Fernando and I grabbed a chill cup of coffee on a cold January morning down the street from our Manor Road location at Thunderbird Coffee. As you’ll see, I came into the interview with some high priority questions and Fernando didn’t disappoint in sating my curiosities. Of course the most entertaining moments in these interviews are the surprises though. Read on and learn a bit about what makes this perpetually positive and energetic 6:30am standby tick!
I’m very much fascinated by your participation in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so I wanted to be selfish and start there. What I wanted to do is kind of sneak in a little bit of your back story into the tale of you and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Absolutely! I’ve got to step back to when I was like eight years old. My parents had just got a divorce and my dad got a scholarship to come to U.T. One thing he told my mom was that “he has to learn how to defend himself”. So my mom put me in karate- I was already into Bruce Lee and to martial arts. So in 1984-
You started karate in the 80’s? So you basically are Daniel San!
Yes! The sensei would make us run barefoot through the city- I think he’d get sued today.
Oh yeah!
In ’88 there was a big crisis with the dictator (Fernando is from Panama!) and my parents wanted me back in martial arts, so they put me in Taekwondo and I stayed there until I was in my early thirties. I came here and I was part of the national team and I owned a school for a while with some friends- I was really involved. I was looking for a hobby- at this point martial arts wasn’t just a hobby- and a friend suggested we go to an MMA fight. There was this really little guy just beating up on everybody with jiu-jitsu. I thought “that guy is as skinny as me, but he’s beating even the big dudes!”
So what year are we in now?
2002. I found a pamphlet for who would eventually become my first (jiu-jitsu) instructor. I told my dad that I wanted 3 months of jiu-jitsu fees for my birthday and he surprised me by actually giving me that and a uniform. I ended up back in Austin and started training in 2010 and in 2015 is when I found the team that I train with right now. It is a very competitive team and so I decided to try competing myself and it triggered the competitive itch that I had from my early days in taekwondo. So that is like 7 years now- I got my black belt there and that is pretty much the one thing I do every day. I mix that in with classes at The Shop to make sure I have the cardio and the strength- it requires a lot of isometric strength. That is pretty much it- that and Bruce Lee and old Kung-Fu movies-
So you’re into the old Kung-Fu movies? That is awesome. You mentioned The Shop- you initially worked out at the Shop many years ago right? Tell me about that and what brought you back.
I met Dane at an improv class. I had just come back from a neck injury and he mentioned that he had a little Shop on Guadalupe and that I should come check it out because there is a lot of yoga and mobility paired with strength. So the next couple days I was in the class at 5 or 6am- very early- and was like “where do I sign up?!?!?” I stayed with him for two years and then I ended up helping a guy to build a jiu-jitsu school and the time just wasn’t there. I was bummed out that I wouldn’t see Dane anymore- we were buddies! But I always stayed in contact and always wanted to come back. December of 2020, my wife had just got pregnant and we were very covid-conscious- I wasn’t even doing jiu-jitsu. My wife actually told me that she had driven by (the Manor Road location) and everyone was training with masks on or outside so I decided I had to go in. I had a blood test and my cholesterol was high- as if I needed any other sign from the universe. So January 2nd, I was there training on a Saturday; Dane was shocked to see me and asked if he could give me a hug!
So low density lipoprotein brought you back to The Shop? Incredible. Do you have any memories of Dane as an improviser?
Oh he has a great deep voice so he could really project and he was very funny- lots of laughing. He would shy away from controversial topics. He had this recurring thing he called like “Jimbo’s Tattoo Parlor”. He was very funny.
Shortly after I started coaching at The Shop, he and one other coach and I all took improv together. My favorite memory was that any scene with him, the other people in class would turn it into a joke about how handsome he was to the point where the teacher had to stop class one day and point out that everyone was objectifying him and that wasn’t cool. Dane was just melting with embarrassment. So talking about your routine- you’re a really regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday guy right?
Yeah, that is my regular schedule- Fridays I play by ear depending on how tired I am!
You’re also super regular with Tuesday night yoga right?
Yeah!
Talk to me a bit about how that works in your larger fitness schedule.
Yoga has been a game changer. I’ve tried yoga before and it can be a little bit intense with all the other training I do. I came to a yoga workshop with (Yoga coach) Jess and she was, coincidentally, focusing on shoulders; shoulders are my achilles heel. When you put the Tuesday class on the schedule it was perfect- it doesn’t interfere with baby & wife time or jiu-jitsu classes. The timing was impeccable and, I was telling Jess, that even though I only go once a week, my shoulder is so much better in terms of pain. I don’t know what she’s doing but it is working. Funny anecdote: one class, we were doing savasana and all of a sudden I opened my eyes and Jess was the only one still in the room- I fell asleep! I was out if it- I was probably drooling! But she is so sweet- very scientific in her movements. I love it! I love jiu-jitsu, but I would rather miss that than yoga.
I’m a little bit jealous because my body definitely needs that class but of course I coach at the same time as both the yoga classes, so I can’t take them! The other thing Shop related I wanted to hit on was you’ve done what, two of the mini meets right?
