Sleep Schedules, Heat Waves, Killing Time.

Well the last time I wrote was about a week ago and I had promised that I would post a bit more; but you know sometimes things just don't turn out the way you want.

So I last left off after just having had my first rolling session at the 50/50 academy and being lucky enough to have rolled with Ryan Hall; which a treat to say the least.

My first few days in VA were pretty much sleep days and I'm not sure if this has contributed to my sleep schedule being way off.  After my first training session, and continuing on to my time in South Carolina, I've been staying up to 4-6am each night and sleeping in till anywhere from 12:00pm to 3pm.  This is something that I'd rather not be doing but since I'm on vacation I'm trying not to worry too much about it.  Still it does bum  me out sometimes if I've sleep most of the day away.  I worried as to how I'm going to remedy this once I get back home and to reality-I'll figure things out.

So You're probably wondering what my living space was like.  Well here is a picture of the front of Seph and Kenny's pad:

As you can see a pretty nice little brick house (many,if not all, the houses were brick and I'm assuming that it is because of the humidity).  Let me take you on a little journey.  I walk up the side walk, open the chain link fence, close the fence. Walk up to the door and insert my key - Kenny was kind enough to give me my own key - unlock the door, walk in to some air conditioning (you pretty much need an air conditioner down here).  If I were to walk straight I would pass through the living/tv room then on to the kitchen and to the left to the kitchen the laundry room.

But I'll take you on a small trip to the left and up a flight of stairs.  Once you reach the top of the too your left is Seph's room, straight ahead is the washroom.  Now I take a left and and walk down a very short hallway; to my left is Kenny's room.  But I continue straight ahead to a door and the guest room.  On my very first day the first thing I noticed was the bedding.  Here is what I saw when I first entered the room:

Ninja Turtle Bedding; how cool is that?  Pretty cool I must say.  Anyhow, this is what my room looked like after a few days of training:

Which was pretty typical of my time in Rio - gi's and various training gear hanging around drying.  It may be messy, foreign, perhaps even gross to those who are not familiar with the BJJ lifestyle but to those who have traveled and lived the life (for however long it was) it is typical and in someways a comfort.  A comfort in the sense that, at least for awhile, all that matters is what you have packed - a few clothes, a Gi, your training gear and a few dollars in your pocket and bank account.  I  guess I'll never be any gals dream GQ kinda guy but I'm at the point in my life where I'm ok with who I am and the things I do (for the most part as I do have my days) and that's okay.

As I had mentioned earlier my sleep schedule was way off.  So Thursday I got up around 2ish, showered and walked to the Potomac Centre.  At this point I had also gotten my clothes so it was nice to have a clean pair of clothes to change into.  At this point in my trip the heat in Alexandria/Arlington was deathly and I shit you not when I say that I walked half a block and I was dripping sweat.  I made my way to the stores which were about at 15 minute walk away but seemed much further in the heat.  I had found a Barns and Noble (Canadians think Chapters) bookstore which also had a Starbucks inside.  I liked to hang out here and drink a coffee, surf the net, and then make my way around the bookstore.  I ended up finding a couple of books for my father and a couple for myself.  Anyhow, here are a few pics of the Starbucks.

This first one is of a cup of coffee - probably the first day I went there:

This one is of a nice mural above the coffee bar/register:

I would stay here for a bit then roam around the other stores and then make my way back to the house - usually after purchasing some supplies - water, gatoradge, coconut water, and a protein drink.  So I did that and made my way back to the house,showered and walked to the bus stop and made my way to the 50/50 academy in Arlington.  Tonight went a bit better as I was in the class with a few other guys who were around my skill level which made me fell better about things.  After training I hung out for a bit then made my way back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to Alexandria.  My particular bus stop went about half block further from where I would catch the bus to make my way into Arlington.  This little walk would take me by the 7-11 and my ritual - for my  brief time in Alexandria, of stopping for a coke zero and a hotdog.  Yeah I know 7-11 food is kinda gross but what ever.

Anyhow, I got home, showered, ate a sandwich, drank some liquid and made my way up to my room to watch internet tv, surf the net, creep facebook, ha ha ha ha....and stay up till the wee hours of the night.

