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Day 11:

Today was our day off from training. Taiki had to open the gym but I got to sleep in for the first time this trip. I woke up around 11, grabbed some coffee and headed to the gym to chill out. At the gym, there was a few guys sparring in the ring and a few guys rolling on the mats. I love walking into a gym seeing guys putting in work.
After about an hour or so Rumina, with 2 of his friends came to pick me up and it was off to Tokyo to watch a Shootboxing event. If your unfamiliar with Shootboxing it’s actually kinda cool. It’s basically Muaythai (without elbows), takedowns (big throws score points) and standing submissions. Standing Vale Tudo.
We made the 2 hour drive to Tokyo. When we arrived it was time for a little site-seeing and shopping before grabbing a bite to eat. Today we ate Soba. It was ok. Nothing super special (considering everything so far food wise has been unbelievable). After lunch we stopped by a few of Ruminas friends shops. The 1st was a clothing store called Mobstyle. They sponsor a bunch of the big MMA fighter in Japan. Not to mention they make some really cool stuff. Clothes and MMA figurines. I wish it would branch out to the states. Ouside the shop I even did a little flag pole training . This time I got a photo. The 2nd was a skate shop called FTC which is actually also in San Francisco. There clothes are super simple. My kind of style. Waling out, we ran into Satoru Kitaoka who was the big name draw from last nights pancrase event. Of course Rumina was friends with him.
It was time to head to the arena for some fights. The event was held at the same location as Ruminas. The Tokyo Dome. Except in a smaller hall. Once inside Rumina said his hellos and then we were escorted to our seats by the promoters of the show. Front row. They were great seats. Shinya Aoki was sitting next me.
The fights were awesome. The First 3 were all girls. Man, they went at it. It didn’t look like they had much power but they were ferocious and had massive amounts of heart. After the girls, Tenkei Fujimiya was up. Tenkei is an MMA fighter who I have trained with on my last trip to Japan. He fights out of Lions gym. The fight was a slug fest. 4 rounds of pure action. Tenkei dropped a split decision in the end. Great fight non the less. We watched the last 2 fights which were also great. 1 of which was another guy I had sparred on my last trip from Ceaser Gym in Tokyo. He won. I might actually want to do a fight in Shootbox. Looks like a lot fun.

The fights ended and it was time to go eat dinner. Curry! We went to this famous curry spot in town. It was amazing. I had the spicy Chicken Curry with melted cheese. It was nuts. So good. They have a list of options for the spicy level. Ranging 1-5. Rumina and I both went for a 4. PHEW it was hot. You know the hot that makes you sweat and feeling like your short of breath. It was that hot!…not gonna lie. I kinda want to experience the 5 just to say I did.
After Dinner we made the trek back to Odawara. But, not before Rumina wanted to splurge 1 last time before his eating normal begins tomorrow. Mcdonalds!

Tomorrow is back to Ground Slam gym in the AM and then in the evening its my going away party! I leave early Wednesday, so they thought it would be better Monday night than Tuesday. It should be another great time.

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Day 10:

As my journey closes in on its ending days the experiences still stay at a crazy high.

