HOLIDAY REMINDER: Schedule Change

Tomorrow, October 1st, is a public holiday, National Day, therefore, as usual, there will be a schedule change.

There will be a special 2pm to 4pm open mat session for those interested. Anyone is welcomed to share techniques and/or spar.

Regular class in the evenings is generally canceled on public holidays. The evening class will generally only occur if a color belt is willing and able to attend and help run the class. Announcements are usually made after class the day before regarding the possibility of the above. Always contact Kei, Taki, or other gym leaders by phone beforehand just to make sure before coming to a possible empty gym on holidays!

Thanks,

Kowloon BJJ Management

Guest Visit: Makoto Ogasawara of Taiwan BJJ

Kowloon BJJ friend Makoto Ogasawara center, choking out enthusiastic child (Anthony)

If Ikuta's great seminar wasn't enough, attending Kowloon BJJ members were also treated to a master class with none other than 2008 Mundial's Masters Brown-belt Champion, Makoto Ogasawara. The 'funniest man in SEABJJ circles, and quite possibly the world, for that matter' graced our humble gym with his inspiring and uplifting class on Monday. If anyone can mix great technique, instruction, and a good time, Oga-san can!

In addition to his Mundial win in Brazil, Oga-san, as his friends call him, also placed second in the leve brown-belt category in the IBJJF Asian Championships in November of 2008. And he most recently cleaned house at the FBT Thailand Open this September, taking home the Most Technical Fighter Award for the gi division as well! But winning and placing in high level international competitions isn't the only thing Oga is good at, he's also a talented, patient, and extremely entertaining instructor.

If you are interested in training under Makoto Ogasawara, he can currently be found teaching and training with our good friends at Taiwan BJJ (taiwanbjj.org.en), an awesome gym with awesome members.

Thank you from all of us here at Kowloon BJJ for a great class, Oga-san, and please come back soon!

Seminar Report: Professor Makoto Ikuta

Professor Ikuta 'the little demon' Makoto vs. Kei 'the tequila nightmare' in a post-fight exhibition pro wrestling match at Art of War 14. Ikuta won via flying helicopter oppai-crusher.



Ikuta vs. Andre Galvao at Copa de Hong Kong 2, April 2008. Photo courtesy of www.bjj-asia.com



September 2009, Professor Ikuta Seminar at Kowloon BJJ. Blurry photo courtesy of Hoin. Note, 2008 Brown-belt Masters Mundial Champion, Makoto Ogasawara can be seen choking child in foreground.



Ikuta winning the 2009 All-Japan BJJFJ Championships

This past weekend has been one heck of a barn-burner for Kowloon BJJ members. First, a great Art of War event Saturday evening, then, with no rest for the wicked, back to the gym for an extended advanced guard techniques seminar by the little Marcelo of Japan, BJJ-Yoda, or whatever nickname you want to give him, Pro. Ikuta.

Professor Ikuta is the owner and head instructor of Trust Jiu-jitsu Academy in Nagoya Japan (http://trustjj.com/). A respected teacher and active competitor, Ikuta recently competed in the 2009 Mundials in California, although falling short of the medal rounds, he fought wonderfully, especially for his first time at an international event of this level.

Within Japan, Ikuta's competition success is well documented and includes a list of tournament wins too long to list here, but a few recent highlights include 1st place in the BJJFJ All-Japan Championships this past April, and 3rd at the Rickson Gracie Cup in June, only losing via advantages to none other than Robson Moura, the legendary 7x Mundial Champion!

When I said an 'extended' seminar on Sunday before, I meant what was supposed to be an unspectacularly long two-hour period initially, went on for nearly five hours! Why? Questions, questions, and more questions by members of which the Professor unceasingly answered enthusiastically as always. The Professor also demonstrated a range of great techniques in detail over his advanced open-guard game that has fought off even the likes of world champs Galvao and Moura in competition!

