Gracie Barra North Mixed martial arts

As the spread of Gracie Jiu Jitsu continues in the UK, two academies are now setting the standard for BJJ in the North of England. Gracie Barra Doncaster’s roots travel back to 2000, when Ben Poppleton began training with Andy Williams, Charlie Martin and Neil Owen. From this point, the lads met Steve Gorthorpe, who used to train with Judo legend Neil Adams and Neil White; through hard work and dedication, this team of grapplers formed the nucleus of what has turned out to be the most prolific BJJ club in the North of England.

The club was officially formed after Ben attended Gracie Camp in March 2001;Ben told Carlos Jr that he had a group of guys training back in the UK and the original teacher had left and they were left to their own devices. UK Chief Instructor Mauricao Gomes also gave the nod and between them both Gracie Barra Doncaster was formed.

Since 2001, there are now over ten blue belts, with another handful waiting to grade and in August 2003, Carlos awarded Ben his purple belt in Brazil. Ben now divides his time between training in Doncaster and training with BJJ legend Gordinho, whom he met at Gracie Camp. The two have struck up a solid friendship and in November this year, Ben brought Gordinho over to the UK for a ten day trip and the good news is that the half guard wizard will be back in January 2004 and on a regular basis, overseeing the development of BJJ in the North of England. Gordinho also aims to bring over his brother Gordo sometime in 2004 and one of Gordo’s black belts Pablo Silva is now in the UK, based in Brighton and will be teaching in the area.

The academy regularly send fighters out to the Mundials and the Pan Ams, with blue belt Neil Owen leading the way on the competition scene; Neil is one of the UK’s top BJJ fighters and will be once again flying the flag for the UK at the Pan Ams and the Mundials in 2004.

Coming back towards Manchester on the M62, turn off at Junction 26, drive along the M606 to the end and head down into Bradford Town Centre; as you come back up the hill and drive round the one way system, avoiding Spenna’s post training venue, Rimmers, you will find yourself at the Kickers Black Belt Academy, run by BJJ blue belt Darren Good. Darren has an extensive martial arts training background and the academy’s walls are plastered with photographs of the world’s leading martial artists. Darren runs the academy with Thai boxing instructor Dave McClennon, who trained under Master A and Tony Devine also lends a hand teaching Judo at the gym. The gym boasts two matted areas, a full size boxing ring and the academy also lends itself to hosting MMA events, most notably events run by the Pontefract Pitbull Darren Currie, with the likes of Andy Williams, Andy Roberts, Spenna and Ross Pettiffer all cutting their teeth here in their amateur days. When not being the Godfather of Northern MMA, Spenna can also be found honing his deadly triangles every Thursday evening and putting his students through their paces.

The BJJ club started two years ago and the club now boasts four blue belts and hosts regular BJJ seminars with Mauricao and Roger and now have the services of brown belt sensation ‘Carcara’ aka Braulio Estima twice a month for students and instructors respectively. Darren has trips to Brazil under his belt and is keen to expand and develop the Gracie academy in Bradford and will be sending out his students to compete in the New Year at grappling events up and down the UK.

Gracie Barra is now the byword for BJJ excellence in the UK; with academies firmly established in many major cities in the UK (awaiting miracles in Manchester!!), it should be easy for most people to gain access to a Gracie academy. New academies are now open in Sheffield and Essex, further testament to the pulling power of Gracie Jiu Jitsu in the UK. See you on the mats!

Training info

Gracie Barra Manchester is here! It's in Bolton and will start Wednesday 4th Feb and will be every Wednesday for the time being. Location Bolton Olympic Wrestling Club, 7-9pm, £4 a session. The mat's permanent and HUGE 35-40 people easy, and is easy to get to from the M61 motorway and best of all, a pub is right opposite the club! There's changing rooms, showers, sauna and weights all of which we can use at no extra cost.

Doncaster martial arts centre (Old Judo Club), Baxter Avenue, Wheatley. Tuesday 6.30 — 9pm, Thursday, 8-10pm and Saturday 2-30 — 5pm. Other nights available on request. Contact Ben Poppleton on 07929 150521 or ben_poppleton@hotmail.com

Kickers Black Belt academy, Bradford town centre. Monday and Wednesday 7-8.30pm. Contact Darren Good on 07956 502061 or darrengood@kickersbba.co.uk

BJJ black belt Pablo Silva will be teaching in Brighton — call 07976 593531 or pablosilva12@netscape.net

Check SFUK.net for BJJ seminar announcements with Braulio, Roger, Gordinho, Pablo and others!

Braulio Estima back in the UK!

Braulio & gang

It’s good news and bad news that Braulio is back in the UK; good news for all the Gracie Barra students and bad news for anyone in Braulio’s weight class, thinking of competing this year! In the short time he’s been in the UK, Braulio has managed to compete in the ADCC Scandinavian Open in Stockholm in January, naturally taking first place and dispatching some of the top flight names from the Scandinavian scene.

January 4^th saw Braulio at Kickers Black Belt Academy for a master class session in BJJ; Braulio went through the De La Riva guard, teaching attacks and counterattacks. He then went on to show some nifty little sweeps and counters and counters to counters, before drawing the session to a close with some cracking gi chokes, designed to turn the opponent beetroot red. Braulio was unable to spar fully with everyone, as he was resting an injury prior to the ADCC, but still managed a few toy fights with Andy Roberts from Barra Sheffield and was put through his paces by Darren Good, Tom Harris and Chris Brown. The day after the seminar, Braulio was deservedly awarded his black belt from the main man Carlos Gracie Jr, so one more black belt for the UK’s growing BJJ scene.

Braulio is available for tuition and seminars and can be contacted on 07786 964932

Braulio teaches at Kickers Academy, Bradford on the last Wednesday in every month and will be there on January 28^th. Contact Darren Good on 07956 502061 for more details.

See you on the mats!

Report by Carl Fisher 27 January 2004