Training with martial arts legends in NY (part 1)
Hello Dojo readers!
As many of you know, I just got back from spending the bulk of this week in Manhattan training with some of the greatest martial artists in North America at the world-famous Renzo Gracie Academy! I wanted to share some highlights and pics from the trip. Because of my recent surgery bills (hand surgery to remove a tumor on my left middle finger tendon which you can read–and see–all about here!), I didn’t think I’d be able to afford the trip. But a number of you were so generous and contributed to helping me get there…for which I offer a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU!!!
Bright and early Sunday morning my instructor Derek Richardson, myself, and one of our best grapplers, Chase Cunningham, left Charlotte for the Big Apple. Derek is a student at RGA and is working towards his black belt under Renzo. For those that aren’t in the Brazilian Jiujitsu loop, a black belt from Renzo is an INCREDIBLE achievement and is respected the world over within the BJJ community. Derek goes up to RGA a few times each year and this year he invited a couple of us to go with him to train with the best!
We left Charlotte Sunday morning and got to NY with enough time to drop our luggage off in the apartment and go do some sightseeing. We were staying in Times Square, so we hopped on the subway and headed downtown.
Chase had never been to NYC, so we wanted to make sure that he got to see some of the city outside of the academy! We went through Chinatown down to Staten Island Ferry. Not the best preparation for a week of hard training in hindsight…our feet were killing us! But, Chase DID get to see the Statue of Liberty…from afar…and half-dead from walking all day! 🙂
Meanwhile, I got to hang out with a curiously brave pigeon…
…and Sensei got to see some sweet urban art…
After walking all over lower Manhattan, it was back home to shower and hit the grocery store for food for the week. The first night was my night to cook, so I whipped up some pasta. In the process of settling in, SOMEONE (*cough*Chase*cough) put the silverware tray up in a top cabinet with other dishes unknowingly. So come dinner time, as far as we could tell, we had no utensils to eat with!
Now, for some people this would be cause to go down the 11 floors to the street corner pharmacy and try to find some plastic utensils.
But not 3 exhausted guys with no girls around to impress!
No sir…we made due with what we had. And what we had were 2 large serving spoons and a ladle! haha!
After dinner, we settled in, watched some Terminator 2 on Spanish TV (for some still unknown reason!) and tried to get to bed early. It was definitely a little hard to sleep with all the noise and lights below us right outside our windows…
…but fortunately, I had my earplugs and being utterly exhausted from the day’s travel we got to bed at a decent hour.
RGA – Day 1
Monday morning class started at 7:30am. We were up at 6:45 and out the door by 7:00. RGA is on 30th and 8th, just past Madison Square Garden. That’s about 12 blocks from our apartment, or about a 20-25 min walk each way. We head out and take in the sights, sounds…and smells…of the city during early morning commute.
If you’ve never been to the city, it’s amazing the juxtapositions you will encounter. One second you pass the most delicious aroma wafting from the nearest bakery/deli/pizzaria…and the very next second you can’t help but imagine that every puddle you pass is raw sewage. You see the most stunning supermodel pass by you dressed to the nines…followed by the most atrocious smelling man having an argument with himself. You look up and see gorgeous architecture and beautiful graphic design on every building…then you look down and see trash and God-knows-what-kind-of-liquid pooled at your feet. It really is incredible. And I must say, I’ll never take the pristine beauty of Uptown Charlotte for granted anymore!
So we finally get to RGA, which is TOTALLY unmarked. If you didn’t know where you were going, there’s no way you’d stumble upon it. No signs, no logos, no nothing. Just a tarnished gold doorway leading into an uninspiring elevator lobby. You pass the elevators and head down the most dilapidated stairway down into what seems like an urban dungeon…and then you turn the corner and you’re in one of the most prestigious Jiujitsu academies on the planet!
We get there for John Danaher’s morning submission wrestling (no-gi) class, which is run on Brazilian time…meaning, class is scheduled for 7:30, but begins when John gets there!
Now for those who don’t know, John Danaher is one of the greatest martial arts minds on the planet. He is RGA’s top instructor under Renzo and teaches some of the best MMA fighters in the world. But looking at him, you would never know it. He’s an incredibly soft-spoken, eloquent (a Ph.D in Philosophy!) average size man (with a pretty sweet New Zealand accent!) and carries himself in the most unassuming manner imaginable. Derek says he’s the Yoda of Jiujistu!
So, around 8:00am John comes in the door, takes off his shoes and fanny-pack (yes, fanny-pack–when you’re John Danaher, you’re allowed to rock the fanny pack!) and steps onto the mat. He claps his hands and says, “Alright guys, we’re going to work on our single-leg from standing. Now let’s say your opponent is in a low stance and…” And that’s how it begins!
