Free Self Defence Training

dabhal · 19-01-2005 12:49pm

John,

Can you clear up the "contract" mentioned in an earlier post?
Is this really a free class or are there strings attached?
I have a guy who is really interested, a long time boards lurker but he never posts although he said he'd have no problems posting a review for you.

Dabhal

logic1 · 19-01-2005 1:03pm

dabhal wrote:

John,

Can you clear up the "contract" mentioned in an earlier post?
Is this really a free class or are there strings attached?
I have a guy who is really interested, a long time boards lurker but he never posts although he said he'd have no problems posting a review for you.

Dabhal

I believe the class is a no strings attached once off for free. If you want to take up the offer of continuous training however there's certain contractual obligations.

.logic.

john kavanagh · 21-01-2005 4:54pm

hi guys, hope you are all well

just a flying visit here so can't answer all the questions but let me just say again

this is a completely free lesson, no strings attached open to anyone! you are more than welcome to do it on your own or if you wish bring one of your friends!

all i ask in return is you write a small piece here and let the guys know how you got on, positive/negative that's up to you - just be honest

here's what i guaruntee, at the end of the lesson (which can be as long as you like) you will understand the difference between

functional and non-functional training
self defence and sport training

and you will understand what we mean by Aliveness and how its not 'just sparring'.

a bold claim but i'm very confident in the SBG training method so i'll put my money where my mouth is!

if at the end of the lesson you wish to join then great but if at the end you dont then thats great too

i'm not sure when i'll be able to get back on here so i'll leave my details again 0876876641 or sbgireland@gmail.com and i hope more of you guys take me up on the offer

have a great weekend

john

paul moran · 22-01-2005 1:03am

"You should never look a gift horse in the mouth"

Just take up the mans kind offer you WILL NOT regret it!

That's the best way to answer all of your questions and more you haven't thought of yet

Paul Moran

pma-ire · 22-01-2005 10:40am

Im2lazy,

Get in there man, and have a crack with the guy.

It should not matter what stripes were on his belt, or bald buddist monk he has trained with. The concept of the training followed up by the physical manifestation of those concepts is what I look for.

Because when you understand the concept of a style then it becomes a whole lot easier to use it. Instead of repeating sets of un-tested un-realistic bollocks.

Not a knock on you man

Just my approach to going to other arts and styles. As I find trying to learn new sets of set (in stone) techs a pain.

I look forward to your review

columok · 02-02-2005 12:47pm

Anyone here taken John up on his offer.

A chance to train for free with the man who recently won gold at the European BJJ Championships should not be sniffed at!

Coupe · 02-02-2005 12:54pm

I'm heading down this Friday. I'll let you know how I get on over the weekend... if I make it back in one piece!
Looking forward to it.

mark.leonard · 02-02-2005 3:13pm

I would be intereste din this free self defence training, where might I sign up for it John?

Ger Healy · 02-02-2005 3:45pm

What do need SD training for Mark ?
Don't you live in that quite little town called Galway

Colm_OReilly · 03-02-2005 12:45pm

ttt for Strange Life

patjunfa · 03-02-2005 1:40pm

Hi John

Could you post up the differant class times please. As far as I remeber you have some class's mid day. And the vale tudo is just on a thursday night?YOu planing on doing this on a 2nd night? Tuesday would be good. Still wouldn't be able to sign up for a while yet.

john kavanagh · 03-02-2005 3:51pm

Could you post up the differant class times please

click for timetable

john kavanagh · 07-02-2005 6:24pm

quick update

'Coupe' from Krav Maga took me up on my offer and came down last friday for a free private lesson. we covered what we at SBG would term functional training and Aliveness. we trained mostly clinch and ground plus i introduced him to the weapons programs STAB and SMAC

i'm sure he will add to this when he has time

Coupe · 07-02-2005 10:03pm

Firstly John thank you very much indeed for taking the time last Friday to introduce me to the basics of SBG's system. My apologies for not getting my impressions up here sooner!

I thoroughly enjoyed my lesson with John and it is clear to see just why he has been so succesful in competition. This guy is good is all I need to say. In the time I spent with him I learnt the fundamentals of:

Ground / clinch fighting
Dealing with straight / roundhouse blows followed quickly by how to control the aggressor.
Dealing with knives
and probably more I just can't remember after the blood supply to the brain was momentarialy interrupted by a forearm.....

