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Redcat Academy

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Geelong, VIC
Redcat Academy

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Come and train with John B Will, Australia's First and most experienced BJJ Coach! Australia's first and highest graded BJJ Black Belt.

The recognised industry leader and SME in Defensive Tactics (engaged by military and law enforcement groups worldwide) Be trained by Australia's first and highest graded BJJ BLACK BELT - 6th Degree - Professor John Will

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Mixed Martial Arts

29/10/2026

10,000 positions of Jiu Jitsu
How many positions are there in Jiu Jitsu? This was one of my first questions, back in the 80’s. A very ‘beginner-like’ questions. There are of course, fundamental positions - main positions we can all agree on: Mount, Back Control,Side Control, Kneeride, etc - but these are what I call Landmark Positions; commonly understood positions that we can identify and easily relate to. Then there are a lot of variations on these landmark positions - taking the number of positions (especially if we include ‘guard variants’ - fa dozen positions to a hundred+ positions. Then, we have the ‘flip side’ of each position - the opponents side. That doubles the number - now we have hundreds. Then we have hundreds of pathways or sequences that take us between a given position and many, many others. Now we move from taking about hundreds to thousands. And then, each of those pathways, can be thin-sliced into a collections of ‘way-points’ - and if we count each of those waypoints as potential ‘positions’ in their own right, we get into tens of thousands. Then we double those numbers, because the opponent occupies the counterpart to each of those.
So how many positions are there in Jiu Jitsu? I asked Rigan Machado this one time - and he simply replied ‘So many, we cannot count them’.
Artwork here, created by my friend Seymour yang. Taken from his great book: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: The Ultimate Illustrated Guidebook (with his permission of course)

28/10/2026

A SLICE OF MY TEACHING CODE
Teaching isn't just merely the act of displaying knowledge.
It's more about changing another person's mental model.
I rarely chase novelty for its own sake; I look for enduring patterns, combine them across domains, strip away everything nonessential, and package what's left in such a way that another person can use it tomorrow. I optimise, prioritise and strip away the non-essentials.
The Redcat Way.

27/10/2026

Thriver Bias …
I believe in luck.
I have, as most everyone has, tasted both the good and the bad varieties. I also believe in planning, hard work, going without and taking calculated risks.
Understand this - only ever aspiring to grabbing the ‘lowest hanging fruit’ - almost guarantees very ‘ordinary’ outcomes. Everyone can reach that variety of fruit. Only those willing to climb higher, take a few risks, can expect to enjoy outsized rewards.
Risk-taking is how you get to the more ‘difficult to reach’ fruit - but it sometimes comes at a cost. Many of those who ‘survive’ taking those risks, just don’t see the problem’ - after all, nothing bad happened as a consequence of them taking those risks. These people, are possibly afflicted by what I'd call , ‘thriver bias’.
Sure, some of the risks may have been highly calculate ones; and perhaps those who thrive also pre-arm themselves with the skills and safety-nets required to survive ‘bad outcomes’; but sometimes, they are also just plain ‘lucky’. I think that ‘luck’ is a thing; again, both the good and bad varieties.
I have been guilty of taking many risks - and have often lacked a full appreciation of the price I might well have paid, had conditions been even slightly different. Yikes.
I have enjoyed extremely good luck at many times in my life thus-far. I am more prepared now of course, for a spate of bad luck, should it arise, but luck of the good variety has helped me along my way, on many an occasion.
‘Luck’ is a funny word - one that very often, might be replaced with another good word - ‘timing’. Did we decide to invest in the sharemarket - just before a boom, or just before a bust? Timing, as Miyamoto Musashi reminds us, is everything.
Pic: Melissa and Vee, pals, at the Gathering.

24/10/2026

Two of my favourite people - with (according to my wife) a third sitting quietly on mummies hip - Marco, Jaz and Cleo. Jazz Absolutely smashed it at the Panpacs last weekend - she is chuffed - but really, none of us at Redcat are that surprised. This family brings the joy and the heartwarming vibes to the mat, with every class ... wondrous.

12/10/2026

A few of the white belt crew spent time with 9th Degree Black Belt Prof Rigan Machado tonight. Just a casdual Monday at redcat Academy.

11/10/2026

80+ Black Belts in attendace for our training day today.

07/10/2026

My longtime friend, Rigan Machado arrives from Los Angeles this morning - and the last bits of prepping for the Gathering will be finalised today. Registrations remain open until midnight tonight. I'm really looking forward to Saturday at MSAC - catching up with a lot of people, people I've known for decades. Sunday will see us get together at Dominance Academy in Abbotsford - Rigan will be teaching. See everyone soon.

03/10/2026

Hello everyone,
With certain behaviours, in certain schools, going on in the BJJ community, I feel it’s worth re-iterating that the mat environment has changed in recent times.
There have always been women on the mat. But, decades ago, it was one or two women per mat - they were a rarity (kudos to those brave pioneers) - but nowadays, those numbers have increased dramatically - and the mat is far better for it, in my view. But, some men, need to adjust their behaviour accordingly.

First and foremost though - let’s be super clear: All women on the mat should not only ‘BE safe’ , they should be made to ‘FEEL safe’. We shouldn’t need to say this - but we’ve seen some well-known schools, fall apart, from breaches of this code of conduct in recent years. Let’s make a few things clear …

We are fortunate that women are coming to Jiu Jitsu - we want to encourage more of it, but some people need to realise that the training space is something of a sacred space. Men (and women) need to realise that they need to leave inappropriate innuendo outside of the training environment. Women are there to train, learn and grow - they don’t need exposure to unwanted advances, sexual comments, or the pressure of having to laugh off behaviour that makes them uncomfortable. It’s on all of us, and especially those who lead the room, to uphold that standard, so that no woman has to choose between speaking up and feeling welcome on the mat. Most men understand this - if they are unclear, perhaps they should simply ask would they like their sister or daughter to be exposed to inappropriate language and behaviour. It’s not rocket science.

01/10/2026

An astoundingly strange coincidence …

For BJJ history buffs - take a look at this little doco on George Gracie. He was somewhat rebellious in that he sought out training methods - boxing - wrestling - etc - to improve and support his Jiu Jitsu. He took on may challengers and played a pivotal role in the development of early Jiu Jitsu in Rio. And his nickname - something I didn’t know until very recently - THE REDCAT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9JYksZy4Xg

26/09/2026

The way to great things - is often difficult. And so, most people, don’t do many great things. The key though - is to DECIDE. And DECIDE hard! DECIDE and then take the steps. Earning a Blue Belt in Jiu Jitsu - is a great thing. It’s great because it sets you apart from almost everyone in the world. Real, testable and useable skills come with the Blue Belt. It’s something, really, really worth pursuing.

Address

159A Malop Street
Geelong, VIC
3220

Opening Hours

Monday	4pm - 9pm
Tuesday	4pm - 9pm
Wednesday	4pm - 9pm
Thursday	4pm - 9pm
Friday	6pm - 7:15pm
Saturday	3pm - 4:30pm

Telephone

+61352233666

Website

http://redcatacademy.com.au/

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