DanHunt's Wednesday June 20th, 2012

20 minutes after leaving the house and walking up what seemed to be miles of concrete and cobblestone hills, I came to two conclusions:

1. If my legs are tired now, and we haven't event started the trail yet, I'm going to embarrass myself.

And...

2. I should have remembered to pack toilet paper, or an extra pair of socks.

We started up the hill, towards a landmark called "Shiprock". It is aptly named as it resembles the bow of a wrecked ship. The Gracies (more or less the first family of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) have told many stories about racing from the trailhead to Shiprock to see who could log the best time. Some of the claims were around 15 minutes, give or take a couple. Our time? A brisk 38 minutes. So much for making local legends of ourselves on Pedra da Gavea. In all honesty, as long as we didn't break the record for most hiking related deaths, I'd be satisfied with the turnout of our excursion.

Sidebar: I was just asked by an Englishman, "Who tidied up the books and put them in a proper stack?". It was me mate.

Pedra da Gavea has been the stage for many stories in the jiu jitsu community (the jiu jitsu community is a lot like Del Boca Vista, but with gis). The word on the street is that Kenny Florian (multiple time UFC #1 contender) went down to Rio to study jiu jitsu and climbed Pedra da Gavea. At some point during his climb (there's one spot that is noticeably more difficult and dangerous than the rest... A rock climb in the vicinity of an intimidating cliff) he slipped and "almost died". Now, truth be told, the section that involved the rock climbing bit wasn't terribly difficult. It likely wouldn't even rate as a 5.(x) on the Yosemite Decimal System (Google can help explain) judging by the fact that we managed our way up while wearing running shoes, but its proximity to a cliff made you want to confirm your footing a second time before moving toward your next hold. I only became uneasy about the section when I reached the top (a minute or so after Beto, who didn't realize we were supposed to be intimidated by the climb and scurried up like a Katie Holmes monkey up a tree), where I found rope anchors embedded into the rock face. Usually, where there are rope anchors, it is recommended that you use ropes. My discomfort with the situation was soon balanced out by the sight (on the summit of the mountain) of a Brazilian wearing Birkenstocks. At that point, I assumed we'd be just fine.

As you can see from the pictures posted below, the view from the summit was incredible, and gave great views of Barra, Leblon, Ipanema, and plenty of other places that I don't know the names of.

Climbing down was uneventful, save for a monkey sighting and a deep longing for a roll of Charmin. (Have you ever seen the Charmin commercial with the bear cub who is about to use a half a roll to wipe himself before his mother jumps in to inform him about the ultra absorbency of the butt tissue and rations him down to 5 sheets? He was convinced he needed half the roll. He must have wrecked it. I'm surprised, based on their keen sense of smell, that the mother didn't make a face.) I'm kidding about needing the roll of Charmin by the way. I got keyed on my excessive use of fecal based humor on my last post, but I don't know how to stop. I need an intervention.

The one thing that DID happen on the way down was my knees took a beating. By the time we made it back to the trailhead, all I wanted to do was slide down the street on my belly like a penguin all the way home. Convinced that my nipples would chafe against the cobblestone, I walked the rest of the way home.

I had to take a day off of training yesterday which made me quite a bit grumpier than I would like to admit as I was teeming with jealousy for anyone who had been beaten up in the gym last night. There is something to be said for a sport full of individuals who go to train, day after day, with absolute certainty of defeat, and love every second of it. If you train, and EVER go to a gym where you aren't guaranteed to lose against at least a handful of opponents, you need to find another gym.

I woke up this morning, excited to train after spending yesterday warming the bench on account of my knee soreness, and hurried to the gym. I am aware that I've forgotten to take pictures of the gym thus far, and the central hub of my existence here is still left up to the imagination. We are training at the Nogueira brothers' gym tonight (not Gordo's) so I won't have any photos up until tomorrow after morning training.

Rolling with one of the black belts this morning was eye opening. I pulled half guard repeatedly, and every single grip I made was countered with an airtight submission set up that made me feel like I would rather be home crying into my pillow. It was awesome. I wasn't tapped with the same submission twice, which was not only a testament to my quick learning as I was able to avoid an attempted repeat attack, but more so a testament to the skills of the black belt I was rolling with. Each step of the way I would defend what I had been smashed with ten seconds prior, and my defense was an opportunity for a fresh new submission hold served up on a silver platter. I tapped out to an armbar, a triangle choke, a cross collar choke, an ezekiel choke, and a bow and arrow choke, all in the course of a 7 minute round. Feels good to be back in the gym.

I have to cut this blog short because there is a very temperamental Brit pacing by the door, threatening to leave to lunch without me. I don't think he's bluffing.

Valeu,
-Dan