Opening Doors in Rio - letting the sun in

Well it’s been far too long since my last update - I’m thinking that I will do 2-3 smaller blogs as opposed to my usual longer blogs.

This blog will cover the week of July 19 -25, 2010.

The week started off on a good note - I ended up going for a run on Monday afternoon then went to train that night. Overall, I pretty positive day. There is nothing really of note -as most of the days were the same, get up, eat, maybe train or go for a run during the afternoon, come home, eat, sleep, then get ready for evening training.

This week was the week of Rio Open so the gym was pretty packed each night - in fact on the Monday I had noticed there was another female black belt in the academy but did not really pay much attention as I was there to train and honestly I cannot see very well without my glasses. Once training was over I threw on my glasses and was heading out the door when I noticed that the female black belt was none other than Kyra Gracie herself. Damn, and I did not bring my camera. OH well.

Monday was also the day that a new guy moved into the house - Richie.

Anyhow I ended up training Monday to Wednesday.

I awoke fairly late on Thursday morning; which was the first day of the Rio Open. I had planned on going down to watch the guys and gals from the house compete but ended up missing out on rides to the tournament. I arrived back at the Connection Rio house and was lucky enough to run into Jeremy and he informed me that he would be heading down around 4pm as he did not have to compete till closer to 6pm. So I had a ride there (cab ride that is). As we arrived we ran in to Dennis and some of the people from the house and from the looks on their faces I knew that they did not do so well.

Jeremy asked me if I would be willing to record his matches during the Rio Open and I agreed. As for the match - well Jeremy did not do as well as expected. But he put up a great fight and in the end he walked away from the match while his opponent limped away. In-fact, in the very next match Jeremy’s opponent just ended up basically giving up because of the damage that Jeremy did to his knee. Go figure. Next time.

The next day I had also agreed to go to the open with the new guy Richie to film and give support. We were up fairly early that morning and headed off to the cab stand near the Mudial grocery store. The cab ride was pretty crazy as the cab driver was fairly slow (by Rio standards), and his vehicle began to emit smoke, in addition the oil light came on. But we managed to make it to the Tijuca tennis courts on time for Richie’s matches.

In the end Richie ended up wining his division - I got to film him. Braga Neto also helped to coach Richie. All in all a great day for my new friend. Here are a couple of photos of Richie:





We also trained later that night and ended up getting to meet BJJ legend Vinicius “Draculio” Magalhaes as he dropped by Gordo’s academy for an interview with Dennis. Check photo for proof (ha ha!):





I ended up not making it to the Rio Open on Saturday - which sucked as I wanted to see Gordo’s matches. Again, it was a matter of not planning ahead and missing out on rides to the tennis courts. Gordo ended up winning his division so all praise be to the master himself.

I managed to talk Richie into going on Sunday - Justin, another room-mate - also wanted to come along so we ended up catching a cab down to the tennis courts around 11am. By the time we got there quite a few of the matches had already taken place - so we hung out, ate, watched matches and gals (female watching is mandatory in Rio..ha ha!). Bought some merchandise (picked up a snazzy hoodie and duffel bag.) Richie and I ended up staying till around 3pm and decided to head back to the house. On our way I out I just happened to look up and catch a glimpse of one of my BJJ Heros Saulo Ribeiro. I ended up getting Richie to ask him if I could take my picture with him as I was too awe struck. Here is my picture with Saulo just before his absolute matches:




So that was pretty much the week of the Rio Open - I must say that this was as good a week as I’ve ever had. Lots up ups and very few downs.

I think about this week and I feel like things can turn out for the good - the weather was nice, my friends competed, some won, some lost but they all fought hard and made themselves proud, I met some hero’s and made a new friend - which is what living life is all about - those surprises that you expect and don’t expect.

I not sure where this road (path) that I’ve taken will lead me - I just know that it feels right. But I must confess that at times it can be hard and that I do get discouraged (next blog will get into this) and want to give up and just go back to playing it safe (9-5 job, pay bills, etc…) but, for whatever reason, I keep at it. Get up and keep at it. Perhaps maybe someday “She’ll” read about me and realize she let something go that was worth having (I know I should have let her memory die a long time ago but you know, it is what it is and I cannot and will not apologise for still aching)

So here’s to running head first through all those doors that lay out before us - as the saying goes “the sun never shines on closed doors.” So bust those doors down and let some goddamn sunshine in . . .

