Fitness Outer Banks

August 23, 2009 Posted by admin in Jiu Jitsu, MMA

Exciting Changes In The Jiu Jitsu & MMA Program In The Outer Banks

Our new Jiu Jitsu/MMA Coach Jeremiah Lancaster

KnuckleUp is proud to announce major changes in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / MMA program for this upcoming fall. New instructors, brand new classes, and brand-spanking-new bjj installations.

To keep myself form "hyping" this post too much, let's start with the changes that are already in place, and then we'll discuss the future ones..

New Jiu Jitsu & MMA Coach

Jeremiah Lancaster has quietly taken over the BJJ classes, and his extensive background in wrestling adds highly effective strategies to the jiu jitsu mix.

Here's a little bit on Jeremiah's background:

Jeremiah Lancaster is a close quarters combat and hand to hand instructor at Ft. Bragg, NC. He is a professional MMA fighter himself as well as having coached 2 All-Army Championship teams with several All-Army Champions. Jeremiah has also coached in the International Fight League as well as over a hundred other fights in many organizations.

And some of his impressive accomplishments:

Head Coach Team-ROC Fayetteville/FT.Bragg 2004-2008

Head Combatives Instructor for 7th Special Forces Group 2006-2008

NAGA-National, North American, and World submission wrestling champion

2nd Place Judo Black Belt State Championship

Check out our new instructor at work:

Jeremiah is teaching the 7:30pm class on Tuesdays and Thursdays - check the outer banks gym schedule for more details.

Now, for the other news...

New Gi (Kimono) Jiu Jitsu Classes To Start Soon

Our very own Sal Rullan is crafting the very first Gi Jiu Jitsu class program in the Outer Banks! Sal has recently undergone intensive gracie jiu jitsu training in Virginia Beach, and is now ready to start teaching solid fundamentals that are only really possible with the appropriate garment.

A Gi (Kimono) Jiu Jitsu program is set to start soon at KnuckleUp

Up until this point, very few students had ever trained with the Gi, given that it's widely unpopular for MMA purposes (anybody remembers Royce Gracie's fights on the first UFCs?). Also, the beauty of the Smooth Art (jiu=art / jitsu= smooth) is that chokes, locks, and the entire body balance and positioning education work no matter what clothes a student has.

However, the way Helio Gracie taught it, the correct way, students are supposed to first solid fundamentals with the Gi and then adventure themselves without it. The Gi in Jiu Jitsu, just like any other Martial Art, represents the art's garment, and only while wearing it a student is allowed to practice.

The Gi is also called Kimono, and they will be available for purchase soon at KnuckleUp. They range from $70 to $100 and they are virtually indestructible. I had mine for well over 5 years now.

We are all very excited to see new students learn the valuable Gi fundamentals, and we hope Mr. Sal Rullan gets it rolling soon.

Bigger Mat For Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling?

Also on Mr. Rullan's to-do list is to bring down the entire weight room from upstairs to the back room (where the computer desk is at) and install a brand new mat upstairs.

This way, we'd have a room solely dedicated for grappling, with a thicker mat and more space.

We expect both the Gi program and the new mat to be ready within a month. There has been a great deal of interest in the new direction that the Jiu Jitsu classes are taking, and more people are realizing the body and mind benefits a solid martial art discipline offers.

If you want to know more about all of the projects going on at KnuckleUp, simply fill in the form to the right and we'll keep you posted on everything going on at the gym.

See you soon!