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November in Belgrade, Serbia

December 1, 2018/in Blogs/by Sabine

Reasons to go: Very affordable, many BJJ gyms, many English speakers, great food/pastries, grand churches, very friendly/kind people, safe for solo female travelers, big city convenience, fast wifi, good public transportation, open air markets

It’s a challenge for me to describe Belgrade. It certainly has an Eastern European vibe, but beyond that is a combination of many thing not too extreme in any one specific direction. Belgrade isn’t so much a tourist city as a living city. It has all the modern conveniences you’d expect from a big city, but also a rich cultural heritage, many historical sites, and more than a handful of very well maintained churches of various sized with grand interiors still in use throughout the city.

Many of Belgrade’s more ancient buildings and tram cars are still fully functional and active today, as if the city took an overall “if it’s not broken, keep using it” approach to their infrastructure. Tall modern buildings with spotless glass windows and ornate facades aren’t far from much older structures of plain concrete and stone, sometimes a little shabby and in need of renovations, with a fair amount of graffiti.

Throughout all of that is a liveliness, warmth and rich vibrancy that comes from the people. It’s felt in the bright markets full of shoppers, packed tram cars crowded with pedestrians going about their everyday business, and groups of friends relaxing in cozy cafes. Serbian people are SO kind! They’re open and welcoming, smile and start conversations easily, don’t hesitate to volunteer information if you look lost, and are happy to tell you about their city and to share their culture. Despite the occasionally gritty appearance of some neighborhoods, Belgrade overall is a very safe city. Even late at night there are women and people of all ages moving about, I felt perfectly at-ease exploring the city as a solo female traveler.

Arriving in Belgrade

I arrived in Belgrade on a long-distance bus from Budapest. The route about 7 hours long (including a ½ hour break at a roadside restaurant and gas station, and the border crossing). The bus ride was good and uneventful, with the added bonus of free juice boxes (the type you find in kid’s lunch boxes) and chocolate bars. I arrived in Belgrade around 7pm.

This was the first country I’d been to solo outside the EU and as such was the first situation where my phone’s data plan didn’t apply. And, let me tell you – you don’t realize just how strongly you rely on wifi-related services until they’re suddenly not available anymore!

Knowing I wouldn’t have wifi, I’d smartly looked up the tram route ahead of time, but had forgotten about the currency differences. Vendors wouldn’t accept euros or forints (Hungarian currency), so I needed to find an ATM or bank to withdraw Serbian currency (dinars, abbreviated RSD) to pay for the bus ride to my Airbnb lodging.

That seemed easy enough, except that I now didn’t have access to Google Maps or any of my usual translation tools to facilitate communication. The first FIVE people I asked for directions from didn’t speak ANY English – I could not manage to successfully communicate my question. To complicate things a bit, one of the wheels on my luggage had just broken, making it extremely difficult to move around. I had a slight moment of panic when it dawned on me that I had no cash, no way to get info online, no way to make phone calls, and couldn’t seem to communicate with anyone in person.

Everything worked out just fine, of course. Turns out, plenty of people actually DO speak English, it was just odd chance that the first handful I approached hadn’t. I eventually found an ATM and withdrew some dinars. I accidentally rode the tram without a ticket, having mistakenly understood that I should pay for a ride on the tram. Fortunately, no harm came of it – the tram driver let me ride for free. Then, I accidentally took the wrong tram, not realizing there was a “long” and “short” version with the same route number. But again, no harm came of it – some friendly local students helped me find a new correct route. So, couple hours later than expected, finally reached my destination!

Image: Main boulevard near my place.

Logistics

Language

Serbians use two alphabets – Latinic (which English is written with) and Cyrillic, both of which are used on signs throughout the city. The spoken Serbian language can be written using either alphabet. You’ll find a big range of English proficiency spoken in Belgrade.

Public transportation

If using public transit, you’ll need to purchase a card in advance as it’s not possible to pay in cash when you board the buses/trams. Public transit cards are sold at little kiosks along the street, they’re very easy to find. You can purchase an “unlimited rides” pass for a number of days, or purchase and put money on a “rechargeable” card. The bus/tram stops are very well labeled in Belgrade with a symbol and bus/tram numbers on a sign. Super convenient!

The Serbian public transportation system is a combination of above-ground trams and buses – the transit card allows you to use both. You’ll need to swipe your card on the little machine near the door when you enter. If not traveling with an “unlimited rides” pass, you have 90 minutes to make as many bus/tram changes as you’d like after the first card swipe. No need to re-swipe your card for every new bus/tram you enter afterwards, just keep track of time and make sure you’re still within your 90 minutes.

Oddly, Google Maps (which I’ve relied on for public transportation in all other cities so far) doesn’t entirely work in Belgrade. It’s possible to see the bus/trim routes, but not information about time or best routes between two locations. Fortunately, there’s another app which does exactly that called MoovIt. Technology to the rescue once again! I ended up using a combination of both for navigation. Google Maps was more helpful searching for destinations in English, but MoovIt was needed to show me how to actually get there.

What’s interesting about the buses/trams in Belgrade is that there’s a huge mix between very modern and pretty ancient vehicles, both of which run on the same rails and wires.

