Looking Back on 2 Years at CR

With some of the current CR crew down at Tropa Thai. photo by D. Asche

This past weekend marked a milestone in Nicole and I's time in Rio---two years in the Ciudade Marvelosa! For this weeks post I am going to look back and describe what it has been like to work here at Connection Rio, the world's first true BJJ hostel.

Shadow boxing after training.

First and foremost I have to talk about all the great people that have come and stayed at Connection Rio. Over 1000 juijiteiros have come down to the cradle of jiujitsu to train and experience the BJJ lifestyle with us. One thing that stands out is that there is no particular mold that BJJ practitioners fit into. We have had guests ranging from middle aged white belts with little to no experience to seasoned blackbelt competitors in their young 20's. Our BJJ hostel literally brings people together from all walks of life, and from all corners of the world. I have people I am happy to call friends in multiple countries. Here is just a quick list of only SOME of the countries where I have friends and training partners, whom I otherwise would not have met if it weren't for CR. The UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Malaysia, Jordan, Australia, Thailand, Finland, Germany, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, The U.S.A, Canada, Russia, Korea, Poland, and Bahrain. Not only have I had a chance to get to know these people, but I have also had the privilege to see many peoples jiujitsu grow and dreams get realized. I've heard the phrase (or something similar) many times- "I never thought I would actually be in Rio" or "I've always dreamed/wanted to come down to train". I know these phrases first hand because I myself said something similar my first time in Rio back in 2010. For me that's the greatest part of working for CR, helping people to enjoy their time in Rio.

Besides just the awesome people, let me tell you about the amazing training partners I have had living and working at a BJJ hostel. We have mats here at CR, and I have put a ton of time drilling, rolling, discussing the finer points of technique on them. I have had the "lightbulb" moment with multiple techniques from having a previously unknown detail revealed during a session on our mats. There has not been one person come through that has not been willing to kick off their shoes and step on the mat to help another guest figure out a position. With having so many people from so man
y different BJJ lineages nearly ever person can offer a different insight to training. There aren't to many places in the world where you can lay mats down under a palm tree and drill or roll with an amazing view of a mountain above you. If that isn't the definition of paradise, I don't know what is. Through CR I have trained with legends such as Ze Mario Sperry, Felipe Costa, Braga Neto, and Babalu---and that's just here on the mats of CR! I have surfed (unsuccessfully) with Coral Belt Master Silvio Behring, and toured Rio's Favela's with the elite BOPE-- there is NOWHERE else this would have happened. Not to mention I have stepped onto some of the most revered mats in the world. I've rolled at De La Riva, Carlson Gracie's, BTT, Nova Uniao, X-gym, Gracie Barra Matrix, Rio Fighters, RFT, Gordo's, and academia Strauch and this is just off the top of my head. All gyms and instructors have welcomed me and the other members of CR openly as if we had been training there since day one.

After my UD victory at MFL 4. Big thank you to my
sponsores Connection Rio and Senki Kimonos.
photo by D. Asche

Lastly I want to mention how working/living at CR has created a change in my lifestyle. We like to say Connection Rio is a BJJ Hostel, because its about more than just  accommodation. It is about embracing the BJJ Lifestyle. Time spent both on and of the mat is about enjoying life's journey and continually learning and growing on a personal level. Whether its longboarding through the city beach, swimming in the ocean, or cutting a coconut off the tree and watching the wind blowing through trees on Pedra de Gavea I have the opportunity to tune out any stress and solely focus on the present beauty of life. To be able to wake up, enjoy some fresh fruit and coffee and then work on what I love doing is such an amazing thing. Some people search their whole lives for this, and I am thankful that I am here experiencing it now. Every day here is at CR is a chance to learn something new about myself, the arte sauve, and about life---what more can a person ask for?

Be like water- Relearning the water cycle of training.

