Reigate Martial Arts – Checkmat BJJ

Since deciding to train BJJ properly at Nova Forca a couple of things have changed in my life. One being my job and the other my Daughter starting school. This has meant that getting to Nova Forca in Epsom was becoming difficult. A quick Google search brought up a fairly new BJJ club in Reigate, which is literally a 2 minute walk from where I now work. Reigate is also a lot nearer to my house as it takes 15 minutes by car. So I’ve made the difficult decision to stop training at Nova Forca and start training in Reigate. I can think of nothing negative to say about Nova Forca though, it is a great place to train and the standard of the students there is very high.

Reigate Martial Arts is run by Martin Hollis who is a brown belt under Keith Mckenzie. The gym is a permanent matted dojo big enough for 20+ guys to comfortably train. So far I’ve attended three classes and have been made to feel very welcome. The Monday class that I’ve attended is two hours long, the first hour focusing on teaching beginners and the second hour for slightly more advanced students, although there are still plenty of white belts present.

The format for both classes I’ve attended has been the same thus far which consists of a warm up with the usual shrimping and breakfalls etc and then on to techniques. This is usually one technique and then either a variation of that technique or a continuation. Then towards the end of the first hour there is some situational sparring, both classes I’ve attended so far have focussed on guard passing so one guys starts on the bottom and the other starts in his full guard. The guy on top has to try and pass the guard and the guy on the bottom has to try and sweep or submit the guy on top. The winner stays on. I’ve found it really beneficial to practice guard passing and also guard retention and I think this is a good way to introduce rolling to complete beginners.

The second hour of the class will then follow on from the earlier technique and finish with around 30 minutes of rolling. Martin chooses who rolls with who, which isn’t a bad thing as far as the instructor assessing the students skill level.

I’m really enjoying the training at Reigate Martial Arts and who knows, this may even inspire me to start updating my blog more regularly.