SIM Cards

This was the first country where my EU phone plan didn’t apply so I ended up getting a local SIM card. The process was amazingly fast and easy! There are many, many shops selling phone related stuff all over Belgrade, so finding a place to purchase one wasn’t difficult. I chose a data-only pack (without a phone number) since was planning on using my phone primarily for map, public transit schedules, and (let’s be honest) social media amusement. I also knew that I could use the data to make calls using apps such as Skype. I paid about $5 (USD) for 10GB of pre-paid data which expired in 2 weeks, which by US standards is just insane!

Weather

I arrived in November and stayed for the entire month. The first two weeks were sunny and warm-ish (light sweater weather), which everyone said was very unusual for November. Midway through the month and again towards the end it became true winter, complete with freezing temps, overcast skies and even a little snow. I hate the cold, but having lived in the desert for so long, was delighted to see the falling snow! Christmas markets don’t seem to be a thing in Serbia but there were white, red and blue holiday lights all along the main boulevard of my neighborhood. Downtown was also filled with cheerful holiday decorations, lending a cozy winter ambiance to the city.

Food

Belgrade has a lot of great restaurants of many different kinds of food for VERY cheap, considering the great quality and generous portion sizes that you get!

I asked my AirBnB host for a recommendation of where to try traditional Serbian food. She told me that the only way to truly experience this was with home cooked meal, and returned a couple hours later with freshly-cooked food: sarma (cabbage wrapped meat) and rolled pastries with a nut filling. I had the opportunity to try many more of her home-cooked meals throughout my stay, all of which were amazing! One of my favorite was stew made of white beans, beef on the bone and veggies – the perfect meal for staying warm on a chilly winter day!

Desserts!

Serbian desserts consists of a variety of thin filo or breaded dough pastries with nut and/or fruit filling. My two favorite desserts were Bundevara and Zapečene palačinke. Bundevara is a pastry made with flaky layered filo dough rolled with a squash filling that tastes like pumpkin. Zapečene palačinke is a cake made of many rolled up thin pancakes (similar to Belgian crepes) with a sweet nut and cinnamon vanilla sugar filling. SO GOOD!

Images: (left) Bundevara (middle) pastries with a fruit filling I couldn’t identify, possibly fig? (right) Zapečene palačinke home cooked by Ivana, one of my training partners Kimura Academy! I was touched her thoughtfulness, and thrilled to have gotten the chance to try so many authentic home cooked Serbian foods during my stay!

Tourist Time!

Belgrade Fortress

Not far from the city center is the Belgrade Fortress. This area consists of the Kalemegdan Park and the ruins of the walls and towers of what used to be the Belgrade fortress, on top of a cliff overlooking the city. There’s a great view of the city and two rivers (the Sava and the Danube) converging.

On the warmer days I went here it was quite lively – people walking dogs, families with kids out for a stroll, vendors selling popcorn and roasted chestnuts, old men in groups playing games of chess on stone tables, and other sightseers taking photos of the panoramic view and posing with their friends and sweethearts.

This area also includes a very nicely maintained collection of tanks from different time periods (free to look at!), a military museum, a natural history museum (with collection of really nice life-sized dinosaur sculptures), a small church, a playground, some nice outside sculpture, and a zoo. Probably a great place to bring the family, if you need something that will satisfy a wide range of interests and ages.

Market

There happened to be a medium sized fruit market within a 10 minute walks from my place which offered a very nice range of fresh fruits, veggies and nuts locally grown. Here I discovered that Belgrade has exceptionally great pomegranates, which initially seemed odd to me because I’d (incorrectly) always thought of these as a tropical climate fruit. In the side streets next to the food market were little shops selling fresh breads, meats and cheeses. There was also a section where vendors sold a variety of non-food items, mostly household products and items, but also some clothing. So, instead of going to one giant grocery store for shopping – here was one big area where you could purchase everything from many different little local stores/stalls!

Park Forest Zvezdara

I went for a stroll here hoping to catch a glimpse a fire salamander, slow worm (a kind of legless lizard, which is not a snake), or one of the protected northern white-breasted hedgehog but unfortunately did not see any wildlife, probably because it was winter. This forest might seem quite bland and ordinary to people who live in wooded places but to someone as myself who’s lived a long time in the desert, in a city of eternal summer – any trees with falling leaves and seasons are pretty great! It was a nice break from the concrete and noise of the city.

One word of warning – there are some stray dogs here. I ran into a pack of six which fortunately didn’t attack, but were rather intimidating barking and following along for a bit. Unlike strays I’ve seen in cities in the past – these were not small malnourished animals, and seemed like really healthy and fit dogs. I was later given the tip that bending down like you’re picking up a rock will scare off stray dogs anywhere, as they’re used universally accustomed to having things thrown at them. I haven’t put this to the test myself, and certainly hope not to end up in a situation like this again!

Beautiful Churches

There are many beautiful and very well maintained churches throughout Belgrade, most of them Orthodox Christian as that’s the dominant religion of the city. The insides are calm and quite, the walls and ceilings densely filled with beautiful brightly colored paintings of saints and scenes from the bible.

