BJJ Heroes - Biography - David Onuma - November 2011

Hey Guys,

The ever popular website BJJ Heroes obviously got bored and posted a little article about me. Have a read when you are bored too :)


http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/david-onuma

Review of Recent Seminar by 'The Part Time Grappler'

Hey Guys

Check out this great review of our recent seminar/grading

Cheers Liam



http://parttimegrappler.blogspot.com/2011/12/cfs-bjj-team-get-together-at-mill-hill.html

CFS BJJ SEMINAR/GRADING - 27.11.11

On Sunday 27th November 2011, the CFS BJJ group got together for our Bi-Annual seminar/Grading. It was very well attended by all the groups which included; HQ;Bournemouth, Manchester, Barnet, Chingford & Letchworth.

Guest Instructors included Black Belt Nick Brooks, Black Belt Keith Mckenzie; Strength & Conditioning Guro Andrew Marshall and Brown Belt and no-gi expert Daniel Strauss.

Congratulations to all those whose efforts were rewarded with grades and stripes and the standard of the group as a whole continues to grow steadily.

Current Grades (of those graded):

Andrew Nugent - Brown Belt - 3 stripes
Alan Dillon - Blue Belt 1 stripe
Matt Mcguire - Blue Belt - 3 stripes
Andy Bell - Blue Belt - 3 stripes
Paul Hill - BLUE BELT
Lee Curtis - BLUE BELT
Richard Halliwell - BLUE BELT
Gerald Balk - White Belt - 1 stripe
Charles Balk - White Belt - 2 stripes
Greg Woods - White Belt - 1 stripe
Shareef Essof - White Belt - 4 stripes
Yusef Chaudhri - White Belt - 2 stripes
Gillie Barrett - White belt - 2 stripes
Humza Hussain - White Belt - 2 stripes
Lewis Renney - White Belt - 2 stripes
David Kelly - White Belt - 1 stripe
Stephen Adams - White belt - 4 stripes
Matt Dennis - White Belt - 1 stripe

It really was a pleasure and an honour to see you all and to play a part in the development of your BJJ. We have a really special group which is growing stronger all the time.

Ossssss!!

19.11.11 - No-Gi Workshop at Alliance BJJ Brighton & Immaculate Clothing

On Saturday 19th November, I headed off to Alliance BJJ in Brighton to share some No-gi BJJ with my long time friend and training partner Miad Najafi. The workshop was held at ZT fightskool in Hove. There was a good turnout and we had a good session ending with the customary roll!!

I was also able to collect my hot off the press t-shirts from Miad, who has just launched his unqique clothing company. Check him out at www.immaculateclothing.com

CFS - Empty Hands - Basic striking/padwork series - Curriculum - 2011 for Instructors & Students

Ok Guys, further to requests from some of you, I have put on video the current basic striking series I am using for all levels. It is essential that all students and instructors familiarise themselves with this material.

The series is centred around five pasic punches and is really useful for the pad holder as well as the striker. In my view, in order to gain a better understanding of striking you really ought to be able to pad hold in as many different ways as possible.
The videos are self explanatory but the five punches are as follows (using the numbering system)

1.Jab
2.Cross
3.Lead hook
4.Lead uppercut to head
5.Rear uppercut to head

I also want to thank Glen Akwei for his help. Glen is one of only 2 coaches on the CFS MMA program, and has extensive experience in the art of Muay Thai having trained in Thailand many times as well as in Holland. He has competed in Muay Thai as well as amateur MMA. He is a former student of Guro Bob Breen and Winston Fraser and has been training with me for many years now. He currently teaches the Muay Thai classes at Mill Hill CCA academy and assists me in the MMA classes.





Video 2



Video 3



Video 4



Video 5



Enjoy and feel free to let me know how you get on with it

OCTOBER - Video techniques of the month & BONUS interview with Master Julio Cesar Pereira - Head of GF Team - 6th Degree Black Belt

On Tuesday 4th October, thanks to the kind assistance of Daniel Pintado, I had the opportunity to train with, learn from and interview another BJJ Legend. This time it was none other than Master Julis Cesar Pereira, 6th Degree Black Belt and head of the GF Team Brazil.

