Last weekend I was asked by my local Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club to attend the BJJ British Open. A number of their members were competing and wanted their matches photographed.
I took the chance to contact a few other teams and clubs, offering up my services in advance.
I went down Friday evening allowing an early start Saturday to acclimatise myself to the venue, dialing in the camera settings. The kids were up first and I was glad I got there early, the talent on show was a testament to their training and coaches, and it allowed me to get up to speed with the action.
Teams from not just the UK but all over the world made the trip to Warwick University, bringing along their best competitors.
With multitudes of ages, weights, and skill levels, there was always action to shoot over the weekend from the competition mats.
And it wasn't just the youngsters getting in on the action.
After weighing in, the competitors hit the warm-up mat to stretch, drill and warm up before entering the bull pen to wait for their match.
I was glad I had access mat side, it would have been difficult to find a good place to shoot, especially with a low angle.
The Warwick University Sports and Wellness Hub hosted plenty of spectators for just £10 for a full day of BJJ.
The high-level belts put on a great performance on both Saturday and Sunday.
With plenty of staff, referees, judges, and runners, plus the Smoothcomp software and live scoring system, the whole event run smoothly and faultlessly,
Please contact me via email at andy@alcphotography.co.uk for more details on covering your event, or any Jiu-Jitsu teams or individuals wanting coverage.
Thanks once again to Combat Base Leeds and The BJJ British Open for having me.