There are a couple differences between Orthodox Christian churches and churches of other branches of Christianity which I’ve seen in the past. The main room is empty instead of being filled with rows of chairs or benches, as people stand instead of being seated for service. There’s often a large open book or painting toward the center front of the main room, which followers can kiss, pray, or make donations to. And, there’s a large very ornate crown chandelier hanging over the center space, lit with candles and sometimes also decorated with pictures of saints. Long stemmed candles can be purchased as offerings, to be lit and placed in alter boxes of sand and sometimes water.

I also learned that Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 6-7 instead of December 24-25. This has to do with how dates are arranged in the Gregorian calendar vs. older Julian Calendar.

The Church of Saint Sava is actually very new – construction began 1935 and is still ongoing today. The crypt section is open for visitors already, and is absolutely magnificent! While I’ve seen a great many beautiful churches in other countries throughout my travels – it’s rare to me to see one so modern with stone work and paintings so vibrant and crisp, not yet having weathered and faded by the passage of time.

Image: An assortment of different churches/chapels.

1999 Nato Bombings

In 1999, Belgrade was bombed by Nato. Some of the buildings that were destroyed have been completely rebuilt and replaced by new buildings. Others remain abandoned and neglected in their partially ruined state, big gaping holes exposing the interiors where the bombs landed.

I won’t get into the politics behind it, why it happened, and whether or not it was justified (you can research that yourself and find much better, more details explanations that I could possibly provide, then draw your own conclusions).

What I will say is that walking through the city, so modern and lively, full of people not unlike myself – it’s astounding to think that it happened here, really not THAT long ago. When you seen news of war and conflict on television happening in far off countries – it’s sometimes easy to feel removed and disconnected, especially if it it doesn’t impact your own world in any meaningful way. Seeing the ruins and hearing the firsthand accounts of people who lived in the countries where these events happened makes them real in a way that they weren’t before.

The more I travel, the more I realize how similar people of all parts of the world are, with the same basic hopes, fears, worries and dreams. That is, perhaps, one of the positive effects of traveling – it makes you better able to relate to the rest of humanity.

Image: Ruins of two of the buildings that were bombed in 1999

Training

Though BJJ is still fairly new to the Serbia – there is certainly no shortage of places to train in Belgrade! I had the opportunity to visit the following 5 gyms in the time that I was here.

GIANT thanks to everyone who welcomed me to come visit and train at their gym – to the instructors and to my training partners! I leave with many great memories of the city, and of the BJJ community here.

Kimura Academy

This was my “home gym” in Belgrade for the month I was here, very conveniently (intentionally) located just 10 minutes away from my AirBnb place by foot! It’s run by Guillaume Huni (1st degree black belt) and is a BJJ Globetrotters affiliated gym.

I really can’t say enough good things about Kimura Academy! Super friendly and welcoming atmosphere, great level of technical skill, physical strength and general enthusiasm for BJJ. It’s a very international and traveler friendly gym – in the time that I was there, a handful of other visitors from neighboring countries dropped in as well.

Through amazing good luck, there was also a seminar by Clark Gracie hosted here the second week of November while I was in town! It was a great seminar, with students attending from many of the neighboring gyms as well. I was unfortunately too shy to ask for a photo with Clark Gracie, so… missed opportunity there!

Image: Guillaume Huni, me, Ivana, instructors Nikola and Mirza. Ivana was my most regular training partner, and also led the group in yoga-style stretches after class some days, which I thought was a really nice way to wrap up a BJJ class. Her bright cheerfulness and ability to quickly pinpoint what adjustments were needed in my technique made her a pleasure to train with! This may have been one of the last photos taken of Ivana as a white belt, since she receive her (much deserved) blue belt shortly after!

Gracie Barra Srbija

The building itself where this gym is located very interesting history. It was constructed around 1940 as a printing press for the National Printing Institution of Yugoslavia. It fell into disuse and became abandoned for awhile when the economy tanked, then later became used by artists, designers, musicians and nightclubs, then some time later declared a national monument by the state. Currently, the inside spaces are rented variety of different businesses… like BJJ!

Lutador BJJ

Zarlock BJJ

Old School BJJ

Out and about in Sao Miguel which is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Introduction for Sabine

November 13, 2018/in Blogs/by Sabine

Hi Everyone! Some of you already know me from camps, training and seminars but for those that don’t – just wanted to take a moment to introduce and tell you a little bit about myself.

The Beginning

I was born in Belgium, but grew up in USA – first Alaska then Arizona. I think I’ve always had a bit of an adventurous streak. I can remember, from a very early age, reading with awe and admiration the stories of other travelers, and imagining what it would be like to go explore unfamiliar places myself.

In 2015, I decided I wanted to get to know Belgian culture and my Belgian extended family firsthand. So, I quit my job, ended my apartment lease, sold most of my things, gave my car to my parents and moved to Belgium on a one way ticket!

It sounds so simple and fearless when stated like that, but the truth was – this was a HUGE first step for me! It wasn’t without planning though – I spent almost the entire previous year saving up funds for the upcoming trip. Having family there was immensely helpful and reassuring as well. I’d been to Belgium a couple of times before on family vacation trips, so it wasn’t a completely unknown destination.

