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This is the new home on the Internet for Point Blank Submissions. This site will be a resource for finding out about what is happening with the Point Blank club, how are our fighters doing at home and abroad, and for those interested in joining for the first time it holds a tonne of useful information about how our classes work and the friendly environment you will find at the Point Blank Gym in Galway. So whether you are a hardened vet, a novice or someone looking for a fun way to keep fit, this website is the right place to start.

Yours in Martial Arts,

Mark Leonard,
Club Instructor

 
Point Blank Gym
Informed Performance Amateur Event
Written by MarkLeonard   
Sunday, 23 May 2010 17:05

The 23rd of May feature the two hottest days of the year since the summer of 1961, and an Amateur MMA event in Informed Performance's gym in Dublin's North Side. Okay, maybe I exaggerated about the heat, but the event did take place and it is a great addition to the Irish MMA calendar. First fight of the day was Jason Quinn from Point Blank, who had been plaguing me to try and get on this show to make sure he had no ring rust for his fight a week later in Waterford. I had refused multiple times as the striclty amateur approach of this event would have ruled Jason out with his C class match debut already made. Barry Oglesby, fight promoter and arm chair comedian, mentioned that Przemek Mucha was looking for a match, he had also previously debuted in C class, I thought it was a good fit for Jason and so the match was made.

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Jason controlled the striking for all three rounds and was able to negate all of Premek's takedown attempts and reversed the clinch a couple of times to land some knees. He never looked to be under duress through the fight but anyone as strong and capable as Premek is always dangerous, so Jason kept a cool head and followed his game plan to get the decision.

Next out for Point Blank was Sean  Conroy, Sean had put in tremendous work for this match up, in particular working his takedowns and clinch. In the opening seconds this extra training paid dividends as he slipped under an overhand right thrown by Conor Flynn of Tuatha De Danann and finished a double leg with a slam to the mat. Sean dominated the first round; maintained top position  then attacked with submission attempts once he was reversed to his back. Coming in after the first round Sean's cardio was holding well and he was working the game plan well. Round two started with the overhand right from Connor catching Sean clean. The Galway man went down but recovered immediately working his guard game to get back into the match. The action returned to the feet and Connor worked a tight guillotine which he took to the floor to finish. Disappointment for Sean, but he can hold his head high having done himself and Point Blank proud.

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Pictures form the day are available here

Congratulations to Barry and the IP team for putting on a great event and giving Irish MMA fighters another stepping stone between the League and full rules competition. Lastly I thought I would add a picture of the car and driver that stopped Jason from leaving IP when he was done, enjoy.

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Ryan Hall visit to Point Blank confirmed!
Written by MarkLeonard   
Friday, 21 May 2010 10:31

On the Second of October, Ryan Hall will give a 4 hour seminar @Point Blank Gym. The number of places is TBD, but the cost of the seminar will be 50 euro. I am giving everyone advance notice so there is no disappointment from people who want to go missing out this time, like there was with my friend Marcus Davis. Once the number attending is decided, I will start taking names for the seminar. Its not often we get to trian with someone of his calibre, and the best thing is, as well as being an awesome competitor the guy is a Black Belt in communication and instruction as well.

So who is Ryan Hall?

Ryan HallBlack Belt under 2-time world champion, Felipe Costa, Ryan Hall is one of the most successful American-born Jiu-Jitsu players to date. Since beginning his competitive career in July of 2004, Ryan has cemented himself as one of the most promising up-and-coming submission grapplers in the world, defeating some of the sport’s greatest champions along the way (including UFC fighters and Black Belt World Champions, many of whom have been training decades longer than he has). Ryan is a CBJJ Mundial (world) and European champion who has also medaled at the Brazilian Nationals and twice been invited to compete at the ultra-prestigious Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championship where he is one of only a handful of American competitors to have come home with a medal.

 

 

 

 

Ryan HallIn addition to his competitive exploits, Ryan is an accomplished coach, highly sought after for expert seminars all over the world. When Ryan isn’t training for competitions or learning from world class athletes from around the United States and the globe, he can often be found instructing Jiu-Jitsu and Combatives workshops for the United States military, helping to prepare the soldiers for any unarmed situation they may face while in the field. Ryan’s students have competed successfully at the local, national, and international levels, rising rapidly through the ranks. He has also produced a series of instructional DVDs that have garnered wide acclaim and is the author of “How To Master The Triangle Choke,” the definitive resource for training information regarding this signature technique of Jiu-Jitsu.


