2014 is going to be an exciting year. Here's what to keep your eyes peeled for over the next few months from SCRAMBLE and PONY CLUB GRAPPLING GEAR.
First up, Scramble:
Galactica Shorts- £44.99
It's been a while since scramble have made any knee length MMA shorts. Their new Galactica shorts boasting a new fit, cut and design. As much as I love the "crossed swords" shorts, I'm not a fan of their tight elasticated waistband (maybe I will be when I'm super ripped..) so this fitted waistband is very much welcomed by me. And they are like, space shorts. Science nerd.
Made in Japan Kimono - £TBC
Mr Scramble
With Scramble having a massive influence from Japan, this gi will be ideal for those who don't like a flashy in-your-face gi. Plain, and simple, the preview pictures look stunning. No news on price yet, but with them being made to Scrambles high expectations in Japan, you'll be sure to get what you pay for.
The Rebel- £TBC
This is my kinda gi. Not in the least bit IBJJF comp legal with its separate coloured grey jacket and navy trousers, navy lapel with luminous yellow embroidery, there isn't another gi out there like this at the moment. This will be the 4th style of gi from scramble, making a 2:2 ratio on IBJJF legal:illegal. Scramble. Real rebels.
Ok, pony lovers.. PONY CLUB GRAPPLING GEAR is back.
The Nicky- £TBC
These dino spats have been building up a lot of love online since sneak peak photos were posted in the middle of last year. Finally, they're going to be available to purchase very very VERRRRY soon. Keep your eyes peeled on the Pony Club Grappling Gear facebook page for specifics.
They will also be getting a restock of the following spats: The Bader, The Yang, and The Jessicas..
The Yang
So much excitement. Keep up to date with all the new gear coming from the two most innovative BJJ brands out there (maybe slightly definitely a bit biased).
To recap: July: my knee locked out and popped when I sprawled on a takedown. August: I was a sulking moaning crippled Shebeast. September: 80% better. I could roll fairly well. Just couldn't kneel at all or squat very well. October: My knee locked out and caused paaaaaain, again. Aside from being a little sore the next day, there wasn't any noticeable regression in recovery. November: 90% better. I could squat (body weight with an additional 20kg or so) without any pain or feeling of giving way. Could kneel fully, but it was uncomfortable, but most of my weight shifted to my right (good) side. The knee felt unstable every couple of days. I would wobble when running around my classroom, and hear regular pops when changing gear whilst driving. No real pain though. And I never felt like my leg was literally hanging off or anything.. 4th Dec: MRI Scan. Went like this; "WHAOO WHAOO.. NNEEEAAWWW NNEEEAAAEWWWW NEEEAAAAAWWW... BBBBZZZZZ BBBBBZZZZZZ BBZZZZZZ". It was awfully annoying. 24th December: MRI results. A fully ruptured ACL. There's nothing remaining. AT ALL. So I've trained and competed without a ligament for 6 months. Swell.
The specialist has strongly recommended surgery. He's also said it will be 9 months before any contact sports. I read that as "9 months before any hard rolling". I understand they'll be taking tissue from my hamstring and using that to create a new ACL. I've already received some fantastic advice from friends who train reiterating the importance of prehab, rest and rehab. It seems like that will be the deciding factor in the length of time off training. The waiting list for the surgery is roughly 4 months. In the meantime, I'll he training my ass off. I've nothing to lose (quite literally!). I will try to compete as much as possible and improve my jiu jitsu. Its going to be a real test of my dedication and discipline (BJJ has helped me lose weight and focus on pursuing a healthy lifestyle). I think I might be a bit lost without jiu jitsu! I'll have to turn my attention to rehab. And pull ups. Lots of pull ups. Gah. Merry bloody Christmas!
On the 17th November 2013 I was promoted to purple belt by my instructor, Darren Yeoman.
It was a massive shock, as I've had a re-occurring knee injury that has plagued me for the past 6 months. I've kept training and I'm honoured to have received it this year.
When I started Jiu Jitsu just over 4 years ago, I remember thinking that purple belt was the belt of ninjas. Got to work harder than ever now to maintain the high standard of a purple belt in BJJ.
Massive congrats to the following guys from Fightworx who also got promoted recently:
(LEFT TO RIGHT; Leon- Blue belt, me- Purple belt, Darren (instructor), Pablo- black belt, Wilbur- Purple belt)
A special thanks to Scramble for their ongoing support for the past 3 years. I appreciate everything you guys do for me, and I hope to represent as a scrambler for many years to come! Another thanks to Pony Club Grappling Gear for their support also :) Final thanks goes to all the training partners I've had the pleasure of training with (at Fightworx, GB Plymouth, Fightsports Miami and Mill Hill BJJ). BJJ has done so much for me, and I feel like I have a massive Jiu Jitsu family to thank for that. I'll keep training till I die! Osss.
I'm still broken. But, not too broken. I'd say I'm 85% better. Knee has popped again since initial injury at the end of July. Not as painful as the first time, but it's confirmed something is definitely wrong in there..