I was introduced to him in Nottingham at the recent ADCC without knowing too much about him prior to that. I was particularly keen to train with him but not so much because he was the teacher of Rodolfo Vieira but because he was the teacher of Huanderson Pavao. Pavao as he is commonly referred to used to reside in the UK and taught out of the London Fight Factory. He was a master technician with and without the gi coupled with awesome strength and a big heart. I trained with him privately every week for about 9 months prior to his return to Brazil. I owe him alot.

Anyway as you can imagine, I was particularly keen to see the source of Pavao's teaching and I was not disappointed. In our session we concentrated on passing the guard followed by sparring. He then kindly answered some questions about himself and put some techniques on video to share with you guys.

Rather than present the information in a question and answer type format, let me tell you what I learned about this very humble man with World class BJJ.

Julio Cesar Pereira was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 22nd December 1964. He commenced his training in BJJ under Prof Monir Salomao in 1974 and it was he who gave him his Black Belt some 25 years ago. He was awarded his 6th Degree by the federation in 2005 and gained his Black Belt in Judo in 2001.

He describes his specialities in BJJ as takedowns and passing the guard. He knows one or two things about leglocks too!

He has an enviable competition background, and in his own words 'I love to compete'. He won the Rio state championship 21 times, the first coming in 1974. He won the Masters and Seniors World Championships in both 2005 & 2006. He told me that his greatest competition success came in The American Cup in 1996 when he contested the final with a student of Rickson Gracie. There was literally no support for him but he managed to take home the Gold. He also had 3 memorable fights with Royler Gracie, losing the first 2 by submission and the last on points.

Having just come from ADCC, I asked him his views on how much time a BJJ player should train without the gi. He told me that normally he spends the majority of the time in the gi, but obviously depending on the competition , then the training would be adjusted.

I asked him if he trained Rodolfo any differently to any of his other students. He explained that where he is from, whilst the passion for BJJ is high, the standard of living is not the same. As a result most players would begin their training after a full day of work, rather than having the luxury of training 3 times a day. He told me that Rodolfo was the first person in the GF Team to completely dedicate himself to BJJ after he completed his studies. He had many other famous students but they all had to work and could not fully commit themselves to BJJ alone.

As a result of Rodolfo's success, he now has many students who want to dedicate themselves in the same way.

I was happy to learn that Mestre Pereira is a long time friend of Mestre Ricardo De La Riva. He told me that even though he was awarded his Black Belt one year before DLR, DLR is like an idol for him and a personal friend. They trained together for many years and DLR was the first person form Zona Sul (South Zone) to open up his academy doors to teach all manner of people whether affluent or not.

This was the Mestre's first trip to Europe and was happy that through his love of BJJ he had been able to travel to Spain, france, Switzerland, Germany and of course the UK. He stated that he had met a lot of new people and friends old and new.

The GF Team currently has one official affiliate in the UK, Gabriel Rainho who is both a BJJ & Judo Black belt. You can contact him at gabrielrainho@yahoo.com.br. He is based in London.

Video Techniques

Video 1 - Escaping the De La Riva Guard

Video 2 - Passing the half guard

Video 3 - Guard passing in action

I want to thank Mestre Julio for his time and teachings and it was such an honour to spend time with such a down to earth man without the politics that rears its ugly head in BJJ.

Enjoy

Training With the best Grappler of 2011 - Rodolfo Vieira

Following a great training session on 4.10.11 with Mestre Julio Cesar Pereira, 6th Degree Black belt and head of the now famous GF Team, it was time for another great session, but this time with his student, Current weight & absolute World champion, Rodolfo Vieira.

I managed to arrange the session so that he could teach the Thursday evening class (6.10.11) at the home of my good friend Prof Nick 'Sloth' Brooks and my second home, namely Mill Hill BJJ.

What was great is that we managed to keep it quiet so that the students had no idea....until he turned up. Priceless!!!

He taught a session on guard passing, covering 1 simple but very effective pass with 3 variations.

He then sparred with a lucky few, including yours truly and it really was an experience being spanked by the current no 1 ranked BJJ fighter in the World this year. One thing that surprised me most I confess, was how quickly he moved for a big guy. Very slick and very impressive.

Some pics of the crazy crew below :)

Happy days!!! - A great start to October.....

