TRAFFORD SQUIRE

NOVEMBER 2023

Sport has always been a central part of my life, from a young age I competed in athletics, 100m,200m and high jump. My mum first sparked my interest in martial arts practicing Judo when she was younger. I took part in Judo for a few years but doing that, athletics and rugby, I was running my dad all over the place and finally settled into rugby. Playing for 13 years and becoming a loyal member of Accident & Emergency I took some time away and didn’t compete in sports for a while.

Last November I trialled at the club and have been hooked since. I wanted a sport that still had that contact sport element in a more controlled environment. Besides the physical side, the continuous learning that comes from BJJ pushes you to better yourself session after session and that’s addictive!

Aside from sports, I’m big into my gaming, when I’m not locked into the screen I like to get out into the music scene in Bristol. On the weekends when the sun shows I like to get out on my motorbike, a bit of fun that came out of covid. Boring stuff, I’m a systems engineering consultant working for AtkinsRéalis.

ADRIAN WISLA

OCTOBER 2023

I had first contact with BJJ in 2008. in total I’ve trained for around 13 years. My motivation to start was self-defence and fascination with grappling martial arts as I didn’t have access to anything like that until I moved to a bigger city. Later I had to move back, hence the long breaks in my training. The reason I chose BJJ was the positive opinions I read on the internet about the versatility of the art. Also, it was possible to get started at a BJJ club even as an adult (not true for many other grappling combat sports in Poland back then). When I couldn’t train Jiu-jitsu,

I would train boxing, go to the gym and skateboarding used to be my main pastime as a teenager. These days, when I don’t train and have some spare time, I like to enjoy some video games and a good session of go-karting-very recently got into motorsports. I’m a big fan of retro gaming, mainly Nintendo, and all sorts of electronics-especially everything Remotely Controlled. I am also very passionate about music, I used to play the bass guitar for quite a few years, although I don’t play that much these days. I still love to work on guitars and when I’m in the mood for it.

TOMASZ NIKODEMSKI

AUGUST 2023

I started training jiu-jitsu on the 6th of June 2021. I was always a fan of martial arts movies with Jackie Chan etc however I grew up in a poor family so I could only afford breakdancing.

I was doing breakdancing for 11 years and after two knee injuries, I switched to bodybuilding/weightlifting. I was doing that for the next 7 years and then I tried jiu-jitsu just as an extra cardio session for my bodybuilding.

Soon after that jiu-jitsu became my biggest passion.

ASH GIBSON

JULY 2023

I started training as I enjoyed the healthy side of competition that BJJ gave me and initially looking to compete in MMA I soon turned fully towards BJJ. It gave me a healthy focus being 19 which was better than the alternative choices that were available!

AKSAR MIAH

MAY 2023

I have always kept an active lifestyle since my teens, dabbled in Karate, and boxing. I loved playing football, running, and cycling and really got into powerlifting & Olympic lifting and got to a point where I needed a new challenge and most of all to be part of something, a Martial Art of some sort. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu got my attention, I did some research for clubs around Bristol and my friend suggested this place, so I gave it a trial run! I’m 37, 8 months into my training whilst balancing family, work and 3 kids but this has become my new passion, hungry as ever to train and eager to compete. You get out what you put in. It’s great for my body and medicine for my brain, can’t get enough! I enjoy it so much I’ve got my kids involved and now we’re a family of jiu-jitsu practitioners, just need to be able to convince my wife. Oss!

JAY NEWTON

APRIL 2023

I started my martial arts journey back in 1996, training in Japanese Jiu-jitsu under Kevin O’Hagan. (We call it Combat Ju-jutsu now as specific traditional martial arts have a bit of a bad name). I still train and now teach Japanese Jujitsu, although pursuing knowledge has led me to diversify my training over the years. I really enjoyed studying wrestling with Saeed Esmaeli and fell in love with Brazilian Jiu-jitsu when I started training with Pedro Bessa. Since finding RGA on our doorstep, I’ve clearly got the bug again. It’s not just that BJJ gets highly addictive, it’s the members that really make a club. Coming from someone who has trained on many different mats for over two decades now, RGA Bristol is a great place to train!

KERI BINGHAM

FEBRUARY 2023

Hello, I’m Keri, I’m 34 and stand pretty tall at 5ft1…

I like porridge, maybe too much, especially with Nutella, bananas, and pecans…sorry sidetracked.

I like being active – I recently completed a personal running challenge to run a half marathon every month in 2022. it was a lot of training and running but also a lot of fun, very fulfilling, and the inner peace while running was incredible.

I have two ninjas for children. They started BJJ here in July and I frequently get tagged teamed by them when we roll at home. I’d say their signature move is for one to control the hips and the other to sit on my head.

After watching the kids train in their lessons (with such lovely coaches) and practising with them at home I thought: I’ve found my next challenge. So here I am about 2.5/3 months later and am totally loving it. I’ve met some great people and had some great rolls. My current archnemesis is being trapped in closed guard. Wait, I shouldn’t have told you that…or should I?

JACK BRACE

JANUARY 2023

Hello, I’m Jack, I’m 21 and a 3-stripe white belt. I have always enjoyed martial arts and have previously trained in Japanese and Korean Karate, namely Shotokan Karate and Tang Soo Do, gaining a Brown Belt in the latter. Having spent quite a few years doing striking-based martial arts, I wanted to try something different and that’s when I joined Roger Gracie Bristol. Being from Southmead I knew of the club since it was on Doncaster Road, and it’s quite surreal that athletes are being moulded into world champions on my doorstep. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my training so far, and feel the community at the club is very special, I have made many good friends at the club and everyone at the club was so welcoming when I joined, I was put at ease almost instantly. Thanks for reading and see you on the mats!