"Chinese BJJ Association" from London training at TRIQUEST!

"A big thanks to Viking, Wing & Shukie from London - http://www.legacybjj.co.uk/ for dropping by this last week to train & spar with everyone. We had all learnt a lot from their up to date high level bjj techniques, I'm very happy to see the future of Chinese Bjj around the world and I'm sure it won't be long before we hear Chinese players start to be recognized in high level bjj competitions :) Keep training guys!" -Thomas Fan

Does your gi conform to IBJJF rules?

we are gearing up for a heavy competition season: World Pro trials in Shanghai and KL, the first ADCC tournament in Macau, and the annual Thailand Open. so everyone should be working really hard on their skills. in addition to time on the mats, you should also take time to review the rules of competition. and since so many people have new gis, or will be competing for the first time, you should make sure that what you plan to compete in conforms to the rules. we all love our gym and club patches. well, here's where you are allowed to put them so they don't interfere with grips (pay attention to the cuffs and belt area):

here are some rules taken directly from the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation's website (and this is the link so you can refresh yourself on all the rules):

ARTICLE 8º - KIMONO

COMPETiTORS ARE REQUIRED TO USE KIMONOS UNDER THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATIONS

A. Constructed of cotton or similar material and in good condition. The material may not be excessivly thick or hard to the point where it will obstruct the opponent.

B. Colours may be black, white or blue, no combined colors (white kimono with blue pants, etc.)

C. The jacket is to be of suficient length down to the thighs, sleeves must reach the wrist with arms extended in front of the body. The sleeve should follow the oficial measures according to CBJJ, and IBJJF.From the shoulder to the wrist.

D. Belt width 4-5cm, with colour corresponding to rank tied around the waist with a double knot , tight enough to secure the kimono closed.

E. Athletes are not permitted to compete with torn kimonos, sleeves or pants that are not of propper length or with t-shirts underneath the kimono (except in the female divisions).

F. Is not allowed to use paint kimonos, except for the teams.

Competitors must abide by the hygiene and kimono specifications in order to compete, otherwise the opponent will be considered the winner.

the following gi is NOT regulation. but it IS cool.

July 25, 2011 - BJJ training with a packed gym!

Monday night BJJ class and there were 20 people in class today! good job, everybody! gear up for all of the competitions coming our way.


a special moment as Ken shows off his purple belt certificate from Professor Ze Marcello.

Andy's too tired from sparring to give us a smile, but we know he's happy on the inside.


here's a review of the armbar and triangle from guard techniques learned in tonight's class:

June 13, 2011 - Seminar with Professor Ze Marcello!

What another incredible month at TRIQUEST! Thomas Fan’s teacher, Master Jose ‘Ze Marcello’ was invited over for his second seminar in Hong Kong. Most of those who attended the first seminar four years ago were on hand to partake in this one.

Professor Ze is a fourth-degree black belt under Sergio “Bolao” Souza. He dominated the Mundials and Panams in 1996-98 and the Europeans in 2008. Professor Ze has founded Icon Team which now boasts 50 affiliate schools across the world and extends here to Kylin at TRIQUEST in Hong Kong.

From Monday through Saturday, Professor Ze taught nonstop at Kylin with groups and privates, and at Grips and Versus as well.

During the seminars with Kylin students, Professor Ze worked with us most strongly on the half-guard position, refining certain aspects of it to make the best possible defence. Then he taught us transitions from the half-guard: several sweeps, chokes, submissions and escapes to back mount, with a final emphasis on the back-mount position of one knee over the shoulder to tighten the choke and control the body. The professor also covered a variety of positioning concepts like leverage and balance, most notably to bridge with the head. He showed how important it is to maintain contact pressure on your opponent during transitions and submission attempts.

Grips BJJ hosted a seminar on Tuesday with a great turnout.

In a semiprivate seminar at Versus Performance, Professor Ze worked with brown belt Quinton Arendse, and black belts Makoto Aramaki and Oswaldo Neto. For myself and a couple of other students who were white and blue belts, we were lucky to see the professor coaching at an extremely advanced level.

Aside from being incredibly knowledgeable, Professor Ze is an extremely good instructor, able to get across his teachings in quite a simple and effective manner. He is always positive and full of energy and love for the sport, which transfers over to his students. His ‘flavor’ of jiujitsu is based on leverage and contact which makes it powerful even for smaller people and very fun to play. But above all, Ze Marcello is a genuinely nice person, and treated us all with kindness in a humble manner you might not expect for someone of his experience and credentials. We had such a great time with him even outside of the gym, and we can’t wait to have him back again!

May 22, 2011 - Look who dropped by to train!

during our Saturday no gi/submission/MMA class, Michael Wachter of www.okami-fightgear.com from Germany stopped by to have a roll!

April 24, 2011 - Thomas at GB Birmingham, UK

Thomas and Charlotte made a trip back to Thomas' hometown in the UK to visit his family and show off Isabella. of course, you always make time for jiujitsu! Thomas and family visited Braulio Estima's guy Gracie Barra Birmingham.

Braulio Estima seminar

on November 30, Thomas and Andy attended a seminar at Grips with Braulio Estima. He is a multiple Pan American, European, World & ADCC Champion!

