Quebec City Quebec Canada: BJJ Quebec and Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu Quebec

Greetings from Quebec City Quebec Canada!

Although This trip from Montreal to Quebec City was uneventful, it was my first time taking a train, so at the risk of sounding really boring, I was excited to travel up to Quebec city this way!

Crossing a train bridge on the way up to Quebec City, pretty cool view of the river freezing over.

In Quebec City, had my first train ride!

Also, given that the biggest winter party was about to start in this city all the hotels were booked but my friend, who lived out of town and was moving that weekend so unable to host me the whole time, helped me out. Given that I have served in the military before I was able get accommodations on the base in Old Quebec, but not just any base, The Citadelle de Quebec, home of 22e Regiment or 'Van-Doos' as they're called, which is next door to the Plains of Abraham, the deciding battle ground for the fate of Canada in the Seven Year's War. It was pretty cool staying at a piece of Canadian history.    

Entrance to the Citadelle, home of the 'Van-doos' where I'll be staying for most this visit.

Old Quebec and The Winter Carnival

Bonhomme, the Carnivale mascot, seeing us have a great winter!

Since all the classes were in the evening I had all day to rest up, work on my blog and wander around the check out the city. I took a bunch of pictures of Old Quebec and the events going on around the area. If you didn't know, the Quebec Winter Carnival, or just 'Carnaval' to most Canadians, is a huge festival in the city with all sorts of activities like the toboggan slide by the Chateau Frontenac you can race down the hill on. there's all sorts of maple toffee booths where you pour hot maple syrup in the snow and as it cools wrap it around on a stick. And what most people love the most, the ice sculptures and structures that get built around the city, in fact if you venture north of the city you'll find the Ice Hotel. I took what pictures I could of the city and events, but I wasn't around for the main events on the weekend, but I was there for Jiu-Jitsu and seeing friends, not being a tourist.  

Sound stage made of ice. there were several ice structures around town, to promote the ice hotel up north. 

A snow statue, they had a few of these around too, behind him is a sugar shack, boiling maple syrup to make fresh maple toffee.

Fresh maple toffee, your pour it hot over snow and as it cools you wrap it up on a stick to eat it. 

The toboggan slide, you can't tell from this picture but the hill is a pretty tall and steep.

The chateau Frontenac, giant old hotel.

Frozen flowers, in front of stores. 

The National Flags at half mast in respect to the horrible even of the shootings that took place the weekend before. 

Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu Quebec

Last year I stayed in Quebec City for a month and Dojo Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu Quebec was one of the clubs I trained at while there. I wasn't familiar with Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu, I never it had Aikido roots but that was about it. Has it happens it's much 'harder' than Aikido and more similar to the traditional Jiu-Jitsu I practice. In any case, Sensei Dominic Toupin was more than happy to have me and the club was very welcoming, and so when I returned this time I had to drop by and visit my friends once more! Once I settled in at the Citadelle I checked the schedules and realized that I only had one class I could it make it out to see the Yoseikan guys and it was that night, so I got ready and took off and made an unannounced visit to the club. Luckily most the guys I remembered from the club made it out the night I dropped by, I was worried that I might miss a lot of them. After saying hello to everyone and catching them up on my travels so far we started class.

Toupin never does the same warm up, as I've noticed, there's always some sort of running, and stretching, but he also throws in different dynamic movements and core exercises that could anything from sprint one side of the mat as we do laps and doing crunches and sit ups, to the shuttle burpees we did this night. The switch up makes the warm ups interesting because you never know what you're going to be doing but you know it's going to be at least 15 mins long. We got into hitting pads, working our jabs and crosses and different kicks as well, front snap, side, even spinning back to name a few. Once the limbs and joints were warm from striking we then worked defending them, moving to safety and countering, blocking and taking them down, etc. It was a lot of fun, although my hips were killing me, not used to kicking so much anymore.

