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National Ju Jitsu Kumite Northern Championships 15th  September 2001

Mark Gordon (brown/white belt ) and Derek McCutcheon (4th Dan) entered what was their first competition. Mark had no previous competitive experience but had recently been training specifically for competitive grappling. Derek McCutcheon who is also a Judo 1st Dan has plenty of competitive Judo experience but no Jiu Jitsu competitive experience.

Mark was up first in the under 78kg category. He got off to a very good start but had some difficulty getting to grips with the rules. Mark gained a warning for his use of the guillotine choke but once he realised it could not be used put his grappling skills to good use to win easily.

His next fight took place shortly afterwards and was against Steve Kilner whom we had been speaking to earlier. We knew he had extensive experience and that it would be difficult. Mark took the fight to him and again put his grappling to good use and won 10-0.

Fight number three was against one of the Swiss team who had great support. He was very fast and his strengths were his punching and kicking skills. He was very fast. He was picking points up from Mark but Mark managed to keep the upper hand by closing the distance and taking him to the ground. Mark was winning 8-5 on the final bell but was thrown just after. After some debate and complaint from myself the Swiss opponent was awarded 3 points for the sweep. This took the tie to sudden death and the Swiss opponent used his speed to score one point to take the tie. This took the Swiss student to the final and Mark to the third place play off. Mark who had his fights in quick succession had his worst fight of the day, was beaten and lost the opportunity for bronze.

All in all Mark was very unlucky not to take something from the day and also suffered from having to fight in quick succession. A good learning experience which bodes well for the future.

I competed in both the under 95kg category and the veterans. My first fight started as Mark was fighting in his 3rd and 4th place play off. my opponent was obviously a karate stylist and I was unable to get close enough to him to grapple. We picked points off of each other and the fight finished 9 points each and went into overtime. I believe I struck him first with a reverse punch but the score was given to my opponent for a backfist to the head. This put me into 3rd and 4th place play off.

I had to fight this fight straight away. This opponent wanted to grapple so this was to my advantage. I took him down with a couple of sweeps and also held him down put it wasn't being scored because I didn't have his head held as well. (The rules took some getting used to!) He took me down a couple of times by hooking my legs but I was in control throughout and won 10-6.

During this fight I was shouted for my first fight in the veterans category. I therefore had to fight straight away again! My opponent caught me early with an inside leg sweep. This injured my wrist when I fell and I went off to get some first aid which wasn't really available. I continued through the fight but was suffering from the wrist injury. I lost this fight 10-0 to my opponent who was a competitive judo 5th dan. (The following day I found out that my wrist was broken.) 

I had to fight again straight away for 3rd and 4th place play off. The organisers took pity on me because off my injury and conducted the final first and then I was up. I  won this fight easily with two leg sweeps and two hold downs giving me a win 10-0. I was glad it was so easy as the wrist was getting sorer.

We left happy with the experience we gained and my two third place trophies. I could have done without the broken wrist though.

   Perth Martial Arts Union Open Championships 2001

We had sixteen competitors in our team. 5 juniors and 11 seniors. The juniors all fought really well, particularly in their first competition. Kevin Campbell gained first place in the extra large juniors category. He won this easily. Alan McGowan gained second place in the large juniors category. He was beaten in the final by a boy who beat both John Burns and Craig McCutcheon to get to the final. Craig was unlucky and a poor refereeing decision robbed him of third place in the 3rd and 4th place play off.

Patrick Gordon also fought well and was beaten by a boy who looked very experienced.

Although there was large number of juniors there was a lack of seniors. We probably had the largest team.

Notable highlights during the day were Scott Anderson performance in the middleweight semi-contact where he gained second place and could even have done better. Ian Stewart suffered from a poor refereeing decision and should have been in the heavyweight semi-contact final. He had to settle for third place. 

Caroline McGivern entered the Kata competition after some debate as they didn't expect anyone to do a weapons Kata. Caroline gained third place and gained a spontaneous round of applause after her second Kata. (No one else gained a round of applause). She was unlucky after a hard fight against a six foot tall girl in the women's semi-contact and gained second place.

All the full contact fights were great to watch. Shaun Duffy had a really hard fight against the local champion Derek Alexander. He lost after extra time to a referee's decision. Mark Gordon took a different approach to Derek and attacked him right from the off and gained an early submission from a guillotine choke.

