mercredi 14 septembre 2011
lundi 12 septembre 2011
Who am I? O' Papagaio!!
As everyone at the club knows, I share a name with the owner of a competitive club here in Sudbury. Yves Charette from Team Shredder.
There has been a bit of an ongoing joke with my friends from OAMA that I'm known as "the real" Yves Charette. Of course, this isn't to disrespect Yves, he's much more accomplished in martial arts than I'll ever be, but moreso just for jokes.
It all started a few years ago when I called OAMA to reserve my spot for a Renzo Gracie Seminar the night before the second Wreck MMA. The guy who took my reservation was a bit thrown off by my name, but took my $100 and said he was looking forward to seeing me after all this time.
Of course, I found that odd, but didn't push the issue any further. I realized shortly after hanging up the phone that he must have thought it was Yves from Team Shredder calling to attend a Renzo seminar at OAMA the day before his fighter Mitch Gagnon was set to take on OAMA's Stephane Bernadel at Wreck.
In addition to that, I threw Pat Cooligan off with a Facebook friend request where my face didn't match my name. I've since gotten to know Pat and all is good. (thank god, because he could kick my ass) haha!
At any rate, Steve has often said we needed to get me a new name but nothing ever really stuck. I don't believe a person can give themselves their own nickname, so a while back, I took a nickname given to me by my good buddy, training partner and former co-worker Kevin Crittenden. When we worked together, he would jokingly complain that I always had a sarcastic comment or something to mock everyone (mainly him)...I was a "f@$king Parrot!" I used to walk by his office and let out a nice little "KaKaw!!" When we were the only ones left at the office, I would let out a "Kakaw!" on the loudspeaker/intercom.
Last year, I played a bit with the nickname to try and make it cooler. In BJJ, many fighters have a nickname that represents a strength in their games "Jacare" means Alligator, "Toquinho" means tree stump for the strength of a guy like Rousimar Palhares. Ricardo Almeida is the BigDog..."Cachorrao". So...for myself, I looked up the Parrot (which is a pretty weak fighting nickname when used in English) and in Portuguese (the language of BJJ), it's "Papagaio". Doesnt that sound badass?!? haha!!
Ok...so I'm trying to make it official. I might even put it on the lapel of my white gi's and begin signing autographs using it. (yes, a high level white belt can sign autographs if he wants to!)
This came up today through a thread on TopMMANews where I post both as Papagaio and PapaG. The secret of my identity is out! Lookout world...Papagaio is coming to choke your kids!!
With love,
Papagaio xo
There has been a bit of an ongoing joke with my friends from OAMA that I'm known as "the real" Yves Charette. Of course, this isn't to disrespect Yves, he's much more accomplished in martial arts than I'll ever be, but moreso just for jokes.
It all started a few years ago when I called OAMA to reserve my spot for a Renzo Gracie Seminar the night before the second Wreck MMA. The guy who took my reservation was a bit thrown off by my name, but took my $100 and said he was looking forward to seeing me after all this time.
Of course, I found that odd, but didn't push the issue any further. I realized shortly after hanging up the phone that he must have thought it was Yves from Team Shredder calling to attend a Renzo seminar at OAMA the day before his fighter Mitch Gagnon was set to take on OAMA's Stephane Bernadel at Wreck.
In addition to that, I threw Pat Cooligan off with a Facebook friend request where my face didn't match my name. I've since gotten to know Pat and all is good. (thank god, because he could kick my ass) haha!
At any rate, Steve has often said we needed to get me a new name but nothing ever really stuck. I don't believe a person can give themselves their own nickname, so a while back, I took a nickname given to me by my good buddy, training partner and former co-worker Kevin Crittenden. When we worked together, he would jokingly complain that I always had a sarcastic comment or something to mock everyone (mainly him)...I was a "f@$king Parrot!" I used to walk by his office and let out a nice little "KaKaw!!" When we were the only ones left at the office, I would let out a "Kakaw!" on the loudspeaker/intercom.
Last year, I played a bit with the nickname to try and make it cooler. In BJJ, many fighters have a nickname that represents a strength in their games "Jacare" means Alligator, "Toquinho" means tree stump for the strength of a guy like Rousimar Palhares. Ricardo Almeida is the BigDog..."Cachorrao". So...for myself, I looked up the Parrot (which is a pretty weak fighting nickname when used in English) and in Portuguese (the language of BJJ), it's "Papagaio". Doesnt that sound badass?!? haha!!
Ok...so I'm trying to make it official. I might even put it on the lapel of my white gi's and begin signing autographs using it. (yes, a high level white belt can sign autographs if he wants to!)