After some randori of defending using some of techniques we trained in that night we had some time rolling. Every class I've been to Sensei Toupin usually ends the night with some sort of rolling, I think he does it as a courtesy to me and I always love to show them something to play around with, just as they have spent the night showing me techniques to use in the stand up game. Class goes for 90 mins, but by the time we left the mats it was closer to 2 hours because after class we were talking away about martial arts philosophy and the advantage to learning different styles and being versed in both stand and ground games. Even before the discussion started class was running late because we were having a good time, I'm sure if there wasn't a clock in the gym we would had been training a lot later, Sensei Toupin seemed to be in a mood to train all night. It was great seeing everyone again, I love meeting clubs like Yoseikan Quebec where they have an open mind to take from other styles and share knowledge and the importance of a well rounded defense for all areas. I will happily keep going back to places like that. Thank you Sensei Toupin and the guys at Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu Quebec for another great night!    

BJJ Quebec

This was another club I trained at before when staying in Quebec City earlier this year. BJJ Quebec is a Brazilian Top Team affiliate and is run by Prof. Louis Bérubé, it's also where my friend Yannick trains, in fact it's where I met him in class one day and we've kept in touch ever since. The club is in with a kickboxing club and you might miss it if you didn't know where it was hidden. Inside it pretty cool, a row of heavy bag long one wall, a long rectangular mat with the boxing ring at the far end. There's stairs to another smaller mat space, that overlooks the main floor. I always think of Rocky III when I visit this place, I'm amazed I haven't heard 'Eye of the Tiger' played in the gym yet.

Class first looked to be a bit small, people slowly showing up, but ended up a good number out, some familiar faces and a lot of new faces too. We started with the warm doing usual things like running and shrimping and break falls etc. then got into drilling. There's a lot of drilling at BJJ Quebec, with the timer running to to give each partner a set time to do reps in. We worked some open guard passing then moved on to butterfly sweeps, both of which I'm guessing are favourites of Prof. Louis as he's added them to pretty much all of his classes that I've attended. The guard passing is usually part of the warm up, rep'ing as many at you can within the time limit to get the dynamic movement going and warm up the joints, as well as drill a practical technique. Each class I've been to of Prof. Louis starts with an idea, say the butterfly sweep, and gradually grows into different counters and eventually a submission, like say they post so you go X-guard, take their back, and lapel choke them, or they post and you move straight into taking the back via underhook and then as they defend the seat-belt you go fro an armbar. I've seen other clubs do those kinds of series as well, I like it as oppose to just training techniques from one position, like different attacks or defenses from back take, and just showing singular techniques instead of chaining to the end goal of a submission. Of course there are nights where things aren't working for you and just drilling a single technique to get it down might be preferred.

After class it was time to roll, I had a match with another stalwart blue belt, it was a even match, our styles matching each others perfectly, it was a friendly match that had us both tired. I also got to roll with my friend and host for the past few days Yannick, who had been out of training for a while, and it showed, I remember before he was at my throat out for blood, but this time around he was pretty tired and defending most the time. He knew this would happen, it happens to the best of us, life gets in the way and take time off from the mats and the mats always kicks our ass when we make it back. The important thing is getting back, and I'm glad I was a positive force to get Yannick back out. Keep it up and you'll get your blue belt one day, maybe even before we meet again!

Louis Bérubé

Thank you Louis, another great session together!

Prof. Louis is a really friendly guy who's great to talk to talk before and after class, he usually has some good stories or insight on things. During class he's even better to approach, if you have any questions he'll be happy to break it down and find the problem you're having. I say this while he teaches is French, and I am not a francophone, to be able to bridge languages and help in that capacity says a lot. Being a fan of his teaching,  and general attitude I thought it'd be great to do an interview with him, but as it happens Prof. Louis is pretty shy about talking English on camera, so I got Yannick to translate for me, making this a first for my interviews, having a translator. It worked perfectly. I got to learn how Prof. Louis got into martial arts and what he went through to get his BTT black belt and his philosophy on running his club. His story about breaking his leg is crazy, he only skims over it in this interview but we talked about it in more detail afterwards, you'll have to ask him if you his club.

If the video doesn't load you can watch it here at the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel, and please show some love, like, comment, share and subscribe to the channel, thanks!

After some time in the city at the Citadelle and the last few days hanging with my friend Yannick it was time to take a series of buses to make my west to the beginning of the East Coast to Fredericton New Brunswick to see some old friends I haven't seen since highschool and train at a gym I was told about on Reddit!

Thanks again for everything Yan, see you again next time!

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

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA'S ODYSSEY!

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Fredericton and Moncton New Brunswick Canada: Jiu-Jitsu and Snow...

Greetings from Fredericton New Brunswick Canada...kind of...

I made it to Fredericton easy enough, there were a few bus transfers over the night and I didn't get much sleep but I still made it to the destination on time and without any real problems, which is the important part. Originally when I booked the tickets I didn't look at the map that closely and booked the bus from Montreal. I then booked a train from Quebec City back to Montreal to catch the bus, with a 4 hour layover, even though the two stations are side by side. Also, the bus goes up to Ste Foy on it's way to Fredericton, which is just outside Quecbec City, and 10-15 minute drive from my friend's place. So rather than spend the whole day backtracking, I threw out the train ticket to Montreal and the bus ticket to Ste Foy, they were non-refundable, and caught the bus that night, saving me half the total time on a bus and/or train. I've been looking closer now with my planning transit routes.

On the road again.

Catching up with Friends

It has been 15 years since I last saw Aaron and Danielle, who I stayed with while in Fredericton, I was still in highs school and they had joined the military and been posted out. With social media so common place in our lives now a days we met up on Facebook and when I started planning out where to go and stay I sent Aaron a message. Next you know we're sitting in a car with his family reminiscing about the good ole good in high school and talking about where everyone is now a days. They had set me my very own room in the basement, well almost, I shared it with the cat, who had decided I'm her new best friend. I spent a good deal of my time sitting in the front room working on blogs and planning things for the UK, when they were home we talked about all sorts of things, like my journey and life leading up to it or what they had been up to in the past 15 years, at one point Aaron brought the fact he and Danielle had a discussion of what we'd talk about, being that we hadn't seen, or spoke much, in 15 years. Aaron had made the comment that it'd be just like picking up where we left off, like it was yesterday. He was right. It's something we've noted about the people we grew up with back home, we can not see or speak or one another for years on end, show up one night and continue on like those years a part never happened. A true sign of real friendship, although it did make me miss a few old friends I haven't talked to in years.

Leila sent me some American Girl Guide Cookies! They were so good!

Another friend I hadn't seen since high school was Greg, he and I were in the same classes for the first half or so of school, and had met up a few times during the Christmas get-together at the bar back home. We had kept in contact online and he had even offered me a place to stay, but I had already made plans with Aaron. we met up for lunch one day and grabbed some food at a local diner. Since I last saw Greg he had released from the military and was now sporting a huge red beard, suitable enough to have a spot on the TV show 'Mountain Men' and shaved, or lost, the curly hair I remembered him having in highschool. As we talked caught up on life and talked about all sorts of things he brought up something that is dear to him, volunteer work he does with an organization set to help soldiers with PTSD with medicinal cannabis, called Marijuana For Trauma. It's something I also believe in and think should be more widely accepted to help out our men and women that serve us. I in turn told him about al the accounts of those who have done Jiu-Jitsu helping them deal with PTSD and the different programs I've seen out there for teaching soldiers to cope through Jiu-Jitsu. We both agreed, if more people did Jiu-Jitsu and smoked weed there'd be a lot less problems, and a lot more happy people in the world. Seriously though, I believe both medicinal cannabis and Jiu-Jitsu therapy can help cure, or deal with, a lot of problems we are facing today.

It was great to stay with and hang out with Aaron and Danielle, thanks to much for taking care of me, feeding and even giving me drives around town! Also, thanks Greg for the pizza, it was great to catch up with you, too. Until next time guys!    

The Snow Storm..

the snow storm. I tried going for pizza. I make it to the corner store. what you don't see is the tractor clearing out the intersection of snow 30 feet away from me. The lights were green, but no one could see, luckily no one was driving either.

As I was staying in Fredericton at Aaron and Danielle's word that a huge snow storm was coming in was going around, and each day was dumping a lot of snow, but intermittently, and it wasn't quite enough to stop me from training (Thanks Aaron for the rides!), or my bus to Moncton, although we were an hour late. But once I got to Moncton the snow came down hard! I believe it was a total of more than 8 feet of snow that dropped in a period of 24 hours. The entire east coast of Canada was shut down, businesses were closed, and I was trapped in the hostel I was staying in. With the weather as bad as it was I was unable to train at all, in fact this section will cover my stay in Moncton, which is why I grouped it in with Fredericton. Other than a run through the blizzard to the corner store I only made it out once while visiting the town, I walked to the movie theater and watched Lego Batman and John Wick 2, both were great movies and well worth the long walk, but it would have been nice to train as well.  

Chocolate river. It's level with the top during high tide, right now it just looks like a icy muddy pit.

The hostel I was staying in was pretty nice and cozy, feeling more like a bed and breakfast. It was a big house turned into a hostel, with one co-ed room of 8 bunks. There were 2 guys who were staying long term, paying rent, and an Vietnamese woman, Mary, who was from Vancouver and had a boyfriend who trained BJJ, we talked on Skype once for a few minutes once to see which friends we had in common, showing that the world is indeed a small one. Mary was only staying a short while and was on her way to Vietnam to see her parents, and her flight left just before the blizzard hit us, lucky for her. She had a book, like a diary, but filled with all the places she'd been to, travel brochures and local currency taped to the pages and notes about getting around or ways to save money or sights to see for each place. It was a pretty awesome book to look through. She had been to Tokyo before and we talked about how great it was and what sights we each had seen. It was a fun time of conversing with other hostelers and and backpackers.

The hostel staff having fun with the weather. 

Through this conversation I told the guys of my blog and my journey so far and intentions for Europe and Asia. I guess there is a journalist for a local paper that likes to come by and cover stories of the interesting people that stop by at the hostel, one of the guys had told her about me and my journey, she wanted to do an article on me and interview me for the paper. I never heard from her again before I left, I figured the storm put a stop to our intended interview, oh well, it would have been cool but I guess it'll have to wait for another time. Luckily the roads were cleared in time for my bus to Halifax, and only one destination was ruined.

The snowbank behind me is actually over 7 feet tall. When I got into the town in Moncton it was barely up to me knees. That's a lot of snow in 3 days!

Synergy BJJ

Back when I was training in Quebec while I was on course for work for a month last year I posted about my experiences training at BJJ Quebec with Prof. Louis Berube. I got some responses on Reddit telling to check out some other BTT clubs in Canada and Synergy BJJ in Fredericton New Brunswick was one of them. Another one was Victory BJJ in Moncton but the snow storm cancelled that visit. I e-mailed the club soon after getting the referral on Reddit and talked to Melyssa about dropping by, which was no problem, and we kept in contact as I planned out the Canadian Odyssey.

The brave few that made it out to class on a snowy night. 

The first night I made it out to the club neither Melyssa or Dana, the head instructor, were in for class but I did get to meet a few members of the club, who were all welcoming, during the no gi class. The next night both Dana and Melyssa were there and I was able to introduce myself and thank them for welcoming me. Dana seemed genuinely interested in my blog and journey and had even been reading it before class, unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to talk about it and never found time to set up an interview. The club is in a gym, but it's not your usual gym, it's a dynamic conditioning center, or cross fit gym if you will, what ever you call it it was a great training atmosphere. There was a stretch of fake grass for pulling sleds and flipping tires, squat racks and other equipment on either side, with the mat space being in the back corner. Each time I showed up to class there would be music blaring and people working away at all the stations of the gym, they had a good set of dedicated gym rats, but every night, at 8pm I think it was, everyone would suddenly be done working out and leave, with the Jiu-Jitsu club being the only ones left in the gym.

No gi class getting some rolls in.

Classes were welcoming and casual at Synergy, we started with some warm up drills then moved into techniques, adding to a chain of moves as the night went on. I wasn't able to do everything as I had hurt my elbow when in Quebec, so using my one arm was quite restricted for most my time there, I only rolled one night and quickly regretted it the next day, remembering to let me body rest and heal and take days off is going to be the biggest and hardest thing for me to deal with while on this Odyssey. One the bright side I for the first time ever was able to do a set of berimbolos between a standing partner's legs, it was during warm up one night, they took to time to get me to learn the proper movements and get them down right. Now you can be thinking "That's not a big deal" or "Who can't do berimbolos at 4 strip blue belt?!" or even "Who cares about berimbolos?!" I could go on about not caring for them because it doesn't fit into my game style or what ever but really I've always had problems with them because of my shape, apparently being round makes rolling upside down harder, and so I never really cared for them. I will say though, weather for the use of berimbolos or not, they are great for drilling to really get to learn body movement, and because that class I feel I have a higher sense of my body movement, or lack of in some cases.

Dana Teaching class.

One class Dana decided to put us on Facebook live and gave me a mini interview so I could make a shout out for the blog and the journey, It was a fun 'Panda Sighting' to make on the spot, which is what I've been calling any pictures or videos of me showing up on other club's or people's social media accounts while on the Odyssey. I have the feeling there are going to be a lot more 'Panda Sightings' in the future. In fact if you have videos or pictures of me visiting your club let me know, I have a Dropbox folder to collect all the 'Panda Sightings' once I get a bunch I'll see about putting together a photo album on the site.

After having fun hanging out with old friends and making new ones at Synergy BJJ...and then get stuck in a blizzard in Moncton...it was time to Head to Hailifax Nova Scotia and meet up with another old friend of mine Michael McCoag, who I met when I first joined the Canadian Navy and hadn't seen in 5 yrs.

It's either an At-St walker and the rebel base on Hoth is being attacked by the Empire, or it's a wind mill and I'm on my way to the east coast on a snowy day. 

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

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA'S ODYSSEY!

Sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account.

Buy Panda's Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.

Buy the Panda's Odyssey T-shirt.

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Montreal Quebec Canada: 10th Planet Montreal and HoMa BJJ

Greetings From Montreal Quebec Canada!

You know you're catching the early bus if the sun is still in bed.

Another uneventful bus ride, and a shirt one at that, straight to Montreal. I was looking forward to seeing Montreal again, it's been forever, close to 10 years, since I was last in the city. During my visit I ran around the downtown, reliving the old times of going there for the weekend to party with my Toronto club friends, man times have changed..

Chinatown in Montreal, celebrating Chinese New Year.

Year of the Rooster, my year!

I also checked out the Old Harbour and took a bunch of pics of the old buildings and the Igloofest going on, the annual Carnival was about to start and both Montreal and Quebec City were going to full with winter games and booths selling all kinds of things. Here's some pics I took during my walks.

Walking through the streets of Old Montreal and the Harbour, lots of old stone buildings and great churches like this one. 

Outdoor ice rink by the harbour, there's a stage on the other side playing music, probably had bands or shows going on in the evening.

The Habitat, built for the the Expo '67. It's not a great picture but it was one of favourite buildings in art history.

The Montreal Bioshpere, also built for Expo '67. which it was summer and I could a day to go see it closer.

The St Lawrence River, Canada's primary seaway for freight and also the most important river used during the colonization, and war over, Canada.  

Guns still mounted from WWII, as the threat of U-boats entering and getting this far was very real.

A look at Old Montreal from the harbour.  

Staying In A Jiu-Jitsu Dorm

The place I was staying at I found through the way of internet magic and awesome people in the Jiu-Jitsu community. Montreal was still on the last few places I was looking for a place to stay and I posted a message on the BJJ Globetrotters Facebook group asking if anyone could help me out. From there I met Corey, who trains at 10th Planet Montreal, he asked around to try and find me a place to stay while visiting, and eventually I met Francis and Johnathan, brothers who have place full of people who train Jiu-Jitsu, 6 of them in total I believe, complete with their own gym in the front room, this is why I call it a 'Jiu-Jitsu dorm'. It was that gym that was my bed, this would be the closest yet to mat crashing and sleeping in a gym. There was a small couch in the corner, not long enough for me to stretch out on but hanging my legs off it while rolled up in my sleeping bag was good enough, I tried the mats one night but I preferred the couch.

The front room of 'Jiu-Jitsu dorm' as I call it. Behind me was a couch, it would be my bed for the few nights I spent there. 