A brief summary of Ryan’s accomplishments:

  • Over 300 victories in competition (over 275 via submission)
  • Over 200 victories in competition via triangle choke
  • 2009 Abu Dhabi World Championships <65.9kg Bronze Medallist
  • 2007 Abu Dhabi World Championships Alternate Match Champion
  • 2009 Abu Dhabi North American West Coast Trials Professional Lightweight Champion
  • 2009 CBJJ Mundial Bronze Medalist
  • 2008 CBJJ Mundial Champion
  • 2007 CBJJ No-Gi Mundial Champion
  • 2008 CBJJ European Champion
  • 2008 CBJJ Brasiliero Bronze Medalist
  • 2007 US Open Champion
  • 10x Professional Superfight Champion (NAGA, NeverTap, US Grappling, et al)
  • #1 RATED Competitor Overall Nationwide for 2006
  • #1 RATED Advanced Submission Grappler Nationwide for 2006
  • #1 RATED Purple Belt Competitor Nationwide for 2006
  • #1 RATED Blue Belt Competitor Nationwide for 2005
  • Many times Grapplers Quest, NAGA, U.S. Grappling, Mission Submission Advanced Division Champion
  • Many times Grapplers Quest, NAGA, US Grappling Advanced Absolute (open weight) Division Champion
 
Marcus Davis Seminar Report
Written by MarkLeonard   
Tuesday, 04 May 2010 10:19

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The gym had been buzzing for weeks about the imminent arrival of UFC star Marcus Davis. Some people had expressed reservations that it might not be the best seminar in the world as much of what Marcus is good at might be hard to pass on in a non-sparring environment. Okay, at the risk of being blown to bits by an Irish Hand Grenade, I was one of the doubters. My impression of Marcus prior to training with him was that he was phenomenal on the feet, and that while his ground and clinch were good, I didn’t think he would be able to pass on the majority of what he was good at without punching me in the face a lot to “learn” me. There was so much interest in meeting Marcus that I had pretty much written the seminar off as a celebrity meet and greet with some training thrown in. I have to admit I couldn’t have been more wrong!marcus_davis_working_in_mark_leonards_guard_at_point_blank_gym

Marcus is an affable, jovial guy and one of the most remarkably humble guys given his level of success. On the mat he is tremendously technical and is a natural instructor. He is able to convey the big picture in the context of the techniques he demonstrates, and he has as good a mind for detail as any BJJ black belt I have trained with. He is not a BJJ Black Belt of course, and though it is strange to note that, I do so on purpose because with Marcus this is undoubtedly his strength. He made reference to his different approach to the ground on more than one occasion, but had he not it would still have been difficult to ignore. His tactics on the floor are quite different from the standard ground game, everything he does is about creating a stable platform to deliver strikes and advance his position simultaneously.

There was no time for sparring this time around, but in answering questions he gave me a couple opportunities to experience his particular flavour of ground and it was impressive. In hindsight, and with context from speaking with Marcus, his ground game grew organically from necessity; a fighter learning the ground game while appearing on The Ultimate Fighter and attempting to start a UFC career had to have a very different approach, when compared to someone learning Jiu Jitsu for its own merit. Marcus was always looking at it from a focused goal of winning fights, no “maybe this will be useful later” or “if I learn this I will be more versatile”, his ground game is like a laser pointed at making his opponent’s night a bad one, that burns away anything even slightly irrelevant to that singular goal.

paul_the_pitbull_hickey_kos_marcus_davis marcus_davis_in_point_blank_colours_with_paul_thie_pitbull_hickeyMarcus was a professional boxer and trains now with Sityodtong under Mark Delagrotti, and his striking instruction was just as detailed. Marcus’ good nature lasted well after he finished instructing as when the session ended he was beset with requests for autographs and pictures from almost every member at the gym and he was very happy to oblige each and every one. He made strong representation of his Irish heritage later that night; his country of birth may have been the United States, but he could drink with the very best of the Galwegians!

