Luta Livre and Working Hard on My Portuguese

Longboarding through the streets of Barrinha.

Another week down and closing in on eleven months in Rio, and all I can say is that it just gets better and better. The weather started out a bit atypically, with several days of rain. For the weekend though the sun returned and it was perfect beach and skate weather. I just returned from skating though the streets of Barrinha (the neighborhood where the house is located). The temperature is about 73F (about 23) and the nights sky is clear, perfect for a relaxing longboarding session.

Rolling Luta Livre

After training at Equipe Pequeno

One of the highlights of this week was going with Alexander Pequeno Nogueira to his luta livre academy near Complexo de Alemao. On Thursday afternoon several of us met up, piled into Pequeno's car, and headed to train. Pequeno showed some great attacks from multiple positions from leg locks to a really nice armlock from top half. Some of the leg lock positions were a bit difficult for me (because I have a basic leglock game at best), but I really enjoyed the armlock from half. With the technique you bait the deep half, trap the arm that shoots under your leg, and attack arm lock.

After training pizza

The rolling was intense, not mean or ill spirited, but intense. It's been a while since I have rolled with pure luta livre guys, and I forgot just how fast paced they roll. The first roll I did, I initially approached it a bit too lax. Before I knew it I got snapped into an anaconda, defended, then got my back taken and got caught in a deep rear naked choke and was forced to tap. Getting my back taken and submitted so fast is something I am not used too, and I ramped up my intensity as well. I hit a double from the knees, passed into side control and went for a cross side arm bar. He defended and we ended up on our knees again. I hit a slide by, took his back and hit a choke of my own. The rest of the rolls were much the same, hard fast paced sparring, with a constant change of positions. Besides the more active rolling pace another difference was the types attacks the luta livre guys were going for. I found myself defending leg locks, bicep slicers, and shoulder locks. I had a ton of fun rolling, and after training I hit the sauna to relax and stretch.

A large group from the gym headed out to get pizza after the training and asked if I wanted to go, it was a great opportunity to relax and get to know the guys better. I have been working hard and speaking more Portuguese, so it was great to talk only in Portuguese and get to know the guys I was training with more.

While it's not essential to know speak the language down here in Rio, knowing a little bit will go a long way. A fairly large number of people speak at least a little English. Most academies will have at least one person on the mat who can speak to you. That said knowing even a little Portuguese will take you a long way. The Brazilian people are incredibly helpful and nice people, so making an effort to know your basic, greetings/please and thank yous will make any person here more willing to go that extra mile to make sure you get what you need or where you want to go.