Costa Da Lagoa & 1st Group Class

DAY 13 &14

After a slow start, we head out to the centrinho. Our plan is to take a boat to Costa de Lagoa. It’s a little group of fishing villages on the lagoa that can only be accessed by boat.

Liz’s friend Melissa has arrived with her mother for a few days’ stay. Melissa is out old roommate who married a brasiliero and now lives near Sao Paulo. Her Portuguese is perfect and it’s nice to have a translator for a change.

The municipality runs the water taxi service but it looks like each boat is operated by an independent contractor. The boats all have the same blue and white paint job but otherwise are not standardized. Passengers are packed in. I couldn’t even spot the life jackets on the first one we took. It’s probably no such a big deal since the lagoa appears to only be waist-deep.

Costa de Lagoa is beautiful, but there’s not much to see. Climb a steep hill to a waterfall that looks fantastic – but the man-made pool at the bottom looks a little stagnant and gross. There are a few shops, but they’re just selling the same tourist trap treasures as any shop in centrinho.

Still, it looks lovely. There are no cars here. The closet thing we saw was a strange, busted up contraption on the edge of the woods – like someone tried to build a flying car out of a golf cart. The narrow, winding alleys and flowers busting with colour give the place a fairy tale feel.

After touring the village we settled in for lunch. A stray black and white kitten, only about 8 weeks old was mewling under one of the tables. It stole Aya’s heart. But the poor little things eyes were infected and crusted shut. It stumbled a bit aimlessly until it settled down right in the path of the restaurant’s foot traffic. People sighed and stepped over it until a waitress wrapped her hand in plastic and moved the tiny invalid to keep it from being trampled.

We all had a great fish lunch (except Melissa’s mother who is allergic. She had chicken,) and caught the water taxi back to centrinho. The local kids were swimming right next to the boat and play a game of cat and mouse with the taxi operators. When the drivers are at the back of the boat loading passengers, the kids hide on the top deck of the bow. They wait until the drivers discover them and dive off the bow 50 or 100 meters from where they started. It’s the lagoa version of bumper jumping.

I was particularly excited for jiu jitsu tonight – my first group class. When I got to Glenio’s I was a little disappointed – only two other students. Everyone else is still traveling, he explained. Still, any new training partner is exciting and I am sort of used to smaller classes. There was a Mauro, a brown belt and Eduardo, a three-stripe white.

The class started off as usual with some stretching. Then Glenio announced we’d be palying a game to get warmed up. His daughter’s boyfriend translated it as “piggy in the middle.” I remember it as monkey in the middle, but soccer-style. Glenio got a ball and we went to it. The only thing worse than going against a Brazilian in Jiu Jitsu is going against three of them in soccer. Especially when I’m not wearing my glasses and I‘ve been drinking beer for two weeks straight. I managed to get out of the middle a couple times but at the end I was stuck in there for at least five minutes. They were laughing as they shot the ball through my legs and around me at every imaginable angle. I was so out of breath at the end that Glenio asked if I was a smoker. Soccer cardio is different than BJJ cardio, I guess.

Glenio asked if I wanted to go over anything particular from any of our lessons. I didn’t want to impose on a group class, so I just asked to do what they normally do. What they normally do is just roll.

I started and finished the night with rolls against Mauro. He’s a little taller than Glenio, but probably not much heavier – around 75-80 kilos. Glenio late told me Mauro has been with him since white belt and has been training about eight years. Glenio reminds me to go light, nao force and to work the techniques we’ve covered in the lessons.

I pull guard and go to work on the scissor sweep series. It’s not really working for me – but just because it’s obvious to Mauro what I’m up to. We go back and forth with a few sweeps and reversals. Mauro’s real strength is in his guard, but I was playing bottom so much, I didn’t really see it for a while. I decided to stop hunting for the new techniques and just play my game. I’d work Glenio’s techniques when the time came. Here are some things I remember:

• When I pass, I am doing something wrong with my head. Mauro is catching it in a guillotine all the time. The guillotine is on the wrong side and he never finished it, but wow is it annoying.