December 18, 2010 - China ADCC Pro Trials and Inagural China Open

Kylin BJJ Club went to Shanghai to compete in the ADCC Pro Trials, held for the first time ever in China. at the same time, the Wrestling & Judo Association Jiujitsu Committee of China also hosted the inaugural China Open. our competitors were our Coach Thomas Fan, Andy, Victor, Jocky, Lung, Samir, Quenton and Luk.


China ADCC Pro Trial results:
in White & Blue Belts Open weight under 74kg, Andy took Silver, just missing an all-expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi! in the Brown Belts, Thomas took Bronze!

China Open results:
Andy also took a Bronze in his weight, Victor took Bronze in his division, Jockey took Bronze as well, Quenton took a Silver, and in the White Belt Absolute, Samir took the Gold!

the event was held in a gymnasium that had no heat. in 0 degrees temperature, everyone was walking around in gis AND jackets. aside from a slow start and a bit of disorganization, it was a nice competition, with over 100 competitors from all over Asia in attendance. each ring had an electronic score system that showed the points and time on a large screen tv which made it very audience-friendly. and the finals were broadcast live to Abu Dhabi.

after the competition, we had a great time exploring Shanghai: the Bund at day and night, Yuyuan Garden for siulongbao, the French Concession and more good food.

FURY 1 - the FIRST MMA CAGE event in China!

the 21st of May, 2010 heralded in an historic new era of combat entertainment as "FURY 1 - Clash of the Titans" made its debut at the City of Dreams in Macau, the "Las Vegas of China". the first caged fighting event ever to be held in China showcased 9 contests between fighters from Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Thailand, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Scotland, France and the USA. the pace was fast, the fighters were aggressive, the audience was frenzied and only one fight went the distance.

the judges were Henry Fougstedt of South Africa/Macau, Benoit Lotter of France/Hong Kong, and Nathanael Amacker of Switzerland/Taiwan. the referees were Yuji Shimada of Japan, Thomas Fan of UK/Hong Kong and James Chan of UK/Hong Kong. photos of the event can be found on the Triquest Facebook page.

the first match between Sayed Irshaad and Ngoo Ditty was fast, technical and exciting. Irshaad is a Muay Thai fighter who only very recently started some ground training to enter the MMA arena. Ngoo of MMA Phuket knew this and came in with a good gameplan to engage in BJJ. Ngoo obtained some guard and back positions, but Irshaad escaped them all with a calmness usually seen in much more experienced BJJ players, and his excellent combinations finally put him in the dominant position. Irshaad caught Ngoo with an uppercut that backed Ngoo up, then followed it up with a knee which put him on the mat. it was ground and pound until Referee Thomas Fan stopped the fight.

the second fight proved that it was going to be a night of quick finishes. Vaughn Anderson of "Art of War" fame showed superior technical prowess against Ross Lavery of Scotland. Vaughn attempted a couple of great submissions and finally sunk an armbar so deep - from the top - that Ross had to tap with his feet.

the third fight was Artemj Sintenko (a replacement for James Doolan) - who landed at the airport at 5pm - against Takeshi Numajiri. he was very technical with his BJJ, but the trip took a toll on him and the TKO went to Takeshi.

in the fourth fight was local superstar Vuyisile Colossa against Tiger Muay Thai's John Vargas. John came out of his corner supper-aggressive - looking like a pit bull. Vuyisile definitely had some good reach on him in the stand up, and was able to smash his takedown attempts. finally John made a mistake on a single leg attempt and Vuyisile was able to reverse the position to take the back and win by RNC.

the fifth fight showcased Jason Jones of Golden Glory against Minoru Kato, veteran DEEP fighter. the fighters clinched and Jason caught Minoru with a knee to the groin and then landed some mean elbows that opened up a cut in his scalp. Minoru got 5 minutes to recover, but after more blood-slinging around the ring, Jason was given the win by the doctor's stoppage due to the cut.

the sixth fight was the only fight to go the distance. France's Sebastien Garguier was up against Nobuhiro Obiya of DEEP, PRIDE and SHOOTO. Sebastien was dominant in the first round, and Nobuhiro stayed safe enough to come back through the second. the result was a draw, so the two came back for a third round. all three judges scored in favor of Nobuhiro.

the seventh fight was the heavyweight fight of the night between Dion Starling from Golden Glory and Peter Graham. Dion made quick work of Peter and submitted him quickly.

the eighth fight was the main card K-1 rules fight between Ramazan Ramazanov and a Macau Thai boxer who was a last minute replacement for Seigei Vasylier. Ramazan was extremely dominant against the last-minute stand-in, and got the win.

the final fight was the much awaited match between France's Antony Rea (of CFC, PFC, fightFORCE and Bodog) and Yoshiki Takahashi (veteran of Sengoku, Bodog, K-1, Pride and Pancrase). Antony clearly had a reach advantage, but Takahashi didn't appear to be afraid of it. he took a few kicks, and unfortunately one landed in his groin area and he went down hard. he took the full five minutes to recover. when he got back up, he gamely faced Antony and a few exchanges took place, but Takahashi broke his toe and was unable to stand or continue.

it was and exciting event, and i can't wait to see more fighters get the chance to fight in a cage here!