My Week at 10th Planet Melbourne
I recently spent a few days training at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu in Melbourne with Frank Barca. I’m not the best writer, but I’d like to share my experience for anyone who might be thinking of making the journey down south (unless you live in Tasmania….)
After 10 years training and working at various martial art gyms I found myself as a Ronin, looking for a new gym to call home. I had already been converted away from the Gi by Eddie’s philosophy and had studied everything 10th Planet I could get my hands on. The chances of finding the instruction I was looking for in Sydney were slim…. Or so I thought. When a few members from 10th Planet Melbourne turned up on a local MMA fight card, a night out with my girlfriend and a chance meeting with a student named Jason turned into an evening hanging out with the fight team and their instructor, Frank Barca. After listening to my dilemma Frank extended an invitation to head down to Melbourne to train at his school. Three weeks later I found myself standing outside Melbourne airport hailing a cab to Precision Martial Arts in Coburg.
I arrived just in time for the 11:30am morning class, receiving the same warm welcome from Frank and his students that we encountered in Sydney. The first thing I was impressed by was the gym. It has an uninterrupted mat space at around 120m2 of Zebra tatami grappling mats complete with wall pads, a nice change from support pillars and jigsaw mats that I usually encountered. With incredibly high ceilings, banners covering the wall space and a few mirrors (strategically being used as a whiteboard to house the 10th Planet warm ups) the gym has a great feeling to it. After being introduced and shown around it was time to suit up and get started.
The next thing to impress me were the classes. One of the things that first attracted me to the 10th Planet system was Eddies teaching style, and Frank has the same energy and passion for instructing. Over the course of my stay I was exposed to the depth of Franks understanding of the system. Whether he was polishing up my warm up series, explaining the different options available from a position or the relationship between movements, there was always an answer for everything. The classes were well structured and covered many different areas, from the warm up series and technique, to situational drilling and live rolling. My stay was only for a few days but I felt like I was able to fit more than a weeks’ worth of training in, improving my existing game in many areas and adding in new things I hadn’t seen before.
The third thing to impress me was the skill level of the members. Each class I had the chance to train with a different student and tried to roll with as many people as possible. Frank has been implementing the warm up series for a long time and it shows in their basics. There were no easy guard passes, sweeps or submissions and slipping up in anyone’s quarter clinch will have you on your back or deeper into their guard in seconds. With a goal for new members to learn series A through to H as quickly as possible, even someone with a few months training could be a formidable opponent. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of rolling with the higher belt levels and had a great time trying to squeeze necks and having my neck (and arms & legs) squeezed back in return.
But the most impressive part of my experience was definitively rolling with Frank. We’re about the same weight, and never have I had someone in my Rubber Guard with such posture and immovable elbows. Most times I stepped into his quarter guard ended with me on my back and he worked his way out of every submission attempt I made. Just as I thought I had something Frank would make a few small adjustments or transitions and all of a sudden my position wasn’t looking so good. I got my guard passed, I got my legs tied up, I got arm locked and ninja choked. And I had a smile on my face the whole time, because I knew I had found the instructor I had been looking for.
I had one of the best training experiences of my life at 10th Planet Melbourne and that was only made possible by the friendly and welcoming culture on the mat that has been developed over the years. My thanks goes out to Frank and his family for their time and kindness during my stay, all the members I had the chance to share the mat with and a big shout out to Jason who helped me while I was in Melbourne.
If you’re looking for a place to train 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu in Australia or ever find yourself in Melbourne, make sure you check out 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Melbourne. The first thing I did when I returned to Sydney was start planning my next trip back.
