A former MMA pro fighter who is competing in the European Jiu-jitsu Championships in Rome in October has started a weekly grappling class in Cwmbran.
Owain Parry, from Pontnewydd, spoke to Cwmbran Life last night at the session in ABLE in Upper Cwmbran.
He said: “I’ve set up a grappling class, once a week, Brazilian jujitsu it is, but we do the No-Gi version of it, so we don’t wear the Judo jackets.”
The class is adults only, but Owain would like to start a children’s class in the future. His current members range from several complete beginners to someone with a brown belt.
So what is grappling?
He said: “Grappling is submission wrestling. You start standing, no strikes at all. You come out, get your hands on each other, and try to get your opponent to the floor, and look for a submission hold, or you can score points.”
Amatuer and professional
Owain has a long career in amateur and professional martial arts.
He said: “I started with grappling that progressed to mixed martial arts, along with boxing, Thai Boxing, and Judo. I’ve done all of them really, all the martial arts which are relevant to mixed martial arts.
“When I started with MMA, I was an amateur. I had five amateur bouts. I won all of those, and then I went pro, so I had a few pro bouts. I was five and three in the end but with pro MMA you need to be committed, and then I was working full-time, so I just couldn’t commit.
“I knocked that on the head, and that’s when I did a few amateur boxing bouts. I did amateur boxing for a year or two, finished with that, and then got back into the grappling.
“I was a brown belt when I finished grappling to go to boxing, and I came back and pushed on to get my black belt, which I had about two years ago now.”
Owain is competing in No-Gi jiu-jitsu at the UK Masters later this month. In October, he’s fighting in Rome at the European Championships.
He trains at Shore MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), a gym in Llanhilleth.
His session starts at 6.30pm every Monday at ABLE in Upper Cwmbran Rd (the former infants school site), Cwmbran NP44 1SN. If you want to try it out, just turn up in shorts, t-shirt and bring a water bottle.