British Open 2013

More Medals For Checkmat South Shields

Now that The British Open has been & Gone, i though i would update my blog about the goings on from the weekends event.

Checkmat South Shields took 11 team members to compete at the British open. Now known as the biggest & best UK Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition in the country. 

Spread out over 2 days at the Body Power Expo at the NEC in Birmingham with space for 8 competition mats and over 1000 competitors, this is one of the most highly anticipated event in the year.

Everyone wants to get their hands on the Gold medal and become British Champion on that podium. and Checkmat South shields done just that.

After Months of hard competition training and around 20+ hours a week on the mats, all the hard work paid off and paid our Black Belt coach back in team points and great team spirit.

We all had an excellent weekend away and saw some great matches with some of us coming away with things to improve on for next time and some of us with not the result we wanted. But you have to pick yourself back up and try again. 

Results from the British open

Danielle Nesbitt - Gold - Juvenile division  British Champion

James Finch - Gold - British Heavy weight Champion

Claire Crowther - Silver - British Medium Heavy

Wayne Peel - Bronze - Heavy Weight division

All the other guys done an excellent job and showed some great jiu jitsu! 

Well Done Everyone!! :)

New Ladies Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Classes

Females in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

You may have noticed over the last few month the amount of gyms, teams & Clubs pushing for more females to take up the sport of Brazilian Jiu jitsu.

The main reason being is that the females already involved in the sport are pushing for woman to take part to create more training partners and more females entering the competition's around the country. Although it is good for us to train with our male sparring partners to learn from different type's of people with different strengths and sizes ETC, but you just cant beat rolling with another female your weight and size.

Don't get me wrong i like to hunt out the bigger, heavier higher belts at my club to challenge myself, but you do need the females around to adjust your game as they do tend to be more technical in their jiu jitsu and it is not all about strength.

The other reason being is that Jiu Jitsu is a great sport for fitness as well as great self defence. And it is SOOOOO ADDICTIVE!

Since training in Brazilian Jiu jitsu over 3 year ago my whole outlook on life has changed completely. i have goals and targets i would like to achieve as well as a healthy lifestyle. and i have the most amazing BJJ family i could have wished for. We all train, compete as socialise as a team, and everyone of them looks out for each other.

As more clubs are pushing for more females to get involved, we decided to start a Woman's only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. the aim of this class is to bring complete beginners in to the club and teach them the basics of jiu jitsu in a friendly all female environment for people aged 14 years and above.

Once they feel confident in the sport and can show they understand the basics we can then start integrate them in to the normal mixed classes. this will help them with their confidence in their first class.
All the male team mates are good and understand the difference between women's strength compared to theirs and understand how they are to roll with them at their first few classes. 

We are looking forward to building a strong female team who are confident to take part in Jiu jitsu and looking for some new challenges.

Ladies only classes are every Friday at 7.30pm and are held at Checkmat South Shields for women aged 14 years and above. Your first session is free and classes are £3.00 after. if you would like to come along and learn a new sport, anyone from any academy is welcome.

See you on the mats! :)