Mohammed Rafiq Fought tremendously well in the heavyweight full contact category which went into extra time twice. Mohammed's grappling was head and shoulders above his opponents but his opponent gave Mohammed a hard time with his leg kicks. Mohammed lost on the referee's decision and will be suffering with a sore leg for a while.

Here is the full list of our results:

Large juniors 2^nd place ALAN McGOWAN

Extra large juniors 1^st place KEVIN CAMPBELL 

Senior kata  3^rd place CAROLINE McGIVERN 

Senior semi-contact middleweight    1^st place TOMMY MITCHELL

                                                     2^nd place PAUL FOULKES

 Senior semi-contact lightweight       2^nd place SCOTT ANDERSON

                                                      3^rd place IAN MEEKIE

 Full contact middleweight                1^st place MARK GORDON

                                                       3^rd place SHAUN DUFFY

 Semi contact heavyweight                1^st place ANDY WILSON

                                                       2^nd place JOHN WILSON

                                                       3^rd place IAN STEWART

 Full contact heavyweight                  2^nd place MOHAMMED RAFIQ

 Female semi contact/WUKO            2^nd place CAROLINE McGIVERN

 16 students competed and we gained 14 medals. Not bad for our first competition where we have entered a team.

Our thanks go to the organisers for an excellent competition.

  SCOTTISH OPEN SAMBO CHAMPIONSHIPS 4th MAY 2002

Five students from Yama Bushi Ryu entered the Scottish Open Sambo Championships at Pollockshields Burgh Hall on 4th May 2002. We had received an invitation from Vadim Kolganov. Unfortunately it clashed with the Scottish Cup Final and we were unable to put in as big a team as we could ( I, Derek McCutcheon had to work due to the football), nevertheless five students entered. We had a couple of weeks notice and tried our best to practice to the Sambo rules which had been provided.

I had confidence in our ability on the ground but wasn't sure how we would cope standing. Scott Anderson had been training with Vadim for a short period and tried his best to sort us out. On the day the entries were as follows:

Mark and Shaun easily won through to meet each other in the Final. They both found it difficult to get to grip with the rules particularly as they were both comfortable fighting in the guard and applying arm bars to standing opponents. In the final we were all shocked when Shaun beat Mark! These guys fight every week with Mark normally coming out on top. But on this occasion Shaun seemed to get to grips with the style of fighting more than Mark. Well done Shaun.

Scott lost his first fight and, having watched the video, he beat himself. He should have done better. The guy that beat him failed to come out to fight Paul in the Final and Paul found himself winning the Gold with only one fight. That said he gave the Sambo practitioner in his first the runaround and took him to the cleaners. Scott won his fight for the Bronze using a well executed Achilles lock. Well done to both.

Mohammed could have done better, but he didn't have the same chance to practice the rules as the other guys. He got a  bronze for fourth place in his category.

5 competitors five medals once again a very good result, particularly as it is not really our style.

National Ju Jitsu Kumite Northern Championships 14th  September 2002

Six members of Yama Bushi Ryu attended our second Ju Jitsu Kumite Championships at Carlisle.

Three juniors Scott Baird, Joe Hurley and my son Craig McCutcheon attended their first Ju Jitsu Kumite. They found it hard and a learning experience. It was invaluable to them and they will be better prepared next year. Scott Baird only got one fight the way the pools worked out which was unfortunate. Craig came fourth in his group which was their best result. They all showed great fighting spirit against competitors who were obviously very experienced. the also showed true sportsmanship in the way they conducted themselves.

Kevin Campbell who was fighting in the over 65kg category found it a real test. He has some competition experience but this was his first competition where everyone was his size or bigger. Nonetheless he achieved a creditable third place.

Stephen Howley and I entered the veterans category which was split into two sections. Stephen in the lightweight and I in the heavyweight. My first fight was against David Cole who beat me last year in the fight where I broke my wrist and if I say so myself I was Gubbed. I then had another fight which I won easily to gain second place in the pool.

Stephen achieved 3rd place in his pool and would have achieved more but for an injury to his knee which forced him to retire from his final fight.

I then fought in the under 95kg category where I won two fights to get to the final again against David Cole. This time I had the measure of him and was narrowly beaten 6-5 having gained the lead during the fight.

