First Few Days in California -Part 1

Well I've arrived in California; I've been here for two about a day.  My flight left from Calgary Alberta, Canada at approximately 3:30pm and had about a 1 hour stop over in Phoenix, Arizona.  While there I decided to get something to eat because I had not really eaten at all.  I decided to grab a burrito which was not such a big deal; except for the fact that I forgot to pack a tooth brush.  Which I did not find out till I got to the place I'm staying at.  More on that later.

Anyhow, after about an hour I boarded my plane and got ready to make the flight to Los Angeles.  The plane ended up being delayed about 30 minutes (from what I can gather).  We finally left Phoenix and made our way to L.A. which is about a 1hr flight.  Give or take a few minutes.

I arrived at the LAX airport, waited and waited for the plane to empty.  Made my way out to the luggage pickup area.  It was a bit of a wait.  While I was waiting for my luggage to come down the luggage carrier I realized that I had not written down the contact information of Tony (the guy from Cobrinha's academy who is renting out a room to me).  So I used my phone to log into the airport wi-fi and got the info I needed.

Tony had informed me that it would be best to try and get a shuttle bus from the airport.  At first I tried to hail a cab but they all keep driving by me.  So I kinda just stood around not sure what to do and at some point I noticed a bus that said "shuttle bus" that drove by me.  So I did my best to try and following.  Sure enough I found guy who was working for the shuttle bus and eventually I was able to catch the bus that was going where I wanted to go.

The bus driver took had to make a few stops at the airport but eventually we we off and on our.   This being my first time in L.A.  I had no idea were were were but we traveling at a pretty good pace.  About 20 minutes or so in to the drive the bus driver asked me if the address I had given him was in an office space - as we were in a area with a lot of tall buildings.  I informed him that as far as I knew it was in a office building.  He then told me to look out the window as we were coming up to the area in which the address I had given him was supposed to be.  As I was looking out the window we came upon a tall burgundy building that the driver informed me was the building that matched the address I had given him.  I looked over and immediately noticed a logo that was familiar to me.

*At this point I must add that I was not going to met Tony at his place but at the Cobrinha academy.

Here is the logo/sign that I saw from the van and how I knew I was at the right place.

I informed the driver that this was the place I was supposed to be dropped off.  He drove up a little further and found a drive way that he could turn around, drove back.  He dropped me off around the corner from the academy.  I hopped out of the van as did the driver and we made our way to the back of the van and we unloaded my luggage, I paid him the $26.00 for the lift.  And I made my way in to the building and academy of Cobrinha.

If you're interested in training with Cobrinha his academy contact info is:

Cobrinha Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Fitness
4929 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 104
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Telephone: 323-931-9953
E-mail: info@cobrinhabjj.com


Initially I went to the side of the building with the above logo which was locked and had to go around to the other side of the building.  I made my way in to the building.  There was a security guard who asked me where I was headed and I informed him that I was looking for the Jiu Jitsu Academy.  At which he smiled and pointed me straight ahead.  I walked in to the academy and was greeted by the lady at the front desk.  I informed her I was looking for Tony and she pointed me out to the mat.  Eventually I met Tony.  Training had just finished up and they were hanging out as many people like to do after training.  So I grabbed a seat on one of the couches.  Eventually Tony and his other room-mates - Isaac and Ernesto - changed up and we were on our way back to Tony's pad.

Here are a couple of pics from the front desk area of Cobrinha's academy:

The Cobrina Logo.

The front desk area - Alliance Jiu Jitsu logo.

Well that is it for the first installment of the trip.  I'm a bit late with writing and updating but as they say it's better late than never.

In case you're reading this and are totally unfamiliar with who Cobrinha is I'll add a youtube clip (my favorite ).  But if you're reading this I'd assume you're probably familiar with Jiu Jitsu and the top players.  For the sake of those who may be uninformed I'll add the clip anyhow.



This man has some seriously nice Jiu Jitsu.

Part 2 coming up soon.

Andre.