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306 Educators providing Irish courses

Gracie Barra Belfast BJJ Academy (Northern Ireland)

gracie barra belfast bjj academy (northern ireland)

5.0(58)

Belfast

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is widely acknowledged as the most effective martial art in the world. The Gracie family, from Rio De Janerio, Brazil, are considered the founding fathers of BJJ, having learnt a hybrid form of judo and traditional Ju Jitsu from a travelling Japanese prizefighter, Mitsuyo Maeda, in the early 1900s. The creator of Judo, Jigoro Kano had tasked Maeda with spreading his new sport around the world, and when Maeda left Brazil, the Gracies started their own academy, teaching their modified ‘Gracie’ (Brazilian) Jiu Jitsu. For the next 80 years the Gracie family modified and refined their art, holding public challenge matches to prove the effectiveness of their blend of jiu jitsu. Despite these very public, and often controversial, matches, the art remained largely unknown outside of Brazil. This changed in the 1990s. In 1993 the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was established. This competition pitted various styles of martial arts against each other. Royce Gracie, son of one of the founder of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, dominated the event, beating each of his much-larger and stronger opponents with ease. Royce’s performance in the UFC changed the martial arts world forever: his performance demonstrated that with the correct application of technique and leverage the weaker and smaller man could defeat any adversary. Since 1993 there has been an explosion in the growth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, with clubs in Los Angeles to Australia, China to Russia. BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU IN BELFAST Closer to home, in the late 1990s Mauricio Gomes, a representative of Gracie Barra and an extended member of the Gracie family, arrived in the British Isles and set up BJJ clubs in London, Birmingham, and Belfast. Gracie Barra Northern Ireland was constituted, and since then the club has grown from strength to strength. Maintaining close ties with its sister clubs across Britain and Ireland, the club has hosted some of the most highly regarded practitioners in history of the art, including Mauricio’s son Roger Gracie (the most successful BJJ competitor of all time), as well as four-time world champion Braulio Estima (IBJJF Hall of Famer and ADCC champion) and his brother Victor Estima (NoGi world champion). In 2011, and with Maurico’s blessing, Braulio Estima awarded Graham Keys his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He was the first person in Northern Ireland, and the third in Ireland, to attain this rank. Under Graham’s tutelage, Gracie Barra Belfast has become Northern Ireland’s most successful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies, having produced Irish, British, European and World champions. Recently, and in recognition of the Graham’s expertise, Ulster Rugby approached the club to help with their training and preparation for their up-coming 2014 season. Today, Gracie Barra Northern Ireland is the only official Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club in Northern Ireland, and the largest and most successful BJJ club in Belfast. Everyone is welcome to come and train, at our classes held in a number of locations across Belfast. The club can trace its lineage directly back to the founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Witheford Equine Ltd

witheford equine ltd

4.6(9)

Marlborough

Witheford Equine - Home He is often referred to as a horse whisperer, others call him ‘the magic man’, but Gary Witheford, the man who breaks horses in less than half an hour, prefers to call himself a ‘horseman’. As the first man to break in zebras, Gary and his son, Craig, have worked with horses who present all sorts of problems. These range from refusing to load onto horseboxes, ridden issues such as bolting, bucking, rearing or napping, fear of traffic, farrier or vet phobias and many other challenges faced by horse owners from all disciplines, be it happy hackers or competition horses. Gary’s expertise in dealing with horses spans over 35 years and January 2018 brought about a slight re-structuring in the business. The decision was made to focus purely on working in the racing industry for racehorses who have a range of issues, most notably those with issues when being loaded into starting stalls but the team also break in hundreds of horses each year – although he prefers the term ‘start’. ‘Breaking-in’ is a very negative term. The most notable of his racing successes to date is Sea The Stars for Irish trainer John Oxx and the mighty Kingman for John Gosden. As Gary explains, horses don’t really want to get into a fight and by working them using pressure and release, they quickly learn to look at you as a leader. “The less pressure there is the more the horse will follow you. It’s the herd instinct. Horses are flight animals, whether they are thoroughbreds, ponies or shire horses so you’ve got to go through their thoughts and go back to basics.’’ As the ‘magic man’ says “I like to think I let my horses do the talking and let the results speak for themselves. It’s all about trust and getting them to think ‘You’re my leader and I will follow you’. It just proves to me that the way I handle horses has to work. I have great respect for the owners, riders and trainers that I work with and totally appreciate the trust they place in me. With the increased focus on welfare for horses I hope that by working as a team we can all make things better for the horses, handlers and riders".

National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)

national adult literacy agency (nala)

Since 2000, NALA has been using television, radio, print, telephones and the internet to provide educational opportunities to people who want to improve their literacy. We operate a Tutoring Service, providing tutor support over the phone and internet. We also manage an eLearning website www.learnwithnala.ie where people can have their skills assessed across a number of areas and then be prescribed an individual learning plan to improve these areas. We raise awareness of literacy services We raise awareness of literacy services through national awareness campaigns. We have produced eleven TV series in association with RTE and national TV, Radio and Cinema advertising campaigns. NALA operate a Freephone support line that is staffed by experienced operators who can identify callers’ needs and advise them on free services nationwide. This includes tuition in 120 local adult education centres or NALA’s Tutoring Service where they tutor people over the phone. We advance adult literacy policy through research We work in partnership with government departments, organisations, tutors and learners to advance adult literacy policy. This work is supported by evidence-based research which examines international best practice, reviews Irish policy and produces recommendations to support people with unmet literacy needs. Our policy work aims to influence Government policy and lobby for appropriate actions and funds to improve literacy and numeracy levels in Ireland.