Friday was more of the same; sleep in late, get up, shower, and walk to the stores.  Of course I ended up in the bookstore/coffee shop. I had my Venti cup of coffee and another Venti cup.  Eventually I made my way back to the house to get ready to train.  I might mention that the head on this particular Friday was close to unbearable and I would later learn the hottest day of the year - up to that point.  Here is picture I took inside the bookstore/coffee shop that accents my point of how hot it was:

You can make out on the upper right hand side - yes! That does indeed say 39degrees C.  I was later told that with the humidity added in that it was 46degrees C.  I can honestly say I've never experienced heat like this.  Which brings me to my next little story.

So I washed up and made my way to the bus stop.  I was soaked in sweat before I even got to the bus stop.  After about 15 minutes my bus arrived I hopped on and was thankful for the air conditioning.  After about 45 minutes I was at the downtown town stop - Ballston I do believe - walked down to the academy and by the time I reached the doors and air conditioning I was once again soaked in sweat.  So I made my way upstairs,changed and got ready for class.

Initially, class went well but about midway through I started to really get winded and shortly after began cramping up like crazy.  It did not occur to me that anything might be wrong at this time and I just attributed it to a hard training session - as I had earlier mentioned almost everyone at the academy was much better than me.  Well by the end of the training session my heart was beating fast, my arms were numb, and I was light headed and by this time I  was a bit concerned.  I walked back to the change room, drank a whole 500ml carton of coconut water, and sipped on some water.  I did not feel any better and my chest was still feeling tight.

Now I had planned on taking part in what the 50/50 academy calls the Marathon Roll.  The Marathon Roll consists of 10 five minute rounds back to back; with the 1 minute rest in between.  It was one of my goals upon planning my Jiu Jitsu trip to Virginia.  Now, unfortunately, I was not going to be able to take part.  I stayed around and watched the action going on and as much as I would have liked to have been a part of it my body was not feeling right.  I packed up and made my way back to the bus stop.  I got downtown to the Ballston station and while waiting walked across the street to the 7-11 and grabbed a gatorade and promptly drained it.

The bus ride back to the house seemed to take longer than usual given my current state.  In the end I made it back home safely and after a shower and some food I began to feel alot better  but the lesson was learned.  If you're going to drink to Venti  (large) coffees and plan on doing any physical activity after that you had better make sure you are hydrated properly and double this advice if you are in any type of extreme heat and humidity.

Seph ended up arriving back at the house and I apologized to him for not staying around.  He mentioned that it was not a big deal  We ended up striking up a conversation about music. I learned that Seph had grown up in Richmond, VA and personally knew some members of a couple of bands I listened to back in the day.  One of the bands was Avail and the other Ann Beretta - two Richmond, VA punk rock bands.  Here is a sample of a very kick ass song by Avail:



 Here is a clip of some competition footage from Seph Smith:



 It was a pleasant surprise to know that Seph and I shared something in common (a taste in music - as the conversation continued I found out that we both like most of the same bands). 

That is it for now - stay tuned for the next installment of my trip and adventure.

Training,Clothes, and That Lost Feeling (rolling with Ryan Hall)

So when I left off last I had been without clothes going on my 3rd day.  I ended up going to Target to get some clothes so that I could train and have something to change into.  I also managed to find my way to the 50/50 academy via the bus system in Arlington/Alexandria, VA.

I opened the door and relief hit me as it was definitely cooler inside than it was (recall that I had mentioned that the heat and humidity were unreal).  I was pleased about this and made my way  up the stairs and through another door that lead to the 2nd floor of the building in which Ryan's academy was located.  The actual academy is right through the first door on the left; you'll see a door with a window and the 50/50 logo on there.  You'll also hear alot of voices and music playing.

Anyhow, I made my way into the academy saw Seph and had a conversation with Jen (I do believe she is Ryan's Girl friend and works at the front desk; she is also a purple belt.)  I paid the 75$ for one week of training (unlimited).  Now in my haste I had looked at the schedule for the academy and had looked at Tuesday's class schedule and was under the impression that I had arrived in time for the 7:30 BJJ class.  But it being Wednesday I had arrived in time for the wrestling class.  Not really being a wrestler (my take down options are Judo based).  Jen asked me if I'd like to take part in the wrestling class and I declined (not really wanting to risk getting hurt or hurting anyone).  She then informed me that after the wrestling class, at 8:30pm,  the Advanced No-Gi class was going to take place.