Today we woke up at 8am and met Rumina along with 6 other guys at the gym for our Saturday run. Like before we jogged out about 2 1/2 miles until we reached the stairs for our sprints. We raced each other to the top 4x, did push ups and then it was a shadow boxing cool down before the flag pole training. YES…flag pole training. I wish I had my camera with me for this because it was crazy cool. It’s basically a grip, shoulder and balance exercise where you grab different vertical poles and elevate yourself horizontally (completely straight) as long as you can. Rumina killed us all. I couldn’t do it at first but got the swing of it by the end. I think I was able to hold my longest for 3 seconds. Then it was another 2 1/2 miles back to the gym.
As we arrived to ROOTS we walked into an interesting class taking place. It was a HULA class. I guess Ruminas wife puts it on with a whole bunch of other woman 1 or 2x a month. I watched for a few seconds but had to rush into a shower so I could head to Tokyo for my PKG teamate Kengo Ura’s big fight for the King of Pancrase Title.
I headed to the train station, except this time I was traveling solo. My friend from the states (Yoshi) was meeting me at the station in Tokyo. But the challenge was getting there. There nothing more nerve-racking then being in a foreign country and attempting to travel without out any means of communication or being able to read signs. Taiki told me the ride from Odawara to Tokyo is about 90 mins. I really wanted to nap on the train but was afraid if I did I would miss my exit and not even know it until hours later and then be stuck, lost in Japan. A little over an hour into the trip I thought I heard my exit so I got off the train. immediately panicked that I screwed up. You know that gut feeling you get sometimes. I looked around for any kind of signs that said I was in the right place and found nothing. In fact the only signs that I saw were saying “this train to Tokyo”. OH my god, I think I got on the wrong stop. It was only about 70 minutes into a 90 minute travel. I then calmly walked around the giant station looking for a phone so I could attempt to call Yoshi and tell him how much of an idiot I was. I knew this was going to happen. After about 15 minutes of searching, I found no phone. I was lost. FANTASTIC. Just as I had started to figure out plan b i heard a voice “YO!” oh my god it was Yoshi!! I was in the right place after all. It was such a relief. I told him the story and he just laughed his ass off.
We left the station and he took me for a little sight-seeing and lunch through Shinagawa. This place was AMAZING. It reminded me of a crazy version of New York filled with beautifully architecture, giant high-rise buildings, Crazy japanese style mixed in with a bunch of foreigners. It was intense. The stores were just the same. Yes ladies….I went to Kitty land! no it wasnt that great and yes it was filled with floors of different hello kitty and various other characters stuff. blah blah … There was even a condom mania store. HAHA. was kind of silly but I had to go.
Now it was time for what we came for. Kengo’s fight.
We took I believe 5 different trains to get from Shinagawa to Tokyo. It was ridiculous. I could never be able to handle train traveling every day. It would drive me nuts. Not to mention the cost just adds up. But we finally made it.
The event was in a 2 story small club or concert hall. I think maybe 2000 people or so. The prelim started and we watched fairly un interested. Both Yoshi and I really had no interest in the fights until the unexpected happened.
I forget what fight it was, but the japanese fighter was dominating control up until the 3rd round. Then it happened. He took the other fighter down against the roped and somehow his ear grabbed onto the rope on the way down. The 2 fighters went one direction and the ear went another. It ripped completely off. I have never seen anything like that before. Both men scrambled to their feel and kept fighting completely unaware. The ref stopped the fight to see what was on the floor. Its was gruesome. When they realized what it was, the fight was instantly called off and the guy was unwillingly rushed to the hospital. CRAZY!!
After the excitement it was finally go time. Kengo and his opponent made there entrances in the ring. My nerves started pumping like I was getting ready to fight. I was excited for him. The bell sounded and both men went at it. For 3 rounds Kengo traded leather back and forth. It was a great fight. By the final bell it was hard to know who the winner was. I though Kengo had it 2 round to 1 but you never know with the judges. The score cards were read and it was a split decision. the crowd was silent as they waited for the announced to crown the champion. The dramatic pause finally ended with Kengo being named the king of pancrase. They presented him with the title belt and a crowning ceremony. I was so happy for him.
The event was over, said our good buys and it was time to make my way back to Odawara. This time I paid close attention and it actually made it fairly easy.

Today was another great day of experiences. I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Day 9:

Today we actually got to sleep in a bit. By a bit, I mean waking up at 8 instead of 6:30. Once we were up it was back to the train and off to Yokohama…again. Except this time we were training at the famous Shooting gym with Shooto Champion Lion Takeshi.
As we arrived to the small and dark feeling gym I knew today was going to be good sparring. Lions gym is known for having amazing stand up fighters. Today it was myself, Taiki, Lion, lions student (Shooto ranked #2 in the world flyweight), a 70 kilo fighter and 1 other bantamweight.
There’s something about going to a new gym and just having eyes looking at you as fresh meat. You just know your being tested by everyone in the room. The only thing you can do is either bring it or crumble. Today we went at it. We put on the little MMA gloves, started out with some shadow boxing followed by mits and then it was right into sparring. Because the gym was so small there was usually only 2 guys in at 1 time. This actually I think made the sparring a little bit more like a fight. We exchanged partners bell to bell for about an hour and then took the gear off for a little wrestling with one of their guys who has a fight in 2 weeks. He was wrecked after the training today.
Now it was time to head back to Odawara and get some rest before training Muay Thai tonight with KOTC and Shooto champion Mamoru.

