Team Oregon Interview on Flowrestling

http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/238812-Russian-Nationals-2011/video/499556-Bader-Mixing-It-Up-With-Some-Oregon-Kids

Coming to America

We have touched down in Houston and are going through customs. Good to be back in the USA.

Sent from my iPhone

Good Morning Moscow

We will be leaving Moscow at about 10:40 am local time (11:40 pm Tues in PDX). We arrive in Houston around Noon PDST and will arrive back in Portland around 8am. It's not quite 24 hours of travel but it's a lot.

We'd like to thank Mike Simons, Sam Adamov and Mike Clock for making this happen for us. We also want to thank Patricia Schilling for maintaining this blog. We also want to thank Marc Sprague for opening his training camp to the team. There are countless others who helped us along the way that I should thank but with a lack of sleep and typing with one thumb on my iPhone won't be able to summon from my memory. Thanks again and we look forward to returning home to Oregon.

Top Ten List

We were talking on the tour bus about our experiences and thought we would post our top ten experiences in Russia not in any particular order:

1-Visiting Amga: We had a good couple of days in this remote village(by our standards). We were the first Americans to visit this village and was highlighted by a trip to the river, winning our dual and Raymond dancing for the summer camp.

2-Moscow: The most expensive city in the world, the city with the most billionaires and the capital of Russia was full of memories for us. The introduction to bargaining at the flea market, riding the Metro and Red Square stand out in our stay here.

3-The Roads: Not only do you gain an appreciation for another culture but you also can gain a deeper appreciation for what you have back home. Tarmac would be one of those things you really don't think about but would really miss if it weren't there.

4-Russian Nationals: Super passionate fans, multiple world and Olympic champions and a small venue makes for a once in a lifetime experience.

5-Hapsigai: The Sakha equivalent of our folkstyle was a lot of fun and led to two of our guys getting on the same mat as world and Olympic champs and representing their country!

6-Kamus: Fermented mares milk is a traditional way to welcome visitors to a Sakha village or home. We were offered this drink on several occasions and each time it left an impression. We do appreciate the thought but haven't quite acquired the taste yet.

7-Friendship Party: We had Cosmic Bowling, dancing and gifts exchanged on our last night in Yakutsk. It was a perfect way to end our tone with our new friends.

8-Portland Saturday Market: Trading, bargains and shady deals going on in the dorms was something to behold. I imagine Turkish rug merchants have nothing on these guys.

9-Mammoth Museum and Kingdom of Ice: We got to visit both of these on Saturday and had a great time.

10-Cultural Exchange: More than anything we were able to interact with and learn from a culture different from our own. With as many differences as there are between the average American teenager and that of Yakutia, we've found far more similarities. The universal truth that kids are kids rings true more so than ever after this trip.

Sent from my iPhone

Back in Moscow

We arrived back in Moscow without incident. Our tour operator was waiting for us and we've been back to the Kremlin and Red Square and we're now shopping. Some of the boys have hit McDonalds. We leave early tomorrow. More to follow when we get to the hotel.

On to Moscow

We had a great last day in Yakutsk. We had a traditional Sakha meal and were able to relax for a short while. We then had a "friendship party" with the wrestlers and teachers from School #2 along with some girls that had been invited. The boys did some cosmic bowling, then we received more gifts from our hosts. We each received a framed certificate honoring our visit, a personalized photo montage of our trip and finally a hand made kamus cup that the students of school #2 made for us.

Then the kids danced until midnight. It was of course still very light out for our walk home.

We are packing up now and preparing to leave for Moscow. We have a tour there and then a flight tomorrow. Prepare for exhausted kids. All in all it should be a great day.

Sent from my iPhone

One Day and a Wake-up

Well we're down to our last day in Yakutsk. We have a dual in 30 min with our host club, then souvenir shopping. We fly out tomorrow to Moscow and then have a tour of the city. Then it's on to Houston and PDX!

It's the 4th of July here which again is a bit different. Being in the former Soviet Union on Independence Day has a funny feeling to it.

