The Joe Rogan Utility Belt is the Crown Prince of bum bags (what we call them in Australia) or fanny packs (the term used by our American friends). Fashionable? Maybe not. However notable fanny pack antifashionistas are legion. I include only wrestling and MMA celebrities here. The wider circle includes Kardashians and Jenners … you’ll…
Creativity and Martial Arts Training III
The third article in a series of four. SCAMPER In Part I and Part II of this series, we looked at how rearranging or reversing the sequence in which the movements within a technique are performed can sometimes lead to superior results, specifically referencing the kimura from under half guard, and the front kick. We…
Chrome Dome HOWTO
For those so good looking their face is taking over the rest of their head. I’ve been shaving my head for about ten years. With my father and grandfather both slapheads before their fifties, it was pretty much preordained at a cellular level. I knew what was coming and prepared myself well ahead of time….
Creativity and Martial Arts Training II
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou This is part II of a series on Martial Arts and Creativity. Part I. Me? Creative? You may not think you are creative, but you are. Every time you work towards a new goal, or find a unique (to you)…
Creativity and Martial Arts Training I
The Natural Order of Things? A recent seminar with John Will brought home to me the value of imagination and a creative approach to martial arts training, and, specifically, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The seminar was on half guard on the bottom – more specifically, a type of Z guard – and we were looking at…
New Black Belt – Rick Spain
Not many people get to have the privilege of occasionally teaching a martial art to their own instructor. In 1998, I’d been training in Wing Chun Kung Fu for close to a decade, with Rick Spain as my Sifu (instructor). Under his tutelage and expectations, I sought and found competence, and a way to transcend…
John Will Seminar 15 Oct 2017 – Half Guard, the Seed
The seminar was held at the Red Boat Wing Chun Academy in Redfern. A wonderful surprise at the start with Red Boat Wing Chun’s chief instructor, Rick Spain, being awarded his Jiu Jitsu Black belt by John. David Suker of Stealth Fighting Arts in Bargo, received his the day before, and drove John to the…
Dave Camarillo 16 Sep 2017
The seminar was held at Higher Jiu Jitsu in the Woolloomooloo PCYC, organised by John Smallios. Dave’s first major statement was “Athleticism begins on the feet.” You want to be on your toes, moving, and always in a position to move. Not flat footed. All the running, sideways stepping, two in two out, etc. that…
The Gathering 2017, and a Rigan Machado seminar 10 Sep 2017
The Gathering 2017 I travelled to Melbourne to attend the Will/Machado Gathering, a competition organised every year by John Will. This year celebrating thirty years of BJJ in Australia. “Fawlty Towers”, where I stayed with the Langes, the Lazichs, Pete King and Elvis Sinosic. Unlike the TV namesake, staff are professional and the stay was…
Why you aren’t a streetfighter … and why you don’t want to be
From “Taking It to the Street; Making Your Martial Art Street Effective” by Marc “Animal” MacYoung, Paladin Press, 1999 A lot of martial art instructors claim to be streetfighters. They brag about how their system is street proven. To listen to these people, you’d think they were real hardcore street savages. And to give them…