Still, this was more than just a short vacation. There were many moments of extreme doubt when I questioned every aspect of the decision to move. It’s difficult to leave the security and comfort of a familiar and stable routine in favor of the unknown. But, it’s also very exciting. And, a part of me felt that I just had to go. Even if it ended disastrously, I knew without a doubt that the regret I’d feel for not having had the courage to pursue this dream would have haunted me for the rest of my life.

I look back on it now as one of the best decisions ever made.

BJJ Begins!

For the previous 10 years or so, I’d been a somewhat athletic person, trying a variety of sports from yoga to indoor rock climbing to jogging to power lifting, all of which I enjoyed to some extent.

I first heard about jiu-jitsu from a friend who was practicing the sport, and talked about it constantly. It piqued my curiosity enough to look up a gym in my city and try an intro class – I was instantly hooked!

Shortly thereafter, I booked my first Globetrotter Camp (Leuven 2017) which through pure amazing luck was located just an hour away by train from my home! I had some second thoughts about the wisdom of attending a multi-day training camp without knowing anyone, being a somewhat shy and introverted person, and still being so new to BJJ. But, I ended up having the BEST time!

I really can’t say enough good things about my experience at the Globetrotter Camp. The training, organization, and venue were wonderful, but what made the biggest impression on me was the people involved. From the moment I arrived, participants and organizers were friendly, welcoming, and excited to train regardless of age, gender, rank, gym affiliation, language or nationality. It made me realize that BJJ was much more than a casual sport – it was a passion that connected people from all paths of life, an entire community!

In regards to traveling, BJJ is one of the big unifying factors of my trips. With every new location, everything might change – my home space, the neighborhood, the people around me, the food, the language, the currency, the climate, the culture etc. but despite all this – the experience of training BJJ remains very much the same. Every new destination only feels foreign until I step on the mats then, with a fist bump and a smile, it suddenly feels like home again.

A New Adventure

While living in Belgium, I had the opportunity to visit many of the neighboring countries in Europe for short trips, sometimes solo and sometime with friends. These countries included France, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Malta, Cyprus, and Ireland – all of which further increased my love of traveling and desire to experience different cultures.

Towards the end of 2018, I took the very big step of leaving behind a fixed location in favor of slowly traveling the world for the upcoming year, relocating every couple weeks/months.

The Plan

I’ll be returning to USA to visit family December/January (as I do every winter), then plan to begin exploring the Asian countries early 2019. My past travels have been largely restricted to Europe, so I expect this to be quite different than what I’ve experienced before. I’m still in the process of researching logistics, but will probably start with Bali then country-hop from there, returning to Europe for the big BJJ Globetrotters Germany Summer Camp in July/August!

My criteria for choosing a location is loosely as follows (not in priority order): good public transportation system, has stable fast wifi, reasonably cheap, reasonably safe, has at least one place to train BJJ, and has decent weather/climate (I hate the cold). Of course, not every destination will meet all of these points, but these are my general guidelines.

As I’m budget traveling, great deals on flights and accommodations might mean choosing some unexpected locations, which I think is a great opportunity to visit a place I possibly wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Of course, I’ll be training in every city, with the goal of visiting 200 BJJ gyms around the globe! I’m still very much in the process of learning the ropes of traveling and living this way, so will undoubtedly learn a lot in the upcoming year. Besides BJJ, my interests include art/graphics, nature, beautiful spaces, animals, and desserts. Therefore, you can expect future posts to touch on some/all of these of these topics to some extent.

So… cheers to the adventure, new experiences, and to the ongoing BJJ journey! Hope to see you on the mats :)

Belgrade: The One Stop Shop

June 25, 2017/in Blogs/by Danjerr Presson

The country: Serbia
Gyms visited: Kimura Academy, Old School
Atmosphere: Instant friends

Read anywhere online and the forums will tell you Belgrade is party central Eastern Europe with floating clubs and women like goddesses. I was most excited for this stop on my summer trip around Europe, but for a different reason. That reason was Kimura Academy. After hearing about this gym through several traveling bjj sources I knew I had to make a stop there. I wasn’t disappointed.

Kimura Academy is tucked away in the middle of the city with a large mat space that’s filled up each class. There’s a lot of heart on the mats and I had to push myself to get rolls in till the end of each class. I’ve noticed they also train much later here than I’m used to in Eastern Europe with classes easily beginning later than 9pm and going until 11 at night. The real gold in this gym for travelers lies with the efforts of the instructors to make you feel welcome and have a great experience. I feel very fortunate to have met Professor Gile who has an excellent reputation in this part of the world and in the BJJ community.

From my last class with this team

I definitely indulged in some of the nightlife with the cheap booze and floating clubs. One of my better nights spent off the mats was at a Kafana which plays local Serbian folk music that I didn’t understand but had a welcoming crowd cheering out the words of every song. There’s also a great place to look out from the giant old fortress and plenty of river reflected lights surrounding the city. Belgrade is full of great views if you search for them.

The gleaming Church of Saint Sava with a gold plated basement

I was able to get a private lesson with very talented Serbian black belt Uroš Čulić. In a short 90 minutes I learned more than I could in weeks. I was very fortunate to have this opportunity as it changed my perspective on a couple parts of training. After, he invited me to train at his gym Old School which is located a short drive from the city. Old School is filled with very tough guys that might have tried their best to friendly take a limb or two off me, but I left with all still attached.

