words, words, words » Brazil

Back from the BJJ Brasileiro Championships.

bkoplitz — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:09:09 +0000

I returned today from the 2009 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brasileiros’ in Rio.
I wound up getting second in my division.
This made me pretty happy as it was a huge competition with a lot of talent. The first fights went very well, but in the final I ran into problems with a very strong fighter.

Other than that, it was a good trip, short, but with a lot of really good training.
(Full results of the competition are here.)

BJJ Brasileiros

2008 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu South American Championships

bkoplitz — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:30:59 +0000

I just returned from Florianopolis where I was staying with Luiza and Paola. They were super-hostesses and I really enjoyed my time with them. We went to the best pizza place in the world, it is called Pizzaria Cica. If you ever go to Floripa you should go.

I went there for the 2008 South American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu championships. I was a little nervous going into it, as I was recently promoted to purple, as I’ve mentioned before, but I was really pleased with my performance.

The results: I won my division, and got second in the absolute.

Here is a video of the last few seconds of the finals in my division. I’m the one applying the triangle choke.

Also, on the road there, the road works people blew up a hill, which was really cool.

Back from the beach.

bkoplitz — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:27:30 +0000

We just returned from a week travelling in Ilha Grande and Rio De Janeiro. It was a lot of fun, with some walks in the woods and beach going, oh and I got to dive, as well. I rained a bunch, but now it is raining here as well. I’ll put up some photos at some point.

In other news, I am extending my October challenge to a cage match. The lucky winner is … Sarah Palin. The same terms apply as the Matt Damon fight, you get to chose the rules. And before anyone protests the current challenge, I think this will be a much closer fight than Matt Damon and myself. Sarah looks pretty tough.

Another Oil War?

bkoplitz — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:11:51 +0000

Something weird is going on in Brazil, and I hope it is just saber-rattling. The President of Brazil is claiming that they need to protect themselves from people stealing their offshore oil. This announcement comes as the U.S. Navy is reestablishing the U.S. Fourth Fleet, a fleet that will patrol the Caribbean and Latin America.

“The (Brazilian) Navy plays an important role in protecting our subsalt reserves, because the men of Fourth Fleet are almost there on top of the subsalt areas,” Lula said in a speech inaugurating a new oil platform in southern Brazil.”

“Our Navy has to be the guardian of our offshore oil platforms to protect our patrimony, because before you know it some wise guy will come along and say: ‘This is mine, it’s at the bottom of the ocean anyway, so it’s mine.’”

Please let’s not have another war, and not have it been over oil… again! I thought we were finished with this crap.

(That said, I like the use of the phrase “wise guy”, it hearkens back to an age when gangsters at least had snappy lingo.)

Ordering Coffee in Brazil.

bkoplitz — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:43:32 +0000

Going to cafe’s in Brazil is a bit tricky, and after looking online for a guide to ordering coffee, I am only more confused. So I’m going to launch an independent study.

I’ll post my research.

See, I think it is regional so it might be a bit of a challenge.

For example, what is a “carioca”, or “pingado”?

And would you order a carioca in Rio?

Any advice would be welcome.

Memento mori

bkoplitz — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:54:12 +0000

I woke up today with a distinct reminder that time is slipping away. I need to hustle. There is a lot I want to see and do.

More bling.

bkoplitz — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:40:14 +0000

We just returned from another competition. This one was the Arena Búzios 2008. It was in Búzios, which is the beautiful are a few hours from Rio.

I got second in my weight division and second in the absolute. The bling collection just keeps growing…

Bit of a rainy day in Rio, but it is still warm. It was good to get out of Rio for a couple of days and see some more of Rio de Janeiro state. Also, the contest was almost entirely devoid of grigoes, so everyone got to compete against Brazilians this time.

Rio.

bkoplitz — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:44:30 +0000

The International Masters and Seniors Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition ended a few days ago. I wound up getting third in my weight division, and had a really bad draw for the absolute. I fought the biggest dude I´ve ever seen at a competition. He was 125 kilos of muscle. However, I did actually fight him, instead of backing out. Apparently a couple of other people looked at him and said ´no thanks´. So now, I won´t be scared to fight big dudes. They have feelings too!

Other than myself, the guys from my academy did really well and my instructor Flavio Ferreira, won his division in black belt.

I´ve been going to the beach, have seen the Big Jesus at Corcovado and went up Sugarloaf. Rio is such a beatuiful city. The people are really nice, too. Hopefully the surf will pick back up and I will get a board. I´ve been eating heaps of Acaí!!!

International Master & Senior Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2008

bkoplitz — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:57:51 +0000

The International Master & Senior Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2008 starts in Rio on Thursday.

I”m going to be competing in the Pesado / Heavy category for Master’s. It is the Mundials for the … mature… eh hem.

Of course, I”ve got both of my knees injured and am still two kilos over my weight, so my goals are to make weigh-in and not get any further injuries… oh… and to win my division. But I’m being realistic about it. I haven’t had a chance to really prepare for this competition. So I have reasonable expections. In fact, this is the least prepared I’ve ever been for any competition.

Pantanal

bkoplitz — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:10:58 +0000

I procrastinated long enough about writing about the Pantanal.

It was really a great experience. We flew into Cuiaba and were met with by our guide, Vincente. A super-nice, and a little bit goofy guide, who then took us on long drive to the lodge where we were staying. Along the way we saw giant river otters, crab eating foxes, millions of caymans and all sorts of birds — everything from Hyacinth macaws to kingfishers to jaibaru storks. The giant otters were very cool, being very giant and very rare.

We arrived at Pousada Onca, and then got up at 3:30 in the morning for a night saffari. But we didn’t see anything more than a fox, probably the animals were sleeping.

Then after finishing sleeping we went to Porto Jofre where we took a couple of long boat rides looking for jaguars. We saw a lot of birds and had a really good fish lunch, but no-dice on the jaguars. After that we had dinner and another night safari where we saw a deer. From that point on we did a bunch of hikes, and Vincente said he saw an onca, but nobody else did. I did have a really serious allergy problem when he said he saw it, so perhaps I’m allergic to jaguars. We were almost attacked by a deer, which was very strange. It was being chased by something and almost ran into us on a dirt road. It must have thought that were less dangerous than the animal chasing it, but it was almost close enough to touch.

One of the big highlights of the trip for me was a visit to an abandoned research station, where they had all sorts of animals in jars that they had left behind. Very creepy and very cool!

Pantanal is a mecca for bird watchers, who are an interesting, if eclectic bunch. They travel with spreadsheets and lots of equipment hoping to see all manner of birds.

From the Pantanal we went to Chapada de Guimaraes, which is a city in the mountains outside of Cuiaba (Cuiaba being the world’s most boring city). It was really nice and we did a couple of really cool hikes and went swimming in a waterfall.

Some pictures are below.

Pantanal