Mall of Asia, Manila, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competition by Henri

At 22nd night, he packed his stuffs making sure nothing was left behind.

On the 23rd, at 11:21 am Henri took the jeepney to Olongapo Victory Liner terminal then bus to PASAY.

“I hate how people give me attention with my height and tattoos, everybody wants to give me a ride and wants to be my friend or rob me so that is why need to figure out my direction before I leave the bus because then everybody wants to give help and give a ride…”

“Hahahaha…Wish those were girls but they’re all men, tricycle drivers and sellers…”

These are Henri’s reaction to the people around him.  He was just being real.

He checked-in at Stone House at Aurora Blvd., a dormitory hostel with safety box. Around 4 – 6 people get to stay in.  I think for an individual or solo travel that is being wise.  That is being brave too, right?

50 minutes from 11:21 am the bus left. It took him 3 – 4 hours to arrive Pasay.

During travel, Henri can’t sleep especially in planes. He reads and listens to music of every kind a lot. That is an advantage especially when traveling alone. One should be on guard always.

Philippine International Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu / 24th January

(Vanessa, Isaiah, Achilles, Noelle, Chesca and I as Henri’s company, fans and motivator)

Henri’s NoGi category competition will still start after 12 noon.  Vanessa, the kids and I drove to SM MOA around past 9 am.  As soon as we arrived there, we ate at Jollibee.  We walked by the arena and saw some players competing.  Then Henri showed up. I approached and accompanied him to his very quick meal before the game.  I also bought bananas for him.  Our group sat inside the arena’s benches since we were with him.  

What do I now about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?  Nothing…except that Henri told us it’s a sport where you get to restrain or restrict your opponent from moving and putting you down.

Since Henri’s level was still after 12 noon, the kids and Vanessa went for a toy shopping. He and I were left.  Henri taught me little things about the sport.

He did some awesome stretching for his warm-up to be ready.  What a flexible body!!! We waited for a match in the absolute level but no one came. Anyhow he was called to compete in an open weight against two Filipinos who were both defeated. My heart was pumping hard while we were watching him. We watched over his stuff while he competed. The first match with Enzo was quick (2 mins and more). Henri won!!! But he got exhausted with the second match. That Filipino guy was difficult to put down. But he still won again!!! He only had a very short time to rest then he competed with Michael, the German.  Well, Michael won at 4-0 but for us it was not fair…because Henri hasn’t rested. Moreover, Henri won SILVER and GOLD medals.  We were so proud of him!!  "You told me you’re not expecting anything and yet you were a MEDALIST!!!" For an experience, that must be GREAT!  He has also won in Spain before.  His team there was GAIJIN. He has been doing this sport for a year and 5 months now.  His training center in Finland is AHJOH.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self-defense system that focuses on grappling, and especially ground fighting. It was formed from Kodokan Judo ground fighting (newaza) fundamentals that were taught by a number of individuals including Takeo Yano, Mitsuyo Maeda, and Soshihiro Satake.  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu eventually came to be its own art through the experiments, practices, and adaptation of judo through Carlos and Helio Gracie (who passed their knowledge on their extended family) as well as other instructors who were students of Maeda, such as Luiz Franca.

BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger and stronger assailant by using proper technique, leverage and most notably, taking the fight to the ground, and then applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat the opponent.  BJJ training can be used for sport grappling tournaments (gi and nogi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition or self-defense.

Sparring(commonly referred to as "rolling") and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, espcially in competition, in relation to progress and ascension to its ranking system.

Since its inception in 1882, its parent art of judo was separated from older systems of Japanese Jujutsu by an important difference that was passed on to Brazilian jiu-jitsu: it is not solely a martial art; it is also a sport; a method of promoting physical fitness and building character in young people; and ultimately a way (Do) of life.(wikipedia)

Warm-up sessions

Grappling in action against Michael, the German

The match truly HYPED his travel to the Philippines.  We all had a unique experience.  Awesome!!!

The WINNERS...

After that tedious and muscle strength draining sport, Henri joined us to dine at Mang Inasal. We were happy walking and eating with a winner.  Hahaha. Pretty cool huh?! His square silver and gold medals were heavy.  Must be pawnable?!

I bought dunkin donuts for Chesa’s craving.  Henri was busy uploading his winning pics to facebook and IG.  No doubt, congratulations flooded in his comments box.  Then, we walked to the seaside, sat and there spent an hour just chatting, laughing and taking picture. The kids were running around like there’s no tomorrow.  Their energy was pumped-up. Before we left, they bought Cold stone ice cream for dessert.  Henri rode with us…sat shot gun since he’s too big for the back seat.  We dropped him off near his hostel and off we drove home.  Vanessa and I chatted during travel.  I thanked her kindness driving us there and we even used her cellphone to video Henri’s game.

I never thought watching that sport could be a great experience.  The early peek of 2016 seemed to be interesting for me.  Thank you Henri for the invitation.

He celebrated his victory by drinking 2 bottle of bear and a sandwich.

Disclaimer:  This is just  micro-blog since Henri is a tourist...we just shared bits of info via whatsapp. Other info was added via blog, google sites, wikipedia, etc.