Nothing is as humbling as rolling with someone this good for an hour

Serbia taught me a lot and gave me new friends. There was so much value in this week long trip I can’t recommend it enough. Thanks to everyone that helped me out!

BJJ Brown Belt Promotion

May 16, 2017/in Blogs/by coachjungle

Brown Belt Promotion. May 6th 2017, My brother promoted my other brother and me to BJJ Brown Belt. After years of training I am a Brown Belt

I started my BJJ journey in 2002. Just after getting beat in a tough man contest by a person that knew Jiu Jitsu. One of my marines who I did Marine corps Marital arts with told me about this place down the road from my base. I attend a class and fell in love. I started going 2-3 days a week. And in those days your a white belt you were the practice dummy and didn’t really learn anything except how to tap.

For the next 10 years I bounce around all over training anywhere and with anyone. Every city, state or country I was in I would try to find Jiu Jitsu. We trained in the dirt, in the sand or on the concreat. As long as we were rolling I was happy. In 2010 I deployed to Haiti for the earth quake relief. Even there I found a Gracie Brown belt to roll with in the dirt. Between protection new agents we rolled.

I found me self in austin Texas. Where I bounced around to gym after gym. Finally finding my now Brown Belt brother Brandon. Who introduced me to my brother, business partner and Professor Mikal. We all met at a bar because we we all training a couple of amateur MMA fighters to get into the cage for the first time. We spoke and we all were on the same page and wanted a place where we felt at home. A place with no political agenda. And no BS. At that moment is where we started our first gym Aces. We met at my house put a couple 6’x6′ purple mats on the ground in my garage and rolled.

A few few months later we open our first club. The country Club of BJJ. A place we’re you walked in and left your ego at the door and you were family. White belt to black belt you are one. And we are all there to help each one of us grow.

Now almost 4 years into our journey. We are the same. I am a brown belt, Brandon is a brown belt promoted with me. And mikal was promoted to black belt 2 years after we opened.

I still travel all over for work and you will see more blogs about my travels.

Today was a hard day

April 25, 2017/in Blogs/by Uncle Sticky

https://goo.gl/photos/anqAYvpGQ24fzu6z9

I guess this is day six, and it was kind of a tough one. I’m a big bad Jiu Jitsu man, and the feels, well, you can’t choke out sadness or missing your number one lover girl. I sent Jen off at 7 this morning for another five day stint of solo-ish hiking. It was hard to say goodbye, and when I returned to the empty campsite, it was pretty maudlin. I didn’t cry. Nobody saw me shed a tear, so nobody can prove it happened, but it was kind of a lonely experience. I might have sniffled a little, but maybe I’m getting a cold.

On the plus side, I did Jiu Jitsu! First time since Thursday, and well, a three day lay off is hard for me, especially when I’m feeling the feels about other things. I took the recommendation from Alfredo Barum and visited his buddy Joao Carlos Silva. For the record, I had to cut and paste his name. I may have a purple belt in BJJ, but my Portuguese name pronunciation is still white belt spaz. It was really cool. He just opened his new own Ribeiro gym in Carlsbad, about ten minutes from where I’m parked. Really shiny, and well, I kind of pulled a dick move.

See, he’s got a brand new gym, and I’ve been hiking and camping. I thought my feet were clean, but after living in the woods for a few days, your idea of clean is a little off. He was wearing a white gi. He’s going to need some OxyClean! He’s building up his program, and tonight it was just the two of us, working some cool Ribeiro stuff. Awesome! I got tapped out about five times in two rounds with a fifty-five year old brown belt, so it felt like home.

https://www.facebook.com/ribeirojjcarlsbad/?fref=nf for some training, I’m sure hes cleaned the mats of my forest foot.

On Friday, it was time to go check on my PCT hiking woman. Honestly, I was worried that I’d show up, she’d be in tears, ready to quit, hating how hard it was. I drove down a forest road with the dogs and the motorcycle and my concerns for the well being of my wife, found a spot where the trail crossed, and started hiking in.

Let me just say that there are many times when I think I’m going to find the broken, emotionally shattered wreck that was once my beloved Super Jen, and she always disappoints me. I’ll tell you another time about how she scared me on Half Dome by being fearless, or when we hiked Crawlers Ledge on the North Shore of Kauai, and when she didn’t come around the ledge that had scared the shit out of me, I assumed that she was frozen with fear and unable to move. Yeah, right. She was taking selfies. She asked me to come out on the ledge to take a picture. I tartly declined.

Once again, there she was, chugging along smiling and happy and nowhere near an emotional crisis. I sent the dogs up ahead, and they found her first. I found her by the noise of delight as she reunited with the pups.

After five days on her own on the trail, she called her mom. Moms’ first question was “did you quit?” Jen laughed, and I realized I’m not the only one who underestimates her sometimes.

Apparently the challenges presented thus far have fallen into two categories: The first she calls the Game Makers, as in when the Hunger Games designers throw twists at you just to see how you deal. Those were things like getting a ton of blisters from her brand new boots, having her umbrella break, getting a little lost, her compass breaking.

