This has to be one of the best pieces of cinema advertising I’ve ever seen. Anything Robert Carlyle does is magnificent.

For me personally it draws upon a great memory I have, of a time spent with my father sampling whisky. Johnnie Walker put on “Journey of Taste” evenings which were marketing exercises designed to expose more people to their product. It actually worked really well, with there being some snack foods beforehand and a plentiful supply of scotch throughout the half-hour lesson. At the end of the “journey” I definitely had a greater understanding of scotch, Johnnie Walker and Scotland in general.

It was a fantastic experience to share with my dad, and one that I hold in very fond regard. Hopefully, not too far away, we’ll get a chance to visit the distilleries together. I’m sure that I’d need to call upon every ounce of my Scottish heritage to get through that tour without breaking my liver.

An interesting point: we later worked out that Magdalena was probably working at the “Journey of Taste” that night, as she did alcohol promotions at the time, and remembers working some of the events. This would have been a few months before we officially met, though no-doubt she caught my eye that night.

Link for themadpeeps.com.au

When a new guy starts on the mats he inevitably thinks that he’ll be really good at wrestling. It’s especially true if they’re physically strong. The reality is that unless you’ve trained in ground fighting before, no matter how strong you are (or think you are) you’ll be schooled for the first few months. It’s guaranteed.

The Academy runs beginner, intermediate and advanced classes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The beginner classes are aimed at, well, beginners. As a one-stripe blue belt, most of the techniques are familiar to me, and whilst you never stop learning, after a certain point you either get something or you don’t.

I feel that the rolling at the end of the beginner class is more for the white belts to practice their techniques than it is for me to smash as many submissions as I can on them. To the casual observer, I get my ass kicked by white belts all the time. They’ll tap me left, right and centre. Sure, I’ve let them get the position and more often than not I’ll coach them through the submission right up until the point I tap, but you won’t see that if you’re on the sidelines. I’m fine with that, and I enjoy the sincere joy my partners show when they’ve executed a move, had a few corrections pointed out, and got the tap.

This works really well with the white belts that know me and my style. They understand that they’ve not actually tapped me (though hopefully they all will at some point), but it can also make me appear as an easy target to the new guys who don’t get my goals from jiu-jitsu, or understand the value I place on helping beginners out. Again, I’m fine with that, but it means that sometimes I have to reaffirm my position a little.

The problem with beginners though is that they’re beginners. They don’t have the control or understanding to execute their moves fluidly and it’s easy for them to hurt themselves or their partners. You always have to be more careful rolling a novice than an expert.

I know it can be intimidating wrestling a more senior person, so I always like to let my training partner set the pace. If they’re a 40kg teenager then they can go hell-for-leather on me and I’m not likely to get into a situation I can’t mange (save them from hurting themselves or me). The problem lies when they’re a young stud who wants to really throw down, because then they’re unpredictible, and have the muscle to back it up.

The worst kind of partner is the one who really goes hard, and then ends up hurting themselves or being hurt by me. That’s not why I train.

I had that tonight with a young guy who came at me “hord-and-forst.” I caught him in an arm lock which knocked a bit of the wind out of his sails, but he then went into retaliation mode, where he thought going “horder-and-forster” was the key. Argh!

If you want to have a slow roll and learn something, then I’m more than happy, but if you want to step it up a notch, you can’t cry when I match your pace and you come off second best.

Remember, it wasn’t me that set the pace.