Training stand up. photo by Cristiano Justinio

There was a thunderous crack and then bright lights of fireworks fading into black. Everything seems muffled for a minute, everything feels rubbery and stuck in mud. In the distance I see a light coming towards me, bigger and bigger. Finally I'm back to reality in the cage. My sparring partner looks at me unsure of if I am going down after the headkick landed flush. I smile, clap my hands and then land a right straight down the pipe, following it up with a hook and another straight before shooting a double, lifting him off the mat, and finishing the takedown. The rest of the round is a flurry of strikes, scrambles, and working to dominate each other.  Milton yells  out we have 10 seconds left and I quickly move to take knee on belly and finish the round landing strikes.

I am fighting again on Team Nogueira TV December 4th, and I am in the middle of my training camp. Training is going well, and as you can see from the above training is hard. The week before a fight, Milton put the guys with fights through a grueling conditioning circuit after sparring, which pushes us to the brink mentally. But that's what it is all about, breaking you down and building you up again stronger. Come fight time, all the hard work is done and the fight is the easiest part  (and the funnest as well).

Post nogi mma training.

The above part is from a half finished blog from a week ago. It is one of several unfinished blog entries I have been struggling to write. I have been suffering from a MASSIVE case of writers block---scratch that, more like an complete lack of creativity and rhythm.  Unfortunately I felt like this lack of rhythm and creativity carry over to my training. While I have been working hard, always on the grind and having good sessions I have just felt in a funk. I am a huge fan of Bruce Lee, one of my favorite quotes of his is the following:

  “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” 

See the issue I was facing was it felt like there was no water. So while I've been getting told I'm looking good and having good training sessions, I have been feeling dry. Day after day of going in and doing "good" but feeling like your just taking ass whoopings is frustrating, in fact for me it boarders on heartbreaking. I'd lost sleep, my appetite, focus and my normally joking personality over it.  Overall I've probably been a pretty miserable person to be around (sorry Nicole)

BUT I had a revelation this week. While I have been feeling dry, I've been missing things. I barely noticed that I managed to effortlessly transition to a bicep slicer off a scramble; that perfectly timed straight dart to a counter double, well it ever happened, etc. See, I was only thinking of being like water in terms of a liquid, I completely forgot that water exists both as a solid and as a gas (dropping some science on you this week). So that while I felt completely dry and lacking of fluidity, there was still water there, it may have seemed to have disappeared, it had changed states, evaporating but still ever present. With this realization, and as happens when it is really dry, it began to rain; and when it rains it pours. This weeks training I hit my stride. My transitions felt good, submissions seemed to open up out of nowhere, and I began reading things on the feet much better. The biggest thing is if something wasn't working for me, I changed my form, molding to the situation and overcoming it. I have realized even if it feels like there is no water, it is ever present, you just have to recognize and discover what state its in.

Family in Rio and Competing in RISC

It's been awhile since my last blog, not because I haven't been doing much, but rather I have been on the go for the last few weeks and this is the first time I have had a chance to sit and type up some of the happenings here in Rio. Between family visiting, competing, and the UFC it's been a great few weeks here.

First my dad, mom, and aunt arrived in Rio for close to two weeks. It had been close to two years since I last saw them and it's hard to put into words how great it was to have them here. In addition to my normal training schedule, having them here gave me a chance to enjoy some more of the touristy parts of Rio. We spent an afternoon checking out the Lapa Arches, the Serlarone steps, and Santa Teresa. For those who don't know, Santa Teresa is a more Bohemian area of the city, filled with great restaurants, bars, and art galleries. We also ate lunch and hiked the grounds of Parque de Lage, a huge mansion in part of the Tijuca National Forest. We even made a trip to Rio's Jockey Club and laid a few bets on some of the horse races, my dad was able to give me some good pointers on picking some winners.