During my stay there I didn't get a chance to hang out with the brothers Francis and Johnathan but on my first day in I got to roll with Johnathan in the front room, and chatted with Francis one night about the journey and my experiences so far. The brothers, and everyone else who stay there, were all cool easy going guys who have a great passion for Jiu-Jitsu. It was cool hanging out there, watching a few of them do there conditioning in the living room as I worked on the blog. My train for Quebec City was early in the morning so I sort of snuck out while everyone slept, unable to say my thanks and farewells. Thank you Corey for introducing me to the guys, thank you Francis and Johnathan for letting me stay at you place and helping me out, thanks all the guys who live there for setting me up some other classes in the city, it was a blast to meet you all!

Montreal Olympic Stadium, just around the block from where I was staying.

McGill Jiu-Jitsu with Star

When I first started planning out my visit to Montreal I was connected to Star, a friend of my coach. Originally the plan was to stay at star's club and train around the town with him, but as life happens he had to close his club. We kept in contact and managed to meet up on the weekend as Star was teaching a Jiu-Jitsu class at the McGill fitness building. If anyone reading this goes to McGill, or knows someone who is, check out the BJJ and MMA classes at the gym that Star runs, great stuff!

The the McGill BJJ class.

Class was about 2 hours and most of the large class was made up of people brand new to martial arts or BJJ. Star went through a lot of the basic movements as a warm up and then we got into some take downs. From what I gather we were working off of techniques shown in past classes. After drilling different techniques for an hour we had some rolling, most people were working positional rolling but there were a few more adventurous students who wanted to roll with the experienced guest. It went how most rolls with a young athletic guy versus a older experienced guy goes, they tried powering a lot of the moves they had learned but to no avail. After rolling each one I gave them pointers, if they keep at it and work on their technique they will be killers in a year or so from now.

After class Star and I hung out and grabbed some food, chatting about past experiences and Jiu-Jitsu philosophy. It was fun finally meeting him and hanging out, learning about a lot of the Jiu-Jitsu scene of Montreal and connecting with another friend I've made through this journey. It's too bad we couldn't together, Star had an injury and couldn't roll, but there's always next time. Thanks for the good times Star!

It was fun hanging with Star, until next time!

HoMa BJJ

HoMa BJJ, inside one of the Olympic buildings 

Before coming to Montreal and staying in the Jiu-Jitsu dorm I had not heard of HoMa BJJ, as it happens it was just around the corner from the house and the instructor for the noon time class is a high level black belt competitor from Brazil under the BTT banner, Prof. Leonardo Saggioro. The founders of HoMa, David Coré and Johnny Zemouli have set up the club in the Montreal Olympic Park and I don't know what the space was originally, maybe a vending area, but it's in a building square and it's literally just a space of mats inset in the wall with one side completely open to the square for people stop and sit and watch while drinking their coffee. It felt like training in a mall. It's not you typical set up but it's all we need, everyone who showed up for Prof. Saggioro's class was a blue belt or higher and he taught us some great competitive concepts.

A class of killers.

We started with take down entries, they were very Judo inspired with the getting proper grips and really working the footwork and snap downs to get the Uke in the proper movement before entering for the take down itself. Then we moved on to techniques, which we did as a chain, starting from guard passing and ending with armbars or chokes. There were all sorts of small points 'Cascão' showed us about grips and body placement, little things that made a big difference, things only someone who has used in competition time and time again would know to really focus on. I learnt some valuable points on techniques I thought I knew that day.

Thanks for the awesome class, Prof. Saggioro!

10th Planet Montreal

10th Planet Montreal. nice open mat space.

When I first started planning out the Canadian Odyssey making a stop in Montreal was a must and 10th Planet Montreal was quickly added to the list. I had never been to a 10th Planet gym, being more a gi guy, and with Corey from 10th Planet helping me find a place and the guys I was staying with training there it was a must visit place. I made it out to the gym on my last night in town, unfortunately all the guys had a busy weekend, out competing in Ottawa and their own schedule to deal with so they weren't able to make it out.
The club was easy to find, just around the corner from a metro station and a big sign above the door, which is a good thing as it's up on the second floor so you won't be seeing any steamed up windows from the street.  

