Technique of the Week No. 28 - Spider Guard Sweeps (Opponent Standing)

Hey Guys,

This week's technique or rather techniques of the week are the Arm Entanglement Sweep and Foot-In-Biceps Sweep from Spider Guard (opponent standing).

Steve

Rodolfo Vieira and Denilson Pimenta

Hey Guys,

Hopefully I'm going to be able to post the final part of the homework on Grappling Fight Team (GFT) this week. It will cover one of GFT's rising starts, Vinicius Marinho and coach Julio Cesar Pereira.

In the meantime, here's a You Tube movie of Rodolfo Vieira rolling with teammate Denilson Pimenta. Parts of this were included in the Jits.tv documentary on Rodolfo I posted a few weeks ago.

If you're not familiar with Denilson, he got a bronze at featherweight in the Europeans in January and is another member of GFT well worth researching on You Tube.

Steve

Tai Otoshi

Hey Guys,

Tonight, during the standing we worked on the Tai-Otoshi or Body Drop. Here's a short You Tube movie of probably the United Kingdom's greatest ever Judo competitor, Neil Adams, demonstrating the Tai-Otoshi on a seminar.

The Tai-Otoshi, with Ko-Uchi-Gari or Minor Inner Reap, were Adams' speciality.

If you're unfamiliar with Neil Adams, he's a two-time Olympic silver medallist, World Champion (plus one-time silver and two-time bronze medallist) and five-time European Champion (plus three-time bronze medallist). Here's a short highlight movie of a few of Neil's Judo matches from the early 80s.

Steve

Technique of the Week No. 27 - Arm Spin Escape from Turtle

Hey Guys,

This week's technique of the week is the Arm Spin from Turtle (Head-to-Head).

Steve

Sinbad Update

Hey Guys,

I've just received an update from the Born Free Foundation on Sinbad, the lion we sponsor.

It reads as follows:-

"As you'll recall, our wildlife charity rescued your lion from a life of misery in a small rusty cage in Romania. Sinbad if half the size of a normal lion due to his poor early diet and probable in-breeding. But despite his size he is beautiful with a magnificent mane. Today thanks to your support he really seems to enjoy his special home at our big cat sanitary in Shamwari Reserve, South Africa.

As an adopter you have such an important role - you help fund Sinbad's food and loving care in South Africa. You're a vital part of the Born Free Foundation family!

I've just received this wonderful report about your lion from Tricia Holford, Born Free's Big Cat Rescue Co-Ordinator:- Glen Vena, our Animal Care Manager at Shamwari, tells me that Sinbad continues to do well.

He recently was able to enjoy some new clearings in his enclosure. These spaces had been created by Glen and a large maintenance team, who got to work cutting out a lot of bushy undergrowth. Our enclosures have fences around them which keep out Shamwari's large population of wild elephants, rhino, antelope and other animals. Naturally these creatures would crash through the bushes, grazing on the leaves and grasses, and keeping their growth in check. Without them nature quickly takes over. As a result little Sinbad sometimes disappears from view in the long grass.

After clearance work Sinbad seemed to really enjoy sniffing the scent trails from where the people had been and relaxing in the new open spaces. He still enjoys hiding in the bushes though! While we associate lions with wide open savannahs, they also enjoy deep bush habitat as well, as protection from the heat and cold. In parts of the reserve with dense bush, Shamwari's sharp-eyed rangers can point out the wild lions living on the reserve, almost invisible among the low branches.

Your Sinbad is a very gentle lion, and, having been hand-raised, is comfortable around humans. Once he receives his meat however, he is a lion transformed! Like a wild lion he becomes very aggressive and protective over his meat. If you call out his name when he has his food, you will hear deep warning growls emerging from the bushes!

What an amazing report! It's just fascinating to read about Sinbad's behaviour, we're so lucky to be able to get to know an amazing creature in this way. Thank you for adopting Sinbad. We are so grateful for your support...I'll be in touch soon with more news about your adopted lion.

Very best wishes, on behalf of everyone at Born Free."

Steve

Technique of the Week No. 26 - Over / Under Knee Bar from Open Guard

Hey Guys,

This week's technique of the week is the Knee Bar from the Over / Under control, Open Guard (Top).

Steve

New Team Logo

Hey Guys,

I attach a JPEG of our new team logo. A big thanks to Chris McIntyre for his design.

Steve