Another blackbelt question

[FlyingTriangle]

whos the hardest non brasilian bjj blackbelt in the uk?

[blanker]

i dont think theres a huge amount of none brazilian bjj blackbelts in the uk as it takes something like 10 years to get your blackbelt and bjj hasnt been around that long in the uk. i can remember back in 1996 when i wanted to train bjj there wasnt anywhere that i would find to train.

[trev01]

whos the hardest non brasilian bjj blackbelt in the uk?

LOL @ 'the hardest'

[Rob T]

Beep!!!!!!!!

[seanbrowne]

LOL @ 'the hardest'

I LOL'd at that too.. I love this forum.. much better than work anyway :-)

[FlyingTriangle]

glad you laughed lads but it was a serious question

[undercard]

There are quite a few BB's, I think about 8-10 from the UK.
Jude Samuels is top drawer, as are Simon Hayes and Rick Young, but neither of those two compete much.
I know that Rick runs his academy in Edinburgh so he prob doesn't get the time and has other things to focus on.
Not sure why Simon doesn't but I'm sure he'll comment.....

[Meerkatsu]

Define 'hardest'?

[undercard]

Define 'hardest'?

I'm assuming he means best.... Or could be toughest to beat, if theres a difference

[simonjkd]

To date there are 21 British born Blackbelts. As to who is the "Hardest" I believe that each individual would have his, and her, own merits, strengths and weaknesses. On any given day, and dependant on age, weight, injuries, present conditioning and personal training focus, ALL would be "hard". I heard Rick Young say once, there is a big difference between a Black belt and a 100% competition ready Black belt. So the "hardest" really on any given day is whoever is 100%. Problem is, it is impossible to stay 100% ALL of the time.

If you are asking who would be worth stepping on the mats with, then I think it would be an honour to step on the mats with any of them. As for them all competing, it is difficult for them all to compete all of time. Due to the youth of UKBJJ many never had opponents to compete against, others compete regularly in the Masters and Seniors, all are teachers and some are concentrating on teaching, coaching and developing the new generation and, there maybe a couple who are simply getting older and are too banged up. You shouldn't judge them on their fight record, the "fight" happens every night on the mats in their gyms with their training brothers and sisters, and to be one of those proud few UK Black belts, they would have been through many wars outside of the glory of competition!

Simon McGovern.

P.S.

I had the pleasure to watch Simon Hayes fight in the 10K Challenge when he was still a Brown belt. Trust me, he is a warrior and one of THE toughest UK Black belts!