Boxing Brazilian Style aka WTF is happening?!?!?!

Initially after losing I was pissed... After having my hand raised (2x) and then getting called back 10 minutes later to have the decision reversed, I was confident that Brazilians really needed to abandon all hopes at hosting the olympics and get back to the basics. Reading simple names, and differentiating colors and what not is essential to leading a productive adult life, inside and out side of the sports world.

In my opinion I outboxed her. Her punches were predictable and easy to block and counter. She was hesitant to attack and spent most of the fight skirting the ropes.

After watching the video, I still think I outboxed her. I will admit thought that she had some powerful spurts that won her the fight in the eyes of the biased judges (she is, after all, a well known local boxer and we were fighting in her venue). Technique is important, but I really need to work on my power. Planting my feet and sending someones head rolling across the ring will prevent further mix up decisions in the future.

The future being two weeks from now when I will be fighting MMA in Florianapolis, a beach town a little further south of Curitiba. The girl I'm fighting is AGAIN more experienced. 3-1, all 3 victories via 1st round submission. She's a purple belt (I'm a blue belt), but I'm not too worried about that. After watching some of her videos it seemed her opponents had no concept of take down defense or how to stop a submission what-so-ever, not to say that I shouldn't take her seriously!

The WTF is happening look on dudes face was priceless!

As we were called back to the ring for the third time he tells me 

"yeah my bad this shit tends to happen with her" 

Belts, however, only mean so much, especially when you add punching to the equation. One thing that has really stuck with me when I find myself at a disadvantage on the ground is something I heard Terere say in an interview in respects to why he preferred passing as opposed to pulling guard. I don't remember the exact quote but the idea of it was him being claustrophobic and doing anything he could to get out from underneath a heavier opponent. All technique aside, violently shoving someone's head down and trying to stand up as aggressively as you can is amazingly effective. That's Favela Jiu Jitsu. That straight from the streets fighting mentality. F*#%! a "technical stand up", or a pretty sweep from closed guard, just GET YOUR ASS UP!

I have two weeks to cut 5 kilos and get ready for my MMA match. I'll be fighting the same day that teammate Jessica Andrade goes against Raquel Pennington in Las Vegas. Apparently I have a similar boxing style as Pennington so I'll probably end up doing a lot of stand up with her. She is a wild little thing. Where as I throw a lot of straight punches and cut angles, she is prone to coming straight in swinging. Which leaves me backed up into the cage, with my guard up, looking for an opening.

This weeks goal... to anchor down and figure out how to stop the attack! Hitting harder is probably step 1!

On that note I'm going to watch a movie and I will leave you here with my to watch my fight! Oh did I mention that that was hands down the WORST skirt that I could have fought in!! Some sewing will definitely be done before fighting in it again!

you missed it! The fight was taken down! 

From the Connection Rio Hostel to the PRVT Brothel

Ok so its not a brothel, but Ludas (gladiator training school) just didn’t have that poetic ring to it so yeah….

Almost two years ago I arrived in Rio, with no Portuguese or Jiu Jitsu skills and no clue what I was lay ahead of me. Now, I’m in Curitiba, about to start a new stage, which will hopefully lead me home… with a nice MMA record and even more hopefully, signed to Invicta FC. Either way, I’ll actually be fighting for a change, which was not happening while I was training at Nova Uniao.

Day 1 in Curitiba.

I woke up to the sounds of voices rattling off numbers. I opened my eyes, taking in the gleaming white canvas of the boxing ring that was parallel with my mattress. Well, actually, I have no idea whose mattress it was, but it served its purpose.

Sleeping ringside

I reached out and touched the canvas, an act of reverence or maybe just a way to ground myself amidst the tumult of continuous sacrifice and uncertainty. The numbers and voices slowly began to form intelligible sequences. Weight. That’s right. I rolled out of bed (literally), stumbled to my feet and peeled off the majority of my clothes. I mumbled a good morning, in what I believe to be Portuguese and ambled off to the back of the gym in search of a scale.

