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| After a great sparring session at Rio Fighter. Looking forward to Representing RF, Senki Kimonos, and Connection Rio in my upcoming fight. |
Closing out another relaxing Sunday
afternoon here in Rio. The past few days have been rainy and cool,
but today the sun finally decided to show back up. Nicole and I spent
the day outdoors relaxing and reading in the CR garden area. I found
an old hammock somebody had left here at CR and got it hung up
between two trees in the yard. While she tanned and studied
Portuguese, I gently rocked in the shade. After a grinding week of
training it was a nice way to recover and get the mind (and body) set
to start it all over again on Monday.
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| Sunday, a day to rest and relax. |
Thinking about it, it is actually one of
the best things about being here in Rio and training. With world
class training that is extremely competitive it becomes even more
important to recover in between sessions. Rio is a place where you
can truly relax in between sessions, especially on the weekends where
nobody is in a rush to do anything. This relaxed pace helps recharge
the mind more than anything. Sitting there in the hammock today I
didn't have a care in the world, all I did was lay back, look at the
trees, and listen to the birds. At the end of the day you can't ask
for anything better.
In wrestling there is a saying that
gets used a lot, embrace the grind. Believe
me in prepping for my fight nothing is more applicable than that. In
fight camp you're the center of focus, teammates and coaches are
there to push you and raise you to the highest possible level before
your fight. The workload and volume increased greatly this week. In
my morning striking trainings the number of rounds of mitt work and
total volume have jumped up. Added to that, many of the rounds I hit
pads I have on 2kg ankle weights on each leg. It feels like I am in
mud, if I stop to think, I falter. So I very much have turn my mind
off and instead react on an instinctual level. I've began to feel the
slips, the counters, and the angle changes. Each training integrates
a little bit more conceptually and my technique seems sharper.
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| Pad work with Dennis |
After
a shower, snack, and a quick coffee I am back at it again at Rio
Fighters. I have been working on dominate grinding top control to
create the openings I need to advance position and finish the fight.
With the aggressive rolling style of many of the athletes there, if I
make one mistake I can very easily find myself either swept or caught
in a submission. Rolling against this style hasn't made me cautious
or fearful to advance, but rather it has made me more alert and
observant in positions. Because I may have such a short time to react
I have to recognize an attack as soon as it begins and be prepared to
stop or counter it. Part of the way I have been doing this is by
embracing the gray areas of grappling, or rather scrambles. Rather
than trying to avoid these areas I am working on them and using them
to my advantage. I am using the scrambles to get ahead of their
counters and remain on the offensive. If my opponent is reacting to
everything I am doing then he isn't thinking about his offense. In
down time (or rather lighter drill sessions in between training) I am
working these positions either with a partner or alone. It's a
constant practice in movement, changing angles, and recognizing
opportunities to attack.
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| Hill sprints after training at Rio Fighters. Photo by M. Vieira |
In finishing out this weeks blog I want
to go back and cover something I mentioned above in greater
detail---shutting off the mind. The mind can be a funny thing, at
times it can build you up and at others it can tear you down. It's a
great time when you wake up, the sun is shining, and your mind just
tells you its a great day to train. But then on days when your tired,
it's cold and rainy, and your mind tells you “I'd rather be
sleeping” the struggle begins. A lot of times when things start to
get rough this little voice starts speaking in the back of your head,
telling you how tough things are, how you have worked hard enough, or
how you can't do anymore. It's moments like that you need to turn
your mind off and just power through. Why? Because the next time you
reach that point (and you will) that voice will be smaller and you'll
be stronger than you were the last time. Soon you'll be well past
that point and then the voice will return and you have to shut it off
yet again and continue on. Soon you will be on a level higher than
you ever imagined. The last thing you want to do is get to that
point, to hit the wall, and not continue on.
I know in my upcoming fight there will
be challenges. But luckily, like I said above, I have coaches and
teammates who are pushing me to new levels and most importantly
teaching me to break through those walls.
