As we close in on the waning hours of a cool Texas night my head is awash with all sorts of guard passing strategies and principles. Already participants are reaching maximum grappling capacity knowledge wise, yet all we could talk about all dinner was how much we anticipated the next two days! Over 95 participants from as far away as British Columbia, South Carolina, Michigan, Ontario, California, and Washington converged on Dallas / Ft. Worth for the fifth straight RCJ Machado 5 Brothers Camp, and judging from the smiles and back slaps… everyone had a blast!
Day one of the RCJ Machado 5 Brothers camp started off with a bang as Carlos took the reins and focused his 3 hours on building the fundamental movements we would need the rest of the camp. This seminar set the pace for the remainder of the weekend as the elder Machado brother guided us through a number of fundamental movements that we will use the rest of the weekend. This approach is nothing short of genius, as many times instructors have a limited time for a seminar so it is common to brush over minute details of any given technique or movement. Not the Machados!
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| Machado Black Belts |
Carlos was followed by three hours of the youngest Machado, John who spent the afternoon talking about passing the guard. The movements and fundamentals Carlos taught meshed perfectly with John’s curriculum and made for a seamless transition. As with all lessons with the Machado brothers we were blessed with some stories and good natured ribbing from the brothers along with their senior most black belts. It is this mat-mosphere that makes any event with the Machado brothers feel much more then just a seminar… you truly feel a part of something greater, a member of a larger family.
I cannot wait until tomorrow and on that note I will be signing off. Not sure if I will get the opportunity to post anything tomorrow, but I will catch up no matter what. Thank you so much to the Machado family, all our training partners on the mat, and to my brethren from NWJJA: B / Denise / Kelland / Rick / Rachel!