Frank (Granklife) Barca visits Hobart NoGi in Tasmania
For those of you who are not aware, that little heart shaped island underneath Australia is not New Zealand, it's a province of Australia called Tasmania (where the Tazzie Devil hails from!) In true Tasmanian form, there are also a bunch of 10th Planet Devils (and a Tiger) who train like madmen!
Getting Frank to Hobart is something we have wanted to do for quite some time, although Frank was only here for a mere 33 hours, he made an impression on the greater Tasmanian JJ community that will last a lifetime!
SATURDAY
Now Hobart is notoriously cold, and when Frank arrived, Hobart put on a show! We don't have those fancy big city walkways that attach to the planes and lead straight into the terminal, you need to climb down stairs and straight onto the Tarmac, rain, hail or shine! Frank experienced the rain and hail, he described it like arriving in Soviet Russia in the middle of winter, so it took a while for us to thaw him out!
After leaving the airport, we headed to the Tasmanian BJJ Open, a fantastic comp with all monies raised going straight to the Fight Cancer Foundation. Our club had 5 competitors that day, Jem Havok (our Tassie instructor) kicked things off with an amazing display of the Electric Chair path and secured a Silver medal via an impressive Carni to Monoplata. Nat Frankcombe (Jem's wife) was up next winning Gold once again via her signature Marcelotine in under 40 seconds. Andrew Mendlik secured a Bronze with a solid display of technique, transitions and patience. Rachel (el Tigre') Burns continued on her path of pure domination to secure 3 Gold medals via Triangle, Triangle Armbar and a Marcelotine. Bec Falls secured two Silver medals with a display of patience and some solid wrestling.
After the comp was done and dusted (and the Grank was sufficiently thawed out) we hosted a successful seminar at Hobart NoGi where Frank blew everyone away with not only his energy and passion for 10th Planet and JJ, but the level of technique and instruction provided. Frank took us DEEP! We started with the Black Mumba entry and went straight down the Electric chair path right to the Vaporizer and all of the options in between. Every movement, every tweak was explained in clear, easy to follow detail. Frank had a whole gym, some who had never dabbled in JJ before, most who had never seen a lockdown before pulling off Electric chairs and Vaporizors in less than an hour and a half! It was UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE!
To top that off, Frank surprised us all with not one but TWO promotions that night! After an incredible journey, physically, mentally and everything in between, Jem Havok was presented with a much deserved Blue belt. Jem has been repping the system in Tassie for over 4 years now. Trying to build and grow a club is an excruciating task, and to do it as a white belt is near unheard of. Jem is the embodiment of what a 10th Planet Soldier should be, when times were tough he never backed down, through thick and thin his faith in 10thPlanet never wavered. Jem was so blown away when Frank pulled the belt out of his bag that his dropped to his knees and grambied! 10th Planet is in this guys blood!
The second promotion was for Rachel Burns. Rachel has a nick name of El Tigre', and she is nothing short of a Tiger! She paws at her competition, assesses her opponents skill and then submits them when she feels like it, with pure patience and with dignity! This girl has won so many gold medals within the novice/white belt division, having her receive her blue is testament to her commitment, skill and respect she has for the system and her opponents. After all that was said and done, we headed back to Nat & Jem's house and celebrated with Pizza, Dos Equis and sung ACCCAAAIIIIIII, ACCCAAAIIIII, until 4am in the morning!
SUNDAY
Grank woke up singing ACCAAAAIIIII and continued to sing it all damn day. Nat has never laughed so much in her damn life she now has the best looking abs in town! We had a relaxing day with an amazing breakfast and watched UFC. That evening Frank was invited show some technique at a seminar along side some Amazing black belts such as Dan Cherubin, Garry Kewish, Ninos Damos and Paul Sayers to name a few, with our friends at Del La Riva Tasmania to raise even more money for the Fight Cancer Foundation. The energy in the room was amazing, so many smiles and laughter. There was genuine passion just for JJ regardless of club or affiliation, the room was electric! Frank took everyone through the Samurai to the Truck, Calf Crank and then the ninja to the back for a RNC with BJ hooks. To say that people were impressed is an understatement, no-one in that room wanted Frank to stop instructing! The world class black belts we had in the room considered and voiced that Frank was their peer, a fellow black belt in their eyes, nothing but pure respect and love was shown that night and I am still having trouble putting that experience and the feeling into words. Secret tears were shed, it was beautiful.
Many of us often try and explain exactly what that 'thing' is that draw us to Frank. We often use words such as dedicated, passionate, humble, committed, inspirational, if we wrote down every single describing word, the list would go on for pages. I think we all know, that there was never going to be one word that would accurately describe Frank Barca. So, in true 10thPlanet fashion, the community named it themselves. Granklife is Frank Barca. We ALL know what Frank is about. If you have not experienced the Granklife first hand, you need to, you will NEVER forget it and you will NEVER be the same. Sensei, Frank, thank you for being you.
A big thanks also needs to go out to a chick called Fiona Walsh. Fiona is a hobby photographer, however her skills taking JJ photos rival those who undertake photography as a paid profession. Fiona dedicated so much of her weekend to us and Frank and captured some amazing moments. Please Please if you have the chance, like her Facebook page Gumboots Photography and like and share her amazing work.
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