The Blog
Opinion, method, and news from the mats. Straight from the coaches.
We coach it as a sport, not a martial art
Grappling is both, depending on who's talking. The distinction I care about isn't the word — it's whether the claims get tested. Here's what changes in a room that treats it as a sport.
Starting grappling as an adult
Starting a contact sport at thirty-five is a different problem to starting one at fifteen. Here's what actually gets in an adult's way — time, ego, an older body — and how to start anyway without wrecking your week.
Strength and conditioning for grapplers
Adrian on what strength work actually does for a grappler — why the weight room is there to keep you training, what to lift, how little of it you need, and why most 'grappling-specific' exercises are a waste of your time.
For everybody — and we mean it
Every gym says it's for everybody. Here's what we've actually built so that it's true — how the room works for beginners, for women, for people well past thirty — and where the honest limits are.
What "get genuinely good" actually means
"Get genuinely good at grappling" is the first thing we say on the front page — so here's exactly what I mean by it: what good actually looks like, how we measure it, and the honest amount of work it takes.
What your first session actually looks like
Nervous about a first grappling class? Here's exactly what happens — what to wear, what the hour is shaped like, and what the rolling is really like — so nothing about day one catches you off guard.
Your belt is yours, not a leash
I got demoted once — by one coach, for nothing to do with my skill. Here's what that taught me about how belts really work, and how we run rank at Rebel so it can never be used as a leash.
No tradition for tradition's sake
We don't bow, we don't run belt ceremonies, and we don't organise the room by rank. None of that is disrespect — it's us refusing to spend your training time on things that don't make you better.
Why we train no-gi
No jacket to grab — just you, the person in front of you, and what actually works. Here's why I coach no-gi, and why it gets you good faster.