October 4th. 2008 – Montreal, QC: Canada 2008 GI Grappling tournament. More details at montrealmartialarts.com.

October 11th, 2008 – Windsor, NS: Abhaya BJJ Championship. More details at http://abhayaapparel.com/championship/.

October 26th, 2008 – Moncton, NB: 1st annual BJJ championship with Shane Rice. More details at http://bjjeh.blogspot.com/2008/10/1st-annual-bjj-championship-with-shane.html.

I am constantly traveling and it is often difficult to find good places to train across Canada. Sometimes I google for it and end up on a traditional jiu jitsu place or on some weird mc-dojo.

Because of that, I plan to keep in here a list with all legit BJJ academies in Canada that I can find. If you see one that is missing (on any city), let me know and I will update this list.

Fredericton, NB

>Fredericton BJJ
Instructor: Purple belt Dana Dickeson, under Fabio Holanda (BTT)
Address: 1229 Prospect Street, Fredericton, NB.

Montreal, QC

>BTT (Brazilian Top Team)
Instructor: Black belt Fabio Holanda
Price: $100 per month ($10 drop-in fee)
Address:429 Mayor Street Montreal, QC H3A 1N9

Ottawa, ON:

>OAMA
Instructor: Black belt Pat Cooligan (under Renzo Gracie)
Address: 1673 Carling Avenue, Suite 215 Ottawa, Ontario

>Ronin-MMA
under Fabio Holanda (BTT)
Address: 3059R Carling Ave. Ottawa, Ontario

Toronto, ON:

>Toronto BJJ
under black belt Saulo Ribeiro.
Price: $100 (ulimited, $10 drop-in fee)
Address: 813 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M6G1L8

>SalvosaBJJ
Instructor: Omar Salvosa
Address: 11 Progress Avenue, Unit 25, Scarborough, ON

“The most important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we might become” – Charles Du Bos

Many things in my life need to change.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by discussing why the new deal for Golden Boy Promotions and Affliction Clothing to run joint boxing-mixed martial arts cards on pay-per-view television is a long shot at best, and what it means for both boxing and mixed martial arts. As usual, this is a no holds barred analysis.

In the second part of this show, we return to discussing the Gotham Girls Roller Derby league, a skater-owned and operated organization based in New York City. They have just completed their regular season, and are preparing for their postseason competition. The Gotham Girls Roller Derby is currently ranked second in the U.S., and first in the east, by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, the national organization of roller derby leagues.

Right after their last regular season game this past Friday night, Sept. 12, where the Manhattan Mayhem routed the Brooklyn Bombshells by a score of 146-91, we spoke with Ginger Snap aka Natily Blair, the president of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby. She also skates for the Bronx Gridlock, the defending league champions, who will face the Queens of Pain Sat., Oct. 25, at Hunter College in Manhattan in their 2008 championship game.

We discussed Friday’s game, what to expect in the postseason, the structure of the regional and national postseason events, and more.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by musician Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

Pictures coming later, I’m feeling pretty lazy about my camera right this minute.

This past Saturday, I took part in the 2008 Will-Machado BJJ Australasia Championships. I competed in the Male Blue Belt Lightweight division (60-70 kg). Loads of people were here, not sure if there were more spectators but definitely more competitors. There were 8 guys in my division, compared to the middleweight division (70-80 kg), which had like 20 guys.

The adults were scheduled to get going at 11 am; my wife and I arrived at around 10, when we met none other than Aziz, from Kreation BJJ! He decided to take the plunge and make the trip out here from Singapore, and this would be his first tournament as a blue – something about which I do know a little (the 2007 Machado Nationals was not only my first tournament as a blue, it was my first-ever tournament). Aziz was signed up for the middleweight division.

The three of us spent the time leading up to the matches chatting. We had some time to kill – Aziz’s division was only scheduled to begin at 12.45, and mine was set for 1.45. We just sat there and had bouts of nervous laughter looking around at all the huge Australian guys. I do not know what they feed these people but it is unreal. I mean, we knew they were mostly white belts but come on.