The other category is “Not today Satan!” items. Those are long climbs in the sun, rocky trails, and the mileage. These are things that are part of the trail, but which can break your spirit. She ain’t having it.

She seems to be born to this long hiking, most of the time. Smiling, getting up early to hit the trail, helping out and cheer leading the other hikers. She’s calling herself the trail mom.

I spent a few extra days at camp, and although we hadn’t planned it, the camp lent itself well to a little slackbacking. Jen stayed in the trailer, got up, and hiked with a lighter pack, but she was still going hard. She’s regularly hitting ten miles, and now even more. I hiked a mile with her in the morning, bringing the boys along, and then turned around. For tiny little guys, they do pretty well, but they poop out. Jen took Marley along for a day, and ended up packing him out.

Our buddy Joe!, who was the one who most inspired her, met us in camp, and hiked along with us for a few days. I left them both to come back down to town, and they hiked together for a day. Joe left her at a place called scissors crossing, mile 70. That’s a full day of hiking, and Joe wrapped up his PCT nostalgia tour. Jen hiked another 7 miles, total of 17 for the day. Yes, holy crap is right.

And it’s on, like Donkey Kong!

April 20, 2017/in Blogs/by Uncle Sticky

So, in the unlikely event you’re done reading the first, sort of explanatory blog, well, congrats, you’ve reached boss level. BTW, Jen hates video games, so don’t tell her that I made a video game reference on a blog that is ostensibly about her adventure. Also, her name is Jen, or Jennifer, but for the love of tiny baby jeebus, don’t spell it with two “n”s. I don’t know why this is important, but I have learnend that it is. Like all good conversations, this one is likely to be steered towards BJJ. Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is like Jiu Jitsu, honey….It takes a long time, and it can give you a sore neck. And often times you don’t smell so good.

Speaking of, I sent Jen off yesterday morning, around 9. I can’t say what day, because my sister in law, Janet, is convinced that someone is going to read the blog, or my facebook posts, drive out to the middle of nowhere, hike multiple miles in difficult conditions, and attack my wife. I’d like to point out the number of murders on the PCT are, statistically speaking, lower than the number of alien abductions, also, lower than your chance of winning the Power Ball or having sex with whomever is on your freebie list. Yes, Ross Geller, I’m looking at you.

Now, you might question my math, but here’s the proof. The number of people who have won the lottery is more than 0. People having sex with hot Italian actresses whom, while past their prime, are still more attractive than anybody reading, or writing, this blog. Or anybody on Friends. Seriously, I used to think Courtney Cox was pretty hot, but the neurosis……

Anyway, I digress, as I am wont to do. Also, then number of reported Alien abductions is also non-zero, and the fact that there is a lingering question of whether they happen or not still makes them more likely than getting murdered on the PCT. Not even crazy people think they got murdered on the PCT.

So, Jen has a sore neck. I sent her off from the Mexican border wall, which frankly, looks like the Mexicans did pay for it, exactly the amount they think it’s worth. I walked with her for about a mile and a half, during which time she constantly fucked with her umbrella.

We had gotten up really early and driven in from San Diego, and it was hard to see her go, and well, frankly I don’t think I was at my best emotionally. I may have also had one more whiskey than I am accustomed too the night before, and well, the whole thing was stressful and sad, and she kept fucking with this umbrella. Also Bernardo tried to run off and join the fire department, who was a mile down the road carting some poor woman off who hurt her ankle and probably killed six months of planning in the first mile.

So I kissed her about an hour in, turned around, and headed back to the border with Mexico, while she began her walk towards the border with Canada. I headed back to San Diego, briefly thought about a nap, and instead opted to hit Jiu Jitsu.

I visited Barum BJJ, which is a stones throw, but a fifteen minute drive, from my Trailer Park Paradise. Seriously California, for a state that worships the car, you sure make it hard to drive one. Anyway, most of the good schools I’ve visited are in tucked away pockets, with no glitz and no glamour.

I’ve trained in a garage with a member of the Dirty Dozen, and in a broken down strip mall with a bunch of amazing Kauai players. My favorite is the BJJ Class taught by Daniel Thomas in a kung fu studio in Monterey. This is one of those places. Guys show up ten minutes late, the place is in an industrial park, nothing fancy. Ah, but the Jiu Jitsu. Solid, fundamentally sound, those little tweaks that you wished you had known five years ago.

I just got my Purple Belt on Saturday, and this was my first time actually training since then.

I was nervous. Heavy is the waist that wears the purple, and I was visiting a town full of killers. This school is good, but man, they’re also really cool. They work on the theory that you get better if you’re not thinking murder or be murdered all the time. We all need a little mayhem and chaos, but I’m fifty, and well, I like to roll, and as much as I’m filled with thoughts of homicide, it’s nice to have really technical rolls with good people. And that’s what I got. Okay, enough BJJ for today, which is how I felt after rolling for ninety minutes.

She had planned on a short day, about 5 miles, and I got a text saying that she had reached that point, at 12:30. She set up her tent, a light weight miracle made by Z-packs which cost more than a semester at a State College here, and tucked in.

