Our trip to the Christo Redentor
("Christ our redeemer," the huge Jesus Christ statue).
Chris on in his "I am God trip" again. |
A view of the famous Copacabana
Beach. |
Another view of the famous Copacabana
Beach. |
Yet, another view of the famous
Copacabana Beach. |
Copacabana Beach at dusk. This
would be a great postcard picture (pat self on back). |
The Copacabana strip which is
like Waikiki, there are two main roads (like Kalakaua and Kuhio).
Here's a picture of Clube Help, one of the clubs on the strip. |
The favelas or ghettos of Brazil.
Close up, these houses look like they were bombed. Some don't
have walls, doors, and windows, but there are a lot of people
living there. |
Us at Copacabana beach showing
off that we are in shape. Not long after, we returned to our
lives of chocolate chip cookies and ice cream eating addiction. |
The entry to Pao de Acucar, better
known as Sugar Loaf. You may remember this in a James Bond film
where he fights with Jaws (the big guy with the silver teeth,
not the shark). |
Chris on top of the first mountain
at Pao de Acucar. You have to ride cable cars to the lower mountain
and then another cable car to the taller mountain. Sometimes,
you are above the cloud while on the mountains. |
One of the views from the base
of the Jesus Christ statue. You can see a good part of Rio just
by walking around the statue. |
Another view from the base of
the Jesus Christ statue. |
A fight pose with some of the
guys we met at Iate Clube Jardim Guanabara (us and Kaleo Auwae).
Second from the left is a very young Daniel Moraes who now is
a BJJ and submission grappling powerhouse. The first day we met
these guys, they threw a BBQ for us. We fell in love with the
coolness of the Brazilian people. |
Fabio was another guy we met while
in Brazil took us for a ride in his dune buggy. One of the guy's
names was Monster (in the back with the shaka sign) who was a
killer harmonica player and his voice sounded like a monster.
Our last days in Brazil was unreal. |
Here's a group picture of the
team on the little dock at Iate Clube Jardim Guanabara. Our 1997
team consisted of us, Eric Moon, Kaleo Auwae, Rex Barnum, Baret
Yoshida, Andrew and Jeff Furuta, Pat Wang, Kendall Goo, Kelly
Matsukawa, Aaron Imai, Kimo Kreis, Guy Taylor, Reno Abihai, and
Scott Phillips.
Iate is Yacht in Portuguese and it is a little city that is encased
in cement walls with barbed wire and guards. It also has a dojo
where Royler and Saulo teach at and is the place that Royler
is referring to with the patches he wears. |
(L-R): Chris, Royler, Mike, Relson
at Jose Moraes house. Jose Moraes was the secretary of sports
in Brazil, the head of Iate Clube, and a huge supporter of BJJ. |
Rolker Gracie at Gracie Humaita
(the original and main Gracie academy). Rolker and Royler are
the main instructors at this academy. |
Here's a team shot at the Tijuca
Tenis Clube where the Mundial was held with Marcos Moraes in
front. Tijuca Tenis Clube is the size of a high school gym with
all cement seating. The Mundial runs six mats at a time over
a four day period. |
