After arriving in Rio on Wednesday and not training and having not trained much back home (meaning twice in about a month and a half) I figured that it would be in my best interest to do one class a day for the first couple of days. Thursday went pretty uneventful - woke up fairly late in the day; I washed up and then decide to head out to grab a bite to eat with the intention of coming back home around 4pm to sleep then do the 6pm training session. I ended up not doing much, walking down to the bakery and having a bit to eat then walking down towards the beach. I stopped at Big Polis’ for some Acai - which is my favourite place to get Acai.
I made my way back towards the Connection Rio House - www.connectionrio.com - and arrived just after 4pm. I laid down on my bed and ended up snoozing for a little over an hour. I awoke just around 5:30pm. I started to get ready for my first training session in a long time (not just in Rio but training session period). About 6:15 I made my way over to Gordo’s academy - I paid my dues for a month (R180, 00$ - about $110.00 Canadian), with the dues I’m able to train up to 3 times per day in the Gi classes. I’m also allowed to do the No-Gi classes if I want to. In addition, I’m also allowed to do the Afternoon training sessions - appropriately named “The Gringo Class” because it is a special class run by Denis and Jeremy for the people living in the Connection Rio House. So in total, if I’m up for it, I can do up to 5 classes a day. Of course this is not reality as there is no way at my age I can do that much working out; in fact, I think that would be too much for most people.
The training session went pretty good. I only got tapped out once and was able to tap someone else out. All in all a pretty positive return to Jiu Jitsu. I walked back to the house, showered, went down to grab something to eat and then home to sleep.
Friday was more of the same; sleeping in, getting up to shower, then go for a walk. Friday was a good day in that it was not raining when I got up and was actually a really nice day. I walked down to the bakery to grab a quick bite for breakfast - such as breakfast is at 1:30pm (Rio time). I then decided to take a walk down towards the beach and see what was going on down there. I decided to take a slow walk as I was definitely a bit tired from the night before - first Jiu Jitsu session in about a month and a half.
Before I got the beach I made a stop at Big Polis’ to get some Acai and Agua de Coco (coconut water). I was sitting there minding my own business, listening to my I-pod and just contemplating things. I was sitting there eating my Acai when I looked up to see MMA fighter and legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira walk into Big Polis. I was speechless - here was one of my all time favourite fighters right there in front of me. I did not want to be annoying by walking up to him and asking him for a photo - so the plan was to eat very slowly and wait for him to come out and that was when I would pounce for my photo-op.
Well it did not turn out that way as he took a bit longer than I thought he would. So I finally sucked it up and decided to be annoying and walk up and say hello. I walked up to Antonio introduced myself. We struck up a brief conversation - I informed him that I was from Canada and that I was down here in Rio training at Gordo’s academy. We had some brief back and forth. I learned that he was in Rio to do a bit of training and then head back to America to finish off his training in preparation for his re-match with Frank Mir in September. Before I left I asked him if it would be alright if I took a photo with him and he agreed. So here is my photo of Nog and myself taken Friday July 16, 2010 at Big Polis’ restaurant.
Meeting one of your idols is an amazing feeling. I hope the best for his upcoming fight. I decided to add this youtube clip which explains everything about Antonio and why he is such an inspiration it is called Never Give Up - watch the video and you know - feel inspired. if you're down you can always chose to stay down or get up and move on - Never Give UP!!!
I walked down to the beach and it was I expected; mostly deserted because of the foul weather. I took a couple of picture of the big waves and made my way back to the house. I got to the house and got ready for the training session. By this time it had started raining - a very cold rain.
Again, it was pretty positive training session. I ended up rolling with a brown belt, a black belt and a couple of blues. Of course I got tapped out by the black and brown belts. However, I was able to tap out a larger blue belt with a brabo choke from inside his half guard. In two training sessions I can already feel that I getting back some of my skills that were lost while being back in Canada and not training much. I know I have long way to go but I’m here and working on things. Anyhow, I ended up being one of the last people on the mats which is always a good sign.
Saturday was more of the same - except I awoke with a chill. I got out of bed really sore and with a head-ache. I did not think much of it as I attested it to the fact that I had a really hard training session the night before. I got ready to go out for a walk. It was raining off and on when I woke up and it was more of the same. I made my way down to Camacha’s grabbed some chicken, rice and beans. Then made my way to the free-way as I though it would be a great idea to try and walk down to the Downtown Shopping centre. This was a bad idea as I got about half ways and realized that the rain was not going to let up and that the wind was not helping either. I turned around and made my way back to Big Polis’ for an Acai. After Big Polis I started back home and by this time I was completely soaked which made for a long cold walk back to the house. By the time I arrived at the house I was feeling a chill. I changed out of my wet clothes and ended up taking a shower. I huddled down for the night and by this time I knew that I was getting sick.
I woke Sunday morning feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Fever, body aches, and just a general unpleasantness. I only managed to get some bread and protein powder in my system on Sunday and slept most of the time. I woke up Monday, feeling a bit better as I had taken some aspirin the night before. I went for a run Monday afternoon and went to an evening training session. Over all it’s been an up and down last few days but I keep trudging forward.
Till next time,
No Retreat, No Regrets.
Andre
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