2018- back in the UK getting my bluebelt and taking my ground game to the next level!

Here’s a little about me..

I’m currently 27 years old and 3 and a half years into my martial arts journey (excluding the training I did as a kid and teen) and hold a green belt in combat Jujutsu. My ultimate goal is to achieve my black belt and be a well rounded badass in street defence, striking, wrestling and ground fighting.

Receiving my combat jujitsu green belt from the legendary Kevin O’hagan

As a kid/teen I competed for a bit in Judo and the moved to Karate, reaching my brownbelt over 6 years. Competition highlights including fighting in the British championships and winning my category in the south west championships.

At 16 I started training for 105kg strongman and competed in this until 23 with highlights including

• Winning the UKs strongest under 18 in 2008
• Placing second at the British drug free championships in 2010
• Competing internationally on two occasions in 2010 and 2011

My best gym lifts include a 165kg bench press, a 250kg box squat, 120kg log press and a 290kg deadlift all at between 95-100kg bodyweight. Due to injuries I lost my love for the sport and decided that I was going to change my focus back to martial arts.

I started boxing for 6 months which I was able to jump straight in sparring with white collar lads due to my karate background (just no kicking or foot sweeps lol) and from there went to a wrestling class at impact gym which I absolutely loved. It was very humbling and eye opening being a big strong guy getting bent up and pinned by these smaller, more skillful guys! From there I started training combat Jujutsu, saw how great this art was and how tough these guys were and decided that’s what I wanted to do! I still keep up some of the strength work as I’ve found it allows me to keep up with guys who are technically much better.

Myself and my girlfriend have just comeback from 6 months of travelling Asia and I’m excited to get back to frequent training. Will aim to keep this weekly blog to track my progress 😊.

○MON- Back training in the UK jetlagged and feeling ill but back to the grind starting a 5×5 programme very light and will up the weight every week.

1) bench press- 80kg 5×5 + Bpa
2) Incline db press with slow negative- 25kg 3×6
3) Incline bench flys- 10kg 3×15
4) Heavy bag- 2 x 2 min rounds

Finished with some light reverse hypers and stretching

○TUE- starting really light on squats and deads due to these back spasms I’ve been suffering with since we’ve been away

1) snatch deadlifts- 80kg 5×5
2) Db batwings- 20kg 2×15
3) lumbar extensions- bw x15, 10kg x15, 15kg 2×10
4) grip-
• 1 armed hangs- 3 sets left and right
• plate pinch passes- 2x 10kg 3 sets
5) neck bridges and curls- 3 sets

Stretching and light reverse hypers

○WED-

1) chins- bw 5×5 + band face pulls- 5×10
2) machine rows- 40kg 4×10 + lateral raises- 5kg 4×10
3) log zerchers- 65kg- 30 secs, 55kg 2×30-45 secs- hard as fuck!
4) 5 minutes conditioning and stretching

○FRI- an hour Rolling with the big man at trojan

Bit of drilling escapes from mount then 5×3 minute rounds. Matty is training for MMA with James “colossus” Thompson and is fit as fuck! We both like the top position so every roll was full on.. he’s 115kg so I cant bully his weight like I can with my other sparring partners. Great few rounds and will try and make this a regular thing.

Matty making me feel small!

○SAT- 2 hours Combat jujitsu at impact

Started with an hour on our bluebelt with Jem, going through some basic techniques as we’ve both had time off so were rusty. Drilled nikiyo and sankyo wrist locks from various positions.

Did ross’ class after working on defending right and left hooks into various take downs and submissions. Fun morning and glad to be back training.

Me and Jem working take downs and submissions from the floor.. this one was called a bow and arrow choke!

SA Week 4

Mon- Quito

•CG bench- 100kg x4, 60kg 3×8 paused + snow angles

•incline DB press- 25kg x17, 15

•1 armed db row- 30kg 4×10 both sides + tri ext 4×10

•wide bb shrugs- 60kg 3×10 + lateral raises

•Barbell complex

Training at this altitude was horrendous. Had to take the bb complexes light as the whole workout felt like cardio

Weds- Cartegena
AM
•Reverse lunges- 50kg 4×5 each leg

•DB swings- 4×15 + YTWI

•Front squat eccentric- 4×8

•Swiss ball ham string curls- 4×10

PM

Found a BJJ club in Cartegena. Drilled some cool guard passing and finished with some rounds in the Gi. Landed a head and arm choke and a arm bar from scarf. Got caught by an american female purple belt with a great bow and arrow choke! Aparently she is a high level competitor!

