I was about two weeks into the new school and I was invited by one of the instructors to come watch the competitions. I had no idea what to expect, as I had never gone to one before. Only thing that had came close to going to one was the Jiu Jitsu World expo I had gone the year before. That was to watch Nick Diaz go against Braulio Estima, that never even happened and I left thinking I need to get back into training, as i got the itch.
I did and now here I was at the University of Irvine with my instructor. We walked around as he tried looking for some good seats, on the way he introduced me to Carlson Gracie Jr. I at the time had no idea who he was all I could recognize was the last name. Nervously I shook his hand and smiled we then proceeded to take our seats and start off what was going to be a 7 hour session of straight Jiu Jitsu.
I watched match after match and I couldn’t get enough. I was trying to take mental notes but it was just soooo much to take in. I was schooled on countless competitors not many names stuck except Clark Gracie and Caio Terra. It is also here where I became a fan of Leticia Ribeiro, and Gaby Garcia witnessing these women compete was amazing. It inspired me to want to do the same, which was never part of my Jiu Jitsu plan.
Clark Gracies win!! Wow now this was a match I had to go home and replay. Gotta love how he ended it. For those who haven’t seen it you can view below. Today was a eye opener to a whole different world of Jiu Jitsu it inspired me to reach old goals and make new ones.