SoCal bound
My drive south begins tomorrow morning, stopping for lunch in Seattle and for the evening in Portland to visit a friend briefly. After a night or two in Portland I will drive south, crash at the Griffins' and start researching gyms while getting ready for no-gi Worlds. I'm getting very close to being on weight for Worlds but I'll still need to settle in and get my diet right in the new environment.
While I haven't decided yet where I'll be staying, I'll continue to check out gyms and neighbourhoods to see what's a match for me. I will say that I am leaning towards Belmont Shore in Long Beach since that seems to get positive reviews from everything I've looked at.
I'm also considering attending this seminar in Fort Bragg, CA. Fort Bragg is significantly out of the way and adds quite a bit to drive time, and I would basically have to leave Portland on Friday to realistically get there for a Saturday morning seminar. But on the other hand, I've heard nothing but great things about Gokor Chivichyan (famously known for turning out guys like Karo Parisyan, Manny Gamburyan, Karen Darabedyan and other dudes with very Armenian sounding names and nasty leglocks). And even my friend in Portland admitted "Armenian-style barbecue" certainly sounds like a winner.
Either way I'm probably arriving in SoCal on Hallowe'en night or the day after, and then I start gym/neighbourhood/apartment searching. No-gi worlds are on the 7th, and who knows, maybe I'll even play the NAPT the following week.
While I haven't decided yet where I'll be staying, I'll continue to check out gyms and neighbourhoods to see what's a match for me. I will say that I am leaning towards Belmont Shore in Long Beach since that seems to get positive reviews from everything I've looked at.
I'm also considering attending this seminar in Fort Bragg, CA. Fort Bragg is significantly out of the way and adds quite a bit to drive time, and I would basically have to leave Portland on Friday to realistically get there for a Saturday morning seminar. But on the other hand, I've heard nothing but great things about Gokor Chivichyan (famously known for turning out guys like Karo Parisyan, Manny Gamburyan, Karen Darabedyan and other dudes with very Armenian sounding names and nasty leglocks). And even my friend in Portland admitted "Armenian-style barbecue" certainly sounds like a winner.
Either way I'm probably arriving in SoCal on Hallowe'en night or the day after, and then I start gym/neighbourhood/apartment searching. No-gi worlds are on the 7th, and who knows, maybe I'll even play the NAPT the following week.