Off the mat, Ikuta is equally liked and respected for his kind and generous demeanor as well as his laid-back and fun-loving approach to jiu-jitsu and life. Ikuta firmly believes BJJ is a thinking-man's art, and stresses and lectures on the principles behind the details over merely 'copying the moves'. As he says, "Great Jiu-jitsu fighters and players learn to fit techniques to their own unique body types and physical skills, but this can only be done if you understand the principles and purposes of the details. If you don't, you will make errors in your execution and the technique won't work."

We are proud to call Professor Ikuta and his students friends and honorary members for life of Kowloon BJJ. For those interested in future classes with Professsor Ikuta at Kowloon BJJ, please stay tuned to this blog.

Celebs

Art of War 14, 26/Sep/09 - Pics

With Andy Wang

Famous Silva

AOW14 Opening - Gus the comissioner
Prof. Ikuta
G Men
Tom and Jerry

Royce Gracie and Ralph Gracie

On 26th, a big group (18 members) from KLN BJJ went to Macau to watch AOW14, cheering our friends Vaughn and Andy from Taiwan BJJ.

It was an exciting event with lots of fun! Moreover, we have met the "legend" Royce Gracie, Ralph Gracie, Wndarei Silva and Bass Rutten. Royce and Ralph were especially nice guys and had nice talking in the party afterwards. He is going to Philippines and Thailand for seminar in a month. For details, check out www.bjj-asia.com

Thanks Gus for making the event come true!!!

Also, today is the last day for Prof. Ikuta to train with us. Dun miss it!!

FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open: Photo Highlights by Luke at BKK-BJJ

FBT Thailand BJJ/Grappling Open Report: Gi division

For the Gi division, held on Saturday, Aki, our resident female BJJ’er, led the pack with a 1st place finish in the female bluebelt under 60 KG category, and a strong 2nd place finish in the female absolute. Congratulations, Aki for bringing home the gold!

Falling short of the top spot but still medalling were Hoin, an under 70 KG competitor who fought hard and ended up with a 3rd place finish in the bluebelt absolute, only losing to the eventual champion, and Forrest, who ended up with a 3rd place in the under 90 KG category.

Matthew and Ben, although falling out of medal contention, fought hard and gave it their all as usual, only losing in the white and bluebelt absolute categories respectfully to strong opponents who outweighed them by 60 KG!

Adam, a longtime KLN-BJJ member, also graciously volunteered his time as a referee and added great coaching and support to the other members on the mats. Thanks, Adam.

Lastly, we’d all like to give a big thanks to the FBT Thailand Open Staff for their great job in organizing a high-level tournament with over 170 competitors! This tournament is truly shaping up to be one of the top ones in Southeast Asia. Good job, guys, and please do it again next year.

Art of War : Macau, 26th, Sept, 09

Our legendary member and also a famous HK movie star "Gus" is organising an MMA event in Macau. Lets group up together and support the event!! (We have guys from Taiwan as well, let's enjoy a group discount and we can get better seat if we order through KLN BJJ!!)

If you are interested, please drop an email to our Yahoo mail group or info@kln-bjj.com for signing in.

Words from Gus and Andy:

Hi guys,Please come support the first MMA event in the area. I will hook up something special for KLN BJJ! See below for a message from the organizer, BJJ brown belt Andy Pi. Other special guests include: Vitor Belfort, Joachim Hansen, Rashaan Salaam (Heisman Trophy winner). We have a a Hennessy Artistry concert/party right afterward. It will be an awesome da/night!

Dear China's BJJ/MMA Community,We are excited to announce that the Art of War Fighting Championship will be going to the Venetian Resort in Macau on September 26, 2009. This event, "Ground Zero" will be the largest Art of War event to date and we are excited to work with the Venetian to bring our exciting brand of mixed martial arts to our fans and friends in Southern China.