We had a light roll before Aziz’s first match to get the jitters out. He asked me to be his corner man, something that I was honoured to do (during the Singapore tournament he acted as mine). Unfortunately, there were just so many guys in his division that mine started before his first match! There was also a women’s division that was running concurrently on the same mat as Aziz’s, which didn’t help.

I had weighed myself just an hour prior to my division getting together and clocked in at a kilo under the limit. Sweet. However, when I got on the scales with an official watching, my weight was DIRECTLY on the limit, I literally made it by the skin of my teeth. I actually thought I was over. All I could say was “…uhh?” to which the official replied “it’s ok, you just made it, you’re alright. You were ****ing bricks for a second there, huh!” I managed a weak smile and staggered off to sit down and get my head right.

Mine was the 3rd match in the division so I had a bit of breathing room. Just then Aziz came up to me. As it turned out he ran into some bad luck, he got armbarred in the first round. I saw the guy Aziz had to fight and will very gladly vouch for the fact that he was huge. Not necessarily a genetic freak (debatable) but still scary-looking (not debatable).

Now to the actual matches – I apologise in advance, as I was really bad with last names on the day.

***

MATCH 1: v. Joel

I started the match by getting a sleeve grip. His response was to shoot for a takedown. I got a really sloppy sprawl and we lurched, as one, towards the edge of the mats. What ended up happening was that I managed to push myself forward and land on top, in his open guard.

He kept working the hip bump sweep – kimura – guillotine combination but since he was leading with the sweep I was able to stop it by getting up on my knees, pushing forwards and locking my arm. I worked my way to halfguard, but it is unclear whether he also wanted this for his own game, as I heard some guys telling him to lock my leg down. No complaints from me, I stopped worrying about the leg and went for an ezequiel.

I didn’t get it, as soon as he felt my arm around his neck he went for a cutting armbar but my arm was bent too far, giving me the time I needed to slip out. He was still going for the sweep, after a few attempts he went for the guillotine but I knew it was coming as I heard his corner yelling at him to do it. I blocked it, got my leg past his and took mount. At this point I think he was starting to tire out, I went for and hit an ezequiel.

I do want to say that Joel and I had a quick few words before the match – nice guy, with a great attitude.

Result: Win via submission (ezequiel choke). I was also apparently leading in points.

After this match I was really zoned, it always amazes me how much tournament matches take it out of me. I can only imagine what high-level athletes or professional fighters go through, especially at the start of their careers, it must be crazy.

***

MATCH 2: v. Paul

I was pretty nervous about this one. We (the other guys in the division) were all watching Paul’s first match – which he ended in less than a minute with a very smooth armbar, so we knew he was still fresh. I was still feeling wrecked from the previous match and honestly wasn’t sure I could win.

This one started with me trying to get a sleeve grip, he was trying to circle around. I was actually trying to clinch him and use that to push him down, but he never let me get the first necktie in.

Like the first match, he shoots in and I sprawl. Unlike the first match, he gets out right away and we scramble, ending up with him getting hook guard. At this point I hear a voice yelling, “He likes to play fast! Slow him down! Slow him down!” I stopped myself from asking Paul if that guy was talking to me or to him.

He immediately begins to work a cross-lapel choke. He got past my chin at one point but my neck pulled me through and I held out long enough to push his hands up. He was still really going for it though, so I was happy.

He spent the next part of the match trying to hip escape away from me as I was working for the halfguard. However, in almost a mirror image repeat of the first match I pushed his leg down and took mount. I went right to secure my position for the points. He tried to sweep but I hop up, let him roll and took his back.

Around now I hear the same voice going “Albert! Albert!” (So I know it’s for me) “You’re smashing him on points, just don’t do anything crazy! Don’t do anything crazy!” I was really puzzled, because I know nobody here actually knows me but John, Aziz and my wife – and it wasn’t any of their voices.

