Dawn

Out of a planned 48 training days, there are 21 left. That works out to 39 classes. Of those, 7 start at dawn.

Out of all 21 days, with 39 classes, those 7 are the ones I'll miss the least.

I always awake in plenty of time to get there. You'd think they'd be a perfect match for an early riser, but you'd be wrong.

It isn't the physical activity. At home I often go for runs or bike rides at that hour. The problem is that I have to start really thinking before my brain wants to.

And not slow, crusty, morning thinking either. Jiu-Jitsu requires observation, analysis, focus, and memory.

I can do it in the early hours, but I don't like it.

My inclination would be to drop the morning classes, but this trip is a major investment, and every single class is valuable.

In about an hour, there will only be 6 left.

Machida

I thought I was getting used to glimpsing big-name Jiu-Jitus, mma, and UFC notables. After all, I had another brief Ronda Roussey sighting recently and didn't even bother to mention it.

Turns out I'm not as jaded as I thought.

Today there were three guys out on the mat prior to the Master Cycle class.

One was Rener Gracie acting as coach. Nothing unusual in that. The guy on top was Brendan Schaub. He fights in the UFC heavyweight division.

His partner was Lyoto Machida. He is a former UFC light heavyweight champion. He now fights at 185 pounds, and will most likely take the middleweight title within a year.

Quite an interesting show for five or ten minutes.

End Week 4

For my first two weeks here at the Gracie Academy we worked on submissions from the guard. Every single thing we did seemed well above my level.

The next two weeks were counters to submissions. Every sequence in this area started at a much lower level, and many didn't proceed beyond what I learned to earn a single lowly stripe on my Blue Belt.

Interestingly, the Purple and Brown belts were asking a lot of questions. It was as if some of this stuff that I consider low-level to be new to them.

Don't get me wrong, I learned plenty from these lower level techniques. The Gracies pack them with abundant, incredible detail.

Soon we move away from counters into sweeps.

Another interesting facet is that the two main instructors, Rener and Ryron Gracie, sometimes teach the material quite differently.

Take omoplata. There is a point in that technique where one needs to sit up very quickly while controlling the opponent's hips. Ryron teaches it with a leg snapdown while Rener details a rapid arm separation.

Against a triangle choke, Ryron works the inside, while Rener prefers to move back.

Rener seems to have everything preplanned, while Ryron goes more with the flow. With Rener, I know exactly what the point of each instruction is, but with Ryron we sometimes do pretty wild stuff.

A great pair.

Wizardry

Yesterday was quite the "famous people" day. At the mid-day class, I chatted with Ed like we were old chums. I also got to speak briefly with Rorion Gracie.

At the evening class the famous people theme continued.

It was very crowded, and mixed in amongst all the gis were four people wearing no-gi gear. On the sideline there were several more watching.

Among the little knot of visiting spectators was Edmond Tarverdyan. He is a very big name mma striking coach. Sitting near him was Jessamyn Duke. On the mat was Shayna Baszler. Both of these women are top mma fighters, and competed on the last season of The Ultimate Fighter.

There were a couple of other women who are clearly fighters, but that I did not recognize.

Also on the mat was the undefeated UFC Women Champion Ronda Rousey.

She was on the mat briefly about a week or two ago, but this time she was present to train.

Both of our top instructors, Rener and Ryron, were there to lead the class. They took the difficulty up a notch, likely for our visitors.

Eventually, it became sparring time. I rolled around with the guy I'd been working with all class. After that, I got changed and took up a spot on the spectator bench. How often does one get to see Ronda Rousey spar?

She was paired with mma fighter and Gracie Black Belt Brian Ortez, with Rener Gracie acting as coach. They were very intense and moving very fast.

How can I describe it? Half of what they did looked like normal, top-level rolling, and the other half was wizardry. Ronda was popping out of positions by moving in impossible ways.

After about 15 minutes, Brian was sent off, and Ronda rolled with Rener Gracie. Suddenly, half of what she was doing to Brian no longer worked. It was more instructional and remained light years above any grappling I've ever seen anywhere.

Then the time ran out, and the class ended.

Ed

There were about thirty or forty of us paired up, working on the mat, when the class was interrupted.

The Grandmaster of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Rorion Gracie, was there. He wanted a group photo taken with all of us, himself, and Ed O'Neill.

In case you don't know, Ed O'Neill is not only a Gracie Black Belt, he's a star in the TV series Modern Family. Before that he starred in Married With Children.

The photo taking took a couple of minutes and then the class resumed. We were right at the part when we switch from training to sparring. We were dismissed to grab a drink, or get our mouthpieces, or whatever.

I don't stay for all the sparring sections, and so headed for the change room. I changed, alone, and in came Rorion Gracie and Ed O'Neill.

Ed looked at me, and came forward with his hand extended. He was sure we'd met, and I assured him we had not. He then asked if I was one of the visiting out of town instructors. I briefly explained that I was in LA for two months to train. About then, Rorion had to leave to attend to something.

My conversation with Ed went on. He talked about his injured rib, and a bit about his training. He mentioned that his Black Belt was his proudest achievement. He talked a lot about Jiu-Jitsu in general.

Throughout, he was smiling. I played the roll of the polite listener. After about ten or fifteen minutes, I said my goodbye and left to let the man get changed.

Into week 4

Three weeks of perfect attendance at the Gracie Academy so far. That works out to 38 Master Cycle classes.

Today I head into week four.

It will also be the last week of free training, although I do get two days next week as well. This is one of the perks of being a registered member of one of the outlying Certified Training Centres.

After that, one has to pay. The cost per month here for unlimited access is $295. That's nothing for this kind of instruction. That works out to between 5 and 6 bucks per class. Woohoo.

So far I've gotten two weeks focused on submissions, and one week on submission defence. This week and next will be defence as well. My last three weeks will be on guard sweeps.

After that, we head back north. Right now Helen is leaning towards a leasurely return via Monterey and San Francisco. That would be very pleasant, but nothing is carved in stone.

Once home, I'm sure my Jiu-Jitsu friends will want to try everything I've learned. The problem will be that a great deal of my training has been far above my level, and has faded fast. Just about the only weakness at the Gracie Academy is that they have absolutely no free mat time just for people to practise. Back home that is one of the mainstays of my training.

I'll probably has a couple of flashy submissions to show them.

At least I hope so.

Snazzy

I've been hiding out.

I earned a Jiu-Jitsu promotion before Christmas from Gracie University, and should be wearing a stripe on my Blue Belt. I have been without my stripe as it was headed north to Canada at the same time I was driving south to California.

My instructor has been holding it for me.

Luckily, he is in LA right now to attend an instructors' seminar, and delivered it to me this morning.

Helen sewed it on right away.

Tonight I will be wearing it to class.

By luck, today they also received a shipment of the uniform I have been waiting for. I snapped one right up and will be wearing it tonight as well.

This should all really snazz up the place.