Page 41 - ISSUE 2

GRAPPLER Fall 2018

Arête BJJ

Located on the fifth floor of a Bangkok office building, switching from proper English to perfect Thai, ordered
Arête BJJ has the feel of a Division 1 athletic complex. As us a feast of dishes, which were washed down with
you enter through a pair of glass doors there is lounge ice-filled glasses of Heineken. The night passed with
area to the left, furnished with couches, serving as the consistent ball-busting, the revealing of trade secrets
perfect place to kick back and watch Arête’s stable of and stories of Mayhem that accentuate a friendship
technical purple belts trade energy on the mats. through combat and laughter. After dinner, we thanked
the guys for the entertainment, said our goodbyes, and
The Arête team let us take over the back corner set off for Soi Cowboys upon Taco’s recommendation, a
of what is being built into their weight training five-minute walk from the restaurant.
area. Sparsely populated with some kettlebells and
imaginative floor plans, this area will be the final touch To stroll through a Red Light district in Bangkok is
on what is already an impressive layout. Rome caught to be overwhelmed with the human experience. Scents
up with Andrew, Arête’s owner and head coach, in the plunge into your nose, body parts are tugged at and
lounge area as Eric set up camera gear and Marshall voices slyly call to you from all directions. Door barkers
began warming up. entertain themselves by drawing the timid passerby
out of their shell. Any eye contact is an invitation for
Passing the snack bar after changing I chuckled, attention. Neon lights surf across themes and outfits
entertained with the brilliant idea to remove all toilets straight out of Street Racer. It’s a fun reality to ride.
short of urinals in the men’s locker room. To get off your
feet you would need to leave the gym and go down the We arrived at Cowboys unscathed and enjoyed a
corridor of the building. This design ensures the only pleasant combination of live music and people watching.
smells coming out of the bathroom are those of shower As we made the walk back to our hostel, Rome noticed
gels cleansing away the sweat of a hard roll. two of the working girls taking interest his kinesiology-
taped knees, noting that some extra support may lead to
We spent nearly three hours on the mat rolling and greater career longevity.
learning techniques. Andrew’s class was well-taught
and reviewed an inverted leg-lock set-up, amongst The next day Rome, Eric and I headed to the train
sweeps and guard passes. He impressed us all with his station to catch our ride out of Bangkok. Marshall walked
body control and precision, Taco, a co-owner of Arête, in just as we were guided to rise and face a portrait of
was equally impressed with Eric’s camera equipment. the King adorned over the entrance to the platforms,
as the national anthem played over the loudspeakers.
Both the gi and no-gi classes ended with full sparring, We acknowledged with interest the uniqueness of this
and in my opinion this is where the Roll Thru truly experience and made our way to Platform 9, where we
began. The mat buzzed with energy as eyes searched for hopped on the train and found our seats.
counterparts to engage in combat. Water was ingested
as much to clear saliva from a mouthpiece as to hydrate. About an hour into the ride, a small Thai man
Techniques were traded, breathing was focused, and our efficiently transformed each seat into a bed, and we
journey began in a whirlwind of dynamic rolls. It was a settled in for the eight-hour commute to Chumphon,
good night. where we would catch a bus to the ferry and make our
way to Monsoon Gym, home of 10TH Planet Koh Tao,
After class we met up with Taco and Ben, from and the next stop on our list.
BJJ Asia, for dinner. We sat back and enjoyed as Taco,

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