50 students turn up to try working there way up the difficult path to their BJJ Black belt .

This year saw 2 new BJJ black belts. Stuart Nairne and Andrew Hale.

David Nagel and Glen Hugo Were awarded Brown Belts.
New purple belts included Stu Morton, Rob Hill, Andrew Button, Nick Pudney, Karl King, Troy TeAo and David O’Donnell.

Congrats to the new blue belts -Who took a pounding and all who gain a stripe
Merry Xmas and Happy New year to all the grappler’s out there.

Anthony Lange

We have just under 100 left – so if you’re smart you’ll jump in quick (can’t help the pun!) The G.E.N.I.U.S tees have only just arrived – we meant to have them at the Championships but they arrived late – we have them in all sizes. But only a few left of each of the others. If you haven’t got any – get the set now!

The G.E.N.I.U.S Shirt (Great Entries Now Incorporating Unreal Submissions)
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X Large and XX Large

The S.M.A.R.T Shirt (Sensational Matwork And Radical Takedowns)
Sizes: Large Only

The P.R.O.D.I.G.Y Shirt (Purely Radical Omoplata’s Do Increase Grapplers Yields)
Sizes: Large only

Prices: $27 plus $8 postage Order yours NOW! >>

The SMART tee

The PRODIGY tee

The GENIUS tee

My wild, new MMA shorts have just arrived, This Wildcat brand is my own design, and something I really like. For anyone needing a good pair of fight shorts that will dry almost instantly – they are hydrophobic – and have a section of stretchy fabric through the crotch – then these shorts are for you. They come in orange with black decals or black with orange decals.
I know you will love them. Train Smart.
John Will
The cost – $60 AUD + $8 shipping Order Now! >>
Sizes:
S (waist: less than 32)
M (waist: between 32-36)
L (waist: more than 36 – 40)
XL (waist: more than 40)

“They have a clean and traditional look – but are the most functional mats I have ever been on”, says John Will, who has recently decked out his Geelong school in the new MMA mats available from Jols Martial Arts Supplies.

“These mats are perfect for both dynamic stand-up work and hard-core grappling. I’ve gone for the smooth/matt finish to have a cleaner, more professional look. They are super easy to clean and look great at the end of a long hard session; no interlocking joints mean there’s no place for hair and lint to gather. Best thing I’ve done in my school in over a decade.”

If anyone’s interested in finding out more about the Jols MMA Mat – call Paul Jolley on: 03 94892333.

This years competition was a big jump up from last year. There was a much larger spectator crowd and sixty more competitors over last year. The base is really building with some of the white belt divisions having over forty competitors. And what a great day.

A few organisational ‘tweaks’ allowed the day to run more smoothly than ever before with the comp winding up by 5pm. For any who have been to other tournaments, you will understand what an amazing achievement this is! I have seen tournaments with less competitors and more mats, not finish until late in the evening. And we have a few more ideas that we hope to put in place to make next years run even better still.

There were always the few small fires to put out on the day (all behind the scenes) and these were mostly due to the odd competitor ticking off the incorrect box on their entry form and ending up in the wrong division; as well as a few very late entries that arrived on the day of the comp itself. But apart from those few hiccups, everything went perfectly.

Rigan Machado commented that it was the best-run tournament he has ever seen. And he’s seen a few – so that’s high praise. He also commented that the atmosphere was the friendliest he has ever seen and feels that this is the direction more people have to take if they want their schools (and the sport of BJJ) to grow.

Once again, we made best use of the day by making presentations of new belts to the three newest Will-Machado Black Belts: Steve Perceval, Tony Morris and David Hart – all great competitors and very knowledgeable BJJ coaches. For myself personally, this was the highlight of the day; the crowd, all BJJ-savvy fully appreciated the importance of the presentation – it was absolutely fantastic!
As Steve Perceval was one of the three to receive his black belt – in true BJJ tradition, he passed his old (well-worn) brown belt on to long-time student – Richard Sargeant!

The next day, Rigan Machado taught seminars at Dominance MMA in Richmond. The mat was packed for both the advanced and beginners seminars. Rigan brought out a few techniques and ideas from his ‘private stash’ and left everyone buzzing with excitement. No doubt there will be some surprised people when these competitors return to their respective schools this week!

An awe-inspiring talk was presented to the school-owners at Café Grace in Richmond by Frank Monea on the Sunday; laying the foundation for greater growth and prosperity in the year to come. I have already had tremendously positive feedback from several of the school-owners on how they felt that talk alone was more than worth the effort and expense of making the trip to Melbourne. Frank came down and had a meeting with me this morning and brought with him some ideas for the continued growth and development of BJJ Australasia as an organization. I anticipate some serious growth and some very positive changes for many of the schools over this coming year.

I know everyone had a great time – and thanks so much to all those people who have taken the time to provide me with feedback on the event. Best wishes all,
Till next time,
John Will

Photos are currently being uploaded and will be sorted and categorised in the next few days:

Click here for 500+ shots from the day >>

Things are shaping up well for the upcoming championships. We have had some great help from our sponsors – and have been able to put together some great prize packs for place-getters.

