John Will returned to Wellington this month and there were a couple of new things this time around.

Firstly we held the seminars in our own facility in Lower Hutt. With the Wellington Dojo fire earlier this month and the smaller mat area I decided that running the sessions in the Hutt would be a better option. This also gave us the chance to start at a much earlier time slot. But with the mat size I also split the session into White Belts followed by Coloured Belts.

So at 6.30pm with a few stragglers still coming through the door John kicked off his first session of 2010 and his first ever session at GSW Lower Hutt. there were 30 White Belts on the mat including 7 from Submission Porirua. Glens club is going through the same sort of expansive growth as we are at GSW and The Submission guys are starting to fight for mat space. An awesome achievement for Glen and a positive boost for BJJ students in Wellington.

John covered some basic concepts for recovering the guard, then a few ways to pass the guard followed by a few was to escape when you guard has been passed. He then put the whole thing together as a drill for everyone to cement the concepts of guard recovery into their heads.

After a quick break there was a change of tack with John covering a couple of concepts for attacking and maintaining and attacking the back. He then made everyone go through the guard recovery drill at a slower more flowing pace and swapping partners..

The White Belt session ended with 3 Blue Belt promotions. Glen awarded Submission Martial Arts first Porirua Blue Belt to Andrew Douglas and I promoted two GSW students to Blue as well. Congrats to Jeffery Alcaraz and Haydn Parker. After a quick Photo shoot the White Belts cleared the mat and the Coloured Belts took over. There were 30 Blue and Purple Belts in the advanced session and John and I took the opportunity to promote a couple of Blues to Purple.

Congrats to Phil Stenhouse and Brad Kora! BJJ Purple Belt is a significant step up and one that is not easily earned or awarded, so well done. I know the East Coast BJJ crew will be particularly stoked with Brads promotion. We hear nothing but good things about Brad and his boys in Whakatane.

John the got straight into the session covering advanced concepts around the Kata Gatame position, including, maintaining and fine-tuning the position, finishes and entires to the position. A great session and 4 hours of hard work for John. After a few quick photos everyone split and John and I got home a good hour earlier than normal. This morning I’ve seen John off on a flight to Christchurch to meet up with his ol’ buddy Ron for a fishing trip in the Wanaka area. Ron accompanied John and Melissa on Johns very first seminar trip to Wellington in 1999!

So all up there were over 60 people attending this seminar round and I’m sure that when John returns in June we’ll have to take advanced bookings as the GSW classes grow and as Glens school requires more and more spaces on the mat for Johns seminars. Look for big things in 2010 as this is GSW’s 10th year as a BJJ school!

John’s trip to NZ starts early this year. John is doing his usual seminar circuit through the country. Having recently finished his latest book in the Rogue Black Belt series, many of the Will / Machado BJJ NZ students will be hoping to get their hands on a copy of the 3rd book “Passion & Purpose”..
John’s New Zealand schedule:
Feb 12th – Christchurch – Geoff Aitken
Feb 13th – Auckland – Mike Fooks
Feb 14th – Auckland – Karl Norton
Feb 14th – Hamilton – Phil Beale
Feb 15th – Hamilton – Steve Wallace
Feb 16th – Napier – Shayne Cox
Feb 17th – Wellington – Geoff Grant

Its always an exciting time when John Will is in New Zealand doing a round of seminars.

In the days leading up to the seminar excitement builds as students anticipate what is in store. John has an ability to translate seemingly complicated techniques into digestible chunks that get students doing moves that they may have otherwise thought beyond them; On the flipside, John also gives insight into how intricate simple techniques can be when done correctly. Students new and old alike leave his seminars enthused about the BJJ and their training.

He also left some well deserving students with new grades.

John Lamb and Jarrod Kent were both promoted to Blue Belt.

John Lamb has a technical game and the people he rolls with can find themselves in trouble quickly. He is leaving for Brazil in November for a number of months to experience training in the birthplace of BJJ. We look forward to him coming back and sharing with us what he’s learnt.

Jarrod Kent is a real competitor and his new Blue Belt is an excellent reflection of his ability on the mat.

Then came the big reward for the Ground Control and Submission Martial Arts clubs. John played the part of the Infomercial host, with a “but wait, there’s more”, and reached into his bag for some Purple Belts.
Michael Fooks and Andrew Craven from Ground Control; Mark Corkhill and Warren Lambert from Submission: were all promoted to Purple.

For all four, the promotion was a reward for significant technical improvement and recognition of the dedication required to build their clubs while being white and blue belts. The new Purples expressed thanks to those that helped them get where they are now, specifically: Glen Tarrant, from Submission Porirua, for helping start both clubs; Geoff Grant, from GSW, for his direction and guidance; their students; the rest of the Will Machado community; and of course, John Will.

Congratulations to all those promoted over the weekend.

Steve Hogg

John is currently in New Zealand doing a seminar tour of the associate clubs.
Here is his schedule for the NZ tour.