• Gotta watch the footlock on the De La Riva sweeps. Three times I swept Mauro, and three times he went straight to the footlock. I wonder if he was baiting it. The way he sits in base with one knee up invites the DLR.

• I had success with the Gringo grip triangle setup. I have been writing the technical descriptions for Draculino’s new website and this is a tip from Brandon “Wolverine” Mullins. It’s a setup that pins one arm to your opponent’s chest so you can get the leg over for the triangle. I used it twice and it worked both times.

• After all the work we put in this week on breaking the grips for the armbar – I couldn’t do it. Didn’t try the ol’ heel in the ribs, though – I probably should have. I did manage to keep him from turning into me by lifting my butt of the floor the way Glenio showed me.

• My passing still seems like the weaker part of my game. I was trying to change directions and keep him guessing, but Mauro is just too experienced for my crude passing game. Got by a few times, but he would always get a hold of my head. So annoying.

Next I rolled with Eduardo. Eduardo is maybe about 190lbs or so. Glenio said to go real light and that Eduardo had a sore arm. I went light, but somebody forgot to give Eduardo the memo. I can’t blame him for taking an opportunity to look good on a big gringo. Here’s how it went:

• I establish guard and go for a triangle.

• I can hear Glenio walking Eduardo through the escape, so I just decide to chill and let him do it. I keep my legs tight, but don’t try to make the angle or lock the triangle.

• Eduardo escapes and begins to pass.

• I turtle and Eduardo jumps to my back like it’s the mundials final.

• He’s working for the choke, but I keep my cool and eventually escape. Spent too much time hanging out on my back.

• I pass his guard. Hang out in cem kilos for a few seconds before transitioning to mount.

• I go for the X choke. Glenio is standing right over us. I realize I’m not doing it the way Glenio showed me. I switch my grips and begin putting the choke on. Just as I am beginning my squeeze, Glenio calls time.

We get a water break and Glenio says next time, he’ll have some bigger people for me. He says I’m too strong for these guys. I’m trying to go easy and be technical, but a big guy can never catch a break – I’m used to this.

Then I roll with Glenio and he completely destroys me. Experience and skill make up for any size difference. It’s the beauty of jiu jitsu. He’s passing my open guard like it’s nothing (and apparently it is.) He was holding me in cem kilos to force me to work the escapes I leaned from him. I couldn’t get any of them working. Pretty much every time he passed, he held me, began working to north/south and finished me with a one-handed lapel choke. It was a nasty affair.

Glenio took a few minutes to explain what was going wrong. My timing was bad. Glenio showed me a trick to bait an opponent to try for mount so you could reverse him at just the right second. He also showed me a bit of a nastier reversal where you reach around, grab the chin and pull the chin up as you lever down on the neck with your elbow.

After that it was another 20 minutes straight of rolling with Mauro. Mauro’s got more tricks than a Vegas show. He caught me with the same reversed arm bar out of two different places. And a lot more of that annoying guillotine control. I was using the shoulder choke on occasion to break it up, but Mauro got wise quick and controlled my outside arm before I could sink it behind his back.

By the time I got home I was exhausted, Everyone else was in a festive mood. The fixer and her boyfriend had cooked supper. It was my request, maqueque de pesce – a sort of fish stew, almost like a curry. The version I’ve had elsewhere was thicker and used more shellfish. This was almost like a soup with great hunks of boney fish in it. It was still delicious. So was the dessert – sort of a passionfruit trifle. It was fragrant and not too sweet. I was so tired from jiu jitsu I could hardly enjoy it. I fell asleep uncharacteristically early on the couch.

Everyone else went for caipirinhas. I stayed home and dreamt of omoplatas.

Today I am staying home with Aya so Liz can have a free day with Melissa. Jiu Jitsu tomorrow afternoon with Glenio. Need to schedule something with Marvio. Still need to figure a way into Centro Floripa for a class at the main Ataque Duplo academy.

