2011 autumn/winter review

Congratulations all Morefire ICON Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Team members for a great year of team and individual development and athletic progress!! Been a while since we’ve been able to update the site here as we’ve been focused on training and preperations for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as well as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and things will only get better for 2012!

So much has happened in the latter half of this year that its probably best to do a mega-post reviewing all the news and happenings over the past few months up to the end of the year. So lets get things under way with a look back at 2011 autumn/winter in pictures, words and err videos:

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011. World Fighting Championship WFC3 MMA: Delroy & Jefferson both win in round 1, Submission and Technical Knockout stoppages.

Jefferson’s fight here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150284693232041

September, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships, CONGRATULATIONS Zé Mario Sperry x Renzo Gracie

ADCC Highlight film: http://vimeo.com/33333379

October 29th, PRIDE MMA International 4 man Tournament Championship. Jefferson George wins first fight by oomaplata sweep to reverse triangle/armbar combination submission in round 2. Wins second fight by Triangle Choke, round 2 to become PRIDE MMA World Tournament Champion!

5th November, long awaited 5 hours JUDO Mega-Seminar Workshop by 2nd Dan Black Belt Steve Garrett at St. Katherines Judo Kwai. Attended by team members from Luton and Milton Keynes.

20th November, Octogon Quest MMA, Antwerp Belgium: Delroy McDowell wins Pro MMA fight by 1st round knee bar submission.

26th November, BJJ English Open Championships at Dartford Olympic Judo Centre. Morefire Team from Peterborough and Luton smash it with a haul of medals at this prestigious national competition. COD (‘Competitor Of the Day’)! Well the winner was Krsystoff for his great fights and new flowing style which included a nice Oomoplata and open guard back take which ended in a mahoosive medal for him PARABENS!!! 2nd place Jaden Nembhard-gill for good burpees!

11th December, BJJ London Open & KAYO MMA Watford. Sam, Martin and Krystoff went to compete BJJ plus Germaine and Jefferson fought MMA the same day. Well done all guys who fought hard and won medals for the team and also both guys who did very well in MMA including Germaine coming back from being rocked early to submit his opponent with a dominant arm bar finish from shoulder lock combination.

2011 AAMTIS – Annual Award for Most Tenacity & Indomnitable Spirit goes to Sam Campbell for excellent focus, passion and continued training and development throughout the year. He really has come on a lot in skills and knowledge and will be a real prospect for the future very soon! Congratulations Ossssu!

Hello Bury Park Community Centre!

We are proud to announce that we now offer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes at Bury Park Community Centre on Wednesdays to add to our existing Monday & Friday classes in Sundon Park.

Adults: 6:30 – 8pm

Every Wednesday at Bury Park Community Resource Centre, the centre is in the middle of Bury Park High Street (A505 Dunstable Road) within walking distance of both Luton Town Centre and Luton train station. Please click here for a detailed map.

Bury Park Community Resource Centre,
161 Dunstable Road,
Luton LU1 1BW.

SEE YOU THERE OSSSU!!!

Brighton Open Tournament ’11

Congratulations to the ICON competition force who decended upon Brighton for the Summer Open Tournament. It was a long day filled with hard fights and everyone from Luton, Peterborough, Bedford, Northampton, Slough and Milton Keynes came together to support each other exceptionally to bring out some stellar, memorable performances.

Many medals were collected but special mention goes to Alim Hasan Islam who won ‘Competitor of the day’ for an excellently composed and disciplined display of top game guard passing. First outing for the Morefire War Wagon too which was epic by all standards!

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Finding your way to Milton Keynes Dojo

For more information on the Milton Keynes Dojo please check the website, the address can be found by clicking on “ACADEMY” near the top of the page @ http://www.zemarcellojiujitsu.com/

WFC 2: Victory for Jefferson George

Congratulations to Jefferson whose training and dedication paid of last weekend as he dominated his opponent in all areas with a skillful display of the well rounded MMA game that he has been crafting over the past few months.

The fight began with an immediate clash of striking where Jeff gained the upperhand which culminated in a flurry of strikes that sent the opponent reeling and badly rocked from a well timed uppercut. As the opponent seeked to clinch to avoid more punishment he was driven against the cage where a tussle for dominance was played out with fighters switching position a couple of times. Finally Jeff accomplished a stronger clinch and switched to a single leg takedown then back to a deep high crotch where he lifted the man high for a big slam! Having secured an impressive takedown he easily controlled with his Jiu-Jitsu and took mount position where he looked to finish although with a last ditch attempt the opponent managed to reverse the position putting jefferson on his back. Unlucky for him the situation got worse though as Jefferson took the initiative to attack a lightning quick triangle choke which combined with a kimura armlock forced a sweep back to mount and the opponent was forced to submit to the choke.

