and Basic Nutritional Information.

What is energy when it comes to Anatomy and Physiology?

When rolling has it ever occurred to you just what energy you are actually using?

When does a change in the energy used for muscle movement actually happen and are there given times between them?

Do you even know that the human body has different uses for different energy sources?

These are some basic questions which if interested in Health and Fitness you have to ask yourself and find out more on as an understanding of how your body works in certain situations and prolonged periods then you can plan ahead to get the best possible energy load from yourself in a sporting environment!

I have included 2 written piece's from myself which are free to read and download on any device!

Please feel free read and give me some feedback or ask any questions regarding the uses of our energy systems!! 

Anatomy Energy Systems!

Understanding Nutrition for Strength and Endurance!

Belt Testing and Purple Belt Requirements.

So its dawned on me that I will soon be coming into my advanced stages of Jiu Jitsu being purple, brown and black belt. And I have been collating  my techniques (to the best of my memory) into a specific order and gathering as much information as to what I need to do to get my purple belt grade.

I'm now advanced blue belt (2tabs) which I received Feb 2013 at my academy and around half way on my journey to faixa roxa! My attendance and progression has been good throughout those stages and following IBJJF guidelines Ill be ready in the next year if I keep up training 3+ times per week.

Personally I feel a belt test would best suit this stage as it would give me a chance to show everything I have learned through out the fundamentals, advanced and black belt programmes and where I can show that I'm not a one trick pony that has not looked into other areas of my game.

My academy has not done belt testing so far and to be honest I'm not sure that's a good choice as testing gives you the chance to show what your worth, and give your professor first hand knowledge of your movement and skills while being watched. Although we do have a list of techniques which we run through being tested is something altogether different.

Another reason is that I'm not really interested in competition. I've competed in numerous other martial arts during my lifetime and nowadays I'm more interested in learning the martial art to progress myself as a person and my lifestyle. Some students are given extra credit for a medal whereas people who don't want to compete have no way to show their skills by merit other than techniques learned and progression in their game.

Having searched online numerous sources I have found that Pedro Sauer academies testing to be some of the best in that a traditional setup with professors watching and calling techniques while the students perform.

Yes this may seem a little traditional like doing Kata's but is that a bad thing?
Kata's are there for a reason... to make sure you can perform the techniques for your grade.

So many of the guys are learning off of websites and youtube that you hardly ever see someone drilling basic fundamentals moves or body movements. Just last week I was listening to some white belts talking about inverted moves and berimbolos but one of those guys didn't know how to pull guard properly never mind a berimbolo. So it could definitely help with giving a clear structure and base for those individuals as they know they will be given a test to pass.

When I was a white belt (not saying that in a bad way) I literally took a full 6 months-1year working my defence from the bottom, full guard, half guard and side control. They were the first things on my list to learn as I knew with a solid base of defence you can learn to capitalise on your opponents mistakes when attacking to sweep, escape and get a better position.  Solid fundamentals = solid advanced techniques.

Anyway I digress.....

Having searched for purple belt requirements pretty much everywhere I came up with a list of the general accepted requirements and techniques needed. To my surprise they did not outline fairly new open guards such as dlr, lasso, inverted. But I guess that's the new style which is evolving right now and as far as I can see only older lists of techniques exist.  Although I can imagine in an academy like Atos (mendes bros), Cobrinha BJJ etc you would have movements like this involved in your grading as this is the style of the Professors themselves.

So down to techniques. I have a list of general techniques which are accepted for purple belt grading -
I have added some which I feel relevant in RED.
(Most added techniques as you will see are related to the open guard)

Conditioning-
Conditioning programme 3-4 days per week focusing on NASM CPT model due to my qualifications.
Stabilization Endurance, Strength Endurance, Hypertrophy, maximal Strength, Power.

Movement -
Increased flowing movement on the floor and standing including falling techniques, shrimping, inverted movements, stretching, drills.

Self defence -
5x+ standing defences, 5x+ ground defences, Kicking and punching defences, Advanced kickboxing/Thai, basic weapon use. 

Takedowns/Throws -
2x single leg, 2x double leg, 4x hip throws, 1x leg throw, 3x arm/collar throws, 4x trips, 4x counters.

Sweeps -
5x+full guard/standing, 5x half guard, 3x+ butterfly, 3x+ spider guard, 3x+ Dlr sweeps, 3x+ Lasso sweeps, 3x+ x-guard sweeps, 3x inverted sweeps.

Escapes -
4x mount, 5x side control, 3x turtle, 3x back escapes, 3x knee on belly, 3x north south, 3x armbar, 3x triangle, 3x omoplata, 3x choke, 3x leg lock, 2x leg ride, 3x kimura.