Turtle and Shrimp

DAY 12

First thing today we got it together and headed out to Project Tamar. It was amazing – but I’m not 100% sure if it is exactly as I had billed it – a turtle rescue and rehabilitation centre. Turtles are sometimes accidentally caught and brought there for tagging and biometrics before being re-released. I’m not sure if there is really any hospital or rehab work. It’s part of a larger project all along Brazil’s coast. They employ former turtle hunters to protect nesting sites (they know best where to find them,) and create jobs through eco-tourism and by hiring recent biology grads for fieldwork. Project Tamar employs 1,300 people along the coast. It seems to be something of a cause celebre here and they even have Gisele Bunchen as a spokesperson. Pretty amazing. Sort of depressing that nothing like this is going on in Canada or that we don’t have that sort of star support for places like Hope for Wildlife that are operating on shoestring budgets and volunteer labour right in our own backyard.

There were probably a dozen or so turtles onsite. Mostly hawksbills and olivas. Aya was thrilled as usual to see them and we got a few decent pictures – though the turtles rarely co-operated.

We headed into town for an early lunch. I had an 11:30 appointment with Glenio. Besides being a BJJ blackbelt, Glenio is also a barber and I could use a haircut. I told him to make me look like a typical Brasilero. That caused some confusion – so I just told him to give me the same haircut he has. Glenio’s been cutting hair longer than he’s been practicing BJJ – 25 years versus 14. He says he can’t make a living teaching jiu jitsu here. I can understand. It’s a small town. Jiu jitsu para couracao nao para carteira – jiu jitsu for the heart, not for the wallet.

The haircut looks decent. Glenio does it old school – with a straight razor shaving the back of the neck. Glenio explains that every day he cuts hair until noon, then shuts down for lunch. He teaches an afternoon jiu jitsu class until about three. Then he goes back and cuts more hair. He gets home around 7pm and teaches another jiu jitsu class from 8pm – 10pm. Then he has a beer and goes to bed. It doesn’t come as a surprise to hear it. A few days ago, he told us he dug his basement by himself with a shovel. The ground here is all clay. Glenio works his ass off.

An hour after the haircut, it’s time for another private with Glenio. This time I’m by myself. Glenio asks if I have any duvidas – doubts, uncertainties, positions where I don’t know what to do. “Escaping knee on belly,” I reply. I have to pantomime it before Glenio understands.

We work three different escapes – in the order of Glenio’s preference:

• Both hands on the belt. Extend your arms and escape your hips to create space. Turn your hips to the mat.

• Get a grip on a the sleeve with on hand and a grip on the panst with the other. Escape your hip a little and bump his knee off your chest with your thigh/knee. Try to get the shin across his belly and enter the other shin to his bicep. From here you’re set up for a spider guard sweep.

• Reach under the shin of the leading leg. Grab the belt if possible – or as high a grip on the kimono tail as you can get. Escape your hips. Drive towards your opponent and use the palm of your free hand to push into his chest. If your time it right he just falls right over. This was my favourite of the three – but it requires just the right timing.

After this we went over some ways to break the grip on the armbar. It was interesting to see Glenio’s preference compared to Marvio’s. Glenio is old school and prefers a good ol’ heel in the ribs. He also showed me the same breaks Marvio used. We also reviewed some tip for keeping your opponent flat on his back in this position (spider web.) Keep your feet flat on the mat you can lift your hips just a little every time your opponent tries to sit up.

When it’s just me and Glenio, something always gets lost in translation – but we do our best. At the end of the class we talked about our country’s respective obsessions with soccer and hockey. I think hockey is sort of mystery to Glenio. From what I can tell, all he knows is that it’s played on ice and the players fight a lot. I think Glenio invited us to a BBQ at some point down the road. At the very least, he wanted me to know he is the churrasco mestre.

“Look for that space. If you don’t see that space – create it.”