On Tuesday 4th I had a private training session with none other than 6th Degree Black Belt Julio Cesar Pereira, 2 x World champion and teacher to current Mundial weight and absolute champion, Rodolfo Vieira. We went out to dinner later with a group of others including Rodolfo.

On Thursday 6th October Prof Rodolfo taught a class at Mill Hill BJJ (surprise arranged visit as the students had no idea) followed by some great rolling....

A full report, videos and pics to follow......

As I said....................Happy days :)

No Gi training with the crew @ HQ

Excellent stuff...........thanks guys :)

ADCC 2011

If you don't know who they are.....you really shouldn't ask.......but yes..........I did get to shake Rickson's hand,........ooooooeeeeeiiiiiiiii :)

Tatami Twins....terrible two....beauty and the beast....what ever you wanna call us....

........the excellent work put into us twice weekly by our strength and conditioning coach Andy Marshall is paying off!!!

Hehehehehe!!!

When Black Belts unite........16.9.11

Great training with the Guro Bob Breen Blackbelts new and old................We trained advanced aspects of the knife as well as foot sectoring and sweeps from Guro Dan's Maphilindo Silat.

A great way to set up your weekend :)

MMA students try their hand at Filipino Stick fighting - 13.9.11

The MMA class at Mill Hill BJJ Academy had no idea what hit them when they turned up for their regular MMA class.

I introduced them to the training methods of the Filipino stick fighters which directly crosses over into the regular striking seen in boxing and other striking arts.

They also found out that stick training is actually far more exhausting than they thought as they quickly built up a sweat and developed some blisters on their hands, but they certainly seemed to enjoy the idea and concept of swinging big sticks :)

New CFS BJJ Manchester Blue Belt - James Stafford - September 2011

Congratulations to James on his promotion to Blue Belt. It was given to him following recommendation by Manchester Head Instructor Martyn Cahill and well deserved by all accounts.

Well done ;)

Bob Breen Academy - Black Belt Grading - 11.9.11 - Report

Julian Getting choked out by Winston Fraser just before he got hit again...

Rich Lee getting pounded in 2 on 1 by 2007 Blackbelts Corey Donoghue and Lloyd Walters.......

The Happy Group with the Guro

Sunday 11th September was an important day internationally for a number of reasons an indeed it was also for the 12 participants selected to take the infamous Bob Breen Academy Black Belt test.

Let me begin by giving you a little bit of history about the test and what it invloves.

In order to be able to take the test, you will ordinarily have been training with Guro Breen for several years and have taken the tests at the previous levels. There are 2 at Brown belt level. The test is normally reserved to those who are class members but on the odd occasion Guro will allow students who train with him on his instructor camps and who have shown the appropriate level of skill, determination and heart to test. Taking and passing this test gives you the right to say you are a personal student of Guro Breen and hence claim lineage back to Guro/Sifu Dan Inosanto and SiGung Bruce Lee.

The main arts taught at The Academy are :

1. 
   
   Filipino Martial arts


2. 
   
   Jun fan gung fu/JKD concepts


3. 
   
   Boxing


4. 
   
   Muay Thai
   

In addition techniques and strategies are also drawn from

1. 
   
   Silat


2. 
   
   Wing chun


3. 
   
   Combat submission Wrestling


4. 
   
   BJJ
   

It is because of this, it normally takes along time to reach the level suitable for testing.

The test itself is HARD and long, typically lasting 4-5 hours. You need to know your stuff and you need to be in shape. The test respects no one. Men, women, old and young are all treated equally. If you have any weaknesses....they will be exposed...whether you knew they pre existed or not.

There are technical elements tested:

Padwork - Boxing and Muay Thai

Empty hands techniques - Kali & JKD

Trapping - Wing Chun/Jun Fan

Weaponry - single & double stick, knife

Then there is sparring:

1. 
   
   Boxing


2. 
   
   Kickboxing


3. 
   
   Stick


4. 
   
   Grappling


5. 
   
   2 on 1
   
   

*you may spar in all areas or some but must be prepared for all at the direction of Guro Breen.

2 on 1 is a heartbreaker. There is no where safe to hide from the experienced Black Belts who seemingly push you beyond your limit.

