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Rio Open Jiu Jitsu competition at Tijuca Tennis Club
- many great fighters have fought here |
A long time overdue, I finally got down to penning this piece I promised myself about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu clubs in Rio de Janiero.
Before I begin some general advice regarding Kimonoes (Gis, th eclothes you wear in Jiu Jitsu)- take at least two with you. I'd advise not to have any patching or club affiliations. The first advice doesn't really need an explanation (unless you don't mind having a foul smelling kimono most of the time, a good tactic to disorientating your opponent!) whereas the no-patches and club affiliations advice needs a quick word. From my 5+ years in the sport I've come to know that many of the senior level practitioners, black belts etc, are very tribal and club loyal. From the various schools that have branched out from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, many of them will first ask you what club you train with and your background. So from from what I observed, you're seen as a target. "Get this guy and let him know that our club is better", "he's wearing a so so Kimono, why is he coming here" etc. Next time I'll avoid have any patches on my gi, and if anyone asks, I'll say "I've trained in Cuku land". Its a place where the patches are non-existent (and many other things are non-existent aswell :))
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| Fabricio Mauricio's academy |
In any case, I hopped around and tried to check out as many BJJ clubs as I could. The closest one to me was Oswaldo Alves gym on Av. Copacabana a block away from the beach. It was a tiny and run down gym. The people weren't very friendly and I didn't really get a good vibe so I promptly left. The gym next in line was Fabricio Jiu Jitsu. It was located on top of a local convenience store a bit further down on the same street. With the bustling street, there's no indication there's a gym located directly above but there's a noticeable yellow sign which is hard to miss indicating a gym up above. The guys in the academy here were the most friendly and welcoming. I was approached and given a breakdown of the prices and times. I liked the mat space and the level of students. I didn't commit to a monthly plan as I still had a few gyms to hop around and check out but in the end it was the gym I frequented most often. My Kimono of course drew attention and a few students wanted to test me out. Coming back from a shoulder injury and still feeling slightly weak in certain movements, I was a bit hesitant doing some of the exercises but I continued nevertheless. I met Fabricio Mauricio, the head instructor, red and black (coral) belt 7th degree master. He was an amazing guy and he gave me a lot of focus. There were many older fighters there and some of them were amazing for their age!
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| BJJ lineage of Fabricio Mauricio |
I went to two other well known gyms, Brazilan Top Team in Leblon and the legendary Carlson Gracie academy in Copacabana. I had to pay homage to both of these historically significant places as they have churned out some amazing fighters.Carlson Gracie is probably one of the oldest academies to date. I only went once to each place but had a good roll at both. There were a few foreigners at both places.
One thing I did notice about all the gyms, is that they were all very run down and simple. There was no luxury to it. You could see that a lot of blood sweat and tears were expended in all the places.
In the end, it was an amazing experience and if you are a lover of Jiu Jitsu and have the money then its well worth a visit. I have to give a massive thankyou and heap of gratitude to
http://trainbjjinrio.com as they were invaluable in presenting info and pinpointing the locations of the academies!
Part 1 - Carioca for a Month
Part 2 - Hoped for an Interview, Only Got a Picture!
Part 3 - Amazonas
So there they are, intervening again, under our very noses, this time not so silently. But do they need to? Its in line with the ongoing military supplies that they've been providing to the Syrians regime. So why now, has it been flagged up? and if you haven't guessed it, its that bare chested big brown bear, Putin... I mean Russia.
What do we ask young people to accept when we ask them to accept the norms of our society? We ask them to accept a society in which self-seeking pays. Failed bankers get big bonuses. The very rich continue to get richer at the expense of everyone else. Leading politicians like Straw and Rifkind are clearly on the make. Most Westminster politicians haven't got two political ideas of their own to rub together. Sexuality, especially in its feminine form, is constantly exploited for commercial gain. Politics is more and more vacuous.
That's our world.
Young people, other than the most docile and passive, will have a sense that this can't be all there is (before life has knocked out of them any hope that there can be a better world).
As Kenan Malik says none of this justifies the choice of joining with a group of killers who make a virtue out of their brutality. But it helps us to understand why some young people are looking for something different and why they may have learned to distrust what almost everyone from parents to politicians says to them. In those circumstances even the idiotic claims of a bunch of political thugs can come to seem like an alternative.
The real basis of radicalisation is the death of meaningful politics in our society. Who believes that any result of the election in 2015 will lead to fundamental change? A few tribal party loyalists maybe, but hardly anyone else.