For the next half hour we drill takedowns with our partner. Then, it’s 3 or 4 rounds, 6 mins each, of free grappling. By the end of the class, the mats are covered with sweat and I am near physical death from fatigue. I go through a huge bottle of Fiji water in about 3 seconds and I’m still thirsty!
Side note: It was at that class that I got to meet a high level black belt named Karl Pravec (aka. “Silver Fox”) who I had talked to a little bit on Twitter…
Sensei had told me that when it comes to guillotines (a BJJ choke), he’s one of the best in the game. Since my guillotines were extremely weak and I almost never finished anyone with them, I asked for some pointers. Karl was incredibly helpful and was happy to give me some tips on my grip and body positioning that made a huge difference immediately. For instance, throughout the entire week I managed to hit 2 submissions on higher ranking students (one on a high-level blue belt and one on a brown belt)… but BOTH were via guillotine!
Big time thanks to Silver Fox!! Hopefully we can get him down to LMA for a seminar sometime soon!
After we change, it’s back to the apartment to shower and rest until the lunchtime class!
Now to say the lunchtime class at RGA on Mondays is incredible would be an understatement. And this day, for us, is one that I will NEVER forget!
We arrive back after resting for a few hours and it’s the same thing…except the class size has doubled, from about 30 in the morning to about 60 students on the mat!
Three of them, in particular, catch my eye…
UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar…
Strikeforce Heavyweight fighter, and widely-considered best pure Jiujitsu/grappler in the world, Roger Gracie…
AND…
UFC Welterweight Champion and No.2 pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet, Georges St. Pierre!!
…all of them taking John Danaher’s lunch class with us!
Talk about picking the right day to come train!!
So, somewhat starstruck, I hit the locker room to change. I must say, it’s pretty surreal to be standing next to one of the greatest martial artists on the planet in a locker room, both of you in your underwear, getting ready to take the same jiujitsu class and chatting as if it’s just a regular day in class! Georges was incredibly nice and respectful to everyone, and even bowed before stepping on the mat (a throwback to his traditional Japanese martial arts training…and a piece of etiquette that we also practice back at LMA!).
Once class started I was so tempted to just sit on the side of the mat and watch. It was like playing in a pickup game with LeBron, Kobe, Dirk and other NBA players! During drills with my partner, I’d find myself watching as John gave GSP, Frankie or others tips and pointers, hoping to pick up some tiny detail or practice that would somehow advance my game.
Once drilling was done, the mats looked like a slip ‘n slide! Now it was time to roll.
The thing about that class is, since no one is wearing a gi (uniform), you don’t know what belt the person you’re grappling with is!
I rolled with a few guys who turned out to be wrestlers-turned-jiujitsu-players who were blue belts (my rank) and purple belts and who, while they submitted me a number of times, relied on gorilla strength and aggression rather than pure technique.
But then I’d roll with someone who UTTERLY DEMOLISHED me with ease, using very little strength, afterwards finding out that they are a black belt (which I admit made me feel much better after tapping out to the same choke 3 times in a row!).
In fact at one point, I asked Karl how many black belts there were in that class and he did a quick head count.
There were TWENTY-TWO legit black belts in that single class!
To put that into perspective, I don’t know if there are 22 legit BJJ black belts in all of North Carolina!
During that class, the man himself, Renzo Gracie, arrived and joined John in teaching and coaching the the high level guys. Now I’ve met Renzo on 2 prior occasions, but I was still tickled that as he walked by and I said hello, he gave me a hug and asked me where Derek was, remembering me completely!
He also asked if I’d brought the drawing. You see, I had made a deal with Renzo regarding the portrait I did of him and after class, we had some business to settle…
[To be continued…]
Categories: Arts and Culture, Blog, Martial Arts
[…] HERE for part 1…and HERE for part […]
by James-Michael Smith's Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Training with martial arts legends in NY (part 3) on Jul 25, 2011 at 11:16 pm
[…] Part 1 click HERE…for Part 2 click HERE…for Part 3 click […]
by James-Michael Smith's Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Training with martial arts legends in NY (part 4) on Jul 26, 2011 at 6:15 pm
[…] headed back to Japan where GSP’s Renzo Gracie teammate, UFC Lightweight Champ Frankie Edgar (who I had the honor of sharing the mat with as well when I was at Renzo’s last Summer!) will be defending his title against Benson Henderson in what should be an incredible […]
by Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » Top MMA fighter beat up by 5-year-olds! on Apr 5, 2012 at 8:34 pm
[…] reading the previous series of posts about the trip if you haven’t already (Here are the links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and […]
by Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » My Renzo Gracie Academy trip 2012 (part 1) on Jul 1, 2012 at 2:53 am
[…] organized a benefit seminar the afternoon before UFC 159 for #FranksFight at none other than the Renzo Gracie Academy in […]
by Disciple Dojo – JMSmith.org » MMA legends teamed up for #FranksFight…and raised thousands! on May 29, 2013 at 5:27 pm