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Due to the Lobo Academy grand opening in Clackamas, there will be no class or open mat this Saturday. Enjoy Summerfest in Bend, and expect to learn some of the seminar highlights next week. Also, check out to clip above to receive inspiration from Terere, former world champion. Very fast and technical. The music may not be work safe, but the action certainly is.
Our good friend Greg Eyerly, aka “Cougarbait” recently sent a hilarious letter I thought worth sharing. Greg has been working overtime with the Midwestern floods, and recently had an ultramarathon race he had been training hard for cancelled from the California wildfires. We miss you Greg!
So......, desperate as I am for some BJJ in Iowa I decide to head to the purple-belt led new dojo....well, it’s not a new dojo...it’s a really old building.....last night was the Grand Opening night....for you race fans out there that don’t know, this dojo happens to be located a mere 2 miles from the University of Iowa campus....and....I never once thought about what kind of guys would show up to a new dojo that is the only BJJ being taught within a 70 mile radius of the University of Iowa campus, yeah, like, the wrestle mania campus of the world, I think WWF 101 is taught there...well....it’s hot, no air conditioning in the dojo, I am friggen sweating in my gi and I am just standing there.....its a friggen sauna, the mat’s are thinner than a piece of Scotch tape.... I am thinking this is gonna be worse than taking Rexkwando.....Jason, the new dojo guy is a warm and sincere and sincerly buff instructor....I am thinking “gesh, I am gonna get killed by this guy!”....Jason greets me, as I am the first new student to show up to the new dojo, the new old dojo with no AC that is......the next guy that shows up is wearing an University of Iowa wrestling t-shirt and is seriously more buff than Jason the seriously buff new dojo guy...I am thinkin..."gesh, I am gonna get killed by this guy!”....I introduced myself...he says his name is Matt...I am thinkin’ “like jhyeah! Matt Hughes right?”....he looks like Matt Hughes...says he’s never taken any BJJ...says he just entered a submission wrestling tournament and won it last week, first try....I says to myself.."yeah, no kidding, you’re friggen animal”....now I am really sweating in my gi...and I am still just standing there...so the next guy roles in, Jerry, oh...he doesn’t look like Matt Hughes..oh no...rather, like wittle ol’ Quinton Rampage Jackson! is all....and I am thinking..."gesh, I am gonna get killed by this guy too or maybe even three!”....now the sweat in beading up on my forehead and rolling down my face as I stand there in the sweaty lobby of the the new dojo...em’ the new old dojo with no AC, with the new dojo guy instructor guy and two more seriously buffer than the new dojo guy that is already seriously buff....so....the process repeats itself, wrestling stud after wrestling stud.....after wrestling stud… comes into to the dojo...I am thinking..."hmm....maybe I’ll get lucky and one guy won’t be on the wrestling team...????...oh...knowing my luck he will have just been kicked off the wrestling team for fighting or something!!!!”...I am thinking...."I am gonna get killed in this dojo!!!!”....I am the oldest student at 43....the next oldest student is 25....finally....FINALLLY a gal comes into the dojo, she’s wearing a crisp gi with a white belt and a couple of strips...I am thinking..."HA, finally....someone that won’t kill me and I can roll with!”.....Oh no...scrape that plan....she’s the instructor’s girlfriend...no rolling with her!!!....
So, we gather around..sweat is just pouring off of me and I haven’t done a thing except sweat...we do a few drills....I show off my honed snake moves on the mat..."oh yeah take that wrestling thugs!”......I am smoking the warm-up drills, all that Roy Dean disciplined training...all the DVD watching...I am top notch at warming up...as anyone knows...after warm-ups...my whole BJJ game goes down hill, except for tapping...I can transition into the tap with the best of them.......we do some basic throws...I have no idea if the neanderthal that I was working with did anything right with respect to the hip throw, but I went flying every time!!!!....besides, even if he was hacking up the technique, I wasn’t going to say anything, he might supplex my ass or something....And when the gorillia started for my arm after the throw, I tapped before he could get his meat-hooks around my wrist....when we were done with drilling on throws and the arm bar.....Thank the BJJ Gods...Jason said we wouldn’t be rolling for a couple of weeks, until he has a chance to roll with each of us becasue he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt....I am thinking..."hurt...how about killed!”....so politely, I reminded everyone in the class that...1) I am 43 years old....2) BJJ is a secondary sport for me...I am a runner first....3) Runners don’t bend, they break! 4) If you one of you animals want to practice your future MMA skills on someone....don’t roll with me!!!
It wasn’t the Roy Dean Academy, but I knew it wouldn’t be going in, it’s the only thing I have right now. Jason Clarke the instructor is well-meaning, he want’s to do a good job, he’s new to teaching too, it’s a old raunchy place for a dojo, but it’s what we have, so...for the time being...I’ll have to take my chances with the Hawkeye wrestling team because I ain’t rolling with his girlfriend!!!!