One of the many uncertain variables in my life was an MMA fight, supposedly some two weeks away. I had been told weeks ago while I was still in Rio trying to get my life condensed into 2 suitcases and ready to move that I should come ready to fight at 52K (115lb). When cutting weight, its important to weigh yourself in the morning before eating or drinking anything. This is your true weight and from there you know how much you can eat, how much to work, and how much rest you can enjoy on any given day. My actual weight class is 105 lbs, I haven’t fought at 115 since losing to UFC Strawweight Tecia Torres at IKF some 3 years ago.

Once I checked my weight I scurried back to my bed in search of my clothes. Curitiba is too damn cold. In the favelas of Rio it is not uncommon to find me running around in sports bra and shorts. Its too damn hot in Rio to be constantly washing sweaty shirts, especially when you are constantly climbing up and down stairs. I can take a punch to the face, but I can’t deal with the cold to save my life.

I arrived in Curitba on a weekend so I had a few days to hang out around the gym before getting in any training on Monday. Since my last visit to Curitiba the gym had expanding and acquired two new inhabitants. Mariana Morais, from Invicta FC, and Istela Nunes, a bad ass Muay Thai fighter with 45-3 record, who had just returned from Thailand. There was now an extra room in the back from these two and what would become a separate apartment for Priscila Souza. Priscila, a native of Rio, has been fighting for PRVT for two years now and after her upcoming fights this summer will be bringing her two daughters to live with her at the gym. Mestre Parana, has apparently been scouring Brazil in search of top female talents and recruiting them to the team. That is, after all, how I ended up living here in Curitiba in the middle of nowhere.

I will take this time to note that I don’t actually live IN Curitiba. I live in the desolate, deserted, dreary metropolitan area of Curitiba, or Sao Jose da Pinhais. There is a whole lot of nothing here, and I’m dependent on other people to get from place to place, which sucks. BUT, I’m here for the promise of fights not to have a good time. Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.

My stay at the gym was short lived, as they don’t have a stove, and I was spending mad skrilla eating in the street. So, Monday after training, I packed my limited things and went to the house that Parana rents for the fighters so that I could use the stove and wash my clothes. (Due to a major incident at the airport and subsequent breakdown, I only have half the luggage I was traveling with… and not the half that contained my boxing gloves, tennis shoes, or UNDERWEAR! God do I want my underwear!). 

Skip through a few days, some normal training, me getting my head shoved into fences, and thrown on the ground, blah blah this that and now on to:

Day 5 in Curitiba

Its now Wednesday and my bags are still packed and shoved into random nooks and crannies in an incredibly overcrowded room that I’m sharing with two guys. There are two single beds and a potent smelling queen sized mattress that gets throw down in the middle at night, claiming every last inch of floor space that remains. Thankfully, I used to live at Connection Rio, in a house with give or take 25 male fighters and one other Nicole. I had to share a room with 5 other guys plus a multitude of damp kimonos, so cramming into a room with only two other people is kind of luxurious for me.

I'm counting on this kid not speaking English and therefore, 

never clicking the link and knowing I took this picture...

and then made it public!

My fight that was scheduled for the 16^th of August fell through. Apparently the girl and the money weren’t right, so nothing was finalized. Parana, however, wastes no time and is already looking for another fight. In the mean time, Mariana Morais who is signed with Invicta FC will be... or has signed the contract for her first fight. I'm not sure if it's been announced, so more on Mari's fight camp in a future post. Until then check out some of me playing with a camera! 

My new crib... big switch up from the favelas of Rio

Istela with a vicious head kick... 

I choked her out yesterday so I'm definitely going to be watching out for this baby flying at my head! 

About Last Night

“Heroes didn't leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn't wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else's. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.”

I’m writing this blog in response to some friends that expressed some hesitation about moving or visiting Brazil because I'm “struggling all the time”.

True story. The struggle is real.  The last month has been… difficult to say the least, but that’s life.

I live my life in the moment, bouncing from one crazy adventure to the next and seldom knowing what the next day, or the next week is going to bring. I just have this goal, this idea… this carrot on a stick in front of me that I keep chasing like a lunatic, and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.

Timing is everything.

