I finally made it to Sudbury! If you follow me on Facebook you understand what I mean, and if you don't let me tell you about the trials I had taking the bus from Thunder Bay to Sudbury. We last left off with the bus leaving a few hours late from Thunder Bay...
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| Welcome to Hoth, I mean Sudbury. |
Stranded on the Greyhound!
The bus from Thunder Bay to Sudbury was supposed to be a day trip, leaving at 8am and getting in almost at midnight. As the bus continued on it's route the weather got worse and we got slower, until we showed up in a small town in the middle of nowhere really late. Once we stopped we were informed the road ahead was closed from snow drifts causing a white out condition. The bus route follows the Trans-Canada Highway and this section of the road, between the town of Wawa and Sault Ste Marie, runs along the shore of one of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior. Because of that the road is prone to getting snow drifts caused by the breeze coming off the lake and apparently the road gets shut down often during the winter months. I wish I had known this before booking my tickets, not that there's much of an affordable option to get around this.
The bus had stopped at a local ice rink in Wawa, the town we were in, and everyone moved into the building as the driver, and other concerned passengers, started calling the bus service to figure out what out next step was. All we were told by Greyhound was to wait it out. People were furious, calling in and complaining, yelling at their phones, yelling at the bus driver who was stranded just like us, and each other. I quietly found a corner with a plug outlet, plugged in my phone and set up my laptop. The road was closed, there was nothing anyone could do, other than Greyhound actually giving us some help rather than leave us out in the cold, but yelling at a customer service rep from the US somewhere wasn't going to help. All we could do was wait, I had a bunch of granola bars in my backpack, a couple litres of water in my water bottles, and movies on my laptop. I was good for the time being.
As the night continued I noticed some people were getting annoyed by my sunny attitude. I was watching a funny movie, something with Seth Rogan in it, and so I was happy, laughing at the movie, enjoying my time waiting. One passenger came up to me and in a very sour tone said "Well you seem to be enjoying this" to which I replied "Yes, it's a funny movie, there's nothing we can do but wait so I might as well watch some movies" Apparently they did not like that and stormed off. I don't know what some people were thinking, that the bus can plow through snow? That The road will just magically open for us? It would be nice if the bus company did something to look out for it's costumers but that wasn't happening, at least we had a place to stay out from the cold. No sense making a bad situation worse by being a dick to everyone. Some people didn't see it that way.
After a while we began to get hungry, as an awesome host to people in need the ice rink made us all french fries and after a while the mayor of the town came in and helped out. By the end of the night the mayor had gotten us a platter of subs from Subway Sandwiches, and Emergency Services had come in to help, setting the families with children and older and sick passengers up with a room at a nearby hotel, I guess there wasn't enough room for all of us. We were then told we would be staying the night in the ice rink, and were given floor mats and blankets. I had brought my gear in from the bus and rolled out my yoga mat and sleeping bag, and used my inflatable neck pillow covered in my hoodie as a pillow. It wasn't a comfortable sleep but it would do, what other choice did I have? That night one particular passenger, who had been especially bothersome to everyone on the bus decided they would be loud, watching the TV in the common room we were using to sleep in at a high volume, and pretty much look for a fight when anyone asked to turn it down. It's my assumption there was a fair bit of drugs involved. I guess some people find being a dick to everyone around you and make them hate life as much as you do is the proper thing to do. I feel sorry for those people, who's lives suck that much to think that way.
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| My 'awesome' bed for the night in the ice rink. I made sure everyone else had floor mats before me, but i really wish I had one, the yoga mat was not enough against the cold hard cement floor. oh well. |
The morning the Mayor and Emergency Services had shown up again, this time with coffee and breakfast sandwiches from Tim Horton's! Everyone was grumpy, some more at our asshole passenger then our situation. I made light of it, making jokes as I usually do and grabbed breakfast. At one point I was talking to some fellow stranded passengers and told them, we have a roof over our head, food in our bellies and no one is shooting at us, it's a good day, I've been in worse. Some got it, some didn't. After breakfast Emergency Services moved us over to a church, it was very small but there were enough chairs for us all to sit at the tables in the basement. The church group made us all some soup and we got more sandwiches sent in to us for lunch, it really wasn't so bad being stranded. There were all sorts of books set out for everyone to read, I had my own and pulled out The Book of Five Rings to pass the time. Finally, sometime in the afternoon Greyhound had given the OK for the bus driver to make a detour in the route to send us on our way. Finally we were moving again, it was slow but we made to Sudbury, 26 hours late from when we were supposed to be but all in one piece.
