Category Archives: News

All the posts on the Artemis BJJ blog are under the News category, in order to make it easy to link to all the Artemis BJJ posts at once.

GrappleThon, News

Bristol #RollForNichole at Artemis BJJ

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Last month, the jiu jitsu community sadly lost Nichole Ossman. Her friend Averi Clements wanted to do something to honour her memory, coming up with the idea to #RollForNichole. The aim was to bring BJJ schools together around the world, raising awareness of mental health. Supporting your team mates can have a much bigger impact than just sharpening up their mount escape: you might even save their life.

A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on

Artemis BJJ did our small part, holding a #RollForNichole during our Friday and Sunday open mats last week. There was a good turnout, with grapplers joining in from various academies. Thanks to everybody who came down to show their support: hopefully all the participants not only had fun and picked up some good tips, but also gained a renewed commitment to being there for students who might be struggling with mental health issues.

A photo posted by @grapplethon on

For a longer write-up, head over to slideyfoot.com.

Interview, News, Podcast

Episode Four of the Artemis BJJ Podcast: Rener Gracie

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Rener Gracie, son of the pioneering Rorion Gracie, heads up the Gracie Academy in Torrance with his brother Ryron. He is also the face of the Gracie University, an online training program used throughout the world. In this interview from Can’s visit in 2013, Rener talks about the early days of the Gracie Academy, his thoughts on running a school and discusses self defence.

There have been a lot of changes to Gracie University in the ensuing three years, best explained by the video Rener recorded with his uncle Rickson and Pedro Sauer earlier this year (if the embed below isn’t loading, click here):

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, let us know on info@artemisbjj.com

News

This Friday and Sunday, #RollForNichole at Artemis BJJ

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A video posted by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on

Open mat is a wonderful part of BJJ, particularly the fun vibe. That gets even better at GrappleThon events, when a whole bunch of BJJ clubs get together (e.g., our friends at Pedro Bessa BJJ and Origin BJJ, whose GrappleThons are featured in the embedded video).

This week, there’s an event that will highlight that aspect of BJJ, in memory of somebody we sadly lost recently. I’ll quote Averi Clements from her Jiu Jitsu Times article talking about her friend Nichole:

“On Friday, October 7 (for those who have tournaments on Saturday) or Saturday, October 8 (for those who have work on Friday), I want the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community to come together and Roll for Nichole. I want us all to have an open mat in her honor at our individual gyms. Invite other academies, invite people who have never done JiuJitsu before, invite whoever you want. Take an hour or two to do the thing that— at least for a while— gave Ozzy happiness and a release from the things she was battling inside her mind.

But on whichever day you choose to do this, I want you all to sit down with your coach and teammates and take the opportunity to talk about mental illness. I want you to tell each other that you’re there for each other, and I want you to discuss the warning signs of suicide, which can be found here. I want you to discuss all kinds of options for help, including talk therapy and medication. By the time you leave that gym, I want every single person to know that mental illness is as serious as a physical injury or disease, and above all, I want you all to know that you’re not alone.

During all of this, I want you to create a memory with your teammates. Laugh together. Take pictures together. Post them on social media and use the hashtag #RollForNichole so that everyone inside and outside the jiu-jitsu community can see just how big our extended family is and how we support each other.”

We have an open mat on Friday (18:00-18:30) and a longer one on the Sunday (12:00-14:00), so let’s #RollForNichole on the 7th and 9th October. Event page here, everybody welcome!

Interview, News, Podcast

Episode Three of the Artemis BJJ Podcast: Val Worthington

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Val Worthington Artemis BJJ PodcastIn this interview from 2014, I speak with Dr Valerie Worthington. Among the many strings to her bow, Val helps run Groundswell Grappling Concepts, writes for Breaking Muscle and teaches at Princeton BJJ. She also has a book out, ‘Training Wheels‘, a BJJ travelogue that takes a refreshingly cerebral look at BJJ.

We talk about her background in the sport, her thoughts on women-only classes (Val was a major inspiration while I was setting up the Artemis BJJ women’s class) and chat about the genesis of that book (which she was still writing when we recorded this two years ago).

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, just let us know on info@artemisbjj.com.

Interview, News, Podcast

Episode Two of the Artemis BJJ Podcast: Fabio Santos

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Fabio Santos interview with Artemis BJJ
Fabio Santos, Dagney, Relson Gracie and Can

Legendary instructor Fabio Santos joins the podcast for our second episode, in an interview I recorded back in 2013 on a trip to California. Fabio is a pioneer of BJJ in the United States, having taught jiu jitsu as far back as 1983 in New York.

He later joined the staff at the seminal Gracie Academy in Torrance, where he helped Royce prepare for the UFC. His most momentous move was to San Diego, where he has since become a pillar of the local BJJ community, having been there from the start.

In this interview, we talk about that history, as well as his thoughts on the IBJJF rules and how best to run a class. Thanks again to Dagney and Caleb, who were a big help both in setting up that interview three years ago, as well as awesome rolling partners. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, just let us know on info@artemisbjj.com

Subscribe to the Artemis BJJ Podcast here. For an edited transcript of this interview, go here. You can also download this episode here.

