After reading the deplorable state of Judo on Facebook, I am thinking why is BJJ is so popular. Judo has all the potentials to become a popular sport and martial art in NZ as it was once but yet it seems it is struggling at the moment. The number of clubs are dwindling. It seems the blame is passed on to the top management. Well, at least they have a federation which you would think is better than BJJ. We do not have one in NZ. Years ago, several attempts of creating a BJJ Federation failed miserably. The reasons were greed and massive ego. The instigators were just planning to copycat the IBJJF and had no intention to share the power via election etc.. So we do not have a federation to blame for the lack of success for our clubs. Having no federation also means that our club members do not have to waste their hard earned cash in federation fee. Each club is left to promote themselves. They are left on their own to fund raise. Now the question, why do you need to

This week, Dom completed one year training at the club. In one year, he won 6 medals and earned 2 belts (yellow and orange). It great to see to see the new generation of the club coming through the ranks. The beginners did half guard sweep series with Stu while Serge taught the concept of butterfly guard to the advanced students. Next week topic is questions and answers. Please note we will be training NOGI every thursday from now on. Next 2 events for the competitors is Interclub NOGI at city BJJ on Sat 24 September http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2016/08/interclub-nogi-competition-is-confirmed.html and NZ grappler NOGI regional on Sat 29 October.

 Wishing Serge's and my (Stu) former instructor Professor Douglas Santos good luck tomorrow in the IBJJF masters. He and Noel Thompson have been training hard at Riberio Jiu Jitsu HQ and are looking good for their fights this weekend. Proffessor Douglas's first fight is on at 5:30am Saturday (NZDT) and he is up against André Silva Galvão (Carlson Gracie Team) (no not that one :-) ). Good luck again and come out on top!!! That is ALOT of Black belts at a training

In order to prepare for the NZ grappler Nogi regional, we will run another interclub nogi with City BJJ. It is a great way to test your game plan and for beginners to try competing in a friendly and relax environment. It is Nogi but we still follow IBJJ rules. http://ibjjf.org/rules/ Location: City BJJ http://citybjj.co.nz/ Date: Saturday 24 September Time: 10 am Cost: Free but we will be taking a voluntary donation for SPCA. At the last event, we ran a double elimination repechage and an open weight category as well. Weight category: we just run a 10 kilos weight categories: under 60, under 70, under 80 etc... I would approach couple of more clubs to see if they are keen to enter. If you want to enter your club, please send us an email and see if we a spot for you. Each club would need to provide one official and one referee.

Half guard is the most important guard as it is a transition from closed guard to getting your guard passed. At the same time, sit up guard for the advanced students is similar as it is the link of getting your de la riva guard passed and the one of the many solutions is to switch to the sit up guard. Ben also taught the basic and fundamentals of how to walk in proper Judo stance to avoid but also set up throws. We also experienced a milestone with Dom training with us for 1 year. Awesome to train the new generation. P.S: that is an old picture and Dom has grown a few inches and kilos by now. with many medals I must say. Well anyway, if you are free tomorrow Open mats at citybjj (from 10 am) or Judo at Judokong at 11 am. http://citykickboxing.net.nz/ http://www.judokong.com/

For more information, please check their link and FB page https://www.facebook.com/events/1331275800235788/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/kiwigirls/

For more information, please check out their FB link. Brought by the NZ grappler https://www.facebook.com/events/1006379046148715/ http://nzgrappler.co.nz/

Next on the list is Wanganui BJJ competition. Grappling competition for everyone in the family, lots of food and entertainment. Medals for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in all Divisions. Double elimination so everyone is guaranteed at least 2 rolls. Men & Women Absolute Divisions. $500 prize for Winner of each. All Grappling Styles welcome to enter. Registrations are open.. http://www.strongvon.com/gladiatorsingi/  Feel free to msg us for any further info If you want more info, please check out their FB event https://www.facebook.com/events/1760454840843231/ Once again, great event run by a people that are family oriented. Check out their FB page for more information on their club https://www.facebook.com/Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu-Wanganui-389411954447454/ Stu had the pleasure to train at their gym in the past. http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/08/bjj-training-in-wanganui.html

