Mike Fooks has been on-board with BJJ NZ since the moment he brought one
of John Will’s books off Trade Me. From that innocent purchase started a chain of events that led to Mike and his friends stepping into a vacant seminar spot on John Will’s tour of Auckland in 2005. And as they say the rest is history!

Michael Fooks first began training in BJJ in 2001 as a compliment to the Aikido he had been studying for many years. He spent a couple of years as a “dabbler” training at many of the BJJ schools in Auckland. While falling in love with the art and meeting some terrific people, it wasn’t until he attended a seminar with John Will hosted by Michael Gent that the pieces all fell into place.

Mike found John Will to be a truly inspirational instructor who bought to BJJ the detailed, technical approach Mike had been taking to his Aikido. From that point on BJJ became a central feature of Mike’s training – and he eventually decided to concentrate on it exclusively. At a seminar in Auckland in November 2009 Mike was awarded his Purple Belt by John.

“When I went to my first BJJ class, Karl Webber had me fill out a form which included a question on what I was interested in – self defence / grading / competition. I was really there for the first and not too concerned about the rest. A year or two ago it dawned on me that yes, I did want to be a blue belt but not just that, what I really wanted was to be a John Will blue belt.”

In realising his dream Mike has created a great club with a supportive and enthusiastic group of students. When he’s not training with his own club Mike can be found working with Glen Tarrant and the Takapuna crew making for a formidable group of BJJer’s in Auckland collectively known as GroundControl BJJ.

More info about Mike and his club can be found here www.groundcontrol.net.nz