Enjoying Sporting Events at CR and Exploring Rio

Sparring at Rio Fighters, while wearing my favorite Senki
rashguard.

It's been a busy week here in Rio, full of fun, good laughs, and great training. Last weekend we had a huge house BBQ full of steaks, burgers, sausages and different salads. Everyone chipped in about 15R and we ate like kings for hours. When the BBQ finally died down we settled around the TV to watch UFC Shogun vs Henderson 2. Watching exciting fights with a group is always a ton of fun because everyone always gets into it and there is a ton of crap talking. This was especially the case this past weekend for Metamoris 3. Everyone chipped in and ordered the live stream of Metamoris, one of our guests has a portable projector which we used to project the event on the back wall of the living room. We rearranged the couches, chairs, and made space on the mats. Guys chipped in for snacks, chips, cookies, pizza, bacon wrapped hotdogs--- you know all the stuff that would fit right in with the Gracie Diet. Kevin, a guest from 10^th planet JJ, created a very in-depth betting system and just about everyone threw in there picks, for winners, submission types, and even what position the submission was hit from. In the end the pool was 55R and Irish John had a come from behind win to get the pot of cash. The event itself was entertaining but what made it was the in house commentary from people hoping to win the cash.

  

Nicole and I also had a chance to explore a bit more of Rio. On Saturday afternoon, we went to Parque de Lage in Jardim Botanico. The park is a huge estate built in the late 1800's by a wealthy European who had immigrated to Brazil. The grounds of the estate is filled with lush green plants, huge trees and quite a few monkeys. The main house is a massive stone building, with huge archways and marble flooring. The center of the house opens into a large courtyard, with big swimming pool in the middle. The old kitchen has been converted into a cafe/restaurant and the rest of the house is used by one of the local university's art program so as you drink your coffee you can watch aspiring artists paint. We got there about 45 minutes before they closed, but we really enjoyed it. After the park closed we walked a bit to the Jockey Club and caught a couple of horse races before heading back to Barra. Even after living in Rio for well over a year, there is still a ton of great new things to experience.

The manor house in Parque de Lage

Training

Over the course of the last week or two I have really started to ramp up my training, getting two sometimes three sessions in daily. A lot of it is official classes, but I am spending more and more time on refining and drilling technique both in grappling and striking. I've been working a lot on my butterfly guard and developing ways that I can using my wrestling to aid and strengthen my submission game. It's a trial and error process on my part, some things work great, others I get burnt on and find my self in a horrible positions or caught in a submission. A lot of the time though I am seeing the potential for things, I have to refine the techniques and mold them into something that will work for me.

Rolling with Milton.

With my striking, I am finally feeling comfortable again. I went through a long period of just feeling out of rhythm when sparring. My feet might work well, but my hands wouldn't release combos. I might be throwing a lot of strikes but my distance was off and I was loosing position. Things like that. It was getting frustrating, but I have been putting in a lot of extra time shadow boxing, doing bag work, and hitting pads, and things are starting to feel good again. I still have a ton to work on, but I am making improvements. After a particularly hard sparring session, consisting of about 6 rounds of kickboxing, some grappling, and two rounds in the cage, Milton said I had sparred the best he had ever seen me spar. That's a great thing to hear after you feel exhausted from leaving it all out on the mats, it makes you hungrier and want to work harder because you know you are making the right improvements.

Lately a lot of my grappling training has been luta livre and wrestling, but in the last couple of weeks I have been making the effort to train more in the kimono. I've been drilling in the gi and on Saturday's I have been going into open mats and sparring the tough blackbelts at Gordo's. The intensity is high and I have been having a great time. I am looking to train in the kimono more and more, because I want to compete as much as possible. I feel great and I really have the competitive hunger again. I am planning on competing in two weeks in the SJJAF Pan Americano Championships. The next couple of weeks I am going to be putting in a ton of work and I can't wait to step back out on the mat and get some hardware.

Birthdays, Concerts, and Leg Locks

Another week down in beautiful Rio! This past week things finally “quieted down” and it was business as usual here. All the gyms were back to their normal schedules and packed with top notch blackbelts and/or fighters hungry to train after Carnival. You couldn't ask for better weather this week, the days are hot and filled with sun but as the Rio summer begins to wind down the nights are cooling off and are very comfortable. By comfortable I mean I can finally sit outside in a pair of shorts and be able to relax without sweating.

