October08
OCTOBER
Sunday 5th.
The resolution to train harder kicked in with a second week in a row 6pm Sunday at Jarrow Community Centre the scene of much pain whilst training with Bryan & Micky for fights a couple of years ago. This time the pain wasn't so bad and B JJ was the intention. I'd wanted to go and get some weights done earlier but ended up finishing some tiling which took it to the wire. I arrived to find no Dave H but luckilly Darren and Paul Townser were there so I got some good training in on the floor.
Tuesday 7th
I skipped Monday in favour of being lazy and was restless by class on tuesday night. After a bit of a warm up the class worked on boxing skills interspersed with rounds of sit ups, press ups, squats etc. We added in some rounds on the pads and some boxing drills with the big 14oz sparring gloves before working on some clinch skills from the Chum Kiu set. Another 2 T shirt night.
Wednesday 8th
Back to busy. A few beginners split the class a little but we got in a good warm up and added some core skills some of the more regular guys seemed to feel they didn't need. Dave H came to the rescue and showed the more advanced guys a wicked armbar to sweep thats definately going into my game.
Sparring with Jeff was as good as ever and he's going to be a major asset on the road to this fight. Jeff is mayne 5 kilos lighter than me but way ahead on skill level. I'm trying to wrestle and keep top position more which is a task with someone as good as Jeff but you have to try!
Thursday 9th Fight Night
The arrrival of two new guys is usually welcome but tonight nearly caused a bit of trouble however luckilly Sedge saved the day by turning up as reliably as ever.
The Sparring session was awesome tonight. Everyone is showing real skilll improvem,ent and a great mental toughness. Highlights were Phil discovering he's a bit of a natural at shooting, my new found love of San Shou style takedowns (I have Chris to thank for this) Myself and Ben trying to prevent the other from walking the next day and fight of the night between Joe & Cambell (How the hell he got out that triangle??) and considering how little ground work Joe has done he reallly should consider it as he's a bit of a natural. Dave J proved again he needs a better ground game also as he has a natural disposition towards pretty slick looking Judo trips. Roll on UFC 89 next weekend, think Dave invited us to his house!
Also welcome back to Patrick the prodigal son who hasn't lost a great deal of his skills in his time out. Young & Dumb enough to maybe make a career of this fighting lark.....
New Week October 13th & 14th
Dave C AKA Big Dave sent through some cool pics of last week so we'll get those up asap but in the meantime here's the week so far.
Monday involved nothing more interesting than some cardio & Weights however I have discovered Jenna runs faster than me on a treadmill.
Tuesday Night class all good.
Good turnout. Worked clinch and some boxing which was good. Terry has become a great addition to the group and another couple of interesting prospects to the group in Davey & Andrew. Cyclonewingchun is getting a good name in newcastle and its great to see guys with genuine experience coming to a Kung Fu club and enjoying the sessions without preconception of how we will work. Also great to see improvement from people like Andy & Jenna who are training regularly and the benefits paying off. Solid fitness session too.
Wednesday Grappling
Dave H couldn't make the session so we worked on some core skills such as bridging, knee & elbow escapes etc etc.
Then in was spar spar spar for me. Ben & Rob alternated rounds with me which was great whislt the rest of the guys worked on thier armbars and triangle chokes.
Thursday Sparring.
One good point of thursday was the arrival of Simon who came once before on the now defunct Monday. As I mentioned on the night I think Simon could be a curse as almost no one else turned up for the second time when Simon did hmmmm. Big Dave & Mark L shored things up though and we got some light sparring in then did some rounds of wrestling at the end. Sedge has improved tremendously recently and needs to work on his ground game as he seems to have a bit of a natural flair for it.
Sunday Jarrow Jiu Jitsu
A lazy weekend came to an end with training Sunday with Dave H, Darren and Sean at Jarrow Community Centre. Technique was the order of the day working on alternative mount positions and some back escapes. Sparring with the guys was great and especially with Dave this time as we got the level just right.
Monday Milestones Gym
My cardio has always been my achillies heal so working on it has to start somewhere. Guys at Cyclone often think I'm really fit but actually I know I'm not. The treadmill was unforgiving then I followed it with repeated 3 minute rounds on the bags. Jenna worked on her low point kicks and then nearly crippled me with one towards the end of the night. Thats the thanks I get for training her technique!
Tuesday Core Skills
Sedge started the class whilst I did some groundwork with Steve M. Sedge has really got the makings of an excellent coach and I'm watching his confidence and skill level grow week by week. Terry, Cambell, Jenna and Andy are all improving at a fantastic rate.
I was pleased to see Phil come along to the technique session. Phil is one of the best kickboxers in the group, he's got the ability to become a really good all round fighter so we shall watch this space!!
