NOW IT'S TIME TO WORK...

Well I counted them.

And I shot well over 10 hours of taped footage on the trip. I'm happy. I took two boxes of tapes with the aim of using all the tapes and I did..not one tape left. I'm very happy with the footage and at how good the trip went. I was so lucky and fortunate to get what I did filmed.

So,..I have to jump on in and start sifting through the footage, logging it into my computer and get editing I guess. I super keen on it, I love the editing process but different priorities are afoot at the moment.

I returned home from Tokyo on the Sunday and took over as manager of my department on the Monday and haven't stopped working hard yet. Pulled a 13 plus hour day today and I've got a similar one tomorrow. I guess I'll use the extra days off to jump on in and get started on the editing. SO keen to see where it goes now.

Oh yeah,...anyone actually read this blog? (besides you Martine) I'm thinking nobody is reading this and I'm thinking of deleting it....hmm...

To Be Continued,...

- Juggs

IT ALL HAS TO END SOMETIME?...

Really..I wish it didn't.

Our last night in Tokyo was spent unplanned, drinking beers in Inokashira Koen with our new friends Darin and Kat (and dear old friend Martine of course) till past 3am. We were so tired from the days last minute filming, shopping, and goodbyes but,..you just can't pass these kinds of options up when on trips like this. The memories are worth the lack of sleep. And I'm glad we did it. It was a fitting end to an amazing trip.

Summary of the trip?...

It couldn't of been anymore smoothly run. I was extremely lucky to get everything I wanted filmed (you always want more film but,...), met some of my heros, trained with some of the best fighters on the planet, and met some life long new friends. I couldn't have asked for much more. I did doubt for a while wheather I'd get all I needed filmed for this documenatry. I had such high expectations of myself and my ambition for this doco, I was unsure if it would go so smoothly but with the BIG help from friends,..it was more than I asked for.

So,...

I'd like to thank everybody who helped me out in anyway during this trip. Without your help,..it would of been alot harder. I'm not going to name names, you know who you are, so,..thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I love you all,..

To Be Continued,..

- Juggs

photo by Martine Cotton - frangipani.info/blog/

GOODBYE MY FRIEND,..

This update is particularly for Zowie!

FRIDAY - So it's our last night in Tokyo before we fly back home to Australia tomorrow evening. I had my last of the filming schedule to film today and it was timed beautifully in with SMACKGIRL. I headed to Suidobashi station area earlier in the afternoon so I could film the "easter eggs" for the DVD and to shop for some last minute MMA goodies. I spent WAY too much time (hours actually!) in the shops blowing the last of my Yen and headed to FITNESS last to pick up the Imanari instructional DVD for Zowie and Zviggy before crossing the bridge to go see the SMACKGIRL show at Korakuen Hall.

I walk into Fitness with my missus (who is the worst person at blowing money on the last day of a trip...BAD influence she is!) and this guy in a beanie hiding what could only be huge messed up ears walks in behind us. Now almost any day you can walk into Fitness and some pro will be working the till. Last trip it was Hironaka Kuniyoshi, this trip I notice Eiji Mitsuoka punching the numbers.

Now I came into Fitness, running late for SMACKGIRL, with an agender. That agender was to purchase 2 dvds. The Best Of Contenders and Demolition (2003 and onwards) for me and the said Imanari dvd for Z & Z. I pick them both up, hum and ha over getting the Rumina Collection as well, and notice that the beanie wearing cat is eyeing me off. I think it's just a gaijin in a kakutogi shop thing and leave thinking nothing of it.

With missus in tow,..we both race to catch SMACKGIRL. We both enjoyed it alot and it was again a who's who of Japanese pro's in the house again. Josh Barnett, sporting 2 MASSIVE black eyes, Megumi Fujii, Abe Ani, Shinya Aoki (God I love that cat!) and more. It was during a match I noticed Shinya Aoki and that said beanie wearing guy cornering one of the girls. After the match,..he sat in the row opposite us and I kept thinking,..what's with this cat?

