Pressure Makes Diamonds.

The weekend saw the Manchester open 2013 take place, And Checkmat were there in Force ready to Fight it out for one of those medals.

Competition training at Checkmat South shields started at the back end of March for this comp with plenty of drills and sparring. Working on some take downs, and passing guard, half guard & Spider Guard and anything else you can thing of to pass!

It's been a pretty tough few weeks of training and pretty full on but they say Pressure makes diamonds and it certainly did at Manchester.

I had entered in for the  +63kg division as Grab&Pull had decided to have free entry for the females but then reduced the weight divisions to either -63kg or +63kg for all female belts. which was so good of them, it meant more females would enter and you would get a few more fights rather than entering the same local comps and always end up fighting the same person. GOOD CALL G&P! :)

There was 4 of us in my division, which may not sound a lot to you but when you have spent the last year fighting the same 2 people every time in an open weight, this amount of people in a weight division was great.

All together there was 25 female fighters entered from white belt to Purple belt with the majority of them entering a comp for the first time!

I was called to the mat for my first fight, tapped hands and off we went. i went straight for a single leg and then for the pass, pretty much what i had planned out, after that i went with what i felt comfortable with whilst trying to maintain my top position. have a look at the video below and see for yourself.

Video Uploading......

I had won and got to the final! My nerves had gone and i just wanted to get back on the mat and fight again.

My final fight was called. i stepped on the mat tapped hands and tried my hardest to get the take down, i hate jumping guard, i have never jumped guard in a competition and i never will. its a chance to test yourself so why waste it!

The girl i fought was strong and neither of us could get the take down, eventually she sat down to her back and i went for the pass and she caught me in half guard.

I could hear my Coach and team mates shouting that i had 30 seconds left and i had to pass to win.

I kicked my leg threw to get side control and controlled my side position to get my points before time time ran out!!

Not the best of fights, a bit disappointing as i know i can do better, but overall i was happy with how well i had done!

I had just won my First Gold Medal for my New Team CHECKMAT!!

I'm pleased i took part and it was great to see so many new female faces at the comp, this is what the sport needs to grow, and with the help of people like Grab&pull more ladies will start taking up the sport.

My team mate Danielle Also competed in the female -63kg white belt division and fought 3 great fights winning her first in 20 second by Arm bar, Lost in the second to minimal points and won her 3rd by omaplata. she showed some great Jiu jitsu and controlled all her opponents well and went on to win Bronze in her Weight.

Visit from Chico Mendes

Recently Checkmat South Shields has a visit from Head of Checkmat Europe Chico Mendes.
During his time in the North East he held a 3 hour seminar at the club where around 45 of the clubs members turned out in force to support the event.

Arriving at the Gym that day, it was packed finding somewhere to put down your kit and get changed was a little manic, people, gi's, training equipment everywhere you looked with the odd hyper Checkmat Kid's running around waiting to start the warm up.

It was good to see the mat so busy and it was also good to share the mat with the next generation of fighters having the Kids there for the seminar. although it was unusually quiet and the normal South Shield banter was a little subdued to bland conversations, no swearing or obscenities specially with the children being around.
Every one was polite ( sort of) and very well behaved. 

After a quick warm up and a brief chat from Chico about what we would get out of the day we started with the techniques.
This seminar we were going to be covering Half Guard from top & bottom.

I use a lot of half guard in my BJJ game but sometimes i find i lose the position a lot so this was great for me.

Firstly we worked from the bottom, looking at how to secure the half guard and keep your half guard to your advantage. more knee pressure on the chest to keep them away and stop them flattening you to pass, learning that you need patience and waiting until your opponent moves before you move so you don't give away the position.

After a while of drilling this and playing around with it during some positional sparring we moved on to taking the back from half guard, shooting in for the leg in your half guard and getting your under hook to get the position, also from this we worked on a little deep half guard when your not able to go to back.

I haven't really worked much on using Deep half guard, as the position i think doesn't work for me. i always panic in that situation that I'm going to get stuck and give up a position to their advantage so its something i don't tend to go for. but after drilling the Deep half guard and Chico showing some good little moves and giving tips on how to improve the position, i found it quiet easy and i was able to use it on the bigger guys to. so i feel a lot more confident if the deep half guard is there to then go for it.




























Over 3 hours of BJJ with Chico Mendes, Loads more new positions and techniques to drill and a lot to take in, the seminar was finished, the Checkmat kids learnt a lot and it left them with loads to work on over the next few weeks. where as for me it had held me improve the positions i already use 100%, just the little tweaks of some positions i needed to improve it to be more effective, which is great. Also understanding you have to be patient wait till they move before you move hence not showing them what your going for, then counter their move to a better position for your self. Let them give up their game before you give up yours.