It's been a fun week both on and off the mat. On Thursday Nicole and I went to a Jack Johnson concert down at HSBC Arena. Jack Johnson has always been one of our favorite artists, so when we heard he was coming through Rio on his South American Tour we knew we had to go. We had a great time, and Jack played all of our favorite songs. Being there in Rio listening to him play was really a special occasion for the both of us. Early on it our relationship we spent a lot of time listening to Jack Johnson and talking how great it would be to travel and live somewhere tropical, so it was a really nostalgic moment for us. There were a surprising number of gringos there, many of whom walked up to Nicole, with her bright blue eyes and blonde hair, and tried to ask questions in horrible Portuguese. We must really be looking like we have mastered the city if people think she is a Brazilian. On Saturday afternoon Nicole and I went to one of her friend's mothers surprise birthday party. It was a day full of fun and there was a ton of delicious homemade Brazilian food to eat. When we left they pretty much had to roll me out of their house. They even sent us home with a big batch of chicken estrongenoff, which several of the guys in the house and I have been working our way through. It was really nice to be welcomed with open arms into the family and to make new friends. Plus it gave me a chance to work on my Portuguese as well. Other than Nicole's friends most of the people there spoke little to no English, so I had to either try to speak to them in Portuguese or just stay quiet. By the time we left my mind was a bit burnt out from talking and listening, but overall it went well. When we got back to the house their a large group of guys were seated around the TV watching the UFC 171. They quickly made room on one of the couches and I settled in the watch the main card of the event. Overall it was a great card with an even better main event. By the end of the fight between Johnny Hendricks and Robby Lawler guys were up on their feet and yelling at the TV. All in all it was a great day!

Coaching at Rio Fighters. Photo by M. Vieira.

In the gym training this week has been, as always, great. Like I said above with Carnival being over everyone returned to training with a new vigor. With everyone training hard it was impossible to not train hard as well. I have been coaching wrestling at Rio Fighters for two months and it's awesome to see how much the wrestling of the fighters there has improved. These guys are tough, hard working, athletic, but above all else they are extremely open to learning. Everything I teach they, try ask questions, and they are always hungry for more. In the next couple of months a few of these guys will be fighting, and it will be great to see them perform.

Teaching some technique.

One training that really stuck out in my mind was training leg lock defense. One thing I that surprises people who roll in an MMA setting (and myself included) is just how many leg locks some of these guys will go after. I'm not just talking about straight ankle locks or toe holds, people will go after knee bars and heel hooks and seize on any opening. This is something that at a lot of places around the world is viewed as almost taboo. I remember I when rolling back home, unless I really trusted the person to know what they were doing, I would tap to heel hooks attempts and ankle locks fairly fast. Down here though, at least in the MMA and luta livre world, its a different story. I had a very decorated black belt explain it to me like this. A leg lock is just like any other position, you have to work both the offense and the defense to get comfortable with it. He said when people refuse to train the positions because they view it was dangerous that they leave themselves more open to injury because they have not learned how to properly defend and counter them. Milton taught the class and showed some excellent technique. He built the techniques around several leg lock situations that he saw while watching the UFC Fight Night that had taken place the weekend before. He used situations that were fresh in our minds and used those as reference points. He even covered some leg lock defense and counter work from 50/50. The defense work from 50/50 was good, but the counters were mind blowing. He showed countering to straight armlocks and some transitions from there. You know it was good stuff when you have about 7-10 blackbelts staring open mouthed at the technique. In rolling that day I was able to use some of what I learned, as some of the guys were feeling extra leg-locky that day. Overall within the world of leg locks I am feeling a bit more comfortable with the positions and as I was told I am approaching it as just another set of techniques needed in the world of grappling. I still tap fairly quickly in some situations, but that is more from knowing when the guy has the submission locked in tight rather than out of being uncomfortable with the position.

Carnival Happens

Carnival Music Truck at a bloco.

