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What’s in a blue belt? Enduring the wait for a blue belt promotion is one of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s greatest challenges, but could it be over sooner than you think? It’s the same old predicament of training BJJ: you never know when you’re going to get graded. Unlike most, if not all, other martial arts which have a structured grading syllabus and timeline, the wait for a new belt in BJJ is painfully long, literally, and none more so than the blue belt. In judo a white belt represents someone fresh off the street; no experience, no skills, clueless. As soon as he or she can prove they won’t headbutt the floor during a forward break fall and can put […]

If you’re reading this and you’re new to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, congratulations, you’ve already taken your first step toward becoming a fully fledged gi-wearing grappler. The fact that you’ve stumbled across this blog, or more likely that it’s stumbled across your feed, means that you probably have an interest in BJJ, or you may have even tried it. In which case, you’re one of us. Now that we’ve established you’re part of a relatively rare bread of human being who likes the idea of dragging someone to the ground in order to inflict permanently pacifying choke holds and joint locks on them, then there are some things you may want to know before embarking on the long, painful, punishing – […]

Rolling back attacks from the US of A For our most recent guest seminar here at New School BJJ, we welcomed over American black belt, Seph Smith, owner of Upstream BJJ in Richmond, Virginia, USA. The first black belt under world-renowned jiu jitsu innovator and current UFC fighter, Ryan Hall, Seph boasts a unique style of inventive yet extremely effective free-flowing jiu jitsu. Having personally travelled to Virginia several years ago to train at Fifty/50 BJJ, where Seph was teaching at the time, I had already experienced the slick techniques he is known for, so I was thrilled Seph could visit our academy as part of his two week UK seminar tour. On the night of the seminar itself, Seph had […]

Back in late April, New School BJJ welcomed the return of one of the true originals of jiu jitsu: 5th degree black belt and affiliated academy authority, Helio Soneca. Only in town for a few days, it was the perfect opportunity to combine a seminar with the academy’s annual grading. Like a fun-filled festival that rolls around once a year, Soneca arrived with his unique brand of colourful comedy and animated displays of impeccable technique that have come to be expected from a visit. Split over two days, the BJJ hall of famer kicked off proceedings by demonstrating a set of fundamental positions that could compliment the game of any level of jiu jistu practitioner. To start he addressed the […]