Anyway,..cutting it short,..I just got home (to Australia) and was unpacking my seriously sweet hord of MMA swag and looked at the back of the Imanari dvd and notice a picture of him and Shinya Aoki on the back. Then it hit me like a tone of bricks!!...the beanie guy WAS Imanari and he was watching me purchase HIS instructional!! That's why he was all weird around me in Fitness and at SMACKGIRL! I can't believe I noticed him NOW,..at home!

Thought you'd like that story Zowie. And it's true!

To Be Continued,..

- Juggs

WHAT TO DO ON A SUNDAY?...

and headed to the Saitama Super Arena. On the train, the closer you get to the arena station, the easier it gets to see who’s going to PRIDE. On big days like today, it’s about the only time fight fans actually wear their fight shirts out in public. Odd?

Once you exit the Saitama station, you’d be BLIND if you needed directions to the arena. A/ It’s just such a big arena and so close to the station, it’s impossible to miss and B/ You can just follow the herd. Thousands are heading to it so “flow wit the go” as Rickson says. Today had to of been the hottest day I’ve felt in years! I mean it. It was hotter than a Mexican’s lunch box.

We checked out the merchandise stands that were easily about a hundred metres long and bought the clique shirts, took some photos and then decided the air conditioned arena was the best option for us.

I got the tickets through my new friend Tadashi at J-Rock and he got us “some good seats for the price”. We entered and asked for assistance to find our seats. When the dude started heading towards the ring we thought..FUCK!,..any where here’s fine,..where’s he going?.. and he kept walking!

We got hooked up big time cause we were sitting in the 10th row! The first 5 rows are for VIP’s people! We very carrying on like monkey’s at a knife fight with excitement.

The fights?..well everybody knows what the story is there so I won’t repeat it again. But I will say, every fan of this great sport we all love should experience PRIDE live at least once. Good seats or cheap seats (I’ve done ‘em both), it’s the atmosphere and the shear excitement of actually seeing the fighters you watch on a screen actually in front of you fighting that’s worth every cent. I’ll be doing it every year now.

Always looking for a touring buddy. Who’s with me next year?

Start saving.

To Be Continued,..

- Juggs

CAN YOU TASTE IT YET?...

Been a bit since I updated so it'll be a long one,..

So strap yourself in and feel the cheese!..

So,..

THURSDAY - Roy calls me and says I can come to the Inspirit office in Kichijoji, meet Rumina Sato and Tsuyoshi the owner of Inspirit, and interview then this afternoon at 4pm. I'm hyped on it cause Rumina Sato has been an idol of mine for a long time and Inspirit clothing is another fav of mine too. Double bonus hey?!

So Roy picks me up in Kichijoji and takes me to the office and I meet Rumina, Tsuyoshi and the rest of the Inspirit guys. They are all SO nice and made me feel very welcome. We chat for a while then I interview Rumina. interviewed him for a long time and I must say,..he was very honest and willing to help me. Great interview and probably will be the highlight of the dvd. Tuyoshi was interviewded next and he's a really sweet nice man. Very giving.

I love my new friends at Inspirit.

After photos, I raced off to meet up with a friend and train at GUTSMAN Dojo (Mach Sakurai's old gym). The class was awesome. Basically it was 2 hrs of wrestling/grappling with around 20 plus pros and amateurs. No techniques..just rolling hard for 2 hours. Loved it! After sweating WAY too much on the way home. I shower'd and then the call came through..

It was Roy...he was in Kichijoji with the Inspirit boys and they were Kareoke-ing! HARD! So?..what do you do when the devil comes a calling? You ride the wave to hell I thought. I arrived to find one messy ass booth with sweaty, beer stained, loud, pissed guys standing on everything but the floor.

What do you do?

You jump in head first and catch up is what you do!!! :((((( I have to say it was not even 10 minutes before I was covered in sweat and beer and high fiving like a pro volleyball player! We killed it till about 3am and said our goodbyes till SHOOTO tomorrow night. What a day.

