Kingston Ontario Canada: Finally Hanging Out With My Cousin!

Greetings From Kingston Ontario!

Originally I was going to stay in St. Catherine's so my bus ticket for Kingston was from there and not Niagara Falls, but a simple extra $8 and I had my ticket extended and left Niagara for Kingston without any problems. I even got in and met up with my cousin Jamie at the station at the proper time, which is awesome but I guess doesn't leave me much to write about, hahah.

The Long Overdue Family Reunion

Meeting Cousin Jamie, and the rest of the family, has been long over due. We were trying to think of exactly when we last saw each other and the best we could think of is an old Christmas gathering at the Grandparents, which would be about 20 years ago, maybe even 21 or 22 years, anyways, a long long time ago. While in high school we both decided to start Jiu-Jitsu, almost at the same time too, but never knew of the other training until recent years when I started planning out The Odyssey. As it happens Jamie and have so much in common and can talk forever about martial arts philosophy! It was just like the TV shows or family movies where the star finds out they have a cool family member they never knew about and you always think 'no one ever has a cool secret family member, this movie is dumb!' only this was real. It was a great time catching with Cousin Jamie and the rest of the family! One night we all went over to Aunt Doris', who I also haven't seen in many years, for supper and I got to fill her in on my journey as well.
I guess if you look at my past 10 years it's been pretty crazy and even I wouldn't have guessed half the things would have happened. I was out of college and running my own business and doing well, and then lost it all and ended up on my friend's couch, then once I started to get back on my feet decided I'd join the military, which I once said I'd never do, and now I'm backpacking around the world as some sort of blogging, globetrotting martial artist Youtuber. Come to think of it I guess there's been a lot of catch up on for all my family members I've finally been able to see while on this journey. Man I got to keep in touch with my extended family more often, condensing it all into a paragraph like that makes me sounds like a mess!
Anyways, I was nice seeing that part of the family again, I'll make sure not to make it another 20 years before hanging out again.

Cousin Jamie, Aunt Doris and myself.

Training with Cousin Jamie

My time in Kingston was short, and with my ears bugging me, an infection had made it's made into both of them since Niagara Falls, and Jamie also feeling under the weather, and an ice storm hitting Kingston, there was only really one night for us to train together. We had originally planned for Jamie to bring me to a Kenjutsu class and get my first experience at sword play as well as I was going to make it out to a BJJ class at Unik Skills but the only class we were able to make was the one at Jamie's club, Koketsu Kai Tiger's Den Jiu-Jitsu. Jamie is a 4th degree in this style of Jiu-Jitsu. This style is similar to other traditional Jiu-Jitsu styles, with strikes and take down and controlling techniques, but also has a grappling element to it that a lot of other styles do not. Training with them was similar to the Ninja Ryu Jiu-Jitsu style I did in high school and was a lot of fun to play around with again.

The club patch, to add to my collection. 

As part of the warm up Jamie had us do some positional grappling, getting out of being mounted or in side control etc. and I got a great compliment from one of his black belts. One of us was in mount with the other trying to escape, with us switching the rolls after a couple of minutes. At one point he says to me, 'it's hard to deal with your legs, you're using your feet like hands!" As a grappler I took that as a great compliment.
For the class we went over different techniques fro the various belt curriculum so Jamie and his club could show me what they study. It was great, there are a lot of similarities and parallels with the styles I've trained before with different details or variations to make it new again. I love classes like that, it's not about more techniques, its about more details. I look at it like this: each technique is a tool, and each new detail sharpens it. I've heard the saying 'It's not about having the most the tools, it's about having the sharpest tools for the job' and like House of Pain I like my tools to be 'the sharpest in the shed!'
I was hoping to get to do an interview with Cousin Jamie but with both of us fighting a cold I just wasn't for it and I don't think he would have been either. So this is another article without an interview but I hope the pictures of the old downtown buildings and penitentiary below help make up for it.

Cousin Jamie and I, thanks for class!

Kingston

The penitentiary.

The warden's house, which overlooks the penitentiary.

Jamie and hie wife, Laura, drove me around and showed me a lot of Kingston. I never knew much of the city and never really put much thought into it but after an afternoon with Laura telling me all about the history of Kingston I see the city has a lot more history to it than I thought. One cool thing she told me about was that there's an old abandoned mental ward everyone thinks is haunted and has been used for different TV shows or movies. I didn't get any pictures but it definitely looked creepy. Also, in the old down town area are a lot of old buildings built of lime stone that were all dug by prisoners of the old penitentiary, forced into chain gangs for their crimes. And of course, Sir John A McDonald, first Prime Minister of Canada, lived in Kingston and his house is still preserved and used as a museum to the man. I didn't get pictures of the house but it's a cool site to see if you're driving around the area.

