What happens off the mats...

Praia Brava

Nicole: can you drink and drive in this country

Me: it’s Brazil… (Therefore, a stupid question)

As a 26 year old, aspiring athlete I strive to act as professional as I can both in person and on social media networks. Ok more on social media networks than in person, but I do try. I’ve spent the last three months training 2-4 times a day, EVERYDAY with breaks on Sunday and the occasional Saturday off. I don’t have a job, but I still wake up at 6:30 AM every morning, drag myself out of bed and head off to the gym to train, whether I want to or not. The past couple of weeks getting to the gym has involved an hour to two hour long bus journey over a mountain. While I have never been confident in my ability to fly, the bus drivers here in Brazil seem to be functioning off the belief that if they accelerate and take a corners and speed bumps at neck breaking speeds they may be able to fly through the air like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While I have yet to see a bus flying through the air, I have, on multiple occasions, thought we would go flying of the mountain and plummet into the ocean below. (Note: if you'd like to hear more about the dangers of Brazilian transportation check out my friend's blog Tales from Deep Half) 

After three months of this and three competitions, I felt the need for a little break.

Lies. I was supposed to compete this weekend in Arraial do Cabo (3 hours north of the city), but the tournament was canceled so I ended up on a forced vacation instead.

No matter what the reason was, this past weekend I was in Buzio, Brazil with Nicole, the only other female in the house. Three months in Brazil, and this was my first time out (I means seriously I don’t even go out around the house except to get Acai). 

The first thing we did when we got to Buzio on Saturday was get coffee (I had been up for the past 24 hours, but that tale goes in the untold stories of Brazil). Immediately after that we walked down to Centro. Centro was a lot bigger than I expected with a ton of hostels, places to eat and more Argentinians than Brazilians. We got some cold beers and sat on the beach for a while before watching some break dancers in the Plaza. I don’t even think we had dinner, we should have had dinner because there was definitely several Caiprinha’s consumed that night.

Note: Caipirinha's are a popular Brazilian drink that has Cachaça, lime, and sugar. Basically, it’s a glass of hard liquor with a ridiculous amount of sugar.

Me in my burge

On Sunday, we rented a Burge (small car or big go-kart, however you want to look at it). For R80  (about 40 bucks) they came and picked us up from the hotel and we were able to keep the burge for 24 hours. What they didn’t explain to us before paying was that it was a 4 gear stick shift. Thankfully, my first two cars were both standard so I was able to pull away without completely embarrassing myself (in front of the cute guy that was showing me how to use the thing). After mastering the burge (because the clutch was crap, emphasis on the clutch being crap and not my skills as a female driver) we hit the main road (the only paved road) in the burge with a couple of beers and headed out to the beach. It was my first time driving out of the country and I have to say I’m pretty sure I was the only female in Buzio that was behind the wheel! We made our way to Praia Bravia a beautiful secluded beach with pink sand and…. More caiprinha’s. Perfect place to relax and enjoy a book. So being me I went three hours away to a town with beautiful beaches only to refuse to get into the water! According to Nicole the water sparkled and it looked like you were swimming in gold. That in combination with the pink sand made it a pretty awesome beach to visit.

However, while leaving the beach we discovered:

1. We were lost

2. We needed gas

Which leads us to exhibit A: 

Exhibit A: policia federal (not MY policia but policia all the same)

Exhibit B: answer to the question "can you drink and drive in this country"

Let this not be confused with the act of drinking. stoping. getting in a car. and driving. 

This would be drinking WHILE driving

It was at this point when we were somewhat tipsy and lost that I pulled over a cop car to ask for directions. Not only did I get a personal escort to the gas stations (again managing to NOT embarrass myself behind the wheel), but I also got a phone number, and a “date” if you will for when Mr. Policia Federal got off work later at 11 p.m. (note exhibit B).

After this experience I kind of understand guy’s fascination with nice cars… that definitely wouldn’t have happened had we been walking around with no need for gas or directions!!

Further exploits from Sunday night will be censored due to the fact that, “I’m a 26 year old, aspiring athlete that strives to act as professional as I can both in person and on social media networks”. Let’s just say the night involved several more police officers a trip to two private beaches outside of Buzio and a return escort back to our hotel at an ungodly hour of the night! Oh yeah there was 5 Argentinians in there somewhere as well...