This came up today through a thread on TopMMANews where I post both as Papagaio and PapaG. The secret of my identity is out! Lookout world...Papagaio is coming to choke your kids!!
With love,
Papagaio xo
samedi 3 septembre 2011
Randon Thoughts...
The competition team have arrived safely in Montreal to compete in tomorrow`s Montreal Intl IBJJF tourney. Last night, I trained exclusively with Kyle (Fletcher) as he put in last minute preparation for his first competition at blue belt.
The kid is 16 years old and has a ton of potential. I can only imagine where I might be today had I gotten a start at that age. Makes me feel old when I realize that when I was his age, UFC 1 had not happened yet and the world outside of Brazil had never really heard of Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL TEAM RENZO GRACIE COMPETITORS TOMORROW! You`ve put in the work, it`s time to bring home the gold.
Speaking of Brazil, now that our family trip to Disney World is in the books, I really want to put a plan together to visit Rio de Janeiro for a week or so to visit the sights and spend some time training in the motherland of jiu jitsu. Who`s in?
The kid is 16 years old and has a ton of potential. I can only imagine where I might be today had I gotten a start at that age. Makes me feel old when I realize that when I was his age, UFC 1 had not happened yet and the world outside of Brazil had never really heard of Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL TEAM RENZO GRACIE COMPETITORS TOMORROW! You`ve put in the work, it`s time to bring home the gold.
Speaking of Brazil, now that our family trip to Disney World is in the books, I really want to put a plan together to visit Rio de Janeiro for a week or so to visit the sights and spend some time training in the motherland of jiu jitsu. Who`s in?
lundi 29 août 2011
My thoughts on Eddie Bravo.
I first learned who Eddie Bravo was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. He would do an unofficial scorecard at UFC events and Joe Rogan would use this when a fight would go the distance during a broadcast. I later got into Jiu Jitsu got my undergrad degree from youtube and google with regards to the ins and outs of the sport. (yes, I agree I knew nothing and am striving everyday to learn "something").
At any rate, I`ve always known that Bravo was a polarizing figure. People either love him or they hate him. Not a whole lot of in between. There are a few points which keep coming up for debate.
1. the debate of training in the Gi vs no Gi jiu jitsu.
Bravo`s point on this might make sense to the everyday Joe, but there`s more to it. His idea is that training with the Gi and the different grips and techniques involved don`t translate as well to MMA or the street. He claims his brand of Jiu Jitsu is an evolution of the sport for MMA. (this coming from a guy who never wanted to fight from day 1. *you`ll see this in the video below.)
- my opinion on this is that I really don`t care about his opinion on the gi. (let`s not forget this blog is titled "My thoughts on Eddie Bravo") In the video I posted below, GSP states that he believes training in the Gi improves his game for MMA. It makes it alot tighter. I`ll take GSP`s opinion on this above any others. Why? He`s one of the greatest fighters or all time...and Eddie has never eaten a punch in a professional fight.
2. Eddie`s position on marijuana.
Again, not something I find very important. I don`t smoke, nor do I believe it would do anything to improve my game. (I just need to train more to improve my game.) Do I care that he and others do it or claim it improves their game? Nope.
3. His win over Royler Gracie.
Some say that Eddie built his career and 10th planet JJ on his win in 2003 over Royler at Abu Dhabi (combat club). This might lead one to consider him as Jiu Jitsu`s version of a "one hit wonder". The long awaited rematch was set to happen at ADCC in Nottingham, England next month, but alas, the terms couldn`t be agreed on. (to Eddie`s credit, he was prepared to roll)
4. The naming of moves in his system.
Eddie talks about this in the video below, but I will disagree with him on this. There is a move he calls the "jew claw" which is an Omo-Plata...so to say he hasn`t renamed any moves that already had names is silly. I do agree that naming these moves the way he has enables his students to create a cleaner roadmap for their game. (not to say this isn`t done by higher level guys in BJJ, Eddie just seems to have made it simpler).
5. The rubberguard.
Here`s where I go against the grain. I like this guard and I believe it has it`s place. I find it silly when people dismiss the rubberguard because it comes from Eddie. I`ve been training a little over 2 years and I consider myself an elementary level student when it comes to the art, but for my own use (and the freakish flexibility I have in my legs for a guy my size), it`s a great high guard and setup for attacks off the back.
At the end of the day, if you see me trying some rubberguard (while wearing the gi)when I`m rolling with my training partners, it has nothing to do with politics. I see it as a good "high guard" option. I`m just trying to get better using any advantage that I can and I have a hard time dismissing something before I try it out for myself.