The court house. 

City Hall.

And with that I short time in Kingston was up. Thanks again for everything cousin Jamie, it was awesome to catch up and train together! It was a pleasure to meet you Laura and the rest of the family! And of course it was great seeing you again Aunt Doris!

If you like reading these stories and watching these interviews sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account and help support me on my journey!

Also, you can buy my Panda's Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive (in the 'Other' section), check their stock too and take advantage of the flat rate shipping for Canada and USA!

And then I was off to meet friends from Victoria BC who had moved to Ottawa, also to train and see the sites of our nation's Capitol!

Until next time, see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

Panda's Odyssey UK and Ireland March Itinerary!

Here's the itinerary for my time in the UK and Ireland for the month of march!
I know it's short notice as it's only a few days away but here's where I'll be during the month and where I'll be training. Of course more gyms could be added as I travel from place to place, after all, Canada started with 35 gyms and end with 42, and if the weather hadn't held me back it would have been 48. Anyways, Be on the look out for a traveling Panda in UK and Ireland very soon!

DATE                              PLACE                              GYM(S)

2-6 March                       London                               Wave BJJ
6-10 March                     Blackpool                           UTC Blackpool
10-12 March                   Manchester/Wigan               Snake Pit (catch wresting)
12-16 March                   Dublin                                  East Coast Jiu-Jitsu
                                                                                   Jorge Santos BJJ
                                                                                   Ryano BJJ

16-20 March                   Belfast                                 SBG Belfast
                                                                                   Gracie Barra Belfast
20-24 March                   Glasgow                              Gracie Barra Glasgow
                                                                                   Hybrid Fight Academy
24-27 March                   Edinburgh                            Cross Combat

                                                                                   Rick Young's Black Belt Academy
27-30 March                   Stockton-on-Tees                LPW HQ (catch wrestling)
                                        Middlesbourgh                    Middlesbourgh Fight Academy
31 March-4 April             London                               Roger Gracie HQ
                                                                                   Urban Kings

*overlapping days are travel days*

Niagara Falls Ontario Canada: Seeing the sights and getting some Jiu-Jitsu in!

Greetings From Niagara Falls!

I made it to Niagara Falls without any problem, I caught the GO Bus on time and not only was there a stop just across from my hotel, but also the front desk let me check in early! That gave me time to catch a nap and see the sights before class that night. Niagara Falls was a big 'maybe' on the list and I really didn't know if I would be going or not until I was in Hamilton. Originally I was supposed to stay with a friend in St. Catherine's (next door to Niagara Falls) but just before the holidays that fell through. I contacted the gym I was going to go to and it ends up they would be closed for that weekend because of a big tournament in Toronto. I then asked my friend Matt Kaiser if he knew of anywhere to train or stay at, if not I'd just come back to Toronto and see some more friends and maybe check out another club or two. As it ends up Matt introduced me to Coach Rob and his gym, 1812 Fitness. Coach Rob was happy to help out and, although he wouldn't be around, set up places for me to train at. All I needed was a place to stay. As it happens, Niagara falls is dirt cheap to stay at in January! It's off season time so they get very little tourist traffic. The city is a buzz with tourists most the year and prices for everything are easily double or triple in the summer but during the winter I practically had my run of the town. Going there to see the sites without the mobs of tourists was more than worth it (Warning: Lots of pictures ahead!). Coach Rob setting me up with places to train made it a great stop I'm glad I made!

The Clubs: 1812 Fitness and Relentless MMA

Coach Rob runs 1812 Fitness, a place Matt Kaiser said he likes to check into when he's in town, so it was on my place of training at, especially since coach Rob was setting all this up for me, but their class wasn't until Saturday. I got in early Friday which meant it was the night everyone hits up Relentless MMA. The Niagara region Jiu-Jitsu community is a bit different. It's a small area and they understand that support from each club is needed to make Jiu-Jitsu successful. With that in mind they have different days for each club holding open mat. Friday evening is Relentless, Saturday it's 1812 and Sunday they all head down to Fort Erie to Dayboll-Pascuzzi Jiu-Jitsu for Sensei Sam Pascuzzi's open mat.