Passing -
3x+ full guard, 3x half guard, 3x spider, 3x butterfly, 3x DLR, 3x Xguard, 3x lasso, 3x inverted.

Submissions -
5x full guard, 6x mount (low,medium,high), 5x back, 3x spider, 5x side control, 3x+ north south, 3x+ knee on belly, 5x double attacks, 3x inverted, 3x kimura trap.

Personally I feel the purple belt tests which are documented are missing a vast majority of the new guard styles which are being played. I already know everything I have put down here so I am on the right track as it is, I just need to perfect techniques to a higher level and broaden my horizons on the nogi style as I mainly train in the Gi.

Osssss

PS. some of those tests are attached.

Pedro Sauer Purple Techniques
Aloisio Test Purple

Training Abroad!

Unforgettable experiences, making new friends, meeting your idols, learning new skills and techniques from master technicians, working with top conditioning coaches and personal trainers and the list goes on!

I've been around Europe training in the past and present (next Sept14) to Germany, Spain, Holland and the Czech Republic and the experiences are second to none.


Travelling has always been one of my major passions and I normally go abroad 3 times a year so when I started training BJJ seriously 3 years ago and became addicted, it felt a natural progression to combine both of them together and see what happened!

It can be quite nerve racking walking into a new gym in the UK, never mind foreign gyms where a language barrier can be present to the point of using hand signals to get your point across. But I was always welcomed and I cant say a bad word about anywhere I have been.

That said the etiquette in Jiu Jitsu in general is very humble so I would always shake everyone's hand when I walked on the mats and make an attempt to talk to everyone which was always received well and I was never turned away, knocked back or looked down on when I was partnered/rolling with higher belts.

I have however been knocked back from sparring kickboxing with a few people because maybe their ego was too much to handle and the thought of an outsider giving them a hard spar was too much to take on in front of their coaches. Who knows!?!

What I did find funny about the Jiu Jitsu side of it was everyone was spying my gi to see where my patches were and what team I came from and I could just see the competition guy's licking their lips like they had a new toy to play with!

But hey hey, I know what that's like, no one wants to get tapped from the outsider coming into the gym to try out the team before they decide to commit or not or whether in my case they were just over for a couple of sessions and a pt with their Prof.

The rolling seemed to always be at near 100% with the lower belts to even some purple belts as it felt like they had more to prove by rolling and smashing a travelling blue belt whereas the better purple and higher brown/black belts would just let me play my game and try figure it out as quick as they could before sticking me in some pretzel shape in the simplest but most effective way possible just to show me where they can go with it.

The professors are always so inspiring and motivational its hard not to walk out of a session feeling on top of the world and in some ways indestructible from the techniques and visions they give you in not just your Jiu Jitsu but life in general. It seems the Brazilians especially have a way with words (even though in English) that seem to relate to you and your life in ways you would never think and their life experiences and stories always rub off on you in some way.

Take Lagarto for an example (Whom I have only met and trained with in the UK), he is full of stories and life experiences and this radiates off of his personality when you meet him. His speeches are always aimed at a specific point with ups and downs and have a way of filling you with enthusiasm to keep following your Jiu Jitsu dreams whatever they may be!

The training from the professors is also second to none and I have always came away from a class or PT session with something new to work on, or in some way I have had the blanks filled in which i needed to progress my Jiu Jitsu to another level.

I once had a PT session with Robin Gracie in Barcelona, and as we discussed there is not a set techniques that I need to learn (unless that is directly what I went for i.e de le riva from the man himself) and that we shoud in fact just roll in and along the way if he spots something I need to do or that I'm doing wrong he will fill me in directly to in some way fix my bjj.

Personally I found this very useful as we would roll through every position I could think of which was obviously minute to what he knew and when we came to a position where I maybe stalled/failed to escape or failed to finish a technique he would say "hey lets work on that a bit" and we would run over the basics from that position leading to advanced techniques depending on how well I took it in.

Id say to anyone that was travelling to take a gi and just go for it, you will always be welcome and you will always walk away from it feeling amazing. Its something that stays with you and the techniques are something you have to show for it so please help teach and pass them on to your friends back home.
That's the way of Jiu Jitsu sharing and helping your team reach new levels through cooperation and coordination!

All in all spreading Jiu Jitsu in some way and giving something back to the people that work day in day out to make Jiu Jitsu what it has become today  is satisfying and the friends are people i will never forget and I would like to think that I have made that impression on them too!

Osss!