The atmosphere in the gym could not have been friendlier and John's ability's to teach and explain are excellent. He will train with you as hard as you are willing to go and not beyond and I have to say I felt at ease at all times even when tied up in knots (its strange being strangled by your own arm!!!)

It was an excellent experience and I will definitly be taking more classes from John in the future. If you have any desire to broaden your knowledge of MA, taking John up on his offer is a must cos no matter what your background might be there are many new lessons to be learnt here.

Once again thanks John and I look forward to rolling with you again in the future.

David

john kavanagh · 07-02-2005 11:41pm

thanks for the kind words david

john kavanagh · 22-02-2005 1:03pm

ttt

just one person has come along so far, anyone else interested??

petals · 22-02-2005 2:37pm

john kavanagh wrote:

ttt

just one person has come along so far, anyone else interested??

I'm interested I just don't have time at the mo.

The_Scary_Man · 02-03-2005 4:16pm

john kavanagh wrote:

ttt

just one person has come along so far, anyone else interested??

As I'm in Cork would it be better for me to go to the gym in Douglas?

pma-ire · 02-03-2005 4:29pm

The_Scary_Man wrote:

As I'm in Cork would it be better for me to go to the gym in Douglas?

not in douglas anymore!

there in the ballinlough tennis club. still mondays and wednesdays.

number 10 bus will drop you there. behind the community centre.

The_Scary_Man · 02-03-2005 4:43pm

pma-ire wrote:

not in douglas anymore!

there in the ballinlough tennis club. still mondays and wednesdays.

number 10 bus will drop you there. behind the community centre.

Hi Paul,

Ken here, I mailed you yesterday. I'll be up tonight so maybe you can fill me in on how you got on there?

john kavanagh · 04-03-2005 5:14pm

well Im2Lazy came along today and it was great to work out with him - i'll let him review the class

just wanted to apologise for forgetting to show you eddie's move

pma-ire · 04-03-2005 5:54pm

The_Scary_Man wrote:

Hi Paul,

Ken here, I mailed you yesterday. I'll be up tonight so maybe you can fill me in on how you got on there?

I had done this on the board already but the thread is old.

Sure we talked on the Wednesday night

Im2Lazy · 05-03-2005 2:39pm

well Im2Lazy came along today and it was great to work out with him - i'll let him review the class

just wanted to apologise for forgetting to show you eddie's move

Hi Guys,

As John mentioned I took him up on his kind offer yesterday, first let me say to John "Thanks very much for all your time, I really enjoyed the class, it was great to experience such a different style & don’t worry you can show me the Twister some other time.
".

I went into this not really knowing, what to expect but looked at it from the point of view that I can only come out it better equipped to defend myself even if I only learned one thing.

Which I'm glad to say I did, even if it was just if I see John on the street run the other way !!!

Seriously though he is an excellent instructor & we trained at my pace sometimes slightly above which helped me improve. He went through some simple but effective techniques & explained his (SBG's) teaching philosophy & how they are applied, they were all very simple & logical, nothing new at all (as John said) but for me it was enjoyable to experience them first hand.

What struck me most about him was his openness to questions/suggestions in the way if I had a question about a technique he wouldn’t give a long winded answer explaining it, he simply introduce the technique to me on the mat work through the mechanics of it and then increased his intensity to make it more difficult as my technique improved.

His generosity with his time was also refreshingly unexpected, I expected a little as if he would be trying to sell me SGB and this offer was like any other gym freebie where you get the 1 hour free class to get you in the door and you’re bombarded with information of how only this gym is right for you & they talk you in to a training program you're never going to use and “just for today you can get the special 1 year membership for just X per month ”.

This wasn't the case at all it was more like an open exchange of ideas, he wasn't trying to sell me anything & if I wanted to be shown anything he was more than happy to do so, we trained for about 2 hours until I wanted to finish, to be honest I would have stayed there all day training because I enjoyed it so much & I don’t think he would have minded, but that would have just been taking advantage of John’s generosity.

All the training was excellent, the ground work was great & he helped me improve my technique a lot but I particularly enjoyed the clinch work as this was totally alien to me and it stunned me how when I thought I was in a advantageous position I would suddenly be on my back with John on top of me, thinking how the hell did that just happen !!!!

I would recommend anyone interested in taking John up on his offer to just make the time & go, you've nothing to lose.

Thanks again John for all your time & I look forward to training with you again.