So if you’re a regular reader, by now you know that whenever I travel, 99% of the time I’ve my Gi with me and I probably have found a spot to get in some jiu-jitsu. On this trip though I was a bit hesitant about bringing the Gi along. With being back in school, I hadn’t been to the gym much to train, so I knew I was rusty and probably would catch a few lumps. But the goal of the trip was to get away from everything and breathe. My classes were a real challenge and left me pretty stressed out. In the end I decided to pack the Gi, this trip was about visiting family and relaxing, and Jiu-Jitsu was something that I’ve always enjoyed and that relaxed me.

There are a few places close by which I’ve been in the past (Impact Westport and Atlantic Sligo), but because of the length and purpose of my stay I didn’t want to drive too far or make any promises about popping in for some rounds and not actually be able to. The place I found to train this time was an SBG Affiliate located not far from me (12 minutes) in the town of Ballina, and aptly named SBG Ballina. The school was located in a well stocked (weights, cardio equipment, etc) gym owned by one of the instructors, Stephen Geddes. Stephen gave me a quick tour of the gym before I got changed for training. The place was pretty large and set up really well. In the back they had a large matted and caged area for jiujitsu, and if I recall correctly a boxing area off to the side.

There were about 25 guys in the class of a variety of skill levels and sizes. The class opened with some warm-up drills including shrimping, break-falls and a few others. The technique of the day was demonstrated by Ross Williams, and was a kimura to crufix from side control. We moved through the technique and onto some sparring. I had some tough rounds with a few of the guys including Ross, Michael Cullen, Jack Armstrong and Kevin Nolan before I was shot and decided to call it a night. I chatted for a bit before thanking everyone, saying my goodbyes and making my way back home. It was a solid night on the mats, and after a day wandering about Northwest Mayo, I was ready for an order of Supermac’s curry chips and my bed.