I walked up the stairs and into the gym. the first room is a small area for weights, with mats and even a cage for training in, around the corner to the left opens up to the main training area, which is a big matted room for the classes. People were slowly showing up but there were quite a few of them by the time class started. Prof. Louis Ho, the the owner, head instructor and actually the First and only 10th Planet black belt in Canada to date recognized me and made introduction before class. He was a pretty chill guy and we ended up chatting quite a bit during rolling time after class.

Louis Ho teaching class.

Class was pretty relaxed, we warmed up then got into techniques with the whole night being a chain, starting with butterfly guard and ending in different positions or submissions. Prof. Louis is a small guy so he's techniques are all about using the opponents power against them, rather than grappling it out with strength. That is something I'm used to seeing in no gi classes, wrestling influences and mentalities, but with 10th planet it's a different mind side, well, the same mind set of gi BJJ but, you know, without the gi. Watching the guys there roll they were very slick, fast moving guys. I had one roll with a friendly guy who was a killer on the mats but then my leg started to cramp up. They were stiff and sore from all the walking I did around the old harbour the day before and with the HoMa class earlier that day I was on 3 hours of training. I decided not to push it and sat out and chatted with Louis and watch the others roll.

GReat times at 10th Planet with this man, Prof. Louis Ho, as he shows that my Panda patches make the best 10th Planet sign.

Interview With Prof. Louis Ho, 10th Planet Montreal

Prof. Louis knows Coach Ari, my instructor back in Victoria, as he used to do 10th Planet as well, I totally forgot about this and how small the world really is and how easily everyone is connected. It was fun to talk with him about the random Jiu-Jitsu things and I would have loved to have the time to set up an interview with him and talk about the difference between the styles of Jiu-Jitsu as Prof. Louis also holds a black belt in gi under Pablo Popovitch, but it just wasn't an option, but after my visit I decided to get message him and ask about doing an interview through correspondence, and here it is.  

Panda's Odyssey (PO): Thanks for doing this for me, it was great training with you!
Let’s start with your martial arts history, I understand you have both a 10th Planet and BJJ black belt?

Louis Ho (LH): That is correct. I received my blue belt many ages ago from the original UFC Champ, Royce Gracie. After that I received my purple, brown, and black from Eddie Bravo. More than anyone, Eddie Bravo has influenced my game. He’s also the one who encouraged me to compete when I thought my competition days were already over. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I am also a black belt under Pablo Popovitch, as well. He’s a great dude and a multiple time world Champion.

PO: How does it feel being the first Canadian 10th planet black belt? There must have been some pressure having that title at first.

LH: It was an honor being the first in the country. In fact, I wasn’t just the only first Canadian black belt under Eddie Bravo, I was the first on the entire East Coast, the States included. I can’t say that there was any pressure. I had competed a lot and done very well representing 10th Planet before receiving my black belt. So the promotion was like a recognition for all the hard work I had put in. Actually, after receiving my black, I was like “Where do I go from here?” But since then, I have competed...doing superfights against other black belt instructors. So far so good. J

PO: I’m sure you get asked this all the time, and I see a lot of “modern vs traditional’ jiu-jitsu posts online, other than gi vs no gi, what’s the biggest differences you find between 10th planet ‘modern’ jiu-jitsu and ‘traditional’ BJJ?

LH: My particular style of Jiu Jitsu is very similar to Eddie Bravo’s in the sense that both our styles are “clinch” oriented. I know a lot of the newer guys out there (10th Planet or not) are focusing on leg locks…so I see a lot of guys direct their Jiu Jitsu at primarily hunting for legs. The original 10th Planet flavor is to clinch, sweep or submit. This style works very well for MMA. When you clinch your opponent from a guard position, they are basically stuck and can’t strike or work their passes effectively. That’s my game. I don’t see that many people playing a clinch style. Jiu Jitsu is a martial art after all. So if someone is in your guard and wants to hit you, you better have some clinch game. Or it can be game over pretty fast.

PO: With no gi tournaments growing in popularity and EBI leading the way, have you noticed a rise in newcomers at 10th Planet?