DAY 11

Today was mostly just spent at Barra de Lagoa. My daughter has a little cold so we left the beach early and didn't make it to the turtle sanctuary. I had a jiu jitsu lesson lined up for 6:15.

“Look for that space. If you don’t see that space – create it.”

This was the lesson with Marvio tonight. Creating space along the flank of your opponent’s body and using it to set up attacks. The individual techniques were less important than just understanding this concept.

We reviewed the techniques from last time. Basically, I had retained them all – but as usual I missed some important details.

Tonight Marvio wanted to go over submissions from guard. Could I show him an armbar from guard? God, yes! Finally somebody asks for a technique I am 100% confident in. Can I show him my armbar from open guard? Awww, crap.

Here’s the thing about my open guard – it’s a real hot mess. Once somebody staning starts to pass, it’s over. I’ve developed some tricks to deal with it – establishing De La Riva or turtling up – but basically my open guard is a sieve.

So it’s time to go over some basics. Arm bar from open guard. Marvio sets it up as though he is passing my guard. I’m on my hip on the side he is passing – with a spider guard grip on the sleeve. Reach over the arm to control the elbow with my top arm. Move my hips into the space under his arm. Bite down with my leg. Push away on his face, swing my leg over and extend the hips.

Okay – now let’s go the other way with that arm bar. I’m on my hip again. Reach deep under the arm this time with my near arm. The bend of my arm has to be at the bend of his arm. Swing my leg over his head and throw my hips up and over so I am on my knees with his arm between my legs. Make sure my hips are high up his shoulder. Extend my legs back. Grab his pant legs and roll over my shoulder towards his head to move into the spider-web position to prepare to finish.

I hope I’m explaining it well enough. I’ve always thought this was one of the most beautiful armbar setups in jiu jitsu. I figured it was a little bit out of my reach. But Marvio helped me understand the concepts that make it work – move into the space, the bend of your arm is at the bend in his arm, try to keep his elbow against your belly button If his elbow moves, follow it with your belly button – this ensure you move your hips in the correct direction.

We go over what to do if he blocks by grabbing my leg. Long story short – another armbar. This one was key to understanding the idea of following the elbow with your navel. When I did it the first time, I made the movement way more complicated than it needed to be. But once I understood following it with my navel, it was easy and efficient.

We went over a couple of grip breaks from spider-web position (I realize I am using 10PJJ terminology for that, but just don’t have a better name for it.) I like to wristlock to break the grip. Marvio prefers to use the ‘bone-on-bone’ grip break. He showed me how to triangle the legs over (without going for the bicep slicer,) to break a particularly stubborn grip.

Next – the triangle. My triangle is methodical and it turns out Marvio approves. I take my time and cross the ankles, then make the angle, then lock the triangle. A small tip tonight was that if you can’t get your foot to the hip, don’t bother. You can push off the floor to accomplish the same thing. I know I should have known that. Sometimes at this level it seems you learn a technique step by step – but you don’t really understand why you are doing each step. It’s putting the practice ahead of the theory. I feel the theory side is just finally opening up to me a little – perfect time for this trip.

Onto the omoplata. First the basic omoplata from open guard. By this point, I got it. Then Marvio wanted to show me the spider guard omoplata – the one where your sort of move inside underneath your opponent and come out the side door. This technique has always been really awkward for me. I feel too big. But he showed me a nice setup. We’ve all been there – the guy is passing. You’ve got a hold on his sleeve between your legs as he passes to the other side. I always thought that grip was useless – but there it is – the omoplata. Turn inside, up on your shoulder. Kick your hips up to secure the omoplata and Bob’s your uncle. I like it. We also reviewed the sweep from there and the transition through to the triangle.

Somewhere along the line we also went over the knee-push variation of the scissor sweep. It wasn’t that I didn’t know it – Marvio just wanted to demonstrate clearly the idea of creating that space along the flank of your opponent’s body and how many attacks that opens up.

