Grapple skills turn rivals upside down

John Landrigan | 29th July 2009

Brazilian jiu jitsu could be the secret weapon your team needs to get the better of your opponents. John Landrigan reports.

The grapple tackle is a controversial aspect of rugby league, a tactic that has been fine-tuned to fall within a breath of the referee's whistle. One of the best proponents of the ground tussle between players is Auckland's Brazilian jiu jitsu expert Steve Oliver.

Oliver, a former world powerlifting champion, worked with the New South Wales Waratahs and the Manly Sea Eagles to improve their defensive and offensive takedowns and ground techniques.Brazilian jiu jitsu, he says, is a grappling art to control an opponent and "submit" them using techniques such as arm-locks, chokes, immobilisation and attack.

"Contact sports like rugby and league are evolving and using many of the same unique skills which Brazilian jiu jitsu has to offer," he says."Developing a successful ground game is essential for teams to achieve dominance on the field."

Oliver moved back to New Zealand this year to set up a gym at the modest site where his father, weightlifting gold medallist Don Oliver, began his fitness franchise - in the converted basement of Oliver's Glen Eden home."I've worked in the gym industry all my life," says his son.

And it's not just league players who should be interested in the skills. Rugby union's best ruck and maul exponents would benefit.Oliver shows how every second counts when lying on the mat and swivelling his hips into a position ready to stand up and take the ball from a tackled player. "We teach a more efficient and powerful way to stand up. The hips are the most powerful part of the body."

He has 15 years' experience and holds a black belt in jiu jitsu. He is following in his father's footsteps by developing a gym franchise - Oliverfitness. His second gym opens on Onewa Rd in Birkenhead this month.

FAMILY TIES

Steve Oliver holds numerous international sporting titles including World Submission champion 2007, King of the Cage 2006 and Oceania Powerlifting champion 1994. He has a background in powerlifting (10 years), wrestling (four years), boxing (10 years) and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, the sport he has played for 15 years.

Don Oliver OBE represented New Zealand at three Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games in the 1960s (winning gold in Jamaica in 1966). He went on to own six gyms in Auckland and Wellington and to develop his range of Don Oliver Fitness Equipment. He died in 1996.