Well here's a few pics I took. Nothing spectacular. I did not take pics of the matches today. We tried getting video. The competition set up here isn't quite as good as the Mundials, Pan Ams, etc. It's hard to get a room to film, then when I did people kept walking in front of me. I will try again tomorrow. Monday is sight seeing so we'll have some great pics then I know.

Day 1 we got here around 2:45. We came to the hotel. After getting ripped off by the taxi we got things going. The hotel is super upscale and nice (thanks Kenny). I took a quick nap and then we went walking. We walked quite a ways and found a Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse. The prices werent bad at all, even considering the deflated dollar. We plan to eat there every night.
I went to bed early, but woke up after 5 hours. I stayed awake another 3 then took a pill and went to sleep another 9.

Day 2 we got up and went to the competition. Jory was up first:
The fight was in the Absoluto division. Jory scored good with takedowns. Once on the ground his opponent scored a good sweep and was able to pass Jory's half guard. Jory reestablished his half, which he advanced to full guard. From full guard, he scored an advantage for a good x choke attempt. Then his opponent was penalized twice for stalling, which brought the match to 2-3 for the opponent. With under a minute left Jory went after takedowns forcing his opponent to pull guard to avoid the final takedown of the match, however the ref didn't score the takedown. We're not sure why he didn't score it, but that's how it goes some times.

Abby's first match in the women's absolute was abby jumping guard against a black belt girl and working her submissions. Abby got a triangle but was unable to finish and a couple of choke attempts. Her opponent wanted to stand and break the guard but was unable to maintain good enough balance standing. She spent most the match broke down in Abby's guard defending submission attempts. Abby was awarded the judges decision at the conclusion of the match.

Abby's next match in the semi-finals, Abby shot on her opponent but got sprawled on. Her opponent went for an Anaconda choke but Abby was able to spin and unwrap herself twice. On the third attempt Abby was unable to spin out, as she was giving up too much weight and size to her opponent and was forced to tap. Abby finishes the absoluto with the bronze medal.

Day 3 didn't start off great. Jeg lag set in, Abby got no sleep and for various reasons didnt do her division. After participating in the absolute this once, she will focus on her division from here on out.
Jory competed against a legend of the sport: Fabio Gurgel. He is the founder of Alliance Team and an 8x World Champion. In fact he won his first Worlds before Jory started training. It was a great fight, but Jory lost to an armbar at the very end. The arena stopped to watch and several were impressed that he did such a great job in the fight. We ended up having to hangout there all day to wait for Abby's Absolute medal which came at the end. We left for a bit and took a walk, and we watched Demente, a student of Robson's, compete and win the Men's Super Heavy Black Belt. Overall it was a great competition, with over 1500 competitors.

Day 4 begins sightseeing. Be sure to click on all the pics, as they have a description of what each is...Here is some places we have visited:

~Praça de Touros do Campo Pequeno (a bullfighting arena)
~Convento do Carmo
~Arco da Rua Augusta
~Se Catedral de Lisboa
~Castelo de Sao Jorge
~Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
~Padrao dos Descobrimentos
~Torre de Belem
~...and a few other statues and miscellaneous things along the way

THERE ARE VIDEOS MIXED IN WITH THE PHOTOS! FEEL FREE TO WATCH AND TOUR WITH US!