That lasted about 60 sweaty, bright minutes. She ate some lunch, packed up, and walked another five. Honestly, although she deviated from the don’t do too much plan, I’m proud of her. I’m also slightly, guiltily, experiencing some schadenfreude. She told me last night that the goddamn umbrella had made her neck hurt. Of course, so did mine, but I didn’t tell her that.

Stop, Walk, and Roll

April 19, 2017/in Blogs/by Uncle Sticky

We all have passions, and in life, we often share those passions with the ones we love. Or at least try to. Often with limited success. A great marriage, I believe, is based on the ability to feign just enough interest to keep your spouse feeling loved, without making them believe that you’d actually engage in the activity they suggested on more than a token level. That way they won’t be surprised when you don’t like their favorite movies (seriously, Raging Bull vs. Pride and Prejudice. Oh, Mr. Darcy, can you imagine?) And so it is with the adventures chronicled in this blog.

Sometime around 2010, my soon to be wife, Super Jen, and I moved to Reno, NV. I had trained martial arts a little here and there, and wanted Jen to learn some self-defense, since Reno in the 2010 days was sketchy a.f., more like crappy parts of Portland than the hipster paradise it’s becoming today. I found a school that was less Kobra Kai than most, and seemed really woman friendly, and signed us up. Since we were newly wed, she hadn’t learned the proper balance of feigning interest vs. not ever doing that stupid stuff again, and she tried gamely to fake her way all the way to green belt, or mid-beginner.

I knew it was over when she broke in to tears and refused to try and punch me in the face. I felt that meant she loved me deeply, and also had zero faith in my defensive skills. I was touched, and emasculated. I vowed then to train harder and improve my skills, so that my dear, sweet wife could try and punch me without fear or regret. I figured it was coming anyway, so I might as well prepare myself.

After about four years, give or take, I earned a black belt in our schools’ program, which included a pretty tough six month black belt test. Say what you will about traditional martial arts, I say it too, but this school really took their training seriously, without being an MMA factory. Which brings us to the Jiu Jitsu part. This school teaches a balance of TMA with forms, flashy kicking, and other such old school stuff, with self-defense, muay thai combos and padwork, sparring, and BJJ. Along the way, I fell in love with the gentle art of choking, smashing and joint bending, and after I got my black belt, I pretty much quit with the jumping and spinning and the yelling in Korean.

I never really tried to get Super into Jiu Jitsu, it was much more intense, focused on killing the other guy. In TKD and other arts, you can go, train, jump around in your pajamas, kick pads, whatever, and never touch another human, let alone hear him exhale loudly in pain or make that weird gurgling noise when it’s close but not quite right. BJJ, is by its very essence, practiced on someone who is desperately, and sometimes skillfully, trying not to let you do the very thing you’re trying to learn to do. Slap hands, fist bump, simulate murder. Although I don’t get why, I knew she’d never go for it.

Of course, this blog won’t be just about my Jiu Jitsu travels and journey, it is also about Jens’ passion, which I show a mild interest in and avoid getting sucked into at the high level she’s involved. Her passion is the reason I’m traveling around the West Coast from California to Canada, rolling, stinking, choking, loving. Jen is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Yeah, like the girl from Wild, but with a much better backpack and fewer emotional issues. Not to say none, but man, that girl was a mess.

Jen somehow got the bug from a disastrous but eventually triumphant trip up Half Dome, or Half-a-dome as she insists on calling it.

We got a permit to go with our friend Joe!, who had hiked the PCT back before it was cool. I put a light day pack on Jen, a huge backpack on me, and she cried and hated every minute of the three day trip, except the Half Dome part, which in all fairness, scared the shit out of me. She loved it. Hated backpacking loved hiking. Then Joe told her to get a real backpack, so we did, and started doing over night trips around Tahoe, where we live.

I don’t think she would’ve ever taken to it but for one thing. Well, maybe a couple or a few, but one 1 thing sealed the deal. Jen is an Idaho girl, so tougher and more used to outdoors stuff than most. River rat, mountain biker, general Idaho tough girl. Jen is also a recovering Mormon, and those people just seem bred to walk. I think they marry each other with an eye towards offspring that can walk long distances in white shirts and black ties, carrying the collected words of Joseph Smith in their knapsacks. She can walk. Most importantly, Marley likes backpacking.

Marley is our blue eyed, twenty pound shih tzu, looks like a stuffed animal made love to a muppet, and he can go like a Jack London wolf-dog in the woods. Jen LOVES Marley. So, once Marley was on-board with the hiking and tenting and camping, I didn’t have much choice.

I don’t know how the PCT dream really got planted. I remember her asking me if I wanted to go. I told her that I couldn’t wait to hear all about it. The more she talked about it, the clearer it became that 1: I didn’t want to go and 2: I didn’t really want her to go by herself. You see, I love my wife, and I miss her. I’m that one in the relationship for sure. Make of that what you will. It didn’t come from the Cheryl Strayed, and it didn’t come from Reese Witherspoon, I think it came from Joe, but by the summer of 2016, it was cemented in.

And that, is how we got here, me sitting in a trailer in San Diego, two dogs, a half dozen gi’s, and a bunch of dried food, following Super Jen from Mexico to Canada. This blog is called STOP, WALK, And ROLL, and we’ll be doing a lot of all three.

