Oli Geddes
Grappling Dummies Short: Oli Geddes Interview from martial farts on Vimeo.
Scramble is very proud to be associated with Oli Geddes, one of the most prolific competitors on the European Brazilian Jiu Jitsu circuit.
Don't be scared by the above picture: Not only is Oli an amazing grappler with hundreds of wins to his name, but he is a down to earth, humble, and funny guy, qualities that are absolutely essential for any potential Scrambler.
In his own words:
"I began my BJJ training at Sleeping Storm, an academy that offered instruction in all kinds of martial arts that was local to my home outside London. I trained there for six months under Ricardo Da Silva (then a Purple Belt), but decided if I was going to pursue jiujitsu more seriously, I would need to find myself a full-time academy. As a result, I moved up to London to begin training at the Roger Gracie Academy in Ladbroke Grove and spent several months sleeping on the floor at a friend's house and training every day. After three months at Ladbroke Grove, I received my Blue Belt from Roger Gracie in April 2006.
For much of the next two years, I occupied himself by training at the academy and assisting with the Kids classes that were operating at the academy HQ, as well as helping with any odd jobs that presented themselves. The Kids classes unfortunately wound down after the instructor moved on from the academy, and so for a while I was back to just training and doing my best to improve. I received my Purple Belt from Roger Gracie in June 2008 after my second attempt at the World Championships at Blue Belt. Shortly after that, I took up a full-time position as a receptionist at the academy, which finally gave me access to an income that would allow me to take my already-active competition schedule to the next level.
In October 2009, I left my job and am now living at the Roger Gracie Academy in Ladbroke Grove whilst pursuing a career as a full-time Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructor. Finally, at the beginning of February 2010, I received my Brown Belt from Roger Gracie after winning the European Championships for the second time.
I would like to think I am one of the most active competitors in the world, having won over 40 gold medals in my relatively short competition career and taken part in over 250 competitive grappling matches, winning a significant majority. I hold a number of titles, both national and international, and continue to compete on a local and world level on an almost-weekly basis.
My most notable achievement to date was winning the Abu Dhabi Pro European Qualifiers in Barcelona, where I defeated a Black Belt and a Brown Belt in back-to-back fights to take Gold and qualify for an all-expenses-paid trip to the World Professional Jiu-jitsu Cup in Abu Dhabi. Although I was knocked out of that competition by a world-class Brown Belt from the United States, it was still a tremendous opportunity to compete in the same division as greats of the sport such as Marcelo Garcia, Michael Langhi & Claudio Calasans, and one that I hope to repeat in the near future. I have also won both the CBJJ and CBJJE European titles in my weight, as well as capturing the CBJJE Purple Belt Absolute title and medalling at the Pan-American Gi and No-Gi Competitions. Whilst a World medal still eludes me, that is one thing that I am hoping to put right in the near future."
Dan Strauss
Scramble's second acquisition! We are super-pumped to introduce Dan Strauss to you. Dan is the Lightweight champion of the Ultra Heavyweight division - a talented and exciting jiu jitsuka fighting out of Mill Hill, part of the Roger Gracie Academy in London. Dan is a Scrambler because he has a fast-moving, dynamic grappler with a quirky sense of humour, just like us. We are doing out best to sign Brad McWilliams, too. Dan is rumoured to be the only person who has had contact with Brad (and lived to tell the tale.)
Dan on Dan:
"I started training BJJ in 2005 at Mill Hill Jiu Jitsu club, under the instruction of Nick Brooks, now black belt under Roger Gracie. I also trained occasional sessions at GB Milton Keynes with Braulio Estima and at the main Roger Gracie academy. In January 2007 I received my blue belt from Braulio Estima. I later began training more at the Roger Gracie academy and in September 2009 received my purple belt from Roger Gracie himself. For the last year I have been working at Mill Hill Combat and Conditioning academy teaching gi and nogi classes as well as the childrens classes.
I have been an active competitor in gi and nogi grappling competitions since i began training. Of the many tournament ive competing in the highlights are as follows. My first gold medal came in 2007. where, age 16, I won the ADCC UK nationals becoming the youngest national champion. Later that year I travelled to California to fight the 1st nogi world championships. I won the blue belt juvenile division to become to the UK’s first nogi world champion. In 2008 I travelled to Brazil to fight in the birth place of BJJ and to compete in the Rio State international tournament. Despite still being a juvenile, at 17 years old, i fought the adult division and submitted 4 out of 5 opponents to win the championship. At the 2008 Seni show I fought and won gold in the Gracie invitational tournament and was later awarded the EFN fighter of the year award.
My aim is to continue to compete and win and more importantly to win gold in the world championships at purple, brown and black belt."
