london shootfighters - mixed martial arts training

Its 6.30pm on a Monday evening, and I'm on a train approaching London Victoria. From there I get the tube to Green Park, where I change to the Jubilee line. Then its just seven straight stops to Kilburn, home of the legendary London Shootfighters. As I sit on the tube watching the stations go by, I ask myself, as I have many times over the previous 48 hours, "why am I going to train at possibly the most hardcore gym in the UK?"

I ask myself the question, then, like I have done all weekend, I give myself the answer. You see, I've trained in traditional martial arts for over 10 years. Yeah, I've got the black belt. Yeah, I've got respect from my fellow karate ka, but what have I really got? To my mind, very little. Don't get me wrong, lots of people get a great sense of confidence and self worth from turning up at their local dojo and performing various kata and kihon exercises, along with a little '1st gear' sparring every now and then. They get to grade for a different coloured belt periodically, and earn some bragging rights with mates who can't make it off the sofa. Its all good as they say, but what I really want is pressure. That's why I started martial arts in the first place, and that's what I need now.

I'd been playing with the idea of switching from karate to MMA for over a year, so why now? Well, I put up a thread on the SFUK MMA forum a few days back asking if anyone wanted to train MMA in South London, my intention being to start up a sort of 'garage session' where the blind lead the blind with not much else but a few books, videos, and a ton of enthusiasm. A guy by the name of Ross (whom I already knew to be one of the hottest young prospects on the UK MMA scene) replied to my thread. "If you live in London I would really advise you to use that location to make weekly trips to London Shoot, they are awesome instructors. I travelled from Sheffield to train there, its the best, and not just UK but a very good club compared with any other" he said. Well, a recommendation like that from one of the 'phenoms' of the UK MMA scene (and not to mention a guy who lives all the way up in Sheffield) could hardly be ignored.

Before I know it, the train pulls in to Kilburn. I step off the train and jog along the platform and down the stairs, out on to Shoot Up Hill (for real), and then across over to Maygrove Road. As soon as I step on to the pavement I glance up and see an alleyway leading down to some railway arches. I know I've found the London Shoot venue, but for some reason (nerves I guess), I walk twenty yards past. Then I stop, take a deep breath, turn around and approach the alley.

I'm not exactly sure which arch I need, but two guys with thick necks carrying sports holdalls give me a lead. I follow behind these two, and as one of them opens the door to the gym the other suddenly realises I am behind him. He smiles and holds the door open for me, which caps my adrenaline just a little. As the door swings open, there it is; London Shootfighters HQ. "SFUK" I think to myself, is it me, or is there some sort of electric current flowing around this place?

The arch venue is, like you might guess, tall and arch shaped. The walls are painted to a certain height, and then just carry on up to dirty brick. Mats cover the whole floor apart from a little space to walk round, and a large mirror sits on the wall at the end. There are probably about 30-35 guys present, Most of whom are sitting on the mats waiting quietly for the beginning of the session. In the middle of the mat area is Paul Ivens, co-founder of London Shoot, who is already taking someone through what to me looks like some submission drilling. Both Paul and his London Shoot co-founder Alexis Demetriades are national calibre wrestlers, and have trained with many of the top exponents of mixed martial arts worldwide. These guys are definitely on a mission.

The guys here all look ready for action. Like I said, I've trained martial arts regularly for over 10 years, and also get to the fitness gym, and count myself as fitter than the average person. However, suddenly I feel like that Mr Muscle guy from the TV adverts. Straight away I confirm in my mind what I already figured to be the case, that this is a different world to that of the mainstream dojo where people make it through without ever really being conditioned - this is for real. Anyway, as I get myself changed I tell myself that heart is the most important thing, so as I pack my street clothes into my bag I concentrate on that.

As I sit myself down and stretch out a little a couple of guys sitting near me say hi. I wish I could recall their names as I'd like to thank them in this article for breaking the ice, but unfortunately the adrenaline fuelled state of expectation I was in at that moment prevented any effective memory function. "First time?"..."Yeah"..."You'll be alright"...Yeah right.

Then, we start. Paul takes the 'warm up'. My friend has told/warned me about the London Shoot warm up. First we are jogging around the mats, doing various stretching exercises as we go (no time wasted there). Then we are jogging backwards, then sideways, skipping, high knees, heel touches, basically moving in as many different ways as possible. No problem. Then we are doing forward rolls, then backwards (a little tougher), then backwards with a spring off the hands at the end to get back on two feet (I try this but can't do it properly). "OK, that wasn't so bad" I think to myself. I guess we'll do some ground work now. WRONG. Now, gentlemen, for the main event: Paul instructs the class as to the LS 'rest' position, which consists of jogging on the spot while punching out continuously from chin height. This is described as the minimum amount of effort that would be needed for a fight. Paul informs us that we will go through a series of sprawls followed by various exercises. Then, once each set is completed its back to the 'rest' position to await further instructions. Now the fun really begins. "Sprawl!, then give me 10 sit ups"... "Sprawl!, then give me 10 press ups"... "Sprawl!, then give me 10 sit ups and 10 press ups"...then the same with star jumps, then burpees, then around again but now 15 of each exercise, then around again with 20 of each. By now even the rest position feels like a struggle. We must be nearly finished. Wrong. Now for some sprints: first for 10 seconds, then back to the rest position, then (yeah, you guessed right) for 15 seconds, then 20. At the end of each sprint we are now adding our own strike combinations. I'm dead on my feet, can hardly punch when back in the rest position, toes only just moving off the mat. "COME ON!!!" I say in my head. This, I figure, is where London Shoot really begins, when you're sfuked. Now is the time to either get sad or get mad, "come on, MOVE YOUR SFUKING ARSE!!!" I say again in my head. No need, Paul vocalises for me and everyone else: "Keep those knees high and work or we'll do it again"..."20...19...18..." my whole body is on fire, my chest muscles feel like dead weight as I sprint for all I'm worth "4...3...2...1...now throw a combination"...AAAAGH!!!. "Sprawl!" then more sit ups, press ups, followed by combinations. And then, finally, "2 minutes - get a drink". I look over at one of the other newbies, his face etched with the same exhaustion I imagine on my own. "Wow", I think to myself, somehow that was fantastic. Even though I'm half dead, that was excellent. No wonder these guys look so fit. They have to be to survive here.

