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.