Saturday, May 17th...
I got to the airport in Rhode Island at 4am and it was too early to check in. The Team Quest guys were on my shuttle, as well as Carlos Hernandez, a
boxing coach out of Ivan Salaverry's gym in Seattle, WA. We all ended up having to wait about 15 minutes, and then were able to use the self check
in computers. I had to try and get my bag through security as I needed to be able to jump off the plane the minute I got to Florida. This meant that
all my liquid toiletries needed to fit into that 1 quart plastic baggie. I tried my hardest to combine everything, but I ended up with 2 baggies. I
smuggled my John Aveda curl enhancer, my hawaiian tropic oil, and my bottle of cough medicine in my bag through security and somehow made it.
I laid over in New York City at JFK. As I was running through the airport, I started thinking about the fact that I travel so much and was surprised
that I didn't run into people at the airport more often. After I landed in Fort Lauderdale, I was equally as surprised when someone yelled out my
name. He looked familiar, and I told him so. He said,"You may not remember me, but I met you in Vancouver. I'm one of Denis Kang's students." Wow.
Weird thing about this guy is that I ALSO ran into him in Montreal a week after I met him at Denis' class in Vancouver.
My plane had landed a little bit early so I stopped in the bathroom and changed my clothes and brushed my teeth and then I continued on out to
passenger pick up area. I wasn't sure until right when I landed whether Cole Miller or Yves Edwards was going to be the one to pick me up.
My timing couldn't have been better as Yves had just pulled in front of the doors I walked out of. He jumped out to help me with my bags and then we
were en route to ATT. I expressed my excitement about covering him in his quest to become champion at the place where so many great fighters have
developed and honed their skills. As we were driving, he told me that for the last three fights, he has come to ATT about four weeks prior to prepare
himself. Within 30 minutes we were pulling into the ATT location in Coconut Creek.
The place was huge; over 20,000 square feet.. I walked in and was greeted by a reception area with a huge American Flag painted on the wall. The
counters were laden with trophies, all shining as brightly as the day that they were awarded. On the walls around the entire gym were belts and
awards and the pictures from each fight to accompany them. UFC fighter, Cole Miller was manning the front desk lazily. The mens and womens bathrooms
were both equipped with showers as well as lockers. There was a pro shop and a number of unused rooms up in the front as well as an office for
marketing and management, coach's rooms, and a room with a computer that the fighters used for internet as well as to keep their stuff. A fenced in
area housed weight and excercise equipment. There was a full size boxing ring, bag rack with heavy bags, and a cardio area. There were 2 cages, one a
"traditional" octagon, and the other a larger rectangular shape. Finally, 2 extremely large mat areas finished off the location.
We walked straight back to the cage area where we found Benkei ready to start practice. Yves went and changed and I said hello to everyone. Everyone
there for Saturday practice included Marucs Aurelio, Thiago Alves, Roan Carneiro, Marcelo Garcia, Wilson Gouveia, Gleason Tibau, Alexandre Nogueira,
Mike Brown, and more! Everyone of the guys had an upcoming fight that they were training for. Benkei and I chatted for a moment; he asked if I had
spoken to Denis Kang and then said, "Things weren't like a family before he arrived here. He motivated everyone and brought everyone together. I
can't wait for him to come back." A lot of the other guys asked about him too. He's missed a lot around there.
Benkei started out the lightweight practice by having them shadowboxing in pairs in the cage. After warming up, each went and donned full pads to
spar. They went five full rounds of striking, including working on takedowns. There were two pairs of lightweights working out in the cage at the
same time. The heavier guys spectated from outside the cage and stretched as they waited their turn.
The lightweights moved over to the mat area and began alternating minute long rounds of ground and pound on the punching dummy and grappling with
each other. Yves spent much of this part of the training working with Marcelo Garcia. In the mean time, the welter and middle weights had begun their
training session sparring in the cage. Benkei alternated between the two sessions effectively; his loud voice motivating each one of the fighters to
work harder.
The next step of the lightweight training session had the guys working on core excercises including crunches, sprints in place, more shadowboaxing,
and triangle drills. These were alternated with each other in intervals, finally ending with doing crunches and shadowboxing at the same time. This
was the end of the lightweights Saturday training session, and Benkei instructed Yves to get on the bike for 20 minutes. The welter and middleweights
were just finishing up in the cage, so I shot a few photos of them while Yves did his cardio. They then moved to the mat area and the featherweight
session entered the cage to start the rotation all over again.
I kept shooting both sessions as Yves headed to the showers. When he got back, he had a shaker and an after workout muscle recovery mix that he just
added water to. Benkei mentioned something about going to race go karts around 7. We were supposed to have lunch with a bunch of the other guys, but
as everyone started to leave, so did their motivation.
Yves and I ended up at a place called Froots and Treats. It was a place that sold smoothies and wraps, and supplements as well. I ordered the
mediterranean wrap that had greek salad and hummus on it as well as a smoothie. Yves ordered a large tuna wrap with sauce on the side and a smoothie
too. The owner of the place sat down to talk to Yves about the upcoming fight; he works out and trains at ATT.