Interview, News, Podcast

Episode One of the Artemis BJJ Podcast: Michel Verhoeven

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For the inaugural episode of the Artemis BJJ podcast, this is an interview Can did with Michel Verhoeven back in 2013, before an excellent seminar (full write-up of that here).

Michel is a Rickson black belt in the Netherlands, who was over in the UK to teach at Paul Finn’s school. We talk about the history of BJJ in the Netherlands, Michel’s background and of course lots of chat about Rickson himself.

Artemis BJJ Podcast can-with-michel-verhoevenAny questions, contact us at info@artemisbjj.com. There is enough material to do more Artemis BJJ Podcasts, mostly old interviews Can has recorded over the years. Naturally we will also conduct new interviews: if anybody wants to be interviewed, just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

News

Expanding Timetable: New Open Mat on Wednesday & NoGi on Friday

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In exciting news, we’ve been able to add a number of new classes to the schedule, especially Wednesday. That will now have an open mat from 17:55-18:25, before the women’s class. Even more opportunity to drill and spar! 🙂

On Friday’s we’re testing the waters for nogi. Rich is heading up a short nogi session from 18:00-18:30, which has been going well so far. If those numbers continue to build, we can hopefully add a full hour of nogi, either on Monday or possibly on Wednesday. Updates will be posted on here, so keep an eye on the class schedule.

Finally, Chris is going to be leading a special kettlebells for BJJ class on Tuesdays from 12:00-13:00, right before the daytime open mat from 13:00-14:00. That will be separate from the Artemis BJJ membership, but your first kettlebells session is free. If you enjoy that, you can then sign up to Strength Lab for unlimited sessions.

Both Can and Chris train with Strength Lab, so can recommend it if you’re looking to work on your strength and conditioning. Check their Facebook for more info.

BJJ Globetrotters, Camps, News

Artemis BJJ visit to the 2016 UK BJJ Globetrotters Camp | Ana Yagües seminar this Sunday

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On the 18th July, Can headed on the train to the inaugural UK BJJ Globetrotters Camp, held at Phoenix MMA in Bournemouth, to take part on the Monday. If like Can you don’t drive,then it is possible to get there from Bristol in about three hours: he took his bike on the train, so cycled straight to the gym.

Monday featured five classes, including some old friends from Leuven (David teaching de la Riva passes, while Christian discussed posture inside closed guard) and even older friends from early in Can’s trainined. Lorenzo was at the Roger Gracie Academy when Can started in 2006, while Chiu was Can’s instructor for part of 2010. As ever, Can will be writing up all the classes on slideyfoot.com.

Artemis BJJ student Chris J is also at the camp, staying for the full week: the camp continues through to Saturday. It sells out quickly, so if you’re interested, be sure to sign up soon once the 2017 edition is announced.

Ana Yagües

Most exciting of all for Artemis BJJ students, Ana Yagües flew over from Germany to teach a class on de la Riva, using a deep hook for a powerful sweep. Can has been teaching that this week back in Bristol: if you would like to learn more awesome techniques from the woman herself, Ana will be in Bristol this Sunday for a seminar at Artemis BJJ.

The seminar will be at MYGYM from 12:00-15:00 on Sunday 24th July, only £20: everybody welcome! Register your interest on the Facebook event page, here.

BJJ Globetrotters, Camps, News

Artemis BJJ visit to the 2016 Leuven BJJ Globetrotters Camp

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Ben, Simon, Can and Oscar had a great time at the BJJ Globetrotters Camp in Leuven last week. It was six full days of training (09:00-19:30), coupled with lots of socialising, networking and extra-curricular activities. For Can, that was going to the excellent art galleries in Leuven to enjoy some high quality Flemish art, mainly from the 15th and 16th century. For Oscar, that was sleeping in bushes. To each their own. 😛

We’re hoping to bring an even bigger team out to Belgium next year, so please let Can know if you’re interested in coming to future BJJ Globetrotter camps. Can will be bringing many of the techniques he learned back to Bristol, as there will be a heavy BJJ Globetrotters influence on classes for the next few months. Of course, you don’t have to wait until next June to go on a BJJ Globetrotters camp: they run throughout the year. There is one in a few weeks in Bournemouth (sold out, but keep it in mind for next year), followed by Copenhagen (possibly still has places: Kirsty will be going), then various other camps around the world. There are even luxury camps in the Caribbean, if your budget stretches that far.

Thanks again to all the awesome instructors, who taught us so much excellent stuff over that week. Thanks also to Vara, who was the woman in charge: that picture is one of the many she took. Without Vara, there would be no BJJ Globetrotter camp. Can will also have a full write-up on slideyfoot.com at some point: individual write-ups for each of the classes he attended will be here.

GrappleThon, News, Women

One25 visit to the Artemis BJJ women’s class

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One25 Visit to Artemis BJJ women's BJJ class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Bristol

Last Wednesday, we had a visit from the good people at One25, the charity we supported at this year’s GrappleThon. Three women joined us on the mats to learn a couple of fun submissions. Lu also presented us with a certificate to celebrate our fundraising: the total was almost £6,000 in total!

It looked like they all had a great time (there are more pictures over on our Facebook page), so hopefully we’ll see them again soon. The women’s BJJ class is held at Artemis BJJ every Wednesday from 18:25-19:25 and your first week is free, so you have nothing to lose. For more details, click here.