I was taking a trip to Machu Picchu  and would be staying in the town of Cusco so I found a BJJ school in Peru using BJJFinder.com. I went on Facebook and contacted them (in English) and they immediately hit me back and said I was welcome to come train with them.

First Glance – The taxi driver was completely lost on how to get there but after circling the same couple of blocks (with the meter off) he realized we were “there.” The place was on the 3 floor and somehow he just didn’t get that we wouldn’t be able to see it from the street level. I didn’t know the layout and locker-room situation of the place so I wore my nogi shorts and rashguard under a Tshirt. I spoke with their Muay Thai guy for a while and he told me a little about the school and their history.  Their professor is UFC fighter Tony DeSouza and he’s know for the Peruvian Neck Tie choke (…which I learned and if someone did it on me on the mats, I think I would try to stabbed them in the parking lot….that choke really cranks.) He said there was a changing room but I only had the sweatpants and a Tshirt on so I never had need to enter the changing area. He fitted me for some MMA gloves and welcomed me to join class.  I hadn’t done jiu jitsu wearing the MMA gloves so it took me a moment to get used to them but it gave me a new respect for the grapplers in the mma cage.

The mat area is large about 40 feet by 40 feet. The mat is the type with the thinly cushioned colored puzzle pieces.  When I first steps on the mat I was thinking, man I’d hate to do take downs on this mat.  However, the mat was well maintained and very comfortable. They had speed bags and  heavy bags lining a wall. The outer wall is lined with a large window with some  beautiful views of the mountains…I’m easily distracted.

Classes Structure/Instructor/Lineage

The class on the first night was being taught by an assistant coach. He had been training for years and was also an aspiring MMA fighter.  I shook hands with everyone and introduced myself in what I would later learned to be a funny Spanish accent (Thanks Guatemala…where I learned  Spanish).  I speak Spanish but I wouldn’t say one has to speak it to attend the class.  Not everyone in class spoke English but the instructors knew English and answered all my questions in English, but they conducted class in Spanish. It was like a game of “Simon Sez” so you could follow what the other students were doing and be fine.

We started class with jogging around the mat…2nd time around the mat…STOP …. My heart was already beating heavy. We went through several basic calisthenics and stretching before we turned to working on the heavy bags. It was an odd number in classes so the instructor was my partner and allowed me the honor of having his turn on the heavy bag,,,yes, my heart was still beating heavily.  (The altitude there is 12k feet.)  We then broke into partners to drill an escape from triangles. that I still use to this day.  The instructor was good as he was very technical and pointed to why his method could be considered more appropriate from the other methods I showed him I knew. Im real cerebral so I appreciated him taking the time rather than tell me to ust do the damn drill…I would have been cool with that response as well. We did tons of drilling the escapes …probably why I use that method so much now, it got stuck in my brain.

When class was over we bowed out and they invited me to come back to class when the head instructor was there, not DeSousa but his assistant. The assistant instructor shared a cab with my son and I and then is when I learned his story of how he had been training at that time for almost 3 years and that he was also an inspiring MMA artist. He asked me my belt color and at the time I had 3 stripes on my white belt and he responded said with a “wow” and told me how he hoped to get his white belt at the next promotion ceremony. I was shocked because of his knowledge base and ability but in some areas promotions happen when the area black belt  makes there regular visits, reviews or test you and there are no more promotion recognition until they return.. I saw on FaceBook that he did get that belt later. (OSS Javier)

The next night…different cabby, same fare and point-on directions plus my son and I knew to say “pare aqui, que esta arriba/stop here, its upstairs”  The head instructor Aramburu was fired up and full of energy. We started with the same calisthenics and heavybag work but then we went over some grip-fighting for the undertook to take-downs. STOP…Take-downs at 12,000 feet altitude makes your body scream for air like sprinting underwater. So needless to say the take-downs drilling left me exhausted.

After the drills we went continued with take-downs to submission rolling with mma gloves on. I don’t think I’ve eager fought as fast or harder because it was like fighting underwater while breathing through a straw and I kept thinking if I didn’t end this thing quickly, I’m gonna pass out. my rolling partners kept saying “buen trabajo” but I knew that I only had a minute to submit before I passed out.  Oddly enough after each round of rolling my recovery time was short, but after 10 seconds of vigorous movement I was back on the edge of fainting.  Good times.

Music – There’s was a stereo in the room but no music was played or maybe my body shut down my auditory abilities to conserve energy and oxygen.

Water – There’s a refrigerator with sports drink for sale and a water fountain.

Women – there were a good number of women in class and some of them were pretty good on the bags. Most of the men in there were young. I think I was the oldest dude there. Everyone trained together and there was no separation of genders.

Vibe – Every one was very nice and welcoming to me.  Although I know Spanish I didnt feel I had to know it to be able to take a class there as everyone can read confusion, exhaustion and pain in another person’s eyes and if they didn’t, I definitely taught them. Most of the people were happy to practice English with me and roll with someone my size since I was the biggest guy there.

Location –  About a 10 minute ride from the center of Cuzco.

Website – https://www.facebook.com/ESCUELAMMACUSCO