FRIDAY - So I have nothing on today but SHOOTO tonight at Korakuen Hall. I catch up on sleep, eat, and decided to pack my camera gear for SHOOTO tonight.

I get to Korakuen and I await for Roy and the Inspirit guys to arrive too. Standing at the entrance of the lifts is like watching a who's who of Japanese MMA parade. You name 'em..they were here.

Roy and the guys arrive...I show then the bruised VERY sore hand from all the high fives we nailed each other with I have from Kareoke last night. Ouch! We head in,..we all get backstage passes :)))))) and we catch up with some fighters. Rumina's here and we chat for a bit. Tsuyoshi is running around trying to organise for it to be ok that I can film, as the first few fights go on. I shoot stealth wise with my little camera while he does this...sneaky hey?..

Tsuyoshi comes back half way through..and it's cool to shoot..just not the fights. I'm cool with any footage I can get..it's all good. I hustle my gear ready and shoot for the rest of the show. I got so much great footage I actually sat and watched the last 2 fights. Saw SO many pros there. I met Masahiro Oishi, Yasuda (cool guys..hope they come out to fight soon), Tatsuya Kawajiri (just like he looks), Mitsohiro Ishida (really sweet guy..demon in the ring?), Lion Takeshi (RAD!), and ran into George Sotoropolis in the stands. He's doing well, training hard and doing us proud. Also saw Shinya Aoki, Ryota Sakurai, Akihiro Gono, Yuki Nakia, Megumi Fuji, and many more there. SOOOO many pros there tonight!

As I was packing up my gear..a guy comes up to me and says.."You must be Juggs?...I thought it could only be you running around filming cause I've been reading about you on the net and what you've been doing". He was a nice guy and if you're reading this Ben..thanks for the kind words...means somebody is keen to see the DVD when it finally comes out. Cheers...

Was a fucking amazing last 2 days and nights and I must say a big thank you to Roy Luxton who went out of his way to help me with alot so far. Thank you Roy.

Well...just got back from PRIDE GP Final Round and well.....wait till tomorrow for THAT installment!..cracker!

To Be Continued..

- Juggs (you keep reading,,and I'll keep writing)

SNAP!!..

DAY 9 & 10 - I was enjoying the "day off" on Saturday so I decided to go for a bike ride to Kugayama station which is about 5 minutes from where I am. Apparently GOMI just opened his "Rascal" gym very close to the station. So I rode around for about an hour down EVERY block to try and find it and had no luck. I'll try again another day. Went out at night with some friends (see post below) and saw some Japanese rock bands,..you gotta do this when you're in Tokyo. It's RAD!

Yesterday (Sunday) I ventured over to Ryan Bow's Kaminari Dojo again to train. We did an hour of kickboxing and then an hour of grappling with MMA sparring. Ryan's a really good teacher and a ridiculously nice guy..such giving person. The training was really good but I busted up my ankle...well I got toe-holded.,.so no training for me for a couple more days. It's pretty swollen ,..ouch!

I don't know what Japan's doing to me but I'm down to my lowest weight ever too....72.355 kgs!! Gotta love this place. :-D

Today?..I got nothing on,..but I have to pick up my PRIDE GP Final Round tickets from Tadashi at J-Rock in Shibuya so I think I'll go shoot some base shots for the doco.

OH SNAP!..meeting up with Pro SHOOTO fighter Masahiro Oishi at SHOOTO on Friday night at the Korakuen Hall...RAD! ;D

To Be Continued,...

- Juggs

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?...

DAY 8 - ARHHHHH!!!!

Due to my closed up left ear (I can't hear out of it at the moment) and lack of alarm (never trust somebody else's alarm clock) I slept in late! By late I mean I literally woke up to Tadashi calling me asking where I was. I was supposed to be at Yoshida Dojo at 1pm but I was still in bed when he called at 1:20pm!!! Things have been going so well lately I knew something had to go wrong sooner than later. I wacked on some pants, grabbed my gear, and rode the bike as fast as I could to the train station.

