Training in Darwin, Australia...

These are the two gyms I've been going to since I got back to Darwin. Performance Gym for my kickboxing/muay thai and some mma/no gi and Marrara Martial Arts for mainly just grappling.

The martial arts community in Darwin is small so there really is only a handful of places to train and in my opinion these are the best two to train grappling and Performance Gym the best for kickboxing/muay thai. Other than that I know a few people to get some good boxing training from and the rest are traditional martial arts (karate, kung fu etc).

Performance Gym
View of the gym from Right to Left side.





I've been going to Performance Gym for nearly 3 years now and known the head instructor/owner, Michael Siebert, for even longer than that. I started training there to get better cardio when I was doing boxing and getting more serious about competition. After that boxing fight I then made the move over to kickboxing and have fought that the past couple years, but always with MMA in mind for the long run. However with the lack of grappling places to train at, at the time, I thought it was best to get experience in any kind of full contact competition and improve that part of my game.

A group of guys from the gym will usually travel to Thailand every year to train (or party) at WMC Camp in Koh Samui which I got to do in 2008, I'll save that for another blog post. We've also had guys fly down to other states to fight in local shows.

With Mark "The Hammer" Castagnini after training in at WMC Camp, Koh Samui.



It's not just a gym for fighters because there are many people that come without competition in mind. They just want to try it or get fit or just have a good time while working out. There's roughly two types of level training at the same times: beginners/novices and fighters. The novice group work alot of cardio, pad drills, bag drills and partner work. The fighters do the same but at a more intense level and include some sparring and competition in mind. Actually sometimes I find the beginners work out harder than the fighters one.

With that being said the gym organises local fight shows at least 3 to 4 times a year that have good crowds and atmosphere and include boxing, kickboxing (with modified thai rules), muay thai and MMA fights. So those that are keen to compete can do so if given the go ahead.

There's alot of talent in the gym from those that want to fight and even those that don't and I feel some sense of pride helping others out when I can and seeing them improve.

Training schedule
Monday: 5:30pm - 7pm (KB/MT)
Tuesday: 5:30pm - 7pm (MMA/No gi)
Wednesday: 5:30pm - 7pm (KB/MT)
Thursday: 5:30pm - 7pm (MMA/No gi)
Friday: 5:30pm - 7pm (KB/MT)

KB/MT = Kickboxing/Muay Thai
MMA = Mixed Martial Arts

Contacts:
Lot 1499, Winnellie Road, Darwin
Phone: 61 889 412 216
Website
Facebook group page

Marrara Martial Arts



I've known some of the guys that train at Marrara for over a year or two now when interest in the grappling scene in Darwin started to pick up. At first it was just a group of guys getting together to roll and now they've made it more official by becoming affiliated with Peter de Been in Melbourne and flying down to competitions in other states.

From what I gather some of the guys have black belts in traditional martial arts like karate and maybe some from traditional jiu jitsu(?). One of the guys has a black belt in judo and another guy is a blue belt from the US and has done some wrestling. So there's a good mix of backgrounds there to work with.

I've only been going for a week but the training has been good, everyone's friendly AND they're organising the first local grappling competition around March 13th. Hopefully there will be a good turn out and the interest for jiu jitsu in Darwin grows.

Training schedule
Tuesday: 6.30pm – 8.00pm (Gi/Kimono)
Thursday: 7.00pm – 9.00pm (No gi)
Saturday: 11.00am – 1.00pm (MMA/No gi)

Contacts:
Abala Road, Marrara (Via Darwin City), NT 0812
Phone: 0405 147 214 (Des Green)
Website


If anyone has questions on either club just ask me through the comments or flick an email my way.

Back in D-town...

Coming back home is always a good feeling. Well almost. Although I love having all those little things I miss (vegemite, nice bread, being able to drink the tap water without the shits, ASIAN FOOD, mum's cooking, car and old friends); Brasil and even more Barra/Rio de Janeiro was really starting to feel like home.

So it kind of feels like I'm starting all over again. Except maybe with the training. At least I'll get back to some hard sparring and cardio with kickboxing here. But the level of jiu jitsu won't be the same and it will different not getting my ass handed to me every session. Also got to find a job because I'm running low on funds AND so I can start saving up to get myself back to Rio de Janeiro, hopefully for longer the next time round.

I went by my old gym on Tuesday and it was good seeing my old training buddies. But I got there a bit too late to join in any training so just did a bit of my own thing and helped out with the MMA class that was also going on at the same time.

Also checked out a "new" BJJ Peter de Been affiliate club that recently started up here. I say "new" because they're some old guys I used to train grappling with last year, just that now they're trying to make the club more official by getting affiliated with an academy and organising local competitions etc. They also organise to fly down to other cities to compete in big competitions over there, which is great news to hear because 6 months ago the grappling scene in Darwin was REALLY quiet.

I had my first real day back to kickboxing training on Wednesday and I have to say doing pads is a bitch. My cardio is way sh*t now and I started feeling puffed in the 1st round. Rounds 2 and 3 really took it out me and round 4, I didn't have much left at all.

Also did some boxing and kickboxing sparring after I'd recovered from the pad work. Boxing was fine since I did some classes at Gordo's to keep it at a decent level, but timing on my kicks and combos for kickboxing were out the window. It's going to be a hard task to climb back up to the level of fitness I was at before I left for Brasil but it'll be a journey I'm look forward to going through after not having so for so long.

There's a fight show coming up on April 1st, which is organised by our gym, but with only 4 weeks to train up for it I decided not to bother and instead focus energies on helping the other guys that will be fighting. The show will mainly be kickboxing/muay thai but some of the guys are going to try out MMA so I'm going to try help everyone as much as I can in between finding a job.


It's been raining a bit the past couple days. But since last night it's been almost non-stop. Rainy weather sucks anywhere in the world. I didn't know what pictures to show of Darwin so I thought I'd show some of these pictures taken at the Nightcliff Jetty a couple years ago.
They were taken the day after a cyclone passed through the town and we were getting some pretty high tides and big waves smashing on the rocks. I thought it was pretty cool watch. So I thought these would be appropriate since it's been raining alot and we probably have some waves, though not as big as those in the pics.

UFC 110 weekend and Randy Couture Seminar...

My first stop upon arrival in Australia was Sydney. I stayed for a few extra days there before heading back to my hometown, Darwin. The sole reason really was just to watch the... UFC!!!

Being their FIRST EVER event in Australia, and my travel timing right on, how could I NOT miss out on this opportunity? A friend had UFC Fight Club membership so could buy tickets earlier than general public so I got him to do that for me and ended up with great seats; floorside by the walkway where most officials and Nogueira and Wandy walked out from. It cost good money though but was worth it, if only for once in a lifetime, to see the fighters and UFC personalities *couAriannyugh* up close.



The Acer Arena


People were already lining up when I arrived just after 10am.


Only thing I was really bummed about was that I didn't bring my camera. On the ticket it says no Photography or recording devices. Which I interpreted as no cameras at all, so I was pretty pissed when I saw every other Tapout shirt wearing fool snapping away. Especially when I tried to get a pic with the ring girls. I'm still trying to figure out how to send photos to my blog from my mobile phone, because I used the camera on there, so when I do I'll make a post with those pictures.

Other than UFC I got to catch up with a few good old high school friends and eat some of the Asian foods I'd been missing out on for 6mths.

A pic of my friend "Queens" with the takeaway bag from Hurricanes at Bondi. It looks like we went shopping but it had some bbq chicken wings and half ribs which was sooooo good and different to the bbq stuff they have in Brasil.


Korean side dishes and a bowl of Spicy Beef soup.



Thai food.


Randy Couture seminar...
Yes I was even lucky enough to attend one of the two seminars held by Randy Couture in Sydney a couple days before the event. It was well worth it and he showed some of the wrestling aspect of MMA that has worked for him in fights. I was also very lucky to partner up with a guy about my own size and level and not a TUF fan that spazzes out and uses strength.

Randy touched on some pummeling drills (with no hands), single and double legs off the pummel, using the rebound off the cage to set up strikes/takedowns/transitions etc, some ground stuff with the "cradle" hold. After the training part of the seminar he was gracious enough to answer peoples questions and then sign autographs and take pictures. Each took about 20mins.

The seminar was held at Boxing Works within the CBD area of Sydney. They gym has a nice set up with boxing rings, floor to ceiling bags, weights and down in their basement a fenced off cage area.

Boxing Works
23 Pelican Street, Darlinghurst.
Phone: (02) 9283 6421
Website






With the legend himself.



Also if you're looking for MMA gear in Sydney check out the MMA Factory in Bondi. They got a good selection of apparel and some equipment. I've ordered things from their website before and it was nice to see the store this time. Also it's by Bondi beach so you could make a day of it.

MMA Factory
Shop 11/180-186 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach (Next to the Swiss Grand Hotel).
Phone: (02) 802 13615
Website

Portuguese Brazilian Jiu Jitsu terminology...

Learning some Português will REALLY help enhance your experience here in AND out of the gym. But even if you don't know any when you arrive, you should still be able to understand what's going on in class through observation, although it REALLY helps to understand some of the details of a technique if you know some basic words.

The following are some terms I thought would be useful that I've found through other sources (blogs, forums) and picked up through my own observations in class. I'll be continually updating this as I learn more so make sure to keep updated. I even wanted to do a video with Dennis so you could hear the pronounciation, but will have to save that till next time as I'm not in Brasil anymore :( or confident enough to do it myself yet.

Also I've tried to write how you might phonetically say them and hopefully that helps some people. If anyone has corrections or things they could add to it then please comment or email me.

Positions (Posições):

Side Control - Cem Kilos (literally: 100 kilos)

(Close) Guard - (Fechar) Guarda ... where "fechar" is a verb

Half Guard - Meia guarda

Spider guard - Guarda aranha

Mount - Montada

Top / up - Acima (ah-see-ma)

Bottom / down - Baixo (bye-shoo)

Belts & Training gear:

Belts - Faixas (fai-shas)

White - Branca

Blue - Azul

Purple - Roxa (ho-sha)

Brown - Marrom (mah-hoom)

Black - Preta

Gloves - Luvas

Shirt - Camisa /camiseta

Shorts - Bermudas

Pants - Calças
Backpack - Mochila (mo-shilla)

Hat/cap - Boné

Speedos - Sunga ... buy a red one and train with it in sem kimono, I dare you!
Gi / Kimono - Kimono (duhhhh!)
No-Gi - Sem kimono (seng kimono) ... sem = without
Lapel - Lapela
Collar - Gola
Sleeves - Mangas

Useful terms:

Yes - Sim

No - Não ... (a real nasally: now)

Left - Esquerda (ee-scare-da)

Right - Direita (jee-reta)

Prepare/Get ready - Preparar
Go - Vai
Stop - Pare ... VERY useful if you can't physically tap!
Stopped - Parou ... Gordo would ask me this; if I'd "stopped"/finished with rolling or wanted one more
Been - Foi ... I noticed alot of guys say this to verbally tap, the literal translation is "been" but if anyone can explain better I'll update it

Here - Aqui (ah-kee)

There - Lá

This/that (depending how you use it) - Isso
Weight - Peso

Heavy - Pesado
Change - Trocar / Troco

Always - Sempre

Never - Nunca

Return/go back - Voltar

Is this correct? - É isso certo?

More or less - Mais or menos

Of course - É claro

Time - Tempo (heard at end of rounds)

Dominate - Dominar / Domina .... e.g. "domina o braço" (domin-ey oo bra-zhoo) = control the arm

Just / Only - Só ... (s-oh)

Actions:
Grip - Pegada / Pega .... e.g. "Pega aqui" = "Grip here"

Hook - Gancho (gan-shoo)

Push - Empurre (ing-poo-hey)

Pull - Puxe (pu-shay)

Pummel - Escrima
Hold - Segura ... e.g. "Segura o posição" = "Hold the position"

Posture - Postura

Backwards/go back - Pra trás / Vai para trás ... sounds like "partraish"

Lift / Raise - Leve / Levantar ... "Levantar ele" = "Lift him up"

Get / seize - Pegar ... so if you're setting up an armbar and someone says "Pegar" = "Get/take it"
Calm - Calma ... Self explanatory but if someone tells you "calma" they're telling you to calm down.
Relax - Relax (he-lash) ... same explanation as above
Turn - Vire ... "Vire seu quadril" = "Turn your hips"
Straighten - Shika (not sure on spelling) ... "Shika o braço" = "Straighten the arm"

Body (Corpo):

Hand - Mão

Foot - Pé

Arm - Braço (bra-zhoo)

Leg - Perna

Knee - Joelho (zhoo-el-oo ... sometimes sounds like they say "joo-el-ee")

Elbow - Cotovelo (koh-toh-velo)

Fingers - Dedos do mão

Toes - Dedos do pé

Hips - Quadril (kwa-dril)

Body - Corpo
Chest - Peito (Pay-too)... "Peito a Peito" = "Chest to chest"
Trunk - Tronco

Head - Cabeça (ka-beh-sa)

Neck - Pescoço
Throat - Garganta
Back - Costas

Shoulder - Ombro

Shoulder blade - Omoplata

Commands:

Go - Vai / Embora

Pass the guard - Passar de guarda

Attack - Attaque

Defend - Defendar

Escape - Saida /S air

Sweep - Raspa / Raspada (has-pa)

Spar/roll - Spare (sh-par-ey)

Close the guard - Fechar a guarda

Other things you might here in class:

Valeu - thanks ... used as a departing

Até amanhã - until tomorrow

Treinar - training

Vai com ele (vai kong el-ee) - go with him

Tiver duvida - Have doubts (questions

Boa treinar - Good training ... (before rolling with your partner)
Mais um - One more
Quem quero mais? (Keng kero maes?)- Who wants more?
Livre treinar - free training ... (usually after normal class and if people want to keep rolling they'd say this)

Striking:

Jab - Jabby

Cross/right straight - Direita (jee-reta)

Straights - Direito ... if they say "só direito" then just do straight punches
Hook - Cruzo/Cruza ... not sure on spelling for this one

Uppercut/Body hook - Gancho or cruza ... From memory they called an uppercut a hook (gancho) and same for a hook or "rip" to the body
Kick - Chute (shoo-ta)

Elbow - Cotovelo

Knee - Joelho

Sources:

Sherdog forums

http://williamkoplitz.com/

Fightworks podcast

Gordo Jiu Jitsu classes

Fight Zone classes

Até logo Brasil...

This will be my last blog in Brasil :(((( until I get back to Australia and maybe till my laptop is fixed. I'm sad to be leaving but it hasn't really hit me yet and also I know I'll be back. (Just a matter of when).

I'll be continuing this blog when I get back to Australia (in between finding a job and earning some $ to come back). There's still PLENTY of content I want to blog on about Brasil like language tips, places to eat and see, nightspots etc so keep tabs on it.

My last day was spent training in the morning and helping lay out the new Zebramats. Finally after being here for 5mths I get to roll on the "new" mats, which had been sitting in storage for ages waiting to be collected. The only problem is when you go to collect some guy will charge you R$(insert price) for (insert some B.S.) tax. So it became a waiting game till the dodgy storage people let the mats out, because who wants to pay for mats you already paid for? Ahhh Brasil.

As you can see the new mats look pimp and finally complete the renovations of the gym which started just a couple weeks after I arrived here back in September!! It's been nice seeing the place, that I've spent more than half my time in Brasil at, develop. I'm glad to of been here and see this process, so at least when I come back I can reminisce and be like "Oh I remember when the gym was alot smaller and we only had that area from there to there to roll" lol.





After training I went with the folks to pick up their tickets, from a hotel in Copacabana, to watch the Samba parade. They asked if I wanted to go but I don't think I have the attention span to watch 12 different samba schools parade, each parade going for 1 hour or so AND the whole thing finishing about 6:30/7am.

So instead took off to Praça General Osario in Ipanema to meet up with Junk, Fill and Ben to check out the Blocos in the area.

Praia de Ipanema.


Bloco party in Ipanema.


The drumming section.


More people in costumes line dancing and leading the bloco.


Posto 8 - Ipanema .... Ben and Jeff using these urinal things they had for guys on the streets, f*ck that I say! You'll get spray all over your feet.


Brasilian bunda... I shall miss you :(


Dude dressed in drag talking "japanese" to Junk... Junk loved every bit of it


Ate dinner at Garota de Ipanema. The bar where Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes used to hang out and wrote the song "Garota de Ipanema/Girl from Ipanema," inspired by a beautiful girl that would always walk by.


Some stereotypes are just hard to break


I think the chick behind me liked the pose


After dinner walked around and somehow ended up in a side street with alot of gay people... at least we saw non-butch chicks making out :)


Afterwards found a quiet place (with a mediocre band playing cover songs) to have a drink... banana beer! Doesn't tastes as smooth as it smells but still interesting.


Shout outs...
To everyone I've met and made friends with in and out of the gym. All the guys that I've rolled with and helped me along the way. Gordo, Rommel, Dennis, Neto, Leozinho, Carioca, Thiago, Zoro, Regis, Toquinho, Deigo... too many to name.


A bunch of afternoon training class pics. Got to know a lot of great guys while getting a good workout and really improving my game.




Last afternoon training session with Dennis and the gringos, taken last Friday.


More class pics. From the night classes to the Saturday morning classes to the Vale Tudo class.




With the boxing class on Friday morning. Cesario, the trainer is in the red shorts and baseball cap. He's the guy that called me "Manny Pacquiao" out of nowhere, which caught along and is what all the Brasilians in the gym have been calling me lol.


With Rommel, Dennis and Gordo the day after getting my blue belt.


With Dennis; mentor and good friend. A man I have A LOT to thank for during my stay here, so much that I could dedicate an entire post to it. Thank you Dennis and Connection Rio!