Back in town I went to Taikis and crashed out for a few hours before heading back to ROOTS. Its friday and my body was feeling it. Face was a little swollen, legs were sore, had a stinger in the neck and yet was anxious for tonight!
Around 7:30 it was time for Muay Thai. Today we started the warm up with skipping rope on a weighted jump rope for 10 mins. I know that doesnt sound long but holy shit that kills your arms. I’ve gotta get one for home! After the rope it was shadow boxing, stretching then technique. Mamoru taught us some more amazing clinch and knee drills, both of which we sparring at the end. The guy is not only an amazing fighter but an incredible instructor as well.
Class ended and I was spent. We hung out for a few as Taiki locked up the gym and it was off to bed for the night.
Tomorrow I go back to Tokyo for my PKG teammate Kengo Ura as he fights for the King of Pancrase World Title. I can’t wait!!! WAR KENGO

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Day 8: A day to remember.

Today was an amazing day filled with great training and incredible once in a life time experiences.

We woke up at 6:30 this morning to catch the train and head back to Yokohama for training with Shooto Champion Katsumura at the Ground Slam gym. As usual once we arrived into Yokohama the train station was packed with people. Except today it was CRAZY packed. People were squeezing to fit their way in. From the outside it looked as if the train doors were going to pop from having too many people pushing up against it. Ironically there was no yelling or any sense of unconformability.
Once at Ground Slam gym, it was more of the same from before. Bell to bell MMA sparring with everyone switching partners each round. I think this was my best performance thus far. Everything felt like it was clicking. My punches, kicks, takedown and submissions seemed to be on point today.
We trained for a little over an hour and then it was back to Odawara. One the way to the station we checked out this dope pro shop. There was so much cool stuff there but I didn’t bring enough cash with me to buy anything. Funds are running short. I did how ever buy this amazingly delicious fish pastry thing. Oh my god it was crazy good. It was basically this fried cream cheese filled pastry thing shaped like a fish. I wish I could explain better what it was but ill probably ruin the image. Just check out the photo .

Back in Odawara it was time for lunch and a little site seeing. Katsuya (A gym mate and pro fighter from Roots) Came and picked us up from the gym and we were on are way for Ramen. If you have never had authentic Ramen before… Holyshit this was good. I’ve had it a few times back in LA but nothing compared to this. It was simply amazing.
After lunch Katsuya drove us about 2 hours deeper into the country where we went to check out this enormous outlet shopping center which was right next to Mount Fuji and a famous Japanese temple in the city of Gotemba.
The shopping center was so big. I think the craziest part of it was that it was completely surrounded by a super green forest. Something you would never see in the states. In the mall there was all kinds of American style outlet shops (clothing, watches, shoes ect..) But I did walk into probably the biggest Puma store ive seen. Again, I wish I had more money. A lot of the gear in the shop I havent seen in the states are were really dope. The Japanese fashion is actually really cool. The way they mix colors and the cuts of the jeans have really been catching me. hopefully ill pick something up before I leave. Now was time to check out the temple.

The temple was a complete surreal experience. I’ve never been a big religious person but have always been more towards the spiritual side of belief. That being said, this temple was a “Place of Peace”. The gardens that surrounded it were amazing. Brilliant flowers, water falls, and it all just gave off such a feeling of welcome. We followed the garden up leading to the Temple that had 3 men praying on their knees. Watching for a few minutes as the men transitioned from a harmony of vocal prayers to drums and finally both at the same time. After the temple we walked another uphill path which led is to the main shrine. Now maybe this was all in my head and you will say ive lost it, but as we walked up the hill I felt a complete blissful feeling of energy running through me. It’s difficult to explain. The feeling really made me have to stop and just look off to the trees and take it in. This was just a moment that almost seemed as if this is what the trip was for. I couldn’t have been happier.
At the top of the hill there was a Peace gong that people were encouraged to ring before walking up to the shrine. The shrine was majestic. Statues of Buddha made of gold that were surrounded by ancient traditional fighting platforms that overlooked Japan when stood on. Everything about this place was completely surreal. We even had to take off our shoes before walking up to the statues. After a bunch of photos we now had to unfortunately head back to Odawara for tonight’s grappling training.

