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My two-day swimming marathon was fine until I put on my jiu-jitsu gi

Posted on January 21 2022

By Cpl John Hannay I have never been much of a swimmer, so perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to set myself the challenge of swimming two kilometres every four hours for 48 hours. But I needed something tough and this certainly fit the bill. Each 2km stint...

From stadium gigs with Courtney Love, to a spiral of drink, drugs and depression

Posted on January 14 2022

By Micko Larkin, professional guitarist and aspiring martial artist As a musician I had a fair bit of success early on and didn’t look back. I got signed with an indie band called Larrikin Love when I was still a teenager, and although we split after only one album,...

More than 3,000 take part in record-breaking jiu-jitsu rollathon

Posted on December 17 2021

Worldwide 24-hour martial arts challenge to raise money for military, veterans and emergency first responders Thousands of people around the world have taken part in the largest-ever charity “rollathon”. From 8am on Thursday to 8am on Friday last week more than 60 martial arts gyms linked up via Zoom and...

Andy Roberts: I saw five police struggling to hold one man down

Posted on December 07 2021

Andy is head jiu-jitsu coach for the British Army and teaches martial arts to police and elite UK Armed Forces I have always been a big supporter of both the military and emergency services and if I hadn’t ended up doing martial arts full time, my life could well have...

When I left the Army I felt completely lost

Posted on November 19 2021

By Kev Capel, RAF chief jiu-jitsu instructor I joined the Army at the age of 16 and when I left ten years later I didn’t really know anything else. I missed the feeling of belonging to a tight-knit group and having that shared sense of purpose. To be honest...

Jiu-jitsu takes off in the British Army

Posted on November 05 2021

By Mark Badham, co-founder of the British Army jiu-jitsu team Most people expect soldiers to be trained in all aspects of fighting. I have been in the military for more than 20 years and while we were trained to use weapons, unarmed combat training was conspicuous by its absence....

Bellator star: fighting is all about having the right mindset

Posted on October 29 2021

Ross Houston is a former Cage Warriors champion...

Michelle Waterson: being a mother makes me fight even harder

Posted on October 08 2021

By UFC fighter Michelle Waterson I was a small, shy child who would...

Big Phil: boxing brought me back from the edge

Posted on October 01 2021

By SAS veteran, security specialist and author Phil Campion The first time I really thrived was...

Jiu-jitsu makes women stronger in so many ways

Posted on September 03 2021

By Coach Joanna, World and European jiu-jitsu champion and Roger Gracie black belt People are drawn to martial arts...

Atlantic row to buy vital kit for hospital that saved my baby boy

Posted on August 20 2021

By the Atlantic Grappler, aka jiu-jitsu black belt and former Royal Marines Commando Mike Bates My sons were fighting for their lives from the minute they were born. My eldest was five weeks premature and my youngest was 11 weeks early. It is hard to explain how tough it...

Armed response officer: I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for REORG and Rock 2 Recovery

Posted on July 30 2021

By Lee Tucker, armed response officer and former firefighter Back in 2018 PTSD hit me really hard. I spent 15 years in the Fire Service and have now served 12 years with the police. It’s not so much the individual scenes you have to witness on duty that get...

Improve your jiu-jitsu with a commando mindset

Posted on July 09 2021

By former Royal Marines Commando Mike Bates There are very few pursuits that expose you in the way that jiu-jitsu does. Often in everyday life people hold a lot of themselves back. But when you’re on the mat, you can’t hide, we see the real you. As a...

Braulio Estima: I had a paralysing neck injury months before the fight of my life

Posted on June 18 2021

By three-times world jiu-jitsu champion Braulio Estima The resilience that you learn in jiu-jitsu is a very useful lesson for the rest of your life. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a fair bit of success on the mats, but on the other side I’ve not been without my fair...

Daily challenges are vital for building resilience

Posted on May 27 2021

‘Daily challenges are vital for building resilience’ By Former Special Forces Sergeant Major Gaz Banford Human beings need daily challenges. We may dream of a life of leisure, but that’s all that really is, a dream. It is healthy for us to be challenged on a daily basis – we...

'I don’t want to relax, someone is sitting on my chest'

Posted on May 27 2021

‘I don’t want to relax, someone is sitting on my chest’ Juniour Mcilhiney is a former Royal Marines Commando who was hit by an IED on his second tour of Afghanistan, sustaining serious back injuries. After intensive rehabilitation he was medically discharged in 2015. A keen boxer since he was...

'Battling terrifying Atlantic waves ‘like going for a row with friends’

Posted on May 27 2021

'Battling terrifying Atlantic waves ‘like going for a row with friends’ For a lot of people, tackling ocean waves in a small rowing boat for six weeks is the stuff of nightmares. For four Royal Marines – two serving, two Veterans – it was the chance to do what they...

Jiu-jitsu grandmaster Mauricio Gomes

Posted on May 27 2021

Jiu-jitsu grandmaster Mauricio Gomes Everyone at REORG owes a big debt to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu grandmaster Mauricio Gomes. The 8th degree coral belt did more than anyone else to help establish Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) through the United Kingdom in the early 2000s. Mauricio is also the father of Roger Gracie-Gomes, the REORG-supporting...

Everybody suffers from what we see on the battlefield - Ben Wadham

Posted on May 21 2021

Leaving the military is a tough transition for a lot of people. I was in the Royal Marines for 12 years and when I left it was a shock. As a physical training instructor, when I walked through the camp everyone knew my name and there was always that level...

REORG founder Sam Sheriff (left) with fellow former Royal Marine Sam Laird

Jiu-jitsu helped me out of a really dark place

Posted on April 23 2021

By Sam Laird, former Royal Marines Commando and co-founder of The Green Retreat Ever since I started judo when I was 11, I have loved all martial arts. But in the last few years, my training has taken on a new level of importance, because it has been a vital...

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