Next blog coming soon !!!!

“Come July we’ll ride the farris-wheel round and round and if you never let me go I’ll never let you down”

A.

Brazil

Well been ages since an update.

1. i just finished my first year of teaching and i will be back in the fall to teach highschool again - not sure if i will come back.

2. I will be heading back down to Brazil to train at Gordo's academy next week - i will be leaving on july 13 and stay for a month and be back mid August.

3. i will be heading down to brazil in a much better mindset that I was last year - not as much baggage as last year. So i hope this translates to a better time; not only training but just the overall experience of Brazil and Rio.

4. i know that i will have to sacrifice lots to atain my goal of black belt in BJJ - but i will do it, i know that this will bring much more joy than anything else i've ever done.

5. i wanted to do the Rio Open but since i have not trained much up here i will have to skip it - just focus on a couple of training goals. Which are:

a) working on my guard passing - i was working on this prior to having to leave Rio early.

b) side mount - not only maintaining position but subbing from there.

c) Close guard - attacking (looking for the submission or sweep) as opposed to a surviving closed guard.

6. I want this year to be great - i want to continue training once i return to Canada and be well on my way to Purple by this time next year. I want to be open to everything.

7. I've spent too much time worrying about the future and harboring on the past - It si time to start living in the moment, the now! The past is dead and gone and the future is not here and more-so the future hinges on what I do in the NOw! So here to the new mindset - it will be hard work but nothing is worth having that does not come without sacrifice or hardwork.

8. Want to try surfing while in Rio....it was one of my plans but plans got cut short last year.

Well that is my update - this blog will be updated more often as I am now looking to Rio and Gordo's academy once again. Oh yeah - bless you if you are reading this.

Andre

Update - exerpt from book

Hey, not sure if anyone reads this thing but if ya do a few things

I'm starting to feel comfortable in my job - as a high school teacher. It's a day to day thing but I'm finding my way and my place.

I'll probably be back in Brazil this summer - only for a month this time as I will be back teaching in the fall for another year then I will attempt to take another 6 months off of work to go back and train in Brazil - Rio, Gordo's school.

I've been working on a book chronicling my life during the time of deciding to quit my job and go to Brazil and my time in Brazil. Here is a small sampling - If you read this comment please. I'm hoping this can lead to other opportunities. Hoping to get it done by summer then start trying to get it published.

Here is a sample from the book "Life, Love, and Jiu Jitsu Adventures."

Chapter 2 - If Not for Bad Luck I’d have No Luck At All!

So how did a Native male from the Kainai Reservation find his way to Brazil and Gordo’s gym in Barra da Tijuca? There were a lot of factors that led me to pursue this dream and in turn make it a reality. But it can be summed up with one person’s name: Kenny Florian. Anyone familiar with the current fighter stable in the UFC will no doubt know that Kenny is a fighter who is one of the top contenders in the UFC’s 155 division. Ken-Flo (as he is known) recently (Aug. 2009) fought a losing effort for the 155 pound title against current 155 king pin and P4P fighter BJ Penn.

There were a few factors that led to my initial decision to pursue this dream and each one must be briefly mentioned and detailed in order for the full picture to be understood of what brought me to Brazil and Gordo Jiu Jitsu to forget the past, live in the moment and find a future.
I had mentioned earlier that I had made the decision to move my training to Gracie Barra Calgary and Professor Josh Russell. It is a 2 ½ hr trip from Lethbridge (where I was residing) to Calgary and the GBC academy and another 2 ½ hr trip back after training; in total I would spend 5hrs on the road to go train for 2hrs or so. Because of gas prices back then and time I was only able to make it up to Calgary to train about 2 times per week with the occasional 3rd session. But for me it was worth it as I was learning the Gi system and doing what I wanted not to mention it was keeping me out of trouble and I was making some new friends.

