Amazing BB4BF Seminar and New Videos!

Lots in this post, with tons of pictures and a few videos, but with so much to talk about it's totally worth it!

The BB4BF West Coast Seminar

Wow!

What else can I say?! I signed up to go to a seminar fundraiser for a great cause knowing that it was going to be a great weekend, but I did not realize it would be that amazing!

One of the group pics from the weekend.

Let's start with the 'What?' Black Belts For Butterflies is a charity seminar that raises money for local organizations that help children with autism. The founder and head guy who pretty much puts this whole thing together single handedly, Rich McKeegan, is one kind hearted gentleman who reminds us all that life is bigger than just us. I don't know how he finds the time to put all this together but it was one busy weekend packed full of top notch black belts showing off great techniques. All sorts of sponsors were giving away cool stuff and setting up some raffles to help the charity even more. The story behind how Black Belts For Butterflies got created is a very touching one and I don't think I could reiterate it properly so here's the link for the full story: How and Why BB4BF Was Created

The man himself, Rich McKeegan.

Now let's cover the 'Where?' BB4BF is usually held in Connecticut, where it was founded. This time Rich decided to do something different and get out to a new place and help that area with this powerhouse fundraiser he's created. As it happens he decided to come to Seattle, just across the pond from me, to the home of another man with the heart of gold, James "300" Foster's club, Foster BJJ in Kent, WA. Coach Foster is always a joy to see and I was looking forward to seeing old friends at his club, added with the A-list instructors teaching and helping a good cause it was a triple threat weekend, I couldn't say no.

The giant, James Foster. I like getting pics with him and feeling so small.

You're probably asking 'Who was there instructing? Who was on this A-list?' Quite honestly the list is long and I know I left a few people out but here's an attempt to list out who I saw: Master Renato Laranja, Kurt Osiander, The Adamson Brothers, Keith Owen, Rob Magao, Hillary Wright VanOrnum, and of course James Foster and bunch of his black belts like Michelle Wagner, Big Rick Geist and Big Mike Baltierra. Giving out swag for the raffles were sponsors like Choke Ahola, Monkey tape, OSS Clothing, and of course Shoyoroll.

Kurt Osiander being camera shy as usual.

Nate Adamson, or 'The Pretty One' as Renato call him.

Keith Owen, Rob Magao. photobomb by Leila.

A pic of all the instructors from Day 1.

 Ok I know that was a lot of links but you'll find it was worth all the name dropping so I can quickly tell you all how the weekend now, sorry to those I missed. I wasn't able to get pictures with everyone but I posted what I could.

BB4BF shirt I got at the seminar

Lea of Choke Aloha, I love their designs, like the Lucky Cat all over the seminar.

After a long day of busy traffic I made it the Friday night open mat. It was a fun experience of meeting old friends, making new ones, and getting some fun rolls in. I also had a greatly amusing chat with the Adamson Brothers and Renato Laranja about women and dating while eating the best Ahi Poke in Seattle (seriously, he's #1 I don't like eating raw fish and I loved it and gladly ate it up!) AJ of Shoyoroll was handing out t-shirts to lucky people, and I so happened to be a lucky person. Given that I got a shirt for the open mat I was already up 2 new shirts before the seminar even began, and I planned on picking up swag at the seminar, as I always do, so this weekend was off to a good start for new swag! After the long day of traveling for the golden few hours at Foster's I headed back to the hotel to rest up for the big seminar the next day.

Shots from the open mat. It was packed!

 Saturday morning I was rested and ready to go, it started off great with the pleasant surprise that the hotel I was staying at had a decent breakfast selection, complete with fresh baked biscuits to go along with all the other breakfast goods, fruit and yogurt. The week leading up to the seminar I had asked around for a ride to and from the hotel. As I ends up I made a new friend, Leila, who volunteered to give me a ride as well as others from my club, Coach Ari and Dan, who were staying downtown Seattle. Leila is from Texas so Seattle and the area was new for her to get around as well, but we managed and had a great weekend together, thanks again Leila for the rides and fun chats!

A rare picture with Leila, one where she's not photobombing or attacking me.

Both days the seminar started off with a touching story about Jiu-Jitsu bringing the community together to help out and be more than just for making yourself better but also the community around you better as well. I can't even try to re-phrase what Rich McKeegan described both days or Jer Sr's story about his son, Jer Jr but they touched me greatly, and I will hold those stories to my heart forever.

Rich talking to everyone about being a positive force on the community.

Jer Sr. Talking to us about his experiences with the community that helped him and his son out.

One of a kind gi, in memory of Jer Jr.

Once the tears were swept away we got into some great Jiu-Jitsu techniques. There were over 100 of us on the mats and every time we switched up instructors I tried to move around and work with someone new to meet new people and make new friends, it's half the fun going to seminars. The instructors, being both so experienced and passionate about the art the tiniest of details were shown for even the simplest move. I found I learned, or re-learned, so much over the weekend, maybe even too much by the end of the day. By supper time I was ready for a nap and call it a day.

The greats having a chat, probably about crazy expert level stuff.

Coach Foster showing us how to manhandle someone.

The Adamson Bros. chilling, drilling and looking good.

Saturday night the fights were on, so an early night of rest was out of the question. A bunch of people from the seminar had reserved seats for the UFC fights at a bar and I was able to get one of them. As tired as I was I'm glad I made it out. Hanging with the people from the seminar, all of which people I had just met that day, was a great experience as we watched possibly the best card of the UFC ever, at least in a very long time. It was a great night of building friendships, I look forward to more like them as I travel.

