There's no "I" in TEAM

Tonight’s session marked the end of the Wednesday classes with Kevin. It was a situation that was saddening to me, at least, as I won’t be seeing some of the guys who can only come on Wednesdays. Like I mentioned in my previous post, Dante will still facilitate the Thursday classes, though he is hoping that he could get a discount from the Croydon Martial Arts Academy to make it financially viable.

On this last session, we did a lot of positional/technical sparring – guard passes, side control escapes, mounts, and sweeps. I felt that I did well today – oh, yes, I still did get submitted (a nasty “Steve-o-tine” from 3B himself) and several more from various partners throughout the session. The reason I was pleased with myself is that I felt I made them work for it and have managed to escape some compromising positions. I was even attempting my own submissions (“attempting” being the operative word, as I never got to be successful with them, haha). I feel like I am making progress. Slowly but surely.

Towards the end, Kevin spoke with us about the Croydon school’s future plans.  Nothing was set in stone yet, but I (we) are hoping that we can relocate by the beginning of next year. Some of us guys have made plans to continue meeting up on Wednesdays to drill and spar. Kevin gave us his blessings to train on other schools, notably BJJ School (Leao Teixeira) in Battersea and other schools within the Gracie Barra umbrella.

That is certainly an option for me, and I know these schools provide high quality instructions that I would benefit from, but my initial loyalty remains with Kamon BJJ. Not only for the skills that I have learned these past few months, but more importantly (for me), the friendliness and camaraderie I experienced from the Croydon crew. Elliott, Keith, Steve B (3B), Big Steve (Galvatron), Purple Belt Steve, Dante, and the rest of the guys, are people who genuinely want you to learn BJJ. There is no competition, one-upmanship, nastiness with them. They bring in what they learned, saw, practiced to the mats and demonstrate/teach it to others without hesitation. They will let you know what you did wrong during sparring and on many occasions, show you how you could do it better the next time. Unless you’re a total douchebag, there is no other way but to reciprocate the help that has been shown to you. That’s being part of the team.

I am sure other schools have the same level of camaraderie as above, but this is what I’ve experienced, and I will be eternally be grateful to these people. I hope Kamon BJJ in Croydon (or Crystal Palace) will still survive and flourish. If not, I hope we are still able to meet up regularly to train – or better yet, go to the same school.

Here ya go, Santa. That’s my wish this Christmas.

Important point to note:

Fellow Pinoy BJJ Group member, Diosa Atienza won Silver in last weekend’s English Open. Her little daughter, Jodi, won Gold in her division. I am sure that hubby and dad, Jonathan, had a big hand in training them to near perfection! Congratulations, guys. You do us proud!

So, do you wanna be a BJJ player?

Training with Kevin today. For the last week or so, we've been drilling escapes from various positions, e.g., side control, guard, half guard, triangle... The common theme amongst all of these is PATIENCE. It's not about rushing to get out, but to think methodically and move slowly but purposefully. This is Kevin's thing. He admits that in the past, he used to be a very aggressive player, and then he rolled with someone who withstood all his aggression and methodically tapped him out several times. For him, it was an awakening and then proceeded to change his game into what we've come to know and hopefully, learn.
I seem to have benefitted a lot in today's training. It appeared (to me, at least), that he spent some time watching me drill and roll, and gave me pointers throughout the class. What was invaluable to me, as well, is the time I get to chat with him during sparring breaks - I do one-on and one-off sparring at the moment to allow my shoulder to rest, as I wanted to train consistently, rather than be off due to injury again.
We did discuss about the Croydon school closing down BUT with the intention of opening one up in Crystal Palace! If that wasn't good news, I don't know what is. To be honest, when I started asking Pinoy BJJ brother, Jon, about the possibility of going to BJJ School in Battersea, I was welcomed with open guard, eh, open arms, I mean... I have also spoken with Kevin about this, in a very tangential and roundabout manner, and states that Felipe is one of his teachers, so no issue with that, in case I do decide to move there. But it seems that I don't need to do that, fingers crossed.
Towards the end of the class, Kevin gave a speech about investing time and energy in drilling and rolling. He said that if you are the sort of person who only train once or twice a week, your progress will be very slow - unless you just like wearing a gi and talking about UFC/MMA. I thought he was talking about me LOL!!
Seriously, that woke me up a bit. I do want to progress in BJJ. I may not reach black belt level, but as long as I could impart my knowledge and skills to my children, I will have fulfilled my goal. And that is my legacy.

