Ginastica Natural

ONE OF THE MOST OVERUSED PHRASES in the English language (and Portuguese as well) is an old friend once told me. This is usually followed by a long and insincere story about how you should have bought Apple stock at $5 a share instead of buying your first motorcycle or how you should have entered medical school and trained to be a brain surgeon instead of becoming a greeter at Walmart. How many times does each of you start a story that way and end up saying something meaningful? If you're like me I would guess it's about zero. In a few cases however, I can say it and really mean it.

An old friend of mine, Carlos Gama, always used to tell me that I should take up jiu-jitsu. For years he tried to convince me and I always had an excuse to ignore him. I don't have time to do jiu-jitsu, I already spend all my free time surfing, or Jiu-jitsu is for people that like to fight in the streets, not for me! It wasn't until a surfing trip to Fiji, where we were cooped up in a small hut on a tiny island for two weeks that I finally gave in and said: OK! OK! I will try jiu-jitsu if you try to shut up! And so I started on a path that changed my life forever.

Years later another friend of mine, Sheik Tahnoon, convinced me to start writing and eventually got me to do a book called Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Theory and Technique that launched me into another path that also changed my life forever. More recently, however, as the months and years went by, it was time to meet up with another old friend.

This happened on another surfing trip, this time to the north shore of Oahu, where my old friend Kai Garcia, in his constant quest for knowledge, self-improvement and the perfect wave, came up to me and asked: Kid, I want to check out Ginastica Natural. Do you know the guy who does it?

Do I know him? I answered. I've known him since my teens! Of course, I failed to mention to Kai that in all those years, despite advice from many old friends including Rickson Gracie, I had never taken even a single class from Alvaro Romano, the creator of Ginastica. So I called Alvaro, an avid surfer himself, and offered him a trip to the north shore which he immediately accepted.

A few weeks later Alvaro and son Rafael were on their way to Hawaii to show Ginastica to Kai and friends. Of course I decided to tag along, not that I wanted to do Ginastica, but because I never miss a chance to get in on a surf trip with my best friends.

During the first few days of the trip Alvaro, Rafael, and Kai along with the other members of the Boar Nest (Kais academy) were all busy training and learning Ginastica while I was busy surfing. Just about every day Kai and Alvaro would invite me and I always had an excuse: The swell is up! or The waves are perfect! I said anything I could think of to get out of training and catch a few waves. But then one day the surf was small and I ended up being cornered into a class. Without an excuse and with no options to get away I had no choice but to participate.

Once again, despite my best efforts to avoid success, I had stumbled into something truly special. Ginastica is a combination of stretching, breathing, plyometrics and jiu-jitsu exercises which effectively moves your entire system and helps you with elasticity and balance. At the end of the first session, despite my physical limitations (the flexibility of a steel beam and the explosiveness of a bursting soap bubble) I felt better than I ever had before. In typical Kid Peligro fashion I wanted more and I wanted it now! However, it was time to pay the piper and I was teased mercilessly by Kai and Alvaro: No! We want to go surfing now. Maybe tomorrow we will train Ginastica.

Every since that day I have been an avid Ginastica addict and I can definitely say that I have yet to find anything that has helped me as much as Ginastica  not only in jiu-jitsu, but also in surfing and in everyday life. I have become fitter, more limber, more agile, and have lost body fat. Kai teases me that Kid feels like a kid again! If you ever have a chance, check out an Alvaro Romano Ginastica Natural seminar or attend a class. Be sure and tell him that an old friend told you to come. Now go train jiu-jitsu!

Kid Peligro can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information on Alvaro Romano Ginastica Natural go to www.ginasticanatural.com.br.