I’m sitting on my roof drinking coffee now and a dealer just hopped over from the adjacent roof with walkie- talkie in hand, said hi and proceeded to jump to the next roof. I don’t know his name but he is related to Baby, one of the first people I ever met on my own in the favela. Baby has spent the last 8 months serving a 6 months sentence in jail.

My life is chaotic, but I’ve learned that it’s a lot easier to roll with the punches than it is to try to impose structure and organization on something that is inherently uncontrollable.

Timing is Everything

David and Goliath

Foto by Dan Behr

Two weeks ago I had no money, I was eating with my boxing coach and training in the favela because I didn’t have bus fare. But I am a strong believer in Karma and what goes around comes around, so when shit hits the fan I just sit back and wait for the blessing to rain down. 

Over the last two days, I’ve accumulated so much money that I’m paying other people.

The social project is doing better than ever, I'm moving in a couple of weeks, and my last weeks here I've been teaching a ton of English classes and enjoying my last weeks in Rio with the people I love. 

On the way home from Lapa

Timing is Everything.

6 A.M this morning and I was rocking combat boots, bright blue pants, and a hoody on the beach. It wasn't long before we were running into the (cold) ocean water after night in Lapa.

Bronx Jiu Jitsu

B*&#$ don’t kill my vibe

Photo by BJJ Hacks

It’s wintertime in Rio, and I’ve been preparing to move to Curitiba, the coldest city in Brazil. Everyone else, however, is flocking to Rio to kick it for the summer. Last Tuesday, I found myself posted up on a street corner at 1A.M in the morning waiting for my friend Fernando from Bronx Jiu Jitsu. I met him last year when he came to Rio to learn more about social projects and brush up on his jiu jitsu. This year,  two days after schools in New York let out, he came back with his family and friends in tow.

Connection Rio @ Cantagalo 

(They're not in Kansas anymore)

Connection Rio is my go-to place to reconnect with my Gringo-ness, the nature, or just to find a drilling partner to spend the afternoon with. Located in the quiet, multimillion-dollar neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, it’s the perfect place to hang out on the weekends and get away from all of the craziness here in the Favela.

This week though, I decided to pull the gringos from their comfort zone and take them to train at Terere Kids Project/ Academia Fernando Terere (only after walking them through the feared favela’s and taking them to grub at Terere’s favorite restaurant).  I'm so used to the favela and all of its dirty, drug infested, rat ridden craziness that I don’t realize how shocking it is to go from the beaches and bars of Ipanema to hopping over shit in the narrow, cement lined alley ways lined with graffiti from inspiring artists and death threats from the local gang (Red Command). I think some of them were pretty shocked at what they saw! After training that night the Bronx BJJ crew headed back up to the favela for some BBQ and Caiprinha's. 

BootJuice BJJ

My friends from New York aren't the only people that came to spend summer in Rio. My homeboy Moz is also in Rio for the summer escaping the crappy English weather in Hudderfield-or-something, England. I met Moz last year at the Connection Rio house and have been training BJJ and watching shitty movies with him ever since. I help him with almost everything he needs to do that involves the Portuguese language (which is a lot of stuff considering he lived here for a year...) and he helps me suck less at jiu jitsu (and he's generally down for helping me with manual labor around the favela). 

Timing is Everything

David and Goliath 

Moz wanted to film a technique with one of the sponsored athletes (that destroys everyone) from the social project for his blog Tales from Deep Half, so I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity and see if I could get HT from BJJ Hacks to film it for him and take some professional pics that I could use for my Fightland Vice articles. HT helps me out a lot with the "social media" aspects of my social work I always appreciate when he comes to the project to do some filming (or when he answers the numerous questions that I ask him when I could probably just google it). HT and Moz are two more examples of the cool ass people and experiences that I have gotten to acquire that make living so far away from my friends and family worth it. 

So long story short. Yeah, the struggle is real, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, especially not a 9-5 job. 

How many people do you think slept in a room this size?

30

Kicking it with this dude that works as a doorman in the community before boxing at Nobre Arte.  He was talking about the 10 years he spent in jail. Sleeping on the floor in overcrowded rooms and no space to stretch your legs. Its humbling travel the world and get an opportunity to sit a hear people's stories. 