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Congratulations to !ittle Steve and Lanky Rob on getting their blue belts tonight. No bells and whistles, no fanfare, no belt-whipping. Just wear your blue belt the next time you come to class, Kevin says. Typical Kevin - practical, efficient, direct to the point. Like his jiu jitsu.

Creonte?

I was at a work-related conference last Friday, when I got word from fellow Kamon BJJ brother, Keith, that Kevin is pulling out of the Wednesday classes by the end of the month. The numbers are just too low for him to sufficiently maintain the rent of the school. I do understand his point, and he has his businessman's hat on when he made his decision. He loves to teach and impart his knowledge to us, but at the end of the day, it is a business and it has to remain viable for it to continue. I bet he has been losing money on the Croydon school ( he still has the Portsmouth school and the Isle of Wight, I believe) for several months, which forced his hand in making this decision.
The Thursday classes run by Dante, BJJ brown belt and Judo blackbelt, will still run and we are hoping that he will be able to take over the Wednesday classes, as well.
This news bummed me out for the rest of the day. I really enjoy going to the school and met a lot of wonderful people there. I take a huge stock on camaraderie , friendliness, and being able to help and support each other. Also, another big part in sustaining my attendance in BJJ is it's convenience. It's just a 20-30 minute drive from where I live and probably the same distance from work, as well. In my old school, it took me around 2 hours to get there using public transport during rush hour. I don't need that extra stress, to be honest. Nothwithstanding, the transport/petrol money you have to take into consideration on top of your monthly mat dues.

Is it time to start looking out for a new school? I hope not.

Priorities

I have been back in training for a couple of weeks now ( well, on-and-off, really) and have been noticing the numbers dwindling a bit. When I started in May, there was about 15 of us battling for space on the mats, but as the year wore on, the numbers declined. There were the odd days where we would get new people that boosted the numbers but they never stayed that long, for whatever reason they may have. Truly, with the exception of myself and Lanky Rob, the rest of the group at the moment all came from Kevin's Wing Chun school in Croydon. Myself and a couple of the regulars (heh, look at me calling myself a regular, haha)started noticing this and have become a topic of conversation several times. We thought that the school had a great location - Central Croydon, right up near the High Street, and there, to our collective knowledge, no other BJJ school within a 10-mile radius ( well, there is Zenith BJJ, but that doesn't count, as it appears to cater to a specialised few). We then thought that it needed advertising more, maybe flyers, posters, banners, etc. I also asked Kevin the other week about car stickers just to further rep the school. The others say that the numbers would swell up eventually, with people on holidays, etc. That was in August - it's now November, and the numbers are lower than ever.

It might have be due to the current state of the economy. BJJ and I guess, a lot of hobbies, are the the first to go when austerity measures are made. For a lot of people, it just isn't that high up in the priorities scale. I find it interesting when BJJ players are asked what would stop them from training. A lot of them say "Death", or "Nothing - BJJ forever!". While I applaud their dedication and commitment to the art, and probably envious of them, as well, I can't help but think about these people's other priorities in life that seem to pale in comparison with BJJ. I am probably as dedicated to learning the art as much as the next brother on the mat, but truth be told, my family and work come first. If I have the last £50 on my pocket and I have to choose between food on the table and BJJ - well, I'd be at home watching YouTube BJJ videos while my loving wife prepares a nice dinner for us.