During my families trip to Rio I decided to compete in the Rio International Submission Cup, which is a submission grappling tournament held every year in Rio. The competition has a unique set of rules blending together luta livre esportiva and BJJ. Competitors where penalized for pulling guard and there were no advantages, but at lower belt levels all other standard ibjjf rules applied. Since my family was here and I was eating MASSIVE quantities of food I went up from lightweight to middleweight because there was no way I was going to keep my weight down. When the tournament rolled around I had 16 guys from various BJJ and Luta Livre academies in my bracket. In my first match I submitted my opponent in around 4 minutes with an arm triangle. My second opponent, a short stocky guy, spent most of the match battling in halfguard after I took him down. I managed and secure a pass later in the match and won the fight 5-0. In my semifinals match I battled a tough guy from Soul Fighters. There were a few fast scrambles, and my opponent was attacking for submissions. I kept up my pressure and working to pass. He started to slow down and I kept hammering the pace. In the last minute and I half I broke the match open and won 9-0. I was able to watch the guy I had in the finals and watched over and over on how he tied up with his opponent on his feet and made a mental note of it. When the match started, he went to tie up, but I was already countering his tie and shooting in on a single leg. I finished the takedown with a lift and trip, and landed outside of his guard. When he tried to hip escape and reguard I locked in an anaconda choke, made the adjustments Milton was telling me, and got the submission in 40 seconds. I was pretty pumped up after the win, I expected to win, but having my team, coaches, and family there (not to mention finishing the finals with the submission that Milton is accredited with mastering) really made it special.

So it came time for the medal awards, I get up on the podium with the other competitors and Milton put the gold medal on my neck and I look up for the photos. I glance back down at Milton who was still standing there now with a purple belt in his hands! I was completely and totally shocked. It was an amazing moment for me to have him award me with my purple belt, especially with having my family there to witness it. There have been, and continue to be a ton of people who have helped me so far on my journey. First I would like to thank Milton Vieira, who has shown me keys to adopting his unique and technical game of grappling, and who has welcomed me with open arms into his academy Rio Fighters. Next I would like to thank Dennis Asche, who has not only had the biggest influence on my kimono game, but if he hadn't started Connection Rio I most likely would have never ventured to Brazil in 2010--the trip that showed me what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I have been fortunate to have other great instructors who have helped me embrace BJJ, Clint Crabtree of GRBJJ, Jim Burchfield, and Jason Fox all come to mind. I wouldn't have made the journey without great training partners, which thanks to CR I have had a near endless supply, Mike Tlalka, Christian Pierce, Andrew Morse and Nabas are a few of the standout; of course all thank you to all my teamates as Rio Fighters. Finally I would like to thank Senki Kimonos, who has never left in want for quality kimonos, shorts, or rashguards, without there support I would be much worse for wear training gear wise (not to mention not as stylish) on the mats.

As I said above this last few weeks have been a busy, so much so it's difficult to get it all into one blog. So for my next blog I will be talking  about watching UFC 179 live and some of my experiences of UFC fight week in Rio.

The Theory of Evolution

After a great training session at Rio Fighters.

It's a breezy lazy Sunday here in Rio. Right now I am lazily rocking in a hammock in the CR garden listening to music and and reflecting on this past week. Besides writing up this blog todays only major task is to go to one of the local restaurant/bar and listen to some reggae. Relaxing days like this are what recharges me for the upcoming grind of training.

As I have been thinking about my training this week a saying that is on the wall of where I trained boxing in Michigan (Trigger Boxing) keeps coming to mind--It's not the strongest that survives, but the most adaptable. In order to succeed the world of bjj/mma a person needs to constantly evolve into the best possible version of themselves. This evolution and adaptation is what will carry you through an unforeseen situation and to new heights.

Just like there is in the biological sense, I believe there are two types of evolution in marital art-- Macro (large scale) and Micro (small scale). When I am thinking of the macro level I think along the lines of how your overall game evolves over time. It's the adding in of new techniques and theories that will transform and bring you to another level. A prime example is the work I have been putting on on refining my BJJ. I have been working on adding new passes into my top game and fine tuning the details of some of the passes I have been familiar with. The new techniques are making me approach positions with a different mentality that opens my game. Where I may have before been content to solely secure a dominate position or stopped thinking offensively, I now approach with the intent of constantly moving to a more dominate position and getting the finish. Speaking of evolution on a large scale, I am now even sometimes committing to playing guard. I even went so far as to choose working from guard with a 100 kilo 4th degree black belt while at the CR academy visit to De La Riva's. My thought was if I can get used to defending passes and working escapes, sweeps, or submissions against a large stronger and more technical opponent when I go against someone my own size and strength I'll feel even more comfortable. Well, in short I spent most of the round getting pummeled, passed, and submitted by this black belt. I never said macroevolution was a quick process.