Back at the gym Katsuya taught his Jiu Jitsu class and then we all rolled until the lights went out. When they came back on, everybody started singing happy birthday in English. Its was Taikis birthday!! He opened a few gifts and then did a birthday routine on the thai pads. I think it was 26 kicks on each leg. I somehow got a gift also from Katsuyas girlfriend. It was some really cool Japanese Dragon boxers.
We closed the gym up and headed an hour outside of town for Taikis birthday dinner. Korean BBQ.
The food here was ridiculous. Plate after plate, different beef cuts kept coming out. I even had Liver Sashimi. Yes…it was delicious. We drank a few beers, had a lot of laughs and concluded an amazing day. I think we left around 1 am.

Tomorrow is back out to Yokohama for training. Except this time we will be going to the famous Yokohama Shooting Gym to train with Shooto Champion Lion Takeshi and his team.

Enjoy the photos!
Chad “SAVAGE” George

Day 7: Today I was finally back to normal. I woke up around 10 and went for my own walk around town. It’s actually really cool to wonder the streets alone. Making my way through the small country town (which was still set up like the big cities with all the shops crammed together) I Bought some breakfast, coffee, did some sight-seeing then headed over to ROOTS gym member Anake’s clothing store which was near by. We hung out while talking about hip hop and American fast food. It was an awesome conversation. He really wants to eat Taco Bell!

Around 2 I finally made my way over to the gym and met Taiki who had just opened up shop. We spent about an hour watching some good ol NCAA wrestling videos on you tube. He had never seen that level of wrestling and was amazed at what he saw!
As the gym members started to come in, they one by one started asking me to roll spar with them. I think I must have done 1 hour straight with a cycle of maybe 4 guys that kept rotating on me. Exhusting…but was a lot fun. I took a rest on the mats since my training was coming up. About 25 mins into my nap I was asked again to spar. This time standing. How could I say no. This is what came a here for right? As soon as the timer beeped, my timing felt like normal! My jet lag was finally over..I was ecstatic. I think it showed by the way I started moving. This wrestler was back to normal. Power doubles, lateral throws, high crotch transitions and my submissions were on point. For the 1st time this trip my grappling felt right. Was a great feeling.

After training again, I now only had about 35 mins to relax until it was time for the GI Jiu Jitsu class. Just before class started my friend Yoshi from the states showed up to train. Yoshi is an outstanding black belt who used to live in LA and now lives about 30 minutes from ROOTS. It was so cool to see a familiar face while in Japan. Now it was time for some GI.
We learned some awesome gi sweeps and then had a nice long spar session. I started with Yoshi and made my way around the room. The rounds seemed like 4 minute rounds that we must have done 10 of. I was spent.
After class Yoshi and I took of the GI’s and he showed me some really cool modified submissions to stuff that I already do. They were awesome yet simple changes. The moves even caught Ruminas attention. He even eventually made his way over and we all drilled together.
Training was finally over. It was time to shower and go eat. When I walked off the mats I guess one of the kids who train at ROOTS mother had cooked me some food since she heard I loved the food in Japan. That was so nice. It was a squid dish, with sides of beans, roots and potato salad. It’s crazy how kind the people have been. Yoshi went home as did we. Today was an overall great day.

Tomorrow is back on the train at 6:30am to the giant city of Yokohama to train again with Shooto champion Katsumura and Takeya Mizugaki.
Sorry if todays writing is horribly written. Its been a long day..The photos will be up later today. The blog site is having issues again with uploads.