She then called Ryan over and asked him if it would be okay if I took part in the advanced class and Ryan replied, "Sure, why not!"  So I was set to go but also pretty nervous as I was going to be rolling with guys who were in all likelihood far above my skill level.  I ended up watching the wrestling class then getting ready a few minutes before the class started.  Now being that I that that it was going to be a Gi training day I only brought my Gi so I ended up having to just wear my gi pants and a rashguard.

Sidenote; while I was waiting for the wrestling class to finish.  My phone went off and low and behold it was the airport baggage guy informing me that my luggage was in and that he would be delivering it to me.  Finally!  I would have some clothes to change in to and after some back and forth it was decided that he would deliver my baggage to the academy (it worked out better for him as he mentioned that he was closer to Arlington than Alexandria.

Class started and we got right into it.  Ryan and Seph started off by showing an arm-drag to back technique.  I got paired with a younger, larger (as in athletic) guy.  We drilled that technique and then a couple more; at this point I knew that this particular class was going to fly by me as I was not familiar with the techniques and too be honest I had not trained much back home and as a result I was completely off.  After about 20-30 minutes or so we got down to some rolling (sparring).  I rolled with my sparring partner first, then another one of the guys in class.  I was able to somewhat hold my own with the first sparring partner.  But my 2nd rolling partner (again I'm bad with names) pretty much had his way with me.  After my 2nd rolling session we stopped and everyone sat around waiting for the next round to start.  Just before the round began everyone partnered up and I sat there waiting; being the visitor I was unsure of the gym etiquette.

As I sat there I heard someone say "hey,Andre would you like to roll?"  I looked to my left and it was Ryan Hall himself.  The round started off and I was under no impression that I was even going to remotely be competitive.  Any time that I've rolled with a black belt in Brazil I always got this feeling that I lost in a dream; you know that dream when every corner is a dead end and no matter what you do it's always the wrong choice. Well I got that alot both times that I was I Brazil and I was experiencing it as I rolled with Ryan.

It was quite obvious that Ryan was going very easy on me; nonetheless he did whatever he wanted with me.  If you're unfamiliar with Ryan he is well known for the deep half guard position; and I have only really heard of the deep half guard position (I have played around with it but in all honesty I don't know much about the deep half guard).  And I must say I felt very helpless. As the round progressed Ryan would occasionally stop and correct me if I was doing something wrong or he saw an opportunity to help me get to where I was going to go (in terms of Jiu Jitsu position).  The round ended and Ryan began to chat me up; the usual.  Where was I from?  Who did I train with?  How did I like it thus far?  Etc.  But how lucky was I? On my first night I got to roll with Ryan Hall himself.  Back home I don't think I've rolled with my instructor at all - at least in the past year and half or so.  So felt pretty lucky.

I forgot to mention that while I was drilling at the beginning of the class the airport guy dropped by.  I signed the little waiver thing and hooray! I had clothes.


I ended up rolling with Seph and a few other guys that stayed (it was a smaller class). After class I thanked Ryan and he told me that he was thankful and happy that I chose his academy out of all the other places I could have trained at.  But lets be honest the honour was all mine.


So I hopped into Seph's car and we drove back to the house.  I showered and then took pleasure in the fact that I could change in to some clean clothes. Then took a walk to 7-11 as it was the only thing open at that time within decent walking range; grabbed a hot dog and some snacks.  Walked back home and retired to my room.

My first training session went well and I was looking forward to the next day's training session.  On my first night I got to train with one of the worlds best grappler's.  How luck I am to have found jiu jitsu and all the places it has taken me.  If it all ended right now; it would not be such a bad ride.

Here is the website for the 50/50 academy with pictures so that you can get the idea of where I was training.  Please do not hesitate to contact them if you would like to drop by and train with them.

http://5050bjj.com/multimedia


Here is a photo of Ryan teaching and answering questions; notice Seph to the right.

Stay tuned for the next installment - You hear more about the up's and downs of the hopeless romantic grappler...ha ha!!!!