With Professor De La Riva, at the CR academy visit.

Microevolution of your game involves how you make changes in you game in a given situation. It's how you adapt to a given situation in the moment. Say during a roll your partner keeps burning you with a certain pass, what changes are you going to make in your positioning to stop or counter the pass. A great example would be from my MMA sparring this week. During the spar I noticed that after throwing an inside leg kick he would back out at the same angle and keep his hands a little low. Knowing he would do this, I took the center of the cage and walked him back. After he threw his kick, he had nowhere to back up and I was able to cut him off, land a counter, and then work a takedown off the cage. After a couple of times countering him, he adapted his game and made adjustments, now instead of backing up, he stepped in with punches, catching me good and I had to adapt to his new strategy. Sometimes in competition you can take control from the start, but other times (especially at high levels) this won't work. In these cases you can't keep trying to fit a square beg in a round hole, you have to try something new; you have to adapt.  

Closing out this weeks blog (I have to get going to listen to those irie beats), I am happy to say I am getting back into competition in the coming weeks. Next weekend I will be competing in the kimono at the SJJSAF Sul Americano Championships, and plan on competing in the Rio International Submission Cup. I am also hoping on closing out 2015 with another MMA fight. I really have the competitive drive that I had with wrestling, and I am looking forward to representing Rio Fighters, Connection Rio, Senki Kimonos, and most importantly myself in competition.

Enjoying the Process

Working for the double. photo by mma4ever.

So it's been awhile since my last blog, sorry about that. I have been having a few issues with my laptop which I believe is in its final stages of life. When it takes you well over an hour just to to start up, plug in a spare keyboard, upload, add photos, and post a blog it saps your motivation to do so. Add to that the amazing Brazilian spring and that motivation goes to zero. BUT i figured out a solution (one that didn't include me using Nicole's most prized possession, her macbook) and I am back at it. I am sure most all of you know I won my MMA debut a few weeks ago. Leading up to the fight I had trained so hard and had done visualization work twice a day everyday that when the fight came I was totally relaxed and in another place mentally. Instead of feeling like it was my first fight it felt as if it were my 100th because I had done it all before so many times in my mind. I truly cannot thank my coaches/trainers Dennis and Milton, my teammates at Rio Fighters, my sponsors Senki Kimonos and Connection Rio, and Nicole enough.

It was great to throw on my Senki Kimono and get
some excellent work in with Dennis. Photo by D. Asche

The week after my fight I trained very relaxed and enjoyed eating just about whatever sounded good. It was a great way to rejuvenate my body and mind. Over the last couple of weeks we have had many guys fight both in amateur and professional MMA bouts and we have had a great showing. Win or lose everyone is showcasing great techniques and mental toughness. I think after the month we have had a lot of people have taken notice of Rio Fighters many good things are to come. On a personal note is was great to see many of the guys who fought either show excellent takedowns or takedown defense during their fights. It is a definite reaffirmation that what I have been teaching is working and that the guys are grasping things both technically and conceptually. I got back to 2 training sessions a day this week, but the focus is more on  improving technique and enjoying training. Don't get me wrong I am training hard, but I am working on adding new skills into all areas. During my training camp it was about improving what skills I had and working towards the single goal of winning, so I wasn't working on brand new concepts and ideas. Now I can open up my game, try new things and drill new techniques. Right now is very much a "time spend in the laboratory"  trying to discover new aspects of martial arts. Included in this is a return to training in the kimono. Four of the 11 sessions I got in this week were on the mat with the kimono on. After about 8 weeks of training without a kimono the grip game felt foreign to me, and I frustratingly got my butt kicked most of the week during specific positional training. That said by the end of the week things began to click a bit more.