It sounds like a lot of techniques – but there was just one concept behind it. Marvio didn’t teach me anything I hadn’t seen before, but he showed me how to apply the techniques in live situations and make adjustments on the fly by following simple principles. I like his approach to teaching.

I have a private with Glenio tomorrow afternoon. But before that – I have an appointment with Glenio for a haircut. It turns out he’s a barber and I figured I may as well get the standard issue Brasiliero buzzcut while I am here.

I’m also very excited to finally go to the turtle sanctuary tomorrow – where fishermen bring turtles that have been caught in their nets for rehabilitation and release back into the wild. Big Day!

Brazilian Portuguese Tip for Gringos:

The water taps are marked Q & F

Q is for Quejo

F is for Frango

Thank me later.

No BJJ over the weekend. Going to the turtle sanctuary today. The fishermen bring them any turtles that get caught in their nets. They get patched up and released back into the ocean. It's Hope for Wildlife of Brazil.

I've got a 6pm private with Marvio tonight, I think. He has not confirmed yet. Also setting up a 1pm private with Glenio tomorrow. Going to a group class at Gelnio's Wednesday. I think I'll try to get into one of the big academies in the city this week, too.

Just focusing on jiu jitsu for this post

DAY 8

Russ and I had another private lesson with Glenio today.

Glenio is the kind of guy who always seems glad to see you. Today he was waiting for us in the basement. He said had a surprise for me – a friend of his who is a blue belt was coming to train and maybe help with translation.

His friend didn’t arrive until mid-way through the warmup. His name is Gustavo. He looks about 25. He’s maybe 6’, 190lbs.

We went over some more techniques. Gustavo doesn’t really speak much English, but four heads trying to bridge the language gap is better than three.

Here are the techniques we covered today.

- North/South Kimura.

- North/South Kimura – opponent grips belt – scissor leg choke.

- North/South Kimura – opponent grips belt – magic grip – paper-cutter choke.

- North/South Kimura – opponent grips belt – magic grip – cross collar choke.

- Side control escape: hip bump reversal.

We also reviewed the standing guard pass, scissor sweep variations and X choke from last class.

The highlight for me was rolling with Gustavo. I know it seems silly, but itt was a little bit nerve wracking to roll with someone my own level in Brazil. Getting mauled by black belts is easy, because you don’t expect much of yourself. We were told to go light and work through the positions. It wasn’t a competitive roll, but it was fun and productive. I started in guard and managed to work a few new favourites – including the De La Riva tomo nagae sweep I learned from Marvio. I was just happy that it worked, and that I didn’t feel as though I was using any strength in the technique. There was one point when I had Gustavo in a twister and I wasn’t really sure what to do. It’s not legal in BJJ competition, but it’s not something you just want to give up. Eventually I just gave it up and scrambled to mount.

It was a fun and spirited roll. I don’t feel like I was using my size too much and I was still able to work my techniques. There was no win or lose, just co-operative training. Made me feel like I deserved the blue and that I could work with people at that level anywhere.

Had a roll with Glenio after that. He was still obviously toying with me, but I feel I had a better showing. I was just feeling a lot more comfortable trying my techniques rather than freezing up thinking “Ohmygod, I’m in Brazil rolling with a black belt.”

I think Glenio would let me hit a technique if he thought I was doing it correctly. He let me pass (one of the passes I learned from Marvio,) and work an Ezekiel choke. He showed me some finer points on the Ezekiel at the end of class. Marvio prefers it from side control, so we went over that for a while.

Glenio says group classes resume Wednesday, so I’m looking forward rolling with more people on my level. I also talked to Glenio about going to the big Ataque Duplo gym in Florianopolis. That gym has 30 black belts, which is the sort of thing I’ve never seen.

I have another private scheduled with Marvio for Monday night.

So far this trip is exceeding expectations – it’s easy when you have none coming in.

