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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

New Coaches

I am really excited to have two new coaches joining the ranks at Hobart Martial Arts Academy, Mat Stennings and David Leighton have joined us to teach Muay Thai classes. This is just another reason that 2015 is really exciting me. I did a private lesson in Muay Thai this morning with Mat Stennings and am so impressed with his coaching style and his ability to make genuine improvements in my technique and power in only one session.

Check out our new coaches page for a list of all HMAA staff.



Also check out the timetable for 2015 as well, we are likely to add in more Muay Thai classes before too long, so we are very excited about that!



Monday, December 22, 2014

Growth and a New name

On the 23rd of July 2013 I wrote a post about the new club that I was training in called Maromba South. I said how it was a great place to train and had a wonderful vibe. Since then we have put a lot of work and continued to grow and develop. So much so that we now run 4 times as many classes as we did when we started and have grown in size.

This growth has included expansion in classes on offer with the addition of Muay Thai, Women's BJJ and Mixed Martial Arts classes. As such we have decided to change the name of the club from Maromba South to the Hobart Martial Arts Academy, the website has been updated and is here.




The new timetable for the club is below.


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Honour the Process

This morning I was standing in my kitchen using my new handheld coffee grinder (courtesy of my wonderful sponsors Primalabs) and as I ground the coffee beans a thought came to me. I could be using a coffee pod, or I could have an instant coffee, or I could even by pre-ground coffee, but instead I am grinding the beans for my morning cup by hand. Ultimately they all achieve the same end goal, a morning caffeine hit, but one just takes a lot more work. It reminds me a little of Japanese Tea Ceremony compared to dropping a tea bag in a cup. So as I stood there cranking that handle, I reminded myself that “the destination is worth the journey”, however the obvious question that came from that, was “is the journey more important than the destination?” We have all heard expressions to that effect before, particularly in regards to Jiu Jitsu. As I started thinking about that a bit of a possible contradiction came to me….


I am sure everyone would agree that Jiu Jitsu is about searching for efficiency, efficiency in technique, in training, in learning and in teaching. For example “can I learn this move effectively in one lesson instead of ten?” Striving to develop efficiency is arguable the human tendency that ‘brought us down from the trees’ so it is, I think a good thing. In fact without it, our martial arts training would probably be as simple as lifting more weights to become the strongest. The quandary arises when we realise that increasing efficiency can often reduce the time taken in a process. I could have taken five seconds to spoon some instant coffee into a cup and added water. Instead I ground the beans by hand and added them to the plunger and let it seep which took about five minutes.

As usual my mind started to apply this thought process to Jiu Jitsu, and I thought about the five to six years I took to become a blue belt verses the one to one and a half years that some can take. Arguably there is no skill difference if we are all blue belts, but there may well be an experience difference. When I think of my journey so far I think about how many different people and grappling styles I have been exposed too, how many different people I have had the chance to train with/learn from/teach and how many trends have come and gone in techniques and games. I think that perspective is something that can come from a longer journey and I feel that I have really benefited in this regard.

So as I sat down to drink my morning coffee, with my five minutes of reflection coming to an end, I decided that while striving for efficiency is very important, it is the experience that really shapes us. So in other words, while shortening the journey is a great goal, making sure you pay attention on the way is just as important.

Friday, October 03, 2014

A New Sponsor

I am really happy to announce that I now represent and am sponsored by Primalabs. These guys have great nutritional products as well as Caveman Coffee and the Onnit range.

I don't usually agree to be sponsored, but after discussing this with Alan and Nicolle who run the company I have decided that it is a good fit for me. Largely because the reason that they chose to approach me for sponsorship isn't due to my accomplishments or skills, but rather due to my ethos and the culture I promote. Since these are the things that are the most important to me in training I think this is a great fit. It also doesn't hurt that I believe that Primalabs is a fantastic company that strive to both provide genuinely good products, but also to operate in a way that benefits the community as well.

Please check them out remember to use the discount code "gerry" for a 10% discount on your purchase.

Don't forget to sign up for their newsletter for the whole story on me and their other representatives.

Check out this link for my bio on their site.


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The “Three Cs” of Training.


After receiving so much positive feedback on my last post which discussed the idea of “leveraging more out of your training time” I decided that it would be prudent to follow up with something a related. The topic that I have chosen to address here comes from the idea of training, but also learning efficiently. While the last post was largely about seeking similarities in movement and technique to train, this post will be about finding common grounds in terms of application.

A common point of discussion on BJJ training is on the type or style of training you do. Some people like to train in the gi, some like no gi; some have a focus purely on competition while others still are solely focused on the “real life” or street applications of BJJ. Of course added to this mix there is MMA style training as well. I have heard it said that BJJ training can be divided into 4 parts; Gi, No Gi, MMA and Self Defence. I agree with this and like the analogy as I believe that to focus on only one aspect is to sell yourself short. My only reservation is that I don’t like to split up Gi and No Gi too much. I believe that the differences between the two are largely mental and that, beyond a few obvious exceptions, solid technique transcends clothing.