Lesson #1 : NEVER be late for a meeting in Japan. NEVER! It's considered rude and just plain not done.

I felt SO bad turning up an HOUR late and after about a hundred "gomennasai"s I was in Yoshida Dojo setting up camera equipment at the fastest pace know to man. ALL the top pro's were there, Yoshida, Nakamura, Yokoi and more. They had just finished training and Omigawa and Murata were waiting to be interviewed.

I interviewed Omigawa first and he was a really cool guy. I kept wondering what he kept looking at off to the side of my head and when I turned my head..I noticed Yoshida beside me making all these moves to try and make Omigawa laugh. Yoshida's a funny guy...has the best sense of humour.

Omigawa is a wild guy..loves acting it up for a camera op.

I interviewed Murata next and man!..I thought Omigawa was funny..this guy is hilarious! Murata was having the same hard time with my questions too because Yoshida was doing the same routine behind me. Ha ha ha!

They were both very good to interview and professional but at the same time..it was good to see they all had a sense of humour and a relaxed atmosphere in their gym. A few pics later and I was out the door. I think I was there for like 40 minutes tops. Professionals guys...professionals.

I was feeling exhausted from being late and rushed, so I just went home for a night in. On a Friday night in Tokyo,...I should be ashamed of myself.

So,..

I noticed something about myself when I was at the Yoshida Dojo today. I was late and nervous because I thought I'd stuffed this great opportunity up but on the train ride there..I kept saying to myself.."You can do this Juggs!..you can do anything. Just go in there and show them that you're a pro."

And I did.

I felt like I really WAS doing what I'd always wanted to do,..and I was good at it too (apart from the being late bit)!! I'm not afraid of doing this now..I was a little bit unsure..kind of feeling out of my depth,..but..I'm in there doing it. And I'm succeeding.

Thanks to anyone whose helped so far...and the trips not near finshed yet.

To Be Continued,...

- Juggs (never late for a meeting again)

I WANT YOU TO...TAKE ME TO...ELECTRIC TOWN!..

DAY 7 - This afternoon I had a meeting at J-Rock with Tadashi. Rode my first Tokyo cab to the office. Felt like Bill Murray in Lost In Translation,..I can here that opening song by Death In Vegas now. Tadashi met me at the entrance, greeted me and sat me in the conference room. He came back quickly and we talked about myself, my role with InfiniteMMA.com, my filming plans and what we could do.

He said Yoshida and Nakamura were very busy fighters and are basically selective with the press they talk with. He asked me if I was interested in interviewing up and coming Yoshida Dojo fighters Murata and Omigawa? I said I was very keen. So we organized for me to meet him at the Yoshida Dojo tomorrow at 1pm. Tadashi is a very nice and giving man. I'm very fortunate for his help and can't thank him enough.

After the meeting I went to Akihabara (Electric Town) to buy a new camera. I felt so geeky buying electronic gear here..but hey..it was CHEAP!

Flying home after the camera purchase I dropped my camera equipment, grabbed my gym gear and headed over to Paraestra Kichijoji which is like a 10 minute bike ride from my place. Let me tell you this...never complain of space in your gym again. Gym's in Tokyo are SMALL and this Paraestra was small. It's not what space you have, it's how you use it that matters and these guys use it too it's fullest. I took the jiu jitsu class with the black belt (who's name I've forgotten...Kotani I think?) and it was really good. They do a quick warm up, do 2 minute rounds of stand up takedowns for a while, learn 2 techniques (X-guard tonight), then...wrestle. BUT!,..they wrestle for like over an hour! I think this is really a good format too. By wrestling alot their stamina for competition is always at a good level.

I wrestled for ages with all sorts of guys. Good level at this gym. Just towards the end of the class Uematsu (pro SHOOTO fighter turned up) and wrestled with some guys. He's very skilled! He taught a SHOOTO class after the jiu jitsu class but I was keen for an early night (for once) so I watched a little bit then left. I highly recommend this gym

Tomorrow will be interesting.

