First Few Days in Cailfornia - Part 2

Well after Tony, Issac, and Ernesto got finished changing we headed out to Tony's vehicle, packed up our stuff and headed over to his place.  Now having never been to California I had no clue were we were. During my initial talks with Tony he had informed me that his place was about 2miles from the Cobrinha Academy.  Being a bit jet lagged, tired, hungry, and it being about 10pm and dark the car ride seemed like it was a bit more than 2 miles.  But upon my first bike ride the distance was about the right length.

Anyhow, as we were approaching the apartment Tony informed me that there was a good supermarket really near (it ended up being like maybe a 5 minute walk away from Tony's apartment.).  At some point during the drive back to Tony's place Issac informed me that we were living in the section of L.A. known as Korea Town and that, jokingly, I would not see another "white" person around which I thought was pretty funny.  In the end Ernesto had to get some stuff at the market so we all ended up going to the market to pick up a few things.  And then finally made our way back to Tony's place.

Upon reaching Tony's place I realized that I was going to be staying in a really nice apartment; lucky me.  Here are a few pictures of Tony's place.

The sliding doors that lead to the balcony.

The front steps leading to the front doors of Tony's apartment.

The front doors.

View of the apartment building - where I was staying.

Tony's living room. Complete with fire place, big screen tv and Direct TV..woo hoo!

The eating area adjacent to the living room.

Some art work and view of the laundry room.

A very nice kitchen area.

It was probably about 11pm (or later) by the time we got in to the apartment.  Needless to say I was tired and ready to sleep.  So after some chit-chat and introductions I went to the room I was going to be staying in, changed and got ready to go to bed.

The room I was staying in was pretty huge.  I ended up staying on what I was told was a Thai bed (a friend from facebook told me that is what they were called but I can neither confirm nor deny this.)  Here is a picture of my bed that I ended up sleeping on the whole time I was in California as it was really comfortable (despite having a mattress being brought in for me.)

My cool little bed mattress during my stay in L.A.  Very Spartan!!!

Tuesday morning (well more like late morning) was a bit of groggy scene on my part.  Due in part to a bit of jet lag, age, and getting used to a new environment.  I got up just as Issac and Ernesto were leaving for the 12pm competition class.

I ended up just bumming around the house for most of the day.  I decided to go out on the balcony and soon realized that I had a great view of part of the city.  In fact I soon realized that I had a view of one of the most iconic landmarks in Los Angeles.   Here is the view I had from the place I was staying at.

The view from the balcony - the Hollywood sign.

My plan had been to take the early evening fundamentals classes.  I had asked Issac if he could draw me directions to the academy (for some reason it was lost on me to just look it up on Google maps.)  Anyhow, I ventured out for an 2hr or so walk - I do like to take walks when on BJJ vacations to clear my head and take photos.

I got back to the house but Issac and Ernesto were not there and it was almost time to go train - if I wanted to make it to the early evening fundamentals classes I had to leave ASAP.  I ended up just sitting around the house not taking the initiative to find out how to get to the academy from Tony's apartment complex.  Anyhow by the time Issac and Ernesto arrived back at the apartment it was too late to make it down to the academy to train.  I could have made the last class of the day but I was not really interested in doing the no-gi class.

About 8:00pm Issac and Ernesto decided they were going down to the basemen of the apartment building - to the fitness room - and do some drilling and invited me along.  We ended up drilling for about 2 1/2 hours which is by far the most time I've spent drilling (just doing one technique over and over).  I went over some guard passing, the arm-bar--omoplata--triangle from guard sequence as well as some Judo throws.

On a side note; as I was doing my first repetition for the judo throw Issac informed me that Ernesto was a Judo Black belt.  Bonus!!!  So Ernesto helped me with a few things and details that I was missing out with.  I was drilling the Tai Otoshi throw.  Ernesto helped me clean up a few details with the grips and pulling.  I've included a clip of the throw I was drilling.



I also learned that Issac, one of the guys staying with Tony (permanently), was a world champion at blue belt and placed third this year at the worlds (as a purple belt).  Look up Issac Doederlein on google.  Below is a clip of Issac vs Joao Miyao (very renowned Purple belt - who is one half of the famous Miayo brothers). If I had one regret it was not to take better advantage of having a Judo BB and a world class purple belt living in the same house.  Next time!




If you're interested in training at Cobrinha's academy in Los Angeles but do not want to have to pay ridiculous amounts for a hotel in Los Angeles.  I'd really recommend contacting Tony Kim and finding out if he has room in his place free for rent.  The price is comparable to the nearest hostel but a lot closer to the Academy than the hostel.  You'd also be in a house with other guys that train at Cobrinha's academy and would not have to worry about rides to classes.  You'd also have a bike at your disposal if you want to train on your own schedule.  There are also mats in the apartment building for doing some drilling if you so choose (both Tony and Issac are big on drilling).

Cobrinha is also holding a Masters & Seniors camp for the upcoming Masters and Seniors World Championships.  I do believe the Cobrinha's camp will be held from September 24 to October 6, 2012.  Everyone in the house was easy to get along with

Here is the contact e-mail for Tony Kim:

alliancebjjlosangeles@gmail.com


Back to my trip.  I was feeling pretty worked over after that marathon drilling session.  After showering up and changing I had something to eat then retired to my room to chill out and veg.  I had some serious insomnia this trip and I was up pretty late - not sure what time I actually fell asleep but I woke up sometime after noon on Wednesday.  I showered up and decided that I would go out for  a walk.

I walked out of the apartment, took left and headed down to Olympic Boulevard, took another left and walked east along the street.  The day before I had spotted a Brazilian eatery and I was determined to eat there.  And I did!  I had an old favorite that I had first eaten in Brazil --- Chicken, Rice, Black Beans.  Yum!  Here are few pictures:

The front of the Brazilian Cafe.

My favorite "File de Frango" --chicken, rice, & beans!

I first fell in love with the chicken, rice, and bean meal when I went to Brazil the first time - back in August of 2009.  This meal filled me up Big Time!  I got back to the apartment around 5:00pm and decided that I was going to bike ride down to the Academy and do the two fundamentals classes back to back.  Ernesto had informed me that it took about 20 minutes to get from the house to the academy on bike so I quickly packed up (a gi, some water, gatorade, etc.)  Borrowed Tony's mountain bike and threw on my back pack and headed out to Cobrinha's academy.

The academy is approximately 2miles from Tony's place and takes about 20mins if you're riding the bike.  It is a nice bike ride especially when you get to Wilshire Blvd.

Well - I'm going to stop this particular Blog here - I will be writing about my actual experiences training at the Cobrinha academy in the next couple of installments.  As well as some of the setbacks I encountered while in California.

So that was my first couple of days in Cali.  I had not made it in to Cobrinha's academy to train yet but I was mere minutes away from my first class with Cobrinha.

Stay tuned!

A.