Let me just start by saying that the title of this post is absolutely right. I do not mean in any way that I regret training. Brazilian Jiujitsu is something I look forward to every time I get the chance. However, I am always understanding that it is going to hurt. No ifs ands or buts about it…this stuff is painful and dangerous. For the uninitiated, let me just brief you about the nuances of what training is like. Every time you go practice this martial art, you will fight with many people with the intent to strangle them until unconsciousness or attempt to break one of their joints by twisting or bulling it in the “wrong” direction until it pops out of its socket. The only thing that your opponent can do to stop you is to slap something so as to say “I give up, please do not injure me or put me to sleep.” So, the sport that I chose to study is one that you LITERALLY put your life and limb into the trust of others every time you train.
Knowing that, it is even more tricky to believe that those people who you have just met (minutes ago) will put their trust in you and are worthy of you trusting them with your life. I mean, they could just as easily take advantage of you because they don’t know you.
However, in spite of this dangerous need for trust, or really BECAUSE of this need for trust, a real brotherhood is built. We believe that everyone who practices Brazilian Jiujitsu is part of our family and must absolutely be treated with that respect no matter what part of the world you are from or where you are. That is why I love this so much.
I train with Jeff Glover (a champion in this sport) and part of a team with Dean Lister (another champion) at Victory MMA in San Diego, California, USA. When people know I train there, they always ask about Jeff and how much they love his matches and how much they respect Dean’s game. I am proud to be part of this team.
I am on a quest to visit BJJ schools all over the world as I travel with my family. I will continue to add to this post as I visit more schools. Also, I am collecting patches from the schools at which I train. My gi (uniform) is starting to resemble an old-time luggage with all of the patches I have collected over the time I have been traveling and training. Certainly, it is not possible to train in every city I get to, nor is it possible to train every day because of the busy schedule we (the Alba family) are keeping. I will run down some of the schools I have trained at and some of the things I have learned.
These guys were about two blocks from my place. When I arrived at their studio, I found out that they were only training No Gi because of the hot weather. That meant that I was able to shed my top and roll “sloppy style” with them. They were a lot of fun because they really enjoy the No Gi style of training. ADCC had just finished so they were excited that I come from the same school as Glover and Lister. I worked with a really talented Russian guy there and worked on my passing game. To tell you the truth, the place was so wet and sloppy that I had to laugh when they said that I should report back that Barcelona BJJ has their own swimming pool like no one else.
Clayton Bastos BJJ, Bilbao Spain:
The next time I worked with a school was in Bilbao Spain. Now I had traveled across the country from the east coast to the west coast. This guy was amazing! He was the nicest guy I have met on my trip. Just getting to know me, he made sure that I was well taken care of not only on the mat, but also when I left his place. He went back to my place in Bilbao to meet Elena and the girls as well as help me with some of the travel issues I had bumped up against when in his city. The BEST brother I can ask for. His guys were quite scrappy. It seems that they work a lot of the half guard and helped me to think about how to improve my half guard game. I am more of a top player, but still could use a lot of the bottom game based on what these guys do. After the classes, I was able to teach the class some of the things I had learned from Jeff and my other coaches over the years. They were all ears and were interested in the loop choke I use, and were happy to see that I was willing to exchange this with them.
Davi Cavalcante Madrid, Spain:
Finding this place was a lot of fun, as I had to triangulate several map apps in order to finally get there. But when I did, I was met by a very nice Davi who was happy to see a stranger and swap BJJ stories of the greats and the up-and-comers. Davi asked me to help lead the warm-ups, so I put his group through the paces with what I am used to at Victory. I believe that the warm-ups are the best opportunity to drill the finer and nuanced points of BJJ, so I do my best to make sure that this happens when I am working with others. Davi is a tough tournament competitor who took me down a few notches as he rolled with me. It does feel good to have someone fight you harder than you can fight them. I think it is important to be humbled often enough to appreciate when you get the upper hand on the lower belts. As Helio said: “You either win or you learn”. After the rolls, we hung out and talked a bit of Jiujitsu lore. That was a lot of fun. At the end of our time together, I taught his students a few techniques I feel pretty proud of and feel are high percent moves (unless I try them on Jeff). They really liked my D’Arce choke from under side control (learned it from Jeff Glover), and videotaped me doing it so that they could study it further. This is one of the best things about traveling and meeting BJJ friends: exchanging techniques only improves the art as a whole.
Hans Hutton BJJ Munich Germany:
After Spain I was not able to train while in Paris, but when we got to Germany I was able to spend a morning at Hans Hutton’s BJJ studio. The girls all dropped me off and wished me good luck as I trained with the Germans. These guys really love their wrestling. The transition and fluid game is not the same as ours, but their top control is pretty nice. We worked on some take-down strategies throughout the class, and also some clinch control techniques. This is the first time that I was not able to communicate well with my partners because they didn’t speak much English, and I spoke zero German. This is why it is so important to smile a lot, shake hands, and have a good time. I really enjoyed the clinch work, and had a blast rolling with Hans for a while.
After Germany, I was able to train in a high school in Nice where these guys work really hard at perfecting their game. During class, I was able to work on my side-control with new perspectives. I am not sure if I will change my strategies, but I do have a new-found respect for their work effort and their techniques. We had a great time on the mat and the instructor even took me to the train station after class on his scooter. I have not sat on the back of a bike since I was about 16 years old.
Marco Fabris’ Burning BJJ, Udine, Italy:
What can I say about Marco? I met Marco two summers ago when he visited Victory MMA in San Diego. We hit it off immediately as two guys who just wanted to choke each other out as fast as we could. He is a tough fighter and I am always happy to oblige his tendencies. This guy is a nice guy all around. I told him in 2014 about my world tour, and he said it was very nice to hear about someone traveling around the world…but I don’t think he took me seriously. However, this last summer, when he again visited Victory, I reminded him that in August I would be leaving with my family, and he immediately offered to host me at his gym. Now, that happened to be a day that Elena and the girls had also been to the gym to hang out with me. And, if you know my wife, she took to discussing the possibilities with him and the deal was set. We were committed to seeing my friend NO MATTER WHAT. I have got to admit that this is the only reason that we decided to visit north-eastern Italy: the jiujitsu. However, you have probably read that the food is amazing there as well (but that is another post). I was treated like royalty by my friend and was asked to teach both of his classes the evening we trained. I worked on teaching a modified “bow and arrow” choke as Alex Brandao had taught me. And for the second class, I taught the “baseball choke” from several different positions. I rolled with his students as well as with Marco. He is always a game opponent and I cannot wait to roll with him the next time he makes it to San Diego.
In Rome, do as the Romans. Let me tell you that these Romans put up a great game where it counts. We worked on a few techniques from the lasso guard, and I was able to gain a much better insight into how this guard works for sweeps and other take-downs. I had some fun with my drilling partner, but when it came to the sparring matches, I only trained with the black belts. Rolling with the black belts is always bitter-sweet as you know you will be smashed and “rolled up” as well as learn about your own ability to get out of seriously bad situations. I will say that I was the nail way more than I was the hammer, but it was all worth it. I even met a great Argentinian fellow named Alejandro with whom I was able to speak Spanish throughout our roll.
Life is great when you can find friends anywhere in the world and train until you can call them Brothers. As much as it hurts to fight this hard, I never want to give it up. Beer always helps, though…
Alba World Tour 
That’s great that you have a common interest that you can pursue and share world over. Another aspect of the beauty of travel. Love hearing the stories.
LikeLike