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.

Updates on Training and Filming for Comabate

So it has been a while since my last blog update, sometimes you just get busy with life and don`t get a chance to sit and write down all the details. Over the course of the month there was a big change in the house as well. A lot of old faces left and a lot of new people arrived. It`s always sad to see friends head back home, but it is also nice to know that I have life long friends all over the world. Currently there are people here at CR from Russia, U.S., U.K., Scotland, Ireland , Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, and Sweden. Needless to say its a diverse crowd--but its also a fun one. It’s never a dull moment, and at the end of the day there is almost always an amazing or hilarious story to tell.

We are in the middle of the Rio “winter”. Basically here winter is a more rainy time of year, we will have 2-3 days that it rains and then a week to 10 days of beautiful warm sunny weather. It's not blazing hot like it is in the summertime, but it is still perfect temperatures to head to the beach, longboard, or hike. The nights here get cooler you may needc to throw on a long sleeve shirt, but for me it means a great nights sleep. Being used to feet of snow back home it's still weird to think of this as winter, but I'm not complaining one bit.

After the World Cup atmosphere died down, everything thing in the City went back to normal incredibly fast. This includes the tough and technical full time training schedule. While I still train a bit in the kimono, my main focus has switched over to MMA, or more importantly rather fighting/competing. I have been spending a lot of time outside of my normal training, working on my footwork, striking, and refining technique with Dennis. He is really helping push me to the next level. I am taking all of this great work and applying it at my training sessions at Rio Fighters. Combining the skills I have been working on with the awesome training and instruction from Milton Vieira and my training partners I have felt a huge step up in my game. Milton is actively looking for fights for me and I hope to have good news soon.

On the coaching side of things, again everything is going great! I am amazed at the progress some of the fighters have made in their wrestling game. Honestly it's almost a little scary at how well some of these guys have integrated takedowns and defense into their game. I am looking forward to watching more and more of the fighters I've been working with compete and finding success using the things I have been teaching them. On a cool note a couple of weeks ago a crew from the T.V. Channel Combate came in to film the wrestling class I teach at Rio fighters. One of the hosts of the show participated in the training as the crew filmed. One of the more hilarious moments came as the host was sweating and breathing heavily and Milton told him that it was only the warm up. I'm not going to lie it was weird seeing myself on T.V., but it was awesome too. It was one of those moments were you can see your hard work paying off. Bellow is a link to the footage check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=1&list=UUaZY_c71TTugtIMKGlPtsmg&v=Tw9-XjU0F00&app=desktop

That's about it for this week, I just wanted to give people an update and to get back into the swing of writing up my blog, next week I'm sure I'll have more great experiences of living the dream here in Rio!

Ciudade Marvellosa-- The Marvelous City-- That`s what they call Rio, with being here for over a year and a half now experiencing great training, new things, and making new friends I can see where the nickname came from. Right now Rio is abuzz with World Cup prep. Buildings have started to hang Brazilian flags and green/gold streamers from buildings. Side walks and roads are being painted with murals the unity of all the countries coming together in Brazil for the Cup. I know there has been discussion and controversy about many Brazilians feelings towards the Cup, but as it draws closer the Brazilian people seem to be dawning their futbol jerseys with smiles a festive outlook.

This past weekend has been an incredibly relaxing one. Saturday afternoon Nicole and I went to a fashion and food expo in Leblon. The expo was in a social club along Lagoa, with the expo being on the second and third floor of one of the buildings. They had live music on the balcony (and also a bar) so we had a couple of cocktails, listened to music, and watched the sunset. From there we made our way over to Botafogo where we went to bar that is known for having great burgers. It was a really offbeat place, and reminded me of a lot of the bars in the U.S. The burgers were amazing. By far the best Nicole and I have had while living in Brazil. On Sunday Nicole and I spent the afternoon riding the endless waves in Ipanema on our Bossa Boards. We skated up and down the road along the beach only stopping to grab an agua de coco and to do some swimming. It may be late fall here, but the temperatures still hit in the mid 30s today and there wasn`t a cloud in the sky. To cap the day off we grabbed some acai before making the short trip back to Barra.

Training

On the training front things are going great. I have been made aware of and have been working on a few weak spots where I need to improve. That`s one of the great things about having so many top level training partners and coaches here in Rio; they can identify weak spots and how to correct them before bad habits form. It`s been paying off, the other day I was told by one of my training partners that my ground game is evolving into a dangerous, technical, and dynamic style. In fact I was even told my kicks suck a lot less, they are still not good, but they just suck a lot less.

For all the compliments though another thing about the training here in Rio is that it keeps you humble. The high caliber of training partners lets you know there is always somebody better than you (in some aspect) out there.

Braga Neto and I after his CR in house Seminar. 

In the last couple of weeks two different situations really stand out for me. One was an awesome opent mat at Rio Fighter. The Saturday open mat sessions are all gi rolling and you never know who will be showing up. On this particular Saturday there were several Carlson Gracie Sr. blackbelts and BTT lineage guys there. I have never felt a pressure game like I had from these guys. During one of the rolls I actually felt myself heavily gasping for breath solely from the guys halfguard top pressure. I mean I have been smashed before, but the constant pressure throughout the entire roll was something new. It wasn`t just when they were on top either. From guard they were constantly squeezing with their legs, pulling and breaking posture never allowing me to set up. It was nearly as exhausting as when they were on top. It was a light bulb moment and new appreciation for the pressure game (of which I was already a fan) I now have a basis and a goal in mind of just how much pressure I need to have on my opponent.

This past Friday there was another golden opportunity to improve my ground game. This time I didn`t have to leave the house as it was right here on the CR mats. BJJ World Champion and UFC Fighter Antonio Braga Neto came to do an in house seminar here at Connection Rio. Essentially the most of us from the house (plus a few from Gordos) got a small group lesson from a former world champ-what more could you ask for? Braga Neto did an excellent job breaking down techniques and concepts into the most minute little details so we could full understand the technique. I learned several new details on a standing pass I try often (with varied success) and also from some of the positions in guard I like to work from, I am excited to drill these techniques some more and see the difference they make in my game.