So when I break up BJJ into composite parts I like to describe it as being equal parts Self Defence, BJJ Competition (Gi or No Gi) and MMA. Where my view differs from some coaches and associations though, is that I try to find the similarities and teach between the three areas and teach things that cover all three. If that isn’t possible I still want the techniques to cover at least and if not, then they should at least have physical movements and skills that are translatable across multiple arenas.

The way I teach this is through the “Three Cs Rule”, which is that the technique should be applicable in a Comp, the Cage or a Club. This doesn’t mean to say that I don’t teach Spider Guard, knowing that it has no real function on the street or that I make all my students do their tournament prep in MMA gloves working with strikes. It is more a case of training (and learning) efficiency, so applying the technique in a way that shows awareness of all arenas.

By asking myself and students if a given technique will meet the “Three Cs Rule” I am testing the broader understanding of the group and also helping students to gain a broader perspective. A good example of a technique or movement that applies in all areas and also acts as a building block to modify certain techniques for different areas is the Technical Stand Up. This move is most commonly thought of in the self defence and MMA worlds, but can also be used in BJJ competition to escape the bottom or as an alternative to a sweep. It also works to add a more practical element to the great competition technique of the Butterfly Hooks Sweep, by allowing you to stand up in striking environments. An added bonus to the technique that Kenny just demonstrated so nicely for me is that not only can you go to a front headlock position from the Technical Stand Up, but you can also get your base to drive forward for a single or double leg, which definitely has a place in all these environments.

So that is just one example of a concept that has a place in a Comp, Cage or Club. I hope you have enjoyed this post, as promised last time, my post on efficent guard passing is coming soon!

In the mean time, stay safe and get the most out of your training!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

"Leveraging" more from your training....


Most people reading this train in Jiu Jitsu and as such know that enough training is never enough, if you have caught the BJJ bug you want to be on the mat all the time. The family atmosphere of most academies and the constant challenges and growth we experience make our BJJ training some of the most rewarding times in our life. However, the reality is that everyone has one reason or another that keeps them off the mat more than they would like. This may be due to down time due to injury, recovery/rest days, work commitments or looking after our families (or any of many other distractions that are otherwise known as "real life"). It is probably no secret that as you get older these factors play a larger role in your life. It maybe that as you get older you start a family which comes with it's own responsibilities, or perhaps our careers become more demanding. Another reality is that once you get beyond 30 your body takes longer to recover from intense training and injuries are much slower in healing. In my own case I have a beautiful family with diverse interests and needs and have a full time career outside of BJJ. Not to mention being involved in the management of the academy also takes time that may otherwise be spent training.

The last year or so has forced me to think seriously about how I get the most of my limited training time, because unlike the 10 or so years that came before, my training time has become more limited. I have been searching for ways to maximise my training time through the use of more efficient training, to "leverage" better results from my training time. This, I believe, is what BJJ teaches us; to apply the principles we learn on the mat into our broader thinking. BJJ teaches us the concepts of leverage and of maximum effect from minimum effort, so it makes sense to apply these principles to the learning of technique and not just to the techniques themselves.

I have come up with a few ideas that help me to achieve my goal of improving the efficiency of my mat time, such as:

  • Learn to see jiu jitsu in terms of concepts not individual techniques
  • Train jiu jitsu movements not specific techniques
  • Recognise useful parallels between different techniques

The great thing is that you can achieve all of these things simultaneously by training the right way. The interesting thing is that this article started it's life not being about maximising training efficiency, but about the parallels between several techniques that I have been teaching recently. However, as I started to thrash out a rough draft I started to realise that there were so many parallels that it was really better to step and speak about the broader concept. That said, I have chosen to highlight a few movement concepts that apply across a range of techniques, some are obvious parallels, others less so, but all are similar. I have listed the movement concept first with description and then I will list some different specific techniques that use them.

Rocking Chair – The first principle I call the "Rocking Chair" because the movement involves rocking the body forward and back or side to side on the butt without changing the position of the legs in relation to the body. So if the movement starts with he thighs at 90° from the torso then as you rock forward or back that posture is maintained. The most common example of this is seen in the Butterfly Hooks Sweep where the opponent is swept through the power of the entire body moving in unison as opposed to a 'kicking' motion with one leg as can be seen in this example. Various forms of spider guard also utilise it such as Kurt Osiander's "Butterfly Sweep" (one of my personal favourites) and Jeremy Arel's "Leg Weave Sweep". A favourite of mine is where these two sweeping styles meet through the utilisation of this principle in Michelle Nicolini's Shin Block Guard, which can be seen from about 0:50 in this one of BJJ Scout's brilliant videos.