Fun Friday night at Relentless!

Relentless MMA is new, it had only been open for about 6 months when I visited, but Davide and Pat, who run the gym, have been working hard to make it a success. The space is an old warehouse lot that they turned into a gym, with lots of mat space, heavy bags for the kickboxing classes, and raised area for people to sit and watch, with the changed rooms and washrooms there as well. Word was put out that I was in town for the weekend and apparently that got a lot more than the usual few people out for open mat Friday night. There were a good dozen guys in the mats, and they were monsters! The rolls were tough but fun, no one was trying to rough up the new guy but they weren't playing easy either. I talked with a bunch of them about my blog and where I had been so far, most of them seem really interested in my journey, 'living the dream' as everyone says. It was a good 'Welcome to Niagara' for sure!

Open mat Friday night, a bunch of monsters on the mats.

The next day it was time to make it to 1812 Fitness. They are also in a warehouse lot, but a bit smaller and more square, with an area for weights on the right and the mats on the left. The guys all went out for drinks after training the night before, where I did not, having other plans to meet with a friend, and that seemed to knock off most of them from showing up to the noon time open mat Saturday. I myself was moving a bit slowly, being on day 6 of training and still sore from the 3 hours a day in Hamilton, so I showed up a little late. With my presence it made 5 people on the mats. Despite low numbers we still had a good time, I rolled some good matches with everyone there at least once, all bigger than me I might add (Wasn't joking about them being monsters!). We talked a bunch about different Jiu-Jitsu topics after rolling. At one point we went over some techniques and I showed them some of my favourite moves. It was a good Saturday class, too bad a bunch of the Friday night guys missed it.

Sunday I was going to go to Fort Erie to train at Dayboll-Pascuzzi Jiu-Jitsu and meet Sensei Sam Pascuzzi if he was there but Coach Rob told me he was having trouble finding me a ride. I was tired from such an active week and really needed to get on my blogs for Toronto still, so I told him not to worry and that I could use a rest day anyway. I wish I had more time to see everyone in Niagara Falls, finally meet Coach Rob and make it to some classes rather than just the open mats and make it to Fort Erie and meet all those guys too but as I've said before, if I took the time to hit every club in Canada I've never be able to leave the Country, and there's always next time.

Group shot of the Friday night class that welcomed me to Niagara Falls, thanks for the good rolls guys! Davide, the co-owner of Relentless MMA and BJJ instructor is in the middle with the yellow spats.

I also wish I could have set up an interview with someone, there are so many interesting  people here: Coach Rob who runs 1812 Fitness and has an open door policy and set everything up for me I think would have been a good interview. Pat and Davide who are dealing with a new club in a small but dedicated community would have made an interesting interview. And of course talking to Sensei Sam Pascuzzi in Fort Erie, who is the head black belt for the area would have been a great choice as well. There just wasn't time and I was looking to take a rest from the hectic schedule I had been running lately, so I'm sorry but there's no interview for this week, but there are a bunch of photos from the sites of the city so hopefully that makes up for it.

Pat, who runs Relentless MMA with Davide and instructs the kickboxing classes.

Thank you Coach Rob for setting everything up and introducing me to all the awesome guys in Niagara and Thanks to Pat and Davide for having me over at Relentless, it was a blast!              

*UPDATE* 
Shortly after leaving Niagara Coach Rob had to close 1812 Fitness. It's always sad to hear of a club closing, especially when it's your friends' and you've trained there before. It's too bad you reading this won't get the chance to train there if you haven't already, but with the tight knit Jiu-Jitsu community in Niagara Falls I'm sure you'll see more of Coach Rob and his students!

The Sites: The Falls and The Strip

During my off time I hit up the sites at Niagara Falls, mostly on the first day I made it in to town. I hadn't been to Niagara Falls since I was a kid and my family went on the one summer vacation we did together. To be honest it was fun back then as a kid and I'll always have those memories but I think I'm glad we didn't do it again, it would make those memories not so special I think.

Old photo of the family vacation, I was scared to stand beside Frankenstein, but at least I had style back then.

My mom and brother and I. We're actually under the Horseshoe Falls, there's a tour through caves that brings you out under the falls. My mom was holding us so tight, apparently she thought I jump over the balcony hahah.

This time around I was on my own, as I said before there were no hoards of tourists around. I didn't go into the wax museums or haunted houses like we did when I was a kid (I don't have the money for that, and I still not over being creeped out by them haha) But I did walk up and down the strip of Clifton Hill and check out the falls themselves. Clifton Hill isn't as big as you would think, although it has a tons of stuff there, museums, arcades, even a dinosaur themed mini-putt and ferris wheel.  

