Copa Podio, BJJ, and Strength Training in Rio

Overlooking Barra from Ship Rock

Another week down in the Ciudad Maravillosa and another great week of training and new experiences! I was able to watch some of the best in the world compete, got some excellent training both in the kimono and nogi, had some fun times with the housemates, and went for a run up a mountain. In addition to all of this I am also going to talk about some of the strength training I do down here to build a better foundation for my grappling game.

Copa Podio
On Sunday the whole CR crew went out to watch the Copa Podio Heavy Weight Grand Prix. It was a 10 man tournament consisting of two pools of five competitors, the top two finishers in each pool moved on to the tournament semi-finals to determine who would fight in the championship finals. That's six wins, against some of the best in the world, in one night! The BJJ was excellent, featuring legends such as Xande Ribeiro, and the next wave of BJJ greats such as Keenan Cornelius. In the end GFT fighter Rodolfo Vieira came away with the victory. One of the most interesting matches was a husband and wife" tag team" match. First the two husbands squared off, then the two wives. The score was rolled over from one match to the next to determine which couple was the toughest. Interesting concept and great matches, but what was probably the coolest thing about it was watching the couples root for one another, console in defeat, and celebrate in their win. For the rest of the night all anyone could talk about was the great display of jiu-jitsu, strategy, and athleticism we had all just witnessed.

Weekly Training
Typically on Sunday I rest and recoup to get ready for the week of training, but this Sunday was a little different. Nicole (my girlfriend) went to a women’s only Leticia Ribeiro seminar on Saturday with the other CR girls, so on Sunday we drilled several of the moves she learned. Also William Burkhardt, founder of bjjpix.com, was doing a photo session with a talented women’s blue belt competitor from GFT. We all got some rolls in, and the girl from GFT worked a bit with Nicole on some positional stuff.

Monday started the week off right with great training at Gordo's. Now that tournament season has started more time is devoted to working takedowns. While still not a huge in-depth focus, we are now drilling both takedown entries and finishes. A lot of the focus this week was on top control. Mondays techniques were the Americana and a tight triangle choke from side control. As always the rolling was good natured yet highly competitive. I have noticed that various competitors and serious BJJ practitioners from academies friendly to Gordo come in to help prepare for competition. This week Clark Gracie was in with a couple of Americans from Texas, I believe. Clark is an aggressive fighter, and while I didn’t have the opportunity to roll with him it was fun to watch him spar. Even though I didn't get a chance to roll with Clark, I did roll with Gordo's younger brother Rafael 'Gordinho'- a world champion. He is a very technical fighter who keeps the pressure on you the entire time you spar. So needless to say he pretty effortlessly mopped the mats with me. After the roll he gave some quick advice and then complimented me on my game. It's a great feeling, even though I got tooled upon, to receive a compliment from a world class jiu-jitsu instructor.

Tuesday was a hard pressed two training sessions, combined with a hard strength workout. First I hit the morning session with Gordo, the highlight of which was for the entire sparring I only rolled with black belt, you would be hard pressed to do that. After class I quickly busted out some strength training. In the early afternoon I was back on the mat for Dennis's class. We finished the rest of a drill progression which really helps to form chain attacks, making your game much more dynamic.

On Wednesday morning I did a fast paced KB and body weight Crossfit workout, and trained hard in the evening at Gordo's. Gordo went over some great armbar techniques from side control, each depending on your opponents arm and body positions. The rolls were tough, both the competition was hard, but I just felt off. My flow wasn't what it normally was, and I was giving up positions that I normally wouldn't. But I kept my head up and tried my best knowing that we all have tough days (though I was extremely frustrated). For the rest of the night I was just exhausted. The next day was rainy and I still felt really off. I took Thursdays off the mat and instead did some light cardio and worked shadow boxing and wrestling positioning.

Friday I felt good and decided to go for a run. Just as I was starting out I decided to go for a run up to ship rock. Ship rock is about the halfway point between the base of Pedra and its peak. It's a rock outcropping that looks over Barra. I thought to myself, after a couple days in a funk going for a run and enjoying a nice view would be refreshing. So I grabbed my timer and set off. There were two things I failed to consider: 1. It had been raining for the last day and a half, 2. The last time I was up near ship rock was in 2010, so I was a bit unsure of how far/where exactly it was. The path was wet and the parts where you have to climb/pull yourself up rocks was slick, making the run even more difficult. I first started out at a fast pace but quickly slowed, soon my legs and lungs where burning, then I wanted to puke, but I just kept telling myself not to stop and that I was almost there. Just about the time I didn't think I was going to ever get there I reached ship rock. I arrived in just over 25 minutes, not great but a good starting point. I want to try to run up there once a week, and improve on my time. The view and positive feeling from pushing myself were worth the work and reminded me of just how beautiful this place is. As a side note if you ever climb Pedra after a rain BE CAREFUL! I went to snap a picture from ship rock, slipped on some wet moss and baseball slid to the edge. Luckily I was able to stop myself by grabbing a branch and using my feet to stop me. But I do have a nice little road rash on my ass to show for it. What goes up must go down and after a few minutes I jogged back down and to the house. In the afternoon I grabbed a boxing workout, which felt good as a change of pace.

