Don’t call me CHALKY BONES ANYMORE!!!!

LOL…Poor Andrew.  The guys at the gym started riding him right away.  He arrived from Phoenix two months ago…and jumped right into teaching.  I made him take a team up to the Thailand Open…which I also made him compete at.  Drew did well…taking two silver medals–one in the Brown Belt Gi category and one in the Nogi Elite division, he also coached the team to a 2nd place trophy in the Nogi category.  He’s been training everyday…but also working as a full time instructor.  Whenever you do that…nagging injuries just come with the intense training.

…Drew…has had his share of injuries, including a severely painful case of pop’d cartilage in his ribcage…after being dropped with a few body shots while trying to train through the injury—he earned the nickname “Chalky Bones”…I dunno—but I’m pretty sure he wishes he could have picked a cooler nickname…like “Slayer” or “Macdizzle”…lol.

Fighting at the BBQ Beatdown, Andrew faced a student from Sweden named Martin Persson.  Martin is a very good blue belt (two gold medals in BKK) and just recently returned from a training trip in Brazil. (Kicking it with Jack Magee)…Anyways…Martin was in a ‘nothing to lose’ scenario with taking the bout.  Both of the guys agreed it would be a good experience and literally accepted the BBQ Beatdown 31 Superfight Championship bout after an intense 3 day training camp :)  ***But they were an intense 3 days…lol***

I was proud of both competitors…they both competed simply for the opportunity to improve themselves.  Both guys have been wonderful additions to the training partners at the gym…and it was cool to see them scrap it out…as you can tell in the video—this bout quickly became “Team Scandinavia” Vs. “The Ammmuuurrriiicaaaa”…lol~~~>and anyone who has been in Phuket this time of year…knows it’s pretty much a providence of the great viking nation of Sweden :)

I look forward to seeing this guys continue their careers and evolving as fighters.  Personally—I thought the bout was a great display of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in a real fight scenario :)  VIVA LA GRAPPLING*