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).  

Globetrotters Autumn Camp

In need of a change of scene I headed off to Copenhagen for the Globetrotters Fall Camp or 'Creontecamp 2014' according to some of my more narrow minded team mates.
I've always liked the idea of training when you travel and had used the globetrotters network to locate welcoming gyms on my journeys through Stockholm and east Asia so I was keen on training with like minded people and immersing myself in many hours of quality coaching.

My main concern was how my body would hold up to the vast increase in mat time, going from my average 6-8 hours a week to over 20. I had been advised that a clean diet and large amounts of sleep were key to surviving a week of intense training, on the whole the diet was maintained due to three simple but nutritious meals a day served as part of the camp package. However classes clashed with meal times and over the week I missed a lot of meals, relying on a mix of chocolate milk, bananas and avocados to fill in the gaps.

Sleep was also an issue, staying in a youth hostel dorm with 10 other guys leaves you at the mercy of your most inconsiderate room mate, thankfully it was only snoring that caused a problem. Our resident black belt was only a purple belt in snoring being easily eclipsed by the earth-shaker occupying the corner bunk who I suspect provided special effects for various monsters in Buffy.

Doug and Sophie from IOWBJJ and Oli Geddes

The camp itself was excellent with top level instruction from the likes of Carlson Gracie Amsterdam's Daniel Bertina and Roger Gracie black belt Oli Geddes plus some bloke that spent three hours twisting his gi round people legs (it will never catch on). I did about 4 hours of classes a day and 1 hour of rolling, making sure to attend Eric Bydairk's wrestling classes in an attempt to improve on my atrocious double leg, his clear instruction, memorable teaching style and assertion that wrestling is easy certainly helped with my confidence on my feet.

Keenan Cornelius's session on the Thursday was great fun, focusing on the details on what makes his signature position so dangerous.  Drilling it with my partner I couldn't believe that I was making the techniques work so effectively, this was all down to the level of instruction. Now a week on these moves are looking more like a rubik cube and will need some more effort to get back to that mid seminar high point.

By the time the camp competition came around everyone was a little exhausted, I focused my attention running the scoring on one of the mats, admittedly distracted by glancing over to see when my division would run.  I started my first match pulling guard and got from x-guard to a fairly competent single leg incorporating elements taught by Oli and Eric respectively throughout the camp, from there I struggled to complete the pass against a tough opponent picking up the win with the takedown points.

In my second match a had to struggle against the impeccable posture of my opponent where I was unable to break him down from closed guard. Conceding the half guard he switched to a low pass, attempting to hug the hips as he moved round, I was able to pressure the elbow getting my leg across and secure kimura grips. I was a little concerned as I had to role to complete the kimura but was thankful that my opponents arm was alright.

In the final my opponent worked to control the clinch, I was able to pull guard without giving up the takedown but I gave up my back after shooting a sloppy triangle and was quickly in survival mode. I managed to escape a bow and arrow choke but couldn't defend the armbar as my far arm had got trapped in the transition.

Summing up I would say that the participants, all 150 of them from all over the world really made the camp special, everyone was friendly, full of stories, and just wanting to roll, learn and grow. It reminds me that jiu jitsu is a global activity and knowing that you can walk into a gym in any country in the world and find people with a love of a shared activity that will give you their time on and off the mat.

Photo by Vince Millet