Submission only event seems to the trend. Another great even to sharpen your skills in Wellington. It is in GI and they follow the IBJJF rules (well apart the point system). From what I understand, the even is brought to you by Vanderson Pires and Fuji Mae NZ. Vanderson is the BJJ instructor of combat room and Fuji Mae is a great sponsor supporting the sport. http://www.combatroom.co.nz/ http://fujimae.co.nz/ For more details. Please check their facebook link https://www.facebook.com/events/1009477389165392/ Saturday, September 17  at 8 AM - 8:30 AM ASB Sports Centre 72 Kemp Street, Wellington, New Zealand 6022

After our inter club with City BJJ as a warm up for the National Gi Competition, we are planning to repeat the process one more time before the Regional NOGI competition which is organised the NZ grappler on Sat 29 October. We would like to have it least 4 weeks before the Regionals. Also, we would to invite other clubs to participate as well. They would have to provide an official and one referee as well. More details to follow.

While you are waiting for the NZ grappler NOGI Regional which is held on Saturday 29 October, there is a couple of more events to check out outside Auckland. 3 September in Hamilton: Full Force Fight Co. presents the inaugural BJJ Gi Submission-Only Nationals  Belt Divisions: White, Blue, Purple, Brown/Black  Weight Divisions: u70, u80, u90, u100, 100+ (In cases where there are not enough entries for a particular division, we will merge them together or run the belt division as an open weight bracket). Event Details: Saturday 3rd September 2016 79 Killarney Road, Frankton, Hamilton Cost: $40 Online Event Registration opening shortly. Online payment: Full Force Fight Co. - 01-0137-0088525-02 Open to 16yrs and older Rules:  http://fullforce.nz/files/ file/6/ submission_only_rules.pdf No time limit for any of the rounds - pure submission only! Weighin will take place from 12:00-12:30pm and the competition will start immediately after. Check out their Facebook link https://

This week, Stu taught guard sweep for the beginners. For the advanced students, Serge taught the lapel and sleeve guard to continue on our intermediate guard system. However, I decided to introduce the Lovato Guard Smash system on how to counter the de la riva. I know it is a bit new for everyone but if you give it a try you might like it. Next week is top half guard for the beginners and Sit up guard.

Dom won it via 2 submissions: arm bar and anaconda choke. Well done. Do not spend all at once. We will also run a prize pool for the most takedown as well as submissions for the next competitions.

Usually after a National Competition, we experience a slow down in training for many reasons. But this week, it is the opposite. Everyone is hungry to improve. So if you have free on Saturday and want to improve on your game. 2 great options available. from 10 am: open mats BJJ at city BJJ 14 West St, Auckland 1010 http://citykickboxing.net.nz/ Or Judo beginner class at the Dojo with Ben from 11 am. http://www.judokong.com/ See you on the mats Thank you for the support.

Serge has to attend this event to get his updated IBJJF referee skills for his first degree certification. Stu is planning to attend the referee seminar and compete as well. Our plane tickets are booked which means we need the senior students to teach the class on Thursday 28 October as well as as coaching and looking after the competition team that are attending the NZ Grappler Regional which on Saturday 29 October. Of course, anyone is welcome to compete in Melbourne at the IBJJF Pan Pacific event which happens to have master, gi and no gi division. Thank you for the support. http://ibjjf.org/championship/pan-pacific-jiu-jitsu/ http://ibjjf.org/championship/pan-pacific-jiu-jitsu-no-gi/

This week, we split the class into 2 group with competitors drilling their game plan for the National BJJ competition and the non competitors doing guard pass. Also the sparring with done from standing with one person that do a takedown. They just played rock paper scissor to decide who does the throw. It is a good way to transition into newaza aka ground fighting. Tomorrow is competition day. Not many competitors this time. The club will refund half the entry fee to our competitors and we also have the $100 dollars prize pool for the person that get the most submissions. In case of a tie, the pot is split.

For the national competition, we are doing the usual policy of refunding half of our competitors fees. Including our hybrids (aka Jukokas) Also, we will put a $100 dollars for the competitor that get the most submissions. In case of a draw, the prize pot would be shared. Good luck Team.

It is a funny sport. While it is not a sport team,we need each other to train with. However, you can only rely on yourself when you compete. If you are free on Saturday, please come down and support your team mates. Please note that entry is about $10 per person and you need to bring cash. Thanks for the support.