Whilst on holiday a couple of years ago I came across Fighting Fit Martial Arts in Cromer, Norfolk. At the time I had no gumshield or box so even though I wanted to train I didn't feel that I could.
However... heading back to Cromer this year I made sure to pack box, mouth guard, gloves & anklets. I dropped in to the gym one evening and had a quick chat with John Mezzetti the owner and head coach. He seemed very friendly and I decided to train the following night.
John hasn't got a massive space at the gym but he makes great use of it. Most is matted with a cage wall. There're also bags plus a cardio area and a weights room.
We started with a warm-up that included sprawls before moving on to a drill/game in which you had to tap your partner's foot with your own and then knee-taps. This led in to an arm drag drill, similar to the drag that Marcello Garcia teaches first in his DVD series. It had been a long time since I last grappled and it really showed in a lack of co-ordination. I think perhaps John & his students expected more of me as they knew I'd trained at Leicester Shoot.
We moved on to some punching and punching to takedown drills which progressed nicely to sit-throughs. The final 15-20 mins were spent in groundwork sparring. This was great and even though I got tapped to a triangle I should never've got in to in the first place, I really enjoyed myself .
So what did I learn?
That John is a great teacher and a genuine bloke. Very friendly and really knows his stuff. John's guys are also friendly and a real credit to his teaching.
That my conditioning is f**ked and I need to prioritise it in a biiiig way.
That tapping to a rear naked choke isn't always a forgone conclusion.
A new Kimura escape (cheers John!)
That I really want to get back to regular training at Leicester Shoot.
If you're in the Cromer area of Norfolk on holiday drop in and see FFMA, I'll be training down there on my next visit for sure.
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