News and opinion from Rebel Combat Sports, Eastbourne.https://rebelcombatsports.com/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-doesnt-belong-in-a-grappling-gym/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-doesnt-belong-in-a-grappling-gym/There are gyms where your next stripe depends on leaving a five-star Google review. Five things I think don't belong in a grappling gym, five things you should expect instead, and a tally you can run on your own club — starting with ours.Sun, 23 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/my-first-coach/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/my-first-coach/Nearly every grappling room in Eastbourne, and many across Sussex, traces back to one man. Tolly Plested started 1st Generation in 2010, brought BJJ and submission grappling to a town that didn't have them, and coached it all as a sport a decade before that was normal. This is what I learned in his room.Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/week-one-by-the-numbers/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/week-one-by-the-numbers/Launch week is done: six sessions, fifteen people on the mats, forty-plus live rounds, both sports running from day one. What we covered, who turned up, and what happened at the pub afterwards.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/were-open/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/were-open/We're open — bookings are live and the first session is Monday. Here's what's on this week, what this club actually is, and why everything I've spent the last four weeks claiming in public is now something you can walk in and test.Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/gi-classes-tuesday-and-friday/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/gi-classes-tuesday-and-friday/The gi classes finally have times: Tuesday 9:00–10:30 and Friday 19:00–20:30, from opening week. Adrian on why those two slots, what a gi session actually is, what you need to bring, and how rank works across both sports.Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/come-to-an-open-mat/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/come-to-an-open-mat/Before we open on 3 August, the best way to see what Rebel is really like is the free Sunday open mat. No membership, no booking, no sales pitch — just the people you'd actually be training with.Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-were-building-in-eastbourne/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-were-building-in-eastbourne/We open on 3 August. This is the plain version of what we're actually building here — the kind of grappling room I wanted in Eastbourne and couldn't find, and who it's for.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/a-sport-not-a-martial-art/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/starting-grappling-as-an-adult/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/strength-and-conditioning-for-grapplers/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/for-everybody-and-we-mean-it/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-get-genuinely-good-means/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-get-genuinely-good-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.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-your-first-session-looks-like/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/what-your-first-session-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.Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/your-belt-is-yours-not-a-leash/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/no-tradition-for-traditions-sake/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/no-tradition-for-traditions-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.Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/why-we-train-no-gi/https://rebelcombatsports.com/blog/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.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT