Recovering in Lisbon

/in /by

I’m six months in and almost halfway through my year-long trip. For the next 30 days, I’ll be living, working and training in Portugal – mostly Lisbon.

 

Dealing with Sickness and Injuries

I started my BJJ packed adventure six months ago in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I hit the ground running with training sessions 4 to 5 times a week at Monarchy MMA for the whole month. Unfortunately, that was the most consistent I have been since.

I only trained once in Vietnam because of pneumonia; then lost almost two weeks because of another cold in Bangkok; another two weeks gone in Serbia because of an arm-crush induced hyper-extended elbow. Now, I just got back on the mat at one of the Lisbon Gracie Barra locations and my knee popped. – I feel more like a human punching bag than an athlete at this point.

By far, the worst part of these setbacks is losing my flow and trying to get it back after such inconsistent training. Anyone who’s trained for a while knows the feeling of not being able to even remember moves that you used effortlessly execute a few weeks before.

These past few months have been a major reminder of the need for humility in this sport. I’m trying to stay positive and using these gaps in training as an opportunity to relearn and reaffirm more basic techniques that I took for granted before. I know that I can always rely on fundamentals when I’m out of shape and forget advanced sweeps and submissions.

For now, I’ll nurse my knee for a few more days and try to get back to rolling as soon as possible.

 

Downtime Adventures in Portugal

Since I’ll have to take it easy for some time, I’m planning a few non-athletic adventures. This weekend, I’m participating in a local start-up event to boost my entrepreneurial skill set. Right after, I’ll be renting a camper van with a few buddies and driving up Portugal’s coast for a few days. It even has Wifi so I can literally work on the road. After that, if my knee is feeling better, I’m hoping to become an even more stereotypical BJJ bum by learning to surf. By the time all this is done, I should be healthy enough to start training again!

Rocking my custom blazer from Vietnam and a mustache during my layover in Munich.

Berlin

/in /by

Berlin, Germany.

 

Berlin is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit since learning about the Second World War in high school. As I planned the trip, I started to hear amazing things about Berlin – it’s constantly touted as a haven for self-expression, liberalism and arts.

 

Catching the train in was an experience in itself – the rail network is massive and my grasp of the German language is non-existent at this point. I managed to get on a train going in the wrong direction and go a few stops before realizing my mistake. Thankfully with a quick platform change and some advice from some of the rail staff – I’m going back in the right direction – towards my home for the next week.

The hostel I chose is amazing. They’ve refurbished and repurposed an old building and it’s filled with single beds rather than the bunks you’d usually find in a dorm. That doesn’t seem like a big deal to anybody reading this from the comfort of their home – but it is.

 

I’m now free to fall into a deep sleep free from the movements of the punters that would usually sleep above or below in a bunk dorm room. Downstairs, a library bar that sells cheap beer on tap and has walls adorned with beautiful books on all topics stares out invitingly, imploring you to get involved in the German tradition of having a Bier (it’s always Bier O’clock here, it seems).

 

I’m blessed again with a room full of cool people who are keen to explore the city together and we instantly form a little family.

 

“Berlin will never be Berlin”.

When I first arrived I got a bike and rode around the central part of the city to visit a few of the famous historical sites. I knew about a few of them but it didn’t do much for me. It just seems like I was looking at a lot of nice buildings and some historical sites that I had a vague knowledge of, but without knowing more I left wondering if maybe I’d gone to the wrong places.

 

A few people from my room went on a walking tour of the city so I decided to tag along and put a bit of context to what I’d seen the day before. My god it was a good decision. Our guide walked us to the majority of the major historical attractions in the city (I’d missed a bunch), giving a rich history of how Berlin had changed over the centuries and what it had endured in recent times.

Berlin has been a revolving door for different expressions of culture and politics over time.

Originally known for their religious and cultural diversity and openness to ideas, successive World Wars and Soviet occupation drastically altered the cultural, philosophical and political landscape of the city. It’s fascinating to learn about the many faces this city has possessed over time and to see what it’s developed into today.

As our guide said: “Paris will always be Paris, Rome will always be Rome, but Berlin will never be Berlin”.

Freedom of Expression

What struck me about Berlin was the freedom the population has to express themselves, and the willingness with which they do. The city’s culture is one of acceptance and open-mindedness, which has created in environment in which art, music and various counter-cultures have flourished. I saw some whacky things in Berlin (one side of a park is a nude side, generally filled with old dudes) but nobody seemed to bat an eye-lid. It’s just another day in Berlin, where vastly different groups of people live side-by-side.

 

The city itself is beautiful, littered with green parks and beautiful architecture both new and old. Walls are adorned with artwork so bright and colourful it catches your eyes from a hundred metres, spruiking political messages and philosophical musings that make you laugh and ponder at the same time.

Then there’s the historical sites. The Berlin Wall. Brandenburger Tor. The concentration camps. Checkpoint Charlie. There’s so much to see, I felt like I was only scratching the surface.

I was in Berlin for the Mauerpark markets that occur on Sundays. We wandered through stalls filled with anything and everything you can imagine, fantastic foods from every corner of the globe and clothes to suit all tastes. After sampling the food we wandered through the park itself. The beautiful weather saw countless people bathing in the sun’s rays, laying in the green grass and listening to the various performers that littered the park.

 

It seemed like every corner of the park boasted a different act, ranging from acrobatics to acoustic trios – yet none of the noise seemed to interrupt the other performers. I wandered over to a percussion performance and it was like walking into a nightclub – just sunny, and in the middle of a park. People danced where they stood, sipping beers. Whiffs of marijuana floated through the air as everyone stood side-by-side, appreciating the awesome performance the duo were putting on. Some people’s bodies pulsed in rhythym with the percussion, seemingly possessed by the rattles and bangs of the drums and symbols. Others simply jumped up and down with their hands in the air, big goofy smiles on their faces. A happy, sunny place where art the everyday intersected. (If you want to check out a video of this, go to my instagram @oliwilson).

 

The police rolled through and at first I was disappointed, thinking they’d shut down the performance that had morphed into an impromptu dance party, telling people to pour their drinks out and move on. But it wasn’t so. They nodded and walked through calmly, picked up a couple of bottles and shook their fingers at the youths selling beers without a license.

 

Again, the liberalism of this part of Europe struck me. Certain things they do here are so strictly regulated and policed at home – but for what? People here seem to be doing just fine while they’re drinking beers in the park. Far from the raucous parties I’m sure policymakers envision when they ban these things, the beers just seemed to lubricate people to the point where they got along better. No aggression. No problems. Just a great time and a great phenomenon to observe.

 

A Divided City

Staring at the Berlin wall, I was struck by what a crazy experience it must have been for half the population of the city. For those that survived the war and must have finally thought they were free, I can’t fathom what it must have been like to watch the wall go up and divide them from their friends, families and the opportunities that the west offered. The wall has transformed from a symbol of oppression and a division between ideologies to a representation of what Berlin has become today.

 

The murals all along the East Side Gallery are beautiful. They poke fun at human psychology and politics. Transport you to other weird dimensions. As we stood there a building over the road was being covered in paint by four artists on scaffoldings. And this whole scene was looked over by a Soviet-era building, a stark reminder of the not-so-distant past.

 

The Training

I was meant to drop in and visit a mutual friend Markus at his academy, but he was due to be away for the week I was there. I was also having trouble navigating the transport system (this culminated in a 60 Euro fine – but we’ll pretend that never happened). I had a quick search on Google, and it turns out there was an academy right near where I was staying. I hired a bike and managed to find my way to BJJ Akademie.

I ended up spending my time in Berlin training exclusively here. Rob Nestor runs a great school with really technical classes filled with drills and useful sequences. To add to that, the whole crew is really welcoming and the level is high, making it a really enjoyable place to train. I’m really enjoying the focus on drilling– it gives us plenty of time to get the move down properly and really embed them into our psyche. I learned a lot of things that I’ll keep drilling. Each session I leave buzzing, putting me in a great mood for the afternoon or evening’s activities.

 

I met some pretty cool people rolling here, including a Muay Thai world champion (NAME) visiting from another city in Germany. It’s such a blessing visiting all these different gyms and experiencing their different approaches to both learning and sparring.

 

Jiujitsu and quality training aside, it’s a good feeling to be welcomed into a gym with such open arms and to meet a wide range of quality people. There’s nothing like a solid boost of endorphins and a couple of cheeky sweeps to add to an already awesome stay in a great city.

 

The famous nightlife

Berlin’s famed for its nightlife, and while I didn’t dabble too much I did get to experience it. Beer is cheap and plentiful (I was handed a beer straight after training on one occasion), and the people are free to party for the entire weekend if they want to. It wasn’t rare for me to be getting up to go for a jog or a walk and to see people stumbling home in the sunrise.

 

One of the staff at the hostel invited us to come to a pop-up, underground rap club. We thought it sounded pretty fun, so a big international group of us tagged along. It was a crazy night. It was shoulder to shoulder in the almost pitch-black club, the crowd pulsing to loud music and bumping into each other up the front. Despite the rowdy vibe, the whole place was filled with super friendly people, and the beers were cheap. Everyone in the club knew the words to the songs better than any of us who spoke English natively. By the end of the night, our group would become one of those I’d seen earlier in the week – walking home as the sun rose, drenched in sweat as if we’d just rolled for an hour.

 

The next day it was a sore and sorry goodbye for our little crew, and I was off to the East to visit Poland.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Exploring the Balkans Part 1

/in /by

The Balkans, what a fantastic part of the world!

But how did we get here?

Last time we wrote we were in Krakow, Poland, about to head on a tour of Auschwitz. For those who haven’t been, it’s a heavy day but well worth it. 

From here we jumped on a train to arguably the most beautiful city in the world, Prague. With its incredible old town, cobble stone streets and of course Charles bridge, it was great fun just getting lost here. Now there are a lot great street performers around Europe, but Sven from Sweden takes the cake. 

We also tracked down the narrowest street in the world (apparently). 

Budapest was our next destination, where we stayed a few days longer than originally planned, this was mainly because we met a great bunch of people who helped show us what Budapest was like at 4am! We did manage an early night to get up at 3am and watch the sunrise overlooking the parliament building . Even threw in a cheeky photo shoot with a Gi and rash guard.

A stop over in Pec (southern Hungary) we booked ourselves an apartment with no one else to influence us to party! Here we found a gym to do some open mat, was good to have another roll! 

Two days later we are in Croatia! Zagreb, Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik (No spoilers you Game of Thrones fans… Katherine is half way through reading the books!!) Of course we made the most of being on the coast with as many swims as possible. The Croatian coast was a great place to chill out and get away from the heat. 

Mostar, Bosnia was our next stop, where they are known for the famous Mostar bridge. This thing is 25 metres high and people are crazy enough to jump of it! I must admit that the idea entered my mind, then exited as soon as I saw a local make the jump! Mostar is a small but very pretty village, and home to the most difficult cobble stone street I have ever walked on. If you find yourself in Mostar, be sure to visit the sniper tower, this used to be an old bank that in the war- (1992-1995) was destroyed and became a sniper tower. From here and around town you still see bullet holes covering buildings. 

Next stop, Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. After an interesting taxi ride we found ourselves at Waterfall Niagara. This is a local swimming spot with a restaurant and a small water fall, perfect to get away from the heat!

It was in Podgorica that we began to realize the further south we went, the cheap things got. A pint of beer was now sitting around 1 Euro, and we found a large pizza (which was delicious) for 1.5 Euros. That’s a far cry from what we pay in New Zealand.

Albania was our next destination, and were we in for a culture shock. However, this place turned out to be one of the most amazing places I have ever been.

As we are still traveling through the Balkans, I will leave the rest of our story for Part 2.

One very exciting piece of news is that we are both going to the Heidelberg Camp at the end of August! Cant wait to see you all there!!

Cheers,

 

Jamie and Kathey 

 

 

 

 

Lost in the ‘Dam: Amsterdam

/in /by

Amsterdam is a fascinating city. The central part of town is laid out in a big semi-circle and it boasts one of the best networks of bike paths and trams I’ve ever encountered. Peppered with lush green parks and colourful buildings that overlook the canals, what I see is very different to what I’d imagined before I arrived.

The bus drops us way outside town after what we’ll call an ‘interesting’ overnight journey from London, so I make my way into town and find the hostel I’ll call home for the next couple of days. After dumping my bags, I lace up my running shoes and go to discover Amsterdam.

It’s beautiful. Colourful bikes in their hundreds whiz past, riding through the very green Vondelpark on their way into the city centre. Old and new exist right next to each other, classical architecture juxtaposed with modern. There’s art galleries everywhere, outdoor gymnasiums in the parks (praise the lord!) and the infamous red-light district. It’s a melting pot of so many different cultures that comes together in a way that’s uniquely European.

 

Using more ‘conservative’ logic might suggest that such ready access to so many of life’s vices would result in a somewhat unsafe or unrefined city, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The Dutch have really embraced the concept of ‘freedom’, and allow people to make decisions as rational adults as to what they do, or do not partake it. It’s refreshing and – to me – very visible in the way things work. It’s clean, the people are friendly and everything works harmoniously.

The city is rich in culture of all kinds. Blues and jazz bands play music in the many bars that dot the canals. You can spend hours walking through the streets, poking your head through the windows of the many small art galleries in the uptown area. If it’s more your style, you can drop into an electronic dance club downtown and party until the sunrise.

 

If classical European culture is more your style you can poke your head into one of the many museums, or just wander around checking out some of the most intricately adorned architecture the mind can conceive. The classical art galleries near where I’m staying are something to behold as well. Seeing Van Gogh’s works in person introduce you to an artistic prowess and depth of colour that just aren’t possible to grasp unless you’re right up close.

I’m really enjoying meeting people from all over the world as well. In the ‘smoking room’ at our hostel, you constantly find yourself in discussions ranging from philosophy and politics to something as trivial as what ‘grits’ are (for the Aussie readers: It’s like porridge, but not. Confusing, I know). I’ve learned a lot about different people’s native cultures and their thought processes that form their opinions on a range of issues. It’s really informative about why a lot of things in the world as they are and has changed my mind about certain things, because I’ve been able to better understand things from other perspectives.

In a time where it seems like people with different ideologies, beliefs and opinions are more interested in shouting each over each other than debating, it’s refreshing to see people opening their minds to other points of view – learning together.

 

This theme of different perspectives continued in my time on the mats in Amsterdam. I chose to roll at 10th Planet because I’ve always been interested in Eddie Bravo’s system, and I respect their open-mindedness and ability to create new techniques.

 

The first day I rocked up to the gym, I was lucky enough to catch Ben Saunders giving a seminar. He ran through some sweet techniques ranging from wrestling to a sweet submission chain from the guard that was easily transferred to MMA. I couldn’t be more thrilled because they were effective tweaks to some classic submissions with that 10th Planet twist[er].

I think it’s so important to train with strikes in mind. Sports jiujitsu is great, but drilling techniques that stop your opponent striking you effectively, and that use strikes, as openings for submissions are so important in staying true to jiujitsu’s roots as an effective form of self-defence. After the seminar we rolled for about an hour, finishing up at around 1130pm! It’s so refreshing to train at a leglock friendly gym yet again.

 

It was great to be exposed to the different techniques and approaches they use in the 10th planet system. A lot of things that we’re taught not to do in jiujitsu, they use and do so effectively. From technical points as small as the way to grip the wrist (hint: it involves the fingers and looks like how you’d use a baseball bat) to how they finish armbars, they have a lot of different tweaks to positions backed up by interesting justifications and of course – efficacy. On top of this, I learned some positions that I hadn’t had a lot of experience with, and that I’ll be able to use as an effective addition to my game.

 

On top of all the technical benefits, the crew at the gym were all legends. Very welcoming and friendly people. I’ve said it before, but it’s so cool to train with somebody you look up to like Ben Saunders and he’s a super humble, nice guy to boot.

 

Amsterdam’s been a great start to the first leg of mainland Europe, and from here it’s onto another hub of art and liberalism – Berlin. That is, after one missed bus and an expensive train ticket.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Day 122. Copenhagen, Denmark. Summer Camp 2017

/in /by


My first BJJ Globetrotter Camp. When I first decided to travel around the world this was the first thing I booked, it was also one of the cheapest camps. All I had to do was travel to Copenhagen, lodging not included in price. I didn’t know what to expect for my first Jiu Jitsu camp. I kept my mind open and trained as much as my mind and body let me.  At the end of the camp I gained many friends and invitations to different gyms all over Europe.

img_1890

Peter from Sweden, Nick from Wisconsin, Patrick from London,

Some of my favorite tips from the Copenhagen Camp Information Guide by Daniel Bertina. Pace yourself, take notes and be social. Six days of 8-9 hours of Jiu Jitsu is a lot for anyone.  I didn’t want to burn myself out so I went to open mat at least once a day and I attended an average of 2.5 classes.  I would have liked to have attended more classes but it will just be a goal for next time.  I took notes for the classes that I did attend.  A tip that I will do next time is record myself doing the moves again in sequence with a partner to accompany the written notes. I should have been more social during the camp. This is one aspect that I did not take advantage until the end of the camp which was too late.  Next time I will attend the welcome meeting/ Jiu Jitsu speed dating, dinners and a few drink afterwards. The trick is to have a right balance of socializing and rest for the next days training sessions/classes.  As you can tell I’m already convinced that I will attend another camp.  The next important question is which one?

Nikita from Ukraine and Brian from the US.

A rolled with the original BJJ Globetrotter on the last day, Christian Graugart. Many years ago he went on a trip around the world to train Jiu Jitsu in as many different gyms as possible. It spawned into the friendly travel community we now know. He is not the first to make Jiu Jitsu camps but his BJJ Globetrotter brand has the most amount with 10 camps in different locales around the world. I felt honored to roll with him. He rolls like a black belt, relaxed and very composed against a lower belt, like myself. Although very playful and fun. A very approachable guy, it was interesting to pick his brain about the camps and his travels.

I trained everyday during the camp. I didn’t go to every class even though I wanted to. I socialized more on the last few nights. I should have went out more in the beginning especially for the Jiu Jitsu speed dating session to meet people.  I should have recorded myself summarizing the techniques I just learned. A Gopro is good but my iTouch with a tripod would have been fine. I met people from all over the world and received many invitations from gyms and gave out just as many.  I wonder when and where my next BJJ Globetrotter camp will be?

img_1856

My Two Days in Rome

/in /by

We left the cruise ship Saturday morning and drove into Rome. We couldn’t check into the hotel right away. Our hotel was right outside the Patheon. I thought it looked like a Greek temple and it was super cool. I had read about it in a Rome book my mom got me. We headed off to St. Peter’s Basilica after we dropped our bags off at the hotel.

I was surprised how big the Basilica was and how many people were there (the line for the Vatican followed the big walls that surround the Vatican — all the way around the corner!). We found out where we were supposed to meet our group tour, and we grabbed lunch first. I had cheese pizza. This pizza was the best ever! We went back to St. Peter’s for our tour. I didn’t know it but we were walking up to the inside of the dome. Mommy didn’t look down because she was afraid of heights. Then we kept climbing about 300 stairs to get to the very top, outside the dome. You could see EVERYTHING up there. Me and dad were taking pictures like crazy. Mom was holding on to the walls, trying not to look. She said she’d look at the pictures later. Then we had to walk DOWN the 300 steps! My legs were so tired! I needed a gelato (this time it was coconut and tiramisu), and mom and dad got a granita.

After that, we went back to the hotel to hang out and rest. For dinner we went to the Piazza Navona and I saw a funny clown playing tricks on people to get money. There were street performers doing magic tricks too. It was fun to watch. I had pasta with bacon — it was REALLY good — the best pasta I have ever had!

The next day we went inside the Pantheon. There weren’t as many people in the morning as we had seen the day before. The Pantheon was really big and amazing. After that I went to train jiu jitsu at Flow Jiu Jitsu Rome with Professor Andrea Verdemare. He looked a lot like Coach James from Ojai Valley MMA. There was a solid yellow belt with him for me to train with. The boy’s name was also Andrea — there seem to be a lot of Andrea’s in this part of the world! We worked on spider guard. It was really fun. It was super helpful and I learned a lot of cool tricks. I think I can really use what he taught me. It was a really nice gym — and there was a pool! I got to spend and hour and a half training. I REALLY needed to train.

After training, Professor Andrea said we should get popsicles. He said when he comes to LA next, he was going to challenge me to eat a 4×4 burger from In-N-Out. I’m going to have to train hard for THAT challenge! (He sounds a lot like Coach James too!)

Later that day, we went to the Coliseum. It was PAAAAAACKED! The Coliseum was super amazing and we saw what the floor looked like when it was first built. Then we headed to Trevi Fountain for dinner. I got the bacon pasta AGAIN. This time it was as good as the night before. Dad got a steak that was as big as my head — well, that’s what he said anyway. I was happy that I had such a yummy last meal in Rome.

Overall, this trip was really good. My favorite place was actually Athens because I want to spend more time there. There is still more I want to see there — and there was good training (but I had good training at every stop!). I can’t wait to see my new friends at Pans and Worlds next year! I’ll be cheering for them.

It was a fun trip, but I’m glad to be headed home.

BJJ and Salsa – it takes two baby!

/in /by

New York City. There was a time when I had no idea about what jiujitsu was, when I didn’t know what MMA stood for and when I had no interest in choking people or attempting to break their limbs. That was the time when I had only one, burning passion: salsa dancing. To pursue that passion I moved to NYC about 8 years ago; there I studied with salsa and Afro Caribbean genius, Frankie Martinez. I lived in NYC intermittently, between 2009 and 2011, training with Frankie as much as I could. However, life had other plans for me… in 2011 I ended up moving to China permanently. A few years later, in Beijing, I met Marcus who introduced me to BJJ.

The High Line

I soon realised BJJ had a lot in common with salsa dancing; you play in two, learn a movement pattern, which at first feels totally unnatural but it’s actually really logical and once you’ve drilled it over and over again it becomes instinctive. When you can improvise, the fun starts.

Last year, when Marcus and I decided to go on an all around the world BJJ trip, we knew we wanted to visit Renzo’s and Marcelo Garcia’s in NYC , but I also knew I wanted to go back to Frankie’s classes. It was a big deal for me, as I hadn’t properly trained BJJ in 3 months – due to my Yoga Course, and hadn’t danced in about 6 years.

It all ended up being great, both salsa and BJJ movements eventually started to get back to me and we had an amazing 10 days in NYC.

Class with Frankie Martinez

Salsa social

Our main challenges were definitely the little time and limited money we had – the city is much more expensive than what I remembered and at times we had to settle with a $1 pizza slice ($1 pizza shops are easy to find on google) or a cheap American filter coffee instead of a cappuccino.

Training was great though – we trained at Renzo’s pretty much every day when we were in New York. We were so lucky that we got to share the mat with many famous fighters as well (Gary Tonon, Oliver Taza, Gordon and Nicky Ryan, Jake Shields). I even had the pleasure to roll with Oliver and it was definitely a learning and fun experience.

No-gi at Renzo’s

Most of the classes we took were with John Danaher – His classes are super technical; he generally shows 3-4 techniques, demonstrates each technique only twice and then finishes with 6 rounds of positional sparring (mount, back, guard and 3 standing rounds). He uses only traditional names for positions and also expects you to warm up by yourself. We learned lots of takedowns and detailed technical aspects of certain positions like the armbar. I always made sure Marcus and I got some proper stretching after each class and John seemed impressed with our efforts so much that he called us “the yoga masters”.

With the genius John Danaher

Renzo was at the gym often; he taught one of the no-gi classes which unfortunately I missed cause of dance training but Marcus made it, and said it was really good – with Renzo showing some great footlocks counters to Single Leg X.

At Renzo’s the classes are split into belt levels, but it’s a bit confusing at first. ‘Blue B’ classes are for white belts only, ‘Purple B’ for white belt 3 stripes and up, and ‘Black B’ for purple and up. I did mostly ‘Purple B’, with Marcus doing a few ‘Black B’ classes (which he said the sparring in those classes was very high level!).

Visiting Marcelo Garcia’s

We also visited Marcelo’s once and took full advantage of the daily pass. We started with a flexibility and wellness session at 10.30 am – which I found super useful as I learned some cool stretching applicable to BJJ that I’ll definitely integrate into my routine. We continued one hour gi class and then a one hour no-gi class. I ended up sitting out a couple of rounds just because I was so hypnotised by the high level wrestling happening on the mat… I may have also been a bit tired ;) The gym was very open and bright, very casual too, surprisingly! We were really happy with Renzo’s though so we kept training there afterwards.

Marcelo Garcia’s in action

In between training sessions we managed to do some touristy stuff too. We particularly loved the High Line, one of NYC’s most unique parks, created on an elevated section of a disused New York railroad – some great views of the city from up there. We also took advantage of the “pay what you wish” opportunity to visit the Metropolitan Museum; don’t be shy and simply pay what you can at the door (we got two tickets for $8 – ignore the ‘recommended price’!).

Central Park

International Yoga Day in Times Square

It was an intense 10 days in NYC but I loved every bit of it and cannot wait to visit again for more world-class BJJ and salsa training. Next up, California, baby!

LA and Some Bucket List Training!

/in /by

I was ready as ever to leave San Diego and continue my coastal excursions after my day at Xande’s, but then it hit me. I had completely forgot that the ATOS Headquarters was in San Diego as well. I mentioned in my early posts that I’d started training with an ATOS Legend back home: JT Torres. What type of teammate would I be if I failed to pop into HQ while in town? 

 

Shamelessly did the most “California” thing I could imagine: In N Out on the Beach!

 

I made a quick phone call to the gym to let them know I was coming, and they told me they discount my mat fee because I’m technically Team ATOS: score! I slept near the beach that night, and awoke early to make the 10:30 am competition class. I popped over to the gym, and was greeted by a scruffy, late 20’s guy, Mike. I keep running into Mike’s on this trip and find it rather entertaining. 

I quickly got changed into one of my older gis, then got ready to train. As I exited the bathroom to go train, Mike stopped me and pointed out a massive hole in the back of my gi. I completely overlooked the fact that a traditional school like ATOS wouldn’t jive with my ratty gi. Note to everyone who trains: all that mumbo jumbo about not using bleach to get stains out of your gi? It’s not mumbo jumbo! Mike helped me out and got me a loaner. I definitely blended in more with the class, which was a welcome change. 

I was simply shocked with how many people were training that day. I stepped on the mats five minutes before class started, and there were already 20 people on the mats. They just kept showing up; in the five minutes before class started, another twenty people showed up. I’m not sure I’d ever seen that many people training outside of a seminar. It was truly inspirational. There were people young, old, white belts to black belts. But there was a palpable tension in the air; you could feel the desire for improvement amidst the bustling mat talk before class.

Class itself was taught by an ATOS black belt, Pablo Mantovani. From what I could gather, Pablo had recently gotten his black belt and it was one of his first classes teaching at the academy! I had visited the school the weekend after worlds, and the energy in the school was vibrant. Atos had just won their fifth school world title, and that was a buzzing topic amongst the students. 

 

The main piece!

 

Pablo had us warm up with some simple movements: jogging, forward rolls, shrimps, etc. Very typical warmup. After that, he ran through some closed guard drills. I paired up with one of the blue belts, Jeff. We went back and forth drilling, two reps me, two reps him. We repeated this with every sequence Pablo taught. I picked up some great guard recovery concepts, which has been a weak point for me lately. After a few sequences, it was time to roll. I rolled with a few of the blue belts, and was pleased to see that I actually held my own quite well. It was cool to see that my small town, Upstate New York jiu jitsu could compete with those from one of the best gyms in the world. I managed to sneak in a roll with some of their brown belts, and even Josh Hinger, one of their world-class black belts. It was a treat, despite getting throttled over and over by the upper belts. The level at which they toyed with this New York blue belt was comical at times, but I grinned like a madman through every bit of it.

Class came to a close, and I was ready to hit the road. I was pretty upset that I couldn’t hang around to see Andre Glavao, but I figured I’d live with it. I did get lucky, though; Andre walked in the doors of the academy in the last ten minutes of class. As I left the mats to go settle my mat fee, Andre asked if I was from JT’s school. I guess Mike had filled him in. We chatted briefly about my trip and my Globetrotters deal, and he happily obliged to a photo before I left.

 

Photographic evidence of me getting an underhook on Galvao

 

It didn’t take long for me to leave San Diego after my day training with Andre’s crew. I snagged a  quick shower at Planet Fitness, then hit the road on my way to Los Angeles. To be quite honest… I didn’t really have any plan on where I was to train. I was a little disheartened by my bank account and how that was going to be conducive to the mat fees typical to the area. 

I got to LA in the late afternoon; right around 5 o’clock or so. As I sat in my car, furiously searching the internet for gyms to train at, I realized something profound. Los Angeles is funny; there’s so much jiu jitsu, it’s almost claustrophobic. You’ve got so many options it’s disheartening: how could I EVER experience it in all of it’s glory? I felt similar feelings my first week on the road. When faced with all of the freedom in the world, it’s not far off from claustrophobic. Or maybe it’s more agoraphobic. I looked up the classics: AOJ, Cobrinha’s, 10th Planet, etc. I even made a phone call to AOJ, then realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford the drop in fee. I reached out to Kron Gracie, and couldn’t find a class that fit my schedule. I was pretty disheartened. Then, all of a sudden, I just happened to drive past a school that had been on my radar: the Gracie Academy in Torrance, CA. I took it as a sign: I randomly drove past a gym I’d wanted to train at, in a city I’d never travelled to before. I guess jiu jitsu has it’s way of directing you where to go.

I walked into the school, and was greeted by the smiling face of the tall brunette working the front desk. She gave me the rundown of the class schedule, and I had shown up just in time for the 7pm gi class. Everything kept falling into place. I got changed, stepped into the massive training room, which was wall to wall with the green mats special to the Gracie Academy. Standing in the middle of the mat, running warmups, was the tall, long-limbed head instructor: Rener Gracie. I’ll admit, videos from the Gracie Academy were a big part of getting me interested in Jiu Jitsu. I’d always said when I first started BJJ that I would someday train with Rener and Ryron; it was a “bucket list” type of thing. Now, here I was.

Much like my experience at ATOS, the mats were PACKED with people. I’m talking 50-60 people training. I started to think that, maybe this was just normal for West coast gyms. I paired up with a blue belt, Lucas. He’d been training at the Gracie Academy for just over a month after taking a few months off from a knee injury. We drilled back and forth; Rener was teaching a series from Knee on Belly, and three different attacks from the position. He covered a “Shallow Darce” submission that absolutely blew me away. I could see the potential for using it against larger guys, which he stated was the ideal usage. One thing about Rener that intrigued me was the speed at which he taught. Sometimes, when you watch videos online of a particular instructor, you expect them to be different in person. With Rener, it was simply not true; all of the interest in his students’ abilities, the speed, the conceptual emphasis on his teachings, the sound effects (“BOOM”), everything that bleeds through in the Gracie University videos, also bled through in real life. I was overjoyed to be there.

When it came time to roll, I was like a kid in a candy shop. I had the a pick of the litter when it came to partners: young, old, black belts, white belts. I grabbed the nearest blue belt and got to rolling. I’d been curious about the comparison of their blue belts to a gym that’s more sport jiu jitsu oriented. If you were unaware, students at the Gracie Academy don’t start rolling until they’ve reached their blue belt; this is to emphasize the importance of self defense in their training. In fact, the blue belt criteria at the academy consists of becoming proficient in the self defense curriculum lain forth by Rener and Ryron. Overall, I was sincerely impressed, and pleasantly surprised, with the skill level of their blue belts. They had a solid grasp on the classic submissions (armbars, triangles, guillotines, etc.) and even used DLR, Spider guard, and other open guards. 

As I rolled with one of the purple belts, using a lot of my X-guard, lasso, DLR, etc., I noticed Rener glancing over at us rolling. His head cocked to the side occasionally, almost like he was studying me. As soon as that round ended, he gestured over to me, and asked me for a roll. I was ecstatic; I was about to roll with a Gracie! He tucked his arm into is belt (I think he was nursing an injury) and we got to work. His long limbs posed a quick problem, and I was on the receiving end of a triangle almost immediately. I went to work, delicately trying to dance around his long legs in a game of “try not getting triangled”. I nearly passed once, but somehow got swept and ended up on the bad end of an armbar. I remember trying to escape by locking up a rear naked grip, then trying to pop my arm out to the floor. He wasn’t even holding onto my arm, using his his only free arm to post. No matter how hard I tried, the pinch of his legs kept me from moving. I was humbled. I was rolling with someone who had been training, quite literally, from the time he could walk, and it was abundantly clear.

Class finished up with a quick bow out, and I headed to shower and change. Some quick locker room talk prompted questions from others about my trip, which I gladly entertained. Before leaving the gym, I needed to explore the last mystery this school offered: the museum. Right as you walk into the school, the museum opens up just to the right of you. Inside was a trip down the history of jiu jitsu itself, as told by the Gracie family. Newspapers, pamphlets, awards, Helio memorabilia, and the likes donned the walls. A sculpture of Helio watched over the room, including the scaled models of the Gracie mansion in Brazil, as well as the early model of the Octagon that sat in the center of the room. I made a quick signature in the registry, and went on my way. Seeing the history in that room lit the fire again, and I was glad I’d happened upon the school.

 

Grandmaster stands watch…

 

As I sat in my car close to the beach, I readied myself for my next training session: Jiu Jitsu in the Park. But more on that later… Oss!

Beon Giorno and Ciao from Genoa!

/in /by

 

Today when we got in to port Genoa looked like a crowded city. We had training in the middle of the day, so mom wasn’t able to get to Milan to see some art. Instead we got on a Hop On Hop Off but to see the city. In Genoa, the bus had a channel just for kids so I got to hear about the city without the boring stuff. While we were driving through the city everything was tall (the buildings) and I saw a lot of pharmacies (maybe because they all have a flashing green cross in front of them).

We got off at a street with a lot of hops and walked around a bit. I got a toy car. I was an Alpha Romeo and is red and the doors open! It’s awesome.

We got back on the bus and made another stop to have lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant in a very narrow street. Cars were going by right behind my chair. It was kind of scary. For lunch, I first got a super good pizza — a Margherita pizza they called it. My soda came in a glass bottle and that was pretty cool. Then I had some ravioli too!

After lunch we went to a bookstore. They had some Star Wars books, but they were all in Italian so I couldn’t really understand them.

Then we headed across town to Gracie Genoa. It was a really hard private lesson for me because I haven’t been training like usual. I kind of got frustrated because I had a hard time understanding (I don’t speak Italian). But I did learn two sweeps from butterfly guard. I don’t really use butterfly guard too often (that was Professor Andrea’s favorite position) so it was helpful. I also learned an escape from an arm bar.

Mom found out (she can speak some Spanish and Professor Andrea could too) that the Italian kids don’t train during the summer. I’ve only had a few weeks off, I can’t imagine having the whole summer with no training!

After class we got an ice cream. Mom accidentally pulled the alarm in the bathroom for the second time on this trip AND almost locked herself in the bathroom! Dad heard the alarm and knew mom was the cause. It was pretty funny. She was embarrassed, but we all laughed pretty hard about it after.

Then we headed back to the boat.

Next stop —Florence!

My day in Marseille, France

/in /by

 

Marseille is the second largest city in France. It didn’t look like France to me because I didn’t see a lot of flags around. I expected to see more French flags.

We took a bus into town and I noticed a lot of grafitti. We walked around and saw a huge church called Cathedrale La Major — it was bigger than the cathedral I saw in Barcelona!

I was excited about the day because it was going to be a training day for me!

We walked to the mall before my lesson because my mom had run out of something. I noticed a ton of security. They checked all our bags before we even got inside. It was a huge mall. I saw a lot of sandwich shops. The mall bathroom had awesome sinks — the hand drier was attached to the faucet. It was a Dyson, and was super cool!

We took a taxi to get to Gracie Barra Marseille. The streets were narrow with no sidewalks. Our driver drove a little crazy, but we made it.

I trained for an hour with Professor Sebastian. He was really fun. The gym was super clean, and a really nice place to train. I learned a sweep and a triangle from spider guard, and a way to perfect my triangle. I got a lot of rolling in too. Luckily, it wasn’t as hot as it had been in Greece. Professor Sebastian kept doing ankle picks on me. I think I need to work on my ankle pick defense.

After training we went to lunch, and then back to the boat.

Today’s jiu jitsu class was fun. I’m glad I was able to train — but mom and dad said I was a little rusty. Good thing I’m training again tomorrow in Genoa, Italy!

Columbus, GA/ Fort Benning

/in /by

     I know it’s been a bit since I have posted but I have been stationary in Columbus, GA, for the past month or so. Now that I am back on the road and traveling more, I am planning on making the posts more frequently.

     Columbus in located along the Georgia and Alabama border and it a fairly large city on the banks of the Chatahoochee River. I lived in Columbus previously, for about two and half years, and returned to help a close friend prepare for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts fight (hence the reason I was there so long). I really enjoy this town, and when it is time for us to stop traveling and settle down, it’s a pretty safe bet that I will return to this area.

     The uptown district, what most would call downtown, is riddled with numerous shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs. On weekend mornings there is a pretty nice farmer’s market, which offers all kids of local produce and handmade crafts. The rest of Columbus is kind of like any other city; there is pretty much any kind of food and entertainment you can think of. I thoroughly enjoy Thai food and my favorite is Thai House. Whenever I am in Columbus it is guaranteed that at some point during my visit, I will be walking through the doors of that small restaurant.

     As I’ve said, Columbus is a fairly large city, third largest in the state of Georgia I believe, and a lot of its population comes from Fort Benning. Fort Benning is a US Army base that is the home of the Infantry; because of this they are home to the National Infantry Museum. The museum is located just outside on of the access gates and is open to the public. I have been through the museum a few times and it is a truly humbling experience.

Standing outside the National Infantry Museum

     Now for the training; while in Columbus I trained at three different locations. Blind Fury BJJ is owned and operated by my friend Jason “Blind Fury” Keaton. He is called “Blind Fury” because he is legally blind, but don’t think that he considers this a handicap. He is an accomplished grappler and has even had a few MMA fights. I always enjoy training with Professor Keaton as we can sit and talk about jiujitsu philosophy and heavy metal after training (in case you’re wondering he is quite versed in both).

After training pic with Professor Keaton (third from right)

     F3 MMA is another gym in Columbus, owned and operated by Joseph “Dark Knight” Creer, a well-known boxer and MMA Fighter on the regional circuits and a BJJ Brown Belt. Every time I walk in his gym I am greeted by the smell of sweat and the sound of gloves hitting their target. I am almost guaranteed to see his young daughter playing with toys or mimicking his movements while shadow boxing. I love his gym, and the people that train there make it a great place to be.

Joe, Brandon, Professor Farris, and myself at F3 after training

     Probably the place that I did most of my training while in Columbus was actually on Ft. Benning. The United States Army Combatives School is located there and they host Fort Benning Jiu Jitsu. Classes are free three nights a week and are open to anyone that has access to the base. Classes are mainly conducted by Professor Tim Farris, a black belt under Matt Larsen and the Alliance lineage. When Professor Farris cannot be there, the classes are run by some of the USACS instructors. I claim USACS as my home gym because it is where my training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu became more serious and I started to get a better grasp of the art.

     One last thing before I wrap this up, while training with Professor Farris for the past month, he saw fit to promote me to the rank of purple belt. Honestly I was not expecting it but am more than happy that I was given the honor.

Professor Farris and I after my promotion

     We left Columbus a couple days ago and hit the road again, so expect to see some more posts from the spots we stop in!!

Cartegena and Gibralter

/in /by

Our ship landed in Cartegena on Sunday morning, but I got sick. I had a really high fever and a bad headache. I had to see the boat’s medical center. I met a man from São Paulo, Brazil while at the doctor. He told me I need to train in Brazil because jiu jitsu comes from Brazil. I told him I definitely plan on it!

When we got back to our room, my mom asked our room steward if he could sing or dance and he said no. [ Mom’s note: I did, in fact ask the steward if he could sing or dance — in response to his question of, “Is there anything more I can do for you?”. I was joking, of course. He knew Eli was unwell and we were both trying to lighten his spirits.]. But then he came back to our room a while later and he had made me a penguin out of towels (I LOVE penguins)! The penguin looked super funny, but it cheered me up a bit.

I don’t have much to say about my day in Cartegena, Spain because I didn’t really get to visit the city.

Our next stop was Gibraltar. I was still feeling sick but we did go on a tour of the harbor to go dolphin watching (and whale watching). We didn’t see any whales and I was sad about that, but we did see dolphins. We saw striped dolphins leaping out of the water making splashes to scare away fish (that’s what the guide said). We saw little babies, a dolphin without a fin, and a dolphin with a lung infections (it made a weird noise as it came out of the water).

After the tour I was feeling more sick and we walked to a pharmacy to get me more medicine. We walked to the ship which was a little ways and stopped at this phone booth because I have a friend whose dad is from England. I thought this would make a funny picture.

Today I also caught three new mons in Pokémon Go. So that made it a good day!

Casablanca & Marrakesh Morocco

/in /by

Greetings From Casablanca and Marrakesh Morocco!

I made it to the hotel easy enough, I was enjoying the sea breeze as I walked down the street from the train station. It was only a short, 2 or 3 hour train ride from Rabat to Casablanca. I got a hold of Hicham (the first Hicham, I’ll explain later) and we decided to meet up the next day while I spent the evening getting settled in and finding a nearby market to buy some water and fruit and food. The hotel I was staying at was really nice and had some good wifi now, so I had some work to do and as well. I wish I could say I actually got to the work and got caught up on blogging but that would be a lie. I was still feeling down about my friend not meeting me in Morocco and probably watched more Netflix than any actual work being done.

Here’s looking at you, kid.

Casablanca, Finally Some Breeze!

The first thing I noticed about Casablanca was the sea breeze, as I stepped out of the train I felt it blowing through the station. There wasn’t much of a breeze, if any, in Rabat so it was quite welcome, cutting the humidity and cooling me off. I took my time walking down to the hotel, stopping to look at Google maps whenever a good breeze blew down the street. It felt good to be cooled off from the sticky Moroccan heat for once.

This is Center Ville, a big square where the streetcar, or tram, stops and all sorts of displays, vendors, rallies etc are held.

I didn’t get a chance to walk around the Casablanca Medina this time but I did walk by outside of it while walking around the city, well a few blocks radius from my hotel anyways. Casa is a big city so if I wanted to get around and see a lot of it I would either need to take the streetcar, which was only one line, or grab a city taxi. I wasn’t in the mood for either really and I missed the opportunity to take some photos when around some of the places I did see, or was just driving by and couldn’t take any. For that reason I don’t have a lot of pictures of Casa but I will tell you about some of the things I did see.

The wall to the Medina.

One place I passed everyday and didn’t get around to taking pictures of was Mohamed V Square. The square itself has a water fountain that lights up at night and also tends to have a lot of people setting up booths to vend whatever it is they’re selling, making for an active area. The area across the street was cool to see as well, it was an open square with different metal figures and other statues around it. The city was working on it and had fences up around it with equipment everywhere so taking pictures wasn’t much of an option, tried and they looked like crap and didn’t do the view any justice. There was also a cool market Hicham brought me to that was big area lined with all sorts of seafood where you can walk around and pick what you want and they’ll take you to a grill and have it cooked and served to you right away. They also have a huge selection of other things. It seemed pretty cool to see but I wasn’t in the mood for trying it out, and I’m not much of a seafood person, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes seafood and is looking for something different. Sorry I don’t have a name for the market or a link to it.    

Training With Equipe Elite

When I was first planning out my stay, at at the start of planning the Odyssey as my last post explained, I was referred to Hicham by several people. Hicham runs a Jiu-Jitsu gym in Casablanca and is a black belt. He’s the go to guy setting up visits to Morocco and seems to know everyone and all the gyms and is very helpful. Once I got into Casablanca I contacted him and we planned out meeting up. The first meet up was at the Center Ville square, we met up and Hicham showed me around a little bit before grabbing some food. We strolled around the city, talked about training and meeting cool people and Hicham told all about Casablanca, the market and the tourism industry that Casa thrives on. I also had some of the best shawarma I’ve ever had.

Later that night we met up and Hicham took me to the gym to meet the rest of the club. The Jiu-Jitsu club, Equipe Elite, is inside a crossfit gym, Gym Factory. The Jiu-Jitsu club is the upstairs of the gym, in a big open mat space. It’s a nice clean, newer looking place that had all sorts of different classes going on. It’s a good place for the Jiu-Jitsu club. The students were all friendly, those who I talked to, some were shy as they didn’t speak much English and my French is horrible and I have no knowledge of Arabic. The classes were big too, at least 20 people, much bigger than a lot of gyms I had been visiting lately. Hicham started class with a good long warm up, and I couldn’t help but feel a step behind everyone, the heat was definitely getting to me, and I’m not as athletic as most of them, and whatever other excuses I can think of I’ll add in later. There were a lot of drills we did on our own, working the movements that the techniques he would be teaching us would involve. I have seen this kind of drilling a few times now and I really like it, even though I usually get destroyed and by the end, but I tend to get a higher understanding of the move and retain those details. We were doing double leg takedowns, or a chain of moves that started with one, and my legs were jello by the end after all those drills and then working techniques. But I really honed in the little details I need to work on to make my less than stellar shoot in work, and the pain of my legs the next day definitely set them to memory.

There was some rolling time after class and we also had an open mat another day. A lot of the guys were pretty athletic so I knew I had my work cut out for me when it came to rolling. I was right. The guys were all pumped to roll with a new guy and all brought their A game. Some were strong, some were fast, some were both, so I was mainly just trying to survive. Rolling with Hicham made me have to re-think my entire game plan, you know when you meet someone who just has a move that completely shuts your game down? I walked right into Hicham’s go-to move and was instantly armbarred, over and over again. He gave me some tips on how to look out for his move and how to change my actions to make it not so open to his trap, something I’ve had playing back to me constantly since. It was a good learning experience for sure. Definitely changed the way I see my game. The whole experience of rolling with people on a higher level of ambition was a great learning opportunity. All part of learning to work my game against different situations. Thank you Equipe Elite, it was a great time together!  

Hicham Hakam

I was originally going to stay with Hicham but got a hotel room since I was supposed to have a friend coming to visit (which never happened) but I was always in contact with him and Hicham was always helping me in any way he could. He showed me around the city, took me out to a few good places to eat, told me all about the culture and how to get around, at any point if I ever needed any help for anything all I had to do was text Hicham and he’d be there if he could. So in between Hicham showing me around and us training I met up with him and we did an interview. It was my last day in Casablanca and I was really burnt from being at the beach the day before and not feeling too well so I had to pass on our plans to meet up and go for food with the guys from the club, but we got through this interview and I think it’s great for telling us how the Jiu-Jitsu scene is in Morocco. Since I can’t load videos here check it out over on the Panda’s Odyssey YouTube Channel and watch it there. While there please show some love, like, comment, share or maybe even subscribe, thanks!

The Beach…And The Sun!

There are good panoramic photos I took that I couldn’t upload here, head over to my Flickr account to see them.

One day Hicham and I went to the beach to relax, this is where I got way too much sun and ended up with a severe sunburn. It wasn’t all bad though, the beach is a great place, it was full of people suntanning and playing sports and families building sand castles and playing in the waves, it was a fun place to relax and take in the view. There were some guys walking around with horses and ponies and I believe I even saw a camel that offered people to ride them, for a price of course. I enjoyed watching the waves come in, getting bigger as the afternoon got on, crashing into all the kids and adults playing in the shallow waters.

I got out into the water to cool and down a few times, the water was really refreshing but also very salty. I didn’t go out too far as the waves were a bit intimidating for me, having no real sea swimming experience. I would walk out and stand facing the waves and let them knock me back a little, and then later when the waves come in more I would turn and sit down and float and let the wave carry me in. It was a fun way to cool down, until a big wave came crashing down on me and knocked my sunglasses off. I saw them bobbing just a few feet away, then another wave crashed and suddenly they were a few meters away, then another wave and they were gone. I had just bought them in Lisbon, after the pair I had bought in Idaho while visiting Keith Owen during my west coast trip almost 2 years ago finally broke. That pair of sunglasses and I together had been all over Canada, the west coast of the USA, even to Tokyo, not to mention every stop in the Odyssey before they broke; and I bought them used so no telling how much of the USA they had seen before becoming mine. Losing those sunglasses sucked. This replacement pair I had just bought on the other hand, I wasn’t near as torn losing them, although I did curse at the waves a few times. I hope a kid found them and have been wearing them everyday since. 

 

A bunch of the guys from the gym showed up to hang out with us too, this is where I met ‘the other’ Hicham. This Hicham I had also been talking to online through BJJ Globetrotters and he also helped me out with telling who to contact and setting me up with places to train at. He was also a student of black belt Hicham, having been training for some time now, and him and I had a great talk about goal setting and mindset while training. In fact I had some great conversation about Jiu-Jitsu philosophy with a few of the guys that day. After the beach we went to a cafe and I had some Moroccan tea, which I had fallen in love with, and the guys were all keen to ask me questions about training and visiting clubs and tips for traveling. As the conversations went on I started to feel the sun burn coming in.

You see, as I found out later on, the Sun in Morocco is much stronger than in Canada, but with the sea breeze coming in you don’t ever feel being baked. I had a base coat of sunscreen on and re-applied to my head and arms, but not to my body as I wanted to get a little colour. Well I got a lot of colour! The burn didn’t come in until after being in the shade at the cafe, then I started to feel the heat of a good burn coming from, well, all over except my head and arms, which were saved. Once I got back the hotel I started to feel sick, fever and diarrhea were starting to hit me as me body punished me for cooking it in the Moroccan Sun all afternoon. It was a horrible night to a awesome day.     

Good times in the sun! The rest of the guys were way back behind me chilling out, I think this is right before I lost my sunglasses.

Marrakesh, Too Hot!

The day after the beach, my birthday, I did the interview with Hicham and then went back to the hotel feeling like shit, the day after that I took the train to Marrakesh. The train ride was a easy one, I relaxed and slept some of the way. Getting ready for the train was quite the task. Packing wasn’t the issue, the problem was dealing with my sunburned body. The burn was so bad that I couldn’t shower, cold water felt like needles piercing my body and warm and hot water felt like flaming needles. In order to bathe I needed to draw a bath that was basically room temperature and slowly wash myself. After that I then needed to cover the burns in lotion. My chest and sides were stiff from the skin losing it’s elasticity, being dried out and burned. Across my chest I was starting to get blisters, even had one big one in my belly button that was very annoying. Wearing a t-shirt wasn’t possible for long times, it felt like sandpaper on my skin even with the lotion, it was just too painful to wear a top for more than a few hours. This whole thing was a long slow process and it hurt. As soon as I got into the hotel in Marrakesh I turned on the air conditioning (because Marrakesh was freaking hot!) and whipped off my shirt and just lay on my bed in my underwear. I could hover my hand over my chest and feel the heat coming off.

After about 4 or 5 days, the blisters have gone and you can really see where was burnt the most.

Now that I was in Marrakesh it was very hot, for me at least (+40C), and there was no breeze like in Casablanca. It was like being in an oven, a beautiful oven but still an oven. Because I was dealing with the severe sunburn, and the high heat and humidity, I didn’t get out to see much of Marrakesh but what I did see was great and what I saw online of the sights I missed were amazing. The center of the city, downtown if you will, is small, everything I could need was just a five minute walk away. Marrakesh in it’s entirety is much bigger with sprawling residential and industrial neighborhoods and some huge beautiful gardens through the city. I managed to see one garden while I was there but it was while I passed by, taking a taxi to the airport. It was early in the morning and still dark so I couldn’t take any pictures but it looked very well taken care of with lights along the walkways, vine covered lattice arches and stone benches for people to sit on and take in the view.    

Training With Marrakesh Fight Club  

During my planning of visiting Morocco I met Rafe online and he was my helpful contact for Marrakesh and the club he trains at, Marrakesh Fight Club, which has recently been re-named to the Gentle Art Academy Marrakesh. Rafe and I had been in contact for a long time, since the start of looking up Morocco as an option, I believe he was one of the guys who referred me to Hicham in Casablanca actually. I was looking forward to meeting him and training with the club. Unfortunately he had to work when I was in town so I would miss out on training with him and the amazing training sessions he has at his place. From pictures I’ve seen online Rafe has a very nice set up for outdoor classes, complete with mats and places to sit in the shade. Luckily we got to meet up for breakfast one morning, which also showed me where to go for breakfast for the remainder of my stay in Marrakesh. Rafe and I and his wife talked about living in Marrakesh and the sights and markets, and of course traveling and training.  

A random place I thought looked nice.

Marathon Village where it gets filled with vendors in the evening. I missed out seeing that too.

Through Rafe I met Dex, the head coach at the gym. I had the schedule and address of the gym and let Dex know when I’d be by, just to watch at first because I was still healing. The Jiu-Jitsu club is inside a gym and it’s quite a small space, since the gym owner is a boxing champ and the gym focuses a lot on boxing there was a boxing ring that took up a lot of the space. For this reason Dex limits the people in his classes and runs more than one class a day to fit everyone in. He was really happy to see me when I finally made it out to visit and him and the rest of the class were super friendly. The first time out I just watched class, watching Dex teach some techniques and how the students interacted, I could tell they were a close club by how they got on with one another. In between teaching techniques and correcting the students Dex and I would talk, he had a bunch of questions for me, curious about my training and my travels. I also had questions for him and the techniques he was showing, being a taller guy who’s all long limbs he had a very different style from me so some of the movements were new to me.

The only picture I have of training in Marrakesh, I’m sure More were taken but this is all I have.

The next time I came back I had my gi and was ready to train, I wasn’t quite ready to roll too much as the rashguard on my chest was really irritating the burn but I was there training. I remember telling Dex this exact same thing, that I couldn’t really roll because of the burn, but then he somehow got me into rolling with him for almost half an hour. And then we did some training and more rolling with other students. Funny how that works. The rest of the students for class were young and somewhat new, or newer than me, to BJJ and so I helped them out when their techniques and gave them tips for rolling, Dex was very appreciative of the help and actually loves people coming and visiting and showing off techniques and giving out tips. The students were also appreciative, although shy to talk to me, given the language barrier, and class was pretty fun training together. Both classes, the one I watch and the one I joined in, the students seem very enthusiastic to learn and train, which a great thing to have for a club. I’m looking forward to seeing this club grow and become a club of submission assassins.  

Dex has a tradition with his club, everyone who visits his club has to show off one technique to the class. It can be anything and doesn’t have to be some crazy new technique they’ve never seen, just teach one technique. Everyone has their own way of doing things and I bet if you watched 100 people do an armbar you could find a small detail to pick up from each one of them. I decided to show off my guard break that I showed the guys in Rabat, but this time it was filmed and posted online (and has over 1k views!) Showing the technique was a lot of fun, Dex was genuinely interested in it, he asked to see it a few times over and had a bunch of questions about it and then drilled it asking me if it was correct. It was a cool feeling being able to share a little knowledge with people so appreciative. There’s the link to the guard break again. I talked about it and posted this link back when I talked about first teaching it in Rabat but here it is again in case you missed it or want to see it again. Panda’s Guard Break Video!

And after a few weeks of traveling and training, and burning, in Morocco it was time to head for Italy! My first stop was in the island of Sicily, Palermo to be exact, where I would be staying with a fellow Globetrotter. But first I had the craziest flying experience to date that ended with me losing my luggage…

Left Morocco in the morning but didn’t land in Italy until night.

Until next time,

see you on the mats!

OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA’S ODYSSEY!

Sign up to the Panda’s Odyssey Patreon Account.

Buy Panda’s Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy the Panda’s Odyssey T-shirt.

Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.

Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

On to Burning Man

/in /by

We’ve been back home now for almost a month, and we’re slowly settling back in to the routine. I’ve been training at Guerilla and at Komainu, my home gyms. We’re still living in the trailer, since I rented our place out, and it’s pretty tight for two people plus fur babies. All in all, Jen hiked over 400 miles, which is more than most of us will ever do in our life times. I dropped in and rolled at 15 different academies, and broke in my purple belt proper. 

I’m on to the next phase, planning for Burning Man. I run a BJJ and Muay Thai camp there, 7:15 and C for those of you who know the way the city is laid out. We have black belt instructors, about 20 loaner gis, 400 s.f. of roll out mats, shade, and lots of fun. No, we have never had staph or ringworm. I think the city is too dry and hot for that stuff to live, plus we wipe down the mats with bleach after the class. 

Anybody wants to come and roll with us, I don’t know how much more exotic a location you could find than Black Rock City. There won’t be any surf, but I promise you’ll have fun!

Belgrade: The One Stop Shop

/in /by

The country: Serbia
Gyms visited: Kimura Academy, Old School
Atmosphere: Instant friends
 
Read anywhere online and the forums will tell you Belgrade is party central Eastern Europe with floating clubs and women like goddesses. I was most excited for this stop on my summer trip around Europe, but for a different reason. That reason was Kimura Academy. After hearing about this gym through several traveling bjj sources I knew I had to make a stop there. I wasn’t disappointed.

 Kimura Academy is tucked away in the middle of the city with a large mat space that’s filled up each class. There’s a lot of heart on the mats and I had to push myself to get rolls in till the end of each class. I’ve noticed they also train much later here than I’m used to in Eastern Europe with classes easily beginning later than 9pm and going until 11 at night. The real gold in this gym for travelers lies with the efforts of the instructors to make you feel welcome and have a great experience. I feel very fortunate to have met Professor Gile who has an excellent reputation in this part of the world and in the BJJ community. 


From my last class with this team

I definitely indulged in some of the nightlife with the cheap booze and floating clubs. One of my better nights spent off the mats was at a Kafana which plays local Serbian folk music that I didn’t understand but had a welcoming crowd cheering out the words of every song. There’s also a great place to look out from the giant old fortress and plenty of river reflected lights surrounding the city. Belgrade is full of great views if you search for them.


The gleaming Church of Saint Sava with a gold plated basement

I was able to get a private lesson with very talented Serbian black belt Uroš Čulić. In a short 90 minutes I learned more than I could in weeks. I was very fortunate to have this opportunity as it changed my perspective on a couple parts of training. After, he invited me to train at his gym Old School which is located a short drive from the city. Old School is filled with very tough guys that might have tried their best to friendly take a limb or two off me, but I left with all still attached. 


  Nothing is as humbling as rolling with someone this good for an hour 

Serbia taught me a lot and gave me new friends. There was so much value in this week long trip I can’t recommend it enough. Thanks to everyone that helped me out!

Barcelona, Spain

/in /by

Our next stop, after a sea day, was Barcelona, Spain. When we first arrived, Barcelona looked super small — from the Port. But when we got on to the Hop On/Hop Off bus, I figured out it was much bigger than I thought!

We first stopped to get a snack and mom figured out the Picasso Museum was nearby. So we started walking there. On the way, I saw some cool grafitti pictures on roll-up doors. I liked this one of a dog the best!

When we got to the Museum it was closed! We figured out it was St. John the Baptist Day — a national holiday. That’s why so many shops were closed. Mom was sad to miss the Museum.

We got back on the bus to check out the Cathedral — which is a church. It was very huge and I’ve never seen a church just like that before. The church had carvings and was a very strange shape. There is only one church like this in the world so it is very special. They aren’t finished building it either.

After the cathedral, we got back on the bus and went through the city. We stopped and had lunch and then started walking around. We decided to catch a taxi to get back to the huge statue of Christopher Columbus. There were some shops along the water there and I bought a swimming dinosaur’s tooth. Dad let’s me keep his coins, and in Europe there are coins that are worth 1 whole Euro and 2 whole Euros — not just coins like our coins. I love dinosaurs and sharks.

And that was our day in Barcelona!

[Dad’s note: I had tried to contact three jiu jitsu academies prior to our trip to set up some training for Eli. It’s been a week since he’s trained and that’s a long time for Eli. Initially, it seemed promising that we’d be able to connect with one of the gyms. But, after the first contact, I was having trouble confirming a time. Now I realize that the only day we were available was a national holiday – so training wasn’t going to be possible. Why they couldn’t just tell me that I dint know. But, gyms get back to people! Hopefully, we can get connect with a gym in Marseille or Genoa in a few days.]

Pompeii

/in /by

Our cruise landed in Naples on Thursday. When we got into port we first saw a big castle. But we were going to take a tour of Pompeii, so we had to get on a bus to get to the ruins. I was the only kid in our group. Once we got to the ruins, we got a radio and headphones so we could hear our guide better. Our guide’s name was Elena — my mom said, “Elena, like the Disney movie?”, but I told her the Elena from the Disney movie was spelled the same but you actually say “Ah-lay-nah” and for our tour guide, her name was like “Ellen” with an “a” at the end.

Before we entered the city of Pompeii, we first went to a shop that sells cameos — that’s what my mom called them, but they are faces carved into shells. We got to see how they were made. I guess Naples is known for their cameos.

Inside the ruins, I was amazed at what the houses and shops looked like. I was surprised at how important water was — they had fountains all over the city, and they had baths with water running through the walls to keep the room warm. We went into the gymnasium where the people got to train. They even had a swimming pool! We also saw some Pompeiian fast food places.

Pompeii was super hot, and there were so many people, it was like Disneyland in summer. It was so hot that I had to get some gelato before we left. I got cookies and cream AND mint! [Mom’s note: I was not aware that Eli had two kinds of gelato…that was Dad’s doing!]

It was a really hot day, but fun too.

Messina & Taormina, Sicily

/in /by

Today was a really good day! We started the day in Messina and then we drove up through the hills to Taormina. We had a tour of Corso Umberto — the Main Street in Taormina. We almost got in a bus accident trying to get there because the road was so narrow and windey. There were a lot of long tunnels on the drive too.

On the Main Street we saw churches, shops, and gelaterias. We saw an old mosaic too. There was one narrow alley that was so narrow I could barely fit through it. The view was really nice.

We went to the Greek Theater in Taormina. The theater was cracked with missing parts and I accidentally kicked one of the stones out of place when I jumped off a wall! Oops. On the way out, dad spotted an apricot tree. Mom and I tasted an apricot — I saved my seed for my Nana to try to grow a tree.

On the way back through the street I had my first gelato — it was mint chip. Dad got watermelon and it REALLY tasted like watermelon! It was so watermelon-y. Mom couldn’t have gelato so she got a strawberry popsicle instead.

Back in Messina, we saw the largest astronomical clock in the world. But since we weren’t there at noon, we didn’t get to see it move.

The island of Sicily was very pretty. There was a lot of green, and not as many smokers as Greece.

To make the day even greater, I also caught a super rare Pokémon. My coach, Coach Pablo, says you can only get Mr. Mime in Europe. Today I got to catch two of them!

Mom told me that the island of Sicily is triangle shaped. I remembered that in Greece I learned a new triangle AND learned how to say triangle in Greek. Triangles seem to keep popping up on this trip!

Ciao for now!

Santorini and Kotor (Montenegro)

/in /by

Santorini and Kotor (Montenegro)

Our next stop (after a day at sea) was Santorini, the island. To get to the city, you have to take a cable car up the really steep hillside. Mom was freaking out during the ride up to town. I thought it was fun, but mom really did not! [Mom’s note: I, in fact, did not enjoy the ride up. Heights make me queasy, and I opted to close my eyes for the few minutes it took to get to the top.]. You can also ride a donkey to get up the mountain, but we didn’t do that. We had to get to mass at St. John the Baptist Cathedral. It looked very holy inside.

After lunch we went on a boat ride to the nearby volcano. On our hike up the volcano, we met an Australian boy who was a blue belt in Japanese jiu jitsu. I thought it was cool to hear him talk about Japanese jiu jitsu, and what martial arts are popular where he lives.

On this volcano island I made a rock pile. In Ventura, near our harbor there are these towers of rocks that people have piled up. So I wanted to make one on this island — to remind me of home. It isn’t as easy as it seems! We went to another island and saw billy goats running down the steep hillside to greet us. That was so cool!

Overall, I really looked Santorini. But the roads were squished and it was hard to get around with all the tourists on the squished roads.

We next visited a place called Kotor. In Kotor, we were supposed to take a tour hiking to the top of a mountain. We were to meet in a park. I got to play in the park but somehow we missed our tour group. We took a bus ride around instead. The water was clear and blue-green and there were also a lot of green trees.

We stopped and saw an old Roman house — well, what was left of it. All that is left are some really cool mosaics. They looked really ancient. It was a short day in Montenegro, so there’s not much to tell. Next up — Sicily (but I’m really looking forward to Naples because that’s where pizza comes from!).

Joshua Tree and a Mad Dash for the Coast!

/in /by

Although my time in Las Vegas left much to be desired, there was still one stop that needed to be made before dipping my toes in the Pacific for the first time. I decided to cut west and head to Joshua Tree National Park in Eastern California. As an avid climber and boulderer, JTree has always been on my mind as a place to explore. 

 

Driving through the desert, I couldn’t ignore the thoughts of pioneers that came before me. They navigated the high peaks and the barren desert with all of their earthly belongings in tow. Here I was, hundreds of years later, tearing across the paved highways in a 97 Jeep, all of my earthly belongings in tow. Something in that resonated with me as I pulled into the town Joshua Tree. The town itself is exactly what I’d seen with most desert towns: a sweet shell of southwestern architecture on the outskirts of town, filled with a creamy center of fast food joints, car washes, and strip malls. I hung around near the edge of the city, stopping briefly at an outdoor shop about five minutes from the entrance to the park before making my way to the land of the boulders.

 

Jiu Jitsu and Rock Climbing aren’t too different: they take strength, but technique conquers all! This pano was taken atop a 60-foot boulder in the middle of JTree National Park!

 

Joshua Tree National Park was beautiful. The scattered boulders, some bigger than houses, were like an unexplored playground. The experiences of the early American climbers of the 70’s and 80’s ran through my head. I pictured John Bachar and John Long investigating the secrets of these rocks for weeks on end before taking their skills to Yosemite. As I approached a boulder for my first session, I noticed a climber racking up his gear to get out on another wall. I approached, asking if he needed a partner to climb with, and he happily obliged. His name was John, and was a 23-year-old marine from a nearby military base. We climbed for a few hours that afternoon, and all felt good. It was a breath of fresh air to take a few days away from BJJ. I’m finding on this trip that supplemental training is just as important as days in the gym; it keeps things fresh and interesting.

John and I parted ways and I went to the nearest Walmart to sleep for the evening. Following a quick oil change in the parking lot, I spent the next day exploring the park, too tired to climb from the day before. As I drove through the valley, and the dust kicked up in the wind behind my Jeep, I listened to my stereo. About 25 years earlier, my father had been doing the same. He’d been in the valley with a friend of his, and while there, wrote a song, Desert Wind. I played the song through my stereo as I navigated the dirt roads, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a little emotional. I left Joshua Tree that afternoon, happy with my time there. It was the type of beautiful a special type of person could only appreciate. I’d recommend anyone spend time there if given the chance. The mountains whisper, and the valley itself speaks volumes. 

 

Gotta keep my globetrotter running smooth!

 

From Joshua Tree, I hoofed it to the coast with a vigor. I needed to feel the ocean. Around 9:30pm on June 7th, I dipped my toes in the Pacific for the first time. It was cold, I was tired, and I was done driving for the day, but I cried as I realized that I’d achieved a dream. I’d driven from coast to coast. I made it. I realized that, without BJJ, I probably wouldn’t have. When planning this trip, before joining Globetrotters, I’d only planned on going as far as Yosemite National Park. When I started thinking of places to train after being blessed with this blogger gig, San Diego and the coast was an obvious option. 

I slept in my car about 150 yards from the ocean that night before waking up to train the next morning. I’d always wanted to train with Xande and Saulo Ribero, and I was excited to make this desire a reality. I sent a quick Facebook message to the team over at the academy, and they were happy to oblige my drop in. I arrived at the academy for noon gi class, which was taught by Xande himself. I’ll admit I was a little starstruck. After seeing him at NoGi Pan Ams back in 2015, I thought those feelings would’ve gone away. I was wrong. I payed my mat fee, got changed, and got to work!

 

The main training area for advanced classes!

 

The academy, tucked away in the corner of a small strip mall in San Diego, was the cleanest, most beautiful school I’ve visited to this point. Amongst the framed portraits of the University of Jiu Jitsu lineage were also medals from Xande and Saulo, the gi Xande wore when he beat Roger in absolute, and the like. The mat areas (there were two of them) were clean as a whistle, and followed the yellow, black, and white color scheme of the Ribeiro brothers.

 

The history behind this gi is astounding…

 

Class went very well. Xande introduced me to the class before beginning warm ups, and everyone at the academy was very welcoming and were happy to have an outsider to train with. I partnered up for drills with one of the brown belts. After warm ups and some short drilling rounds, it was time to roll. Their rolling was very structured; everyone lined up, and the highest rank picked their partner. This was repeated with the next highest rank until everyone was partnered up. We kneeled in front of our partner, bowed, and got to work. I was glad to see that I was able to hold my own against the students of a legend. The brown belts and black belts throttled me, but I an even match against the blue belts and purple belts. This might sound cheesy, but training here reaffirmed the fact that BJJ is a universal language. Many of the students in this early class spoke little to no english; only Portuguese. Despite that, the jiu jitsu was the lingua franca in this school. After class, I asked Xande for a photo, and he was more than happy to take one. He asked about my Globetrotters blog, and seemed interested enough. He asked if I’d be back for the night class, which was apparently the advanced class. I quickly said I would be.

 

Some inspiration on the walls. Never too late to learn!

 

A quick note on the ranking system: I was surprised to find a wealth of green belts at the academy. From what I was told, the green adult belt is a carryover from the Judo background of both Saulo and Xande. I found the judo hommage very inspiring! It’s clear that the Ribeiro brothers are serious about emphasizing the importance of jiu jitsu stand-up in competition. VERY inspiring!

 

I spent the day exploring San Diego; walking on the beach, seeing the city, and so forth. The city was quite nice; a scene from “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” played through my mind as I traversed the streets. I ate a hearty late lunch of cold Chef Boyardee ravioli on the beach and relaxed before the night class. I arrived at the academy just in time for class. I was introduced to the class by the instructor, a black belt named Jeremy. Class was structured very similar to the morning’s class: quick warm up, drilling, then rolling. I found the sessions of each to be considerably longer than noon class, but that was fine; there was cute a bit of In-N-Out burger that needed to be worked off that class. Jeremy taught some slick RDLR attacks, and even a transition into X-Guard. I found this useful as I’ve always hated RDLR as a position, but I’ve been seeing it used much more often on this trip. Plus, the X-Guard transition fit right with my game. I drilled with one of the blue belts, Todd, and he was very interested in my journey in general. After drilling for a half hour or so, it was time to roll. We rolled five six-minute rounds, and boy was I put into the ringer. I don’t think I rolled with anyone lower than a purple belt that class. I held my ground, even sweeping one of the brown belts, but overall it was like being tossed in a washing machine. They shut down most of my defenses until I was able to sneak under to full X or overlook X. Jeremy called me over for my third roll and swept me with the same RDLR series we’d worked in class. I loved seeing the difference between belt levels. Every black belt was simply more versed than the brown belts, and every brown belt was more versed than the purple belt. 

 

Bald and beautiful. The way it should be!

 

My time at University of Jiu Jitsu is time that I won’t forget. DEFINITELY worth a drop in if you’re in San Diego. I’d hate to end this blog post on a bad note, but the one thing that I struggled the most with in San Diego was drop-in fees. I understand that owning gyms are a business, but charging a $30, $40, $50 for a drop-in mat fee seems unreasonable. I spent two days in a jiu jitsu “mecca” of the world, and could only afford a trip to one gym while there. I suppose it’s just a part of the culture nowadays.