 
MMA League Galway 2010 Report
Written by MarkLeonard   
Wednesday, 10 March 2010 07:47

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The Kingfisher Sports Hall in NUI, Galway was the venue for the first round of the MMA League this year. Saturday, March 6th, and a host of MMA fighters descended to get weighed in and begin creating their Irish Amateur MMA legacy. So too did Point Blank members Dom, Bobby, Connor, Mosi, Johnny, David, Gary, Mike and Sean, and right from the get go the lads started working to bring home as many points as they could. First out for PBS was Sean Conroy against fellow League veteran Paul Keenan. The pair began an energetic back and forth but the tussle was cut short when Paul inadvertantly struck Sean to the head (illegal at the league) and was disqualified. Over on the other ring Mosi made his debut against talented Spartan Northside grappler Sean McDermott. Though Mosi fought hard, he was never bale to settle in the match and it wound up not going his way. Mike took to the floor for his first match, that was going well for the talented lightweight, but he was to be denied points on this occasion, falling foul to a well taken guillotine from Uli Stanke. Both Sean and Mike came back for their second matches fiercely determined and their efforts paid dividends, netting draws from their second matches.

Gary was in centre stage over on ring two but found it hard to generate momentum against the very strong Wexford MMA fighter Michael Skrajny. The pair were the only veterans in the welterweight division and as such had to fight each other. When Gary's opportunity to wipe the slate clean came he took it in spades, keeping Skrajny on the back foot for the majority of the match, and being inches from finishing an arm bar as the bell went. Connor McNevin's first match of the tournament in a hard fought draw, Connor was in the ascendancy for most of the match, but couldn't convert his takedowns and positional dominance into a submission. His second outing was against one of the most experienced teen grapplers in the League, Karl Redmond. Connor fought well against the veteran from SBG, but fell foul to a triangle administered by the long legs of Redmond. Despite being trapped inside a tight submission for almost a minute Connor refused to give up and continued repeated escape attempts until the very end.

Bobby returned to the teen division as reigning champion from 2009, but found immediately that the going would be even tougher this year. Though he took back to back wins in his two fights, both were hard fought and close to the end. Bobby was his usual picture of calm in the sea of contained violence however and calmly worked through technique after technique until he got the wins. Sean Conroy's second match was against Pankration standout Dave McNamara, Dave is no stranger to us in Point Blank as he often attends the Saturday sparring classes. Sean worked dilligently to secure a takedown, but for most of the round Dave defended while peppering back leg kicks and punches. Sean demonstrated the composure of a League veteran and didn't flinch once; when he found himself taken down and mounted he continued working hard until he had the position reversed and could mount some offence from on top. Time became the enemy however as there was nothing left on the clock at this point. A determined and solid performance from Sean though, and a great result against a fighter like Dave.


Rounding out the day for Point Blank were Johnny and David, Johnny netted the coveted three points from Tom Hogan in his first outing, Tom actually did the beginners course in Point Blank so it seemed very Civil War esque when the two fought, Johnny's second match didn't go as he had hoped, an early takedwon had him on his back for a large stretch of the opening minutes, and when he reversed to take top his momentum had been robbed. He fell foul to a submission late in the match after a goal mouth to goal mouth struggle that either man could have taken. David Mullen's introduction to the League was a high intensity battle with reversals and position changes enough to make it reminiscent of a BJ Penn match. Though he had the momentum numerous times, he oculdn't manage to steal a submission from under his opponent finishing with a draw.

A great day for Point Blank all around, lots of things to work on, but generally a tremendous performance from our lads, well done guys!

 
Hell's Rage Report
Written by MarkLeonard   
Monday, 01 March 2010 09:04

For many people a four hour drive is a daunting prospect, especially when you are coming back the next day, but for Paul Hickey, Paul Delaney and Jason Quinn it was only the start of the adventure. The first promotion run by Top Pro Kilkenny Lightweight stand out Myles Price in White's Hotel, County Wexford. The event entitled "Hell's Rage" took place in a fantastic venue, the ballroom in White's hotel suited the event, plenty of room for fans and the cage, long bar to keep dehydration at bay, and two big screens so any action on the ground that unsighted the fans and good changing rooms, warm up areas for the fighters. The only hiccup was the event didn't get started until half 8, an hour after the scheduled start time. The delay was caused by the doctor taking too long to do pre-fight checks, but as he was only drafted literally the night before, we can't really blame him either!