It has been a busy few weeks here in Rio. And this is the first time in the last two weeks I have had a chance to sit and write up a blog. You may be wondering what happened? Carnival happened. While it officially lasts for only 5 days it's pretty much a week and a half long affair. A lot of my time leading into Carnival was spent training or welcoming a ton of new guests to CR. When Carnival did start I did make it to a few blocos on Barra beach, and spent some time celebrating with friends For those who don't know Carnival blocos are the staple of Rio Carnival. They are large street parties/ slow moving parades that are scattered throughout the city and at various times. They can vary in size and theme. Some are smaller traditional blocos for the family and others are huge and crazy. How crazy? Real crazy (some blocos attract 50-100 THOUSAND people). Most have live music of various kinds and lots of dancing. Another common theme for blocos are dressing up. This year was my second go around for Carnival, last year in 2013 I was less than impressed with Brazilian standard for costumes; it was pretty much cheap version of halloween. The girls mainly dressed as cats and the guys in drag. This year though the Brazilians really redeemed themselves. I saw Mario and Luigi's, blind futbol refs, indians, a beach singer (with his girlfriend who was dressed as a campfire), doctors, and smurfs. That was just the guys. For the women's costumes there were belly dancers, snow whites, police, angry birds and less than inventive girls just in their bikinis.

At the beginning of a bloco in Barra

The blocos I went to were smaller, about 5-10 thousand people. I didn't stay the whole time but both lasted about six hours, with the huge buses with live bands playing music slowly making their way along parade route. Both of the blocos I went to were along the beach so at any point during the day I could just duck out of the crowd and jump into the ocean to cool off. While I had a lot more fun this year at Carnival there are definitely a few downsides. One major downside is that training can be limited to downright non-existent during the 5 days. Most training sessions will be open mats and you aren't guaranteed to have a lot of people there to train. But that's where being here at Connection Rio helps. Even with the city being on a 24/7 party schedule for Carnival there were guys in the house who either wanted to drill or roll here on the mats. While most of the academies were closed at least 3-4 days of Carnival most guys only took one day off the mats. Don't get me wrong though there was plenty of time for guys to go out and have some pretty hilarious stories in the morning. Including someone who paid their bar tab in a club by giving them a sock full of money. We got this story (and a whole lot of other ones) after he showed up the next afternoon when he came staggering through the door with only one sock. The moral of his story is if you tell everyone at the club you're a millionaire be prepared for a millionaire’s bar tab.

After training at Bope HQ

Another major downside to Carnival is the traffic. Because there are blocos throughout the city a ton of the streets were closed off. This left the bus routes messed up and trying to get form point A to point B in a vehicle a very time consuming. For example on Saturday I met up with Antoine and Dennis to go train at BOPE HQ. The trip itself should have taken about an hour but because of having to change routes because of blocos took close to two hours. The trip took longer than expected but it was definitely worth it. While at BOPE we trained with the CO and a couple of his guys. The training was relaxed but competitive. We rolled several rounds of submission grappling starting both from the knees and from standing. There were several tough luta livre and BJJ blackbelts there so the rolling was top notch. After grappling we did a couple of rounds of boxing and MMA sparring. The focus was more on movement and technique than hard sparring, which was good to get timing down and to try new things. I have to say it's a pretty unique feeling to be training and look over and have about 10 guys in full tactical gear and assault rifles watching and nodding. After about an hour and a half the training wrapped up and we slowly headed back to Barra trying to weave our way around the blocos.

Overall I had a lot more fun at this years Carnival. I knew what to expect and how to navigate the city better and I think that is one of the reason why I enjoyed it so much more this year than last. I had my fun in the sun, relaxed at the beach, and got in some great training. This is what being in Rio, embracing the BJJ lifestyle is all about.

Summer Days in the Rio and Coaching/Training at Rio Fighters

Some of the CR crew with Milton Vieira.

Another week down in beautiful Rio de Janiero! Today is a bit atypical weather wise, for the first time in nearly a month it is overcast and even raining at times. The rest of the week was nothing but sun and hot temperatures. The temperatures this week were in the upper 30's to low 40's so when not on the mat or working I spent a large portion of my time in the pool. It is nice that whenever it gets just too hot I can just go outside for a quick swim. There have been frequent daily trips to both Barra and Joatinga beaches from everyone in the house. We have a couple of guys at CR who surf frequently back home and they used the weekend downtime to surf fix up a couple of boards ride here in Barra. On Saturday Nicole had some friends over and after they cooked some delicious Brazilian food, everyone got in the pool. With a few Brazilian girls in the pool it didn't take long for the rest of the house to suddenly “decide” to go for a swim. Before we knew it about half the house was relaxing and joking in the pool. That night a few guys went out to one of the clubs while a group of us stayed in to watch the UFC fights at the house. 

I really like these weekend opportunities to get to know people better. Over the course of the week I am out training or working on a project and many of the guests are training so while we talk and hang out we might not really get to know each other. The weekends are different, people aren't saving energy for training and things are a bit more relaxed for me as well. It makes a great time get to know other people. For example there is an Irish kid here who trains a lot and spends a lot of time resting up for training, but on Saturday he really came out of his shell and is one of the most hilarious guys in the house. He had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at the things he was saying. 