I love my new camera..it's SO small (about the size of a credit card but thicker) and RAD!

To Be Continued,..


- Juggs

A MOVE AND A SHAKE,....

Last night I met up with SHOOTO & DEEP fighter Ryan Bow of Kaminari Dojo. He was a super nice cat and we talked for AGES over dinner and then went to his gym. I shot the interview with him and it went well. I watched him train..he said join in but my arm was hurting from the cruching it got last night at WK Tokyo so I sat, watched and filmed. It was a small class but a very keen bunch of guys. Ryan's such a nice guy..and I'm going to train with him on Sunday afternoon.

Off to meeting at J-Rock (Yoshida) today then off to train at Paraestra Kichioji (or X-Point as it's also known as) at night.

Oh yeah tough as nails SHOOTO fighter Takuya Kuwabara (PUREBRED) came into Ryan's gym..cool guy.

To Be Continued...

- Juggs

FEELING LIKE A GOOD MAN...

Was up till 2am writing & reporting on the net last night.

Woke up at 10:45am to my phone ringing. Was Kezza saying hi and plotting a dinner for Friday night. Sounds cool.

I was tired from the last few days and well,..I needed the sleep-in and a slow day so I decided to find this jiu jitsu shop I'd seen on the net that was close by. I went 4 stops towards where I thought it was, asked somebody, then they told me to go BACK to where I came from, take a subway train 6 stops, then another hop 1 more station to the right station. A nice guy directed me to the store once I exited and it was worth the trip. The Lutador store.

Let's say I spent enough money there to NOT need to go back there till the next trip to Japan. I was doing so well at NOT spending any money too. I'd spent under $500 total in the last 6 days and was proud of my will power to not buy anything. Oh well.. anyway I'm doing well,..cash wise. Training and filming doesn't leave much time for shopping. ;P

Anyhoo,...

I raced home soon after cause I needed to grab my film gear and training gear cause I was meeting Roxy at WK Headquarters for training at 7pm.

Training was really good and I really enjoyed the class. A good technique was taught and I rolled with a pant load of guys (and Roxy too). ALL the guys were good. I loved rolling with guys of that calibre. It was great to be pushed EVERY roll. Loved it. My arms a bit sore thou.. :/ Thanks Roxy for taking care of me.

Anyway..

Tomorrow I'm meeting Ryan Bow in the night. He sounds really nice.

Feeling like a good man,..as the Archer Prewitt songs goes..

To Be Continued,...

- Juggs

AND THEY'RE OFF...

After a bit of a slow start I think things are finally kicking into gear.

I was really tired after the first 2 days here because of travelling all over Tokyo to get to my place, get a phone, and settled in....actually apart from my friends here..I wasn't enjoying it. Weird hey?...but now I've settled in, hung with some friends, gotten barely any sleep (slept twice at my place so far!), and am ready to tackle it some more.

Feeling a bit odd in the belly today thou...hmm?

Anyhow,...

SATURDAY - Went to the MARS event,..got a full backstage pass and could film EVERYWHERE, filmed heaps at MARS. Big Jim York went well and KO'd the guy in the first round. After the event we all headed out to the after event dinner on MARS' account. Was a traditional Japanese meal, sitting on the floor and such. Was rad!..all the fighters were there and Roy, Jim and myself tore it up with Peter Graham (K1), Nicholas Pettradis (K1), and all the other fighter cats It was awesome! Mishima (fought Gomi, Krazy Horse and other guys) rolled in too! Was a cool guy. Funny cat. OH YEAH!..this little guy, about 65kgs who is the national armwrestling champ got roped into all the fighters taking turns at beating him armwrestling. He killed 'em all! Was hilarious.

Then we all headed into Roppongi at about 12.30am, missed the last train home, then went to a crazy 3 room dance club and killed it till 5am for the first train home. I got NAILED!! was sooooo drunk I can't even remember getting to Jim's room where I woke up!??

NUTS!!

