Video highlight of the training in Palma.
This is a small highlight of the teaching and training while I was in Palma De Mallorca. I had the privileged of meeting and training with some great people.
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Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Palma De Mallorca! (Part 3)
Dealing with gym separation
After several days of being separated from my gym and my friends I would be lying if I said I didn’t missed everyone. Being a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructor means that being around my students and working out with them is what literally gets me out of bed in the morning. I find that among other things, one of the most amazing aspects about my job is all the fantastic people I get to interact with all day long. When I used to work in the corporate world there were always people that I disliked and couldn’t stand being around. The gym isn’t this way though. The atmosphere is so positive and I am happy and excited to be.
With this said, I was feeling a little glum while in Palma. I missed being in the mix with my guys. My poor girlfriend had to deal me with in this slightly grumpy state. Bless her heart for putting up with me. While I would send a Facebook message or email to keep in touch with everyone back home, I missed my second home. I have to say thanks to ABAMMA for helping me through this though, albeit inadvertently. Their close knit and super positive gym atmosphere, mixed with the fact that they were so accommodating really helped me deal with my time away from my friends back home. In fact, the atmosphere is was very similar to what I feel back at my gym.
Second Day of Training
On the second day of training I got to meet Issac who is the head of the gym. Again, just like everyone else, he was all smiles. When I stepped out on the mat he was in street clothes and informed me that he was not going to train because he was injured. When we began with the technique Issac was able to translate my technical explanations very well. This was great because with Issac able to translate the students were able to pick up on all the little nuisances that I was explaining.
Eventually it reached that time of class, the time to roll. I started my rolling with Javi again and we had a great roll. During this training session I opened up and went after submissions. I stilled flowed a bit and allowed movement, but now I was hunting for different submissions I have been working on. Since the guys knew I wasn’t there to simply beat on them I figured I could open up a bit and have fun. I was able to catch a few wristlocks and armlocks from some funky positions which always causes a “son of a. . . .” sort of laugh following the tap. The rolling session was fantastic and the guys were tough and aggressive. I also can’t stress enough how similar the demeanor of the rolls were compared to back home. Roll hard and go after it, but with a smile on your face. This is the best way to train in my opinion. Enjoy the human chess game we are engaged in, but still making sure to push one another.
Not all Rolls are created equal
The only reason I bring up the aspect of hard rolling is because I have been to gyms where hard rolling was sort of frowned upon. The instructor at the time would explain how hard rolling causes you to miss the technical side and the true essence of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Now, I will agree that techniques can give way during a hard roll but this is a part of learning how to apply a technique properly. I mean what is the use of having a slick move if you cannot apply it?
Can’t fight the urge
So . . . funny side story that will kind of reveal Issac’s true colors. At some point during the technique portion of class Issac slipped into his kimono. He said it was disrespectful to be in street clothes while we were on the mat teaching. I am not really a strict traditionalist but I understood what he meant. Then once the rolling started he reminded me again that he couldn’t roll. He cited a neck injury that he had sustained a week prior during a training session. Well, like any devoted BJJ player who has been bitten by the “bug” (as its commonly called) his good sense gave way to his urge to get on the mats with someone new. Obviously, resting his body and allowing it to heal would be the best thing for him. No sense in getting hurt just to get one roll in, right? Well that good sense is no match for a BJJ practitioners urge to train. Issac asked if I would roll as soon as I was done with Javi. I of course agreed to and we had a good flowing roll. I would move swiftly through positions that didn’t put much strain on his neck. Whenever we would hit a position that seems to put a bit of pressure on his neck I would ease up. The roll went well, we exchanged technique and his injury wasn’t furthered. A win win and this is a good example of when to use a lighter style of rolling.
I thought it was funny because I’ve been in Issac’s position many times before. You are pained with a nagging injury that’s not too bad to keep you off the mats but still prevents you from a full roll. Then a skilled guy from out of town drops in at your gym. I mean you can’t not roll. . . right? I am glad that I could get a little roll in with him while I was there.
Another funny story
So I met this Polish guy named Rafal during my second training session. We spoke after class a bit about training and random stuff, and somehow it came up about what he did for work. He shared that he worked at a rental place. Cars, bikes, etc . . . anything you need to rent while vacationing on the island. Well later that evening I just so happened to get an email telling me that my request for a rental car had been denied because the model I requested was unavailable. Well I guess this was fate’s way of rearing its head into the mix. I ended up messaging Rafal on Facebook and later that day I picked up a rental car that ended up being 1/3 of the price of the other places, so it worked out really well. This was a huge, because we needed a rental car to get to Torrent de Mortitx which was one of the big highlights of the trip. We also went sight-seeing around the island. Big thanks to Rafal, and if you are ever in Palma check out Q-10 rentals. They have great prices and fantastic service.
Anyways, I must say that my expectations were exceeded while training at ABAMMA. The guys were beyond friendly. I was able to train about 4 times while I was there and I was very satisfied with the training. This helped me stay in relatively good shape while I was away on vacation and I am grateful for their kindness. I hope that I can train with them in the future sometime, I hear the summers in Palma are spectacular.
