Sunday, May 5, 2013

2013 so far. The journey continues..



Four months into 2013 and quiet a bit happening on the mat. We did a seminar with  World Champ and beast Rodolfo Vieira and his Coach the legend Julio Cesar at IgniteSC
Was excellent, we worked some nice techniques from closed guard and spider guard. At the end of the seminar they had a Question time, I made the mistake of asking Rodolfo what his fav judo techniques are. He showed me first hand. Luckily he was nice to me and didn't break all my ribs in the process. 
Head coach of Cia Paulista Australia Carlos Portugues Vieira was also in attendance at the seminar and once again he wiped the floor with me. Is always a humbling experience to roll with Carlos. He recently qualified and then competed in Abu Dhabi at the World Pro Gi.

Below is Portugues in the final of the Pro Gi qualifiers in Sydney earlier this year displaying his killer closed guard!!

Sao Paulo native and Cia Paulista Black belt Felipe Lattari visited us here at TerraLuta BJJ late January to hold a seminar. He showed some very cool techniques. Including a triangle set up from the bottom of the north south position and some really cool half guard attacks. Was amazing to have a BJJ black belt from the birth place of BJJ here in Gympie. I rolled with him at the end of the seminar.. he schooled me, actually at one stage he had my hand tied up in my belt and was riding me like a bull.  As far as i'm aware that makes me the first person in the area to roll with a Brazilian born BJJ Black Belt on Gympie mats. Was an amazing experience. 



 Coach Dunstan and BJJ Brown belt bad ass CuVermelho both visited the gym in late march for some training and to grade one of my new students Anthony for his first stripe. We are very lucky to have access to 2 high level guys that come train with us regularly. They both have very different styles of jiu-jitsu and having access to that on our home mat is amazing. 



The last Saturday in April was the QLD Titles. I recently tweaked my knee training so was unable to compete but 2 of my students entered. They both did well in there matches but lost. I was very happy with the effort they put in and both dudes will be much better for the rolls.



My team mates from IgniteSC did extremely well at the comp, which was really motivating to me. It's such a great thing to be part of a strong team. 

On the mat here in Gympie there is lots of improvements being shown. The team is learning how to back off the pressure when flow rolling and exchange techniques. This style of training in my eyes is extremely effective. Top level guys will play like this to warm up and drill there new techniques. I might do a blog on how and why we try to flow roll as well as roll hard here at TerraLuta BJJ. 


C u on the mat,
Rex

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Interview I did for the local paper..


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – ‘it’s beautiful violence’



Q. Firstly Rex, how did you get started in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
A. Four years ago my friend Ben Dyer suggested I travel to his Gold Coast gym and train jiu-jitsu. I was hesitant at first but decided to give it a try and I instantly fell in love with the sport.

Q. Did you have any fighting experience before this?
A. I had some boxing experience, because my old man was a pro boxer and coach, but boxing doesn't really come into play in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu).


Q. Is it true you have recently started a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym and club in Gympie?
A. I started a club called Terra Luta Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu about 12 months ago and the gym is at my feed barn. It was small at first, just being a place for me to train, but I soon expanded and welcomed others to come and learn the sport I love.


Q. Is it the only gym in Gympie that specialises in BJJ?
A. Yeah, we are the only club to only train BJJ, which I am extremely proud of.


Q. Where is the gym and how could somebody join if interested?
A. It's on 45 Pine St in Gympie and anybody 13 years and over is welcome to come and have a go. Call me on 0416 044 363 or visit our Facebook page.


Q. What belt do you currently have?
A. I have a blue belt at the moment, but I'm hoping to move up in the near future. BJJ's belt system is much harder to move up in then karate or any other sport, it takes roughly 15 years to get a black belt.


Q. What is it you love about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
A. I love how the sport can completely squash people's egos. When I first started I was around 130kg and they asked me to fight a guy half my size. I thought it was a joke, but he put me to the ground and tapped me out. It goes to show the sport is about technique and leverage not strength and size.


Q. Do you have a mentor in the sport?
A. My mentor definitely would be Ryan Dunstan. He taught me the fundamentals of BJJ and I have trained under him ever since. Every couple weeks I head down to Caloundra to train with him.


Q. Who is your favourite fighter and why?
A. Currently my favourite fighter is BJ Penn. I love to watch him fight because his technique is perfect. He specialises in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing. When he is in good form it is amazing to watch, it's beautiful violence because fighting is really an art form.


Q. How many people do you currently coach at your gym?
A. I have about 15 people in total who train Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. We train for an hour and half and usually work on, technique, drilling and rolling (sparring).


Q. Where did you grow up and what sports did you play?
A. I grew up in Dalby until I went to boarding school at Toowoomba Grammar. I played rugby union for the school team in Year 12 and I was captain of the reserve team. After school I moved to Gympie and played for the Gympie Devils for roughly 10 years.


Q. What's next for you and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?
A. For me I will continue to coach and train BJJ for as long as I can. I'm also hoping to expand the club and welcome juniors.


Player profile

Name: Rex Carney
Age: 35
Born: Dalby
Favourite Movie: Reservoir Dogs
Sport you would play if not Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Rugby League
Funniest moment in sport: Playing rugby with Phil Webb. He was a cheeky English player and always had funny one liners that cracked me up.


Reporter: Drew Timbs
10th Apr 2013 11:15 AM

Here is the direct link
-http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-its-beautiful-violence/1823502/



Few things in there that I didn't say and some small inaccuracy's but overall I thought the article was cool. Nice to see BJJ getting some exposure here in Gympie.
My next blog will be a catch up of what's been going down on the mats here the last 3months or so. Lots to blog about.



C u on the mat,

Rex.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

It's About The Journey



Last night signified the end of my first year running my own little gym and the beginning of my 4th year practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.... and while i'm notching shit up I've been a blue belt for just over 2years now. So it was really cool to have some of my students receive stripes on their belts and to have been given 2 more stripes on my Blue Belt by Coach Dunstan. We now have three 4stripe white belts on the mat.

Coach gave a speech at the end of training last night that reminded me to be grateful for the dedicated training partners I have here in Gympie.
Getting to the gym and putting on the Gi in this heat is very difficult, especially after a hard days work. You know your team mates are all going to try their very best to choke you and stretch your limbs out at some stage during the night, but you still come. Making excuses is easy.  It takes someone with a depth of character to keep turning up and stick with it.

I feel like the group of guys I have training with me right now are with me 100% on this journey, where ever it takes us. On top of their dedication they are also using some beautiful and technical jiu-jitsu. All the rolls I had and watched last night were rad. It's scary to think how good they will be in another years times.

I'm really enjoying the ride right now, can't wait to see what is going to happen next.

See you on the mat,
Rex.