Brazilain jiu jitsu classes in the city centre

philip graham · 30-01-2008 08:35PM #1

Brazilian jiu jitsu classes are being held in Pinnacle Gym, Rear 27 Camden St, Dublin 2, Ph: 01-4789252

classes are monday and thursday nights 7.30 to 9ish

fatal · 30-01-2008 09:18PM

how much is each class?

Magic Eight Ball · 30-01-2008 09:45PM

Who's teaching em?

philip graham · 31-01-2008 06:38AM

its 10euro a class but i am introducing an option to pay monthly sometime soon too.i am teaching the class.

Shield · 31-01-2008 07:02AM

Could you tell us a bit about yourself... how long you've been doing it... how long you've been teaching it... your profile in general?

philip graham wrote: »

its 10euro a class but i am introducing an option to pay monthly sometime soon too.i am teaching the class.

Khannie · 31-01-2008 08:43AM

Gonna head along to this to give it a lash. Possibly next week.

Dragan · 31-01-2008 10:12AM

Hey Philip,

i'll be along tonight, i know and have trained with a few of your class regulars but am pretty much a total noob to BJJ so please don't laugh at my horrible Triangle technique!

For other folks i'll write a review on the class for tomorrow but from what i have heard to date it is a fantastic atmosphere filled with great people.

Looking forward to it!

paddyc · 31-01-2008 10:44AM

philip

how are you? do you own the gym and if so do you knnow if its possible to call in and pay to use the ring without being a member of the gym?

thanks paddy

Roper · 31-01-2008 10:53AM

Paddy,
Mick Keogh owns the gym. Pinnacle's number is the one in the original post.

davmol · 31-01-2008 11:15AM

Ive done a few BJJ classes before but what level are the classes?are both Mon and thurs for experienced jitz heads or can a virtual beginner come along?
cheers

dunkamania · 31-01-2008 11:19AM

paddyc wrote: »

if its possible to call in and pay to use the ring without being a member of the gym?

yes it is

Dragan · 31-01-2008 11:26AM

paddyc wrote: »

philip

how are you? do you own the gym and if so do you knnow if its possible to call in and pay to use the ring without being a member of the gym?

thanks paddy

He Paddy, due to insurance purposes for the majority of gyms you need to be guested in and pay per session. Not too sure if this applies to pinnacle or not but you can always just give Mick a shout and ask him?

Anytime you want to use the ring just let me know and i'll arrange for a regular to be there to guest you in if you like?

There is normally one of my crowd in there pretty much non stop......not sure if that is a good thing or not!

ryoishin · 31-01-2008 01:34PM

I train with phil on mondays and i highly recommend it.

paddyc · 31-01-2008 03:07PM

theres so much love in this forum:)

thanks dragan will ring mick for a chat and contact you if need be after that..

cant think of aything stupid t say to roper right now but i know when i log off something will come to mind and i'll be kicking myself ...

thanks all paddy

philip graham · 01-02-2008 01:03AM

i trained alot of different martial arts( for about 8 years on and off) and i started training brazilian jiu jitsu about 4 years ago with sbg. a year ago i started training with sbg northside and left there because i started working nights and was teaching kids and by the time i got used to working nights and wanted to train for myself i was offered the opportunity to teach in a space in town.

i have a blue belt which was given to me by sbg and a coaching cert that was given to me by Carlos Machado(black belt in brazilian jiu jitsu). i used that to gain insurance to start teaching bjj. i also have a child safety cert which i recived form the catolic youth fondation and a cert in occupational first aid.

i hope this has answered yours and anyone elses questions.

kindest regards

Philip Graham

Dragan · 01-02-2008 10:30AM

Okay, so I headed along to Philip's class last night under the illusion that two of my mates would be there with me. Sadly they couldn't show up so I went in there all on my lonesome to see what all this BJJ lark is about!

Let me start by saying I have never, ever had a good experience with my first night of any art. Kratty left me disappointed, boxing left me angry due to all the ego's and kickboxing left me already hating my instructor at the time ( he was not a humble person ). As such I have learned to fear the first class of a new art and to work through whatever problems I see if I truly love it.

Philip's class was a complete and total joy to go to. Everyone was really friendly and it was all handshakes and introductions before we got down to the warm up. The one thing I did notice was that everyone asked me how long I had been doing it for and when I said it was my first class they all kind of smiled at me as if to say "ah yeah, he's got newb excitement in his eyes!"

