Open Mat Saturdays...

Open mats on Saturday mornings at Gordo's start from around 10:30am - 12:30ish. They're generally more laid back than the weekday classes as it's just turn up and have a roll; and you can do as much or as little as you like.

Usually most the people that can't go to regular classes on weekdays go to the open mat sessions on Saturdays. Sometimes there would be only a few people there but this Saturday it was pretty packed. We had a dozen or more black belts and your regular mix of browns, purples, blues and whites. There were also some of the MMA guys there that came to do some padwork with Eduardo, as they have some fights coming up soon.

Even if you're feeling down or lazy and you don't want to train; when you rock up with that many people having a good roll or hitting the pads it makes for a pretty good atmosphere motivation wise and makes you want to get a sweat on.

Here's a couple more group photos of with everyone towards the end of training. I'm not even going to try list everyone (partly because I still don't know everyone's proper names lol).

Dennis and Mamazinho having a roll...

Pitty and Diego having a chat...

Big mat space

Everyone taking a breather in between rounds...

The B&W shots...

Zoro and Leozinho doing there thing watching people.. making sure they don't kick each other in the head while rolling (put your hand up if it's happened to you *hand up*)


Dennis on his 50th roll...

Videos....

Everyone at Gordo Jiu Jitsu taking a small breather before doing more rounds of rolling.

A look at everyone rolling and some of the Vale Tudo guys practising their striking.

Renovations and video...

Gordo Academy Renovations...

The academy has been under renovations for over a month now. I think since about late September or early October. Basically there used to be a little square garden (it was really just ugly dirt and grass) on the side of the building. So they tore down the wall and extended that part of the building, put in some new windows (cause the old ones were a bit low and got kicked out a few times apparently), paint job, new lights, sealed the old entrance and made a new one with a nice glass door, did the same for the door to the toilets and a few other things here and there.

It's almost finished now and the place is going to look pretty pimp when it is. I think they're still just waiting on some nice new mats from Germany or somewhere. Two things I think would make the place freakin' awesome: fans and an airconditioner!

It's been bloody hot lately! Probably an average of about 35º Celsius EASY every day. I was born and raised in the tropics, but damn it's a b*tch training in this heat! At least it doesn't get humid like it does back home :) but still even just doing stretches before a warm up and I'd already be starting to drip sweat. My kimono comes out drenched after rolling.

The good thing is that your clothes dry really fast here, so there's no problem of having a damp kimono or worrying about rotating them. They do come out crispy though, almost like cardboard after a while in the sun.

The inside of the academy. Look at all that mat space we have now!

Mat space view from the back.

Technique videos...

Ok as promised here are some videos of techniques Dennis has showed me in my privates.

The first is a basic side control escape to regain guard. One problem I had was keeping my feet in contact with the ground so I have traction when trying to shrimp out and turn my hips over.

Next is side control escape to the wrestler sit out. This is if you can get to your knees then the guy grabs an over/under on you. Throwing that left arm back while you look up REALLY helps, I also find it puts some pressure on your shoulder if you're holding the person tight.

Half guard sweep with arm control. This type of sweep has been working for me pretty good, although I've been doing it from when the guy has a pummel/underhook on you. In that case you just grab their belt and TUCK your elbow down and in tight to trap their arm.

Hope you enjoyed those and maybe later I'll see if Dennis would like to record some more techniques. There were a couple drills you can do by yourself which help with the side control escapes that Dennis showed me that perhaps I could post up later.

Training update...

[L-R] In The Guard TV, "Junkyard" Jeff, Jason, Thomas "The Warrior" Wood, Tommy "Um Guaraná/Bang Bang" Yang, Sam, Dennis, me, "Judge" Jackson, Vidu "The Sultan of Submission" and Mamazinho.

Well it's been a while since I've posted about anything on training. So here's an update.

As well as the afternoon training sessions with the rest of the Connection Rio gang, I've taken a few privates from Dennis and they've really been great.

Afternoon training...

Is full of A LOT of drills (we do drills to warm up for other drills) that are really great cardio. We also get to drill heaps of techniques: submissions, passes, sweeps and positions. It's nicer to be in a smaller group because you don't only get more roll time but focus more on trouble areas you might have. Dennis is always more than happy to to answer any questions we have, he really listens and gives thoughts to his replies. He'll give great advice not only how to answer a specific position/situation but also counter and variations to what your opponent might flow on from.