A quick note, Toney Chay got up on center mat to compete on hapsigai last night. He didn't win his match but it wad exciting nonetheless. A little buzz still exists over Joey's match because apparently he beat a provincial champion. He even got some ink in the daily wrestling publication the put out each day. Well off to the dual.

Sent from my iPhone

Hapsigai on Flowrestling!

Joey Delgado made history by competing in the hapsigai tournament on the center mat after the conclusion of the finals matches tonight. Joey won his first match with a spectacular counter to a single leg. He lost his second match but lasted longer than the reigning Russian national champ. Flowrestling was there to video the historic occasion so you can check it out when they upload it. Tomorrow Toney Chay will compete!

Earlier in the day the team visited a few museums. One was in an old Cossack house on the edge of town with all sorts of interesting bits. Next we visited the "Kingdom of Frozen Things," where we went in an ice cave with all sorts of Christmas themed ice carvings. Finally we hit the Mammoth museum with the skeleton of a full sized mammoth and lots of other ice age stuff. Very interesting.

At this point it's hard to tell the difference between the clothing of Team Oregon and our hosts. The dorm has basically become a Turkish bizarre with trades, sales and highway robbery taking place around each corner. Several of our kids are wearing Russian warm ups and t shirts while "Sweet Home University" was proudly displayed on a Russian chest today among several other Oregon themed shirts, shorts, hats, etc.

Sent from my iPhone

Holy Mammoth!

We are going to visit the permafrost museum this AM and then look at an actual mammoth that was dug out of the permafrost. This afternoon we will watch the finals of the three weights contested today. We will try to post photos tonight.

Sent from my iPhone

We had a little problem getting to the wrestling last night and found one local in our seats. After our hosts pleaded with him to move, we took things into our own hands.

Day 1 Russian Nationals

Today was a wrestling fan's dream come true.  We got VIP seats to the Russian National Championships that are being held here in Yakutsk.  Sam Adamov, our host, really had to pull some strings to first get us free tickets for a tournament that is selling out for $300 per day, then get us priority seating on top is amazing. Today's tournament featured the 55kg and 84kg weight classes.  The 55kg weight class in particular was very exciting.  I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that there were several wrestlers from Sahka that did well today.  If you go to Flowrestling.org you should be able to see many of the matches we are watching. After the prelims, we headed back to the dorms for lunch and training!  At the end of the session, we were given a lesson on hopsigai (Hop-sig-guy?).  The kids had a lot of fun with this and I think are having a blast.  I do think we're all tired at this point, and of course missing home and our families.

Back to Civilization

After three days in the country we are back in Yakutsk. We left two days ago beginning with a ferry ride across the sixth largest river in the world, the Lena river.

We were greeted in the village Maya by a group of elders who sang to us and gave us a blessing. We then went and wrestled a very tough team. After the dual we continued onto the village of Amga which took quite a long drive on a gravel road. We were greeted again by local officials and then taken to the city hall to be addressed by the mayor. After that we went to a summer camp for kids where we spent the next two nights. This was in the village of Bitun.

We had a practice the next day where we rolled around with our host team. We then wrestled the team from Amga. This was a great dual. First, we were the first Americans to visit this village so there was a real buzz in the gym. The gum was packed and the crowd was well educated.

We spent most of today returning to Yakutsk. While we really enjoyed having such a unique experience it is nice to return to the city. One of the things that is striking about the experience so far is how proud these people are and how hard they are working to welcome us. It is truly an honor to be apart of it.

Sent from my iPhone

Local girls singing for the team in Amga

On the ferry

Picture of team with 1978 Olympic champ Pavel Pinigan

Waterballoon volleyball in forest grove

They were calling their team "The Kyle Smith Experience"....nice height advantage!



Return volley





Isaac gets a little wet on the miss.......



VICTORY!



I COULD NOT get the serious face on these wrestlers!



