O-Nami Jiu Jitsu, Grappling & MMA-Naples, Italy  

By the time I got to Naples, I was exhausted from BJJ training in Portugal and Spain but still eager to try a class in Italy.  I decided to walk the four mile hump to an evening class, after finishing up a 3.5 hour walking tour of Napoli.  The route to class seemed a straight shot from where I was living and there were lots of cafes along my route to rest as I was starting to feel the fatigue from the nonstop day. The academy is steps away from a busy commercial part of the city with the subway, cabs and lots of cafes and bars with good and dependable wi-fi.

When I arrived to the area of the academy I didn’t see the familiar sight of guys in gi’s, rash guards or any various familiar signage I had grown accustomed to seeing to indicate some Jiu Jitsu was happening around me.  I was heavily reliant on the GPS of my phone since my Spanish in Naples was no Bueno to them and I don’t know Italian.  I panicked a bit as I wanted to be on time because I would have to leave early for an pre-scheduled video meeting in the States. After walking up and down this block for about 20 minutes, I saw a small kid wearing a karate gi on the other side of a security gate.  I thought “karate equates to “mats are on the premises” and  I waited for another person to open the gate and I slipped behind a woman exiting alone.  Yes, this was a dumb idea but the “20year old in my brain” got past the “40 year old” and “60 year old” that usually dominate my thought and action patterns. I went in the door and the kid had gone but I was faced with a stair well that went up and down. I went down because I heard more activity with each descending step and there…I found my spot. The school was in plain view outside…just not familiar view to me.  Check the video and you will see what I mean.  Luckily the class hadn’t started yet and oh, the joy when we got started.  First…the music was dope and brought a smile to my face because they played all classic NYC hip-hop! AND!! They used standup drilling as their opening warmup drill.  YES!!  Experiencing regular standup training/drilling, whatever you want to call it, is a real rarity in Jiu Jitsu classes.  

Standup drills are usually minimized in many academy regular classes mainly for the injury factor and maybe some reasoning behind some insurance as I remember the bi-monthly elbow or heel through the drywall at my first academy. However, doing half to ¾ speed standup sparring was how I started jiu-jitsu with my first BJJ journey and one of the reasons I signed up with that academy.  I loved doing the standup/takedown practice because that’s how most “situations start,” ….so shouldn’t some attention be paid to that dimension of the “fight?” But even more than my embracing standup was the fact that I also hated as it physically wore me out and this time was no different.  

For the first three years of my BJJ journey I practiced a minimum of 5-7 rounds, lasting two minutes, of take-down sparring a few times a week and have attended a number of take-down and Judo seminars. However, today in Naples, when my sparring partner explains that the drill so familiar to me, 8 years ago, to alternate our two-three favorite takedowns on one other and my mind went blank. I could not think of one “favorite” takedown for a few minutes because my brain just hadn’t looked in that folder for a couple of years.  However, after my partner took me down a few times, my brain (or maybe it was the beers and espressos I had on the walk there) kicked in and I was able to return a couple of my preferred take-downs.  We switched partners and like 10 years ago, the take-down sparring session was exhaustive AF, but it alerted a forgotten area of my brain that invigorated me so…. I added takedown sparring , at a ¼ to ½ speed, to my classes at home with a controlled initial take-down positioning only.

We drilled through a closed guard fundamental positioning and then to a half guard escape drill that I used to love also…yeah, same reason, because it would physically wear me out.  And like before, I hadn’t done it in years, because it physically exhausted me. So, I added that drill into my classes at home. at a controlled paced and without toeholds. 

The class and classmates were awesome in Napoli.  There were college students, diplomats, engineers and everyone else, young and old…if you are counting me.  This was an evening class with good attendance but no women. (I don’t think anyone would object if a woman joined class, but none were attendance that evening.) The highlight of the team was the coach.  He too was a brown belt and had trained for 10 years.  He saw that I was struggling with fatigue, but coached in a manner with verbal encouragement that I think is part of why I fell in love with BJJ.  You have to go through the ups, downs, tosses, turns, throws and blows to learn and truly understand all for which you are truly training. Anything else is “treadmill”…nothing against treadmills, since I’ve trained for a number of all-terrain races and currently, run on them a few days a week, however, I am in total control on a treadmill. Life is uncomfortable and sometimes rediscovering comfort means becoming uncomfortable again. Thanks Coach.  

The facility is a full on gym , with various athletes and training areas.  There were kid areas for different martial arts. I think I saw Barney, the big purple dinosaur, in room with some kids, so there must be a kid party area there too. The BJJ area is near the weight room. (Watch the video)  I saw an area with various boxing bags and followed it around to find the Jiu Jitsu area.  The locker rooms were really clean and the showers hot, so I’m good on the visit.  The coach was cool with my having to leave early and even allowed me to get a picture with the group. 

            This was the most exhausting class of the trip and my first evening training class while in Europe, but most insightful in my changing and aging game in Jiu Jitsu.  And although I didn’t get to meet the professor, I was super happy to meet the coach. He led a great class with some sound training fundamental drills. I hope to get back to see them and beautiful Naples one day soon.  More on Naples Napoli in  “Forgetting more than I ever knew.”