All was going smoothly through May, June and the early part of July. As I had mentioned because of distance and gas prices I was only able to make it up to Calgary to train twice which meant that I had to keep myself active and occupied. I would occasionally train back at Lee’s gym and also I would go for run’s and outdoor body-weight exercise routines. During one of these supplemental workout routines I had decided to go running through the hills and river valley like I usually did. All was going well about 10 minutes into my run. I had just made my way down the hill and to the river bottom trail that leads runners, walkers, bikers down from the freeway to the park along the river’s east side. I was just rounding a corner on one of the trails when I noticed some mud that had slid down from the hill (it had been raining a lot during the summer of 2008) and took note of it. I veered to my right to avoid the big pile up of mud and had just started to work my way back on the paved trail when I hit a small mound of mud and dirt and my right ankle hit just enough of it to cause my it to twist. Now keep in mind I was going a pretty good pace and the mound was a few inches off of the ground. I cried out in pain and stopped immediately. I attempted to shake it off and take a small breather to rest. I looked down at it and it was already swelling quite a bit.

I knew the ankle injury was a bad one; but here I was down in the river bottom about a good paced 20 minute run away from my apartment. I was not sure what to do and I was extremely frustrated that this had happened. I tried to walk it off but it hurt just putting any weight on it and I knew that the walk home would be about 1hr at the very least. I took a deep breath, bent down and laced up my running shoe as tight as I could get and started to jog. Let me tell you it hurt like hell but the faster I got home the faster I could start to try and get some ice on it. Well I jogged home which took about 30 minutes and after about 10 minutes the pain stopped. Of course I knew that adrenaline had kicked in as well as I’m sure some shock.

Once I got home I pulled off my shoe and was shocked at how huge it had swollen. I limped to the shower and washed off, put on some clothes and grabbed some food. By this time the pain had returned and I knew that I had a very serious injury. I put some ice on it, elevated it and chilled for the night. By the next day my ankle looked like there were two grape fruits on each side. And just walking was a reminder of my bad luck and stupidity. I limped into work that day and for about a week afterwards; by limping I mean hobbling very slowly. I was out of training and doing anything for 2 weeks. Nothing was broken but it was badly sprained and I’m very lucky I did not do worse jogging home. In hindsight I should have asked someone in the river bottom to give me a ride home. But as my mother would say “I was trying to be a hero” and it proved nothing to anyone; including myself. Chalk it up to male ego. This was 1 of 4 events (a run of bad luck?) that contributed and set in motion the decision that Brazil was somewhere I needed to go.

The next string of bad luck happened in the form of an infection on my leg. The decision to travel that far to train also had it’s setbacks. Namely, that GBC did not have a shower installed. This is fine if you’re living in Calgary and not so fine if you live 2 ½ hrs away. When I did go up to train it was always a night before planning; a lunch, my Gi and training gear, something loose to change into after my training session, and some sort of disinfectant wipes so that I could have something resembling a shower. Well for the most part this was not a problem. However, at some point it was inevitable that I would catch something - the biggest worry being Staph infection. Well at some point during the early part of July 2008 I had received a small scratch on my right thigh - no biggie. It was not really something that really grabbed my attention. In my years of doing grappling I had received 100’s of scratches and scrapes all over my body so in all honesty it did not even capture my attention, after all I was wiping myself down. Well it ended up being something that should have gotten my attention sooner. Initially, it seemed like it was a heat rash but after about a week and a half I stared to become worried. I eventually got it checked out near the end of July and found out that my leg had an infection on it. . I got some medication that cleared it up within a week or so. This occurred around the same time as my ankle injury thus I did not get it checked till late July and already being out of commission meant that I didn’t have to worry about training and spreading it around to others. On a side note; I’ve noticed that a lot of people do not practice the same discretion when going to the gym. In fact a simple shower before training would greatly aid the combat against infectious skin ailments. So take note all you disgusting, non-showering Ultimate Fighter wanna-be’s; practice safe and clean grappling and fight the fight against the outbreak of skin ailments amongst us grappling practitioners.

