LOS ANGELES — Don't let the bright red toenails or the larger-than-life smile fool you. Cris "Cyborg" Justino, 145 pounds of roiling muscles and bad intentions, is not a woman you want to have angry at you, even in jest.
Boyfriend, training partner and nonstop chatterbox Ray Elbe is learning that the hard way on the mats of the Cobrinha Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
Though nestled in the bottom floor of an H&R Block office complex, the transactions happening here are physical, the only currency is pain. Elbe is on the receiving end as a kick to the ribs thuds through the small studio.