Clifton Hill, the strip.

Frankenstein's haunted house, wonder if it's changed inside at all, too bad I'm not looking!

There's an ape on the side of the building..

The dinosaur mini-putt.

More of the strip.

The falls are pretty awesome to see and I think seeing them in the winter, with all the frost and ice around them, made them look ever more impressive to see. If you don't know, right on the boarder to the USA is Niagara Falls, which is the name for the group of three waterfalls, Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls (the Bridal Veil, in my opinion is just part of the American Falls). Right next to the falls is the Rainbow Bridge the connects USA and Canada and is a really busy border point. Its a beautiful sight to see and I spent a good time walking along the mile long stretch, stopping at every view point to get some pictures of the waterfalls. Here are some of the best ones:

Rainbow Bridge, sadly it doesn't go to Asgarde.

The falls, American on the left, Horseshoe on the right.

American Falls, with the Bride Veil Falls on the far right.

Horseshoe Falls, commonly known as the Niagara Falls. 

I rode up one those carts and took the overhead pic from it, its a pretty cool view.

I also went back at night in attempt to get pictures of the waterfalls and the strip, with the LED lights on the the falls and all the shops and signs and buildings and ferris wheel lit up. It was cool to see them but my phone is not the best option for capturing this sights, but I tried to make do.

Clifton Hill at night.

The ferris wheel I mentioned before. the day time picture didn't turn out well, but the night time shot did.

Best I could do to get a shot of the falls at night, this is the American and Bride Veil Falls.

Horseshoe Falls, before I took this picture they had it in a rainbow and it looked pretty cool.

If you like reading these stories and watching these interviews sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account and help support me on my journey!

Also, you can buy my Panda's Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive (in the 'Other' section), check their stock too and take advantage of the flat rate shipping for Canada and USA!

After a short weekend of training, taking in the sights, and walking down memory lane, it was time to head to Kingston Ontario Canada, for a long over due family reunion!

Until next time, see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

Hamilton Ontario Canada: Jeff Joslin and My Host Zach

Greetings From Hamilton!

Rather than take a bus or train or any of the local city transit to make the short ride from Toronto to Hamilton (they're like an hour's drive apart) my brother, working out in that area, drive me into to town in the morning. Of course it wasn't a nice sunny morning to drive in, no it was a dark, grey, sky and roads filled with giant snow flakes morning. It wasn't near as bad at the snow storm we drove in last winter but it was a shitty drive out of the city all the same. This does make me wonder if maybe the two of us driving in a terrible snow fall is becoming a winter tradition. Once we made it out of Toronto it got better and Jeff was able to drop me off downtown Hamilton no problem. We said our farewells as this would be the last I saw him for a while now and I was off to meet up with my host for the next few days, Zach. Thank you for the ride, going to miss you bro!

My Host In Hamilton, Zach

My host for Hamilton I starting talking to online a long time ago, back when I first started planning everything out and was still just getting the basic outline for this whole concept down. Zach has been a big fan of my blog ever since we first started talking and instantly welcomed me to his place. Being that he was one of the first supporters of this journey I was looking forward to finally meeting him. After my brother dropped me off I waited at a coffee shop until Zach was done work and able to come get me, which was only about half an hour. We talked about my journey experiences and Zach's own experiences going to the BJJ Globetrotters camp, something I haven't done yet but hope to do one day,  as Zach drove around town, showed me some sites and told me the history of the city. For living next to Hamilton for 10 years when I was in Toronto, I really didn't know much of Hamilton other than the steel mills, and as Zach pointed out, I didn't know much about them either.

Not the best picture but you can tell someone is hooked on Jiu-Jitsu when they have mats in the basement and put nails up on the rafters to hang their gis off of.

After driving around we made out way to his place I got settled in to the cool set up he made for me in his office room, we weren't at his place for long though, there was a noon time class for us to get to and my first class at Joslin's MMA. After class, and after most the classes during the few days I spent with Zach, he would bring me out to one of the many restaurants in town. One time it was tacos, another it was burgers, one evening we met with his family and had Thai food, another time we met with Cory of the Gi Hive and had amazing ribs. All these places were awesome, if there's one thing Zach new it was where to eat in Hamilton!

Ribs! Was so good!