I would like to thank the town of Wawa, it's mayor, the ice rink and Emergency Services for everything they have done to look out for us, if not for them we would have froze to death sitting on the bus all night, as Greyhound informed us to. I have a lot more to say about Greyhound but that will wait for a future post.
Visiting Family
Visiting Sudbury was a must, not just because the trip straight to my hometown of Petawawa from Thunder Bay was way too long but also because I have family there I haven't seen in years. As the date came closer to traveling to Sudbury I was talking with my Cousin Mandie and Aunt Frieda about things to do together, like having a dinner or going out, and my cousin brought up the fact that Star Wars: Rogue One was coming out and set up a dinner outing with her friends and I before going to see it. It was on a Friday night, I was set to be coming in Wednesday evening. With the set back I had in Wawa it was looking like I might miss that night all together. Luckily I got in at 2 in the morning Friday and had the day to rest up before going out. It was fun hanging out with my cousin Mandie and her friends, we hit up a Japanese BBQ place where you order a bunch of meat and vegetables and cook them yourself on a grill set into the table, which was a first for me, I would highly recommend trying it out, especially in a group!
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| As you can see, the grill is in the table, you grill the meat and veg how you like it and voila! |
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| My cousin Mandie and everyone chowing down, apparently this is usual hang out for them and they are quite known by the staff. |
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| Fun times eating and meeting everyone before the movie |
During the week I got to see my Aunt Frieda, who like Mandie I haven't seen in years, and my nephew Jaden, who I hadn't met before. He continuously challenged me to video games and I'm sure I would still be playing video games with him if I were there. It was nice catching up with family, another branch of my far reaching family tree visited. I took over the couch during my stay which meant I was prey for the cat to attack my toes and dog to sniff my face in the morning when they woke up. It also meant I was taken care of and well fed while visiting. Free food totally trumps random pet attacks, besides, I'm pretty sure I got the cat back by tormenting him daily with toys he could never catch. Thanks for the good times and taking care of me Aunt Frieda and cousin Mandie!
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| I forgot to get a pic with Aunt Frieda but one of me teasing Cousin Mandie will do! |
Sudbury BJJ
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| The front door, it was here all along. |
The first club I was able to visit was Sudbury BJJ. It wasn't too far out from where I was staying, in fact I was pretty close to both clubs. When I first got to the strip mall where the gym is I was a little confused looking for the address. I stood at the corner between two buildings and there seemed to be a gap in numbers, which is where the gym was supposed to be, then I realized the address wrapped around the building, all the way around, right back to the side of the building of where I started. I had walked all the way around a place looking for a door that was just around the corner from where I started. Good job Panda. At least I made it to the gym and on time too. The outside is a simple door on the side of the building with the sign over top, once inside it opens up into a large area, the front being the desk and merchandise area, with the mats off around behind. The layout is like a split level, with change rooms being on top and the mats below, it was a bright and clean place.
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| A quick shot of the mats. |
After checking in with the front desk I introduced myself the coach, Steve Joncas, a brown belt who is also a certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor. Steve is a chill person and greeted me warmly, like most clubs I had started communication with him early in my planning, and he was expecting me. After a tour around the gym we started class and Steve took me aside with a new student to show me what the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu introduction is like and what they cover on the first visit. To sum up the basic idea, they demonstrate the principles of Jiu-Jitsu by mounting the new student and telling them to get free, then resetting with the roles reversed. They then show them the basic movements and how to do an Upa properly to free themselves from the mounted position they were earlier put in. It's really a perfect hook to get someone into BJJ and sign up. I know of so many stories of people who started because of that exact same introduction and are now black belts. After showing me the Gracie introduction we then re-joined the class.