He tries to roll me off but I hang on and try to stretch him out. He got on top of my right leg and tried to escape but I saw it coming and countered by pushing my left leg over and taking mount. At this point I start looking for the tap. He defends the first ezequiel but the second one gets him.

Result: Win via submission (ezequiel choke). I counted 12 points for myself, possibly 14 or 15 as my first mount was also a guard pass. It’s possible I didn’t get points for the second mount, though, as if I remember, the transition was mount – back – mount.

After the match I was first congratulated by one of the other guys in the division, Matt (who would be in the finals next with me). I found out he was the guy pulling for me! What happened was: he looked around and saw there was nobody in my corner while everyone who was yelling was giving Paul instructions. He asked if anyone knew me, nobody did so he goes “OK, I’ll go for him!”

I was so amazed by that; he definitely went above and beyond and I really appreciate it, and plus his instructions actually did help to relax me during the match. He was really cool to me and we talked for a little while. We wished each other good luck for the next match.

***

MATCH 3: Male Blue Belt Lightweight Finals, v. Matt (I know how to pronounce his last name but for fear of butchering it, will not attempt to spell it), from Dominance Mixed Martial Arts Academy, in Melbourne.

This one was almost completely unlike the first two matches. We were standing for what felt like half the match. We were each trying to get sleeve grips and he was trying to pull me around to his side, and didn’t want to shoot in.

It was kind of weird as he was using his head to try to unbalance me, but I managed to stay on my feet. After some effort I manage to get myself on top of his shoulders and try to sprawl him down. He stays on his feet, bent double. I’m trying to grab his belt and pants to push him over, when he rushes forward and goes for the takedown. I was hopping around for about 10 seconds but he gets me down for 2 points.

Immediately he starts setting up a kneeride but I saw it coming and blocked his knee with my elbow. I roll away from him onto my knees, trying to get him to go for my back. He does and I roll him off me. We scramble and he gets me in hook guard.

I hear a voice telling us we have one minute left. I’m not sure how I distract him but it seems I do (I think I was faking a choke but I just do not remember) – I manage to push his knees down with my hands and jump to mount. He knows he has to do something so he’s really going for the reversal but I block it and get the points.

I’m also working hard for an ezequiel but he blocks my first few attempts. I actually was almost about to get it when time is called.

Result: Win via points – Me: 4, Matt: 2.

That’s the first time I’ve ever won on points – I do not think in terms of points and much prefer to work for taps, using position as a means to open up the submission. Honestly I wanted to win with the choke but that’s how it goes. Matt got up and we shared a good, brotherly hug.

During the prize presentations I was checking out what each winner received. Second place got a backpack and first place got a goodie bag. At first I was actually bummed because the backpack looked really cool. Then I looked inside MY bag and found out that all first place winners received coupons for a free pair of shoes(!) from Globe – AND a FREE GI from Virtus (I’ve already given the gi a test-drive and it feels pretty nice)!

Some other highlights of the day:
*There were enough brown belts this year to have 2 separate divisions (both won by Dave Hart).
*There was even a black belt competition this year (last year there was only 1 black belt exhibition match), won by Cameron Rowe (who was also really cool to me).
*Steve Perceval (who I believe is the only official UFC-certified referee in Australia) received his black belt from John.
*Dave Hart received his black belt from John. I can literally not wait to come back next year and watch THAT division.

The event was very well run, very smooth. Last year there were 220 competitors while this year there were 270 – and it was actually smoother than last year. They really had their game together and it was a very awesome time. And it wasn’t all about the tournament. Sunday morning saw Rigan give seminars at Dominance, where I saw him teach some really cool stuff from his “secret stash” and met some great people from New Zealand (Dom, Sarah and Geoff – if you’re reading, hi!).

Thanks to John Will, Melissa Will and their team, to Rigan Machado and to everyone, especially the sponsors who donated such fantastic prizes, who worked to make this tournament what it was. This is NOT a normal competition. To me, and I say this as an almost total outsider, in many ways it’s more like a big family reunion, with the attitude and the atmosphere. I am so glad I even made it here.

