Daniel Matraca??

judomick

is this the same guy that came joint 3rd last saturday? is he not a bjj blackbelt? or have i got my wires crossed?

Nothingcompares

yep same guy

Roper

Whats a bit harsh????

eoghan.geraghty

Ah roper, ye have to be quick.
Paddy thats bold.
Take yer slap on the wrist:D

Dermot Nolan

I wasn't quick enough either roper.

I guess that someone was slagging off how he performed. Which division did he compete in?

Nothingcompares

92 advanced against Eoghan, Tank Engine and Dunkamania

Roper

Someone pm that response to me then!

dlofnep

There is nothing on google on this guy. Sure, you can have an off day in competition at any level.

Colm_OReilly

He finished fourth.

ThatBloke

Ah...good old fashioned Irish begrudgery.

Céad Míle Fáilte Daniel

Roper

Where's the begrudgery? And who said he was a black belt? Is he?

I officiated at his group and it was a tough one, all draws. Not even a hint of a submission in most fights.

judomick

well its all a bit fishy to me if he is claiming hes a BB, Black belts dont have "off days" dont get me wrong Eoin and Tom have great Jiu jitsu and are tough competitors but ive rolled with Black belts and its another league, anyone thats rolled with JK can see this, tbh it pisses me off because JK, myself, Andy Ryan, Owen roddy, and everyone else out there with blues purples and black belts have put alot of time and effort and sacrifice into achieving our grades, then some guy claims hes a Black Belt and comes 4th in his division!?!?

Irish Bedgrudgery?????????

yeah thats it

Colm_OReilly

There was no claim made by him to me or any officials at the competition that he was a black belt. There was a rumour and someone attached this to his name.

He told myself when he registered he was training two years. Is this too short a time to begin teaching/coaching? Well I started coaching in UCD after about 4-5 months training, and I'm fairly sure JK started showing people what he learnt the day after he started zhoo zhitsu so should we stop coaching?

StrateBlastJim

On the day he came up to me and said that he had only been training 2 years and didn’t think he should be in the advanced division.

He seemed sincere, so maybe it is someone else who is trying to advertise him as a black belt?. He seemed genuine and was enquiring about the next few competitions so im sure we'll see more of him in the future.

dlofnep

The case of the suspected black belt has been resolved. It was just a really, really, really, really, really, really dark blue belt.

judomick

Colm_OReilly wrote:

He told myself when he registered he was training two years. Is this too short a time to begin teaching/coaching?

so hes not a BB? 2 years makes alot more sense, it was claimed on here he was a BB ShaneT stated it? think its natural to assume ShaneT spoke to him?

who said he couldnt coach?

judomick

Mark leonard "the voice of reason"

mark.leonard

Sounds to me like the issue is whether this guy actually claimed he was a black belt or not, or did someone take him up wrong, like if some confused individual confused my black belt in Taekwondo with something meaningful in Jiu Jitsu. How about we delay the trial until our paths cross witht his guy again and we ask him
straight out if he is a BB and go by his response

eoghan.geraghty

BJJ Black Belt from Brazil. Into MMA. Very nice guy. Doesn't speak much english - doesn't really need it. ;-)

was originally posted by Shane T on the BJJ in city centre thread.

Daniel never claimed it on the day,thats the only day most of us (i think) have any knowledge of him.

Hope his club takes off in city centre. The more competitors the better.

Nothingcompares

unfortunately I can't remember if the flyer i read said bJJ blackbelt or not.

i still hope daniel gets a club going in camden street cause either way there will be loads of interest in it. the majority of clubs in Ireland are run in a training group format so his will be no different.

I didn't get a chance to talk to him myself, but I heard he was thinking of starting lessons on thursday. However, due to the rigmaroll hearsay and conjecture has already caused on this subject I'm going to keep stum until the man himself tells me what's happening and when.

Roper

There could well be a case of a language barrier being the problem here. After all, he was honest at the tournament in saying that he was training 2 years.

If he gets a club going fair play to him and I hope it goes well for him. Maybe ShaneT can clear this up for us? As has been said, his coachin ability is not under question here.

Mickk

Daniel has claimed he is a black belt, he came to me advertising his class in sackville place and was very interested in my new gym in Camden St because it will have a cage section in the studio along with a seperate boxing ring and bags so he said he wanted to rent a room from me and teach his class... I am waiting for his certs to show he is qualified and will be insured. The cage and ring wont be here for 6 weeks so there will be no classes by anyone till then.

ShaneT

Hmm... Don't usually like to get involved in this sort of thing as you all know.

OK. He visited my club one time - claiming to be a BJJ Black Belt and Vale Tudo instructor. He was VERY nice indeed but didn't do too much. But, let's be clear, he absolutely claimed to be a BJJ Black Belt and VT Instructor.

He didn't do too much with us, but I'll confess I had my doubts. However, I've seen people that are off the mat for a while look "rusty" so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I'm inclined to give people benefit of the doubt until I have reason to doubt them.

So - bottom line;

He DID claim to be a black belt. I've seen him since and we know that he told people at the tournament he has two years JJ (which would make a lot more sense based on what I've seen) and this is indeed a clearly contradictory statement. Logically, he's now opened himself to suspicion. However, if he's a BJJ BB - he'll be able to prove it. Plain and simple.

When I first set up in Ireland I was VERY rusty myself through lack of training (moving country can do that to a bloke). No training for the best part of a year. It took me a LONG time to get back on my feet. Maybe he's suffering from the same problem? Again, I'd rather give him the benefit of the doubt and say; if he is a BB, he'll be able to prove it with the knowledge, skills and paperwork. If he's not.... Oh well... wouldn't be the first time that at native claimed to be a black belt in that nation's martial art now would it?

Posts on this thread have hit the nail on the head;

JK - started teaching MMA from videos and is now coach for one of the top schools in Ireland (and I mean that as a compliment).

Loads of people are "forced" into teaching (myself included).

I couldn't care less what his grade is; if he's got something to teach - I'm willing to learn. If he's lying - it'll soon be exposed.

Now... back to training everyone...!

john kavanagh

ShaneT wrote:

JK - started teaching MMA from videos and is now coach for one of the top schools in Ireland (and I mean that as a compliment)

true, because there was no high level bjj/mma coach available at the time. i had to travel to uk/states to get instruction....and i hear people moaning about travelling to rathcoole lol

ShaneT

john kavanagh wrote:

true, because there was no high level bjj/mma coach available at the time. i had to travel to uk/states to get instruction....and i hear people moaning about travelling to rathcoole lol

I know the feeling - as I said, I meant that as a compliment. I regularly travel to Holland and Germany to train with some of the best in Muay Thai, Kyokushin and MMA. If you want it - you go get it. Plain and simple.

Still, there are now plenty of credible schools with people that have good skills in all round or at least a base in a full contact striking art coupled with "rolling" classes. So, with so much to choose from - the Irish can now be happy as pigs in mud with all the MMA on offer...! :cool: