Moved...

I have moved my blog over to it's own host and domain now. However I am still in the process of fixing up the look and feel of the site, but from now on all future posts will be made from there.

The same applies to the continuation of this blog that I had over at Wordpress.

Click on the link or picture: http://www.dirtywhitegi.com/

Train hard, train safe!

War On The Floor videos

These are the videos to my fights from the "War on the floor" competition that just passed. Fights were for 5 minutes with a referee and judges if the fights went the full time. If fights were ruled a draw then fighters were given a 3 minute overtime.

The Open Weight Round Robin is pretty self explanatory. Basically everyone is matched up and the winner of the fight then goes on to fight other winners of the other fights until there's only 1 man standing. Pretty much guaranteed to fight someone heavier than you but for those that only got 1 fight in their weight category it was an opportunity to get more competition experience and it's always interesting to test how your technique will fare against strength.

My first fight in my weight division. I'm the guy with the red sash.


1st fight overtime round.


My 2nd fight for the day and 1st fight in the Open Weight Round Robin.


I have one more of my fights to upload then they're all done. After the comp I had a better idea of the areas I need improvement on like finishing of submissions (leglocks, armbars etc) and takedowns but ANY advice and tips would be greatly appreciated. So please leave some comments, advice and feedback on what you think of my fights for the day.

Get in my guard....

Hahaha saw these on youtube the other week and thought it was funny, there's a third one but I thought the first two were the funniest.
After you've been training Jiu Jitsu/MMA (or any martial art for that matter) for a while you're bound to meet these type of characters.

Get in my guard Part I


Get in my guard Part II

In other news I'm still in the process of finding a job. I'll put most the blame on my laptop which has been in repairs since I got back. At first I had to fix the screen which died, then when I got it back the power adapter died shortly after so had to take that back and get it replaced. Luckily it was all still covered by Applecare Warranty so I didn't have to pay anything. All my files are on there which I need to properly update my resume so it's kind of slowed me down a bit. But also mainly getting the motivation to do it.

But finally I got my laptop back today, so now I'll be able to post more pics and properly work on job applications without having to borrow my mum's laptop haha. So hopefully I can get a job soon and starting saving some $$ so I can get back to Brasil.

"War on the Floor" - 1st grappling competition in Darwin...

The competition was organised by our club Marrara Martial Arts and they had submission grappling and C-class MMA fights on for the day. The day was split into thirds with the first third for the submission grappling then the MMA fights followed by an open weight round robin at the end.

There were about 25 competitors from 4 different clubs which might not sound like much, but for Darwin it was more than I expected. There was even a decent sized crowd of spectators too (again more than I expected) that came to support their family/friends and even better, they seemed pretty well educated about the sport as they cheered guard passes and submission attempts.

The competition ran smoothly from about 10am till 2pm. I'm glad to say there were no major injuries apart from some sprains etc and all the matches for both the grappling and MMA were pretty evenly matched size and skill wise. All matches were 5mins with a 3 min overtime for matches ruled a draw.

This is a pic of the mat area and the spectators during one of the MMA fights. I don't have many photos or video at the moment but will hopefully get some later in the week to post up.There was a professional photographer there that took many a good photo so will be keeping an eye on his website throughout the week.


My matches
I ended up having 3 matches today all which I was happy with regardless of the results. Not all the best outcomes but I got 1 win, loss and a draw. A draw (with a 3 min overtime) in my weight division and a win and loss in the Open weight round robin at the end, both by triangles.

I was going to write about the matches but I think that'd be too lengthy and I'm too lazy to write in detail, which I've probably already forgotten half of, so I'll wait till I get some video and pictures to show of them.


Overall it was an awesome day. No one got seriously injured and it was a great way to meet the members of the other clubs and get a scope of the local grappling/MMA scene. Hopefully we will have more local events like this because from the competitor and spectator turn out I'm pretty sure everybody would be keen on it.

Here is a short 11 second clip showing the mat area and spectators.

Boxing at Gordo Jiu Jitsu...

Boxing classes at Gordo Jiu Jitsu are run by Cesario. He's the guy that first started calling me "Pacquiao" and from there it caught on and stuck with all the other Brasilians. He's also a crazy dude in a funny way and a good coach.