How to draw a monkey

Day 7

Today I realized something sort of amazing. Aya has begun to draw representational pictures.She's always been a prolific scribbler, but you can see how she is trying to make sense of things. She drew a monkey (we've been seeing a lot of our resident monkey family.)

She drew its head, body, legs and tail. They were all more or less recognizable (a circle, a sort of square, four stick and a long, squiggly thing,) but they were all in the wrong places. The tail came out of its head and all four legs came out of one part of the body.

It was an amazing thing to see unfold before my eyes. As a father I was really proud.

After my lesson with Glenio and Marvio, I am beginning to realize my daughter is slightly better at drawing monkeys than I am at jiu jitsu. I know some of the parts and what they look like, but they're still crude and I haven't even begun learning how they all go together. I doubt I'll ever be a Rembrandt, but maybe someday I'll be able to draw a decent monkey.

No lesson today - just a long day at the beach getting burnt. Russ and I are going to see Gleno tomorrow and I 'm setting something up with Marvio over the weekend. Glenio has some group classes starting Wednesday - hoping to find one sooner than that.

MONKEYS! MORE JIU JITSU!

DAY 6

Today turned out to be the best day of the trip for me – but not for the reasons I expected.

This morning I woke up early with Aya – about 6:45. At home this is our time together. So I made her breakfast as usual. She loves smoothies and the fruit here is amazing. Unlike Halifax, there’s no hustle and bustle to get ready for work or anything. It’s slow-paced, relaxed, tranquilo.

We spotted another gecko on the outside of the house. Every little animal sighting gives Aya a real charge. We spent an hour or so catching bugs in a jar, looking at them for a few minutes and setting them free. This place is so lush and she is so enthralled by nature – it’s really just perfect.

Just after everyone else woke up and came down for breakfast, Russ spotted it – a monkey in the yard. It is our second monkey sighting. This time we went outside to investigate. As it turns out, there are at least five monkeys in the yard.

Aya was absolutely thrilled. We got some bananas (what else do you feed a monkey?) and put chunks on sticks to lure the monkeys close enough for some photographs. The little rascals would snatch the banana and scurry back up the tree like they stole something. It was adorable. I’m not sure Aya will remember this as she gets older – but one advantage of being a member of history’s most-photographed generation is that she will always have a picture of it.

Onto the main attraction. Jiu Jitsu. I had two private lessons booked.

Early in the afternoon, Russ and I went for our semi-private lesson with Glenio Weber. As it turns out, Professor Weber is a bit of a joker. We had to be ushered in past his huge pit bull again. People here love dogs, so I figured it would be polite to ask its name. He replied “Pega.” Later I found out it means “attack.” This was Glenio’s joke. Funny stuff, Professor Weber.

We got inside the garage and got down to it. It was onky Russ’s fifth jiu jitsu class ever. He’s got himself an ancient-looking unbleached judo gi. I taught him how to tie his belt properly as we got ready for the lesson.

We started with the same stretching routine to warm up. I was feeling stiff and sunburnt. My skin felt like thin hide stretched over a drum and burned every time I rolled onto my shoulders. If you come to Brazil I recommend bringing lots of sunblock. They charge R$50 (about $30 Canadian) for a bottle here. There oughta be a law.

I knew this lesson would be geared towards Russ. I’m totally okay with that since I seem to need constant review of even the most basic techniques. The class began with instruction on breakfalls. I think a lot of people forget how important it is to learn to fall properly. This is the stuff that can save you from serious and permanent injury. I was happy to get a solid review for a few minutes and it’s essential stuff for Russ.

Around this time, Glenio’s daughter’s boyfriend showed up. As it turns out, he is from Vancouver and is there to translate. Fantastic.

I requested we go over side control escapes. Glenio reviewed a simple guard recovery that both of us could use.