On the car ride back to the hotel, I took the opportunity to ask a few questions. This biggest one on my mind was, "How did you come to train at
ATT?" Yves said, "I had many training partners at one point in Texas, and I was doing really well with my fighting. Gradually each partner left for
one reason or another and I found myself almost strictly working on my boxing. I had to drive 45 minutes each way to be able to train and it's then
my record started going downhill. I knew that something had to change. I was contemplating three different gyms, AKA in San Jose, Quest in Oregon,
and ATT. I didn't really know too many people at AKA, and it's too cold up in Oregon for me. So I was at a show in Missouri and Dan Lambert was
there. I went to him and said,'I've decided that I need to be a part of a union. And since all the big fighters aren't going to get together and form
a union, I want to do the next best thing, and that's come to ATT. I know that I can find the training and assistance that I need to effectively
improve my skills and hopefully help others to improve theirs as well. It's as close to a Fighters Union as I am going to find.' Dan was more than
happy to have me come out and I started training there last October." I responded, "Wow, thats a cool story. Sounds like the Union you joined helped
to turn the tide in your career." Yves said, "Yes, I've had 3 wins since coming to ATT. Now I want to bring home the belt."
We arrived at the Ramada and he pulled up to the front so that I could check in. Apparently this is where all the visiting fighters from ATT stay. He
said that Dan Kramer, Roan Carneiro and a couple other guys were currently residing there. I got my room key and grabbed my stuff from the car to
settle in. Yves went to his room to take a nap and I loaded pictures from the day onto my computer. It wasn't too long before I was passing out
myself.
Half asleep, I received a text from Benkei around 7pm saying, "Tracy we will going to my house to have some fishes after we will going to gogo cars.
Let me know what do u think?" Still groggy and slightly confused I texted back, "Fishes? Ok when?" He said,"BASS, tomorrow in my house around 2pm."
Now I don't want you to think I was making fun of him by posting these text messages. I absolutely love the way brazilians speak english; I find it
very interesting. I am sure that once I learn more portuguese, they will be making fun of me.
I passed out for a couple more hours before my hunger wouldn't let me sleep any more. I called Yves' and we took off around the corner to grab dinner
at Boston Market. He ordered a quarter chicken veggies and spinach. I wasn't quite so good and got the sweet potatoes as well as corn to go along
with my chicken. AS we were eating, I noticed a weird bird outside the window. I pointed to it and said,"Look! A wild, um... Turkey??" The bird was
very small, but had the markings of a turkey so it was all I could liken it to. Yves laughed and said, "Thats a duck!" Upon closer inspection I
decided he was right but said, "No, it's a duck dressed up as a turkey hanging outside of Boston market??" Yves said, "I wonder if it's nesting out
there?" and upon further inspection we saw an entire nest of eggs in the bushes up against the window. There was some kind of irony in the fact that
there was a turkey dressed duck nesting outside an urban area Boston Market.
While all this was going on, I had been texting Cole to come hang out for a bit. He's a good friend that I usually only get to see when theres a
fight going on. He met us at the hotel and tried to beat up Yves for his ATT jersey. Ok, maybe he didn't but he sure as hell wanted to. He hung out
for a little bit but had to head home to get ready for a triathlon that he was partcipating in on Sunday morning. I said good night to Yves and went
to my room to pass out.
Sunday, May 18th...
In the morning, I woke up quite early to get some work done. I knew that Yves had to be at the gym at noon to film some Instructional Videos for a
website. I think I was on my computer for a good 4 hours before I started getting ready to go. We left the hotel right before 12. He had made himself
a PB and J sandwich as well as drank a muscle milk (the prepackaged ones).
He took me to a sandwich and salad place right near the gym so that I could grab something to eat. As we were on our way there, he started talking
about his wife and kids. I asked how long he and his wife, Tanya had been married. He explained 3 years and said that she has been extremely
supportive of his fighting all the way through. He went on to talk about his son Yvan who is about to turn five soon, and his 14 year old daughter
Destiny. He explained how smart his son is and how he takes his phone (An I phone, not one of the easiest phones for a kid to use) and knows how to
call out on it. "Daddy, can I call Mama?" Yves laughs as he is explaining about his son and how he is able to make a phone call to Tanya (whom he
calls mama). Yves' narrates in a little kid voice with a slight lisp. "Mama is M-A-M-A". "I have my dad in my phone as Pop, and Yvan says 'Grandpa
starts with a P!'" All of a sudden his phone rings, and it's Yvan.
Yves was on the phone with Yvan the whole time I went into Crisper's to get a chicken wrap. When were back in the car and continuing to the gym, he
put his son on speaker and started rapping Run DMC's "The King of Rock". At the end of each line, Yvan chanted the last word.
I'm the king of rock, there is none HIGHER
Sucker MC's should call me SIRE
To burn my kingdom, you must use FIRE
I won't stop rockin' till I RETIRE!