The whole time I spent with Zach we trained at the club he trains at, Joslin's MMA and hit both the noon time classes and evening classes. We were getting about 3 hours of training time in a day and it was great! In between classes, we would talk about all sorts of things, training philosophies, different experiences training abroad at different gyms, our favourite movies, work and life in general. It was a great time chatting and hanging out and making a close friend. Zach really took care of me on my stay there and I know I always have a place to go to in Hamilton. Thanks for everything Zach, next time foods on me!  

Zach the man himself, thanks for everything, buddy! 

Joslin's MMA

One of the mats in Joslin's

Originally Zach had an idea of traveling around and hitting different clubs up in the area, we could even go down into Buffalo and train at a club just on the other side of the boarder. I really liked the idea, but I also had been waiting to train at Joslin's for a long time and was really looking forward to meeting Jeff Joslin. We decided instead just to hit every class at the gym we could in the time I was in town, and I am happy we did, because every class I met new people and made new friends, some people I had been talking to online for a while, and some had just heard of me and were looking to meet me. This was a first, people looking to meet me? As it happens, when I decided to get back into martial arts 6 years ago I was in college in St. John's Newfoundland and found a club, St. John's BJJ and Judo. I trained there until I was posted to Victoria BC where I found Fierce Studio. While in St. John's I trained under Mike Samson who is a student of Jeff Joslin. So as I was on my way to Hamilton, both Zach and Mike posted in the gym's Facebook group about me coming to train with them while I passed through on the Odyssey. This apparently piqued the interest of a number of students who came looking for me. It was a weird but cool feeling meeting people like this.

Warming up before class, the other mat area in the club. In the back on the right is a cage was well.

Joslin's has a lot of history, the club is in it's 50th year of not just existing but being in the same building! Jeff Joslin told me of how he grew up above the the gym in their apartment back when his dad ran the gym as a kickboxing club. The walls are all full of posters for fight events, newspaper clippings and trophies. There's two large mat areas and lots of wall space between the two of them, and they're all full. Like I said, lots of history.

Old photos and new articles of Jeff Joslin and his dad, Rick Joslin, who started the gym.

One of the many walls covered in memories of this gym.

I can say just about every class was different, even if we were training the same techniques, the varying students in each class always gave a different vibe, always positive of course, and each instructor taught differently. In the end each class there was already some hard rolls and good times on the mats. Jeff was working on single leg take downs, other instructors were working open guard passing, or leg lock defenses. Lots of information was being shown that week and I loved every minute of it. Every class I made at least one new friend, and got crushed by them. They were a great team, full of positive energy. It was a great time training with them. Zach and I were hitting 2 classes a day, which although tiring I found a lot of fun. Zach, who was using this to launch his 'new year, new training regime' on the other hand was just about dead by the final class. I'm sure he'll admit, it was worth it!      

Rolling with Jason, a friend who always knows the guys out in Newfoundland.

Forget if this is from rolling or drilling something in class. either way, good times.

Cory Dunne of The Gi Hive.

What a good class!

Jeff Joslin

Like I said I had been waiting some time to finally meet Jeff Joslin a I was not disappointed! Jeff was such a nice guy and was happy to have me visit and do the interview with me. His classes were pretty cool, Jeff has a different style than most people. It's hard to pinpoint what's different about it but my guess is his kickboxing and MMA background add a different look into his Jiu-Jitsu. Rolling with him was crazy, I wish we could have rolled more! Jeff moves in a different way than what I'm used to, shutting down my usual moves and catching with submissions I don't regularly see, like the reverse armbar, from usual angles. We talked about it after rolling and he told me he has a few moves he gets all the time because people not being used to it. The best I can describe it is like an old school newaza flair to modern grappling.

What a nice guy, thanks for having me Jeff!

One day After class I set up my gear in one of the mats spaces and we did an interview together. It was cool hearing of Jeff's upbringing around martial arts and how he finally got into it full time. We talked about his time in the UFC and using that experience to run his time now, after retiring from MMA. I could feel the passion he has for the art, it's in his blood, that gym is his home and the students are his family.

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If you like reading these stories and watching these interviews sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account and help support me on my journey!

Also, you can buy my Panda's Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive (in the 'Other' section), check their stock too and take advantage of the flat rate shipping for Canada and USA!

After a full 4 days with Zach training at Jeff Joslin's that was it for Hamilton and it was time to head to Niagara Falls for a slower pace and some site seeing!

Until next time, see you on the mats!
OSSS!!