MMA in Belfast?

MartinC2006

Hello folks,

Firstly let me introduce myself. My name is Martin, I’m 25 and I’m an alcoholic…

Seriously though, I’m a 1st dan in a pragmatic variant of Wado and have been cross training in jujitsu for around 18 months now. I’ve also done bits and pieces in JKD and wing chun (ebmas) but not very much.

Anyways I’m finding it hard to find a club in Belfast to find some like minded training partners. I’m interested in MMA in the more traditional sense, in that I want to improve my own abilities to improve my knowledge and defend myself, I have no real interest in serious competition. I’ve obviously no problem with friendly Bushido and cross training but the few MMA schools I’ve looked at are very competition based rather than real pragmatism. These included Tom Lamonts Chum sut and progressive combat in Antrim.

I had thought of trying a Gracie barras club in Belfast however from friends I’ve been told it’s quite a low grade taking the class and it’s fairly average.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.


Martin.

mark.leonard

Have you actually trained with Davey's boys at Progressive?

dlofnep

I don't think anyone is going to force you into competition but I think training with people who compete will up your game immensly.

MartinC2006

Nope, trained with Tom's guys and it all seemed very much like 'MMA In a Tin'
There wasn't much actual instruction from Tom and more his assistant coaches. I didn't really agree with allot of the concepts and it was very much so "This is the way it works but I dunno why" "My way or the high way" etc etc. In short I didn't really learn anything the few times I went, it was more like a beginners class.

I didn't train with the Progressive combat guys, I went and had a look and took some advice from friends. I'm not intrested in fighting in a cage, nor am i intrested in sparring classes thats utilise huge boxing gloves. All be it they are safer but they are not realitic to work with or control limbs etc.

Maybe i'm being to fussy.

Martin.

weemate

Martin,what jiu jitsu clubs have you trained with in Belfast?Also what exactly are you looking for in training mma?I totally understand if you dont want to fight,people train for various reasons,fitness,self defence etc so maybe if you elaborate more we can push you in the right direction.In saying that,I know Graham who teaches at Gracie Barra in Belfast and he is one of the best bjj coaches in Ireland regardless of grade,also both David Patterson and Tom Lamont have guys in their classes that dont compete.Did you explain to either of them what you were looking for?One more thing,the guys who advised you,do they train in mma them selves ?sorry for so many questions but as I said If you elaborate more we might be able to help you out.

Mola.mola

Seriously Martin, go find a RBSD class or go to Progressive Combat.

MartinC2006

The friends I refer to are from my karate club but cross train in various arts. When people say train in MMA I think pride, ufc, octagons etc, so in that sense they/we don’t train in MMA. What I’m looking for is simply to better my skills through all ranges. The style of Karate we practice is very pragmatic in that it includes ground work, throws and so on however it still adheres to the katas from which the techniques where taken. I decided to cross train in Jujitsu to better by basic ground skills and for a while I thought I was doing that. I have come to the conclusion that I’ve outgrown this particular federation as I feel limited by their syllabus. I have learned loads and improved my ground skills but I have no interest in their kata, striking techniques and more traditional components.

I feel fairly able on my feet and I believe my stand up is fairly strong so I guess what I’m looking for is to further improve my ground game to become more rounded. In short I want to become the best Karateka I can be.

I spoke to Tom briefly about my background but not in any great depth. All I said to David was could I come up and have a look. I should probably have explained myself a bit better.

The style of Jujitsu I train in is wjjf and I have to apologise I don’t know what RSBD is.

Cheers.


Martin.

weemate

you sound like you train with a friend of mine in Glengormley for your Karate would I be nearly right?Which wjjf class are you with [you can pm me if you dont want to name names].I can think of one or two places that might suit you.

MartinC2006

I dont train with Danny but we adhere to the same principles. We try to train as often as we can under one of Dannys coaches Iain Abernethy in the BCA.

To be honest my Jujitsu coach is really good, allot better than some of the others I have seen. He has a similar outlook and has cross trained himself. The system itself though is a bit to rigid for me, I try to cut out all the BS and incorporate it into my Karate.


Martin.

weemate

sent you a pm Martin.If you need any help give me a shout .

Mola.mola

sorry Martin, RBSD, is Reality Based Self Defense, someone that uses pragmatic to describe martial arts would probably be interested in RBSD.

I'm actually a bit confused, you're a Karate guy, that wants to be a great Karate guy so you want to learn non-karate stuff? I'd urge you to go the Gracie barra club to see if your ground game is as good as you think it is.

MartinC2006

Theres so many variants of karate as you may well know.
Karate should and can be effective at all ranges but theres no harm in crosstraining with others to enhance your knowledge, thats my thinking anyway. I dont see it as non Karate stuff as the katas contains combat from all ranges, rather I see it as a fresh approach.

I dont think my ground game is good, it most certainly needs worked on hence the post. I'm not however totally unskilled on the ground.

