Since I was a purple belt, I started to develop lower back pain. Somehow, I always blamed BJJ as the cause of the pain. But during our 4 months lock down, I stopped training BJJ and the pain was worst. From an advice from a student who had back pain, I looked into an ergonomic chair as I work about 8 hours per day sitting on a chair typing on a computer. They are quiet expensive but there is no price to get rid rid of the pain. I went to my nearest Warehouse stationary store. Their entry level Ergonomic chair starts at $379. But I noticed they also has an Ergo Chair which starts at 199. Not sure why they only used the word Ergo instead of Ergonomic. I just assume it is copyright issue etc.. But I went to the store to try it out and I was satisfied with the support to lower back. As you lean back, the chair stretches your lower back in a comforting manner. You do feel that you are slipping forward but it is strengthen your posture. I also notice that you cannot cross your legs which the...

Classes for adults are restarting on Monday 10 January 2022 The classes starts from 6 pm to 8 pm. Mondays & Thursdays are Gi. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays are NOGI. Fees for Adults is $40 per week. Our address is 35 Church Street, Onehunga, Auckland. Come down for a free trial. All levels are welcome. Please note that you will be required to provide your vaccine pass. Auckland BJJ follows the covid government guidelines. For more information, contact us on info@aucklandbjj.com  

We are added a new kid class for the  age group of 5-10 years old.  Time is 3.45 to 4.30 pm.  Days are Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We still have the classes for the older kids (10 to 17 year old) Time is 4.30 to 5.55 pm.  Days are Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Please email today to book a free class trial on info@aucklandbjj.com The cost is 25 dollars per week.  We have family discount as well.  Please email us or Facebook message us.  if you need more information. 

Mr Chen last training for the year. He is off on holidays for 2 months to China. Clint from Tahiti visited us. Patrick from the Philipines has his second training. The toppic for next week is questions and answers. Also open mats at city bjj as usual on Saturday from 10 am.

BJJ in Penrose, Auckland. If you want to train BJJ and you live near Penrose, check out BJJ black belt Kula classes at http://www.etk.co.nz/index.html http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2014/06/new-belt-belt-in-auckland.html

  My (Stu) father's family lives in Wanganui which is a city on the west coast of the North Island about 3 hours drive north from Wellington. My Grandmother passed away after 98 years on the weekend and we had her funeral and wake on Monday. So on Tuesday suffering from a large hangover I decided to visit the  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Wanganui  dojo. The Dojo is located at the Wanganui Martial Arts Centre 159 Wicksteed St, Wanganui, which is shares with Wanganui Judo and other Martial arts. There is a nice big mat area and an enthusiastic group of white belts taught by Jake Stead (Blue belt, black gi in the photo). I turned up in my Judo Gi having got the days at the Martial Arts Centre wrong but they didn't hold that against me and asked me to teach the class. As there is a competition coming up in Auckland that they are sending a team to, after some drills  I gave them a quick run down of the rules that they will be competing under. Then we finished the nigh...

Transitions is the future for BJJ.While I like teaching BJJ based on positions and actions, I think training for transitions is the next link to better your Jiu Jitsu skills. The reason is that everyone knows the techniques and the counters. You can anticipate your opponent move one step ahead and counter. It is a complete shut down of your opponent game. You are not just forcing your game on him/her, you are always one ahead. This video is from Jason Scully. He always delivers great videos. subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/user/jasculs

American Travis Stevens will be competing at the famous Copa Podio de Jiu Jitsu. It will be for the Middleweight Grand Prix on Saturday 8 September 2013. Compatriot American Keenan Cornelius will also take part. Australian Kit Dale from Check Mat will complete the trio of talented foreigner competing in Brazil. I don’t think that making a new sport is a good idea,” Stevens answers. “Each sport needs to have its own identity. You get BJJ and judo any closer, we wont know the difference. But there are things a judo player can take from BJJ and things a BJJ player can take from judo. If you’re going to be great at one sport you need to take things from both, otherwise there will be holes in your game that people can exploit.”. http://mmafrenzy.com/91644/blending-judo-back-into-mma-bjj-a-visit-with-travis-stevens/      

Douglas completed his seminar at his Team HQ: Tonicao Jiu Jitsu. See below for info on this icon and pionner of Jiu Jitsu in Floripa. http://www.aucklandbjj.com/2013/06/antonio-claudio-collares-tonicao-jiu.html Douglas hometown is  Floripa (nickname for Florianópolis) where he trained BJJ before migrating to New Zealand.