I've been to see a knee specialist and I have an MRI scan booked for the first week of December. GP told me not to train in the meantime. Silly GP's..
I've been taking it easy but it's felt stronger as time goes on. I have the odd wobble (usually when I've been stood up for longer periods of time) but no real issues at training.
Other than moaning about my gammy knee, here's an assortment of stuff I have been up to:
1) Tabbage. I got my fourth tab! (Wheeeeyyyyy!)
A really nice surprise. I'm thankful I've continued to (sensibly) train despite being injured as it's definitely paid off. Every tab I've earned I've felt like my Jiu Jitsu has progressed significantly between each one. I don't agree with sticking to IBJJF style gradings of 1 tab per 4/6 months or whatever. Progression is a personal thing, and as such, it needs to be a very personalised system between a student and their coach.
Full set
2) Making a return to competition
I was asked by Tom Barlow to photograph the Plymouth Open (a couple of days before the competition). I agreed (as I enjoyed doing it last time) but mentioned that if I knew I was spending the whole day in Plymouth, I would have entered to fight myself, as my knee had been holding up well for the past few weeks.
He replied telling me he has entered me to fight too! I was excited, but I also felt like a bit of a gate crasher. The 2 girls already entered in the blue belt division were 49kg and 61kg. I'm a voluptuous 74kg at the moment (should get back on the Paleo...).
My biggest aim was to try out some shin on shin/open guard stuff I had been drilling at training. Which is what I did. But I also wanted to win. 5 silver medals on the trot at blue was enough, I wanted gold this time. However, I wanted to win because my Jiu Jitsu was better, not because I had a weight advantage.
My first fight was against Kirsty Utting. I had not fought her before, but I was aware of her. She has been a blue belt for a similar length of time as me, and I knew she was a Judo black belt. No way in hell was I standing with her, weight advantage or no weight advantage.
(Side note- Pictures! Why you no resize?! No tool bar to make them all big and sexy. Fine. Screw you.)
Sitting to guard, before I get thrown on my ass.
The fight pretty much went deep half- sweep- pass- regain- pass- got swept- swept back again.
I didn't stay on the bottom as much as I had liked, but it was a good fight, were I racked up enough points passing guard a couple of times to win.
In my second fight, I fought Zayna Davis. I've trained with Zayna a few times at GB Plymouth and we have a considerable weight difference. 49kg to 74kg is a massive weight difference, so I was determined to not play a top game at all, and work on my guard even more.
I spent most of the fight trying to pull of a shin on shin sweep. I attempted it a lot, but every time I almost pulled it off, she popped straight back up again. I earned a few advantages, but it was a while before I pulled off a sweep to get some points. I tried a couple of tornado guard- back take attempts that I do in the gi, but struggled to keep a grip on her ankles to finish it off.
I managed to play around in a lot of positions I've never used in competition before liiiiike....
De La Riva,
Inverted guard aaaand
Tornado guard.
I won by a couple of sweeps and my handful of advantages. I was very happy. I got to really have fun with my Jiu Jitsu. I wasn't crushing my opponents to death with shoulder pressure and living up to my nickname. (I might request a renaming..). I actually enjoyed it, and didn't want to hear the buzzer sound!
Me and my biggest fan
Yeah, I was happy to have walked away with a gold medal. I felt like my Jiu Jitsu was a thousand times better than the last time I competed- which is what I want.
I compete so I can
Work out what I'm crap at.
Train so I'm not as crap at it anymore, so I can then
Test my improvement and progression at competition.
To me, that's the whole point of competing. I'm not a medal chaser. I just want to have amazing Jiu Jitsu. I left happy knowing my Jiu Jitsu is better than the last time I competed. Back to the mats to make more improvements!
Massive shout out to G who won double gold in the white belt division, Sam smashed and got double gold in the purple belt division and Cal won gold in the blue belt. Fightworx Jiu Jitsu! (Oss and all that...)
END
:)
vs. Zayna
vs. Kirsty
(Sorry about crap quality. Click to watch in HD- even though it's crappy HD)
As mentioned in a previous post, I now have a SHEBEASTBJJ YouTube Channel.
I'm using this channel to post videos I'm making at training. Jiu Jitsu lifestyle/rolling mini features, if you will.
The current 5 uploaded videos were all shot at the gym I train at, Fightworx Academy in Torquay. They feature scenes of my instructor, Darren Yeoman teaching, as well as my team mates drilling techniques and rolling in gi and nogi classes.
Here is the most recent upload, which also features scenes of myself rolling (immense camera skills, courtesy of Mr Will Newland).
Feel free to like/dislike/comment to let me know what you think. Thaaaaanks.
*Side note*- Watching back the footage of myself rolling has been invaluable. It's not often that you get to see yourself roll (in non-competitive scenarios).
It's brought to attention a handful of things regarding my jiu jitsu- things I'm rubbish at and need to work on. But mainly, that I spend too much time upside down with my ass in the air.