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Today was a rough one. I woke up around 11am after the long night we had last evening. I don’t think ive been that drunk in a long time. Feeling like a bus hit me. Luckily we were only training in the evening.
After lounging around the house, attempting to get going we finally mad to ROOTS gym. I wish I could tell you more exciting things that happened today but im not gonna lie. I spent most of the day laying on the floor in the gyms office trying to recover and drink lots of water. By around 4:30 the kids striking classes began. These classes looked to range from the ages of maybe 5-12. It was so cool watching the kids work on Muay Thai. Some of them were actually really good. By around 6 I finally started feeling better. But lucky me I forgot to eat today and now was only 1 hour away from my training. I tried to eat a little snack before my session but it really didn’t do me any good. It was now time to train Muay Thai with KOTC champion Mamaru. Class ran about 90 mins and was full of excellent techniques from the clinch and kick attack counters. The class was great. I wish I would have just had more energy for it. After we finished Muay Thai it was time to grapple spar for another 90 mins. We took of the gear and went at it. This could have been the longest 90 mins of my life. New partner after new partner I attempted to regain my strength and drive but it just wasnt there. Tonight I felt like a little bitch. Luckily tomorrow is a new day and I still learned a lot today.
Around 10pm we closed the gym to get some food and go home. We stopped off at this Italian style restaurant which was actually pretty good. I had a rib steak that for 10 bucks wasnt bad at all. After dinner I was pleased to finally make it back home. I think the good thing that came from all this is that the jag lag may now finally have passed! We will what tomorrow brings when a friend from the states will be coming by the gym!

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Today was rough. We woke up at 6:30 in order to be at the train by 7 and in Yokohama for training at 9 (mind you we got bed last night around 2). Today We traveled to Train with Shooto 135 pound Champion Shu Katsumura (Famous Ninja choke) and WEC fighter Takeya Mizugaki.
Once we arrived in Yokohama it was rush hour at the train station. Floods and Floods of people were running and pouring from every direction you looked. Its was insanity. Even on the train people were crammed together like sardines. Luckily we only had to be in the madness for a few minutes.
Outside of the train station it was immediately calm. Almost fitting the saying “calm before the storm”, which is exactly what it was when we arrived at the Ground Slam Gym.
Training was great! We MMA sparred for 1 hour straight. Bell to bell. The session was short but aggressive and to the point. Each round was with a new guy and everyone out of this gym where beasts. When me and Katsumura went at it everyone stopped to watch. We went back and forth until I landed a deep takedown. unfortunately was not a great idea. From the ground he worked and worked for his famous set up and eventually caught me in his “Ninja Choke”. Man that thing is nasty. The setup for it was amazing and so fast.
After training, we all took a bunch of photos and then Taiki and I headed back to Odawara for lunch and some rest before our evening training along with Ruminas celebration party.
I took about a 2 hour nap at Roots gym and then went for a massage before Ruminas MMA class at 7 (My body is already beat up). We did a bunch of crazy warm up exercises and then it was into technique for about 90 mins. Rumina had me teach a part of it. After the class it was sparring time. The armature and pro fighters always get together for some sort of sparring after the technique classes. Tonight we grappled for 90 mins then hit the showers and headed to Ruminas party.
We met Rumina and bunch of his students and friends at the 1st spot for dinner and a few drinks. Sashimi, Kabobs, Tempura. It was delicious. After dinner it was off to the 2nd spot for more drinks (I rarely drink so you can say the American was a little drunk). The group reduced in size by about half as we approached the 2nd restaurant and it was already about midnight. Everyone was having a great time. Laughing, joking, Drinks were passed around and passed around until it was about 2am. I think most of the night was spent with us teaching each other horrible slang english and Japanese. Needless to say. We were all pretty smashed by the time we left. On the way home we left as a group and someone suggested a light snack. So we stopped at this rice beef bowl place that was open all night. Yes that ment more drinking. I think we finally left around 4 and made it home about 4:30. I was a super tired and needed to sleep. The good news is, I think I might have drank my jet lag away.

(Sorry my camera died at ROOTS gym so unfortunately I only got a few photos from the party on my phone. I will upload them later today).

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Sorry for the delay in the blog. The days have been running so close togeather. But here we go….