The 3rd and misfortune of summer of 2008 was closely related to the previous misfortune. Around the time I got the skin infection on my leg I was also having some problems with the ribs on my right side. There was some discolouration and what appeared to be bruising around the ribs. I chalked it up to the Judo throws we had been practising at GBC. Anyone who’s done even a bit of Judo will surely know how it can take a toll on the body and leaving you hurting and bruised so I assumed that was why my ribs hurt like hell. When I finally got in to see the doctor I inquired about my ribs and showed her the bruising. She took a close look and informed me that I had contracted a case of the Shingles. WTF was my immediate thought. The doctor informed me that Shingles is a form of herpes virus and is passed on from skin to skin contact. Again, my best guess would be somebody from training passed it on to me and I can be fairly certain that it was not due to any sexual activity with any nasty girls. I know this because I was in the midst of trying to woo a girl I had known for a few years and had finally taken the plunge to try and win her affections sand turned out to be quite possibly the biggest “lost cause” I’ve ever taken on.

saturday nights, drunks, ufc

last night was super crazy - we thought that we had found a place to watch ufc fights but when we got to the home there was nothing on. so after some fiddling around we ended up coming back to the place and having to watch a stream of the fights. which sucked cause it was slow, choppy, and you could never really get a good sense of action. three of the guys were drinking heavly and it made for a slightly annoying night. But they left for the bars thanx god..ha ha.

having a hard time adjusting to the time difference - it's 3hrs ahead here and it's hard to get to sleep and hard to wake up on time.

Dispite the crappy stream - the fights were great.

it is very hot out today - not sure of the temputure but it is by far the hottest day thus far (granted I've been here 3 days). We're going to the beach which is going to be fun - have to make sure to lotion up with suntan oil and bring some water.

grab some food on the way there. I will be prepared this time with some proper swimmin trunks. Should be a good time - I was super unhappy friday and yesterday morning but I find that going out and doing something helps really helps with the bordom and mind wandering.

might take the camera today - takes some pics of the beach (thongs and speedos ha ha).

I hope that i can find a way to call home soon - i dont have credit card so skype is going to be hard. going to ask my mom or one of the sisters if i can use their credit card and hook up skype for 3 months. as im not positive that I'll be here for the full 4 1/2 months - money just might not hold out. Very expensive here - which is suprising. Thought it would be way cheaper.

anyhow, will write and hopefully post some pics on the next blog.

A.
"No Retreat, No Regrets"

Barra Beach and first times...

so i just got back from Barra Beach - the longest beach in Rio. it's about 30 minute walk from our place. I must say that it was well worth the walk. the city is unbelievable.

im glad i went out and hung out with the guys - really. I would have hated to have been here alone all day. it would have sucked ass. The opportunity is now to move on - forget all the shitty things in Southern Alberta. Have fun, train, live life, maybe get laid once in awhile...the girls here are unbelievablely goodlooking - and alot more friendly.

i did not take my camera as i did not know what to expect nor want to look like a total tourist. but next time...pictures will accompany my beach excurstion.

the beach..what can i say. First time outta north america, first time on a plane, first time in the ocean...unbelievable day.

we are looking for a place to watch ufc hopefully we can find a place - i really wanna watch the fights.

on as sad note - i used my one free call on skype to call home had a nice talk with the parents. but found out that one of the dogs died - the little dalmation suzie got bumped. she was with our family for just over 10 years. So I just like to say I hope that suzie is running wild in doggie heaven and raising hell like she used to.

goodtimes.

A.

Saturday - the beach, ufc

i sleep in for my training session this morning so i wont be able to go train till monday. im okay with that. i need some time to rest and absorb it all.

i cannot lie - i really wish molly would have contacted me before i left - i left it up to her. would have been nice to have her wish me well here or something. But what can you do? i just wonder why she would bother even contacting me in the first place.

some of the guys from the house are going to eat and then the beach - im going to go along then later we are going to find a place to watch UFC fights tonight.

i figure i can sit around being sad, being heartbroken, etc....

or i can get out there and make the most of this once in a life time opportunity.

i pick opportunity....