SUNDAY - Anyway..was sick as a dog Sunday (I drink rarely nowadays,...and I never will again), took Jim to Suidobashi to get some MMA toys, dragged him back to his hotel, said goodbye, then fell asleep on the 40 minute train home. Got a few hours sleep at home then headed over to Kezza's place for the night.

MONDAY - Kezza was off to work so I called up Roxanne, a friend who lives in Tokyo, is a pro fighter and trains at WK Network (Caol Uno and such's gym). We met at Shinjuku, she took me to a great restraurant for lunch then we headed over to Akihabara's Electric Town to check out computer stuff, games and toys. Was fun.

Then she was off to training at WK with the pro's and I decided to tag along to watch. It was amazing to watch. 18 Pro's were there!! H Monma, K Miyata, K-Taro, Adrian Pang's nememis H Kadowaki and heaps more Pro fighters were there. I watched as they rolled HARD for 90 minutes, filmed about 40 mintues of footage and took a few pics. Was a great night.

I'm off to WK again with Roxanne tomorrow to train this time thou. Should be fun. Can't wait. Also have to call Ryan Bow tomorrow to catch up.

Things are starting roll well but I feel I don't have enought time to catch up with all these people I'm supposed to meet up with...

To Be Contiuned,...

- Juggs

CHEESUS CHRIST

So,...

Day 1 was,...well,..fun..Nick, my old jiu jitsu buddy from Australia, picked me up at the airport and we went to his house, had dinner, read magazines at a news stand, drank at a small bar while watching The Quick And The Dead, blasted thru a LOUD Pachinko parlour (my first and last), got another couple of large beers, drank them, went and used Nick's girl's internet, got wigged out on, left and drank beer at home, shot friend in belly with GLOCK bb gun replica (his choice!, I DIDN'T want to do it really) he yelled, I laughed cause he asked for it, and slept.

Day 2 was,...well,..ok.,..then RAD! I really had to kill a day cause I A/, couldn't meet up with Martine's (who's place I'm staying at) roommate to get my key till 6pm, my friend Nick had to work till 4pm, Kezza (old friend) was working till 6pm, and well,..I was at their gracious mercy. So,.. I wondered into Shibuya and walked around to my fav stores for a bit, ate and rolled back to Nick's to get my stuff to move into Martine's place.

At Shibuya,..

- A Japanese guys fell asleep on my shoulder while on the train..classic.
- Had the best time at TOWER RECORDS. Bought the raddest magazine ever. It's a magazine with cut-out diarama photo's of typical Tokyo street settings! You cut out the shops, people, bikes, and what not and set it up and it looks RAD! I bought it purely with the intention that it's make the best images for the opening titles for my doco. Will look SO good. So lovin it!
- Checked out Mandarake.

After Shibuya,..took the 40 minute train ride back to Nick's, got my stuff, said goodbye, then took the 50 minute train ride all the way to Kichijoji to walk about 2 klms to her door with all my luggage. Along the way talked to another skating Japanese guy, was a nice fellow, then a nice girl saw that I skated, asked where I was going and then proceeded to walk me all the way to my friends place. How nice is that?

Met Charlene (to collect key) who is a really nice girl. What Canadian's aren't? And the place is fantastic! Nice place with a little yard! Rare in Tokyo. Then I was off to meet Kezza another friend from back in Australia who lives here in Tokyo now for dinner in Kichijoji. Was a nice Thai dinner and we chatted for ages. Staying at his place for a night soon. He also took me to Paraestra Kichioji (X-Point gym) and we watched the guys roll. Kezza spoke to the black belt there and asked if I could roll no-gi on Thursday next week,..he said it was cool. So I'm down for that. Can't wait to train.

I walked home through Inokashira Park and here I am. 1.30am,..ready to sleep.

Off to MARS event tomorrow night, must call Roxy too when I get a phone tomorrow.

To Be Continued,...

- Juggs

NOTE : The following few posts are from a week ago,...due to the computer I was using..I couldn't log into Blogger so...better late than never hey?

Read on..

- Juggs