The Muay Thai padwork is not for the faint hearted either especially when you are 'worked' over by 2 x European Muay Thai champ Winston Fraser or Long term Black Belt and student of Guro Inosanto, Savash Mustafa.

On the day....

The twelve called...answered and were successful. All were tested, rocked, pushed but came through the other side as individuals and as a group. The oldest participant was 49 years of age who told me he had been training 5 times a week for the past 6 months and was now going to take it a bit easy and cut it down to 4 times a week......Class!!

First of all I give praise to Guro Breen for his leadership and training over the past 30 plus years. Anybody who is anybody in JKD/Kali in the UK has been taught by him at some point. Secondly I praise the group for their hard work and entertaining the spectators. Thirdly I am extremely proud of Husna Nessa (the only female), Richard Lee and Barry Harte all of whom I have had a hand (or arm) in training over the years.

In closing....I say what I have said many times before in the past....attaining the Black Belt is fantastic, but it is ONLY the beginning. It all starts from here, as did mine in October 1996. Where will you be in 10 years time?!!

Oooooossssss!!!

Good times......

It was good to get a visit to 'HQ' from Blue Belt Coach (and 2 time European Champion Steve Payne) and a couple of his students. It was the first time his students got to roll with a purple & Black belt. Great to have them time and as we say.......Good times :)

Technique of the month - September 2011 - Special Bonus Video - Mestre Ricardo De La Riva

This is a special bonus technique and one not to be missed. The Mestre does what he does best and shows an innovative way to deal with a person who tries to counter a reverse DLR sweep by standing up.

Enjoy!!!

WEKAF European Stickfighting Championships - Warsaw, Poland, July 2011 - More CFS Success

A Big Congrats to CFS Associate Instructor Carl Jackson(a personal student of mine for over 10 years and one of only 4 people awarded the rank of Guro by me in the Filipino Martial arts FMA).

He Travelled to Poland in July for the 9th WEKAF European Stickfighting Championships where after solid performances, he secured Silver in Adult Welterweight division (single stick), Bronze in the double stick and Silver in the team event!!

The team event is open weight with 5 fighters from each country selected to fight one round each of non-stop carnage. The UK team beat Hungary and Germany losing only to Italy.

I understand there was a great showing from the UK team with a large presence from the 'Strike Team', now led by Damien Mills but taught by the fallen warrior, World, European & British Champion Guro Roger Barnes (deceased)

Great job guys :)

CFS Rashguards selling out!! - Get yours Fast!

Hey Team.....Those of you that have not picked up or reserved you RGs need to hurry up as they are going fast. This quality product made by ARMOURTECH (TATAMI FIGHTWEAR) is really good and the feedback so far has been all positive.

I can't promise you'll look as good as the guys in this pic but give it a go ;)

Daniel Strauss - ADCC Preparations

The training so far has been going really well. His S & C training is still at the highest level under the guidance of Fitness Guro Andrew 'Android' Marshall. We continue to work his ground and standup game at CFS HQ but now enters the final phase of training.

The 'Team' have sent The Raspberry Ape to NYC to train with Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie and GSP to name but a few.

This is just what he need to be taken to the next level.

We wish him all the best ;)

CFS BJJ Manchester/Fighting Fit - London Road trip - August 2011

Earlier on this month, a hardcore group of 'guys n gal' came to london to sample some of London's finest BJJ as well as celebrate the birthday of one of their own.

We had a great training and sparring session on the first day followed by training and sparring facilitated by my compadre Nick Brooks of Mill Hill BJJ.

Check out their report :)

http://parttimegrappler.blogspot.com/2011/08/bjj-road-trip-roger-gracie-hq-cfs-hq.html

CFS BJJ Manchester - Competition Success - 20.8.11

On Saturday 20th August 2011, the CFS BJJ Manchester/Fighting Fit team entered and fought in the 'Grab & Pull' North West open BJJ competition.

They did themselves proud ending up on the podium for their efforts. Competition is never easy for a number of reasons and indeed it's not meant to be. but that's what makes any type of success sweeter.

Below is a link to a fantastic report of the event by CFS Purple Belt Liam Wandi AKA ' The Part time Grappler with pics and vids

http://parttimegrappler.blogspot.com/2011/08/bjj-tips-winning-bjj-competitions.html

Well done guys!!