Monday was a day for recovery we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to Tortuga beach before returning the burge. Tortuga was another quiet beach located next to some very posh hotels and restaurants. We had a cup of coffee at a nice table the over looked the water (which was filled with people snorkeling). Afterwards we had to return the burge and return to our mundane lives as pedestrians! The fact that we were actually able to drive around definitely made the trip a lot more fun since were weren’t confined to any one particular beach/area.

Sunset from one of several overlooks 

Another random beautiful spot were these guys were fishing 

(never seen a spear gun before)

All in all it was an amazing trip and a much needed break from living in a house with 20 guys all of them time. Well actually, I don’t live in a house with 20 guys anymore, I live in Ipanema but that is a story for another blog post! 

Praia Brava (with the pink sand and golden water

Cem Kilos: Size matters!

If one more person tells me to shrimp out from under someone that has an extra 20 kilos on me I’m going to snap. After getting a taste of what it is like to fight with someone my own size I’m so over laying on my back and getting crushed from cem kilos. Jiu Jitsu is definitely a sport were small people can dominate someone larger than themselves, but seriously, technique can only get you so far before your being crushed. It’s impossible to shrimp out if you have 100 kilos bearing down on your measly 60 and an arm the size of your legs blocking your hips. “Try to shrimp”, they always yell at me. “I’M TRYING TO BREATH”, I want to scream back.

After three months of repeating this process every day I’ve come to the realization that trying to shrimp out is impossible. The only way to get out is to patiently wait for them to leave and opening (and stop yelling at me to “shrimp out”) and capitalize on it. All over possibilities lead to a waste of energy that eventually will result in me getting arm barred. Recently, I spent a whole seven minutes getting laid on, trying to catch my breath, and then defending the arm bar. When he couldn’t get the arm bar he switched sides and repeated the same process. For seven minutes I just laid there on my back. Complete waste of time.

The first time I rolled with people my own size it was like discovering a completely different sport. Jiu Jitsu is completely different when you don’t just lay on your back apparently. The techniques that they show you in the beginning of class aren’t just to tease you with stuff you will never get to do because you’re well… laying on your back. When you roll with people your own size they actually have to use Jiu Jitsu against you. They can’t just pick you up and well… lay you down on your back. They can’t just do a sit up when you’re in cem kilos and… you guessed it, lay you down on your back. Those techniques that they show you in the beginning of class, you can actually try them and see if you they work or not.  Amazing.

To make a long story short: size matters. 

Copa AlphaBarra

First time on the podium with Connection Rio athletes, 

Abdhallah Nabas and Andrew Morris

I've been in Brazil for two months and I'm now he proud owner of two shinny medals. 

The first medal I got last weekend after... well basically after doing nothing. Lost my first and only fight to a girl from GFTeam and won a silver medal.I was competing at the weight class above my normal weight (Not going to lie I was eating cake the day before the tournament) and I managed to not embarass myself so all in all it was a victory for me. Especially after everyone in the house had me stressed out about take downs (which I suck at) and pulling guard (which I have never, ever done in my life).

Repping my home school Renzo Gracie

Yesterday I competed for the second time at Copa AlphaBarra. After being registered in the men's division, and then being moved to the women's blue belt division, I was finally able to get myself sorted out and on the brackets for the women's white belt division were I thought I would have one fight... guaranteed silver.

They call my division, I go down to the mats, the first two girls fight, a girl from Gracie Barra wins and thinks she's done. Nope she has to fight me still, so we wait around some and to our surprise some other random girl from Nova Uniao shows up. So, I step on the mats to fight Ms. Nova Uniao, take her down with the guard pull thingy that I drilled maybe 10 times two weeks ago, and get a nice armbar. Nothing like a victory via submission.

One of my "magical" training partners

Afterwards, I wait around to fight the winner from Gracie Barra who is chatting it up with me about social projects. Ironically, she goes to  project Drive-In, a BJJ social project that I was planning on visiting sometime this week. So we exchange information and decide to trian together.

Just when I think we are about to step on the mats, they call me over and tell me I have to fight the girl that got beat in the first match. She pulled guard, but I passed mounted, and finished her in the first minute with a mounted triangle. I don't even like the mounted triangle but... hey it was there, so I went for it.

I step off the mats and the guy asks me if I want to rest. Rest? Who needs rest? Straight to the finals!

Well maybe I should have rested a little bit.

The girl from Gracie Barra was the biggest and the strongest of the three. I took her down and won on points. I couldn't have been happier, I went from what I thought was gaurunteed silver medal to fighting 3 times for a gold. Not only did I win the gold but I had the support from Master Weber, his wife Camila, my coach Perninha, the kids from Gordo's social project, Terere, and all of my friends from the house. I can't wait to get back on the mats tonight and prepare for the next competition in two weeks!