So, this blog lacked any sort of clear defined structure and was a grouping of things relating to my experience training in Palma. I hope it wasn’t too hard to follow. Thanks for reading it and I’ll post a short video showing some of the training from the trip.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Palma De Mallorca! (Part 2)
Interesting fact about buying a Shoyoroll in Palma compared to the United States. It is crazy expensive, and I mean crazy expensive! A Shoyoroll kimono in America costs about 170ish US dollars after taxes and shipping. At the moment the current conversion rate for the Euro in Spain is around 1.4 to the U.S Dollar. This would translate the 170 dollars in to 238 Euros. Not to bad right? Well unfortunately there are different shipping regulations and taxes here. After shipping costs and taxes the final cost of a Shoyoroll kimono shipped to Palma comes to be . . . *drum roll* . . . about 2000 Euros!!! I know, its crazy! Anyways . . .
Today I finished another training session at ABAMMA in Palma and the overall experience has been fantastic. The guys there are very friendly and have a close knit atmosphere.
First day on the mats in Spain
When I arrived the first day I was greeted by Javi which was who I had talked to over the internet the most. He gave me a big hug when I walked in and showed me around the gym. Everyone was very respectful and friendly, each one making it a point to come up and shake my hand once I was on the mat.
Did the language barrier cause a problem when teaching techniques?
After the class began we did some normal warm up drills and then jumped into some technique. As I started to teach I was a bit nervous at first. I was thinking about the language barrier and I thought of the lack of communication I would have while showing the moves. Really though, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be. While I had worried that my inability to vocalize an accompaniment for the visual instruction would cause the students to miss out on valuable details. This turned out to be no problem because everyone was attentive, possessing proficient ability and the guys took hold of the movements very easily. I made sure move around the mat to manually make the necessary corrections once they were drilling the techniques. All in all, I believe it rather smoothly overall.
Time to roll!
After the technique portion of class we began the rolling. Like I suspected, since there is a high ratio of competitors, everyone rolled very hard. Not hard in a “spaz” sort of way, but rather by putting forth a lot of effort into the rolls. I started the rolling session with Javi and then went with anyone that wanted go. During the first day of training I didn’t do any submissions. I did this because it was my goal to train and make friends while here, not to prove I’m the best and crush every person I rolled with. Instead, I would keep a fast pace and focus on a few specific movements during each roll and would release any submission I had secured. I guess you could think of it as a sort of “catch and release” style of rolling. I would give whoever I was rolling with an opening and then move from there, trying to execute my techniques. I do this with my students at home as well. This style of rolling offers a few benefits in that it allows me to get a lot “active drilling” on moves I am perfecting, it gives a great cardio workout because we keep moving continuously, and I get to help further the less experienced student by offering them opening and giving them opportunities to execute techniques . Once we reached the end of class steam was coming off my body and my gi was significantly heavier from soaking up the perspiration during the training.
A great first experience at a BJJ gym in another country. I will post more about the training here and wrap things up a bit. I also plan to post a little video up as well.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Palma De Mallorca! (Part 1)
So, I am sitting inside the airport at Barcelona waiting for my last flight which will take me to Palma. This is my first time outside of the country and while I obviously knew that life existed outside of my “bubble”. I have never been to a place, where, I didn’t speak the language, wasn’t familiar with the customs and felt . . . not out of place, but rather, completely foreign. The experience is really interesting. I am finding it enjoyable to see what life outside of the “American Way” is like. Little subtleties make it interesting and new, while as a whole everything is essentially the same thing as back home. For example . . . we drink coffee in the U.S and they drink coffee here as well. However, they call it café and its espresso. When we meet someone new in the states we introduce ourselves and make friendly gestures. They do the same here, but add in kisses to the sides of the face.
The main reason for my trip is to see my girlfriend, whom is teaching English in Palma. However, this blog is about BJJ and my experiences with it so I will focus on that, instead of my girlfriend or caffeine addiction abroad.
Training on my travels
I believe at some point I told my girlfriend that whenever I take trips or vacations I always like to get some training in, if possible. Being the super cool chick that she is, she contacted a local BJJ gym for me and helped me set everything up so that I could train while I am in Palma. I spoke with Javi and Issac from ABAMMA over Facebook and they both seem really nice and enthusiastic about training, which is good. Another plus is that their gym is a competition gym and is currently preparing for the European Open which will be taking place next month. I say this is a plus because competition gyms are where I feel the most comfortable because I can train hard without offending someone and I can get a great workout. Another bonus is that they are allowing me to train for free! While I believe that letting a traveling black belt train for free is beneficial for the gym and should be common practice, sometimes it isn’t. Since they have been so gracious to open their gym doors and take the time to speak to me I offered to teach a class or two while I am in Palma, and they accepted. I will go over some of the tried-and-true tournament techniques and drilling that work so well for my guys back home. Hopefully the techniques will serve them well next month.
The language barrier
The teaching aspect will be fun and while they do speak some English I am sure there will be a bit of a language barrier. When I am teaching I will definitely have to focus on excellent visual demonstration of the technique to help make up for it. However, this is my first time teaching a group of people whose primary language is not English so who knows. Maybe the language barrier won’t pose much of a challenge as I presume. One thing that is certain is that once rolling starts . . . the language barrier is gone. After we engage in a roll we will essentially be using the same language. Not our verbal language, but rather our body language, the expression of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. At this point, it doesn’t matter what we call the techniques or how we pronounce letters and words. All that matters is that we are fighting for guard passes, sweeps, dominant positions and an eventual submission. This isn’t something that is in need of understanding one another’s speech.
Anyways, my flight is about to board so I have to cut this off. I will post this on the blog later on once I get settled in Palma. I’ll post about the experience I have at ABAMMA.