After a long day Training we all went out for Steak and Beer, well i just had steak.
It was a sober night for me and one of my Coaches Shaun Scott, we both had Hour long privates with Chico in the morning. we just judged the really bad Dance off's! :)

Sunday Morning Rolling

I was up nice and early while most of my team mates were in bed hungover after the night before. sat at the Gym at half 9, coffee in hand ready to start. (coffee - i need it to wake up in the morning)

I wanted to go back over some Half Guard and deep half guard with Chico  as yesterday there was a lot to take in and i wanted to make sure i was using the new tweaks the best i can. so we drilled the half guard position, as well as the taking the back.

Chico told me off various times about my arms, apparently ' I like to wave at people whilst rolling' to much of a performer you see, i cant help it.

I give me arms away far to easy, but once he pointed it out i noticed just how much i actually do it. lying on my back waving to the spectators instead of actually using them to help keep my position.

We also drilled my bad side as I'm to comfortable working from one side that when i get caught on the other i get stuck,. i found that im just as good on my other side and i can get certain positions and submissions from my bad side that i can't actually get from my good side. which was good to find out.

During the drills we were doing i tried to use my bad side as much as possible and i found different ways to use my half guard to better the position, which were different again from my good side. as well as being told off again for my arms which Chico pointed out i don't do it on my bad side.

This means that I'm to comfortable in the position on my good side, i subconsciously think i don't need to use my arms, where as on my bad side i know its not my strong side so my arms are always in. i had never noticed this until Chico pointed this out. but it is definitely something i intend to work on a lot more.

You'll see me walking around T-Rex-ing everywhere i go.

After the seminar i spent some time with Chico finding out what his thoughts were on Women in Jiu Jitsu. 
He's a very busy man who was due to fly out to Finland a couple of days later to start his Tour of Europe around his other clubs, so i was lucky enough to get some Answers from the Busy man.

       
    
 1) Tell me a background in your BJJ, how you started BJJ and what
             you've achieved.

         I started in 1993-1994 when i was 13 years old. I started on the legendary Academia Master Jiu Jitsu with Romero Jacare (black belt), Eduardo Jamelao & Ricardo Franjinha (brown Belt) and Leo Viera (Purple Belt). My first session was with Leo. We really fast we made one friendship, not only with Leo but with Rico (Orange belt) and Leandro (Yellow belt). In 1996-1997 Leo decided live in Sao Paulo to teach there. When Leo moved I started training with Octavio Couto "Ratinho" until 2003. In 2003 i moved to Sao Paulo to live and teach there with Leo. In 2004 Leo gave me my black belt.

1994 - Yellow belt under Romero Jacare and Leo Vieira.
1996 - Blue belt under Romero Jacare and Leo Vieira.
1999 - Purple belt under Octavio Couto.
2000 - Brown belt under Octavio Couto.
2004 - Black belt under Leo Vieira.

    2) what are your thoughts about woman in BJJ?

    I respect a lot. I know is very difficult for girls. But today has session just for girls with girls teaching. We will start soon in my club one session just for girls. Very important self defense for girls.

    3) what kind if impact do you see woman making in BJJ?

    It's funny! I remember few weeks ago i put one male white belt to sparring with a female Blue belt. After he tapped a lot he came to me and said: She know BJJ... The best impact is when the girls show what can do

         4) what kind if growth & changes have you seen happen to the world of BJJ where female BJJ practitioners are concerned?

  The big change was the number of girls. I remember just few girls doing BJJ when i started but now have a lot

         5) what adjustments or changes do you believe a necessary as more woman participate in BJJ?

           We are on the way. Have a lot girls teaching, a lot session just for girls and a lot competition. Also today have a lot girls like Michelle Nicoline, Marina Ribeiro, Gabi Garcia like idols to learn from.

        6) Where do you see the female BJJ community in say 5 yr time from now?

          Bigger than ever. You cant imagine!!!

         7) in your opinion does the nature if training (mat time) need to be different for women?

         On the mats doesn't have mens or women just fighters.

          8) what advice would you give a woman who is interested in taking up BJJ as a    hobby or as a serious competitor?

      ENJOY... LEARN... FIGHT...

         9)  who would you say was the number 1 of the elite female competitors in the world right now and why?

         Gabi Garcia. 

        But have Marina Ribeiro, Michelle Nicoline, Luana, Ida Hasson, Bia Mesquita,   Karem Antunes

        (Brown Belt).... All those above are really good and promote females in the sport well.

CHECKMAT!! :)