De La Riva UK Trip Round up - 12.4.11

Wow!!! My head is still buzzing!! What a week. As you guys know, 6th Degree Black Belt Master Ricardo De La Riva came to the UK to share his knowledge with us for a week. The week went all too quickly and he returned to Brazil today with his student 4th Degree Blackbelt Marcello Vanusa. The Master was hosted by Roger Gracie Black belt Nick Brooks and myself, and indeed it was only because of his very close relationship with Nick that he agreed to come over. He taught a series of daytime and evening classes at Mill hill BJJ as well as the 2 seminars on the 9th & 10th April 2011. Some pracitioners were lucky enough to get private classes from him and i'm sure the lessons everyone learnt will stick with them for a long long time. Whilst here he was interviewed by the UK's newest specialist Martial Arts/BJJ publication Jiujitsu Style and I know that he will appear in that magazine in due course. In addition, I filmed a series of techniques with him as well as a series of techniques with Marcello Vanusa which will appear on my blog once edited etc. Look out for them because they contain some really really nice and new stuff including his 'new' variation of the DLR guard which was adjusted to counter peoples knowledge of the guard and how to counter it. Last night he gave a class at a packed Mill Hill BJJ, which was then followed by the mandatory rolling. During his trip I got to roll with many different people of all levels and that was great fun. It was good to see BJJ School's own Leoni Munslow and a roll with her showed why she is one of the best in the UK in her division. I want to thank Nick for agreeing to share the experience with me as well as the DLR BJJ he has been studying for some considerable time both here and in Brazil. David Soares for all his translation help and everyone else involved in his trip behind the scenes. If any one is interested in learning more about Master De La Riva's approach to BJJ, feel free to contact Nick Brooks or me. As I say guys.....Watch this space :)

The benefits of training S & C with Android Andrew Marshall :)

CFS Promotion - 20.11.10 - Suleyman Cetin

Congratulations to longstanding CFS student Suleyman Cetin who was promoted to the level of Trainee Instructor in the Filipino Martial Arts after completing Phases 1-3 of the curriculum. Not an easy task as those already on the program will attest to.

He is now looking forward to honing and sharpening his skill by starting a small group in Bradford whilst remaining on the program.

Congrats again to a very humble and dedicated student

CFS Italy - Promotion - Dec 2010

Congratulations to Fabio Pampana who was promoted to apprentice instructor level 1 in the Jun Fan arts as well as the Filipino Martial arts. He had been a trainee for over 3 years and was ready to take on the next challenge. An excellent ambassador for CFS and a dedicated instructor.



Anybody in the Florence area looking to train can check him out. Details are to be found in the instructor section at www.davidonuma.com

Tatami Fightwear - Film/Photo shoot - Nov 2010 - Wales

The Crazy Tatami Fightwear Crew..........Can you name them all?
Pippa and I looking mean :)
Yours truly in fine Estilio attire!

Check out some of the filming........



Things you can't easily tell...

1. I was bloody freezing!! - Wales in November and no top!!!
2. They sprayed water on me as sweat.......that was bloody freezing too!
3. I was in pain - nearly broke my right toe 2 weeks ago....bouncing on it = PAIN!
4. How much fun did we all have - IMMEASURABLE!!!


Thanks to Lee & Gareth of Tatami fightwear for their hospitality and a great day out. Also thanks to my fellow sponsored athletes for a great time;

Pedro Bessa
Kevin Cox
Greg Creel
Daniel 'Vaseline' Agard (Don't ask!!)
and the wonderful Pippa Granger

New T-Shirts - Combined Fighting Systems - 21.10.10

Hey Peeps!!

Hope you all good. This morning, Doninho, Longrinho and I had another maaaad S & C session with the Android Andrew Marshall. Was crazy.........presses and windmills with 24kg. Floor presses with a 32kg and double swings with 2 x 24kgs.......aaaaarrrrgggghhh!!

And to finish it all off, he took my brand new CFS t shirt from me........modelled it (as apparently he looks better than all of us ...parp!!) and then took it home. Hehe. I was in no fit state to argue.

Hope you like it and if you are interested in one or a hoodie then give me a shout!!

Corey 'Doninho' Donoghue - Bournmouth BJJ Open - Blue Belt Champion (senior div) - 3.10.10

A big congratulations to Corey who won his division on Sunday despite having a hidden but badly injured rib. He had one fight but was still the victor in very convincing fashion dominating throughout and losing no points. He fought in the mixed absolute division too but couldn't on this occasion manage to get past the 20kg difference between him and his opponent.

CFS BJJ Bournmouth also had a very small presence at this competition. They didn't quite perform as well as they could but watch out....it's early days. Good effort!!

The competition was well run and there was a decent turnout even though I understand it was not quite as busy as last year.

I was refereeing pretty much the whole day and managed to assess the general standard of BJJ. As a whole, It was very impressive at all levels (white to purple). Being as honest as I always am, there was a particular team present with some very very good white belts, who upon further investigation, have perhaps TOO much experience as white belts and really shouldn't have been entering at that level.....not a good trend developing there I suspect.

