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.
No comments:
Post a Comment