Ollie Geddes Interview
Ollie Geddes.
Ollie Geddes is a Roger Gracie Brown Belt and prolific BJJ competitor who has competed in over 300 grappling matches. He also competes in Amateur MMA and has a record of 15-0-2. Recently i sat down with him to discuss all things BJJ.
Achievements.
Amateur MMA Record: 15 W (14 SUBs) - 0 L - 2 D
UK MMA League 2008-2009 - Overall Champion
UK MMA League 2008-2009 - Welterweight Champion
Grappling Record: 216 W (135 SUBs) - 86 L (13 SUBs) - 2 D
Grappling Competition Medal Count: 51 x Gold, 9 x Silver and 20 x Bronze
N.B. Ollie won another Gold at the weekend at the Gracie invitational at seni! Theres a video of his semi final fight on our "best of the web" page that shows a nice loop choke.
UK BJJ: Hi Ollie thanks for taking the time to sit down and answer a few questions.
OG: Not a problem at all. Always happy to!
UK BJJ: Can we start things off with a little of your background info...
OG: Background info? I'm 25 years old, I've been training jiujitsu since I was 21, just after I finished university. Whilst I was at uni, I dabbled in a lot of different martial arts, a bit of kung fu, a bit of kickboxing, then later on some boxing and muay thai, but none of them really grabbed me in the way that jiujitsu did. Around all of that, I studied a little bit. But not really enough. Honestly, I probably spent more time at uni training than I did working towards my exams. Probably a good thing I ended up living in martial arts rather than banking, because with exam results like mine, it would have been a hard place to start!
UK BJJ: I read on your website that after you moved to London and began training at the Roger Gracie Academy in Ladbroke Grove you spent several months sleeping on your friend's floor. It sounds like it was tough starting out, tell us about the early days...
OG: I spent a lot of my first few years in jiujitsu leeching off other people. I was up in London on my uni friends floor for six months, true, but after they moved and I got kicked out I moved back home and slept on my dad's sofa for more than two years, commuting an hour and a half each way every day. Considering he has a small house with only a living room and a bedroom, that didn't make me very popular when I got back home from training, started my loud laundry at midnight, hung it up all over his house at 1 o'clock, went to bed at three in the morning and got up at 10 when he was up at 6:30 for his morning run. But he supported me in what I was doing, so didn't give me TOO hard a time for it. Not saying I didn't get a talking-to about taking responsibility in my life every now and then, though!
UK BJJ: What’s a general week like for you, how often do you train/teach?
OG: I train an average of somewhere between 8 and 10 sessions a week, depending on whether I'm recovering from a competition, taking time off before one, or whatever. At the moment, I'm just teaching formal classes one day a week (all day Tuesdays at Roger Gracie Mill Hill. Plug!), but I teach three or four private sessions a week as well. I also make it a point to train in every class that I teach, so I keep myself as busy as my body will allow.
UK BJJ: You’ve had over 300 competitive grappling matches. What is your most memorable win and why?
OG: Probably winning the Abu Dhabi Pro European Trials last year. Fighting a Black Belt for the first time as a Purple was a really big deal for me and even though it was a tremendously boring match, it was amazing for me to actually beat someone who'd already reached the level we're all striving for. Even though there have been a lot of other great moments, that just stands out more, and probably always will. Tapping my first Black Belt competition in France was great as well, but just didn't have quite the same impact for some reason.
UK BJJ: Who would you say was your toughest match?
OG: I've had a lot of those. I've had my fair share of matches won in the last ten seconds, and a few where I've got totally smashed. I fought Celso Vinicius (three-time Black Belt world champion) at the Abu Dhabi Pro and got annihilated 23-0 in less than six minutes. Luke Costello has beaten me twice and smashed me twice. I've traded wins and losses with Edgar Leite for a while now, and none of those have ever been easy. I would suppose it would have to be Edgar from Mario Reis London, since I've fought him so many times and it's always been difficult. I don't know if he's got his Brown Belt yet, but when he does, I look forward to having another try. ^_-
UK BJJ: Who do rate as a fighter from the UK and why?
OG: There are a lot of tough guys coming up in the UK, but to name the people I feel who are the competitors with the most potential out there: Luke Costello, Daniel Strauss, Daniel Agard, Michael Russell, Vernon O'Neill are probably the best UK-born guys that spring to mind. I've fought all of them in competition and trained with most of them, they are all very young and have all achieved a huge amount already. By the time they get their Black Belts, they'll be in their mid-twenties at the latest, and that's a long time available to compete at the highest level. I'm looking forward to seeing it!
UK BJJ: Recently you won gold at the 10th Annual Copa Espana in Barcelona. Give us the rundown on the comp.