Making friends like these is what makes the seminars all worth it.

Another great friend made from the weekend, another place to see and train at in the US one day.

Sunday was more of the same, driving around with Leila as she picked on my Canadian accent, moving speeches followed by amazing Jiu-jitsu techniques and more meeting and making new friends. This is was my first seminar with Kurt Osiander, a man who's legend far precedes him. I knew he was very blunt in his teaching and talking, seriously not for the faint of heart as he has no filter, but he was also pretty funny and very detailed in this instructions. His personal flare added to the teaching made remembering easier. My favourite experience with him though is that he gladly made a video with Coach Ari and I to a training partner and good friend, Geoff, who happens to be a big Kurt Osiander fan. The video in harsher words criticized Geoff for not making it out to the seminar, it's a one of a kind video that anyone Kurt Osiander fan would to have made for them, hahah.

Kurt Osiander showing us how to drop people on their heads or their asses, as he said.

Renato Laranja, a spectacle as usual, showing some great details to the guillotine.

My black belt instructor, as well as Coach Ari and Dan's instructor, Kieth "The Rhino" Owen closed the seminar. On top of his usual great techniques for both self defence and tournament Jiu-Jitsu, he also spent his time dropping his signature knowledge bombs about life on all those who attended. I always love seeing Mr. Kieth at a seminar because he always has something I take away about training or thinking, something more than just good techniques. He's really a coach in life, not just on the mats.

Knowledge bombs, covering the small details, and always being comfortable, those are the important parts to a good seminar.

Remember folks, the professor is always watching...

After the seminar we had the raffles and I won two more shirts, one from Choke Aloha, who I love watching on Instagram with all their cool logos, and another Shoyoroll shirt. During the seminar I also picked up a BB4BF t-shirt and patch to add to my collection. That brought the end total of 5 t-shirts for the weekend, not bad, but I only kept 2 of them, the others I gave as gifts to friends back home, afterall, I can't bring all my shirts with me when I travel. There were all kinds of winners of all kinds of swag, it was like Christmas really, what a great end to the weekend.

Big Mike and Zach Baltierra. A year ago Zach was fighting for his life against cancer. I was so happy to see him well and on the mats at this seminar.

Another group shot from the weekend. So many great people in there.

A Panda's Odyssey Promo With Renato Laranja 

As the seminar ended everyone was running around taking picture with one another and while I was able to take pictures with almost everyone I wanted to, I also was able to sit down with Master Renato and make a hilarious promo video for this blog. I was so grateful for him doing this for me, as it's getting it's share of rounds online. here it is in case you haven't seen it yet. I warn you it's a bit crazy, we didn't plan out anything beforehand and so I just went with whatever Renato was saying, hahaha.

Here's the link to the YouTube page: Renato Promo

An Interview With Keith Owen

Later on in the week once we got back to Victoria BC, since Mr. Keith was visiting for a short while we managed to fit in an interview. It was a very fun, informative and interesting interview. I like chatting with Mr Keith, he's just one of those people you always enjoy talking with, like if you go to a house party to always look for the one person you know has all the interesting stories. Here's the interview, it's about an hour long, even though it only felt like a quick chat with him. Enjoy!

 
Here's the link if the video doesn't work: Keith Owen Interview

Well that's it for now, hope you enjoyed, I got a few more things in stores before starting the journey in Nov. so stay tuned. If you want to help me out on my journey and see more of these videos made please sign up to my crowd funding site. There's all kinds of cheap plans you can sign on to and there's cool rewards with bigger pledges, check it out! Panda's Odyssey Crowd Funding Page!

Thanks everyone! Until next time, see you on the mats!    

New Video, Crowd Funding Page and New Blog Look

Hey everyone!

I got a bunch of news to make but I'm going to try and keep it short. I got a new video I did last week while at a summer Jiu-Jitsu camp, which I think has some really good advise on self defence. I also just recently started up a cool crowd funding campaign, it's not you're usual crowd funding site and I hope it works out, big plan in the future if it does! On top f all this I've been working with a new blog site look.

New Look!

You've probably noticed the blog site has a new look now, I'm experimenting with different looks and layouts to spice it up. Let me know what you think! I would like to get my logo up on the title line to make the header more flashy and inviting. Maybe one day I'll be able to get a full interactive Panda's Odyssey site up and running. One step at a time.

New Video!

Here's the new video I did interviewing another friend and mentor Shihan Steve Hiscoe. As he tells us in the video, Shihan Hiscoe is the Vice-President of Hiscoe Jiu-Jitsu and the Can-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu system, His Father Kudan Ed Hiscoe being Owner and Head of the two systems. On top of being involved in the self defence oriented Jiu-Jitsu system for 41 years, since he was a child, he also runs the Canadian Jiu-Jitsu Union, a great organization of bringing the schools within Canada together to be the best in teaching and learning self defence. The video takes place at the CJU Summer camp just the other week in Sicamous BC, where it's been held for 10 years. The CJU summer camp is an amazing weekend of different styles getting together and sharing their knowledge and techniques with one another. Think of a weekend seminar of all different styles of Jiu-Jitsu held in cottage country, so much fun! here's the video, I hope you like it!

                                              
For the full YouTube page, here's the link!

I did have pictures of each one the instructors mentioned in the video, as well as a bunch of others and was going to do a write up about the camp and all the old friends I got to see again and new friends I made but in cleaning up my photo albums on my phone I accidentally erased all of them. So now all i got is the Seminar group photo and links to each instructor without all the selfies, sorry for making such a Noob mistake. Check out the links of each of theses guys, they're all great and are totally worth dropping by their clubs if you're in the area!

Shihan Steve Hiscoe: In Chilliwack BC teaching Can-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu. Self defence based Japanese Jiu-Jitsu variation of martial arts. great no nonsense stuff!
Hiscoe Jiu-Jitsu

Kyoshi Michael Seamark: Kokodo Jiu-Jitsu, the art of spinal manipulation through the wrists, as well as pressure points and shiatsu. Based in Vancouver BC. Some amazing stuff, you don't know pain until you've been in a Kokodo submission, trust me!
Sadohana Vancouver

Sensei Ari Knazan: Goshin Japanese Jiu-Jitsu in Victoria BC. Self defence focusing on a controlling techniques, also my Coach in BJJ, love his cross over techniques mixing the two styles together!
Fierce Studio

Sensei Alex Munoz: Goshin Japanese Jiu-Jitsu out of Invermere BC. Also instructs BJJ and Judo, his take on self defence and mixing the style together was great, definitely check him out if you're in the area!
Lizard BJJ Invermere 

Sensei Dave Woods: Runs 4 different schools teaching Can-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu spread out in towns around the northern Edmonton area such as Vermillion AB.
Nor-Alta Jiu-Jitsu

Sensei Quincy Jones: Teaches Can-Ryu Jiu-Jitsu in Calgary AB and likes to mix in some other aspects, like the Muay Thai he mixed in at the seminar. 
Emergent Martial Arts
                                        

The group shot from the awesome weekend of Jiu-Jitsu! 

                                            
Crowd Funding Page

So it has been some time now that Ive been debating starting a crowd funding page. I'm not particularly a fan of them because I find there's a page out for anything, when a least half the times people really just need to cut back their budget and save for a few months. On the flip side it's a great tool for getting the word out for your project and making beautiful things happen. Recently, after putting together the idea of a YouTube channel and making videos on the road as well as looking up the cost of visas and other unexpected expenses I realized I had a hard decision to make. Do I risk it and continue on as planned and see is I can make it? DO I cut out a lot of places and make it a short plain trip? Working longer and raising more money isn't an option, it's now or another 5 years from now, and I really don't feel like waiting another 5 years. So making a crowd funding page it was. After deciding to set up a crowd fund I have to decide what site to use. When I first was debating the whole situation a friend told me about a site specifically towards my type of thing, making videos. Patreon sets up a page where people can fund their projects but instead of it being a lump sump it's small monthly payments. You see you can help me on my way and make this dream of traveling the world, training in Jiu-Jitsu and making videos of all the cool people out there on the mats and in my journey with pledges as low as $1. As the pledge options increase in price so do the rewards, like free patches and other things as they develop. At the top tier you actually get to have some input on where I travel to! I looked at other pages on Patreon and the successful pages aren't the ones that can get a bunch of people pledging low amounts. If I can get just 100 people pledging only $5 I can get a lot done, covering new equipment, or surprise fees, or fixing up my videos to make them look more professional. The more pledges the more I do can do, and longer I do this and the more people and places I can show you all. Seems like a win win for everyone!

Here's my crowd fund page: The Panda's Odyssey Patreon Crowd Funding Page!
Check it out, tell me what you think and please help out any way you can, even if it's just sharing it on social media and getting the word out. Thank you.

Panda's Odyssey Now On YouTube!

Big News!

Hello everyone!

Panda's Odyssey now has a YouTube channel!

The idea started when a classmate came to me with some helpful information on how to get this blog out there more. He mentioned doing interviews as I travel around as a way to get more viewers for the site. At first I was skeptical and brushed the idea off, but then I started thinking about it more. If the cost for equipment was low enough and easy to bring with me, then why not? So I talked to him about it again, since he has a way better handle on what's out there for equipment and how to set something like this up, and after a few ideas we came up with the simple set up I have now. It's remarkable how easy and cheap it is to set up a simple shoot with decent video and proper audio. Without going into details too much I picked up a camcorder that has a mic in port and two lapel mics, that way I can make sure to pick up good audio from both myself and the person I'm interviewing without worrying about the camera having to be close enough or too much background noise. I've only done one interview at this time but I have played around with this set up and if the rest of my interviews go half as smooth and fun then I'm really excited and look forward to this new addition to Panda's Odyssey!

Screenshot of the interview.

During the brainstorming phase of putting together this new feature I was thinking about all the cool people I've met so far while traveling and how awesome it would be to have a short sit down with them and get them to talk about how Jiu-Jitsu has made an impact in their lives. There's tons of people out there with just as big a passion for martial arts as me and each one of them has a story of how they got into training, what drives them and keeps that passion alive, and how it's helped them get to where they are now. Everyone has thoughts on different aspects of Jiu-Jitsu, sports vs self defence, different tournaments, attending seminars, or even different gis. I want to sit down with at least one person at every stop of my journey, be it the club owner, the top competing student, or the host letting me crash at their place for a few days, and record their stories for you all to see. In my short time traveling so far I can tell you that every club has cool people with interesting stories to hear and new friends to make. It's way too difficult to remember them or or try to remember their stories. Recording them and sharing with all you, while still writing my blog and sharing all the pics I take will bring you on step closer to being on this journey with me!

Coach and I taking a selfie during the interview!

So here it is, my first interview! It's only proper that it be my coach, Coach Ari Knazan of Fierce Studio. You'll notice we're just hanging out and sitting on the mats, this is because I find the best conversations happen when it's in a totally casual setting, chatting between rounds at open mat, or hanging out outside of class. That's when the truth bombs come out, not as a practiced speech or a lesson to be learned type lecture, but as one friend just chatting away their thoughts to another. I find that is when I hear something that just 'clicks' the most. Totally unintentional truth bombs, the best kind. So that is the image I'm hoping to give in these interviews, just a casual setting chatting about all sorts of aspects of Jiu-Jitsu, hearing their stories. I hope you Enjoy!  

If the embedded video doesn't work for you, here's the link! Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel

Summer Odyssey 2016

Hello everyone!

If you've been following me on Facebook or Instagram then you probably already know I've been out and about this summer. For those that don't know I just got back form a two week vacation that saw me bouncing around seeing family and old friends and training all over the place. It was a great time! I have lots to talk about and a few pics to add in as well, so this is going to be a long one, hope you enjoy!

Canadian Armed Forces Combative Grappling Tournament

Before I get into it, let me explain. I grew up in Petawawa, one of Canada's major military bases, and since that's where my parents and childhood friends are, that's where I go for vacation a lot of the times. This time around it just so happened that the 4th Annual CAF Combative Grappling Tournament was scheduled for the same weekend. Although I'm still facing medical restrictions from being able to compete I had the luck of making into town the night before and being able to part take in some friendly pre-tournament rolls. The club, and the tournament itself, holds classes in the base gym, Dundonald Hall, but rather than the usual spot in the back corner they had an entire gym floor. The mats were all rolled out and set up for 6 competition areas, complete with bleachers around the mats. It was pretty aweosm to see my old childhood gym set up for a grappling tournament.

Shots of the gym set up for the tournament and the tournament itself, such a great turn out!

Seeing Major Steven Burgess, the head black belt at Evolution BJJ Petawawa and head co-ordinator of the event was a pleasure as always. We chatted about the tournament itself and the great things it is bringing along with it. I really do hope that the Canadian Armed Forces eventually get an official team together to represent Canada in the World's one day. One step at a time. I also got to roll with Prof. Burgess, and as always it was humbling and inspirational. I got to meet other members of Evolution BJJ as well as other Military members who were competing the next day. It was fun chatting with them and getting a few rolls in. The atmosphere on the mat was a lot friendlier than I was expecting. Sure there was a hint of tension as everyone got some last minute training and tips in but there was a lot of good-natured chats and rolls going on and the few rolls I had I was pleasantly not overly crushed. The big highlight of the night was hearing different people's insights of where they saw grappling and it's importance in their career. It's my believe that every and any service member should be trained in self defense and have a good basic knowledge and set skills in grappling. But then again, I also think everyone should do Jiu-Jitsu anyways.

Lee's First match, and his hardest one too, that guy was solid!

The next day was the tournament, I also had to meet with family so I couldn't stay for the absolute divisions but I did get to watch the weight categories including a friend and the sole West Coast Navy representative Lee Thibault. It was a pleasure watching him come all this way from Victoria BC to complete in a tournament all by himself, well, not totally alone, his family was there too. I loved watching Lee get his pep talks from his Dad in between rounds and stern words when he had to keep from getting too excited while waiting. With Lee's Dad giving him words of wisdom and his brother recording it all I was there watching a truly magical family moment and I was proud to watch Lee win Gold in his division.

Some action shots from Lee's last match, win my Americana!

Some pointers from his dad.

A pic with the Heavyweight expert gold medalist!

A Week In Toronto Training At Nova Uniao Clubs

After hanging out with the family for a short stay my brother and I were off to Toronto the next day. My brother lives in Toronto, so it's nice to have a place to stay when visiting, having lived there for 10 yrs myself I have a lot of friends to see, and I make more with every visit. As soon as I got into the city I was being asked out for some nachos with old friends, how could I say no?! The very next day it was back to training, visiting the Nova Uniao club at Xtreme Couture. My friend Mariya trains there and it's always fun getting to visit with her, we hadn't trained together in two years so I was looking forward to seeing the progress we each had made. That goes for seeing everyone I trained with at Nova Uniao the last time, it would be great to see who's around, and how we have all progressed with our own styles. The Xtreme Couture people have always taken care of me when visiting, it was the same this time. I would like to make a shout out to 'MMA Jay' Jay Taylor who was really helpful and sincere in making sure I felt welcomed during this visit. I only wish it was another week instead of the one I came on and was able to train with everyone more, with it being Canada Day on the end of the week and me being in town for a wedding reception I was only able to make it out to Xtreme Couture this once.

I didn't get a pic of the gym but Xtreme Couture is hard to miss, it's right on the corner and it's huge! The front is a lot of desks for personal trainers and the smoothie bar, to the left is the weight area and to the right is the mats and ring for all the contact sports. The mats area is huge on it's own, easily twice and big as any other mats I've been on before, and I've been on some huge mats. There's usually 2 or 3 different classes on the mats at any one time, Wrestling, Muay Thai or Jiu-Jitsu. The energy in there is pretty high, everyone is there to work out and the coach's don't let anyone slouch. Getting on the mats with my friend Mariya and the other Nova Uniao guys was awesome, especially since the head Wagnney Fabiano was running class. I will say this, Wagnney runs one of the meanest warm up session I've done, definitely equaling that warm ups that Atos are known for.

After the warm up we did some pretty cool drilling techniques. It's always fun visiting different schools, and I'm sure I've said this before, but the different points of view and mindsets that come up with different counters and entries will always intrigue me. This particular Nova Uniao gym does a lot of no gi, coinciding with the MMA team at that club, so set ups are of course different than with gi but also the movements and counters are different. There was a particular armbar set up and counter, or rather counter to the counter, that was really new to me but seemed old news to them, I have some notes written down but I would have liked working on it a bit more. When it came to rolling time I was happy to find I didn't do too badly. Last time I trained with them I had very little no gi experience, this time around I was better prepared, which pretty just means I was able to defend and not get choked out as much, haha. Seriously though it was great rolling with everyone there, some top notch students at that gym, I was really tired by the end and almost didn't do the gi class afterwards.

A Panda Reunion with Mariya!

Gi class is a bit different at Xtreme Couture, they're usually more laid back from what I've seen. The warm up wasn't near as in depth and the drilling was more relaxed, given it's a much smaller class than the no gi, but the techniques were still just as great. After some good rolls, class was over and I was dead tired. As I was stretching out and chatting with Mariya, Wagnney walks by, gives a pat and says "Hey Spiderman!" as he walks out, commenting on my Spiderman rashguard I was wearing. Mariya then tells me she thinks he likes me, because he's not usually friendly with new guys, to which I tell her it probably has to do with my etiquette. I always address the head coach or black belt as Sir, or Coach or Prof, unless told otherwise, it's just good manners. With Wagnney I always addressed him as Sir when ever I talked to him, and of course thanked him for having me, again that's just good manners. This is something I do all the time, I'm forever grateful for being allowed on the mats and in their classes. I'll always be grateful for the teachings and experience where ever I go. I think that's probably why I've always been told to come back.

The man himself, Prof. Wagnney Fabanio.

The next day I was off to visit another club I was at last time, by the way all the clubs I trained at this trip were clubs I've been to before, no new clubs this time, just new people and new experiences. So the last time I was at this club it went by the name Budokan BJJ, they were always to my knowledge an affiliation to Nova Uniao but now have come more in line with the Nova Uniao banner and are now called Nova Uniao Toronto. In any case, it was run by the same people and still had the same old school BJJ gi class feel. The club itself is inside a Kickboxing gym so if you're checking it out for the first time you really have to pay attention since it's down a floor a from the main street and in the back of the gym. The mat area is small but so are the classes, but the Jiu-Jitsu is still gold, it's like finding a hidden gem. I met some new people, had some great rolls and some good technique drilling was done. The head black belt, Anderson, went over some fun butterfly sweeps, stuff I've seen before but love drilling. I don't know what it is but butterfly guard, or half butterfly, is one of the positions I just love drilling over and over. When it came to rolling these guys were pretty tough, I expected as much from this club, and as much fun as they were I wasn't able to keep up with their pace the entire rolling time. I'm pretty sure they just keep rolling until no one can roll anymore. One thing thought was pretty awesome was I was wearing one of my BJJ Globetrotter traveling gis, as I do when traveling, and got asked by several people in class if I've ever been to their giant seminars. The answer is regretfully no but one day I will be there! It did give me a great segue to talk about my travels and this blog, hopefully they checked it out.

Not the best pic but this is the sign for the kickboxing gym That Nova Unaio Toronto is hidden in.

Those two nights ended up being the only classes I made it out to in Toronto, I tried to make it out to Misha Cirkunov's noon time class but ended up not double checking the transit times and ended up missing it. One day I will make it to his class, the man's a beast in the cage but the nicest guy in training. I had the honour of being in his classes years ago and would love to again now that I have a better understanding of the sport. What I missed for good times on the mats I made up for with good times with friends.

Hanging Out With Friends

The main reason I timed my vacation for this week was for a friend of mine's wedding reception. Alex and I worked and partied together back in my late night bar working party years and I was happy to make it to the celebrations. The party was amazing, the decorations were perfectly matching their outfits that were awesome, and there was a never ending table of pies! While honouring her and her husbands' union I got to catch up with some other old friends, laughs were had by all, it was a double win, an all around good night out. One day I met with a friend for sushi who has also been pursuing their passion for traveling, and it was so great catching up and talking about seeing the world. Also met up with a fellow student from our club who now lives and trains in Toronto, it was interesting to see them again and talk about how it was living in Toronto and training at a different club. Afterwards we walked all around Toronto and I told her what buildings had changed in the short time I have been away, which by the way is all of them! My good friend James who's been there for me the whole time I lived in Toronto now has a family and invited me over for a Canada Day BBQ. It was great hanging out with him and catching up, as well as seeing his little man run around and cause shit, fun times! I met up with Mariya and her boyfriend downtown and was able to watch the Canada Day fireworks down on the harbour front with them, which was amazing. Also, the huge viking ship, the Draken Harald, that just rolled across the ocean was in at the harbour so that was awesome to see. The Hanging out with my brother, and other old friends, catching up, grabbing food, sharing stories, it was all fun, it made me miss Toronto but at the same time really realize I'm really not the same person I was when I left almost 6 years ago.

Viking ship in Toronto! There was also some cool Pirate ships too.

Old teammate Montanna, great time hanging out!

After a week in Toronto I bused back to Petawawa and hung out friends and family there. I hit the beach one day, had a BBQ another day and somehow ended up my all friends' kids' favourite person they just met, I guess I'm just good with kids, haha! Also got to chat with an uncle I haven't seen in a very long time. It was interesting talking with him because he's traveled all over Canada way back when backpacking and train jumping was a thing, 'before it become popular' as he put it. Was very cool hearing about how he was able to get around. I got to thinking though, without any technology like we have now, how'd he know how to get anywhere and find a place or a job? I mean, traveling must've all been on a whim, without any real information of if there was a job or a place waiting for him. I should've asked him how many times he got lost traveling around. People couldn't have been that good at giving directions back then and be as bad as they are now a days. The days of cold calling as the only way to find a job, or place, or ride. Funny how he also made it seem like people were way more open and friendly back then.

Some Rolling And Sharing Knowledge With Evolution BJJ Petawawa

While home in Petawawa for the second weekend I managed to get some rolls in with the Evolution BJJ club. I got up to the gym early so I could just hang out and stretch. There was a group on the mats going over some moves, it looked more MMA based, and as I listened I realized they were part of the Muay Thai class that was about to start. The techniques weren't being shown the best and after a few minutes I asked if I could help out. I meant no disrespect, I'm just passionate about Jiu-Jitsu and like to help out whenever I can. Luckily the group also saw it as such and were happy to have me show them a few techniques, admitting it's been a long time since any real Jiu-Jitsu class. They were very impressed with the few basic techniques I showed, mostly just sweeps or guard breaks, so much so that one even stayed back to chat with me. His name was Ali and we chatted a bunch about Jiu-Jitsu and grappling and after a few minutes he asked if I wanted to roll. I figured he'd have all the aggression that comes with Muay Thai and sure enough he really tested me, going all out after my arms. As it happens he knew how to do an Americana. After almost 10 minutes we sat and chatted again, he was a great guy with a really positive attitude, even profusely apologizing for being so aggressive during our roll that he had accidentally elbowed me in the face while going for that Americana. After a quick pic together the Evolution BJJ members started to show up and Ali headed back to his Muay Thai class.

Ali the Mauy Thai guy, I'm glad I didn't spar with him standing, I think he can kick my head off easy!

Once the Evolution BJJ guys showed up it was time to start rolling! Had some great rolls during the hour; a small woman who had the side control pressure game that made her shoulder feel like a 1000 lbs on my head, a big guy who thankfully did not have that same game, and a purple belt who was like glue on everyone he rolled with, that was just some of people there. All and all I think there was about a dozen of us on the mats and we all had a good time rolling with one another. I also had a fair share of chatting with everyone there, telling my plans of the big journey coming up. The group made me feel really welcome and were really encouraging. It's days like this, were I meet all kinds of new people, share a little, learn a little and make a bunch of new friends that keeps me so passionate about Jiu-Jitsu and planning out Panda's Odyssey, just over 3 months to go by the way!

A Good Talk With The Coach

The flight I booked got in a later in the evening and I was fearing I wold have to pay a $50+ taxi ride to my place, luckily my Coach volunteered to pick me up. Being a bit of a drive we had a lot of time to talk. I told him of my travels and experiences, which he's always interested in hearing, and we discussed different topics such as rolling and training styles and philosophies. One thing that always comes up with anyone I talk to is how I compare to other clubs, and I always say it's difficult to tell. I for one roll rather light compared to most out there, just as a safety precaution, I don't want to get hurt or hurt anyone while visiting and traveling. With that I do get tapped a lot, the running joke is I travel around the world just getting my ass kicked. But seriously I have noticed that clubs that are more focused on competing are more aggressive and usually have some pretty neat tricks up their sleeve. This brings up the topic of training with the mindset to win and be the best now versus training to be still on the mats when you're older. In my experience the clubs with the more aggressive way of rolling, with all their wins and medals and trophies, also don't have many students that are 35+ yrs old. I will say this, from either camp there is always something new to learn, be it a cool move or some knowledge bomb to get you through life, and I see the benefit in training in both camps. Talking with Coach about this really helped find peace with where I am in my Jiu-Jitsu journey, as a senior blue belt. It was a good car ride home, thanks again Coach!


Visiting The Sunshine Coast 

The next morning I was off again to travel to the mainland and head just north of Vancouver, to the small town of Gibsons BC. Gibsons is a pretty famous town in Canadian history, being home of the long running Canadian TV show The Beachcombers which ran from 1972 to 1990. Gibsons is also home to my Jiu-Jitsu brothers at Ribiero Jiu-Jitsu Gibsons, formally Tidal BJJ. I visited them last summer and we've seen each other at tournaments or they've come over for seminars, and whenever we meet up it's always a great time. This time around I stayed at Yoshi's who happened to have a pretty nice den set up in his garage, I felt like royalty being set up in there. Yoshi was such a great host, every day I was blown away by his generosity, I don't think I can repay him enough for letting me stay with his family and looking for me the 4 days I was there.

Molly's Reach, The Persephone and from The Beachcombers and other shots of Gibsons.