Leaving for my first competetion last week

What NOT to do for your first competition

I'm competing in my first BJJ competition today. 

Apparently there are a few things that you should do before your first competiton. 

1. Choose a gym. 
Being the genious that I am, I started training at Terere's gym in Ipanema with some of my friends from the house this week. In a couple of months I will probably end up moving to Ipanema and training there full time. Its an amazing gym to train at with great people and more importatnly... with small people. They have a big competition team, so they were the ones that helped me register for this competition. BUT how am I supposed to explain the fact that I'm fighting for a different gym to the people from Gordo's.

Training with the girls from Gordo's social project 

2. Choose a Kimono.
Second dumb thing I did this week was put patches on my favorite kimono from Terere's. I'm pretty sure its a requirement to compete for them but and they lured me in with these pretty, pink patches that match my Kimono perfectly. Now I have a Kimono with two patches from Terere, one patch from Renzo Gracie, and NOTHING from the school I've been training in for the last two months. Needless to say, I highly regret putting ANYTHING on that kimono and I'll now be competing in a different one that I don't like as much.

Training with 5x World Champion Terere

3. Choose a strategy.
Take down or pull guard? I've always considered myself to be pretty shoddy at take downs so pulling guard seems to be the logical choice for me.... EXCEPT I don't know how to do it. Never drilled it and as a matter of fact have never really seen it until last night (the night before the competition). At the house everyone is questioning what I'm going to do. If I was at home at MiKiDo that wouldn't be an issue at all. At MiKiDo we don't entertain doubts, its just a matter of stepping on to that mats, doing what we do, and bringing home what's ours.

4. Choose your company. 
All of this stuff has been stressing me out over the last 24 hours and I highly wish that everyone would stop bringing it up and just let me keep my head clear and focused on the competition. Unfortunately, when you live with 15 people it's somewhat hard to get some peace and quiet. Last night I had to get a little reprieve, so I went over to Gordo's to talk to Master Weber (who wants to see my compete tomorrow). Everyone advised me NOT to tell him about the competition since I'll be competing under Terere, but in my opinion, when the black belt that has been going out of their way to help you for two months wants to know something, you give him a straigh answer.

Ana marias (somewhat like twinkies) = Comfort food

On the bright side, I'm 2 kilos underweight right now so I'm going to get breakfast, drink my second cup of coffee, and enjoy the fact that even if I do lose my first match, I still get a bronze medal (because apparently they give out two bronze medals). So, win or lose, I can pretend that I'm a serious badass who medaled in Brazil and no one in America has to know

Short Lived Victory

Gringo Squad @ Gordo's

I FINALLY tapped someone out yesterday, as a matter of fact, several someones! 

Afterwards, I sat around during the white belt class with the black belts talking and going over some positional questions that I had. After almost two months of being in Brazil, it feels good to be able to sit around and communicate with people in Portuguese. Being a white belt and a female in a house full of guys, in a gym full of guys, in a country that’s not your own can leave a girl feeling somewhat ostracized. It's nice to feel accepted. 

The president of Koral stopped by the Connection Rio house

Anyways, I left the gym feeling like a complete Brazilian badass. I went home and told my friend at the house and he looks at me completely unexcited and says, "What? You haven't tapped many people since you've been here". Victory short lived. 

Considering I'm almost 20 kilos lighter and at least 5 years younger than almost anyone that trains at my gym (with the exception of our gringo team), I most definitely have not be going into Gordo's and destroying anyone. In fact, my training experience there has consisted of a lot of drilling and a lot of me trying to throw arm bars on the incredible hulk. Trying to break someone’s guard feels like trying to break through a brick wall most of the time, so needless to say, I'm getting really good at getting crushed and then patiently waiting for the wall to open up a little, so I can transition and continue to get crushed from a different position. 

Repping Renzo Gracie PA!

I've considered switching gyms and going somewhere where they have more females or just lighter people, but loyalty is important to me. This gym is where I started and it’s associated with Renzo's back at home so it would be incredibly hard for me to leave.

I can't wait to compete in a couple of weeks so that I can let all of my frustration out on someone that is my belt level and my weight. I figure with the amount of time I spend training and the size of the guys I train with, I will destroy anyone that is my size. I went to my first BJJ competition last week and saw some of my friends compete, now I can't wait to step on the mats and bring home some medals. 