Thanks Matt, for showing such coolness and kindness. You’re a real credit to your gym and this sport. Cheers mate.

I want to give a special shout to Aziz. I know what it feels like to get on a plane, go to a faraway place where nobody knows you and compete, with no home support, in a huge room with hundreds of people watching, that you know are not in your corner because they have no idea who you are. It can be really scary and to take that step usually requires either clinical obsession (me) or serious, serious guts (Aziz).

Special thanks also to my wife, who was always right there with me. She was always ready with a bottle of water or a banana or extra tape, whatever I needed. She made the day a lot more special just by being there. She also SMS’ed our parents for me – thanks, baby!

Finally, who else should be thanked, but The Ultimate Sports Psychologist, who deserves all glory and praise for my performance.

Winning the Machado Nationals has been something I’ve really, really wanted for a year. As soon as the last one ended I had made up my mind that I was going to come back. I can’t describe how this feels, really, to have won a competition bearing the names of two guys I respect so much. It’s a great feeling – and all I can think about is coming back here next year.

As many of you know I fought in the GB Grappling championships this weekend. It was a good day but very long.
Results
My first fight was against Kris Leverton from Trojan Freefighter. The fight lasted about 2 minutes he came out shoot in and i forgot to sprawl so pulled guard, Kris tried to pass but I caught him in a triangle.

My second fight was against Antony Griffith from SBG. This was a funny fight I had been waiting for about 4 hours since the previos fight so wasn’t properly awake. Anyway I arm dragged and double legged him ending up in his guard. From there started to pass but was not awake and stupidly put one arm under his leg, Antony did the right thing and triangled me. This woke me up so I defended broke out and passed his guard he turtled I took his back and choked him

My third fight was against Ollie Drew from london shootfighters. We danced around a bit both tried a couple of takedowns, Ollie eventually got in deep and forced me to pull guard (score 0-2). I pull butterfly guard wrap his arms and drive forward sweeping and pass to half guard (1-2). I pass his half guard but don’t establish a good side control and as i try to take mount he rolls back to guard (1-3). I go to butterfly guard again and start to sweep it half works and we end up in a scramble in which I take his back but don’t secure the hooks so no point. Now theres only about 40 sec left in the fight and i’m 2 pts down i’ve got to get a hook in to secure pts and win. I secure the hook at the same time catch the choke with 4 sec left in the fight the ref stops it as Ollie is out.

My fourth fight the final is against Giorgio Andras from london shootfighter. We move around he keeps trying to control my head which I stop, he shoots for a takedown and for once I defend. I hip up and whizzer in the scramble I take his back and submit him

I want to thank everyone who organised the comp and helped me train for it. I’ll post the videos up soon.

Also remember Victor Estima is down this Saturday

Cheers

Tom

I’ve just had a pretty good weekend as things go. Saturday was an impromptu training session – just me, Dean T and Rick. We spent the time looking at one of the sweeps that we trained on Tuesday, but also the whole principle of inviting weight and re-directing and following weight. Dean also coached us to make it a training opportunity for both people – one practicing sensitivity and technique, the other just practicing movement and momentum.

I can’t quite remember what prompted the next part of the session, but I was struggling with one particular movement in trying to make our practice flow – that is kind of a backward roll – legs coming up and over the head to roll backwards. Having seen so many other people doing this, it’s an invaluable movement, but to me, there seemed to be two things stopping me executing. The first is a lack of core strength and the second, my perceived lack of flexibility in my lower back.