More great shots of around Gibsons Landing.

The host and good friend, Yoshi, such great times on and off the mats!

I was lucky to get on the mats everyday I was there, some classes and some open rolls, all lots of fun. It had been a year since I last rolled with the guys in Gibsons and I was really looking forward to seeing how they had progressed, especially with the new affiliation change, being under the guidance of the Ribiero Jiu-Jitsu Vancouver club they were bound to learn all kinds of new tricks. I was not disappointed. We went over some great techniques during class, I was especially fond of their warm up drills, they were very simple yet worked a lot of areas for Jiu-Jitsu and helped getting mobile for class. The rolls were tough, the guys sure brought their A-games to me. They have definitely been working their side control as I've yet to meet a club that had every member capable of creating that much pressure in side control. It sucked, haha. I have to make a shout out to Adim, he's in the progress of having both shoulders completely overhauled, for lack of a better term, and currently can only use one arm if rolling. During our roll he tied his bad arm to his chest and rolled like that, but that didn't slow him down. The things he does with his legs totally make up for a tied up arm, it's more like I was fighting three arms. I think this whole situation has made his Jiu-Jitsu much better, I look forward to seeing how he progresses, keep up the hard work Adim! 

Nice shot of the Gibsons Guys, with Adim in the middle.

The one thing I love about visiting the Gibsons guys is the love and respect, every roll started and ended with big hugs and cheers. We would roll and talk during the roll, laughing and commenting on each others game. There was no place for seriousness and ego, it was all fun times there. Off the mats we got together and watched UFC 200 and it was like watching a show with family. There was all sorts of snacks and witty put downs on each other, just like back home. The guys there will always be brothers to me, and I look forward to seeing them again in the future. Thanks for having me guys!

So much love in these pics, can't wait to see them again!

And with the end of the second week it was time to head back home and start unpacking, writing this really long blog, and get back to planning the Odyssey. I'm sure there's some things I left out and I'm sorry if I did, but please know I loved every minute I shared with my friends, new and old, and family members every place I went, on and off the mats. What an awesome summer vacation, the Summer Odyssey of 2016.

Traveling & Training in Quebec City, Part 2: The Clubs

Hey all!

I hope you enjoyed part one of my traveling and training in Quebec city that I posted recently. I was picture heavy of all the sites in the city I saw and some good places to go for food and drink, complete with links to most of them. Check it out here if you haven't already.

Before I talk about training I must first tell you about the hospitality when visiting. I swear every time I practiced I met someone new who was interested in my blog and journey, welcoming me to their club and telling me I'm always welcome. A few even offered me a place to stay or some help planning the journey, one even telling me about his friends and family in Morocco! It's pretty easy to say I'll be heading back during my journey across Canada to kick off Panda's Odyssey. Now it's time for the clubs! No, not those clubs, I mean the Jiu-Jitsu clubs.

Yan, one of the many new friends I made on this trip, offered to at least find me a place to crash next time I'm in town, he's a good man. I wish I was able to take pics with each person who bought a patch, offered me a place to crash next time, or offered to help me out setting up the Odyssey. Quebec is full of awesome people.

First off, there are other clubs around the area that I didn't get the chance to check out, mostly because of traveling restraints. This is by no means a complete list, only some stories of where I trained. By all means, check out other clubs if you can and get back to me on how it was, i would be interested in hearing your stories.

As usual, I made sure to look places up and see what ones where in the area of where I would be staying and even how long it would be using public transit to get to them. I also sent them an e-mail or Facebook message fully detailing who I am, my purpose and length of stay. I always make sure to be look ahead and set up some sort of conversation first so I'm not a complete surprise drop in.
 
Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu   

It looks like a small office space on the outside, but let me tell you, it's quite the dojo on the inside.

The first place I was able to get out to train at was a Japanese Jiu-Jitsu dojo called Yoseikan Jiu-Jitsu. Finding their place was pretty easy, it was just down the street a few blocks, and they have a corner spot so seeing their signs was easy enough. When I first got there no one had shown up yet so I was hanging out on the street, nothing new with this scenario, and from the outside it looked like a small office space. Once others showed up and Sensei Dominic Toupin opened the place up I could see it was much bigger than I originally thought. The 'office space' I could see from the outside was really just the front lobby, the main area was behind, looking like it was once a garage turned into mat space. There were all sorts of picture frames of different martial arts masters and old posters of katas all along the walls. The tatami mats were worn, but still in great condition, you could tell many hours of training were spent on these mats, which I find pretty cool, reminds me of my old dojo I trained in during high school. I had the feeling of both a traditional dojo and newer, open concept martial arts club. It's hard to explain and my pictures don't do it justice but I felt comfortable on the mats pretty quick.

Much bigger than an I first thought.

More of the dojo, every wall had something.

I was excited to train with Yoseikan because I don't usually get the chance to train in another Japanese style Jiu-Jitsu when I travel. Checking out their website I was very interested in their style, Aikibudo, a style similar to some combat Judo styles I've seen before. In any case, after a brief e-mail exchange I was welcomed to come train with them and was very happy that I did. The classes were an hour and a half long and they were always pretty busy, either with very active warm ups or various randori (sparring), be it stand, ground, or even with weapons, or just constant drilling. The randori I was particularly happy for, as I first started in a randori heavy Japanese Jiu-jitsu style, after training in boxing, and I'm happy to spare with good people when ever I can. They did not disappoint. It was great to be exchanging some punches, kicks, throws and even knife strikes all in good fun. The techniques taught were great, no nonsense, self defense techniques that I was happy to learn and share with my fellow classmates when I get back to class.  They were also very open to sharing knowledge from our differing lineage during randori. We would routinely have ground sparring at the end of class, it was a lot of fun, rolling with a club from a Japanese Jiu-Jitsu lineage. It was very similar to rolling with the Judo guys in Japan, very old school feel with all emphasis on traditional positions, yet again my half guard game saved me from being completely smashed.