-CB
Finally got a little time back in the saddle in front of the computer. This was from day one of the recent Morgan Hill/San Jose seminar. I also put together a short clip of Clem’s visit to the Academy. I spoke with Clem on the phone and look forward to the next time he can join us on the mat and share his expertise!
This upcoming weekend, there will be a rare 5 black belt seminar for the grand opening of the Lobo Academy in Clackamas Oregon. It’s a 2 day seminar, featuring BJJ legends Relson Gracie, Rey Diogo, Luis Heredia, Pedro Sauer, and Anibal Lobo. I will be attending both days, and spending the night at the Clackamas Hampton Inn, if anyone cares to join me. Although originally tentative on attending this seminar (only because I am traveling next weekend as well), I think it’s a rare opportunity for historic Gracie Jiu Jitsu training.
A view of Alaska’s mountains, from the backyard of Robert Grunder.
This last month was the busiest yet, both personally and professionally. The first weekend of the month, my girl Julie Wilde made the move from San Diego to join me in Bend. The following weekend we ventured to Crater Lake and the big question was proposed. The next weekend was spent in Alaska for the Gracie Barra grand opening, and the first annual black belt fishing trip.
That included a night out at Platinum Jaxx, a hot nightclub in downtown Anchorage that is unlike any other club I had been to growing up in the last frontier. Paul, one of the students at Gracie Barra AK, owns the club and insisted we participate in the night’s activities. Although originally reluctant and expressing an interest in “just one drink” before returning home, a potent combination of Silver Patron tequila and Red Bull (aka “Rocket Fuel") made staying up late suddenly very easy. VIP treatment, to be sure, but some of the best parts of the evening came when stepping outside the bar and marveling at how light it was in the land of the midnight sun. The evening ended at Denny’s, which should tell you everything.
The suitcase was never put away before my next adventure, the San Jose Seminar. Margarita Jimenez hosted a 3 days workshop at her new facility Train For Life. Although we experienced 107 degree temperatures, the students were attentive and the attitude very positive as I guided them through several areas of the BJJ skill set. Paul Pedrazzi nobly assisted and did a write up of the weekend here.
The last weekend in June was spent in Portland, introducing my brother Brad and his wife Julie to my new fiance. I also squeezed in the wedding of an old high school friend, a celebratory dinner for the engagement, and some great training on Sunday with Matt McTigue, a Renzo Gracie brown belt training out of Impact Jiu Jitsu. Earlier in the week, Clem Shields dropped by the Academy for a few days, and as a brown belt under Claudio Franca, let the blue belts taste what two levels up is like. I learned techniques from both Clem and Matt, and will be working on incorporating them into my own game.
With so much going on last month, I finally feel I’ll have a chance to get caught up with my first weekend at home. Relocation to the new Academy has been postponed until September 1, due to construction delays. I also got word that 5 martial artists from the UK have purchased their tickets to train with me for 10 days around the same time. A busy summer, but I have a feeling we’ll be able to ride the momentum into the new space and take this Academy to the next level!
I’m off to do a 3 days seminar at the new Train For Life facility in Morgan Hill, CA. This means there won’t be class on Saturday, as Bend Aiki Martial Arts is holding a weekend seminar at the dojo. Big thanks to those instructors filling in for me, D the Destroyer handling tonight’s class and Big Rick Ellis for Friday’s executive power hour. I’ll return on Monday and look forward to seeing you all in class!
A very special day at the new Gracie Barra Alaska School, with a four black belt seminar and 80 participants on the mat. I was honored to share the mat with Professor Nelson Monteiro and former world champion Rafael “Gordhino” Correa, head instructor at Renzo Gracie’s Academy in New York. A 2 hour seminar, followed by a grand opening ceremony and reception. A fantastic facility, and an extended family under the guidance of Professor Ted Stickel. RDA member Brian Dunagan was also at the seminar, which was filmed and will be dropped to DVD in the future. We were skunked in First Annual Black Belt fishing competition, sitting on the Kenai River and chatting it up. More pictures and insights to come.
The place was perfect. The timing right. My girl divine.
I wrapped my arms around her. Placed the ring before her. Then whispered in her ear.
She said yes!
The 2008 World Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships took place this last weekend, and although many struggle for top position, few make it at this level of competition. Pan American Champion Andre Galvao steamrolled through the competition and won his division handily (even humiliating this opponent after he attempted an illegal heel hook), until he was stopped in the open weight category by Roger Gracie. The highly touted Kron Gracie, son of the legendary Rickson Gracie, competed as a black belt for the first time, and was submitted in the first round by the eventual division champion, after an incredible win streak where he had submitted his opponents in 40 straight matches as a brown belt. And check out this 16 year old purple belt phenom. The level of skill in this sport continues to rise, which confirms that the art is alive and well.