Pics for fun

While Team Oregon is out of internet/WIFI availability, wrestling through the villages of Eastern Siberia, I thought I would upload a few more pics from the team at Forest Grove.  I am sure we will hear from Team Oregon again soon as they return to Yakutsk for the Russian National Championships this weekend.


Gage works the rope.




Working on strength



Mike Clock, Kyle and his training partner Brian Hendrickson, Thanks Brian!

3-time Iranian Olympian Ahad Javansalehi instructs Jacob on some strength exercises

Greetings from Yakutsk!  We arrived on time here in Yakutsk after a long flight by any measure.  We got off the aircraft and were taken by bus to the area for departures.  There we were met in grand fashion by a local contingent complete with traditional local dress.  We were given a drink from a large bowl of fermented horse milk which is a traditional greeting in their culture!  The boys were given a English/Russian/Yakut dictionary and were serenaded by a woman in traditional garb.  Very cool! We went to our dorm where we made our living arrangements and then had lunch.  After lunch, we had our first dual meet with a local club.  The boys made a good showing although we seemed a bit sluggish.  We lost the dual 6 matches to 7 but competed very well.  Tomorrow we are leaving Yakutsk to tour and wrestle in the outlying villages.  This will prove to be a very interesting experience to say the least.  We will be doing some camping.  Needless to say we won't have much opportunity to communicate with the outside world, so don't worry. As soon as I get an opportunity I will post some pictures.  Lack of WIFI is limiting what we can do.

We are at Gate 35 waiting for flight 179 on Transaero Airlines from Moscow to Yakutsk. I think we are universally tired. We kept the team moving from one thing to the next to keep them from sleeping a long time and waking up in the middle of the night. Kyle Smith woke up around midnight and hasn't gone to sleep since. I've been up since 3 and am starting to hit the wall. Hopefully we get plenty of sleep on the plane.

Our flight departs around 12am tonight and is scheduled for 6 hours. We will be leaving at 6am Yakutsk time so we'll end up there around noon local time. We will get off the plane and wrestle our first dual here in Russia. More updates when we get the Internet again.

Sent from my iPhone

A number of us are still adjusting to Moscow time. A few of us went to bed after lunch yesterday at around 3 or 4 and then woke up at about 3am. The nice thing about this is that it allowed some of us to make calls etc at a decent hour back home.

The plan today is to take boys to a large public market here in Moscow and return before lunch. After lunch we will go on a run to a park that runs by the river and get a workout in. Our goal will be to simulate two matches. Not exactly a grind match, but you have to adjust to what's available and make the best of it.

We leave for the airport at 6pm and will arrive in Yakutsk early Monday morning (finally).

Sent from my iPhone

An old Soviet mural near our hotel

After training we took the boys on the Metro to Red Square. We didn't go into anything since we have a tour planned at the end of our trip. Regardless it was an amazing experience. For starters to walk across Red Square was fairly surreal for someone who came of age during the Cold War. Second, St. Basil's cathedral was amazing and looked like something out of Disneyland.

The kids were told to not to buy anything yet since they'd have more time later and in less expensive locations. The baubles of Red Square proved to be too difficult to resist apparently as several fur hats, boxes, Soviet era souvenirs found their way with us on the train trip home.

Sent from my iPhone

Red Square

Our hotel at 10 PM

We are scheduled to depart Moscow on Sunday. We have e-tickets confirmed and on my email. We are still trying to find an earlier flight but it doesn't look good.

The boys did a lot of sleeping yesterday so they are feeling pretty good today. We had breakfast at 7am and then got a workout in. We ran the stairs of our hotel, then completed our "warm up" with a three round dumb bell complex with swings, clean and presses, snatches, square, bent rows and two handed swings. Its a Russian workout so I guess the circle is complete.

We finished outside with a Greco style wrestling workout consisting of hand fighting, pummeling, binding, counters and offense such as ducks, drags, etc.

We are planning on heading to Red Square today. We talked a little today about representing their country and how this is an awesome opportunity for them to experience a part of the world very few Westerners have seen.

More updates tonight (tomorrow AM for you)

Sent from my iPhone