Submission victory at 4 minutes of round 1.

Thanks to all the team at Morefire Luton where Jefferson trains plus all the family who helped Jeff train for this fight including ICON Team Milton Keynes, ICON FreeFlow Bedford, ICON Team Crossface MMA in Harrow, ICON Team Northampton and Northampton Crossfit who prepared Jefferson’s strength and conditiong program. The full fight will be shown on Sky Active Channel 281 shortly.

June 2011 Team Grading Day – Milton Keynes

Congratulations/Parabens!

A great turnout with many black, brown, purple, blue and white belts all on the tatami to celebrate the achievements and successful progress of all who recieved the hard earned recognition. Well done all now lets not dwell on it but go train hard for the future!! Osssssu!

Congratulations at the Bournemouth Open!

This year ICON Jiu-Jitsu Team brought a combination of fighters from Luton, Peterborough and Milton Keynes ready to do their best and that they did! Was an excellent display of Jiu-Jitsu and heart from all who competed with all competitors right down to white belts showing an exceptionally high technical level which was great to behold and promises a lot for the future.

Stand out fighter for the team was Germaine Gill with a dominating performance and gold medal victory over some of the best in his category from across the country where he technically devestated the opposition with strong sweeps, submissions and passes but the move that stunned the crowd and drew the most gasps was a powerfully explosive Uchi Mata that secured Gold in a large field of fired up athletes form other teams. A demonstration confirming to all that Germaines top-secret complimentary Judo training has been paying off!

In other news Delroy McDowell entered the Heavy weight category as a middle weight and was denied Gold by peculiar refereeing decisions …sorry but it had to be said! ;-P But well done all athletes, the future is very bright!

18th June Bournemouth Open

Lets go fight! Saturday 18th competitors from the different ICON Team academies in UK will be making trip down so if its your first time cmpeting this one will be really cool with a not too tense atmosphere but more of a summer party feel. But if youve been training hard and want to test yourself well lets go make it hot for those guys!

If you want to go DO NOT register online but instead please give your details and payments to your instructor asap as we will make a team booking instead of the usual individual entries.

http://www.bournemouthopen.com/

Congratulations Morefire Team @ NEC Ground Control Championships 21/5/11

Well done to all the guys who travelled to the NEC in Birmingham for the Ground Control Gi & Nogi Championships held over 2 days at the BodyPower Expo. Morefire Team members fromLuton combined with other ICON Team competitors from Zé Marcello Slough Academy and the Academy in Birmingham to represent ICON Team to the maximum and did an excellent job tallying up many points for the team total (reults yet to be published).

Although many came to show support for the team, Morefire Team brought 8 competitors in total who all gave an excellent performance leaving everthing on the mat and bringing home 6 medals including 2 golds for their efforts. Congratulations and lets keep the momentum, Well done guys! Osu!

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ICON KIDS Team: Milton Keynes grading day!

CONGRATULATIONS to all the amazing children from Milton Keynes and Luton whose hard work over many months paid off with the receiving of promotion in rank! Some great skills were on display from the many young talents who were out in force – the future really is bright as the sky is the limit for these future champions, and things will only get better as the team grows and these athletes develop! Well done all and special congratulations to the coaches as the technique through dedication as well as enjoyment for the gentle art really was evident in each child who displayed amazing skill with control and compassion! AMAZING WORK GUYS!

The Milton Keynes Kids class has a Facebook page you can follow for information by clicking HERE!

Seminar Report: 15th April 2011

The Nogi Seminar with Samir Medjbeur was a great success with some great details and punishing techniques being taught which impressed everyone who attended and there is no doubt that value for money was received as the experience and teachings gained will really effect the game of the students whos eyes seemed to be on stalks as Samir went through the positions and possibilities.

The event began with a simple warmup which evolved into regular pummel drills but soon delved into fine details being shown to increase effectiveness and controls as well as increasing the performance of takedown setups. From there the teachings exploded, flowing naturally to include subjects such as back takes, overhooks takedown variations, ankle picks, singles, doubles, knee bar, guard pass, side control position and pressure, far arm isolation, crucifix variations, arm bars, triangles, reverse triangle, attacking the turtle, etc, etc.