You never know when a pool party will break out at CR

Week in Training

On Monday a large group of us from CR headed down to Humaita for Rio Fighters first official luta livre class. While there has been pro MMA training going on, the gym did not officially open until Monday. There were around 30 guys on the mat for the inaugural, many of which were luta livre black belts. The class started with a long warm up of running, calisthenics, and BJJ specific movement drills. We covered a pass and then a couple of attacks from side control. The techniques were taught with great detail and I was able to pick up a few new things I think will work great for me. The rolling was competitive and faced paced. The guys weren't mean or dirty, they were just plan tough. You had to fight for every inch, everybody had a very never never say die attitude and refuse to accept a negative position. It actually reminded me a ton of a wrestling practice, so in other words I felt at home. I had a very fun roll with a luta livre black belt that sent us from one side of the mat to the other. I used my wrestling very heavy to pressure him and he responded back with attacks of his own. Right near the end of our roll I attacked the head from side control, he hipped out and changed the angle and I immediately felt off balance and in trouble. I made my normal adjustments but realized I suddenly couldn't get my arm back and the next thing I knew I was in the craziest wrist-lock and I had to tap. All I could do was just sit there for a second dumbfounded and say “boa, boa submission” (good, good submission).

Me with some of the guys in the house.

As you might have guest from my earlier posts, I am training full time now at Rio Fighters. In addition to that I am happy to also say that I am the wrestling coach at Rio Fighters. I am teaching there two days a week and training there everyday. The gym is a great fit for me. The style is very aggressive yet technical which allows me to really embrace my wrestling mentality and learn to adjust it towards luta livre, BJJ, and MMA. After every training session I walk out of there tired but feeling great because I know I made improvements over the course of the training. Being there training just feels right. Milton said part of the reason he wanted me to coach/train there was because my style of coaching and wrestling compliments his style of grappling, coaching and fighting. He wants fast paced hard practices for the wrestling classes, with a college wrestling intensity. Another cool thing is when I am coaching Milton is just another one of the guys training, he is there to train hard and learn. 

A Day at the Races and Hard Sparring

At the horse races.

It's been a busy week here in Rio. We had a wave of new arrivals from all over the world come in, plus we were working on several projects around CR (add to that training) it made for a packed schedule. As a result Nicole and I decided to make the most of the weekend and get some good R&R in. On Saturday afternoon we decided to head to Rio's famous Jockey Club, Hipodromo, in Gavea. Built in the 1920's the track and grand stands look like it was straight out of The Great Gatsby. The buildings are all granite with marble flooring and wood seating and betting counters. The club itself is free to get into and if you are betting there is a 3R bet minimum (less than 1.5 USD) so you can have a good time for a fairly low price. Nicole and I decided to use going to the races as an excuse to get dressed up, so we ditched our normal attire of shorts and tshirts for nicer clothing. We met several friends there and we spent the afternoon placing small bets and drinking a few cold beverages and overall enjoying the day. At first we really had no idea about making bets and how to pick a “winner” but by the end we could at least make a more educated guess (even managed to pick a couple of winners). Overall on the day I think I left about 7R down but it was more than worth it. After the races we headed over to a small restaurant and split a couple of pizzas before heading back to Barra. We all had a ton of fun and I think we are going to make a trip to the horse races a monthly thing.

Nicole and I at the Jockey Club.

On Sunday Nicole and I got up and did our normal thing of going for breakfast and the farmers market. After going to the farmers markets for so long the vendors know our faces and often times make sure that we get some of the best fruits and veggies that they have to offer. When we got back to the house we relaxed and read, trying to wait out the hottest part of the day. About mid afternoon we headed down to Joatinga beach. Joatinga is a small semi-private beach located about a 10 minute walk from the house. Tucked away in a really nice neighborhood, the beach is a small patch of sand surrounded by rocks and cliffs, when the tide comes in the beach itself disappear under the waves so you have to time it just right to enjoy the beach. It's a very relaxed atmosphere where you see very few non Brazilians and most people are spending their time tanning, surfing, or kicking around a futebol. Nicole and I spent a few hours relaxing at the beach before heading out as the sun was setting and the tide was creeping up the beach. There is no better way to recharge the batteries and get ready for another hard week of training, than to just sit back and enjoy what Rio has to offer.

