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Interview
with London Shootfighters - 3 Feb. 2002 by Miguel Camacho
London
Shootfighters History
Alexis
Demetriades & Paul Ivens
Foreword
from SFUK:
In
just five short years, Paul Ivens & Alexis Demetriades
have established a reputation for being having best Mixed
Martial Arts school in the UK. From informal 'garage'
training sessions with a handful of MMA fans (now all
famous UK fighters ) to a class which is packed out and
bursting from the Aikido dojo they call their home.
Paul
& Alexis have not only a great rep for their club,
but for also being world class submission fighters themselves.
That's right, world class.
Phenomenal for their ages (Alexis
is 22 & Paul is 26 years old) and the fact that the
quantity of instruction available in the UK has been very
poor in comparison to Brazil, USA and Japan.
How
did they get so good? Well they've trained pretty much
everywhere as you'll read below. Add to that the discipline
to come back and drill what they have picked up until
they own the techniques and the drive to better themselves
physically - then you have the recipe for success.
Miguel
Guys, thank you for giving us the time to interview you.
Tell me about your martials arts background.....
London
Shootfighters :
It's our pleasure Miguel. Our martial arts training began
as kids with traditional Kung Fu and Aikido with our friend
and sponsor, Sensei David Rubens of Meidokan Aikido Dojo
in London. (London Shootfighters is now based at Sensei
Ruben's dojo). We then moved in to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
We have trained with Royce Gracie, Rickson Gracie, Abu
Dhabi Combat Club, Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu Club, Frank
Shamrock, Enson Inoue shootfighting gym in Japan and Rumina
Sato's Gym in Japan.
Whilst we were training at the Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu
academy, we decided to incorporate no-gi and submission
wrestling into our training after training with the likes
of Ricco Chapparelli, Marco Ruas, Bas Rutten, Oleg Taktarov,
Mark Kerr and Pedro Rizzo.
Miguel
When did London Shootfighters start and who was training
with you at the start?
London
Shootfighters :
We actually started London Shootfighters informally in
the Spring of 1997. It's amazing how it's grown actually
because we never advertised but there was always a great
group of guys training with us. At the beginning we had
James Zikic, Kamal Locke, Rob Sulski and Dexter Casey.
Miguel
Amazing, that's like a who's who of MMA stars.....what
have the London Shootfighters accomplished in competitions?
London
Shootfighters :
Our fighters have done incredibly well. James Zikic has
gone on to win many domestic Vale Tudo championships as
well as winning the Hawai Superbrawl in 1998. He is currently
the ABA Heavyweight Boxing Champ. Rob Sulski won the Frank
Shamrock Invitational championship in 2001. Kamal Locke
is a two time Vale Tudo champ and the 2000 Iron Man heavyweight
champ. Michael Johnson is the Ultimate Fight Night -76kg
Vale Tudo Champ. Moustapha Al-Turk is the 2001 Luta Livre
heavyweight champ. John Thorpe is undeafeated in Vale
Tudo.
Miguel
What's the secret guys ? Why does this gym provide such
great fighters?
London
Shootfighters :
We place a tremendous emphasis on strong wrestling techniques,
brazilian jiu jitsu basics, stand up training and ring
tactics. Our fighters do well because we train ALOT on
fitness and conditioning.
Miguel
How do you run the classes at London Shoot?
London
Shootfighters :
Generally we keep the classes to the same format. We spend
a good 30 minutes on conditioning and warm up followed
by 1 hour of techniques and drilling. At the end of the
class we have half an hour of sparring where everybody
gets to spar with everyone else. It's great because a
complete beginner gets to roll with a professional fighter.
Miguel
Doesn't that put the beginner a bit in the deep end?
London
Shootfighters :
LOL, not at all. One thing that we do not have at London
Shoot is big Ego's. If a pro fighter is rolling with a
beginner, it is completely controlled and is guaranteed
to help the novice improve their techniques. Beginners
are welcomed and encouraged. We train in an open team
atmosphere with an emphasis on hard training but always
within the personal abilities of the student.
Miguel
Do you guys enjoy teaching?
2
of London Shootfighters' best - Kamal & Suley drilling
London
Shootfighters :
Definately. We love teaching. We take immense pride in
seeing our students do well in competitions or in their
own personal training. Teaching actually helps us to with
our own techniques as we are constantly drilling them
and by pointing out mistakes, we keep ourselves making
sure our techniques are correct.
Miguel
How is London Shootfighters training evolving?
London
Shootfighters :
We understand fully that training tactics are like fighting
tactics. They must evolve constantly otherwise you run
the danger of being left behind. For example, when Royce
Gracie first won the UFC, he was depending almost entirely
on his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Today, it would be alot harder
to win using just BJJ. Nowadays fighters must have a complete
arsenal of fighting abilities which must include elements
of BJJ, wrestling, japanese leglocks, boxing, kick boxing
and conditioning. We enjoy travelling immensely and use
our experiences in gyms abroad to keep London Shootfighters
at the cutting edge of Mixed Martial Arts training.
Miguel
Tell us about your new love......freestyle wrestling
London
Shootfighters :
We started wrestling only 2 years ago. Our intention at
the time was to strengthen our shootfighting. We fell
in love with the sport and have since dedicated alot of
time and effort into improving ourselves in the sport
Miguel
that's a bit of an understatement, how well are you doing
with your wrestling?
London
Shootfighters :
We are both currently in contention to represent England
at the next commonwealth games.
Miguel
After just 2 years ? Has freestyle wrestling influenced
your fighting art?
London
Shootfighters :
It's influenced us immensely. We now know how to defend
takedowns correctly which is really important in Vale
Tudo as well as having the ability to take people down
effectively.
Miguel
Thank you so much for your time.
London
Shootfighters :
It's our pleasure Miguel. Thank you for interviewing us.
London Shootfighters trains at the Meidokan Aikido Dojo
at (address)
Class times are Monday evenings 7.30-9.30 and Wednesdays
2.30-4.30
Alexis
and Paul are both available for seminars and private tuition.
www.londonshootfighters.com
or call Paul on 0778 0683562
See
also:
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