Movement Angles – Perhaps a more obvious example of a movement concept is the creation of angles in guard. We teach all of our beginners that the secret to completing either a triangle, armbar or omoplata from the guard is in creating the right angle. Specifically we are referring to the angle we shift our bodies to in relation to our opponent. For a triangle this approximately 45°, an armbar it is 90° and for an omoplata it is 180°. The important thing is that hip movements we use to achieve this are the same, it is only the rotation that varies. So in principle training one technique entry assists with training them all.

These are two common concepts that apply in many techniques and highlight my point well. There are of course many more, but I feel that these are sufficient for now. I did consider discussing inverting from guard and how it could be applied to spin through triangles, berimbolo or helicopter sweeps, but this isn't my area of expertise and would only be repetitious. One other area that I considered discussing was on passing and the fact that all guard passes into three 'families' of passes, however I think that this is a broad enough topic (and one that I am interested enough in) to warrant it's own future article.

In the meantime, stay safe and train SMART!



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Chokes: The two common principles


I have taught (and practiced) various choking techniques in the last few weeks and have found that I have been asked similar questions each time. In order to explain I have found myself talking about the principles that all chokes have in common.
Broadly I think that there are two main principles that all chokes have in common, this are not specific things such as “grip here” or “squeeze there”, but rather principles that make choking techniques effective in application. I am a big believer in learning through principles and concepts as out lined in a previous post titled “Technique:Principle vs Preference”. The two principles involved in choking are:

1. Removing the slack.
2. Applying pressure.

Just like Jiu Jitsu....
I have been using an analogy recently of the hangman, like the ones you see in movies about the
“Wild West”. When the guilty party (or innocent party for that matter, not judging…) is lead up the steps to the gallows they follow the same two stage process. Firstly the hangman fits the noose around his/her neck and then they pull it tight to remove any slack. This is the first principle, the second principle of applying pressure isn’t done by the hangman, but by gravity. The hangm
an (hanger) drops the trapdoor and the condemned party (hangee) falls down. Their own body weight under the force of gravity applying the deadly pressure.

So to apply this analogy to actual grappling technique I thought I would talk about two different choking techniques and how the principles are applied in each case. I will discuss the Guillotine from guard and the Rear Naked Choke from back control. While these two techniques are very similar in the process of removing slack, the pressure is applied in a different way for each.

1.       Removing the slack – in both cases the slack is taken from each choke by ensuring that the choking arm reaches as far around the neck as possible. So in the case of the rear naked choke the elbow should be in front of (or as close to as your arm length permits) the adams apple and your hand behind the shoulder or neck of your partner. As opposed to having your forearm across the neck as you would in a “neck crush” or “trachea choke” (I can be seen teaching an entry to this grip here). When it comes to the guillotine opinions vary, but I like to reach my arm as far around the neck as I can, so that elbow is essentially in front of the adams apple like the rear naked choke. As opposed to the variation where the bone of the forearm is applied to the front of the neck, which I tend to find is too loose and allows your partner the option to move a little. In both cases (and that of all chokes) the tighter the choke is in the setup the more effect the application of pressure will have.

Marcelo Garcia applying the famous "Marcelo-tine"
The arms have no slack and the body expands.
2.       Applying Pressure – The means used to apply pressure varies from choke to choke, but many techniques share similar methods. I chose to talk about rear naked choke and guillotine because they each represent one of the two most commons methods. In the case of the guillotine choke, once the slack is removed the pressure is applied with the body weight. By driving our hips deep underneath our partner (and passing a leg high over their back to prevent escape) we effectively “hang” our weight from out partner. This pulls them into the choke and makes it mechanically hard to posture back up. The same basic principle applies to almost all chokes from the guard as you are under then person, so in a prime position to hand your weight off them. Think of triangle from guard and cross lapel choke from guard as two other examples. The rear naked choke is done using a constriction of the body. It can also use gravity if your partner is facedown, but primarily it is done through constriction. By this I mean that once the arms are locked in with zero slack the choke is completed by expanding the body (by breathing in) which removes space and forces your partner into the choke. The same principle applies, to Annacondas, Darce/Brabo, Head/Arm, North/South and many others.


In summary when I observe a student having trouble with a choke in rolling 90% of the time it is because for one reason or another they haven’t been able to remove all of the slack before they attack. So even if they do apply pressure correctly the will still require a great deal of strength to complete the technique as the will need to compensate for the slackness of the initial choke.
Have fun on the Mat.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Art of BJJ Blog

A few months ago my academy was privileged to have two guests from France, Marie-Laure Kocher and Florian Grasso were on a training holiday and foudn us through the BJJ Globetrotters network. I was very please tohave them as guests on our mat for 2 weeks and enjoyed their company very much.

Marie has written a great blog of her travels and on training BJJ as a woman. I would recommend it, it can be read in either French or English. Marie wrote a lovely review of our academy which can be found here.

Marie also asked me to demonstrate a technique to be included in the post, I demonstrated my alternative version to the harness grip from Back Control.

I have embedded the youtube video below.




I love to have guests on my mat, particularly people who are travelling, I always enjoy the universal language of Jiu Jitsu and want to do my best to encourage it.

Have fun on the mat.