Ok, it’s gonna be quick as I don’t have much time. Firstly thanks heaps to Mike and Glen for allowing me to crash their party. It’s a shame we didn’t get more time together but it was John’s gig and no doubt we’ll hit the mats sometime together. Great to finally meet you guys. Also nice to meet Myk.

Anyway, got a lift to the airport with Chirs (when he found the right house that is) and made good time to Auckland. Hung at the airport waiting for Glen and John to arrive, had some food (I think) while we were waiting and caught up on all the goss with Chris.

When Glen arrived we chatted a bit and Johns flight landed shortly after. Headed into Auckland and across the bridge, stopped for coffee at Starbucks then onto the venue. Good size group made up of a cross-section of students with some competent grapplers and some not so competent. About 30 in on the mat, including Ken Dunstan, who is in Auckland for a couple of years for work. While Ken is there he is giving Geln and Mike some guidance which will be invaluable for them. The seminar was in a church hall with standard gym type mats, that separated at the slightest touch, so lots of gaps appearing during the session.


John covered some of the same stuff he did last time with the GSW crew but no in as much detail and depth. Some great half-guard stuff, encouraging the group to start using their feet and legs to solve more problems.

From there we headed to Michael Fooks session in Howick. This one was held in a Judo club with lots of space and a well-matted area. In this session John covered the Basic sweeps and the first 4 arm bars. John then put them together in a couple of very cool drills. Good group of about 20 on the mat. A much more even spread of skill this time and also with the content being easier the seminar flowed very well, allowing John to cover a lot of stuff in the 3 hours.



From there Glen dropped John and I back to Queen St and we grabbed some food and then crashed like a couple of old me at 8,30pm. How sad is that? Next morning we met with Ian Waite his partner Paula and Fari Salievski ( an associate from Sydney).



Fari was over from Aus for the MAIA conference in Wellington. We had breakfast and chatted and I must admit that I was very intimidated as these are people who run huge schools and have some very good ideas about progressing and growing them. I hit it off whit Fari very quickly (once I got past the hair – ask Jill) and just listening to them all talk gave me some great insights. Also John and Fari are good friends and that’s good enough for me.

Ian and Paula then drove us all down to Hamilton for the seminar at 1.00pm. A smaller group this time and very new to the ground game. It made a good contrast to the Michael Fooks session in that Mikes guys and girls are competent on the ground and just wanted to start at the beginning, even though they now a lot of what John showed them the were willing to start again and get it right.

With Paula’s crew it was clear they we still not confident on the mat so the session, while essentially the same as Mikes, was done at a much slower pace with less covered. Having said that though, by the end of the session everyone was much further along in their approach to the skills being taught and they have set themselves well for the next seminar. Paula’s school is fantastic! Very professional and full of equipment. A great set of mirrors and lots of seating for people/parents to observe the classes. Really nice. One of the highlights was watching Fari (White belt) grapple with John. Fari’s style is enthusiastic (read energiser bunny) and watching him walk into the same sub (far arm bar / up and crush from side control) was very entertaining. Fari is fearless and keen for all the information he can get!



We then all piled into the car for the trip back to Auckland and my flight home. It was on the way back that I got a grilling from everyone in the car about the way I administer my classes. (Badly) I got some great advise that I will implement as the club is successful physically but not at all financially. So some stuff will change and other stuff will just be administered better. Either way the trip in the car and the advise was worth the price of the airfare.

Now a couple of pieces of advice. When John says stop… STOP. There was a lot of “I’ll just finish what I’m doing” going on. Not good, John has information to pass on, if your dicking around you’re missing out. Don’t call him bro or Mate. J (long story..) Ask questions. The questions give John an indication of where the session is progressing. If no one asks questions then the assumption is that your struggling to cope with the info you’ve been given. Ask for more, question something you don’t understand or something your partner does when going live.

Going live is the term were adopting for any session where we need active, intelligent (NOT belligerent) input from our partner.. Go Live.. Remember it.

One thing that stood out is the fact that we have a mature mat. Not a better mat but a mat that has some knowledge.. Use it think things through. Everyone on the mat has the basic skills required and as a whole we have a fantastic crew. Be proud of what you’ve achieved.

Thanks all for now I’ll post some pics if I get time. See you on the mat.