Basically I came in one early morning for jiu jitsu class as the boxing class is finishing and the boxing guys are coming down. Cesario is chatting to Zoro and Zoro mentions I'm from the Philippines or something like that, to which Cesario exclaims "Manny Pacquiao!" .... and that's how it all got started.

Classes
This is a basic outline of what we'd go through in a boxing class.
- Warm up and stretches
- Drill techniques: Jabs, Cross, 1-2's, hooks, uppercuts etc (with weights in hand or just with gloves)
- Partner drills working a combo: 1-2 hook partner blocks then returns with same combo
- 4-5 rounds of shadow sparring (without making contact)
- 4-5 Rounds of live sparring (with contact)
- Warm down, including 100's of sits ups and stretches

Sometimes we'd focus more time on one thing than the others e.g. more partner drills or more shadow sparring or more live sparring. But that just gives you a general idea of what to expect in the classes. Either way you'll definitely work up a good sweat.

Class times:
Mon: 7am - 8am & 8pm - 9pm
Weds: 7am - 8am & 8pm - 9pm
Fri: 7am - 8am & 8pm - 9pm

Cesario also has a gym out in Jacarepagua, which I haven't been to yet but will definitely go to when I go back. Alot of the Vale Tudo guys go there to train so you know they're good.

Celeiro do Boxe - Jacarepagua
Rua Comendador Siqueira, 1190
Pechincha/Jacarepagua - Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Telephone: 8328 9193
Professor Cesario Figueiredo


As you can see there's a mix of ages in the class. This was the Friday morning class at the night classes we also get some girls in the mix. Also that old guy on the right is pretty good at boxing and does jiu jitsu as well, though I'm not sure what belt. He's pretty fit and often after classes does planks with a swiss ball and holds headstands for hours. I hope I'm in bad ass a shape as he is when I'm his age.

Buying a phone in Brazil...

I bought two mobile phones while I was in Brasil. Although one was to replace the other I lost on a night out drinking.

Problems with Australian mobile phone

Originally I brought my phone from Australia with me here with the hopes that I could just buy a sim card and use it. It's a prepaid phone and I'm with the Optus network and when I arrived it did pick up a local network, "Tim" which seemed to be a good sign.

So I tried a couple of sim cards (they call them "chips," pronounced 'ship') of the different networks. Anyways the few that I did manage to try, after communicating (very badly) with some of the shop assistants, didn't work because my phone must of been locked to my network in Australia. But if you have an unlocked phone then everything should work fine.
It's funny because it could pick up the local network with my Australian sim card but anytime I tried a Brasilian one a message like, "Unlocked Sim" or something would come up.

Buying a phone

In the end I bought a cheap LG phone here R$149 (you get a disaccount with cash). The only problem is they might ask you for a Brasilian CPF* or some other ID, like a passport or driver's licence, to buy it. But luckily for me the guy at the shop was nice enough to use his own ID and let me buy the phone.

Second time round I bought a Nokia phone for R$120 and provide some ID. I think you can find some phones for cheaper, but I just settled for something semi decent. Also you still have to buy the sim card/chip separately to the phone as well as charge or credit so you can make calls.

Networks:
- Tim
- Oi!
- Vivo
- Nextel - this is the one that offered a service where you could use your phone like a walkie talkie to talk to other people on the Nextel network. I think it cost alot though for that service though. But you'll see HEAPS of Cariocas using their phones like walkie talkies.

Here's a list of mobile phone operators in Brasil from Wikipedia showing the number of subscribers to each network.

Recharing your phone
The next thing after getting a phone is recharging some credit on it so you can call all them lovely ladies. I found the easiest way to do this was go to a Drogaria (Pharmacy/Drugstore) and ask if they have recharge credit for your network. The rest of the process is quite straight forward.

1. Ask for recharge for you network. "Voce tem recarga para (insert network name)?"
2. Type in your DDD**, which is 021 for those in Rio de Janeiro.
3. Type in your number (and make sure it's correct! because I have typed in the wrong number before)
4. You should recieve a SMS message shortly stating how much credit you have.