There was good unity from all the refs and Instructors and the following Blackbelts were in attendnace with their respective teams:

Alex Machado
Ivan Marciel
Eduardo Azevedo
Thiago 'Monstro' Borges
Abel Martinez
Luiz 'Manxhina'
Marco Canha
Luis Tosta

(apologies if I missed anyone out)

I had a great day out particularly travelling there and back with Doninho, Strauss and the Android Andrew Marshall (the kettlebell guy - hehehehe!), who next time won't forget his T shirt!

Tony Ligorio - Second Full Instructor under Master Bob Breen - 26.9.10

This weekend, my teacher Guro Bob Breen held another of his infamous 2 day Instructor camps in London. As usual it was well attended with locals as well as students from Germany and Italy. One of those students was Tony Ligorio, who is the official representative of Guro Bob in Italy and has been his student for nearly 20 years.

On the second day of the camp, he was formally promoted by Guro to the rank of FULL INSTRUCTOR making him only the second person to receive that honour.

It is a fantastic achievement and if Tony felt anything like I did when I was promoted in March 2008, I can say it's a feeling that cannot easily be described.

Tony is a dedicated family man and martial artist. I have trained and sparred with him countless times over the years both here and Italy. He is very humble and unassuming but many people get a real shock when he turns it on as he really knows his stuff in practice as well as in theory. I have been on the recieving end of a few of his right hooks over the years.

Tony is a long standing and very accomplished martial artist. Below is a summary of some of his achievements but certainly not all:

*Full Instructor - Guro Bob Breen

* Black Belt - Took the infamous test and passed - Guro Bob Breen

*Coach Level 1- CSW under Sensie Erik Paulson

*World Stickfighting Champion - 1998

*2 x European shoot boxe champion

*7 x Italian Kung fu champion

*Tai chi Instructor

*Kicboxing & MMA record of 81 fights with 73 wins

*Owner and operator of one of the largest schools in Italy

*has written books on Shoot Fighting

Once again - Congrats my friend

www.tonyligorio.it

Martial arts illustrated - October 2010

Apparently, some guy called David Onuma is in the October Issue coming out on 16th September 2010 :)

CFS BJJ SEMINAR/GRADING - 29.8.10

On Bank holiday Sunday, we gathered together for a day of fun, training, meeting new people and finally formally recognising the progress of some individuals personal BJJ journey.

The CFS BJJ family is a combination of different people and groups both here in the UK and abroad. It is a relatively small group but with a big presence. Apart from the group who train with me directly, we have the group based in Barnet at Gary Hoptroff's academy (Herts Martial Arts) taught by Corey Donoghue, Vitaliano Sestito in Italy, Affiliates Andy Nugent also based in Hertford and Gary Baker/Scramble Academy based in Bournmouth.

Congratulations to all who were promoted in one way or another:

(In no particular order)

Corey 'Doninho' Donoghue - Blue belt 4 stripes
Tim Harding - Blue belt 1 stripe
Steve 'Longrinho' Payne - Blue belt - 1 stripe
Savash Mustafa - Blue belt - 1 stripe
Gary Hoptroff - White belt - 3 stripes
Jay Walker - White belt - 2 stripes
Pad Beillard - White belt - 1 stripe
Mark Kelly - White belt - 1 stripe
Darren Owen - White belt - 1 stripe

And last but not least, congrats to 41 year old MMA fighter Alan Dillon who was promoted to Blue Belt with my blessing by his instructor 1 Stripe Brown Belt Andy Nugent - He did get a whipping.

Apologiies if i have missed anyone out but if i have let me know as it's easily rectified.

A big thank you to my good friend Nick Brooks for allowing us to use his excellent gym

The Beginning of a new era - January 2010

My promotion to BLACK BELT on the podium by Thiago 'Monstro" Borges, on behalf of Ricardo Vieira and Rodrigo Cabral







3 Time European Brazilian Jiujitsu Champion - 2008, 2009, 2010









On Saturday 30th January 2010, thanks to God's grace and the support and friendship of my Family, friends and numerous training partners, after achieving a milestone and winning the Euros in my division for the 3rd time in a row, 12 years of studying BJJ came to fruition when I was awarded my BLACK BELT out of the blue on the podium in front of my peers.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but I want to thank GOD first and everyone who has supported me in all areas over the years.....my success, is your success......Thank you

CFS BJJ - Training with Finfou - Nov 09

The Man himself...............................

Getting to grips with the finer aspects of the triangle!

Finfou and Jesus Finfou and Savash

Corey, Finfou and Malandro

Finfou and a few of the crew.....

European Champion - Brown Belt Middleweight Senior 2 - 2009

Tough fights....good guys........happy me!

European Champion - Purple Belt Middleweight Senior 1 - 2008

A great competiton, good fights and the best possible result...........followed by lots of food!

The Italian Connection - Fabrizio, Vitaliano, Me and Corey after a CFS seminar in Assisi, Italy - 2007

Mirror mirror on the wall..........who has the greatest body of all? Hehehe! Home time!
Vitaliano Promoted to Apprentice Instructor Level 1 - FMA & JFGF