Samir went to great lengths to ensure all questions were given detailed answers and that any problems the students may have been having with certain positions were addressed. Morefire ICON Team would like to thank Samir and also Sami for taking the time to visit and share Jiu-Jitsu with us and Im sure this wont be the last we see of the guys. Osu!

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Luton: Nogi Seminar with Pro MMA vet Samir Medjbeur

Be there for some seriously tight game and aggressive, technical nogi submission strategy & techniques for wrestling and MMA applications. Friday 15th April, 6:30-8pm for a mere £15!

Its open to all but not only that, the lucky first 10 people to pre-book get it for £10!!! Call 07949 059432 to pre-book your spot.

New Gold Members Zone

Another reason to become a member with Morefire! This area is available only to Gold Members, it’s where you can find extra technique details, instructional articles & videos to keep you one step ahead of the rest, plus all of your Gold Membership information in one handy place. But more than that – the links added will only be the very best video links & articles I can find to either demonstrate the techniques perfectly or give extra insight into details that you may not have had the time for in class. Plus I will add my own notes detailing the pros and cons of the technique and any details that may have been missed out along with links to defences & counter attacks!

This will allow you to maximise your training by presenting what I consider are the finest and most effective vids and articles for you to study in detail in your own time ensuring you get the CORRECT info whilst others sift through youtube for tidbit, having to wade through lists of crap vids posted by wastemen, unsure as to wether the technique shown is legitimate or bogus – And trust me, there is A LOT of crap on Youtube!

As this Area expands you will be able to use it as a virtual store-cupboard for all your best moves and strategies so that if ever you cant sleep for thinking about how to escape that choke or maybe you need to analyse a few details, or even brush up on a particular technique sequence you can always come back and pick it up from here. You can even add your own notes and videos up for discussion and safe-keeping. Everything will be kept as orderly as possible for easy access just when you need it most. And on top of all that Morefire will seek to add online voucher codes for you to redeem with some of the UK’s best fight gear, clothing stores and publications!

Here is a very basic example of the type of content you can expect (links disabled):

Mount top position: 3) Armbar with control.
Video Link: Very detailed instructional vid showing how collar attack leads to tight nearside & farside armbar
Positives – Good combination attack, High percentage finish, Detailed description, Optional variations for when it doesnt work.
Negatives – Not lifting the guy to his side allows for possibility of him tugging his elbow away from the attack. Doesnt emphasis sitting on the ribs ans also doesnt push the face when he goes to finish.
Video Link to the defence & escape: Detailed instructional of how to escape when its all gone wrong and your arm is about to be hyper-extended

Judo for Jiu-Jitsu Seminar report!

Had a great Judo for Jiu-Jitsu session last night where all participants really enjoyed the exposure to the sister art. For some it was the first attempt at pure tachiwaza (standing practice) and for others it is something that they practice regularly but for all it was a great class which focused on grip fighting, footwork, hip movement and off balancing amoungst others.

A great deal of fine details and  strategies were covered by 2nd Dan Black belt Steve Garrett from St. Katherines Judo Kwai whos talent for teaching and instruction was clear to see with smiles all round proving that the Judo bug is very catching! Many thanks once again to Steve for sharing his knowledge with us.

If you’re interested in training Judo please check out our local Judo club St. Katherines Judo Kwai and you may see some faces you already know as we have lots of guys training both Judo with Jiu-Jitsu already. I’m sure this recent Judo seminar will be the first of many as Judoka & Jiu-Jitsoka share, develop and grow together in Luton & Dunstable.

For more info on Judo in Luton & Dunstable at St. Katherines Judo Kwai please click the links and have a look at their facebook page and website.

Totally smashed it at the UK Premier Championships!

Totally forgot to post it here as was too busy celebrating but seriously what a great effort by all the team. In total 12 fighters travelled to Bristol to compete and we came back with a massive haul of medals, 6 of which were gold – helping to make UK ICON Team achieve 2nd place overall in the team standings which is a massive achievement!

The team showed great spirit and supported each other throughout a very long day of competition but what a result!!!

Congratulations to everyone who put it all on the line and left nothing on the mat, well done! And a special congratulations to Imran ‘Zola’ Salam who won the coveted and hotly contested ‘Fighter of the Day’ award for his amazing performances which included some fantastic technical takedowns, a show of incredibly tenacious determination all topped off with a spectacular chokehold finish to make one of his opponents tap-out.

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