I did Brains & Brawn- that was amazing! I did the Strong Person- *laughing* I was the smallest guy! And I also did the Push & Pull. The Brains & Brawn was my favorite because it was so social. I mean, I love them all- with the Strong Person I didn’t even know if I could lift the things. The guys I was paired up with were so inspirational. My wife really likes coming to the meets. She doesn’t like coming to the jiu-jitsu events because they are so violent, so her coming to the meets she is like “this is so nice! Nobody is trying to kill each other!”. I love those events.
It has been fantastic having you both at the events- I’ve only met her a couple times, but she is great. When did you two get together?
We met the good old-fashioned way, at a bar.
What is that? What app is “a bar”?
*laughing* It was 2010, the week before Thanksgiving and I figured she was way out of my league. I did the classic move and stalked her on facebook and saw she had visited Panama two years earlier. I was like, this is my opportunity, so I reached out and told her I was from Panama and she asked if I wanted to hang out sometime. She mentioned she was having people over for Thanksgiving and invited me; I told her I’d love to, but my mom was in town. She said bring your mom! Her parents were there too. So the first time we hung out, it was with our parents.
I actually met Becca (the chadwife) the week before Halloween in 2010, so almost the same time! Another selfish thing I wanted to talk about was you being a dad! How old is Lucas?
17 months!
Talk about it, what is it like being a Dad?
Parenting is an extreme sport.
Here we go!
People ask me why I workout so much, welp! Let me show you a picture of this sturdy little guy. I think I get this from my dad, but I just look at everything that happens with him as being the thing that is supposed to happen. He wakes up? Okay, what’re you going to do about it? He cries? Ok, let’s see what we can do! Honestly, it is a whole other chapter- it is really fun. There are times when he is sick and times where we don’t sleep, but he is just a whole lot of fun.
Fun? That is good to hear. Dane’s 4th son was actually born this morning!
Wow! Mazel tov! Congratulations Dane!!
Are you going to try to catch up with him? Are you going to go for 4?
I don’t think we’re going to go for 4, but we are thinking about a 2nd one. Hopefully a girl. I was thinking about traditional father/daughter relationships and it got me thinking, “Hmm, I’ve gotta keep working out!”
Right? So 20 years from now if she brings someone home for Thanksgiving you can just be like-
“I’m into swords!”
*laughing* Oh I think just having the jiu jitsu medals displayed would be enough. That’s fun. We’re going to hit up some random questions in a minute, but before that, do you have any dad advice… there might be some new dads out there on the horizon.
Everything the kid does, it is supposed to do. He can be a pain sometimes and when they get sick it can be shocking, but everything that happens is supposed to happen.
That is a very stoic approach.
I see some of my buddies back home getting emotional in their responses and that can happen to me, but it helps to just say “that is what he is supposed to do”.
I really like that Fernando. Alright, these random questions are actually on a similar theme and aren’t completely random: first one, do you have pump up music before you compete?
Oh yeah. The day of the tournament I don’t, but the days leading up to it- Iron Maiden. The one that gets me in the mood is “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (yes, dear reader, I took it for a spin and immediately had the urge to jiu-jitsu someone!).
Were you into metal in the eighties?
Since I was ten years old. We had MTV in Panama and back then I was into Twisted Sister; when I was ten for my birthday, my mom showed up with a vinyl of the one that goes *singing* “We’re not gonna take it”! We lived with my grandparents and I listened to it so much that they would get me records of children’s stories so that I would alternate.
That is a cool mom move! I’m in my late thirties and just now hitting my metal phase. Can you compare your fighting style to an animal?
Mmmm… I am like a snake. I’m not that agile with injuries and age, so what I try to do is wrap around my opponents then *makes tense squeezing gesture*
Fernando the constrictor, I like that! My wife came up with this question- which coach at The Shop would you least like to fight? Who would be the most formidable?
Oh man… I always thought that the nicer and more chill they appear, the scarier they are. So it is a tie between Selah and Jess.
I can see that! Selah does breakdancing and stuff, so I’m sure she would have some serious moves. And Jess, anytime someone has that many tattoos, you know they have a high pain tolerance.
Exactly! High pain tolerance!
If you were to have all the coaches in one big battle royale, who would be the last one standing?
I think Monica. I have seen some of the videos of her lifting and- I know you are strong Chad and I know Dane is strong- but I believe the women are much stronger than any of us. I see her doing pull-ups so smoothly and I’m like oh man!
She’s got some grit too. She’s a very sweet person, but she’s got a gritty side. Very good answer. I think those are most of my questions-
I have one more thing to say! Best music coach? You! Yoga music doesn’t count. I love all the coaches, but your music is always right on point.
Thank you for that! I have been called out by members for having the worst music too!
No!!!
Fernando, your opinion is far more important than theirs! How has this interview been for you? Has it been what you expected?
Oh, super fun!
Well, I asked you for father advice, so zooming out, you are here for a reason- you set a good example- do you have any advice for the members of the community?
Keep showing up! A lot of times, particularly with new folks, the technique is so crucial it can be intimidating; particularly the power clean. But you have such a great staff of coaches. You are so scientific with the prep work and how you build up before benchmarks. Just show up and trust that there is a method to the madness. The other day we did the (Mile Big Mac) and that is a tough one! I just tell people, if you finish it cool but if you don’t finish that’s fine too. (The Shop) is such a safe place, such a safe environment. No need to feel intimidated!
That is great to hear, because that is the most important thing for us. Okay man, we’ll wrap up the recording portion so I can ask you the real deep dark secrets!
