Small world...
It was not Igor Yakimov, it was Nikolay Baturin.
Roy Harris
Well, one day I was watching a video in the reception area and Craig Kukuk walked in. He asked, "Who said you could watch that video?" I told him, "Rorion said I could." He asked, "Where did you get the video?" I said, "From Rorion's office? Rorion told me I could go into his office and get a video to watch while I was waiting." Craig snatched the video out of the VCR and told me to never go into Rorion's office again. He said, "Rorion would not want you to watch this video." I asked "Why?" He said, "Because of what is on the tape. You can watch 'Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Action Part One', but that's it. All the other tapes are off limits to you!"
I thought that was kind of funny, but who was I to argue with Mr. Kukuk? He was a brown belt and I was a lowly blue belt. So, I chalked it up to experience and kept training. I never went into Rorion's office again and never watched a video on my own.
Later in my training, I found out that Royler was headed back to Brazil and that Rickson would be leaving the Academy soon. So, I was told to train with Rorion for awhile for my private lessons. I didn't have much choice, but hey, it's all Jiu Jitsu.
When I started my private lessons with Rorion, I knew something was different about him. This man knew how to teach and how to make people feel good about themselves. I had a great time learning from Rorion. He taught me a lot about Jiu Jitsu. The pace was a bit slow for me, but still I learned an awful lot from him about Jiu Jitsu!
Next, I was told to continue my private training with Royce. However, I ended up taking just group classes instead, and I learned a ton of stuff from Royce. He was a good teacher. However, I noticed certain things about the way he taught. For example, every now and then he would close the door to the training room, look out the window down the hall towards Rorion's office and say: "Don't tell Rorion I showed this to you, and don't do this when Rorion is around. Royce would then proceed to show us some really interesting stuff." I thought his actions were a bit peculiar, but none the less, I kept on enjoying Jiu Jitsu!
Several months into my Jiu Jitsu training, a Russian Sambo player (named "Nikolay Baturin") stopped by my self-defense class at the University (of California) and asked to roll with me. I said sure. What happened next was mind blowing! I began to tap the mat like an experienced conga player. I had never felt such pain and pressure on my ankles, knees and hips before. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Sambo." I asked him if he would mind showing me some of that stuff and he agreed.
I trained off and on with him for about the next year. During that time, my familiarity and confidence with leg locks grew and began to manifest itself. I began to tap some of the senior blue belts and newer purple belt at the academy. However, my glory ended abruptly when Rorion called me into the office one day and politely asked me to stop doing leg locks. He said they were causing hard feelings amongst the students, and, he would prefer that I not do them any more. I agreed and kept on training.
Well, one day, my friend/Sambo instuctor accompanied me to a training session at the Gracie Academy. Boy was that a memorable experience. I will never forget that day. All classes ceased as Royce and Nikolay engaged in a friendly (and lengthy) grappling match, with all of the Gracie students (and Rorion) watching from the sidelines.
What happened during the match was amazing!!
To be continued.............
Roy Harris
My journey part four:
When I first brought Nikolay Baturin to the Gracie Academy, he was relaxed. However, things got a little tense there in the beginning.
First, Nick began by stretching out in one of the private rooms at the Academy. He was not interested in going into teh big training room. Suddenly, Royce walked in, introduced himself and asked Nick if he wanted to roll "right now." Nick replied, "give me about 15 minutes to warm up and then we'll grapple. Fifteen minutes came and went. Nick went into the big training room and was greeted by a ton of faces, all waiting to see him and Royce do battle.
Then, the moment we had all been waiting for, Nick and Royce started grappling from a standing position. This is where things became tense. I knew Nick was an awesome Judoka because I had done some training with him myself. Plus, I had seen Nick throw a lot of the Judo black belts in San Diego, with ease and finesse. So, to see him start standing with Royce made my heart go pitter patter!)
Anyway, within a few seconds Nick throws Royce to the ground. Not a hard throw, but a throw none the less. Royce and Nick engage in a bit of ground work and then I see Nick go for Royce's foot, really hard. He had it on real tight too. I saw Royce grimace and move faster than I had ever seen him move before. About twenty seconds later, Royce had escapes Nick's foot lock and was beginning to apply a foot lock of his own (on Nick). Now mind you, Nick does not feel any pain when the foot lock or heel hook is applied. He leg is like a frickin' titanium rod. Nick will even let you lock his leg and relax his foot. Still, he feels no pain. And that's what happened when Royce took his foot. Nick relaxed and let Royce take his foot. Finally, Royce gave up and moved on to something else.
There was a number of positional exchanges between Royce and Nick. Neither person was dominating. But then about 10 minutes into the match, Royce got a collar choke on Nick. Nick squirmed and finally tapped.
Royce and Nick went again. However, this time Royce knew where Nick was weak: collar chokes. So, Royce went after Nick's neck again and again. Royce repeatedly tapped Nick, again and again. Finally, the match ended.
Rorion was sitting nearby and commented on Nick's performance. Rorion said, "Nick, for someone who's never trained in Jiu Jitsu, you have really good technique. I am impressed with your skills."
Continued...........
