Topic of this week: Back position.  How to retain,  how to escape,  how to submits.  see you on the mats

First class of our new cycle for semester 2. Topic of the week was Mount for fundamentals and S mount for the more advanced members. Tuesday was Mount escapes and concepts Thursday was Mount submissions such as Americana and arm bar. We had the usual situational rolling from the weekly week (Mount). Couple of rounds of Tachi waza (fight for takedown). Then each training concluded with normal rolling (ne waza). NEWS Also we have the opportunity to compete in a submission only even next month. We do not talk too much about competition during classes. We rather concentrate on teaching. So if you want to compete, do not wait for the instructors to mention it. Grab the opportunity and enter. Please let us know as we need to free our week end to corner you and also prepare you as well. http://nzgrappler.co.nz/submission-only-tournament-at-nz-fitness-expo/ Also we are taking orders for our silverback hoodi

I just completed the training program for rest of the year. It is for the beginners. We usually split the class and teach something more advanced the more advanced students. For example, if it is the week of mount, we will teach S mount to the more advanced students. If it is 1/2 guard week, we will teach deep 1/2 half guard for the advanced students. In Epsom, we like to be plan ahead and we have a  teaching plan for 6 months in advance. It insures that we cover as many positions and actions as possible but also we cover each topic twice per semester. There is no rush as one topic is for 2 classes which repeats twice over the semester. So do not worry if you missed a class, we will cover the same topic on the next rotation for topics. Also our friendly instructors are always available to go over topics if you missed out or have questions. If you want to start to learn BJJ, come down for a free class. http://www.aucklandbjj.com/p/training-details-whenwhere.html

We would like to congratulate Stu, Ben and Khan on their medals from the last weekend event. They train Judo at our sister club Auckland University Judo Club. If you want to learn Judo and/or improve on your throwing skills, check out their website. http://www.judokong.com/

This week, we did questions and Answers. It is the completition of our training cycle. Ari asked about the guillotine. We drilled a few variations of the guillotine and 2 escapes. Then rolling (standing and ground). Next week, we are doing the MOUNT as the topic. See you on the mats. ,

You can now buy the IBJJF approved rash guard at Auckland Martial Supplies shop. They are located in Queen Street but you can also order it online. 315 Queen St Auckland, New Zealand http://www.amas.co.nz/collections/uniforms/Venum-MMA-Gear We expect NZ grappler to make IBBJF approved rash guard compulsory for the next NOGI events.

Another great video from Prof. Jeremy Arel about BJJ concepts. Subsribe to his youtube account and watch all the rest of his videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmw_ND2W_CYCzDwlpaXKimA also if you want to read about his stay in Brasil. check out his threads on  http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f12/moving-brazil-05-06-2009-a-969605/index28.html

This week, we are concluding our 12 weeks program. You ask questions and we answer. See you the mats. 

Great concept. When: 3rd July - 5th July  Where: Auckland MMA for more details, please contact organisers on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/kiwigirls/ https://www.facebook.com/events/1775591875998256/?ref=4 past write ups on this awesome event. http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/06/nz-girls-grappling-camp-20124.html http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/07/bjj-reportnz-girls-grappling-winter.html http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/01/nz-girls-grappling-winter-camp-2014.html http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2013/07/new-zealang-girl-grappling-group-winter.html

Continuation of the throw of the month: O Uchi Gari Stu added couple more explanation and a possible switch to hip throw as well. Ground Topic for the week is Turtle Serge demonstrated the concept of turtle. its application to competition points system, guard retention drills and a back take from Turtle. On Thursday, we will cover on how to attack the turtle position: clock choke, anaconda, darce choke. If we have enough time, we will cover the Peruvian Neck tie as well. Next week topic is Question and Answers, so start thinking of a question and we will answer. Questions will have to be related to BJJ and not just techniques.

Back in the days, old masters of Jiu Jitsu were healers as in Japan. I guess learning to choke and twist limbs in order to get a submission would lead to a great understanding of the human body. So why not learn how to heal people? It is a topic that was mentioned by Ken Shamrock in one of his interview.  He wanted his instructors to be able to heal as part of their skills. After injuring my lower back at training, I visited Allan Roberts for a consultation after Stu's relentless recommendations. Allan Roberts is an Aikido Instructor who also run a clinic using the Hellerwork Structural Integration. The result of the first consultation was very good.  I could see a change on my posture and my shoulders were now at the same level. I can also breath better after. It is a bit too soon to see the final result as it is a program of 11 visits but I am very positive. I will try to keep a little update on the progress of this visits. What is Hel

Lately, there is a new influx of BJJ instructors releasing new type of BJJ videos. They are not your traditional technical videos where the person just demonstrates a technique. They are videos about concepts of BJJ. They look beyond the techniques and explains concepts and principles. They are too many instructors to mention or post their videos. But if you like learning via concept instead of just techniques, you might want to look them up on you tube. I just posted a few concept BJJ below.

  I love this concept of home base. I usually teach guard break and guard pass as 2 actions in order to highlight the difference. This home base concept validates why it should be taught separately.

We are ending semester one and its training program. http://www.aucklandbjj.com/p/bjj-training-program-for-second.html I will be writing the training program for the next 6 months ie semester 2. The program will take us all the way to the end of the year. We need your feedbacks and suggestions on how to improve our program. Please let me know what you think, what you want to change etc... Without members, the club does not exist. Your opinion matters. That was a condensed write up on last year feedbacks We paid attention to the feedback from the last year training. We will be covering one topic per week instead of one topic per class. We will be doing more throws and sparring from standing. We will be drilling one guard pass during warm up as well to help the beginners to increase their guard pass skills as it is only covered 4 classes per week. No much competitions in Auckland so we will hosting some internal competitions as well." "

19 September 2015 – Gi Nationals for Adults & Kids (Auckland) 7 November 2015 – No-Gi Regionals for Adults & Kids (Auckland) Competition dates for your calendar. We are 15 weeks away from the Gi nationals. If you are planning to enter and want to adapt your training to prepare for the event, please let us know as we are flexible in adapting our program in order to meet the needs of all our members.

Judo Throw: Ko Uchi Gari and Uchi Gari         Serge taught basic guard sweeps while Stu taught deep half guard for intermediate students               Then we had situational rolling and normal rolling.   Thursday night will the continuation of this topic.   Next week will be the turtle topic.   Please note there will be no open mats this Saturday as it is graduation.   Graduation starts at 10 am sharp.   Do not be let   Compulsary dress code: white gi with DS Team patches.