Saturday we had another great training opportunity here at the CR house. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and MMA fighter Edson Diniz came in to teach a NoGi session. Edson has won a ton a grappling tournaments and was a MMA fighter and trainer at the famed American Top Team. Having recently moved back to Rio, Edson is going to be teaching a nogi class here at the house once every month. Having done extensive nogi and MMA his philosophy on the ground game is very open. He believes that what a fighter does outside of the gi is not BJJ but grappling. As such it is a fighters duty to encompass all ground aspects such as BJJ, wrestling, sambo, judo, etc. into your game. We started by working pummeling and takedowns, and when we went to the mat we went over leg locks. Leg locks are often not covered in BJJ, or in a lot of ground training period because of the injury taboo that hangs around them. I admit they make me nervous. By having a pro go into the details of the variations and counters it really helped shed some light on an area where I had little to no experience. After the class, we all hopped in the pool and talked shop.

After class and a quick lunch a big group of us headed down to the beach sit under the umbrellas, sip agua de coco, body surf, and people watch. Not a bad way to cap off a great training session. Saturday night was the UFC in Sao Paulo, we spent part of the time watching it down at Bar do Oswalds and finished watching the main card via projector at the premiere house. With all the training of course your going to make acquaintances meet new people, but it is the down time, laughing and joking around the house that really builds friendships.

Strength Training in Brazil
I really like lifting, I do. Back at home (Michigan) I typically lift 3-4 times a week. Down here in Brazil there are plenty of gyms (by this I mean weight training) and fitness centers, but unfortunately the fees for these gyms are not cheap. There is free gym in the Ipanema, though I am not sure where. The high cost of gym memberships along trying to fit the time to go to a gym and train in an already packed training schedule can make keeping up with your traditional (Olympic lifts, barbell work, etc.) lifting hard. Thankfully there are plenty of alternatives to maintain or gain strength while in Brazil, which in the end will only help your BJJ training. The lifting that I do (and most of the CR guys) is geared towards athletics and sports as opposed to bodybuilding/packing on serious mass. This means that most of the workouts and lifts are designed to be functional and work muscle groups that are utilized in BJJ and MMA.

Typically at home I will either work through Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Program, or one of Martin Rooney’s Training For Warriors. Both are excellent programs and I highly recommend looking into them.

Down here in Rio, like I said, I don’t necessarily have access to fully use these great programs. What I do have is a 20kg kettle bell, a 100lb heavy bag, and resistance bands here at the house. These plus body weight exercises can give you a great workout. With these stripped down barebones training tools I have adopted the principals of the great strength coach Dan John: 1. Pick Stuff Off the Ground 2.Put Stuff overhead 3. Carry Stuff for Time and Distance. Simple principals giving great results. Here are just some of the exercises I do for each principal.

Principal 1. Pick Stuff Off the Ground

KB deadlift, pushups, Turkish getups, pullups, reverse grip heavy bag deadlift, sit up to stand up, KB clean, Reverse body lock partner lifts, Heavy bag lift and slam, partner lifts.

Principal 2. Put Stuff overhead

KB snatch, KB clean and press, KB military press, hand-stand pushups, resistance band shoulder press, overhead squat.

Principal 3. Carry Stuff for Time and Distance

KB overhead carry, KB front carry, KB back carry, KB suitcase carry, heavy bag shoulder carry, heavy bag cradle carry, heavy bag gable grip carry, buddy carries (fireman, piggy back, wedding, dead man’s). Done using various distances or times kept on a timer.

I also typically do one crossfit style bodyweight workout a week to push muscular endurance and cardio. Throughout the week I will try to also get either a longer distance or sprint work in, either using a set time (ex Tabata sprints) or set point. The beaches down here are great places to grab a workout as well. There are workout stations along the beach that allow for dips, pushups, and pull up variations. One of my favorite cardio/strength training workouts is running down to the beach hitting the various stations down the beach, then take a quick dip in the ocean before running back to the house. Also right down the road is a park which allows for various playground style workout (pull-ups, dips, etc.). I then try to finish every workout with just a couple of laps in the pool. Nothing hard or strenuous just to push the lactic acid out. While it might sound like a lot, varying the times, intensities, and exercise pairing generally helps to avoid fatigue; and if I do start to feel worn down I’ll back away for a few days, because the most important thing to do down here is train Jiu-jitsu and have fun!