Week Training

Showing some technique. Photo by M. Viera.

Even though it was a busy week I still put in plenty of time in at the gym. Things clicked a bit more for me this week grappling wise, I was still getting it handed to me but overall I felt a lot more solid and smooth in my rolling. I have been spending a lot of time thinking back over my rolling and trying to analyze a few things and I have really found a few gaps that I need to work on closing. BJJ (like most martial arts) is incredibly humbling, you think that you are on a certain level and then BAM! Someone serves you a slice of humble pie and you realize you have a long way to go. That's kind of where I am at with my jiu-jitsu. I could look at it with frustration (it's VERY easy to do), but I am trying to embrace it with open arms because I know in the end that is what will make me better.

It feels really good to be getting back into hard training. Training in general is never easy, but I'm talking tough, taxing-- both mentally and physically-- training. This past Friday's sparring session was one of those. It was probably close to 37C day so you almost started sweating as soon as you stepped on the mat. We warmed up and drilled striking combos and takedowns for about 45 minutes and then moved onto sparring. We did three five minute rounds MMA-- strikes and takedowns with quick stand-ups if there was any static positions in grappling. Each round we rotated to a new partner. The first two guys I sparred were bigger than me and I had to try to use speed and movement to avoid being out muscled or eating heavy shots. The third guy was was a little bit smaller than me but lighting fast so I had to find ways of slowing the pace down so I could get in range to land solid strikes and takedowns. The toughest spar was my second one against a big, tough, and experienced fighter. I started strong and landed a hit, a couple of nice takedowns, and was holding my own on the feet. As the round wore on though he used his strength to wear me down and tire me out. My punches and shots got slower and my hands got lower and he started to put it on me a bit more. I didn't wither away though, I used getting tired to piss me off and I kept battling (although sloppily) until the end of the round. It wasn't a great round for me, but I used it as a gut check; a test of my gameness. Instead of curling up letting the guy pummel me I kept fighting and throwing until the end....I do have a nice black eye to show for it though. After the MMA sparring we took off the gloves and rolled two five minute rounds of nogi submission. I felt the best I have rolling in awhile and was able to pull some good things from the training session. Just sitting here writing this is getting my blood pumping, I am excited for Monday to come so I can get back into the gym and continue to get better!  

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www.senki.com.br

Copa Podio, Tough Training and the Importance of Hydration

It's been a busy week here in Rio. Between training, teaching, and going to the airport to pick up people arriving to compete in this past weeks Copa Podio I had little time to sit back and relax (until the weekend that is). First with the Copa Podio, I have to say it was probably their best event yet. The action was fast paced and there was a ton of submissions. Not only that but we somehow managed to get great floor seats so we were front row for all the action and were served free guarana (a Brazilian soft drink) and sandwiches. Talk about living the good life! On the bus back from the CP we happen to run into another guy, James, from the house and decided to head out to the Budweiser Bar in Barra to watch the UFC fights. Normally I wouldn't really mention the name of the bar but I wanted to mention the Bud Bar for the fact that a bar owned and sponsored by Budweiser ran out of Budweiser early in the night and had to sell other brands of beer to the patrons. Only in Brazil. On Sunday night a group of us went out to watch the Super Bowl and eat nachos at one of the local bars. The game was crap but at least we had some live samba music, good food, and a lot of laughs.

Copa Podio action.

Week in Training

I spent the majority of my week training MMA at Rio Fighters. There are some really tough and quality fighters there. Generally speaking in nogi I feel like I can handle my own against most guys (meaning I at least feel like I can push people and give a quality roll). But at RF there are several guys (including Milton) who just school me and make me feel like I know nothing. It is both frustrating and humbling but I know in the end it will only make me better. One thing I have been struggling with grappling wise is trying to integrate more techniques into my game. The problem is it is making me hesitate and think about what I am doing not just flowing and feeling. It really makes my game feel disjointed and at times awkward. With watching Milton I have come to realize that whatever movement or transition he makes he is 100% certain in what he is doing. I mean he goes at it with full confidence in what he is doing will work.

This past week I also started up hard sparing in MMA. I felt really good overall but noticed a few things that need adjustment. The biggest thing I need to work on is my timing, it was just a little off and I wasn't as smooth with my strikes to takedowns as I would like. The other thing is my leg kick defense is back to near zero. I ate a lot of kicks which made skating difficult for the 24 hours after sparring.