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| Drilling a take down during class. |
This was my first time being a part of a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu class in a Certified Training Center (CTC). Technically, since we're under Master Pedro Sauer and he is part of the Gracie Family we train Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, but we're not part of the Gracie Academy of Ryron and Rener Gracie. Seeing the way the Gracie Brothers have reshaped the curriculum and how the training centers are run has been one of the many things I've been looking forward to while on this journey. The big difference I found wasn't how or what Coach Steve was teaching, although he was a great teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed his class, it was the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu curriculum cards for the Gracie Combatives, or beginners classes. A lot of schools have a curriculum for each belt level, most really, but The Gracie Academy takes it a step further and has a technique card that has all the techniques for the level you are at with spaces to sign off that you have trained in that technique for the class. Once the proper number of classes trained for each technique is signed off you demonstrate you can complete them in front of a certified instructor to get your promotion. I believe this goes for every stripe up to blue belt, as a way to ensure the students have a good base knowledge and skill set. I have seen different ways of teaching the fundamentals and self defense concepts and I find each have their merit. Which ever way is used the most important is the execution, to be able to do the move when asked to demonstrate it and also pull it off while rolling, which in the aim of the Gracie Academy.
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| Getting some god rolls in. |
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| Can't be on top all the time. |
Training with the Sudbury BJJ class was fun, they were all welcoming and friendly people, I found it a calm easy going environment as I drilled with two other guys about my size during class. We introduced ourselves to one another, they were jealous of my journey, as seems to be the usual case. After the Gracie Combatives class was over it was time for the Master Cycle, or advance class, which is blue belt and up. It being close to the holidays, Christmas was only a week away, there weren't many students out and the second class saw only myself and another blue belt with Coach Steve. Since it was only the three of us we went over a few concepts and then spent most of the time rolling with each other, doing both situational rolling and straight matches. It was a good time I felt genuinely accepted on the mats with them and the time went by fast, it was a good energy, we probably could have rolled for another hour with each other, time well spent.
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| The whole class that showed up that day. |
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| Coach Steve and I on our way out the door, thanks again for having me! |
Troop MMA
Another club that was near where I was staying was Troop MMA, I had heard about Troop as far back as Edmonton, people asking me if I was going to drop by when I was in Sudbury, so I was intrigued to see why everyone was so focused on this gym. The gym itself, were Troop was hidden in, was easy enough to find, in a fitness gym simply called 'The Gym'. I asked the front desk where they held Jiu-Jitsu classes and he showed me around the gym, it was built in a kind of 'U' shape, directly on the right there were the change rooms then continuing forward was the open room full of workout machines and weights, make two rights and you were in a hallway with a door to Troop MMA.
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| The club, I thought I also got a good shot of their cool logo, (it's a hand print with a gorilla in it) but I guess I did not. |
The first day out was a weekend open mat and not too many people made it out, holidays and all, but the talent on the mats made up for low numbers. The rolls were stiff and I was how we say 'the nail' that day but it was still some good times. I say it was a smaller than normal open mat but I really don't know how many usually show up, I only guess this from the numbers that showed up for class the next day. I went back to Troop MMA for their scheduled class and to interview the head Professor, Richard Nancoo. There were a lot more people there than at the open mat on the weekend, it was quite busy to be honest. Prof. Nancoo is really friendly guy and was very approachable during class, always asking if anyone had any questions and making sure they were answered. The class was the same, each very accepting to me visiting and making sure I was fully involved in the drilling and rolling, I had no shortage of partners. It was a good time on the mats with the Troop guys, and afterwards I sat down and have an interview with Prof. Nancoo
Prof. Richard Nancoo
If the video doesn't load, head over to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel to watch it there, and while there subscribe to my channel and give the videos some likes!
After training it was time to pack up and head out to catch my over night bus home to Petawawa Ontario and visit my family and friends fro the holidays, but that's next week's issue.
Until next time, see you all the mats!
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