Another new guy from this San Shou club turned up, Tristan. Solid guy, good skill level so hopefully we'll see him again soon.
Put Daves pictures up now so check them out!
Wednesday October 22nd. No Gi Jiu Jitsu
Having Dave Harewood come to teach your class every week is really a privilage so having your long term training partner and good friend Bryan Moore answer the door at the training hall would be one of the few things that would make it better. Tonight had an awesome turnout, we were actually struggling for mat space again. Richie, Darren and Jeff all came along from Dave's camp, as mentioned Bryan and his student Davey came along too and then add Mark, Jenna, Chris, Matt, Colin and Ben from Cyclone to make a really good nights training. Mount attacks, switches to side controls and a variation on the hammer lock before starting a tough nights sparring was the order of the day.
Thursday 23rd Fighters Night
8 was the perfect number with Cambell, Matt, Big Dave, Colin, Ben, Mark L & Myself training. We decided it was dirty boxing night (otherwise known as Wing Chun Clinch fighting) we worked on a drill inspired actually by watching Pete I and Craig Jose training the night before.
Here's what Big Dave had to say about it:
"Anyone else feel like they got done over with a baseball bat last night? A physically gruelling Fighter's Night last night incorporated a great drill I have never seen before, using strikes to prevent someone getting into the clinch with you, or using strikes to get out of the clinch.
Being first and foremost a grappler, I would normally use the clinch as "the clinch" and play the clinch game, however the drill made me think, initially about picking shots from the clinch, and then it progressed into a "prevention is better than cure" mindset, which meant I used my body structure and movement to create space preventing people clinching me up, and throwing my shots with space to have a wide choice of targets which prevented them moving in"
And some pics too
Saturday 25th - Seminar with Alan Orr, Keithly Deepest Darkest Yorkshire......
Alan was holding a seminar on the MMA/NHB side of our system at Yorkshire CSL run by my good friend Dwaine Harper.
These things are always fun and its good to catch up with some of the guys from around the country. Dwaines club is similar in many ways to Cyclone Wing Chun in Newcastle with many of his guys interested in MMA and grappling aswell as the wing chun elements.
The Seminar was cool and I worked with Adam who is a man mountain. Alan showed me a wicked butterfly guard sweep (what on earth is going on here, wing chun guys showing people BJJ sweeps???) and we worked on some timing stuff for counter punching too.
pics to come.........
NEW Week Same Deal
Monday 27th
Killed myself in the gym, hit the treadmill hard and then weights. Did multiple rounds on the bags including a minute killer at the end. Nuff said other than dropping 3 kilos.....
Tuesday 28th
Wing chun core class. Sedge took the guys through the form and again showed his understanding is getting better and better. Tristan returned and we worked on some core wing chun structure basics before moving on to some CSL Chinese Boxing drills. The wall drill was fun with Phil throwing the biggest right hands in the world.
Wednesday 29th Grappling
The usual 6.30 start was brought forward to 5 to help Steve M out with his floorwork as he's been missing out on the wednesday class due to a college course. By 6.45 when Dave H turned up I was well and truly exhauisted and well under par. Ben however is making some steady progress and it'll be nice to see how Matt, Jenna and some of the others do as we progress towards next year as they have been putting the mat time in. Certainly time for some interclubs next year.
Richie as ever the gentle giant trained in with me and I can't wait to see how some of our big guys cope with a lad who is both extremely strong and skilled.
Thursday Fighters Night - End of the Month 30th October.
Very disappointing the amount of regulars who didn't appear tonight. The fighters group has made so much progress but without its core guys everyone suffers. Had a good spar with Chris (defence dude defence!!) I'm 6'3" and 84kg, Chris is 6'5 or 6'6 and at least 100kg with very long arms.... Nightmare. But as I pointed out to Tristan, sometimes you need to work out who to deal with certain peoples body type and never assume an easy night with anyone. Its great to have the chance to learn with other peoples skills and the emergence of the San Shao crew has been great for us. I certainly learned allot from training with Chris so I hope he did the same.
Which brings me to the last technique of the night which does indeed come from training with the San Shao guys.
San Shao catches kicks, its their signiture thing, then they throw you. And if they are good at it then its hard to deal with, the first time I sparred with one of these lads (Simon) There I was happilly out boxing him and bang I'm on my back. I could only admire the move. The one thing I noticed however was they spent a few seconds after catching a kick to align themselves for the takedown..... Opportunity time.
Whilst doing BJJ we often learned the basic set up for a flying armbar which then moved onto the real move. However the "pidgeon" set up with a little clinch modification works a treat against low point catchers. Check out the photos for the results.