Nov 13th – Geoff Aitken – Christchurch (Black Belt)
Nov 14th – Michael Fooks – Auckland
Nov 14th – Glenn Tarrant – Auckland
Nov 15th – Karl Norton – Auckland
Nov 15th – Phil Beale – Hamilton
Nov 16th – Steve Wallace – Hamilton
Nov 17th – Shayne Cox – Napier
Nov 18th – AM – Royal New Zealand Police College
Nov 18th – PM – Geoff Grant – Wellington (Black Belt)

On April the 11th TCMA in Napier will be hosting the Will/Machado BJJ National competition.
The comp is a friendly get together for all Will / Machado BJJ NZ clubs and is a fantastic way to catch up with old friends and make plenty of new ones.
The comp is only open to those clubs that train under John Will as it is officially an “in house” comp.
Below are links to pdf files with all the current information, including posters, entry forms and rules.

More info will be added as it becomes available, but for now mark Easter Saturday (April 11th) on your calendar and start preparing.

Will Machado BJJ NZ Nationals
Easter Saturday April 11th 2009
Hosted by TCMA, held at,
Tamatea Intermediate School Hall
Freyburg Ave
Tamatea
Napier

Weigh in: 9:00am
Entry fee:$35.00

Martial Arts Evolution Comes to Lower Hutt

Long standing Wellington club, GSW Martial Arts, opens a new Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training facility in Hutt City

Lower Hutt, Wellington, 15/02/2009: In March 2009, adults in the Hutt Valley will be able to try out a Martial Art that has revolutionised the way people view self-defence and Martial Arts training.

GSW Martial Arts has been operating in Wellington for over 9 years and after several years of huge growth, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Black Belt, Geoff Grant, has decided to bring this exciting and challenging martial art to the Hutt.

Geoff has been an exponent of BJJ for over 13 years and is the only Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt in the Wellington region. In fact there are only a handful of Black Belts in the country and only 2 of them are Kiwis!

Geoff began his martial arts training at the age of 17 and has practiced for almost 25 years. But it was a special trip to Melbourne in 1995 that led to him studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Australasia’s most well known and respected BJJ coaches – John Will.

John Will is one of Australia’s most recognizable Grappling Instructors and he has spent the last 13 years helping Geoff bring the Martial Art of BJJ to Wellington students. In November 2007 John Will awarded Geoff with his BJJ Black Belt, sealing Geoff’s reputation as a dedicated and skilled instructor.

After years of running the highly successful GSW club in Wellington, Geoff secured a site on High St where Hutt Valley residents could find out for themselves what makes GSW and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so popular.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a Grappling Art. First and foremost it teaches control. What you do with that control is up to you. Those at GSW use that control to submit our opponent using BJJ techniques like, Arm Locks and Chokes.

But the control can be used for many things, control over the opponent and situation gives you control over the outcome. It could be to just subdue them until help arrives or to subdue them to cuff them or extract them from a venue or area.

Initially classes will be run on Mondays and Wednesdays for beginners and other classes will be scheduled once the facility is in full swing. As an introduction to BJJ, Geoff is offering 2 free trial lessons. For more information visit the schools web page www.martial-arts-lower-hutt.co.nz

GSW Martial Arts Lower Hutt
L1, 223 High St
Lower Hutt
Hutt Valley, Wellington
Upstairs above TnT Children’s Wear.

Blue Belt Brad Kora started out training BJJ with his brother Fran during their down time between gigs and recording their album. Fran had been training with GSW in Wellington for a few months before showing Brad and Stu just how effective BJJ is.

Brad was immediately hooked and trained any and every chance he got. After some hard training and competition success Brad was promoted to Blue Belt by Geoff Grant of GSW Wellington. Since then Brad has been training a small group of friends and associates in his modest training area. But as all of the BJJ NZ instructors know small beginnings in BJJ quickly grow and now Brad is running out of room.

Next year will hopefully see an expansion for the club but for now you can train in Whakatane with Brad and the boys at:
East Coast Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Location – 13 Harvey Street, Whakatane

Contact – Brad Kora (07)3078222 or Mbl 0212526650 & Nasa Steed (07)3125966

Areas we cover are the Eastern Bay of Plenty (kawerau, Te Teko, Opotiki, Edgecumbe, Whakatane, Ruatoki, Te kaha, Matata)

Tuesdays 6pm-8:30pm 
(fundamentals and technique for the first hour then rolling)

Thursday 6pm-8:30pm
(fundamentals and technique for the first hour then rolling)

Sundays 11am-2pm
(Advanced classes then rolling)

Welcome aboard guys

By the time John Will had left Wellington on Wednesday he had changed the face of BJJ in New Zealand, again. After a week of seminars in Christchurch, Auckland, Hamilton, Napier and Wellington, John had taught some very cool techniques and concepts to the BJJ NZ Will – Machado schools.

But more importantly he had promoted some of his most loyal BJJ NZ followers.

