“My days in Asia were cool and fun. I went to Hong Kong first, where I competed on the Copa Hong Kong Jiu-Jitsu Championship and won the title. I stayed there for only 4 days but I had a great time. Everybody treated me really well and I felt very welcome. I went there with my ex-training partner and teacher, Eduardo Telles. I had a great time with him. Although I was there for a short time, I really liked Hong Kong. The Jiu-Jitsu over there is still in the growing phase, as it still is world wide as well… it’s lacking the support from the federation over there… it has everything to grow and succeed. The Copa Hong Kong was a small event but it showed me that it has potential to grow. It was a good experience for all of us and for the Jiu-Jitsu. I would like thank Danny, Kei, and others who help organize everything there. Good luck to all of you and thank you very much.

Andre and Judo athlete, Ishii.

Kron, Taka, and Andre at Axis.

In Japan I also had great times. Thanks to Jesus and my effort, I was able to be a champion at the first Rickson Gracie Cup. I was able to see old friends. I shared the room with my friend Robert Drysdale, who is a good friend of mine and so funny. We trained together at Axis and had fun seeing Japan before the Championship.
I had the opportunity to learn a bit from Rickson Gracie. He gave me a lot of advices and tips for my Jiu-Jitsu. I was honored and grateful for what he shared with me. I was also able to train with Kron Gracie at Axis. I got to “feel” his Jiu-Jitsu. He is really good and very deserving of his black belt. Rickson is without a doubt the best in this sport and he has been showing that more and more through his son.
Another person who gave me lots of support was Taka and everybody at Axis, where I was able to keep training my Jiu-Jitsu. I even had the opportunity to train with the Judo world champion, Ishii, who practices Jiu-Jitsu at Axis now. He is pretty good on the ground and I hope he wins the Olympics. I wish him luck. I was really glad to be able to train with an athlete like him, a professional Judo athlete from Japan.
I would also like to thank Marco Barbosa who did a great job with the referees for the Rickson Cup.
That’s it. Thanks JJFJ for the great job that you are doing for the Jiu-Jitsu in Japan and for inviting me for the event and hopefully I will be back again this year. Hope to see you all at the Mundial.”

Vlado, Kron, Andre, Drysdale, Barbosa in the car going for a drive in Tokyo.

Rickson Gracie, Andre and Kron having a laugh at Axis.