Today was Ruminas big fight against Shooto icon 18-1 Ryoto Matsune. Taiki and myself met Rumina at Roots gym and then left Odawara around 11am heading to the Arena in Tokyo. On the way Rumina wanted to eat lunch, so we stopped at this really cool market/food stop off the freeway and ate some Udon and Octopus. (Like a rest stop but very high class..it was so cool). After Lunch it was a 90 minute straight shot to the JBC Hall Arena.
Once we arrived at the arena Rumina was swarmed with fans wanting photos and autographs. I tried to focus on Rumina but the Arena was so overwhelming. Roller Coasters, rides, thousands of people in costume (There was some kind of event going on that had to do with famous Japanese characters) That really had me pulling in different directions. But once inside the arena it was a different story. We took Rumina backstage and chilled out until it was time to get warmed up for the fight. It was amazing having so much talent in our locker room. We had the current 145 pound champ Lion Takeshi (who was defending his title this night), Shooto 135 pound champion Shu Katsumura, X champion Mamoru Yamaguchi and Champion Taiki Tsuchiya all in Ruminas room. I felt honored being allowed in his locker room with his team. Rumina wrapped his hands, warmed up and now it was time to fight. I couldn’t believe how relaxed Rumina was through the whole process. He looked as if he was just going for coffee through the entire thing. It was amazing to watch how comfortable he is in the element of fight. As we walked Rumina down to the tunnel you heard nothing but the screams of the 4-5000 fans in the audience. “RUMINA..RUMINA..RUMINA!!” Once the fight started the crowd went silent. The only time they made a noise was when a punch landed or a defense from a takedown. I love how educated the Japanese fans are. The 1st round saw much of a feeling out period between the two veterans. The second round was a different story. Matsune attacked to the body and Rumina landed a beautiful knee to the chin knocking him out cold. Just for good measure Rumina followed up with 2 solid shots before the ref could pull him off. The crowd went nuts as did we in his corner. It was a huge victory for Rumina and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it. After Ruminas fight, gym mate and Champion Lion Takeshi was ready to go. The fight was a back a forth slug fest. It was by far one of the best fights ive seen to date. Both men put there entire hearts on the line. Unfortunetly Lion ended up dropping a decision loss to the new champion Hioki.
Once the event was over we drove 2 hours back to Odawara and had mini celebration dinner with Rumina and some of the ROOTS gym members. The actually party will be tomorrow.
Tonight was an amazing night of fights and an experience I will not forget. But for now its time to go to bed as we have to wake up at 6:30am to travel to Yokohama’s ground slam gym for training at 10am with Shooto Champion Shu Katsumura and WEC fighter Takeya Mizugaki.

Chad “SAVAGE” George

Day 3: DREAM

Today we woke around 8:30 so we could get to ROOTS gym by 9 for sprint day. Every Saturday and Wednesday the fighters do this run. It’s a basically a 5 mile jog with stair sprints in the middle. (Stair way was 5 sets of stairs ran 5x) Followed by push ups at the top. When we jogged back to the gym it was time for more push up and pull ups. My legs were shot but I still felt really good. After training I had to rush into a shower and then it was off to watch DREAM!
We started off with a short train ride and then were picked up by another gym mate for the remainder of the 2 hour travel to the arena.
Once at the venue we met up with one of my sponsors from INSPIRIT (Hata) and went into the show. The event was amazing. Fireworks, lights, fire, it was insane. The crowed was unbelievably educated and I only heard 1 boo the entire night. Of course it was from an American yelling “Cmon fight!! BOOO BOOO…DO SOMETHING…”I wanted to go over and choke the shit out of him.
Aside from the production of the show the fights were awesome. Some brutal KO’s, slick submissions and overall great fights. I think the strangest part of the night was when we were leaving somehow someone knew who I was and asked for an autograph and then also ended up doing an interview with a camera man from DREAM. Kinda cool.

After the fights it was back on the train and back to Odawara. We were a little hungry so we went and ate Soba at the same restaurant as the other night. This time the chef came out and gave me a Japanese Soba chefs outfit!! So cool.
Tomorrow we head to Tokyo for SHOOTO. Ruminas fight against Ryoto Matsune. WAR RUMINA!!

Chad “SAVAGE” George