Yves brought the call to an end but before he got off the phone, he asked Yvan, "who is your favorite, you or me?" Yvan said, "Me!" Yves,"I thought I
was your favorite." and Yvan stated,"You were, but now I am!" Once off the phone, Yves plays me the outgoing message on his voicemail: "My daddy's
not here right now, so call back later!" Yvan had recorded it on his own.
We were at the Gym by 12:20. We were a bit late, but Cole was there filming his part of the instructional so we had plenty of time to kill. As we
were sitting there, Yves showed off a text he has just received from his daughter, "Hey daddy when are you coming back to Houston?" Behind the text
you could see that he had been scrolling through pictures of his kids as he was sitting there patiently waiting.
The gym was eerily quiet because it was sunday and we were just about the only ones there. Primo was doing the filming for Dan Pearce's website,
Tactical Nutrition www.tacticalnutrition.net. I introduced myself to Dan, and he told
me about his product and how it increases mental focus and helps create explosive endurance. He offered to bring me some to try out.
Each guy filmed about 5 different techniques. I shot a few photos while they were doing this, but didn't want to interrupt the filming by doing so.
They were done by about 2:30 and we packed up, made a stop at the grocery store and then headed out to Benkei's.
Benkei lived in a gated/guarded community with a lake for a backyard. When we got to the house, he wasn't there, but the house was filled with a
bunch of people. In the kitchen were a bunch of women, most of whom only spoke portuguese. I had bought guacamole, pico de gallo, chips, hummus and
pitas at the store and walked into the kitchen to put them away.I have to admit that I was worried about how these women were going to be towards me;
I have often heard about how jealous Brazilian girls are about their men. Turns out that they knew I was coming and were more than friendly to me all
day.
I quickly made my way out to the backyard of the house where a number of the fighters were hanging out. Thiago Silva and Gleason Tibau had arrived
before us, and Marcus Aurelio arrived not long after. Pequeno and Leonardo had been there for a while and had spent the afternoon catching fish. Now
Benkei's text was starting to make sense to me. His backyard was a lake thats fully stocked with fish. Already on the porch were about 6 large fish
lined up and 5 small, and I had noticed another 3 good sized bass in the fridge as well.
The weather was beautiful; a bit hot and humid but thats to be expected from Florida, right? Cole jumped into the kayak that was sitting on the back
lawn and pretended like he was paddling it out. I suggested he take it in the water, but he didn't want to walk in because of all the shells on the
bottom of the lake.
Over the course of the afternoon, Pequeno's little brother Leo kept bringing back fish after fish. Pequeno took Marcus down to catch a fish and he
didn't come back until he had one. Leo cleaned and cut the fish there on the back porch, and then Benkei seasoned and covered them in foil and placed
them on the BBQ.
While we were waiting for dinner to be ready, Yves took his laundry over to Marcus' house, right around the corner to do a couple loads. He explained
to me, "Since I can't do laundry every day at the hotel, I use the shower to rinse out my clothes after I work out, then hang it up to dry on a line
in the bathroom. Then, I take it all an do a few loads at one time." Sounds like a pretty good system to me! We were back at Benkei's about 15
minutes later.
The food was ready! I have to admit, and I'm sorry to throw myself under the bus like this, but I didn't try the fish. I can eat raw fish and sushi
all day long, but for some reason cooked fish I can't stomach. I enjoyed the rice, farofa, and salad, and as soon as the beef was done on the BBQ I
ate some of that as well.
Thiago decided that he wanted to try to catch a fish, so Leo first showed him where to get his bait. It was then that I noticed all the clams that
were slightly buried with their ends up in the sand under the water. He used a knife to pry open the shell and bait the hook with the meaty insides.
We walked about 50 yards away (through other neighbors yards as there were no fences here) and he cast the line out a short distance. I sat talking
with Jucao (his nickname, Roan is his real name) who spoke pretty fluent english. We were discussing different pronunciations in portuguese versus
spanish as Thiago successfully landed a Bass.I also learned that most of the guys had nicknames; Tibau isn't Gleason's last name.
The rest of the afternoon was relaxing. cole finally got brave enough to go in the water with the kayak and mike brown pushed him in, overturning the
boat in the process. Tibau went out on it too, in search of Alessandra's ball that had floated across the lake. I sat in a chair and listened to the
stories that were being told; I had no clue what they were about because the guys were all speaking in portuguese. I didn't mind; I just stretched an
ear out in the hopes that I would be able to catch a word or two that I understood.
Yves came back from washing clothes at Aurelio's again. He mentioned that his phone was about to die. This is because when he thinks no one is
looking, he's going through his phone looking at pictures of Tanya, Yvan, and Destiny. Oh and Yvan's bruddha (his cousin really, just Yvan likes to
call him his brother) Eric. I know this because periodically he holds out his phone to show a picture and tell a story.
We left Benkei's to head back to the hotel around 8:30. We made a detour to the grocery store so I could grab some fruit and food to keep in my room.
There was a HUGE scale in the store, and I made Yves weigh himself. It said 175, but he said that it wasn't correct. "What time are we going to the
gym tomorrow," I asked. He responded, "10:15, 10:30." I headed to my room to call it a night.
Check out Yves myspace: http://www.myspace.com/yvesedwards