The 2 minutes are up, and we move on to some neck strengthening. Paul takes particular care with the beginners and 'holds our hands' all the way through so we don't do ourselves any harm. Then its on to a clinch warm up routine. We are told to partner off, and I and my fellow beginner end up together. Trouble is we can't seem to do this routine, and end up standing there completely stuck. Two guys come over and ask if we'd like to change partners - excellent. My new partner is called John, and he's been at London Shoot for nearly a year. John shows me how to do the routine we are on, and then continues to partner me throughout the pair work part of the session, letting me get a feel for what I'm doing with amazing patience. In fact, John is so patient that when I accidentally knee him in the head he just laughs and goes to get his gumshield!.

Now we are practicing escapes from the mount. It is immediately obvious that Paul is a natural teacher; calm, knowledgeable, and most importantly, encouraging. He seems to have this kind of relaxed authority that commands total respect and concentration from the students gathered around him as he demonstrates each variation of each position. He makes things look easy, which makes even people like me feel like I can pull off some moves. Once again John helps me out. I soon get the feeling that the regulars here are extentions of the London Shoot philosophy. Then I realise that, given the intensity of the training I've sampled so far, how could they not be? You're either here (in every sense of the word) or you ain't.

Finally we are into some free sparring - a few minutes per partner change. All of my partners are technically and morally sound, helping me out rather than just beating on me, although still applying the London Shoot trademark intensity. I get to partner a guy who introduces himself as Cam. Cam is a pretty stocky guy, and, I reckon, could easily 'hand me my arse on a plate' as they say, but he too helps me out with that perfect combination of technical advice and 'reality experience'.

In between partner changes I glance over towards the top boys, who are being drilled by Alexis. Incidentally, I've read many threads on the MMA forums that all come to the same conclusion, and that is that Alexis is, how can I put it, "mustard". These guys are awesome. Having been a fan of MMA for a while now, I recognise some of these fighters; Alex Reid, Ricky Salhan, Alex Evans, Michael Johnson, Mark Epstein, Lee Murray - "SFUK", I think to myself, this place is like a sfukin' whos who of UK MMA. Maybe I should have brought an autograph book?.

Then I'm back sparring with John, my original helper. "Whos that Brazilian looking guy in the flame shorts John?". "Thats Jean Silva. He's fighting Jens Pulver soon" replies John. "SFUK ME", this place is amazing. How could you fail to be inspired when you're sharing mat time with fighters such as these?. I actually manage to hold my own a few times with John, although I know he's taking it easy on me. At one point we are facing each other, then I'm over his shoulders, his head under my chest and my arms wrapped tightly around his mid section. I'm sprawling to keep my weight on him. Trouble is, I don't know what to do from there. "Spin around and take my back" suggests John. I accept his open invitation, and although I didn't figure it for myself, it feels good as I sink in a (sort of) choke. John then proceeds to tap me out a few times, and all of a sudden, Paul calls an end to the session.

The students gather round, and Paul thanks everyone for attending and expresses the hope that everyone has worked hard and enjoyed themselves. A round of applause breaks out. Myself, along with the rest of the class, are elated. Elated at what we have just been part of. Elated at surviving the LS warm up. Elated at what we'd learnt. Elated, period. I walk over to where I left my bag and get a drink of water. I'm soaked in sweat (and I don't sweat that easily). "This place is the sfukin' business" I think to myself. I can't believe two hours could go so quickly. I'm buzzing like a little kid in a toy shop. I pay for my session, thank Paul for the training, and make my way out. Inspired, honoured...wow!.

As I sit on the tube I'm hyped like you wouldn't believe. Life is good. I feel like something very important has happened to me tonight, something life changing. I'm focused like you wouldn't believe. I'm not sure but I think I've had a smile on my face all the way home (and home is quite a trek as I live in South London). I'm feeling that intense enthusiasm that fires you to your very soul. I feel like I've just had the London Shootfighters logo branded on my heart. When my wife wakes up in the morning the first thing I'll be telling her is that I'm in Kilburn on a Monday night every week from now on. Like I said, buzzing like a kid.

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