Auckland Kids Bjj Graduation 22/09/2018

We had a great turn out to our graduation ceremony this morning.  I want to thank all the parents for your support.  We wouldn't have such a great team without you.  A huge round of thanks goes to Stuart and Serge for taking the time to come out for our graduation.  Their guidance has been instrumental in the success of our dojo.

Now for the fun part.  We had our junior 9:00am class as usual.  We finished up at 9:45 and welcomed our senior team onto the mats.  After a brief warm up we lined up and got straight into giving stripes.  Once we finished with the stripes I revealed the secret that I was teasing the class with all morning.  Since we had 3 instructors we had a small competition session for all who wanted to roll.  We had a lot of rounds and everyone put their skill on display for all to see.  It's very rewarding for me to see the class using what they have learnt with great effect.  I'm looking forward to many more action pack classes. 

Saturday fun at the dojo

Don't mess with this guy!

The weather was so nice in the dojo this morning.  It felt so good to break a sweat during the warm up. 

Our junior students worked on grip breaking techniques today.  We covered 3 ways to break the the lapel grip.  Once everyone had a good grasp of the techniques we went situational to make it more real.  Everyone had a great time moving and breaking with their training partner.  Way to go junior team.

Our senior team class learned 2 take downs from the knees to begin their rolling.  We had done a lot of work previously on our chain of movements.  Today the reward for everyone working so hard on the chain drills was an intense rolling session.  It was rewarding to me to see the team use what they have learnt whilst rolling.  Miller was on fire today.  He has progressed quickly and was moving extremely well in his matches.  Great work you guys and girls.

What a pair!

I want to give a special shout out to Eric and Olivia.  Olivia has been training with me and Aidan since she was four years old.

Her younger brother Eric has joined our junior class and is enjoying every minute.  It's great to have a family that all train BJJ!

Upcoming graduation

It's that time again!

We will be having our graduation on Saturday the 22nd of September at 10:00am.  We will have our 9:00am class as normal and then do our graduation in the beginning of our 10:00am class.

It will be great to see everyone turn up for this graduation.  We will be taking photos of the group and individuals  as they receive their promotion.

Students will need to have a black tab on their belt. This is where the stripes will go.  The tab is 11.5 to 12cm. A tailor or anyone with a sewing machine can add the tab. See the photo below for a reference.

New students on the mats

Our first class was a lot of fun this morning.  We had 4 new students come for a trial and it was great to see them join right in and work with the team.  The class consisted of working the first mount escape.  We had Aidan and Olivia helping everyone with the escape.  They both did an excellent job working with everyone.  Well done to you both. 

Our second class was equally as fun.  We worked our 3 side control chain to north south position,  then we progressed to going from north south to the opposite side to side control.  We will be working this more in the coming weeks.  Making intelligent movements to maintain top position is our goal.

Our rolling session was spectacular.  Everyone was actively using what they have learnt over the previous weeks.  Olivia was on fire.  She was submitting everyone she rolled with.  Olivia is a great example of a smaller person using Jiu Jitsu to dominate a larger stronger opponent.  Great work and awesome attitude and sportsmanship Olivia.  Nothing makes me happier than the girls giving the boys a hard time when rolling.

Overall it was great to see all the kids back that have been sick.  The viruses have been getting everyone so please wash your hands often to minimize spreading the bug.

Looking sharp

We had a great class Saturday.  Everyone's Jiu Jitsu was look sharp whilst working our chain.  It went so well that we were able to add the north south position.  that was too easy for most so we threw in the north south choke as well.

We had a great rolling session.  Well done to those who had there first go at rolling.  It's really great to see everyone using techniques they have learned over the previous weeks.  It's been a great beginning for you boys and girls.  Keep up the hard work and never give up.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

Today we polished up our chain drill we've been working on.  The deliberate and methodical approach to learning the positions has paid off for everyone.

We new have 2 submissions, one from mount and the other from back attack position, and will progress into 2 other of side control positions on Saturday.   

The situational rolling was a lot of fun.  The students all realised that they needed to keep their hip low in side control to stop the person on the bottom from moving to the guard position.  Over all today was a great training session and a lot of ground was covered.  Well done team!

Tuesday's chain drill session

What a great class.  everyone was thrilled to work on the back attack positions and extremely happy to work on their first lapel choke submission.

Ok so here is how the chain drill works.  The student starting on top in side control progresses to knee on the belly.  After a mental 3 count they slide into mount.  The mounted student starts to roll and the top student changes to technical mount then secures seat belt control.  Now the student on top rolls their opponent and sets their hooks.  Once control is established it's time for the lapel submission.

Watching everyone's ability and confidence in working through this positions is very rewarding for me.  The hard work of drill each position over the last several weeks has paid off and demonstrates everyone's ability to adapt to new concepts in Jiu Jitsu.   It won't be long before we start learning the second chain drill.  It will definitely be a hit with the team.

Thanks again to all the parents that help out and thanks for the support we get from all the parents.  We couldn't do it without you.