Gaunlet A few students have been enquiring in the past so it is only fair that I have a write up about the carrots of Martial Arts (the belts). Each belt comes with a black tab, you will receive up to 4 stripes on each belt. BJJ is notorious for waiting for a long time between belt so it is nice to receive one stripe once in a while (Hint, it usually happens during graduation time every 6 months which are traditionally held in June and December). However, we do give stripes outside the graduation ceremony. To be honest, I would rather have one grading ceremony per year so we can just concentrate on training instead. It is not required to have the complete 4 stripes in order to move to the next belt. The complete 4 stripes does not guarantee you that you will be promoted automatically to the next belt as well. Your instructors will discuss and assess the students during training and will decide who is ready to do the exam for the next belt. It is mostly a...

In F12, the topic of Women on the mats and do your training group support them on the mats came up. So I decided to do a little write up about last week end event. As we all know, most NZ BJJ clubs have 1-2 women training and they have to train with the rest of the men as usual. I don't think there is a woman only BJJ class in Auckland or in New Zealand at the moment. However, there is a woman only Judo class at Epsom every Wednesday: 5-6 pm, Auckland University Judo, 6 Woodhall Road, Epsom, Auckland. So the BJJ girls decided to get together. They host each others on regular basis at their own open mats. Something that we don't see much in the BJJ community: Training together beyond the club nucleus. So last week-end, they had another successful camp where they spend 3 days together hosting numerous BJJ instructors from different clubs. A great idea and movement which I hope all instructors are supporting by encouraging their students to attend. T...

BJJ scout has some fantastic videos where he breaks down the specific games and techniques of famous BJJ competititors. I suggested you become familiar with his youtube account. See below link for more information on Rodolfo http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/rodolfo-vieira-bjj-wiki In the following video, he breaks down Rodolfo Vieira throws. Rodolfo is re known for his throws and how he applies them successfully of BJJ competitions. In this video, BJJ scout covers: Morote Seoinage Kouchi Gari Ouchi Gari. If you want to read more info on throws from BJJ scout. https://bjjscout.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/rodolfo-vieira-takedown-study-part-1-a-study-of-planes/

According to a poster in NZ Grappling Forum Face book group, I do not qualify for the list of New Zealanders who hold the rank of Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I did all my BJJ training since white belt in Auckland for the past ten years. Why? I have a NZ citizenship but I was not born here. Since I am not a Kiwi black belt, I will claim my heritage as I was born in Pirae, Papeete, Tahiti about 40 years ago. I believe I am the first Tahitian who hold the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I usually travel to Tahiti once a year to see my parents in Punaauia. So if anyone in Tahiti wants a seminar or would welcome me for a class or two, please contact me. Also, if someone in Tahiti already got a legit BJJ BB, I will happily retract my self claim of being the first Tahitian who hold the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Maruru

Today we tested the new crash mat. So double leg takedowns was in order. Then turtle escape. Rolling from turtle known as situational rolling. Concluded with normal rolling

You can now book your diary for the next BJJ competition (Auckland, New Zealand) I think saturday 17 august 2013 will be the adult day and sunday will be the kids day. The event is always well run, heaps of prices. IBJJF rules and points systems (no advantages rules for this one however). For more details: http://nzgrappler.co.nz/upcoming-tournaments/ for IBJJF rules link http://www.ibjjf.org/rules.htm

Hi all as our new gym is a Judo Dojo its owner (our landlord) Sensei Littlewood has asked us to respect a modified form of Judo Etiquette at the beginning and end of the class. Class Start: All students below black belt level are to line up at the bottom side of the Dojo next to the entrance, with highest ranking students on the right. Students will then sit on their knees in the seiza position. Black belts will line up on the right hand side of the Dojo and instructors will line up on the top side of the Dojo. The senior ranked student will say, Sensei ni rei everyone will do a kneeling bow, stand up and the class can start. Class End: Students will line up as at the beginning of the class in seiza (kneeing). The senior student will say, Mokuso everyone will close their eyes and quietly mediate on how they performed at training and think about what they can do better. Mokuso yame everyone opens their eyes and stops meditation. Sensei ni...