- Download the Competition Entry form >>

- Download the comp-2008 poster PDF >>

- Download the Competition waiver >>

- Download the competition rules >>

Rigan Machado has planned some fantastic seminars for the Sunday afterward – see attached poster for details. There is no need to pre-book – first 50
there for each session are good to go.
Coloured Belts: 10 AM
White Belts: 12 Noon
Dominance Academy on Bridge Road in Richmond

Accommodation: Check this link for a site offering good deals on Accommodation in Albert Park, where we are having our competition:
http://www.cheaperthanhotels.com.au/Australia/Melbourne/Albert-Park/

Best wishes to everyone,
I look forward to seeing you there.
John Will

South Australia recently had it’s first ever official State Championship for BJJ. This was an official qualifier for the AFBJJ Australian Cup which helped draw competitors from far and wide. There were over 90 participants and some very hotly contested divisions. Adelaide Will-Machado affiliate Matt Jones (ISO Health) took along 7 participants from team ISO Health. It was an exciting day with a good number of competitors and the ISO Health results were as follows…

- Lachy C: Silver; Adult White Belt: 67-73kg (biggest division of the day with 19 competitors)
- Wes P: Silver; Adult White Belt: 79-85kg
- Alan K; Bronze; Adult White Belt: 49-67kg
- Kieran V; Bronze…Adult White Belt: 85-91kg

Last night saw long time Hangar Four instructor John Mirabella receive his BJJ Black Belt. John has trained for some ten years now – and when he first came in and joined up at Hangar Four a decade ago, I thought to myself ‘he is probably not going to last’. How wrong I was.

At that particular time, there were a lot of fighter-types training at the Hangar and John just didn’t fit the mould. He was a slightly overweight and highly stressed solicitor who was there to get some relief from the pressures of work. He just never stopped. John is the classic example of the white belt who never quit.

I admire him immensely; he is a shining example of what can be achieved through dedication and perseverance. Congratulations John – it has been a privilege.

John Will August 2008

Last night I had the immense honour and privilege of awarding another BJJ Black Belt – this time, to Doug Meijer. Doug is a ‘gentle giant’ – a very likeable guy who always seems to come to the mat with a smile on his face.
I have seen Doug progress very well over a number of years and he brings a lot to any class he participates in. Over the next six to eight weeks he will be busy helping Andrew Devitt prepare for his next fight – but after that, I look forward to seeing him make more trips from Melbourne down to Geelong to participate in the advanced class.
Congratulations Doug, may the rest of your martial arts journey be even more exciting. Best respect,
JBW

Dave Hart from Dominance in Melbourne, just finished competing in the PANAMS, where he took the silver in the brown belt division – but not before winning over Kayron Gracie (carlos Gracie Jnr’s son). Here is n excerpt from Dave’s recent e-mail …

“So another day, another grapple….

My division was due to start at 1:20pm and more or less got going on time. I went to check my weight and freaked out because in my clothes, hoodie etc, I was 1kg over! So in panic mode dreading the idea of running a kilo off in 20 or 30 mins with a cold I got changed in to my gi and checked my weight again. 1kg under… I didn’t argue…

So I was called. My first opponent heard of my amazing prowess and decided to run scared instead of facing my wrath. DQ-ed. So straight to round to. This dude pulled half guard on me. Played a very tight game, not really trying to do anything, mostly waiting for me to screw up. I was happy to play it slow and warm up. Got and advantage by flatteningat”him out in half guard with about 20 seconds to go. That was it.

Next was Kayron, Carlos Gracie Jr’s son. Worth noting he is a really nice kid. Only about 20 years old. Don’t recall all the fight. He pulled guard and tried a roll over sweep and switched to armbar when that didn’t work. Slipped out of that, but I believe he got the sweep off it. I just opened up my game, triangle, legbar, toehold again and again. Screwed up at some point defending a pass and went to my knees and stopped for a second he jumped on sinking a hook and taking the lapel and went for the lapel choke hard from back.

Thankfully Fred loves that choke so I was pretty confident I was able to get out. Helping my lapel was in my mouth, lol, tasty. Got out, went to my knees and gongao hard straight away and hit the triangle. It was off to the side but had played around with it on the judo players. Went wrist lock which he didn’t care about, cutting armbar which didn’t seem to really hit, then tightened up the triangle and squeezed.

The end.

Two hours later I had my final. He pulled half guard, and I went straight the leg and didn’t catch it. He was five foot nothing and
roided to the eyeballs. Not much leg to break. So I gave up two points Went balls to the wall after him with everything and he got penalised two points for stalling. He pulled half guard again and swept me. The next four minutes was him stalling and me going nuts. Soooo close to sweeping him so many times. But this little roider had mastered his half guard sweep stall to glory game.”