#LivingtheDream

#AboutLastNight

Caiprinhas in Lapa

Lapa!!!

Friday night in the Cantagalo Favela

Dude the Sell Caiprinha's friday

nights in the favela

South Bound & Down II: Burning Bridges

Artic Chaga Tea is a new supplement sponsors... well no TEA 

sponsor that will is sending me some hand picked Alaskan mushrooms!!

Their tea has amazing amounts of antioxidants and helps speed 

recovery time by a ZIILION!

I couldn’t think of any good ways to inform Rio de Janeiro that I would be leaving the comforts of my beachside favela. After several hours of debating it, I decided I was left with only one logical solution. Facebook.

Social media has reduced human interactions to comments and likes. A definite plus for shy people like me.

So, in one quick and concise status update, I informed the world… Well, the Portuguese speaking portion of it at least, that I would be leaving Nova Uniao and moving to Curitiba at the end of the July.

I initially expected people to talk a lot of shit (people probably are talking a lot of shit they just aren’t posting it on my wall), but I was surprised by the amount of support via comments and private messages that I received. They were an unexpected, but much needed reprieve from people that generally act as if I’m slightly crazy… living in the favelas of Brazil and all.



Sunday training in Curitiba. I was supposed to be back in Rio But I missed my flight and ended up spending some extra days!!


I’m not going to lie, I’m definitely apprehensive about leaving the picturesque beaches and tropical climate of Rio. Not to mention, the safety net of friends and pseudo family that I’ve assembled here. The thought of burning bridges, whether they are useful or not,  is always unsettling to a certain degree. As a buddhist I'm well aware that attachment causes suffering, but as someone thats been living with little more than 2 suitcases for the last two years, abandoning everything that I have come to know is perplexing. 

Plus, Curitiba is one of the coldest cities in Brazil.  I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking.

Which brings me to my next point…


What the hell was I thinking?




I mean seriously... leaving Nova Uniao, one of the best MMA teams worldwide. No longer will I be training next to Jose Aldo, Renan Barao, or the umpteenth number of UFC fighters the adorn the gyms prestigious pedigree. They have everything an athlete could desire... physical therapists, and nutritionists, a pool, sauna, and a strange room that they claim is for pilattes, although to me it looks like it came straight out of 50 Shades of Gray. I'd be traded up my sports bras for sweatpants!! And then there's the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Front row for Carnival, New Years, and Christmas events. 

But, I came to Brazil because I wanted to fight. 

Although Rio is great, I’m not getting any fights here. It’s also a very expensive city. So after thinking about it, it just makes more sense to go to Curitiba where I can save money and fight more. So I'm trading up the beaches of Rio to train at Parana Vale Tudo (PRVT). Its relatively a small team compared to Nova Uniao, but they have a pretty big girls team with fighters from UFC and InvictaFC. 


Unlike Nova Uniao where there are about a million classes offered through out the day (wrestling, boxing, conditioning, Nogi, BJJ, Muay Thai), PRVT only has 1-2 training sessions a day. The week I spent in Curitiba meeting everyone was a complete 180 in my overly hectic training schedule. The team gathers in the afternoon and the coaches divide everyone based on what they need. The amateurs may practice a little muay thai off to the side while some of the girls roll Nogi to warm up a guy that has a fight coming up. Then switch to some work against the cage, muay thai sparring, and end with judo take downs. Its seems like a completely random, haphazard way to go about training, but in actuality it is tailored to the specific needs of each person. I was able to get more 1on 1 help from the coaches in their small informal setting than when I'm training with 30 plus people on the mats of Nova Uniao. 

Its definitely different. But it reminds me of my team MiKiDo from home. So in the end I think its a better fit for me!

On another note...I also got to travel to Sao Paulo with my friend who was giving a few seminars!

Shout out to Eduardo Castro owner of Half & Half academy for letting me Crash at his place!
Per usual, met some great people on the mats in Sampa. New friends and new places to visit on my next trip! 

They said I couldn't... 

So naturally I did!