The following video is interesting...though I must say that although I personally don`t agree with everything Eddie says, I don`t hate the guy either.
At any rate, I`ve always known that Bravo was a polarizing figure. People either love him or they hate him. Not a whole lot of in between. There are a few points which keep coming up for debate.
1. the debate of training in the Gi vs no Gi jiu jitsu.
Bravo`s point on this might make sense to the everyday Joe, but there`s more to it. His idea is that training with the Gi and the different grips and techniques involved don`t translate as well to MMA or the street. He claims his brand of Jiu Jitsu is an evolution of the sport for MMA. (this coming from a guy who never wanted to fight from day 1. *you`ll see this in the video below.)
- my opinion on this is that I really don`t care about his opinion on the gi. (let`s not forget this blog is titled "My thoughts on Eddie Bravo") In the video I posted below, GSP states that he believes training in the Gi improves his game for MMA. It makes it alot tighter. I`ll take GSP`s opinion on this above any others. Why? He`s one of the greatest fighters or all time...and Eddie has never eaten a punch in a professional fight.
2. Eddie`s position on marijuana.
Again, not something I find very important. I don`t smoke, nor do I believe it would do anything to improve my game. (I just need to train more to improve my game.) Do I care that he and others do it or claim it improves their game? Nope.
3. His win over Royler Gracie.
Some say that Eddie built his career and 10th planet JJ on his win in 2003 over Royler at Abu Dhabi (combat club). This might lead one to consider him as Jiu Jitsu`s version of a "one hit wonder". The long awaited rematch was set to happen at ADCC in Nottingham, England next month, but alas, the terms couldn`t be agreed on. (to Eddie`s credit, he was prepared to roll)
4. The naming of moves in his system.
Eddie talks about this in the video below, but I will disagree with him on this. There is a move he calls the "jew claw" which is an Omo-Plata...so to say he hasn`t renamed any moves that already had names is silly. I do agree that naming these moves the way he has enables his students to create a cleaner roadmap for their game. (not to say this isn`t done by higher level guys in BJJ, Eddie just seems to have made it simpler).
5. The rubberguard.
Here`s where I go against the grain. I like this guard and I believe it has it`s place. I find it silly when people dismiss the rubberguard because it comes from Eddie. I`ve been training a little over 2 years and I consider myself an elementary level student when it comes to the art, but for my own use (and the freakish flexibility I have in my legs for a guy my size), it`s a great high guard and setup for attacks off the back.
At the end of the day, if you see me trying some rubberguard (while wearing the gi)when I`m rolling with my training partners, it has nothing to do with politics. I see it as a good "high guard" option. I`m just trying to get better using any advantage that I can and I have a hard time dismissing something before I try it out for myself.
The following video is interesting...though I must say that although I personally don`t agree with everything Eddie says, I don`t hate the guy either.
dimanche 28 août 2011
vendredi 19 août 2011
Shawn Tompkins
As everyone has already heard, Canadian MMA Coach, Shawn Tompkins died of a heart attack on Sunday morning. (he was only 37 years old)
I started training in BJJ a little over 2 years ago. I had stared at the club`s website for quite some time before making the move and signing up at the club. What nobody knows is that I`d been doing the same thing when I lived in London, but time and money kept me from making the move back then. The club`s website that I stared at was Team Tompkins.
A friend of mine from work had been dating one of the Muay Thai Fighers and I`d been familiar with Mark Hominick from his Muay Thai days fighting in Calgary (on TSN) in an organization run by Mike Miles. I also liked that Tompkins was teaching the Bas Rutten Fighting System. (Bas had been a UFC Champion at the time).
At any rate, I never made it out to the gym, but I had intended on it. Here`s a pretty awesome video tribute that was made for Shawn which was posted on my facebook newsfeed tonight.
I started training in BJJ a little over 2 years ago. I had stared at the club`s website for quite some time before making the move and signing up at the club. What nobody knows is that I`d been doing the same thing when I lived in London, but time and money kept me from making the move back then. The club`s website that I stared at was Team Tompkins.
A friend of mine from work had been dating one of the Muay Thai Fighers and I`d been familiar with Mark Hominick from his Muay Thai days fighting in Calgary (on TSN) in an organization run by Mike Miles. I also liked that Tompkins was teaching the Bas Rutten Fighting System. (Bas had been a UFC Champion at the time).
At any rate, I never made it out to the gym, but I had intended on it. Here`s a pretty awesome video tribute that was made for Shawn which was posted on my facebook newsfeed tonight.
mercredi 17 août 2011
new Renzo Gracie interview
I just saw this new video posted on my facebook wall by Ken Primola (IloveBJJ.Com)
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