Note: For the Tim network to check how much credit you have left just type 222# and then dial and it should appear on your screen.

The other way to recharge the credit on your phone is by purchasing a recharge card. Then dialling the given number and following the instructions. The only problem with this is all the instructions are given in Portuguese so it could be hard to understand what numbers to press etc.

* A CPF is like an identity card number or something similar in Brasil.
**DDD (Discagem Direta à Distância) is like the area code number

Costs
Generally everytime I'd recharge my credit I'd pay about R$25. I only used it to text or call friends if we were meeting up so it would last me a good 2-3 weeks. Sometimes even a month.
The cheapet (mais barato) phones I saw were going for about R$110-ish, brand new, but you still have to buy credit to make calls which is at a minimum R$10.
I can't remember the costs for calling or if they charge you to receive calls. But I know that it's cheaper if you're calling phones on the same network. Either way there's a number to call to check your credit and if I remember correctly it's 222# (then call) and it should show the amount of credit you have left on the screen.

Calling overseas - Skype

Anytime that I'd make a call overseas to family back home I'd just use Skype. It's much cheaper and easier to use and you don't have to worry about if accepting calls on your mobile phone will cost you alot of credit. Also I only started using Skype alot when I went on this trip after I saw alot of backpackers using it to call home.

Basically all you need is to download the program Skype and set up an account.
- You can buy credits with Skype e.g. AU$16 or $40 to allow you to call cell phones and landlines
- Set your account so that if it drops below e.g. AU$4 it will automatically recharge to AU$16 via your credit card OR paypal.
- Skype to Skype calls are FREE
- Option of video calls
- You can even buy an online number so people can call you from their cell phones or landlines
- Send a SMS
- Calling a home phone would cost me AU$0.027/min or $0.26/min for mobiles

Skype homepage
Skype prices
Skype calling country rates

Missing Brasil...

I've only been home a little over a week but have been missing Brasil ever since I left. None more so then when I first arrived back in Darwin and it really started to sink in that I'm gone. Sydney was a good distraction from reality with the sight-seeing and UFC event to watch. But once I was on that plane back to Darwin and reality sunk in, the Post Brasil (Rio de Janeiro) Trauma started to sink in too.

Post Brasil (Rio de Janeiro) Trauma
I never knew it existed until I found out I had it. Symptoms include the longing for, missing or need of (in no specific order):
- training with a bajillion black belts everyday.
- Acai.
- beautiful women at beaches.
- Brasilian food.
- white sandy beaches and surf waves.
- having the option of quality training 3 or more times a day if you felt up to it.
- walking around in boardies, havianas and shirtless... like it was a uniform.
- sunny days.
- "freeballing"
- get smashed everyday in class, yet feeling you've learned something.
- speaking what Brasilian Portugues (whatever little vocabulary was available to you)
- watching the old black belts in the gym muck around like kids.
- beautiful women at the mall.
- agua de coco (coconut water).
- fresh fruit juices.
- beautiful women on the streets.
- crazy brasilian guys in the gym. Every gym has AT LEAST one crazy guy.
- people talking to you in Portuguese and nodding like you understand.
- having a roll with that one guy in the gym around your level that pushes you and makes you work.
- beautiful women in bars and nightclubs.
- caldo de cana (sugarcane juice).
- the "good" sore feeling after a good training session and the feeling of having accomplished something for the day.
- beautiful women. period.
- getting shown a cool technique from a famous jiu jitsu person.
-
- getting shown a cool technique from a non-famous jiu jitsu person.

Other symptoms may also include:
- Pronouncing out loud (or in your mind) all your R's as H's e.g. Raphael = Hafael, Rolls Royce = Holls Hoyce
- Saying "Descupla" instead of "Sorry"
- "Obrigado" instead of "thank you"
- Feeling the need to say "Ca rai yu" or "Porra" in every other sentence when having a banter with friends.
- Crossing a "busy" road easily and leaving your friends behind, after improving your techniques crossing the mean streets of Rio de Janeiro


Hmmm I just noticed quite a few of these symptoms could be the title of facebook groups.