LH: I would say so. The days of IBJJF being the only legit competitions out there are done. I feel the EBI format is way more entertaining from a fan perspective. And the focus on the submission is truer to the art. What’s so great about winning by advantage? There definitely is a new wave of interest out there sparked by this.

PO: I noticed you have a pretty open door policy, welcoming people visiting, thanks again btw. I’ve seen a bit of divide in clubs’ policies, particularly with the big competing clubs for EBI ect. That aren’t so friendly with members of other clubs visiting and training together. What are your thoughts about that? Should Jiu-Jitsu clubs be looking to be like MMA camps and maybe the doors when getting ready for tournaments?

LH: Seriously, there are more important things in life than where you are training Jiu Jitsu. In this day and age, people are getting killed in unnecessary wars, dying of hunger, etc. As long as you are respectful, I couldn’t care less about where you train. So as long as you are respectful, all are welcome to train at my gym. Now in times of specific competition preparation, clubs can be more “strategic” in who they let into their training sessions. But other than that, I really don’t like instructors who have a closed door policy. I don’t feel it’s good for the Jiu Jitsu community overall.

PO: Everyone has different reasons they join jiu-jitsu, to be the best, get in shape, gain confidence, etc. what are your goals for new students? Self defense? Body movement and awareness?

LH: What I would like to see in ALL my students, is that they find their game. I hope to pass on some of my game to everyone. But everyone is different. So realistically, most guys who train long enough find their own flavor, their own path. I encourage my students to be creative. I don’t claim to have all the answers to all situations. But that’s part of the beauty of Jiu Jitsu. It’s a never ending puzzle. There is much satisfaction in finding those missing pieces to one’s game.

PO: Your class is really relaxed, lots of drilling, working on techniques and chains etc. what are your thoughts about gyms that focus on more conditioning as a warm up? Some gyms like to have a good 15 to 30 mins of conditioning, like doing a fitness class before jiu-jitsu. Should we be doing both at the same time or have conditioning classes and jiu-jitsu classes separate?

LH: I have no problem with gyms that do a very extensive workout before any technique. But personally, I don’t enjoy that. I like jumping into technique, drill, and have plenty of energy left to roll. I can do jumping jacks and pushups on my own. I don’t need to do that in a Jiu Jitsu class. Those who want to get into competition shape can do more classes and also supplement their rolls with extra conditioning.

PO: Just before I visited I saw you had a seminar with Geo Martinez, and just afterwards visiting I saw you went off to see Eddie Bravo at a seminar. So you must be pro seminars and all for getting your students to go to them. Who would you say are some of the best seminars you’ve seen, or think people should get out to?
LH: Oh man, that is a tough question. I’ve had a lot of great training from many different masters over the years. I will say that one cannot expect to absorb most of the material from any one seminar. At least for me, I would say you would be lucky if you could absorb one or two techniques into your game from any given seminar. There are just so many different styles out there. But it’s definitely good to be exposed to different techniques. Speaking of Geo Martinez, that dude is on another level. You have to roll with him to know what I’m talking about. A true beast, but also a super nice guy. Very humble.

It was a pleasure having you train at my gym, Robert. Safe travels and have fun!

PO: Thanks again, was great talking to you!
OSS!

Interview With Daniel Guillemette of Evolution BJJ Gatineau/HQ

Here's my interview with Prof. Dan from Evolution BJJ HQ in Gatineau. We did this interview back when I was visiting Ottawa and since I used the Interview with Ryan Kellar for the Ottawa article I figured I would put this one here. I have met Prof. Dan a couple of times now and I always walk away with something that changes my game, a little defense here, or different stance there. He is very good is picking apart someone's game and adding to it. Prof. Dan also, along with Prof. Steve Burgess from Petawawa, runs the Evolution BJJ team of 14 clubs, to date, across Canada and USA. I sat down with him to talk about the philosophy of Evolution BJJ, doing seminars, and running a BJJ, Judo and MMA gym and how he keeps each one true to it's sport.

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After a short but busy stay in Montreal it was time to take the train to Quebec City and see some old friends!

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