Thurs-

No gi- drilled some knee slice passing stuff and finished off with 8x 5 minute rounds which was killer in the heat! Had some good rounds, landed a nice RNC and a von flu. Didn’t get subbed and fought the best that were there (apart from flow rolling with some 60 year old who I gave my back to lol)

Fri- Cartegena

•Wide pullups- 12.5kg 4×5 + band fps

•rope climbs- x4 + Bradford press- 20kg x20, 30kg 3×12

•Barbell curls- 20kg x10-1

•Neck and core

•Pressups x100 in 4.47min

SA Week 3

Mon-

•spoto press- 105kg x5, 65kg 3×5 slow eccentric + bpa

•incline DB press- 20kg x20, 17

•DB iso row- 12.5kg 4×8 + tri ext 4×10

•Barbell shrugs- 65kg 3×10 + 1.5 lateral raises- 3×8

•Barbell complex- 3 sets

Tues-

An hour of white water rafing

Weds-

•Eccentric split squats (db in front)- 20kg x6, 30kg 3×5 each leg

•Glute bridges- 40kg- 4×12 + bat wings

•tkes + hamstring curls- 4×12

•ab wheel rollout- 2×10

•1km incline walk holding dbs in different positions

Thurs-

•chins- 57lbs x5, bw 3×5 slow eccentric + band FPS

•Db military- 15kg 2×20 + N lat pulldowns- 85lbs x25, 100lbs x20

•Db curls- run the rack 2x 3×8

•Neck and abs circuit

•Pressups x100- just under 5 mins

Sun-

Hiked a 4700m volcano in Quito.. hardest hike I’ve ever done because of the altitude!

SA Week 2

Mon- Montanita

bjj drilled some guard passes omni plata and a few others. Ended with 3x 6 minute rolls. Landed an RNC and got submitted 3x by the coach over 2 rounds- knee bar, heel hook and RNC. My dad filmed some of our rolling!

Tues- Montanita

•incline bench 85kg x7, 55kg 3×8 paused + bpa

•N db press- 60lbs x16, 50lbs x20

•Machine rows- 4×12 + tri ext- 4×12

•db shrugs- 60lbs 3×12 + lateral raises 15lbs 3×12

•5 mins complex with empty Barbell

Low back didn’t feel right after grappling yesterday and spasmed bad from the machine rows! Was in a bit of pain for a few days after this

Weds-

Lots of stretching for the low back. I know my mobility in my lower body is not the best so I’m going to try and stretch daily to improve this and hopefully this will get rid of future lower back injuries

Thurs- Montanita

•Chins- bw+ 10kg 4×5 + YTWIs

•Lat pull downs- 95lbs x25, 20 + no back db military press- 25lbs x20,18

•rolling db tri ext- 25lbs 5 x10 + db hammer curls- 20lbs 5 x10

•Neck and core

•Press ups x100- 5.24 min

Muscle beach Montanita

Sat- Banos

Training round the back spasm. Have been stretching and massaging it every day which is helping. Trying not to load it for 2 weeks

•Eccentric split squats- 15kg x6, 20kg x6, 25kg x6, 30kg x6 both legs

•Glute bridges- 30kg 4×15 + bat wings

•Leg ext + hamstring curl- 4×12

•Db Tip tow walks- 10kg 2 x1min

•DB farmers walk- 30kg as far as possible in 5 mins

Training for and my first week in South America

Have been back to my roots and hitting alot more combat and knife defence stuff leading upto this trip instead of just straight grappling so it’s been a fun change!

Mon: UK

1hr knife defence working in the dark muggings from walking and seated positions

Tues: UK

•Bench press- 100kg x5, 70kg 3×8 pauses + rear delt raises

•Flat db press- 25kg x20, 16

•Machine rows- 4×15 + tri ext 4×15

•DB Shrugs- 25kg 3×15 + lateral raises- 4kg 3×15

First time back to pressing a decent weight since my shoulder tear.

1 hour combat striking and sparring with Bushy. Flew out to Ecuador that eve to start my south American adventure!

Thurs: Guayaquil

my back felt like shit from an injury a few weeks back, almost 24hrs of travelling didn’t help so didnt go mad and trained round it as best I could.

