Q2 2012 London BJJ Women's Open Mat hosted by Sarah Merriner and Carlson Gracie London
On Sunday 22 April, Sarah Merriner and Carlson Gracie London hosted the 11th quarterly London BJJ Women’s Open Mat. This was a packed weekend for BJJ women in London with a Michelle Nicolini seminar and the Tatami Fightwear women’s BJJ competition both running on Saturday. Nevertheless, 18 women attended including many enjoying their first open mat. Sarah reports that it went really well:

We gave the girls a choice of free rolling/drilling time or techniques. A majority opted for technique. The request was for triangle techniques, so Kat Gibson (RGA) and myself went over some basics of the triangle and and a variety of setups. We then moved on to timed sparring rounds for a good hour, before winding down with some free-rolling time, to give the girls time to discuss techniques and spar a little more.

Honourable mention has to go out to Susan Mansfield who won her division in Saturday’s women-only BJJ competition and to Zsuzsi Carneiro de Moura who, totally new to BJJ, came along to the open mat, ‘borrowed a gi and got stuck straight in to techniques and sparring’. That’s what it’s all about!

Stay tuned for details of our Q3 Open Mat which will be announced shortly.