Me with Sensei Dominic Toupin, who welcomed me into his dojo, thank you so much, Sir! (Yes, I'm wearing a white belt, forgot my orange belt that night)

The best thing about training with these guys was how welcoming they were, even to someone who primarily does BJJ, although I do have an orange belt in a Japanese style it's not in their style and not my main focus. That's what I love about traveling and training, finding a place like this where we can learn from each other, share knowledge and just be open to other styles. I loved their techniques and fighting styles, and I believe they loved my grappling style. I think we both had an edge in our own strength, them being more stand oriented and me more ground oriented, but more importantly, we respected each other for that. Great group of people I am happy to have met and made friends with, I look forward to seeing them again in the future.

My last class with the Yoseikan guys before heading back, they're a lot of fun!

BJJ Quebec

BJJ Quebec, hidden in this Muay Thai club that looks like the MMA version of Apollo Creed's place in Rocky III.

The BJJ club I spent most my time at in Quebec City was BJJ Quebec, it's a bit out of the way, especially if you are like me, staying right in down town by the river and only using public transit. It's also hidden in a Muay Thai club that totally reminded me of Apollo Creed's place Rocky ends up training at in Rocky III. In fact, watching the Muay Thai classes I wished I had more time to train and had a chance to jump into one of them, I would probably regret it afterwards and feel dead but it would be a cool experience. The BJJ mats were up top in caged loft, over looking the main area training area. Depending on the schedule the BJJ guys sometimes also trained in the main area if it was open. It's a cool set up, and feels pretty badass when you're up top doing drills or king of mat round as a bunch of lethal looking guys and girls are kicking the crap out of the bags down below.

The cage, definitely a badass feel to training in it.

Watching the Muay Thai in the main training area, again, badass feel to it all.

Getting to the club wasn't so bad, it wasn't as close as some clubs, but unlike some of the other clubs a bus went right by them, making it easier than others to get to. I was talking to the club on Facebook before coming to town and they were very accepting, which is always great, and by the look of their website they were some serious Brazilian Top Team affiliate competitors so I knew to expect a tough class. Tough class indeed, Prof. Louis Bérubé likes to jump right in and start drilling. He adds on more to each drill, making it a chain of moves, for half an hour or so before working on techniques, all involving the base moves he had you warm up on during the starting drills. I liked the pace and energy of his classes, fast paced but not so fast that you're feeling like you're in a fitness class rather than a Jiu-Jitsu class. Then the last half hour (classes are 90 mins) or so was for rolling, and man were these guys tough. 

Prof. Guy, who also teaches some of the classes, and some of the guys from BJJ Quebec.

I figured I would run into the aggressive and competitive nature of the French Canadians that we all know and love (if you're unfamiliar, look up hockey) during this visit but they were also very fit, running circles around me. After class one day I'm talking to one of the students and he tells me that he, along with half the guys there, are in the military, Van Doos to be exact (check out Royal 22e Regiment to fully understand) then it all made sense, it was in their blood to smash people! Either way, I had a great time training with them, I feel like every time I showed up to class I made new friends. In fact I've had several people from both clubs add me on Facebook, interested in following me on my journey. I was an awesome feeling, just like in Japan, bridging the language barrier to train together and find new friendships. I look forward to training with these guys in the future, after reading my blog of the guys even offered to help me find a couch to crash on next time I'm in town. We'll be keeping in touch and once the Canadian portion of Panda's Odyssey gets under way we'll work something out and hopefully I'll have stories of training in Old Quebec again.

Prof. Louis Bérubé and more of the awesome BJJ Quebec team in a serious pose.

The fun pose.

The pose where everyone jumps me, why does this always happen?

Sampa BJJ 

I was only able to make it out to Sampa BJJ once due to scheduling conflicts, also mapping conflicts. Google Maps gave me bad info and I ended up on the wrong side the highway with no way to make it to class on time the first I attempted to attend class there. Anyways, I had a fun time when I did make it out there. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the place or people I trained there with but they were very welcoming, and very helpful when talking online and setting up when I could make it out to class and how. The place is in a strip mall and has a really nice lay out, I saw an interesting class where parents and kids trained together, like a father/mother and son/daughter type of class, very cool. I wish I had a better schedule so that I could have trained there more to get to meet more of the Sampa students. Those I did get to meet were nice people, welcoming and supportive of me visiting them while I travel and train. The classes there were fun, lots of drilling, good chains and strong rolling at the end. They had a lot of strong looking competitors, I'm sure I would have had a great time being the nail while rolling with all of them. If you're visiting Quebec City check them out, maybe you'll have better luck than I did making to their classes.

That's it for now, now to get back to working on planning the Canadian portion of Panda's Odyssey out, after all, there's only 6 months to go before it kicks off! You can help get journey started by buying a Panda's Odyssey Patch, see you all on the mats!