• Front squat- 105kg x5, 80kg 3×5 paused + band fps

•GMS wide leg- 40kg x15, 45kg x15, 50kg x15

•DB bench step ups- 30lbs 3×12 each leg

•1 hand banded DB farmers- 60lbs x10 up and down gym

Fri: Montanita

2hr BJJ class all in Spanish! Worked guard passing. Finished off with some rounds.. I landed 5 subs and some nice takedowns on some if their bigger guys- guillotine, head and arm choke and 3x RNC. Got subbed a few times by their brown belt head instructor but made his life difficult. Friendly guys, made me feel welcome!

Sun: Montanita

•Chins- 8x 5 swapping grips each set + snow angels

•Bradford press- 30kg 4×12

•Dips bw 4×15 + Barbell curls 20kg 4×15

•Neck and core

•20kg Barbell complex no rest lots of compound exercises

First time doing proper chin ups in a workout since injuring my rotator cuff in a grappling tournament. Feels good to be able to do them again!

Grip June 2019

I haven’t kept this up to date lately. Here’s an overview of my day at the GRIP grappling tournament in Cardiff.

This was my second comp and just like the last one I felt quite nervous Thursday and Friday. This was made worse by my cauliflower ear swelling up to the size if an orange 2 days before the comp! I drained 5 syringes of blood from it Thursday and two more from it friday in an attempt to bodge it! Pulling out was a serious thought at this point!

I woke up on the Saturday feeling calm and just like NAGA with a real “fuck it, what will be will be” sort of attitude. There were 3 mats going and the comp was very well run, my only criticism was the groups not being clearly called out and I was worried I would miss my group. I weighed in at 79kg in the u83kg category.

I had a bye in the first round and I got on the mats around 1pm and my first match felt just like what I do in training. Snapped the guy down, passed to mount, took his back then finished with an RNC.

It felt great to get my first sub in comp! Especially the backtake I’d been drilling for the last few months.

The next guy was foreign and felt like he had a judo background. I was a bit tentative of shooting on him as I’d injures my quad in one of my final training sessions and it hadn’t felt quite right. At some point during this fight I got headbutted, it didn’t hurt at the time but I noticed my eye was closing over! Eventually I got the take down and landed my favourite choke!

By the time the final had arrived my eye was 90% closed but fuck it, I’d come this far! I don’t have a video of the final fight but the guy was good and I think even if I’d have had both eyes he’d have beaten me. We wrestled for a bit, He managed to land a nice take down and pass my guard. I managed the reverse the position and was in his guard. He went for a triangle, which i forced my way out of but left my arm free for him to get a nice tight arm bar on!

I wasn’t expecting too much from today as it was my first time competing in the 2 years and under category so I was over the moon with a 2nd place finish and silver medal!

It was an awesome day out, I loved every minute of it and I’m buzzing for the next one. Our whole team managed to medal and our coach was over the moon!

28.4.19

Tues-

• Bjj- an hour drilling a tight armbar setup
• No gi- 6 x5 minute rounds. Only 4 of us in the class and every round was tough!

Thurs-

• Bjj- an hour drilling a tight triangle st up
• Drilled a takedown into a back take then hit some rounds. Landed 2x von flus, a scarf submission and a back take with a RNC

Fri

• Cambered box squats- 135kg x8, 105kg 3×8 beltless + bpa. Felt much better this week.
• Back ext- 20kg 3×12 + eccentric hamstring curls- 3×8
• Farmers walk 70kg + tkes- 3 sets

Sat-

• CG floor press- 90kg x8, 80kg 3×6 + band triple threats
• Bent over rows- 100kg x8, 60kg 3×10 strict + neck
• Plate loaded lat pull downs- 2 plates x25,18,15 + db Z press- 12.5kg x20,15,12
• FG cable tri set- upright row x12/ hammer curl x12/ tri ext x20- 3 sets

Sun-

• 6x 5 minute rounds at A3 brutal stuff with the big lads as always
• 

21.4.19

Tues-

Private lesson with Mitch working guard passing

Weds-

Now NAGA is out of the way I’m looking to take my wrestling to the next level. Hit the weds night wrestling.. had to sit out of the last 10 mins of sparring due to my golfers elbow flaring up but apart from that it was a good session!

Fri-

• Cambered bar box squat- 125kg x8, 100kg 3×6 beltless
• Back ext- 15kg 3×12 + eccentric hamstring curls 3×8
• Farmers walk- 70kg 2x30m, 90kg 2x30m
• Tyre sled drags- 2x60m

Sat-

2 hours in the sun drilling all the stuff mitch has shown me in the private lessons. Really helpful to get some reps in but got nice and sunburned!

Sun-

Early morning beating at A3.. very high standard in the room and people were gunning for me because I was wearing my head guard lol. Lots of 3 minute rounds with different guys. Arm didn’t play up using tape and an elbow sleeve.