So it was down to the warm up and then into some drills! Up next was guard passing drills followed by some live rolling. It was during the guard passing that it really hit home to me how…well….DIFFERENT BJJ is to anything else I had done. I'll walk into the gym and move a lot of weight, I'll do my Crossfit's to spec and in reasonable times ( and I'm 250lbs or so ) but dammit this was kicking my ass! So much so that towards the end of the guard passing I had to go and have myself a quick puke! ( And once again to Dunkmania, I'm really sorry dude but it was the sink or the wall! , in fact poor Gigon (sp?) is lucky I didn't puke on him…that guy is freaky good and strong as an ox! ) but a few sips of water later I was back in for the live rolling! After that it was on to a nice cool down and stretch but not before Philip was good enough to take me aside and go through some guard passing and a very specific submission with me, which was awesome!

So….i was able to walk into Philip's class as a total beginner, on my own and was made to feel completely welcome. The cardio aspect of it kicked the living bejesus out of me and nobody laughed at me for it. Everyone was incredibly nice and the atmosphere was amazing.

As an instructor ( and I have had a few in my time ) Philip is excellent. Repeating important points over and over without you even realising it ( glass of water on my head! ) and seeming to have 3 sets of eyes as he watches people roll and offers advice to them. He's also great at instructing technique….everything was broken down into steps and he wasn't giving me any bull**** either. He told me exactly what I need to concentrate on as a beginner to the sport which is fantastic!

All I can say is that this morning I rang both Westwood and Total Fitness in Sandyford and cancelled my membership there because from now on I'll be training full time in Pinnacle….and the fee's for those gyms would be much better spent on BJJ classes with Philip. And that’s coming from a total Gym Rat.

Really couldn't recommend it strongly enough. By far my best Martial Arts experience to date.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 01-02-2008 10:49AM

Nice post D.

Colm_OReilly · 01-02-2008 11:22AM

Good review Dragan.

As a beginner, you're bound to feel that cardio drain. It's down to a few things:
1. You're inefficient at the movements. You are taking a lot of energy to do things Dunk or Phil will be able to do with little investment.
2. You're nervous/excited in the new sport, so you tense up more than you realise it.
3. It's a fight! So you have more adrenaline pumping through you, which again tenses you up some more.

Not to step on Phil's toes but spending time trying to relax and enjoy the flow rather than force anything will help a lot.

Dragan · 01-02-2008 11:54AM

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Good review Dragan.

As a beginner, you're bound to feel that cardio drain. It's down to a few things:
1. You're inefficient at the movements. You are taking a lot of energy to do things Dunk or Phil will be able to do with little investment.
2. You're nervous/excited in the new sport, so you tense up more than you realise it.
3. It's a fight! So you have more adrenaline pumping through you, which again tenses you up some more.

Not to step on Phil's toes but spending time trying to relax and enjoy the flow rather than force anything will help a lot.

Thanks for the tips Colm! Thats what i had figured as well....most people i rolled with remarked on how strong i was which kind of told me that i am using strength to accomplish small things that other's use technique to do and if i'm honest i was also pretty nervous as well!

The biggest thing i took away from last night....other than to watch my posture and stop leaving my arms in like a fool!.... is to be patient and relaxed which i will work on as best as i can!

Other than that it's just drill , drill , drill! Let the basics become instinctive before i even try to get complicated with things!

philip graham · 01-02-2008 12:19PM

thanks alot for the great review dragan, see you on the mats soon:D

FiannaGym.com · 04-02-2008 01:20AM

Thats a great review! Go Phil!

Also, its good to see a new gym giving people enjoyment and experience on the mats!

Since Zen gave some advice to the n00b here ye go:

Rickson say, "Its not the GO with the FLOW but the FLOW with the Go"

Peace

philip graham · 04-02-2008 08:56AM

thanks

cowzerp · 04-02-2008 10:33AM

Dragan wrote: »

Other than that it's just drill , drill , drill! Let the basics become instinctive before i even try to get complicated with things!

Great review Dragan, i've trained with phil and he is very patient and goes well into detail, what you will find is that the basics(fundamentals as JK will say) are in fact the most advanced techniques in bjj (a bit like weights-squats, bench press,etc..)and the better you are with them the more advanced you will be!

Dragan · 05-02-2008 10:28AM

Cheers guys.

Bitter dissapointment last night as a new prescription on Sunday left me in ****ing pieces....couldn't sleep, eat or drink anything. Awesome.

Be back on Thursday.