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.

I am NOT a rest round: Week 1 in Rio

Training at Nova Uniao with some of the boys from Connection Rio

Being a girl in a man's world has never been an easy feat. I realized this six years ago when I first started kick boxing. Every sparring round was proceeded by my coach yelling across the whole gym, "GO EASY ON HER SHE'S A GIRL!". As if I wasn't trying to compete like everyone else, as if I didn't need to be pushed as hard as any other guy before stepping into a ring with another girl ready to take my head off. Most guys avoid pairing up with me, in both kickboxing and jiu jitsu, and when they do they expect an easy 5 minute rest round before going back to work with the "bigger" guys.

This has happened consistently for the past six years with one exception, my boxing coach Matt, from Renzo Gracie PA. On my first day sparring at Renzo's, seconds before the bell rang, he called out from the ring to my partner, "Punch her in the face hard! I don't care if she's a girl, HIT HER IN THE NOSE!!!". I have nothing but love and respect for that man for treating me like one of the guys. There is nothing that frustrates me more then sparring with a guy that won't hit me hard or, even worse, well spend a whole round without throwing a single punch because I'm a girl. Fortunately for me I don't come to the gym to play, and most  will give up their chivalrous attitude, especially when they're getting beat in the face by my pretty pink gloves. Never the less, there are always a few people that insist on wasting my precious sparring time by re-enacting a punching bag round after round.

Despite the fact that this is hands down the most frustrating thing I've experienced while training, I must admit, I often find myself treating new girls the same. Its rare to find a lot of girls in this sport, so I try not to scare them away man handling them. After all, it takes some time to find joy in a thorough beat down without getting discouraged.

I've been in Rio for a week now, and training at Gordo BJJ has not varied much from my normal experience. Being new to the world of BJJ, I am generally always the lowest belt and the smallest person in class. On the bright side, this generally means that who ever I partner up with does nothing but try to help me. I do all the drilling and they do all the correcting, which is good because any white belt needs all the drilling they can get, especially considering the number of higher belts and skilled athletes in Rio. There is only one other girl that consistently trains at Gordo's, and she is no where near my weight class or skill level. As a matter of fact, she is one of the black belt instructors wife, so needless to say, she can whoop me at will. However, I was somewhat dismayed to find that she was scared to "machucarme" or crush me.

Weber and his wife Camila (center) at Copa Ciclone with their son.

Lucky for me I was saved from being treated like a little doll for two reason:

1. I actually understand Portuguese unlike most "gringos" that come to Rio.
2. I used my broken Portuguese to tell a joke to Master Weber about how I've heard that he destroys my fellow Gringos on the mats.

This immediately got me in his good graces. Nothing feels better then a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar place, so I was very happy after finishing my second class and having Master Weber come up to me and TELL me that I needed to be there training EVERYDAY with him. This also meant that he was not having it when his wife Camilla was too scared to crush me.

One of the boys from the house training with Mario Sperry as he prepares for ADCC.

At Gordo's BJJ in Barra Da Tijuca

"She's not going to break!" he told her as he slammed me down into a knee on belly, "She's a fighter, she can take it!"

Its reassuring to know that someone is going to make sure that I get some proper training while I'm here. Eventually all this "babying" that I'm getting from my rolling partners is going to help me to develop all the technique I need to tap out some of the bigger guys (not the Weber sized guys I'm not that delusional).

The view of Rio from Pedra da Gavea (ship rock) which is

in front my house. 

The view of Pedra da Gavea from the beach which is

right behind my house!

You know your a gringo in Brazil when....

You know your a Gringo in Brazil when you are standing at the corner of every nice restaurant trying to connect to WiFi. 

After 13 hours of travel I finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro this past Sunday. I arrived at 7:30 in the morning and was greeted by a taxi driver who had a sign with my name. It took about 45 minutes to get to Barra da Tijuca from the airport which was surprising because I was expecting close to a 2 hour drive. The taxi driver spoke English so he gave me a nice tour of Rio on the way and let me play with his shower.

I arrived at Connection Rio and was greeted by a closed door. I rang the bell and no one answered. I rang again and still no reply. I thought we might be at the wrong place, but some guy drove by and confirmed that this was indeed Connection Rio and told me to keep ringing because they were probably asleep. After a few minutes of incessant ringing someone hit a buzzer and the door swung open revealing some guy in boxers and the front yard that I had seen so many times in pictures (There was no guy in boxer in the pictures, just the pool and the beautiful view of Pedra da Gavea). The guy disappeared right away leaving me alone for the first 20 minutes to explore the house on my own. 

The view of Barra beach from Ship Rock

After discovering that my IPOD had been run over on the road in front of my house and borrowing someones ice cold water from the fridge, I was finally greeted by the house managers, Torryn and Nicole. It seems that there was a scheduling error and they weren't expecting me til tomorrow, which is why no one was there to answer the door. They showed me around the house and then took me with them to breakfast and a farmers market where I was able to get some fresh fruit and veggies. 

All in all it was a great first day, except for the devasting loss of my IPOD.

2 Strips: Holding on for Dear Life

"There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, 

the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it"

~ Napoleon HIll

It's been six long days since I've been to the gym so it felt good to get back. Today was the first day of the new schedule at Renzo's. They added all of these extra classes and made attendance and uniform requirements a lot more strict. I was worried I would only be able to take one class because now white belts need permission to attend the more advanced classes. Rich (the owner) gave me permission before I even had to ask which was a relief.

Today in the advanced class we went over moves from cross eye. For once, I was able to shed my normally confused disposition because I knew exactly what we were drilling. I've gotten a lot better in the month that I've been training up here, and today it finally paid off. At the end of class, me and two other white belts got strips. I got two strips and one of the others guys got three. They told him that he needed to work on his grips more.

Speaking of grips..


I found it kind of ironic he should mention that because I'm going through a phase where all I want to do is hold on! I'll grab onto anything in hopes that I won't get swept (as easily). I'm generally not sure what I'm doing, but either way I'd say works about 60% of the time. Whether it works or not, it definitely allows for better positioning.

Grips are not only good for grabbing onto your opponents gi, when it doubt, curling up into a ball and holding onto yourself is apparently good for defense as well. Seriously, this has kept me from being swept, kept people from getting hooks in on my back, and saved me from numerous chokes, and arm bars. Since training at Renzo's a feel like some of the guys are prepping me for a Ronda Rousey fight.

In the last month I think I've defended about 500 arm bars, so, needless to say I've become very adept at arm bar defense.  I'm pretty sure that it is a flaw in the arm bar technique (mainly that they are not squeezing their legs together as they fall back) and not my own Jiu Jits prowess that makes this escape so successful. Either way it works for me and every time I successfully escape from a higher belt it feels just as good as a submission.