When we rolled the other day, Glenio noticed that I went to the scissor sweep a lot, but didn’t have a ton of success with it. He thought it would be a good technique to teach Russ and wanted to fine-tune it for me. He reminded us to pull your opponent forward first to load them up across you shin, over your hips. We went over the push-on-the-knee variation. Glenio asked what I do when my opponent steps up to his foot on the side of the sweep. “De La Riva,” I replied. The De La Riva is good, he said – but he wanted to show me something else. It was a simple, clean technique: switching to the other hip, controlling the sleeves and inserting the hook for a hook-flip sweep. I liked it a lot.

Glenio then taught Russ the X choke from the mount as a follow-up to the scissor sweep. I am always reluctant to do this choke with both palms up – not sure why. I guess it always seemed a bit finicky to get that second arm in. Glenio had a few small details to share about the grip on the collar and the placement of the hands. It turns out he learned these from Paulo Filho who had learned them at one of Rickson’s invisible jiu jitsu seminar. Great stuff, but I am not sharing it here if only in the interest of perpetuating the Rickson mystique.

Then we did a basic standing guard pass. I don’t know what it is - but I draw a blank whenever a black belt asks me to show him how I normally do something. Glenio asked for a standing guard pass. I did something sloppy that resembled one. Then Glenio demonstrated the exact same guard pass I had reviewed with Shane Rice a week ago. I love that pass, but clearly I needed the review. It doesn’t matter that it’s the most basic pass – it’s also the one that works best.

That was a big theme of the lesson. The best jiu jitsu is basic jiu jitsu – from white belt to black belt to mundial champion.

Then Russ got to roll with Glenio. It’s only Russ’s second time rolling and it’s with a black belt in a sweltering basement in Brazil. Russ didn’t really have enough techniques to make any sort of showing for himself, but Glenio let him try every attack he knew. At one point he let Russ mount him and try out his newest weapon – the X choke. “Choke me like an animal, not like a child!” Glenio said through his translator.

The lesson wrapped and Glenio saw us out. We’ve got another lesson set up for Friday, but Russ’s brother is coming in that day and his airport pickup might scrub that plan. We both agreed that Glenio seems like a genuinely nice guy and is a great instructor. Those are two things that translate across any language barrier.

We didn’t realize the lesson had run two and a half hours until we got back to the house. Liz needed to pick up some things, so I watched Aya for a few hours while she and Russ went to the mall. I haven’t seen the mall and am having a tough time imagining such a thing exists here.

While they were gone, I re-sewed the patch that was falling off the back of my blue gi and got packed up for my second lesson of the day.

At 6pm, Marvio Charles picked me up. I got his name from a now-defunct surf school that advertises BJJ for tourist online. In 2006 he took second at the mundials at the brown belt level. He has competed against the likes of Andre Galvao.

The small talk came a lot easier. Marvio speaks perfect English. It turns out he was once a student of Glenio’s and now trains out of Gracie Floripa. He was once a dentist, but gave it up to work in tourism. It sounds weird, but dentists don’t make huge money here like they do in North America. He has retired from competition and just teaches jiu jitsu for fun and a few extra bucks.

He also has a good story about Canadian Conservative MP Brian Jean who came down to train with him and broke his foot. I made Marvio promise he wouldn’t break mine.

We headed up to a big health club with an indoor pool and spa. There were some puzzle mats in the weight room. This was a far cry from Glenio’s basement. We got changed and began stretching. Marvio wanted to roll right at the beginning to see what I liked to do and where my strengths and weaknesses are.

When I rolled with Glenio, he told me to take it easy. Marvio wanted the exact opposite. “Don’t respect me too much. Get mad. Show me what you can do!” Those are intimidating words from a black belt like Marvio. We worked our way through a number of positions; a half guard sweep, De La Riva, side control. Marvio was letting me work, but passed my guard like nothing and was hitting arm bars from everywhere.

When we stopped Marvio explained what he was looking for. He said you have to be aware of what your body can do. He could tell my hips are tight and closed. I need to work on it, he said (I know and have taken up yoga.) He asked me to show him a shoulder roll to re-guard. I know how to do it. But when I did it, Marvio pointed out that I didn’t have control of my hips – that my hips were controlling me. It’s going to take a lot of practice and more mobility in my hips to gain control of them. It opened my eyes a little bit to my own limitations and the sort of work required to really overcome them.