Mon-

• Floor press- 80kg x10, 3×6 + bpa
• Rows- 90kg x10, 60kg 3×10 strict + bpa
• Pulldowns- 2 plates x23,18,15 + db Z press- 12.5kg x18,14,10
• Neck braces with band
• Upright rows x12/ hammer curls x12/ tri ext x20- 3 sets using cable, rope and fat grips

NAGA- my first comp

The time had arrived for my first grappling comp. Because of the combat grading being so close I haven’t been able to give the grappling my full attention for a while but I still felt confident and decently prepared to enter the first timers category.

I did Mitch’s comp prep classes for 2 weeks before and they were worth every penny! Drilled all the common scenarios and learned a lot of good shit I could instantly use in my game.

There was a big squad of us heading up all in different experience/weight categories. I was signed up for the u85kg category. On arriving I was greeted by my old boss who told me that me and him were both in the same category and were the only ones. I actually weighed in at 81kg fully clothed so could have dropped a weight category.. however it’s not every day you get a chance to fight your old boss so I went for it! I tried to enter the openweight category as well but they didn’t allow same day sign ups so it was all about this one fight for me.

I didn’t get very nervous at all on the day and it just felt like fighting a round in the gym that I just really wanted to win. Managed to take the win on points beating him 4-0. Scored with a take down and a guard pass!

Neil was very technical and had a tough guard to pass. He also surprised me with his strength as I can usually bully guys in my weight category around a bit more than that. Was good to have a catch up and get one up on the man who used to scare me as a teenager! Will be a good guy to train with in the future

Was a good experience and I’m really pleased I was able to keep a cool head and replicate what I can do in training. The impact team had a good day and a good medal hall.. this will be the first of many comps for me as I really enjoyed it.

7.4.19- NAGA prep

Tues-AM session with mitch looking at the von flu choke from a failed takedown, head and arm choke. Set up for the ezikiel from mountThurs-BJJ- worked scarf escapesNo Gi- drilled escapes from ankle lock and knee bar then went into some rounds. Ear has cauliflowered up to fuck! 🤕Fri–High incline military- 70kg x3, 50kg 3×8 + bpa
-Slant grip chins- 30kg x3, bw 3×8
-Flat DB bench- 25kg x10, 35kg x10, 25kg x15 + machine rows- 30kg 3×15
-Fg db curls 10kg x10/ lateral raises 5kg x10/ cable tri ext 3x15Comp prep class-Worker our A game attacks, drilled defenses against the most common attacks and escapes from bad positions we’d be likely to see at NAGASaturday-BJJ- worked more escapesNo gi- drilled back escapes and finished off with a few rounds.Sun–Deadlifts- 200kg x3 felt good, no where near a max.. think I can still deadlift 3x bodyweight. 120kg 3×6 snatch grip
-DB split squats- 20kg x8es, 25kg x8 es, 30kg x8 es
-Planks and neck x5 mins
-reverse hypers + tkes x2 sets

31.3.19- big mile stone!!

Mon-

• an hour drilling the Blue belt with Jay and Jem. Final session!

Wed-

• Finally passed our blue belt combat grading! 2 years and 3 months work and we’ve finally got there. Some complimentary words from our coaches about the high standard and big improvement!

Chuffed with this! For the first time my attention is now fully on grappling 💪

Fri am-

• An hour lesson with Mitch working on my game plan for Naga in 2 weeks. Learned alot of stuff relevant to my game!

Fri pm-

• Deadlifts- 180kg x5.. still got a decent pull there I reckon! 110kg 2×8 snatch grip. Low back felt a bit weird on these so I cut the session short
• DB split squats- 20kg 3×10 each leg + rkc planks
• Reverse hyper- 80kg x20, 120kg x20, 140kg x20, 160kg x20 + tkes

Sat-

• Seated N military- 60kg x5, 40kg 3×10 + bpa
• Mixed grip chins- 15kg x6, bw 3×6 + neck
• Incline DB press- 20kg x10, 25kg x10, 30kg x10 + fg cable rows- #10 3×12
• Dips 20kg 2×10/ db fg curls 10kg 2×10/ lateral raises 5kg 2 x10

Sun-

• Early morning 6 x5 minute rounds with these beasts at A3. Hit some good take downs and held my own agains a high calibre of grapplers. No subs but I didn’t get subbed much either.. was pleased with this as 2 of the guys have been grappling for years and the other one is a shaven bear 😂
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