Remember Your Why

photo by Fernando Perrier

Ahhhh Sundays in Rio, the perfect day of relaxation--- I'm sitting under the shade of the BBQ here at Connection Rio, enjoying an espresso strength Brazilian coffee and typing away. The afternoon is passing quietly here in the CR garden, the only sounds being wind, rustling leaves, birds chirping, and squirrel sized monkeys chattering. It's the ability to be able to sit and enjoy life (and of course getting phenomenal training)  that led me to Rio in the first place. Being able to relax my mind and body since my fight has really helped me remember my "why?". If you are unsure of what I mean by my "why?" I hope I can put to words an explanation.

After a great BJJ session with Dennis Asche. Photo by
D. Asche

Fight camps are TOUGH. While it builds up to one single moment, the entire camp is a fight. You fight to survive (and win) against your training partners-who are all there to push you to the limits, you fight fatigue (mental and physical), doubts, aches and pains, your weight, temptations, sometimes with your significant other (sorry to my fiancé for being a bit 'prickish' leading up to a fight), and these are just a few of the fights you have to deal with. For those who haven't experienced this you may wonder, why? Why do this? Sometimes in the grind of a fight camp my reason why gets a bit blurry (I never lose site of it), but it's the time in between fights that my why comes clearly into focus.

It's difficult to put into words what my why is, because my why is the internal feeling I get from learning and creating new things, adapting them for myself, and being able to translate these things into physical action. Training BJJ and other martial arts, combining them for MMA, and them performing them whether in the gym or in competition is just FUN. Outside of fight camp I can open my mind and my game up and embrace my weaknesses and work on new training philosophies in a more relaxed setting that will allow me to gain a better understanding of the art behind martial arts. I still train very hard, but my mind is relaxed and playful, I let go of ego and enjoy the process. If I get subbed, tagged, or taken down I shake it off (or laugh it off depending on what crazy submission I got caught from the guys at Rio Fighters) and keep going. When I keep things playful and have fun the improvement comes automatically with it.

I have had the privilege to meet BJJ and MMA enthusiasts from all over the world. A vast majority seem to have a good grasp on their why, but every so often someone comes through who has lost sight of their why. These people put pressure, whether real or imagined, on themselves that in the end make training not enjoyable, feel like work (of the OMG I don't want to do this kind), burn themselves out, or worst of all make them feel alienated from something they once loved. We all face these challenges and everyday isn't always going to be fun or enjoyable but the important thing is to remember that it's part of the process and keep focused on our why. Personally, it's to learn above all to have fun, for you it can be something different. In fact those are usually my final thoughts - 'go out there and have fun, you're doing this because you love it not because you hate it'- I have before walking out and stepping into the cage or on the mats for competition. For me, that's that's my why.

 *****On a side note, this past week I had the privilege to go on the podcast From The Eastside With Love and talk about my time here in Brazil and discussed MMA. Please if you get a chance head over to their site and check it out. http://fteswl.com/2015/08/21/mma-fighterwrestling-coach-torryn-falcon-heffelfinger/ *****

photo provided by J. Moreno.

New Weight Class, New Challenges

photo by Deive Coutinho.

OK so I am back again with some time and most importantly motivation to sit down and write up another blog entry. I’ve been busy since my last blog entry, I put in a full fight camp and had a fight since I last sat down and wrote an entry—man come to think of it, I do a horrible job keeping this blog up to date, but hey what can I say I’m busy trying to live life. 

SO ANYWAYS  back to the topic at hand—my fight! For this fight I dropped down for the first time to 145 pounds. Not going to lie at first I was a bit apprehensive about dropping the weight. In college I spent the first few seasons cutting a lot of weight the wrong way, honestly I attribute that and and ignorance on proper nutrition to not developing as fast as I should have in my college career. When your focused on nothing but making weight and being hungry it is hard to improve technically. I have seen the same thing here in the MMA world, especially here in Brazil. There are some guys who are making tremendous weightcuts and doing it the wrong way; so when it gets to fight time they look massive and come out guns a blazing but then quickly blow their load and tire out. They gas not because they didn’t work hard, but because they taxed their bodies in such a way that they were unable recover and perform at an optimal level. 

photo by Deive Coutinho.

So with this in mind I started dieting (I normally eat fairly healthy regardless) strictly about 6 or 7 weeks out from my fight, and leaned down to about 155-157 range. From there I made sure I super hydrated and got my body used to flushing high amounts of water from my system. About a week and a half out from my fight I eliminated most all sodium from my diet, and started cutting back on my carbs. The week of weigh-ins and the fight I cut most all carbs (which causes your body to retain water) and about 2 days from weighins I drastically cut my water intake down. As a result there was really only 2 days out of a 6 week fight camp where my direct focus was on losing weight, not an entire camp devoted to it. There is some great info on making weight out there, particularly articles by John Berardi, Nate Green, and Tim Ferris. 

Now the part I did falter a bit was in gaining the weight back, I think I overate a bit on the carbs so I woke up the morning of the fight feeling bloated and my stomach was off. I went back to small meals a ton of water, and got a light workout to crack a sweat and move the food through my system. By the time I got to the arena I was feeling good.

So I got warmed up and felt good physically, but I don’t think I entered my optimal performance state mentally. That said I entered the cage feeling confident and relaxed. The fight started I went out slipped a punch and landed a nice leg kick. When my opponent responded with a kick of his own I automatically dropped in on a shot, and my opponent jumped into a guillotine. I spent the next half of the round on my feet with this guy hanging off my neck as I defended and worked to escape. I escaped and slammed my opponent to the mat, worked a guard pass and finished out the round attacking a straight arm lock and mounting him.

photo by Deive Coutinho.

In the second round I landed a couple of nice strikes and as my opponent clinched I body locked him and stepped over to mount as we hit the mat. The round was with ground and pound passing and scrambling. Even though I dominated the round with pressure and aggression, I felt out of it technically. I didn't settle into my techniques like I normally do, and I felt a bit more winded then I normally do. The judges decided there should be a third round (here in Brazil amateur MMA if 1 person wins the first 2 rounds the fight ends).

At the start of the 3rd I finally felt in my groove; my gas tank was fully there, I felt completely relaxed, and I was in the zone. I circled my opponent into the cage and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks that were tagging him. When I saw the clear opening I shot in on a double, passed the guard, and mounted. I landed some GNP, and took high mount. I passed one of my legs over to work for a mounted triangle, my opponent defended so I took the armbar. I fully had the arm extended, but my opponent refused to tap. There was short time left and could either have rode it out or gone for the break (of the arm that is); well I over wrapped his arm and popped in my hips even more. The guys arm went past 180 and I was waiting for the snap to come when the ref stepped in to stop it, not wanting the guys arm to break. Talk about a tough and resolved opponent. 

It was a good fight and pushed me in new ways. I am happy for the win, but I am more happy for gaining more experience and learning what gaps in my game need to be addressed. This week is has been about healing up a bit, relaxing my mind and seeing what things I learned from my fight. It was nice to setback and have a change of pace, but now I am ready to get back at it and keep moving down the path!

In closing I would like to my team at Rio Fighters and my Coaches, Milton Viera, Dennis Asche, and Rogerio Miranda. All three have provided me with a wealth of knowledge that I am thankful to be able to tap into. I also would like to thank Connection Rio, who has 100% helped me to be where I am today as a martial artist--If it wasn't for CR I wouldn't be here in Brazil (www.connectionrio.com). I would also like to thank Senki Kimonos-- Cost of training gear and kimonos can be high and I am fortunate enough to have such a high quality company backing me (www.senki.com.br)