We started the lesson with guard passing. What guard pass do I like? I decided to show him the one I’d done with Glenio early in the day. Marvio pointed out a few details I’d somehow dropped in the three hours between lessons. How’s that for retension?!? Burro gringo!

Marvio pointed out that during our roll, I made the same mistake over and over again. I would try to pass to one side. Marvio defended, but I would keep struggling to pass to that side. There are four ways to pass, he said. You can go left or right, over the legs or under the legs. When your opponent puts everything into defending one direction, an opportunity opens to pass to the other.

Marvio says if you are far from your opponent you need to pass with speed. If you are close you need to pass with pressure. We discussed that I am a big guy and that I do not have much explosiveness – if any. We decided to work on some passes that favor the slow, grinding brand of jiu jitsu that works best for me.

* CUIDADO: The following technical descriptions are for my benefit and may not make any sense to anyone else.

We went over another pass. Basically, you sit in close to your opponent’s hips and isolate one leg – almost like a half-butterfly. Grip his pants at the hips on the other side and pinch your elbow tight. Reach over the leg and get a grip on the pant leg high on the ankle. Sprawl your hips hard into the mat to pin his knee and begin to walk your legs around towards side control.

Every time we worked on a pass, Marvio would show me how if an opponent pushed off my chin or chest to defend the pass, I could change directions and jump over to the other side. Marvio said this is part of what makes Galvao such a beast. He tries to pass. You defend. He changes directions. You defend. He said Galvao has superb conditioning so you are going to get tired of defending before he gets tired of switching directions.

Next, a half guard pass. I know this pass already but Marvio had some great details. Cross face with shoulder pressure. Put your head on the mat on the far side. Use it to trap his arm – almost like an arm triangle. Step up onto both feet and pinch his legs between yours. Push his knee below yours. Slide your knee to the mat. Use your free hand to base as you use the free leg to push off your opponent’s thigh. Sprawl and drive your chest across his face as your press back with the shin to free your leg.

If your opponent makes a hook to sweep you – let him try. Switch your hips in mid-air so you land in a stable position. Then switch your hips again so they are facing down and establish side control.

And another half guard pass. This time, you cannot get the underhook. Move yourself back, down his legs a bit. Wrap his legs with your arms as close to the top of the knee as possible. Sprawl your hips into the mat and kick your trapped leg back to free it. Move to side control. Again, if he blocks the pass, switch directions and go to the other side.

Marvio also went over two DeLa Riva sweeps with me. Marvio had correctly deduced that I feel safe establishing the De La Riva, but don’t do much from it. The truth is, I am a closed guard player. But I couldn’t when I cannot get my guard closed, the only open guard I feel comfortable in is DLR. We went over a basic sweep and a tomo-nage-type up-and-over sweep. They were simple and I understand them.

When Marvio was showing me the tomo nagae, my foot slammed into a table just off the mats. I accused him over having it out for Canadian feet.

We closed the class with a roll. Marvio let me apply some of the techniques from the lesson, especially the DLR sweeps. The highlight was when I successfully switched directions on a failed pass. I still didn’t pass his guard, but it was the right thing to do at the right time. I was getting it.

We wrapped the class with a photo and a lot of chitchat. Besides this blog, I haven’t really had anyone to talk to about BJJ on this trip. If you know me in person, you know how I blather on. Marvio is a great teacher and a nice guy with funny stories (he had War Machine stay at his house!)

Tomorrow is a day off from BJJ, but I have no regrets about it. So far, I have had two amazing instructors and two very different jiu jitsu experiences in Brazil. I had no real plan before I got here, so I am lucky to have found both of them. And there’s still 16 days left in the trip!

Despite everything, the monkeys were still the highlight of my day!