Heart of N’djamena

March 26, 2017/in Blogs/by Danjerr Presson

Part Two: N’djamena Has Heart

Meet Basile. Basile is an approximately 6’2″/ 188cm tall 220lb / 100kg Judo black belt with 1o years of combined Judo and Wrestling experience. I stand at a staggering 5’8″ / 172 cm and 170lb / 77kg after leaving a buffet and I’m about to introduce Basile to BJJ. I haven’t trained or competed in several months so admittedly I’m a tad intimidated. If Basile is able to just rag-doll me then myself and BJJ might lose our credibility. In most of the world these days it’s universally accepted that BJJ is a highly effective martial art. However, In many place of Africa it’s a different story. Without practitioners and limited media this is much of a ‘that won’t work on me’ mentality that existed when people first saw Brazilians turning people into pretzels. Just two days after finding INJS I was meeting Basile accompanied again by Doug and Zabra. We’re meeting at the modest gym that he does fitness personal training and I’m hoping we’re able to do some training there. The small gym is near what could be considered downtown just off a bumpy dirt road. It even has a bayside view of a well littered river. The gym itself is clean with realistic paintings of fitness specimen on the walls. Basile’s English is good and he invites me into his training room which is scattered with workout equipment. Much to my surprise there is a hefty stack of worn mats in the corner. The Judo Federation has done well for Tchad. Basile agrees to do some training and I set out mats as he finished with a client. Zabra joins in and we do a introductory no gi class. Basile has an idea of what BJJ is but this is Zabras first time with grappling. I teach seminar style showing what makes BJJ different from Judo and other martial arts emphasizing the guard and submissions. We successfully do some live guard passing / retention drills and finish with a few rolls. Basile and I had some great rolls! My previous worries were unwarranted as I was able to submit him several times using efficient technique over strength. He was intrigued and both Basile and Zabra were on board to continue learning. We scheduled a time to begin N’djamena’s first BJJ class within a couple days

(post training pic taken with my phone that has the same camera quality as a toaster)

I arrive at INJS ready to teach. I have a pretty solid idea to run through warm ups, basic fundamentals of an armbar from guard and passing the closed guard, live drills, and finish with a couple rolls. Unfortunately, INJS had other plans. I come in to see the familiar boxing and TKD classes going on and find Basile is there with bad news. The Chadian national Judo team is scheduled to train at the same time we had planned. Fortunately, the coaches agreed to allow us a shorter time to use the mats before they kick us off. I meet and greet everyone the has come to see what this weird new martial art in Tchad is. Thanks to Zabra’s social media skills, there is a pretty good turn out of 6 Africans that have come to join. Once the mats are ours I quickly get started to begin the condensed version of my lesson plan. Warm ups are simple with the added confused faces at the sight of a ‘shrimp’ movement. I explain in as few words as possible and demonstrate the techniques. Having Basile help translate is invaluable although I’m still not sure how much is lost in translation. I enjoy watching everyone smiling and struggling to get the moves down. I found that it’s almost impossible to correct mistakes without physically moving their bodies into the right spot and saying “Ici” here in French. Then, “Ceva” good. That’s about the extent of my French but it works and eventually everyone is armbarring or tapping. We’re able to just get a few minutes of live drilling before our time is up. The group is very physically strong and it’s difficult to explain how they need to use 50% of their energy or strength to properly learn so most of the drill is a lot of flopping around. The young Judo team trickle in and gaze at the fiasco as if there were gazelles playing soccer in the room. After we finish, I consider it a success and thank everyone for coming and set up the next training date. While packing to leave Basile informs me that the Judo professor would like to invite me to teach ‘newaza’ or Judo ground game to the Chadian National Judo Team. I’m thrilled to accept!

I arrive again at INJS with Gi in bag and mind racing with info from all the youtube vids I used to try to figure out what works in Judo. When the class is ready to begin I Gi up and feel awkward in my BJJ blue belt at a Judo class. Basile eases my suffering by explaining to the team who I am and why I’m there and letting me know that after warm ups I’ll lead the class. I’m going to show some submissions and details of kesa-gatame I work through the techniques with Basile on the side so he has an understanding of how to translate. The class is about 14 students from varying ages from about 10 to 17. As I teach the class is very respectful and responsive. We go through the series slowly to emphasize the importance of the small details. There are several very experienced students and I move around the room working with everyone a bit. Some of the students had good English and many questions. After we finish the successful instruction the Judo professor Najitan Koumninga takes back control of the class for a cool down and the bow out. I stand on the side with Basile and participate in the ending respects which are much longer than any I’ve had in all the BJJ schools I’ve trained at. It really hits me as this is going on how much discipline these kids are learning here and what that kind of structure will do for their future. I feel very proud at this moment to be a part of this Lionheart Initiative project to help spread these kind of qualities to Africa. I’m given a chance to speak to the class and I keep it short just saying how honored I am to be invited to teach them and I really hope that my BJJ will be able to help their Judo.

As this has been happening I’ve also been preparing for a trip to Dakar, Senegal to meet my KOA Team coming all the way from Virgina, USA to teach BJJ in seminars and run the Dakar open tournament for the competitors there as they’ve been doing every year since 2013. My next story will be of that amazing adventure!