Date: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Time: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Location: AUT, North Shore Campus
Street: 90 Akoranga Drive
City/Town: Northcote, New Zealand

Download the NZ Nationals Poster A4 >>
View the Competition Rules >>

Online entries have now closed!
There have been over 150 competitors registered! Including 11 Females and 26 Kids making this the biggest Will / Machado Gathering in NZ history and one of the biggest BJJ competitions in New Zealand.

A facebook event page has been set up for all information and news:
Facebook Event Page Nationals 2010

Here is all the info from the facebook page. We look forward to seeing all Will / Machado BJJ Students there!!

Early Bird Entry Fee, before 5th July
$40.00, includes free competition t-shirt

After 6th July $40.00 entry fee plus $20.00 for competition t-shirt

Online entries at http://strongvon.com/willmachado2010

Weigh In 9:30am

ENTRIES CLOSE MIDNIGHT FRIDAY 23rd JULY

* You must be a member of a Will/Machado affiliated academy to compete

DIVISIONS

WHITE BELT - 5 minutes
63KG
68KG
73KG
78KG
83KG
88KG
93KG
98KG
+98KG

BLUE BELT – 6 minutes
63KG
68KG
73KG
78KG
83KG
88KG
93KG
98KG
+98KG

PURPLE BELT – 7 minutes
80KG
+80KG

BROWN BELT – 8 minutes
Open

FEMALE:

WHITE BELT – 5 minutes
65KG
+65KG

BLUE-PURPLE BELT – 6 minutes
Open

2KG allowance for Gi

NB: Divisions are subject to entries, there may be an adjustment in weight split to make for better competition pools

Competition Rules

SCORING SYSTEM

2 points
Sweep, Knee Ride, Takedown

3 points
Guard pass

4 Points
Mount
Back Control

Advantage
(to decide in case of draw)

Penalties
1 penalty -1 advantage
2 penalties -2 points
3 penalties disqualification

RULES
The following is NOT ALLOWED:
· Slam from the guard
· Biceps lock
· Cervical lock (of any kind)
· Frontal neck crank
· Scissors takedown
· Heel hook
· Sideways knee lock
· Pulling backwards to take the back (over the feet)

In addition to the above, the following is NOT ALLOWED for WHITE & BLUE belts:
· Wrist lock
· Calf lock
· Mata Leao with foot

In addition to the above, the following is NOT ALLOWED for WHITE belts only:
· Straight leg lock

Richard Norton is known by many in the Martial Arts world as a Action Movie Star who has appeared in over 60 movies, alongside greats such as Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Benny “the Jet” Urquidez, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, and Cynthia Rothrock. But personally Richard is more than just a name and a face on the big screen.

In 1996 Ko and I traveled to Geelong to attend seminars by Jean Jaques Machado run at John Will’s academy. Richard Norton was in attendance as well and he took the time to assist us both as we struggled with the concepts and ideas that JJM was trying to instill in us. It was a profound time in our training. Meeting legends in the Martial Arts and forging stronger ties with our coach John Will.

Recently Richard has returned to Australia from his home in LA to start work on Mad Max 4. Richard also started running seminars for local Martial Arts Schools, so I approached him about coming to NZ for a couple of sessions at GSW.

Richard ran 2 sessions for the GSW crew, one for the white belts and one for the coloured. As we have had so many sessions with John Will we did not know what to expect from Richard. But very quickly it became clear that while Richards teaching style was different from John’s, his skill and ability was beyond awesome.

While I was personally disappointed with the turn-out from both the GSW crew and our associated schools, the students that did attend were rewarded with an inspiring and thought provoking set of skills and drills. Richard was engaging and entertaining in his delivery and, like John, his stories and anecdotes reminded us why we are so privileged to be a Machado school.

Through our association with John Will and BJJ Australasia, we have been granted access to BJJ royalty and those that were there at the beginning of the BJJ revolution as we know it. Not only can we claim a direct link to the source but we have trained with those that help create the BJJ that we know and love.

Richard session covered many topics as he gave us what he called his ‘tea tasting’ in other words a broad range of skills and insights into concepts for our games.

For me personally it was a great look at things from a different perspective and the next day the feedback from everyone has been nothing short of astounding. Everyone knows that John Will is the very best coach and we are well versed in John’s delivery and execution of his seminars, which is why they now cater for 80+ people, but Richard provided a fresh insight into old skills and new twists and tweaks as well as new concepts. invigorating to say the least.

I won’t run through a list of what he covered as the group that made the effort can claim those things as their own, this is not a hiding of skills or a keeping of secret knowledge but an acknowledgment to those the gave up their time and took a punt on the unknown.

Richard also ran a session for the local Zen Do Kai students and instructors, held at GSW. Through sheer diplomacy I will keep my opinions to myself, other than this.

I cannot express how validated I feel in my decision to run GSW as I do, our mat culture is awesome and the people who attend our classes and fit the ideals of the school should hold their heads high and revel in their ability to absorb information and encourage the outpouring that this attitude inspires in our visiting instructors. You Guys and Girls rock.

Photos from the sessions can be found on our flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25573780@N02/>>

Richard Norton GSW BJJ seminar >>

Richard Norton GSW Zen Do Kai Seminar >>