You could smell the sweat, dedication, respect and passion in the air as everyone flooded into the Adrenaline MMA Training & Fitness Centre. With music cranked, a ring displayed in a sea of people and competitors warming up, in the zone ready to compete the Submission Invitational was under way.

Not sure what to expect really, I did some light testing and some custom white balancing to make sure I could get the best images possible, I crouched down to make sure I wasn't obstructing on lookers views and got ready to capture the art that was about to unfold in front of me. I didn't know to much about jujitsu, all I knew was that it was more about points and submissions through skill rather than punching and kicking the crap out of each other.
Let me tell you, it was not easy to photograph. Quick movements, flipping one another, standing up, down on the ground, grabbing, twisting.. it was intense. Lighting conditions were a bit tough to work with as well, so some of the images were a bit blurry and it took me a bit to figure out what I needed to do to compensate. Over all, it was an amazing experience full of action and challenging aspects from a photographic perspective, which I really enjoy.. thats how you learn.

Adrenaline MMA Traning & Fitness Centre is an amazing facility, with two levels, friendly and clean atmosphere. Upstairs has matted floors with a boxing ring and an open concept, and downstairs has a weight room, change rooms, and an Octagon.. there could be more I didn't get much time to look around as I had to focus on shooting. Adrenaline was quite impressive, if you're looking for a place to work out, learn MMA, Jujitsu, Kickboxing, boxing etc.. I would highly recommend their facility. Plus.. who wouldn't want to learn from actual UFC fighters like Sam Stout and Mark Hominick? - Shutter Click

WOW! it has been far to long since i've done a blog post, this must change.

Smashing lances, crowds cheering, beer drinking, pig roasting, sword fighting and much much more! This was my experience today as I attended the 2014 Woodstock Ontario Renaissance Festival. This event was pretty amazing, with so much to see, from fire breathing to catapult slinging, archery, sword fights and Knights upon their steeds hitting each other with 10 foot wooden lances. When I showed up, the first thing I saw was 3 people dressed up in proper old time attire in a barn with Fire Batons spinning around their bodies, being balanced on their heads while another woman twirled around on a hula hoop type contraption hanging from the ceiling, it was quite impressive.

I continued onward to the grand stand where I heard the crowd yelling and clapping, of course I had to hurry to see what the ruckus was about. JOUSTING was about to commence! An announcer came out on a horse wearing quite the outfit and explaining what we were about to see and gave us the run down on how scoring for Jousting worked. Next rode out one of the knights, an older looking fellow with shiny armour. Then another knight came out, apparently they were father and son, who would think a father and son were about to joust one another, but thats what happened! 5 bouts took place with some real hard hits, one being dishorsed, chunks of wood flying through the air... men and women running through the crowd crying and screaming.... ok ok... that last part didn't happen, but in my weird over active mind it did lol.

Here's some of my images from the day... I was only there for about an hour so I didn't get to see everything they had to offer. At some point there were sword and axe fights, some falconry and bands. There's still time, I may go back. - Shutter Click~

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Jujitsu Submission Invitational 2014

Renaissance Festival!