While in Auckland John ran two seminar for the GroundControl crew in Howick. During the seminar John took the opportunity to promote several of GroundControl’s senior students to Blue Belt. The following were rewarded for their commitment to training,Lee Warden, Brent Lang, Leyla Oakley, Matt Hogan and Kody Hamilton, congratulations all.

GroundControl in Auckland continues to go from strength to strength. The new blues will find they are needed during the upcoming restructuring of the crew. With Glen Tarrant returning to his home town of Wellington, there will be a huge gap in the Auckland BJJ team. Glen is returning to Wellington to be closer to family support and will form a new GroundControl in Wellington, good luck with the relocation Glen.

Also Auckland, during seminars run by Michael Gent’s former students, John promoted two of the members of the Maai Hyoshi Dojo’s. Karl Norton and Steve Cockell were both awarded BJJ Purple Belts for their hard work and dedication to the BJJ style.

In Napier, another former student of Mr. Gent was awarded an even higher honor. Shayne Cox of Twin City Martial Arts was graded to BJJ Brown Belt. Shayne has been active in competition in both New Zealand and Australia. Recently competing in the Will – Machado Nationals in Australia, Shayne took 2nd place in the Purple Belt division. And in Auckland a few weeks ago Shayne stepped into the competitive arena for his very first MMA fight, which he won convincingly.

Shayne has been a steadfast supporter and member of BJJ NZ for many years and this promotion is another step in is never ending quest for knowledge and skills.

In Wellington, John ran another highly successful training session at the Royal New Zealand Police College, where he imparts knowledge and techniques to the trainers and instructors and also helps formulate training programs for the police and recruits of the New Zealand Police Force.

John later taught a BJJ Seminar at Wellingtons GSW Martial Arts. Where he also took the time to promote several of the clubs deserving students. Cain Harland and Brendan Pfahlert were both awarded their BJJ Blue Belts. The promotions are the result of years of dedication to the club and consistent BJJ training.

Also promoted on the night were Jonathan Bares and Jason Murphy. Both were promoted to Purple Belt.

Jonny is a fierce competitor and has twice defeated some of New Zealand’s best BJJ competitors at the Douglas Santos competitions in Auckland. In both 2006 and 2007 Jonny won his Blue Belt division. Jonny has also recently steeped into the MMA arena, testing his grappling skills in a limited rules fight, which he easily won.

Jason Murphy is a quiet mild mannered thinker and a tireless workhorse. Jase has been part of the GSW club for almost 5 years, and in that time has been a consistent and dedicated part of the clubs infrastructure. Recently Jase has taken up the job of running classes and writing the news for the extensive GSW website, both of which he performs with meticulous precision.

The big news of the night though was the promotion of GSW’s head instructor Geoff Grant. John Will awarded Geoff with the coveted BJJ Black Belt. Geoff has been a member of BJJ NZ from the very beginning and started his BJJ training with John in 1995. The promotion represents over 12years of hard work and dedication.

Geoff’s Black Belt promotion puts him in a very select group as he is one of only two Will – Machado BJJ New Zealand Black Belts.

Congratulations to all the Will – Machado students and instructors and thank you to John Will for another fantastic year of BJJ in New Zealand. We hope to see you on the mat sometime soon.

John is returning to New Zealand in November and will run sessions at the following clubs

Friday November 23rd – Martial Arts Christchurch: Geoff Aitken
Saturday November 24th – Martial Arts Auckland: Mike Fooks & Glen Tarrant
Sunday November 25th – Auckland: Karl Norton and Steve Cockell
Sunday November 25th – Martial Arts Hamilton: Phil Beale
Monday November 26h – Martial Arts Napier: Shane Cox
Tuesday November 27th – Wellington: NZ Police College
Wed November 28th – Martial Arts Wellington: Geoff Grant

John also plans to have copies of his book “Rogue Black Belt: Fear & the engine” available for purchase. If you can’t wait then please order a copy now from his website www.rogueblackbelt.com

Finally the boys have put the finishing touches on their album and it’s cut and being delivered to stores for release on Monday the 15th of October.

If you want to pre order a copy go to www.amplifier.co.nz

RELEASED MON 15TH OCTOBER.

Combining the invincible elements of the Kora strain, rock, funk and house, our five superheroes unleash the ultimate musical odyssey.

Recorded in Aotearoa, mastered in London by Kevin at Soundmasters (David Bowie, Queen, The Prodigy), this is the long awaited follow up to the platinum, EP Volume.

The album features fourteen tracks that hold true to every facet of music that KORA enjoy, ranging in mood from groovy, to heavy and aggressive, and the graphics pay homage to a love of arcade games and epic moves.

Brand skanking new tracks include Skankenstein, Out of My Mind/Down The Road, an instrumental Skoolyard plus Culture with a guest appearance from the old man on slide guitar.

Two tracks, Burning and Crazy Things have evolved and been revamped from the original EP.