Brazil Visa Lesson Learned

Drove 2+ hrs to LA today to apply for my visa.  Denied.  Apparently I have to make an appointment.  The very nice lady showed me a flyer and said the website says I need an appointment.  Hmm...  The website I went to, hosted in Brazil, said I needed to fill out the application on-line and bring the printed confirmation sheet to the consulate.  No mention of the need for an appointment on THAT website. Oh well.  The day wasn't a total loss.  I trained at Xande's in LA for 1hr and Guillobel's in San Clemente for 2hrs.

At Xande's, after a short warm-up, grip breaks, and take down entries, I trained with a a small Brown from Japan (~145lbs) for about 40mins straight.  Great time.  Inspiring hip movement.  He caught me with a couple arm bars and a triangle from guard (again...great hips) and a bread cutter from north/south.  I caught him with a cross choke from under side control and swept him a few times, but I could not pass his guard.  RE the tap, he didn't notice I slipped the second hand in until it was too late.  Funny because he asked me to show him the choke.  He really liked it...until I showed him the escape.  Once I demonstrated that all he had to do to unwind the choke is shift to north/south, he got a bit red and embarrassed.  Yeah...I doubt he's going to get caught with that again.

Great night at Guillobel's.  Worked a flow from double-leg to closed guard to standing guard break to x-pass.  Then sweep/pass the guard (submissions encouraged).  Swept a Purple and almost got a tap via triangle, but he was saved by the bell.  Got swept a few times...need to work on that base.  Fundamentals class followed by an hour of open mat.  Beasts.  Black, Brown, five Purples, and only one other Blue (about 16-17yrs old).  5-8min rounds.  Worked with four different Purples, three of which were my size or bigger.  Got caught only once, but played a ton of defense including a bit more turtle than I would have liked.  That said, had several fantastic sweeps and a couple near guard passes.      Having increasing success with the combo spider & 50/50 sweep.

Made my appointment.  I'm driving back to LA on Tuesday morning.  But this time I'm going to submit  my paperwork and get back to San Diego.

With Yamada (visitor from Japan)