Next Generation Ireland is dedicated to providing top quality instruction in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). We accept all levels of students from beginners to advanced and aim to provide an environment for continued self improvement. We will help you to achieve individual goals ranging from learning new skills, to getting fit to competing as an amateur or professional. Our programmes are designed to take you wherever you want to go within the sports of BJJ and MMA.
Next Generation Clondalkin was founded by Dylan Costigan and Dave Jones (Head Coach, Next Generation Ireland) in June 2009. We are committed to the goals and training methods of Next Generation in the sports of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), as per the standards of Next Generation's founder, Chris Brennan.
Originally Three Castles MMA, Tallaght, Next Generation Clondalkin is based upon the strong foundation of training and competing in BJJ and MMA that Three Castles built. The affiliation to Next Generation Ireland is a stepping stone to an even brighter future for this team and is hoped to give birth to a strong tradition of BJJ and MMA in Clondalkin, Dublin.
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting with the goal of gaining a dominant position and using joint-locks and chokeholds to force an opponent to submit. The art was based on early 20th century Kodokan Judo, which was itself then a recently-developed system (founded in 1882), based on multiple schools (or Ryu) of Japanese Jujutsu. It promotes the principle that a smaller,
weaker person using leverage and proper technique can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant. BJJ can be trained for self defense, sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Sparring (commonly referred to as ‘rolling’) and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has been made more popular since Royce Gracie of the Gracie family won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, submitting all of his opponents with ease. There are now a multitude of schools around the world, with different emphasis on Gi and No Gi Jiu Jitsu as well as its application in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
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MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, is a combat sport in which two competitors attempt to achieve dominance over one another by utilizing a wide variety of permitted martial arts techniques, including striking and grappling.
A typical match or fight can see competitors fight standing, on the ground or in a clinched standing position. Mixed martial arts was originally based around the concept of pitting different martial arts and fighting styles against each other in competition with minimal rules, in an attempt to determine which system would be more effective in a real, unregulated combat situation.
Modern MMA competition is an evolution of such events, but rules have been implemented to promote acceptance of the sport, while at the same time maintaining as much of the original no-holds-barred concept as possible.
The techniques utilized in MMA competition generally fall into two categories: striking techniques (such as kicks, knees and punches) and grappling techniques (such as clinch holds, pinning holds, submission holds, sweeps, takedowns and throws).
Some unarmed hand to hand combat techniques are considered illegal in arguably all modern MMA competition, such as biting, eye-gouging, fish-hooking and small joint manipulation. Over the last ten years, strikes to the groin have become illegal in all sanctioned MMA organizations. The legality of other techniques such as elbows, head butts and spinal locks vary according to competition or organization.
Victory is normally gained by judges' decision after an allotted amount of time has elapsed, a stoppage by the referee or the fight doctor (in the event that the competitor is injured or can no longer defend himself intelligently), a submission, by a competitor's cornerman (throwing in the towel), or knockout.
In the early 1990s, three styles stood out for their effectiveness in MMA competition: Amateur wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Shoot wrestling. This may be attributable in part to the grappling emphasis of the aforementioned styles, which, perhaps due to the scarcity of mixed martial arts competitions prior to the early 90s, had been neglected by most practitioners of striking-based arts. Even though fighters combining amateur wrestling and striking dominated the standing portion of an MMA fight, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylists had a distinct advantage on the ground. Those unfamiliar with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission techniques. Shoot wrestling practitioners offered a balance of amateur wrestling ability and catch wrestling based submissions resulting in a generally well rounded set of skills. The shoot wrestlers were especially successful in Japan, where the martial art initially dominated other arts.
As MMA competitions became more and more commonplace, those with a base in striking became more competitive as they began to acquaint themselves with takedowns and submission holds, leading to some notable upsets against the dominant grapplers. Subsequently those from the various grappling styles learned from each other's strengths and shortcomings and added striking techniques to their arsenal. This overall development of increased cross-training resulted in the MMA fighters becoming increasingly multi-dimensional in their skills. As a result of the MMA sporting events, martial arts training and the understanding of the combat effectiveness of various strategies have changed dramatically over the last ten years. MMA competition has indicated that there are three distinct phases in unarmed fighting:
- STAND-UP FIGHTING
- CLINCH FIGHTING
- GROUND FIGHTING
While the early years included the widest possible variety of traditional styles (everything from sumo to boxing), the continual evolution of the sport has practically eliminated less effective and "pure" styles, usually because fighters who specialized in one particular style were lacking in skills to defend from other techniques.Modern MMA competitors almost invariably engage in regular training of all three of the above strategies, as well as supplementary attribute training (cardio vascular training, weigh training, flexibility, etc). Some achieve this by going to experts in the respective elements such as Muay Thai coaches for stand-up/clinch, amateur wrestling for clinch/takedowns and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Submission Grappling for ground. Alternatively, a modern development has been the founding of MMA fight teams of competitors who train in all aspects of MMA together, or separately, under one roof.
Next Generation Clondalkin is an example of the latter. |