I'll have to take some video of all of the drills we do later on. But for now here's a video from Jerrod's blog: BJJ Crusade. Big thanks to Jerrod for posting it!

Here's another video, taken from the other day of some positional sparring from "The Turtle" position. Guy on the bottom tries to escape/reverse, guy on tries to finish from the back. If the guy on bottom gets to a good position or escapes then you reset and start from "The Turtle" again. 3x2min rounds for the guy on the bottom. I really enjoy positional sparring and once you get the whole tapping ego thing out of your head and just try new things you really learn a lot, although there are days where I just get real frustrated when I can't get out of positions too haha.

Privates...

So far I've had 3 privates with Dennis and have been very satisfied. Mostly I'm just shown maybe 2 to 3 techniques, with variations, then drill those for the whole hour while Dennis watches over and corrects any mistakes and gives those little pointers that really help sharpen things up. Again later on I'd like to take some video of what's been working for me. So far I've worked on:

- Guard passing (and breaking open the guard) from closed guard and standing passes.

I worked on opening the closed guard first then a couple of passes, with variations, and Dennis gave me some options for standing passes once I've broken the guard open. My guard passes still need PLENTY of work but at least now I feel like I'm not just sitting in closed guard clueless or trying to "muscle" my way out.

- Guard sweeps from open standing guard and half guard.

I've been able to hit one of the half guard sweeps a few times now in rolling... at first it was sloppy but slowly it's been getting tighter. I still need work on the variations of the half guard sweep and also the standing guard sweeps, I find I'm a bit slow with controlling the sleeves once the guy stands up.

- Side control escapes. This is a position I get stuck in A LOT and to put it simply, it gets miserable and demoralising being stuck under guys heavier than you that know how to use their weight haha. Being a smaller guy, I'm the guy usually on the bottom and find it hard to get out from underneath. So I think I'll be doing a couple more privates on this.

After every private it feels like I've been given a few simple tools to help me deal with situation and it's just a matter of sharpening those tools so they begin to work each and every time. At first it might just be recognising the right time to use the technique, then it's remembering the major points of the escape/pass/sweep (hand/foot positioning, hips, weight etc.) while trying to pull it off, then trying to synchronise everything together, then after time I'm hoping it just becomes almost second nature.

Corcovado e Cristo Redento

Corcovado...

On Saturday I went with a couple of the guy to visit Corcovado and Cristo Redentor (the Christ statue). Luckily there were clear skies that day so we had AWESOME views of Rio, unlike the last time I went when the views were obscured by cloud cover. I feel sorry for all those tourist that come on those days and miss out on the spectacular views.

Details...

We wanted to catch a train but would of had to wait an hour for it to arrive, plus wait in a very long line of people. Instead we took an airconditioned van (it was HOT that day) from Cosme Velho which cost R$45 and took us up and back with a stop on the way. The cost also included entrance to the park and to see the statue (which costs R$14 itself) which isn't too bad considering the train cost R$36.

We caught a taxi to Cosme Velho where I feel the taxi driver tried to rip us off. At first he asked us something in Português, which I think he was trying to see if we were Brasilians or not. Then he told us to go up and back would cost R$200 to which we replied no and just wanted to be dropped off at the train station.

Helipad...
Views from the Helipad are amazing. There's one side where it's a lookout point over Rio de Janeiro and the other is where the helipad is at and you get a nice view of Corcovado and the statue.

I thought I had an excellent choice of shirt... one with the guys Vidu and Sam...

ninja foto of some ladies.... the helipad side

Some mandatory tourist poses...

Cristo Redentor...

Is truly magnificent and worth seeing. When you look at Jesus with his arms outstretched from behind you get a sense that he really is watching over his people and from the front it looks like he's welcoming you with a big Brasilian hug.

More obligatory tourist poses and self shots....

Crowds... amigos... jesus

Just Jesus...

All in all it was a great day out and well worth the visit. It also means I've seen Rio from pretty much all the best places now: Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf), Pedra da Gávea and Corcovado.

Muito legal :)