Dean took some time to coach me through the movement, using Rick as an “anchor”. With the right pointers I made pretty rapid progress with this movement, then, once I’d pretty much got it, Dean encouraged me to hold the position on my shoulders rather than follow right the way through. Once there, sort of just hovering over Rick, there were so many possibilities – I had controls with my arms, but was also able to use my legs and feet to block things – it was like a whole new world opened up. Being in such positions, I had Rick covered which forced him into various moves in his attempts to escape, which invariably gave me far more ammunition than had I simply followed the move through to the far more static mount, cross side or knee on stomach positions. It was amazing – on two separate practices I rolled effortlessly into a triangle and then an omoplata – positions I know but rarely, if ever, execute. It all just “happened” and I pretty much felt like I was doing nothing except waiting and moving with the energy created by my opponent. This is how Jiu Jitsu is meant to feel! I would never have thought that someone like me (I mean my level of competence, my size and restricted back movement) would ever be able to accomplish this sort of stuff! Before, I’d felt pretty much resigned to my “game” being using my weight, securing certain positions and then constructing opportunities for a few techniques which I know work for me. This was like coming up for air.

This was achieved with some great coaching from Dean – pointers at just the right moments, but far more important, encouragement which constantly raised my confidence to give things a try, reinforcement when things went well and the push to go “once more” each time to really drive home the feeling of success. It was also due to having Rick help me as my training partner – sympathetic and guiding in his own movements to give me the conditions I needed. Thanks to both of you.

I hope I’m right, but this feels like it could be the start of a new chapter in my training. I hope I can keep this feeling going – this style of training. I’m going to say now (easier said than done) that I know I’m about to enter a phase of making loads of mistakes and probably getting tapped every five seconds by less sympathetic training partners, but that’s OK. That kind of fits with how the BJJ learning curve seems to go anyway. Steep curves, drops, up again, plateaus, then another rise and so on…

So roll on training – I want more of this…I just hope I can get some consistency in keeping this going from one session to the next.

Yesterday (Sunday), I had my second Yoga class. More of the same stuff as last week, but focussing on different postures and mainly work around the shoulder area. This was bad news as my left shoulder has been a little “crunchy” of late and my trapezius muscle on that side feels pretty tight or like a nerve is trapped or something. Still, I gave it a go – tried the headstand (without success!) and the shoulder stand (which I just about did). Once again, I was surprised by how hard holding these poses works you – loads of muscle groups come into play and I worked up quite a sweat! I was keen to give everything a try and, with hindsight, I put myself under a lot of pressure to do things that, after only two sessions, I’d probably not be able to do after several. Even as I thought this I knew I was wrong to think this way, but seeing people around me, some many years older than me, some a lot less strong etc., doing things that I was not able to do made me even more “pushy” with myself. The teacher very kindly said to me afterwards “You’re game, but we just need to build up gently” – a kind way of saying don’t run before you can walk. I already knew she was right. So, I’m going to take my time, build up slowly and build my confidence. There were people there that have been doing Yoga for a while who were only just doing the headstand fully for the first time – why should I expect to do it on my second lesson?! Like I said in my last post about Yoga, I see this as a long term practice so have just got to take it slowly and as it comes.

It brought me back to thinking about this weekend’s progress in Jiu Jitsu. I’ve been training three and a half years or so now. In yoga, I’m like I was when I started BJJ – all enthusiasm and frantic tapping – metaphorically speaking. It’s taken a few years to get this far – and really that’s no distance at all, but I have made progress and am doing things I would never have thought possible even a few weeks back let alone a few years. You’ve just got to practice, keep applying and then when your body and mind are ready, things just “click”. You just have to trust in the process.

First of all, if you never watched Cesar Gracie BJJ instructional, you don’t know what are missing. It is one of the most detailed and complete instructionals out there. I really recommend buying it.

Anyway, on the beginning of volume 3, he describes the proper side-control positioning, which I would like to share (just 2 minutes long):

Remember, before you go to a submission, you need to make sure you hold the position (and gain the points). I specially like his suggestions regarding the foot movement and far-arm control.

After a long time way due to injury (knee problems), I am back to training full time and updating this blog. More to come soon.

Team member Nick Mason was this weekend killed while on service in Afghanistan.

He was a great member of the team and a Blue belt in BJJ under Braulio, whilst being an active fighter in everything he tried.

Our thoughts are with you, mate.

Rest in peace.