WJJF Dan Grades in 2002

The following Dan Grade promotions took place at the Liverpool Headquarters on 23/03/02:

Caroline McGivern 3rd Dan    

Jamie Hennessey 2nd Dan  

Charles Richmond 1st Dan

John Burns Junior 1st Dan

The following Dan Grade promotions took place at the Liverpool Headquarters on 21/09/02:

Craig McCutcheon Junior 1st Dan

Kerry Gallacher Junior 1st Dan

Paul McConnell 1st Dan

Congratulations to all. Once again your standards showed up very well against the others that were there. Keep it up, we have built a good reputation which we want to maintain.

DAN GRADINGS IN 2004

We returned to the Liverpool headquarters on 18/09/2004. This was a busy day for us as we had as we had 6 people sitting their grading:

Charlie Richmond promoted to 2nd Dan.

Tommy Mitchell (Ayr) promoted to 1st Dan

Willie Lindsay promoted to 1st Dan

Kevin Campbell promoted to 1st Dan

Thomas Borland promoted to 1st Dan

Stuart Brown promoted to 1st Dan

Congratulations to all!

Ultimate Combat 3 Review

Extreme Combat

The event which was previously cancelled eventually took place on 12th April 2003. Our interest in the main was Mark Gordon and Caroline McGivern both representing Yama Bushi Ryu but also there was Karl Burns who has trained with us, who was representing Sambo Scotland, and Paul McVeigh who has trained with us.

Mark was up against Ricky Gillon, who also has trained with us in the past, for a Scottish title. Caroline was fighting in her first full contact fight and had been putting in extra grappling training in the run up to the fight. Caroline was up first against one of Ricky Gillon's students. The girl was a good bit taller than Caroline and had a reach advantage. Caroline took the fight to her getting past her reach and taking her to the ground. Caroline was well on top as her opponent seemed to have little grappling skills. Caroline put in a good few groundwork techniques including a nice  knee bar. For some reason the ref stopped them when this technique was on. I can only think it was because it was at the ropes, although several fights later continued right through the ropes. Caroline continued the same approach beating her opponents strikes and taking her to the ground. Her opponent was obviously rattled when on the ground and at one point began pulling hair. I could see Caroline was getting tired and she asked to withdraw with what I thought was about 30 seconds to go in the first round. I tried to encourage her to see the round out but she was knackered and withdrew. It turns out there was only 20 seconds to go in the round. She was very disappointed as she was well on top throughout. She has acme out of the fight more determined and has already stepped up her training.

Karl's fight went as expected and he gave his opponent the runaround. Karl showed off his grappling skills again against an opponent who did not offer a great deal on the ground. An easy win for Karl.

Paul McVeigh representing Dumbarton MMA was up against an opponent from Ricky Gillon's club who had a height and reach advantage. Knowing Paul I knew this would offer no real advantage as Paul would close him down and take him to the ground. As expected Paul took the fight to him and gave him a lesson in BJJ. Indeed Paul gained a submission from an arm bar which the referee missed and the fight continued. Paul again gained a submission from an arm bar which the referee saw this time and finished the fight early and with confidence. It was clear that Ricky's students had expected to stand up and fight and were at a clear disadvantage on the ground.  

We were always confident that Mark would win given his previous track record and his strength in grappling. Ricky his opponent again seemed to rely on his striking ability again this did not phase Mark as he easily closed down the distance. Mark really pressured Ricky on the ground who was finding it difficult to cope, indeed he threw in a few punches on the ground which was against the rules. The referee didn't pick it up but it did not trouble Mark. I could see Mark closing in for a triangle choke and he seemed to take an age with it. I think he was showing off. He eventually pulled his foot in, applied the triangle choke and for good measure pulled the head in. 2 minutes 2 seconds and another easy win. Mark  now holds the Scottish TKO title and again proved a great ambassador for the club. Mark should now step up a level to really test his skills.

I have posted some photo's in the photo page. 

Mark has since lost his title in a fight against Jim Doolan of Dumbarton MMA. He had just returned from a family holiday to Florida and had not done enough preparation. Since that time he has suffered a serious knee injury and at the time of writing is just about to return to training after 6 months out.

Yukimasa Nakamura workshop

Attended this JudoScotland workshop at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday 22nd March 2003. This was part of a series of workshops organised by JudoScotland and an excellent opportunity to train with some of the best exponents of the art.

The focus of the workshop was the techniques which have worked for him in competition. An excellent day which only cost £10. Well done JudoScotland.

I have included some photo's on the Photo's page.