photo by mma4ever

As I said above I have been making sure that I have just been having fun with my training. I am trying new things and enjoying the process of making improvements. If something doesn't work or I get in a bad position/submitted, it's not a "I have to close up this weakness or avoid doing this because in a few weeks I can't make that mistake" moment but now I have time to reflect on what I did wrong and what I can do in the future. There is no immediate rush, at this point I can just enjoy the process and carry on down the path. Which in my opinion is what being a martial artist is all about.

Embracing the Grind

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.

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.

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.

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.

Continuing Down the Path

After MMA training at Rio Fighters. photo by Joey Crisostomo.

I'm sitting down to write this blog on a sunny Sunday afternoon here in Rio. Between typing sentences I glance up at palm trees and pedra da gavea. There are birds chirping and I have reggae playing in the background. This is the bjj lifestyle. Sundays for me (and most of the house) is a day of rest. For me it's about recharging both the body and the mind. After getting in 10-12 training sessions throughout the week it is nice to relax, maybe swim in the ocean, ride your bike, grill, or just joke around with friends. This way when I start the week off with my morning workout, I'm freshly motivated and above all else I am hungry.

Sparring at Rio Fighters. Photo by D. Asche

Next month, on the 14^th of September, I will be making my MMA debut. The promotion is part of a three day combat sports festival featuring BJJ, Muay Thai, and both Pro and amateur MMA. I am in the full swing of my fightcamp and I am really pushing the pedal to the floor when it comes to my training. Throughout the week I get up early and head into Flamengo to do mitt work with Dennis. For much of my time spent striking I really took the Rocky Balboa approach—take a shot to give a shot and work for an eventual takedown. This approach, while sometimes effective, is not the best long term approach to things. With Dennis I have been working on movement, both defensively and offensively, and reaction. I'm working to punish people on the feet, and when I am ready, take it to the ground. Trust me it's still a work in progress (chasing perfection always is) but the results from the training are starting to show.

Learning new techniques an concepts at the CR in House Mario Sperry Seminar.
photo by Vito Photography.

After I finish training with Dennis I have a cup Add captionof coffee and a bite to eat then head over to Rio Fighters for the pro training. Both training and coaching there is going great. Everyday I am leaving training having learned something new. I don't mean I am constantly working some brand new technique, often times it's details on a technique I may have learned a while back but suddenly I am able to fully grasp how to do it. Or sometimes it's gaining a great conceptual knowledge of grappling and MMA. Working with Milton Vieira, who is someone who is technically sound and conceptually unorthodox, has allowed me to create a very unique ground game centered around my strengths. Adding to this was some thoughts that Master Mario Sperry gave during his seminar here at Connection Rio. Basically he stressed that while you need to have technique and flowing transitions as you go from position to position, BJJ is still a combat sport/ fighting art. Meaning that it is your job to frustrate and make your opponent uncomfortable. When they get uncomfortable they get tired, when they get tired they make mistakes, and when they make mistakes they get finished. If we are rolling and I'm grinding my shoulder (or elbows or knees), working to pressure pass, putting forearms across your throat, or whatever, I am not doing it to be a dick—I am not a mean guy-- but I am going to do whatever I can to advance position and eventually win. As it is with my striking, my ground game is a work in progress (it will always be), but I feel like I have a better sense of direction when it comes to my game.

Photo by Vito Photography.

I really couldn't ask for better coaches, teammates and friends to help me prepare for my fight. They push me, teach me, and pick me up when I stumble. They are helping me to be the best possible version of myself I can be.

I am going to stop writing now, it's time to fire up the BBQ, with my wonderful girlfirend Nicole and my many friends here at CR, enjoy some food, share some laughs, and relax; because tomorrow the grind starts up again, and I will embrace it with open arms.