OG: Robin Gracie has run his competition for the past twelve years (I have no idea why it's the 10th at the moment, one of those strange moments of competition logic, I guess), and he changed the rules recently to run under the standard CBJJ rules rather than his own versions, which allowed all leglocks at white belt, and a lot of other things that would make me very uncomfortable. I got brought in to referee because I have a fair amount of experience with that kind of thing, and decided combining a trip abroad with a chance to work at a competition and fight all in one weekend could only be a good thing. I dropped a little bit of weight to fight under 74kg (the lowest weight class there), and had two fights against two tough local guys. I somehow managed to choke the first one unconscious in about thirty seconds, and in the second fight I was down 2-0 until the last thirty seconds, when I managed to catch a panic armbar and cranked it incredibly hard to just about get the tap. Got slightly lucky, but it was nice to win my first international gold at Brown Belt.
UK BJJ: What’s the level of BJJ like in Spain?
OG: All the competitors I saw out there were very very tough. The two fighters who won the Purple Belt division weight and absolute were both guys I had fought in the past, and both of them gave me very tough fights indeed, plus the Brown Belts I fought were also very good. I was surprised how few competitors there were at the competition considering how well organised the whole event was, so I guess the numbers aren't as great as they are in the UK, but the standards are just as high, and I'm sure they will be producing more strong fighters in the near future.
UK BJJ: How important do you think competing is for someone’s development in BJJ?
OG: I think that it's important, but not essential. From a mental standpoint, it helps a lot in terms of motivation, giving you purpose in your training and keeping you on the mat when you might otherwise be content to just head home for the day. It also gives you confidence in your abilities when you are able to win something that validates the faith your instructor has put in you by awarding you your belt. Finally, I think it helps keep things in perspective about what exactly the difference between training and competition is. People who don't compete tend to get all their competitive urges out on the mat, which isn't very healthy in my opinion. If you're competing regularly outside of the academy, you can train without so much ego because you know that your training partners are there to help you get better, not for you to fight against.
UK BJJ: How do you prepare for a comp?
OG: In general, it's just an overall sharpening of my game and mental focus. I try not to miss any sessions at all, no matter the reason and no matter how tired I might feel (since I normally take a day and a half off before a competition, this isn't that hard to justify), and more importantly, I treat every roll like a competition match. I keep track of points in my head, so that I know that if I'm 'losing' in the roll I need to try harder, and I work on my 'A' game only, no attempting flying reverse omoplatas or stupid things. Just getting my mentality right before I fight. That's kind of difficult for me, so I try to only do that for a week or so leading up to it. Otherwise everything gets a little too serious for my liking.
UK BJJ: What is the best bit of advice you could give anyone who competes or wants to compete?
OG: Stick to what you're good at. Lots of people go into competition and start doing a whole lot of moves that they just haven't really trained or aren't that good at. Work out before you go in what you're going to try and do, and then do it. If things go wrong, try and get back to a position that you're comfortable, and work from there again. Oh, and try to make sure you get the first points on the board. It makes everything a lot easier. ^_-
UK BJJ: What are your goals for rest of this year?
OG: Honestly, I'm just trying to grow into my Brown Belt at the moment. I'm heading out to the Worlds in a couple of weeks to see how my level holds up, but I'm not expecting too much at the moment, just a tester for now. Next year it really kicks off. I'd also like to try to pick up a medal (preferably gold) at the CBJJE Europeans as well as the Scandinavian Open. I might also head out to the US for another of the competitions in the No-Gi season out there. But ultimately, I just want to keep getting better, and getting the results to prove it along the way.
UK BJJ: And to finish, a few quick fire questions
UK BJJ: Gi or no Gi?
OG: Gi. Although I enjoy no-gi more when just rolling, in competition it's a lot less fun. More stalling, less options. That sounds odd, I know, but it's my experience!
UK BJJ: Favourite submission?
OG: Loop choke. Failing that, Triangle.
UK BJJ: Favourite fighter?
OG: Hard to choose just one. BJJ-wise – Roger Gracie, Braulio Estima, Lucas Leite, Lucas Lepri. MMA – Demian Maia, Georges Saint-Pierre, Eddie Alvarez.
UK BJJ: Favourite comp?
OG: Europeans have always been good to me, so I'll have to go with that. IBJJF Europeans – it might be more expensive than most to enter, but there's a lot of good guys, it's not TOO expensive to get to, you get the teams competition as well, and for the most part, it runs to a schedule. Can't ask for a lot more than that for a weekend away! That said, I might be a little biased!
UK BJJ: Is there any one you would like to thank, Sponsors etc?
OG: I'd like to give a very big thank you to Black Eagle (www.black-eagle.co.uk) for my training gear and also for their help in getting me to competitions all over the world, they make most of my competitions possible. Also, Scramble (www.scramblestuff.com) have been kitting me out with some very cool clothing and are working hard on putting out quality new products which should really be raising their profile in the clothing community, keep an eye on their site! Also, although it should really go without saying, thank you to Roger and all my instructors over the past few years for everything they've taught me and all my training partners, without whom I'd never have learned anything.
Finally, as always, a big thank you to my parents for their support, my girlfriend Chun-yee for her tolerance, and everyone out there who has ever helped me with anything for getting me to where I am today.