Training at Rio Fighters. Photo by M. Vieira

This past week I also learned a very important lesson, one that I often preach but this time I forgot to follow it; staying hydrated. Tuesday was a hot really hot day and we wrestled hard at the gym. During training I felt great; I moved well, my cardio was high, and I was executing good technique. As we were leaving the gym as soon as I stepped out into the sun I began to feel sick and lightheaded. We stopped to get a juice and some food but it didn't help and by the time I got home I felt really sick. I spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and drinking water. Anytime I got up I immediately felt dizzy. Finally by about 10 pm, after drinking a few liters of water, I was able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without feeling ill. The next day I still didn't feel 100% and made spent most of the day re-hydrating. I think the combo of not drinking enough water plus the heat from the sun really did me in. Since then I have been chugging a huge glass of water when I wake up and make sure I am drinking a lot of water throughout the day. It was a little bit scary, but luckily no harm came.

New Faces and Old Friends--A Diverse Group at CR

Photo by Carol Marinho.

Finishing out what has been a HOT weekend here in Rio. Summer is in full swing and I am making the most of it. When not on the mats I am trying to get outside as much as possible and enjoy the day. I have taken to writing all my blogs outdoors and it makes for a relaxing time of typing. We (Nicole and I) are starting to see return visitors coming through here at Connection Rio. In the last month and a half we have had three people whom stayed in early 2013 come back through to stay again. With having so many people come through CR it's nice to see some familiar faces. Not only is it nice on a personal level but it is nice to be able to sit down with people and discuss how their training has progressed since training here in Rio. Yesterday evening, after a couple of hours of nogi grappling, a good friend of mine (and return guest) Christian and I headed down to the beach to relax, catch up and exchange thoughts on training. Being able to listen to the ocean and talk BJJ is just one more great aspect of the BJJ lifestyle here in Rio.

Making lifelong friends from all over the world.

Right now with the house is pretty full. We have people from all of the world and all walks of life. We have guests from Sweden, U.S., Kazakhstan, Jordan, Canada, Poland, Ireland, France, Chile, Australia, and England. Not only is there a huge mix of cultures, but there is a huge diversity in the background of our guests. There are people in the house on leave from the military, those newly graduated from university, people in the restaurant business, people in the financial sector, and in the social services. The purpose of the guests visit to Brazil varies as well. Some people are here for a “jiujitsu vacation”, some to compete advance, and some to help apply what they learn here back home. One guest who works with youths in the justice system, wants to take what he learns in BJJ and create a program for kids to help give them direction in their lives. That said, even with all the diversity everyone here has the bond of BJJ to unite them. This bond plus staying together here at the CR HQ has formed friendships that span the globe. I can't count the times that someone has said “If you're in England (or Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Malaysia, etc) you have a place to stay and train.” The cool thing is I know that everyone who has said that mean it 100%.

Working in my "office".

Monday was a holiday in Rio so most of the gyms were only open for open mat in the morning. In the afternoon we moved the furniture around in the living room and covered around ½ of the room in mats and rolled for couple of hours. Afterwords we all cooled off in the pool and joked around. It's great to have so many training partners right here the house. At any given moment you can ask if anyone wants to train and at least two or three guys will jump in. Most of my training this week was done at Rio Fighter's. It feels great to be getting back into MMA training. On Friday's session the focus was on ground and pound work. After an intensive warm up that consisted of grappling drills and some technique work we broke into groups and did grappling with striking rotations . After about 20 minutes of this we moved into the cage and did ground and pound shark tank drills. One guy was on the bottom with against the cage, each minute a fresh opponent would come in and work GNP and top control while the guy on bottom could only defend and work to escape or submit (no strikes from bottom). If you escaped or submitted you started over again. It was an exhausting both physically and mentally. The guys on top had 16oz gloves on and would just rain down strikes and try to advance position and if you managed to escape you found yourself right back down getting punched. It wasn't the most fun, but it helped teach how to keep calm under pressure and how to work your way out of bad position. I ate a lot of punches, but I worked hard and got in some great escapes or reversals on some tough guys. After we were done I took a few moments to stretch, relax and get my breath back.

Training at Miltons.

Coming out of sessions like that is something that I missed. I love the feeling of leaving a training session physically exhausted, knowing that you left it all on the mat. That sensation is almost indescribable to those you have never experienced it; for me it's a very serene moment where things just seem clear to me. It's having moments like that, which reassures me that this is what I am meant to do.