One month down... many more beatings to go

My first month in Brazil has been everything that I wanted it to be. My first week I met Claudhina Gadelha (by met I mean I starred at her and tried not to jump up and down and scream like a little girl) at Nova Uniao. Hopefully in December or January I'll be able to pay for two gyms and I'll be able to start going to Nova Uniao in the evening to do BJJ and MMA and Gordo's BJJ in the morning.

Nova Uniao

My second week I started volunteering at a social project called Tropa Thai in the Tijuquinha Favela. The kids there are pretty bad ass, I mean you have to be to run around and do Muay Thai on an asphalt basketball court. They have a about 20-30 kids in their 7:30 class that I get to hold pads for, then aftewards I train for an hour. Well I'm supposed to train for an hour, but sometimes one hour turns into two and I just don't understand enough Portuguese to fully understand why I'm hanging out in a favela at 10:30 at night.

Soccer game in Tijuquinha

My third week, Nicole and I, started going to the gym around the corner to lift weights. She is my only female solace in a house of 16 plus guys so it's nice to get out with her. We go into the gym and get some serious work done, unlike most other Brazilian females that seem to go into the gym and get a lot of talking done. Working out with her a couple days a week brings my average number of workouts to 4 a day (Morning BJJ class, lifting, two evening BJJ classes or Muay Thai). 

This past weekend we celebrate children's day (October 12th), so the owner of Tropa Thai organized an event which was pretty cool. They had music, soccer games, trampolines and other cool stuff for the kids. The same day I got to go to Kyra Gracie seminar at Gordo's, the gym I normally train at. It was Kyra Gracie that told me about Connection Rio. I probably wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for her. She taught a lot of cool stuff, but I spent most of my time just starring at her amazed that I was actually seeing her in person. In Brazil its not rare to see UFC fighters and big names in BJJ, but either way I was pretty damn amazed.

Kyra Gracie and I

Nova Uniao- There's a thin line between protein and steroids

That awkward moment that you get paired up with this blue belt girl that looks like she is a professional body builder and you think you about to die. Yeah I just survived that moment with half the gym watching expecting me to get my ass handed to me. Apparently my BJJ game is on POINT when I think I'm about to die. 

Today I took a trip to Flamengo to train at Nova Uniao home to great fighters like Jose Aldo and Claudinha Galdelha (One day I will actually speak to her, I swear I will). I had just finished an hour and a half of (hard) drilling with Connection Rio owner Dennis Asche and dropped into the last 30 minutes of the of class just in time to enjoy this little treat. I managed to pull guard on her and she proceeded to spend the next 6 minutes grinding her knuckles into my chin. Apparently that's BJJ for an EZEQUIEL choke (never seen that before). She initiated the choke my slamming her fists into my chin (in Muay Thai we call that a punch) and grinding it incessantly. As I was holding on for dear life I saw a huge group of people huddled in the corner watching me get my ass handed to me. 


Unlike most of my rolls I started this one thinking of it as if it was a fight and seriously trying not to die (this girl had ridiculous muscles) and it actually worked out for me.I may not be good a BJJ but I am a good fighter. Not only did she have a hell of a time trying to choke me, I actually swept her in the process of getting my chin rearranged. I've found nothing pisses off a higher belt more then when they can't tap me... or when I swept them with my "dummy sweep". So, needless to say she got pissed and actually tapped me in the last twenty seconds, but in my defense, the only reason was because I tried to get an under hook and couldn't defend with both hands. All in all, I consider that a victory despite the fact that I now have a huge bruise on my jaw and a lump on my head. 

After class she told me that I was pretty damn strong. One of the spectators (another blue belt girl) that was eagerly watching me get my neck wringed even told me that my Jiu Jitsu was "good". 

After rolling with the beastly blue belt, they asked me if I was tired or if I wanted to roll again with another white belt. I said that I did even though I was tired as hell. (I live by the saying never give into defeat, not even when defeated). Well they could all see I was tired and some smart ass was like "she doesn't even understand" and they proceeded to make fun of my gringo accent for 5 minutes before starting the time. Then they proceeded to tell him what to do... leaving me to fend for myself. 
Well, JOKES ON YOU BRASILEROS, I DO understand and was able to use their advice for him to win the match. By winning I mean I was:

A. On top most of the time

B. Not the one bitching about how tired I was

Needless to say, I walked out of the gym after having completed 5 hours of training feeling like quite the bad ass. In fact, I'm going to take the next 24 hours off to bask in my greatness....and clean all of my gis, since they are all dirty.