I've decided to check out Peter Laverys place in Belfast.

Cheers.

Martin.

Roper

Hey,
On the Gracie Barra club,
Martin, you might be using the term "low grade" in terms of Karate which has been around for years and has different grading requirements. BJJ is different and as far as I know the coach there is a purple belt (could be wrong, but not much wrong) which is a very, very good level of BJJ

Mola.mola

MartinC2006 wrote:

Theres so many variants of karate as you may well know.
Karate should and can be effective at all ranges but theres no harm in crosstraining with others to enhance your knowledge, thats my thinking anyway. I dont see it as non Karate stuff as the katas contains combat from all ranges, rather I see it as a fresh approach.

I dont think my ground game is good, it most certainly needs worked on hence the post. I'm not however totally unskilled on the ground.

I've decided to check out Peter Laverys place in Belfast.

Cheers.

Martin.

eh. what ever. i'm sure your karate ground fighting is >>>> then bjj purple belt stuff.

Millionaire

if you want to make your karate better, and add in other elements be it to be a better fighter or for self defence...

Have a look at www.geoffthompson.com he pretty much evolved form karate onwards... great forum on there too, to get info on.

MartinC2006

Cheers for the replies guys.

I keep up to date with Geoff’s stuff and have a few of his books, I’m a great advocate of his work. I also train when I can under one of his affiliates in the BCA Iain Abernethy.

I see some people are misunderstanding what I’m saying. I’m in no way insinuating that my ground skills would be any where near that of a bjj purple belt, I feel I’ve made that quite clear despite the obviously provocative comments from one guy on this post. In regards to the grading requirements for bjj/karate, it took me 9 years to get my Dan grade. I’ve no idea how long a purple belt in bjj takes but I assume its shorter than that. When I said I have heard the guy who takes it was a lower grade I didn’t mean that to reflect his ability, it’s just a simple fact, he’s a Kyu grade. I’ve had my ass handed to me by lots of lower graded belts, so a belt is not relevant to ability, it’s about the level of knowledge in a particular art.

Anyways sorry for any confusion caused, no offence was meant.

Martin.

Mola.mola

i don't think you get it

Roper

As I've said, BJJ is somewhat different and a grade isn't reflective of "knowledge" of an art. Why don't you go and see the Gracie Barra and try to put your opinions on the importance of grade aside?

MartinC2006

I think it’s fairly obvious that grade is meant to be reflective of knowledge, that’s why there are grades in the first place. Saying that of course I could learn from a Kyu grade in BJJ I’m starting with no knowledge to begin with? I never once meant to make it seem otherwise.
I have no interest in some sort of argument. I’ve got what I need from the post so many thanks. Again apologies for any confusion and thanks for the info.

Martin.

Roper

Wasn't aiming for an argument Martin, I just felt your post about Gracie Barra to be a little disrespectful is all. If no offence was intended then cool!

Best of luck with your search!

Valmont

Mola.mola wrote:

i don't think you get it

chill out homeboy, for someone coming from a TMA background the Bjj grading system can be quite confusing.

MartinC2006

I find it’s easy to misinterpret things on a forum, it is the written word after all. No context of speech and all that nonsense, so sorry again. Roper do you actually train in bjj? If so how do you find it and have you trained in other forms of Jujitsu? Could you highlight the main differences? From what I have gathered it seems bjj is much more practical and allot of the traditional stuff (Kata’s and so on) aren’t taught as part of syllabus?

I don’t actually mind the wjjf stuff and I’ve learned allot however I find some of it limiting. There’s a fair amount of ground work but not enough putting things into practice for my liking. I also find some of the blocks and entries to throws cumbersome and awkward. There’s a fair amount of emphasis on Kata and basic atami blocking but I get that from my Karate and that’s not really why I want to study Jujitsu.

Martin.

TJHOOKER

LOL @ Graham Keys being 'low grade'. Find anyone who has trained with or under him and they will inform you of a very different reality, regardless of their grade or level.

Im not being pugnacious either, or referring to his (or his students) sparring level (which are high) but rather to his knowlege and ability to teach the finer details or his art.

Anyone here trained at GBNI?

Maybe he was a lower grade two years ago?

0littledragon0

try jeet kune do which is reality based "youtube tommy carruthers" see wat you think of that

weemate

TJHOOKER wrote: »

LOL @ Graham Keys being 'low grade'. Find anyone who has trained with or under him and they will inform you of a very different reality, regardless of their grade or level.

Im not being pugnacious either, or referring to his (or his students) sparring level (which are high) but rather to his knowlege and ability to teach the finer details or his art.

Anyone here trained at GBNI?

I have trained with Graham and in my opinion he is arguably the best in this part of the country.He runs the longest established BJJ class in the city and has some of the toughest students going.Between himself and Alan Lowry,Jonny and Andy Burrows,Angel etc they have a hell of a team.To say he is a low grade is just laughable.
Peter