Pat Cooligan seminar May 2010

What an awesome weekend! Pat Cooligan and Matt "Hammer" Hache made their way from OAMA for our spring weekend seminar. I`d attended my first seminar back in the fall, so I knew we were in for something good.

Pat lead 3 hours of training yesterday where we worked on some fundamental mistakes he`d observed during our grading process. We worked on guard passes and drilled option after option. In the first picture, Steve Joncas and Matt Richer listen intently as Pat explains a technique.





For day 2, Hammer took the lead for the first part of the session. He showed us what might be my new favorite takedown among other things. We also focused on flow from one move to the next. Jiu Jitsu is like a chess match where you must react to your opponents move with the appropriate response. The end goal being on the right side of the "check mate".

For myself, the day ended with another stripe being added to my belt. As a white belt only 9 months into training, I don`t put alot of emphasis on ranking, but if I said I wasn`t excited about it, I`d be lying. I`m technically halfway to blue belt which I`ve set as a goal of mine for 2011. Will I get there? Eventually yes...but we`ll see how long it takes. If I`m able to continue at the pace I`ve been going, I think it`s reasonable to think I can.

In the next picture, John Cole (head instructor from Sudbury MMA) and Steve (head instructor for Sudbury BJJ) have a chat about the awesomeness of the day.



Here`s me getting my 2nd stripe. Steve is laughing from a joke Pat cracked at my expense. Good peoples...



This last picture is a group shot from day 1. Team Renzo Gracie Sudbury!