UNDERCARD

Match 1 - 72 kilograms : Jason Schmidt (USA) vs. Kenichi Hattori (Japan)

Match 2 - 78 kilograms : Li Jun Lei (China) vs. Jeong Soon Hak (Korea)

Match 3 - 84 kilograms : Munkhbayasgalan Dorjderem (Mongolia) vs. Elyorbek Akborov(Uzbekistan)

Match 4 - 78 kilograms : Zhang Li Peng (China) vs. Claes Beverlov (Sweden)

Match 5 - 78 kilograms : Vaughn Anderson (Canada) vs. Kim Dong Hyun (Korea)

Match 6 - 72 kilograms : Dai Shuang Hai (China) vs. Arthit Hanchana (Thailand)

MAIN CARD

Match 7 - 78 kilograms : Michael Costa (Brazil) vs. Simeon Thoresen (Norway)

Michael Costa is fighting out of Wanderlei's camp and has aggressive attacking style. Simeon Thoresen is a prodigy student of Joachim Hansen and has 10 of 11 wins by submission.

Match 8 - 78 kilograms : Wang Sai (China) vs. Lee Yong Jae (Korea)

Wang Sai is looking to avenge his last performance in the Art of War ring. Lee Yong Jae has an undefeated amateur record and is making his pro debut.

Match 9 - 90 kilograms : Rodney Glunder (Netherlands) vs. Antonio Braga Neto (Brazil)

Rodney Glunder has wins over Cheick Congo, Valentijn Overeem, Cyrille Diabate and Melvin Manhoef. Antonio Braga Neto is the 2008 Heavyweight World BJJ Champion.

Match 10 - 84 kilograms : Daniel Madrid (USA) vs. Daijiro Matsui (Japan)

Daniel Madrid is a bright up-and-coming MMA star from the USA. Daijiro Matsui is a veteran of Pride Fighting Championship having faced the world's best fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Igor Vovchanchin, and Quinton Jackson.

Match 11 - 96+ kilograms : Rolles Gracie (Brazil) vs. Peter Graham (Australia)

Rolles Gracie puts his legendary family's reputation on the line against K-1 heavyweight knockout artist, Peter Graham.

Match 12 - 72 kilograms : Andy Wang (China) vs. Atsuhiro Tsuboi (Japan)

Andy Wang of The Ultimate Fighter reality tv show takes on Japanese Shootboxing expert Atsuhiro Tsuboi.

Special Guests for the Art of War 14

- Ground Zero event will include : Michael Buffer

- Ring Announcer : Big John McCarthy

- Referee : Yuji Shimada

- Referee : Royce Gracie, Bas Rutten, Wanderlei SilvaWe will also be holding a MMA seminar with none other than BAS RUTTEN on SATURDAY SEP 29.

More details will be announced on our website: http://www.mmachina.com/

Tickets for the event and room packages can be purchased from the Venetian website: https://www.cotaiticketing.com/VCLTicketing/eventDetail.do?eventCode=aow2009 For more information regarding the Art of War Fighting Championship, please log onto: http://www.mmachina.com

Prof. Ikuta's seminar and comp in SH

Guys, more infor on Ikuta san. He is going to Shanghai in Oct for seminar and will be having competition there too. If you interested, contact Kobayashi san in the poster.

Cheers,

Kei

Prof. Ikuta's seminar 2009

*** Seminar charge is HKD150, not HKD 200. I will correct the mistake soon, thanks ******

Guys, good news!!! Prof. Ikuta is confirmed to come and teach us from 25th till 27th. We are planing to have his classes as follows :

25th, Sep, 09 (Fri) - Special BJJ class, 19:30 at KLN BJJ (We do GI only this Friday)

26th, Sep, 09 (Sat) - 11:30AM to 15:30 (Open mat with Ikuta san)/Art of war viewing tour to Macau. KLN guys, lets go together. We have a training arrangement with Taiwan BJJ and Macau BJJ as well. Rickson Gracie is also scheduled to attend!!!

27th, Sep, 09 (Sun) - 14:00 to 17:00 (Prof. Ikuta's Open Seminar)

Conditions :
* KLN BJJ Members are free to attend all above lessons.
* Visitors attending Prof. Ikuta's class is HKD150/drop in.
* For details and questions, please email to info@kln-bjj.com

Special thanks to Awa for making the poster!!

See you on the mat.