Southbound and down: stressed and stranded

There is nothing like being in a 3rd world country with 25 dollars... No I'm sorry, worse, 25 Reais. Except maybe being trapped in your small favela "studio apartment" as rain pours down infiltrating the pourous cemenet that is your ceiling.

It was Sunday and I was furiously looking for my plane ticket confirmation in my email... Or at least the receipt to prove that I had dished out the money in the first place. Naturally I had waited til the lasy minute to realize I had NO CLUE where my ticket was for my 7 A.M. flight that was leaving the next morning.

I was pissed off and tired. I was beyond broke and extremely stressed. I had spent the better part of the weekend running around the favela selling a few odds and ends at the boxing gym and to the corner boys to accumulate some spending money. I had, in fact, been quite successful thanks to the fact that my boxing coach includes hustling and whoring in with my bag work and normal boxing training.

Note: by whoring I mean I have to look like a girl... Get my hair done, paint my nails, smell like Victorias Secret, and stop wearing clothes that make me look like a dude.

Well, he would also like if I would find a boyfriend and destress myself but... See last blog post for more on THAT issue!

So, I hustled up a little over R100 but had to immediately front it to pay competition fees for the the kids at Terere KidsCuritiba. The actual sponsorship wouldn't arrive until Monday, leaving me to fly to Curitiba with R25.

After an hour or so I was finally able to secure my electronic ticket and I surrendered myself to my sad excuse of a bed, curling up into a ball to avoid the water that was drip dropping down by my feet.

Cut to a week later
(Details of my black out week to come)

There I was crying in a corner in of the airport with $2.50 in my pocket and my last $150 in the bank. It was money for food and for the kids snack program... Money that would hold me over til i got paid next week.

It was however not nearly enough money to pay for the $200 rebooking fee and it was almost exactly what I would need to buy a 18 hour bus ticket back to Rio... Leaving me with no money for food.

Amazingly, my phone went off. My internet never works it takes all of 5 minutes out of wifi for me to reach my daily limit and my phone to be blocked. Whether im using it or not. Another perfect example of how Brazilian governement allows companies to rob and rape thw Brazilian people... And then you wonder why everyone is getting stabbed up! Im american and I can barely make ends meet. Poor brazilians are left with virtually no options so shanking and robbing comes naturally since the alternative is starvation...

Yeah, so, my phone went off and it was one of my former students from DC, currently unemployed and unloved by his less than affectionate mother. It was like the damned advising the damned and I had to admit that the irony of the situation turned my tears into laughter... And to any onlookers probably completed a portrait of a crazy gringa having a breakdown in the airport.

Then came that dreadful text...
"You have reached 80% of your daily internet and your about to be blocked"

So I grabbed my bags, said my goodbyes, and withdrew the last of my money
Before begrudgingly paying the R20 to return to the gym that I had been sleeping at for the week.

Everything happens for a reason!

That was the mantra that I kept repeating to myself as I fought back tears of frustration. There had to be a reason I was still hear, wasting money I didnt have. I told myself not to stress, after all Nicki Minaj says the faster you spend it the faster you get it back... And seriously, how can you doubt the infallible wisdom of one of hiphops biggest female MCs.

So what have I learned from this?
Nothing. Not a damn thing! Im sorry if you were looking for some bad ass wisdom on growth and personal enlightenment but nah... Im still waiting on that one.

What resulted from this?
Im moving out of Rio! The only (affordable) way for me to get back to Rio is to purchase a round trip ticket). I was planning on moving anyway, but I could have moved in with teammates in Rio and put it off for a couple of months, using my hatred for cold whether as an excuse to enjoy running around half naked on the picturesque beaches of Copacobana. (Curitiba is the coldest city in Brazil!).

What do I want now?
To move. Even though it will be hard to leave Rio, the favela, the beaches, and my kids (ill be working with them from afar).

To start fighting. Ive been at Nova Uniao for a year and half with no results.

To get my money up. Its time to get paid and get some major sponsors for the project. I dont want the work that Terere has started in the Cantagalo Favela to end when we are both gone! I want to go home this year, with some kids from the social project, to visit my family and compete.

In short:
Grinding is agonzing but gratifiying.
If you want to live the dream you have to expect a few nightmares now and then.