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First fighter up for Point Blank was Paul Delaney. Paul had put in a tremendous amount of work for this fight and was fiercely determined that he take home the win. Round one started fast with Paul's opponent, Brendan McGarry of Top Pro working into clinch from a lead leg turnging kick, after some scrambling he got Paul down, and worked hard to try and net a submission from on top and guard. Paul remained calm, killed the angles negating any attacks and worked back to his feet. After some more scrmbling the pair wound up on the mat again with Brendan back on the offensive. As round 1 came to a close, Paul hadn't been able to land much offence.

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Round 2 told a very different tale however, Paul had figured out McGarry's range and timing and was now able to circle off form any takedown attempts, landing shots in the process. Round 2 was a big round for paul as he began landing heavy shots towards the end of the round as well as dominating throughout. Round 3 had the visibly tired McGarry on the back foot more and more, he attempted a scissors takedown which Paul stepped back out of. Paul landed some big shots again and put the Kilkenny man to the canvas, Brendan couldn't answer referee Dave Jone's calls to get back to his feet and Paul got the win by TKO. Paul semed to have enough in the tank for another two rounds, so all his extra trainign defintely paid off!

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Second out was Jason, facing a bit of an unknown quantity in Shootfighter Andrew Connolly. The first round started with a blistering exchange betwene the two big men. Andrew was making use of his slight reach advantage ot land strikes but Jason negated it by closing to clinch and putting the dubliner on his back. Jason kept him down for the duration of the round landing damage and working for submissions that although not successful took a toll on Andrew's cardio. Round 2 and Jason started to land his strikes as Andrew began to slow down. Jason began following up jabs with right hands and started landing more often.The damage accumulated on Connolly and as Jason sent him crashing to the mat after a tremendous barrage the referree called a halt to the contest awarding Jason the win by TKO. Though Jason had certainly felt the effort of dealing with a game opponent like Andrew his fitness carried him to the win for a tremendous debut performance.

Last out was Paul Hickey facing Dean Barry of Next Gen Arklow. It seemed as though Dean had brough the majority of Arkolow with him as calls of "There's only one Dean Barry" clarified that its not as common a name as one might think. Round 1 started badly for Paul as Dean began landing strikes from his slightly superior range right from the off. Paul began trying to implement the game plan and get the taller man on his back, but struggled in doing so, as the Arklow man had great savvy in the clinch. Paul's continued efforts were rewarded toward the end of the 1st round as he got him down and immediately began to land damaging ground and pound. The second round started with Paul struggling from the weight of his constant takedown attempts in round 1. Dean landed a flurry of shots that rattled Paul long enough for Dean to get top position on the ground and force Dave Jones to step in, a disappointing night for the Pitbull, but a good performance nonetheless against a very talented fighter. The main event was particularly entertaining, though unfortunately not for the usual reaosns. BJJ purple belt Marchin took on Miles Price, no stranger to us in Point Blank. Marchin ran across the ring at the start of round one landing a strike then jumping up to pull guard. Marchin's ground was top notch, no doubt abotu it. Myles struggled to keep safe as submission setup after setup were thrown by the groundfighting Pole, but keep safe he did, twice more Marhcin threw guard against Myles and tried to submit him, at one point he had Myles in butterfly guard and had control of Myles weight briefly, this obviously gave Marchin renewed confidence as he shouted "Ha ha I have you now". Myles escaped and got back to his feet. From then on the match consisted of Marchin throwing an ineffective strike and jumping to the ground or being punched by Myles and him jumping to the ground (occasionally being knocked to the ground), each time he would stay there and gesture Myles to come into his guard. Myles would wait for him to stand up and then score with more strikes. The Referee eventually had to dock a point from Marchin as he was continually stalling the fight and very slow to return to his feet. In round two Marchin continued with his antics, which looked to be down to a lack of cardio, and in the end after Myles had landed him on the ground with a particularly solid combination, he stopped the fight awarding Myles the TKO victory. A tremendously succesful night for Myles as a promoter and a fighter!

 
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