This week’s blog comes after a great afternoon of floating in the pool and enjoying a cold Bohemia (local beer). Sundays in Rio are typically an extremely relaxed affair. The Connection Rio house is usually quiet with people out at the beach, napping, or just relaxing after a long week of training. It makes for a great time to sit outside, enjoy the sun and reflect on the week’s training.
This blog is written by Connection Rio team member Torryn Heffelfinger. He blogs weekly on life and training BJJ, wrestling and MMA in Rio de Janeiro. In the following excerpt from his weekly blog “Training the Dream”, he talks about how it feels to Train Jiu-Jitsu in Rio with UFC fighters. Click the link to read the full post.
Week in Training
With BJJ I trained and drilled hard this week. I have been repping out guard passes several times a week on the mats here at the Connection Rio house, and it’s beginning to pay off. My grips and guard passing techniques are feeling much better. However, the biggest way the drilling has been paying off is that it has really helped me to open my game up.
Instead of stopping and thinking about what I want to do, I am feeling more how my opponent is moving and able to confidently/quickly move to attack. While I still am getting it handed to me by the higher belts I feel like I am making them work and react to my offense more. With a number of BJJ competitions coming up I am excited to be feeling so good in my rolling.
Torryn and Nicole at Rock in Rio
Rock In Rio
Sunday’s are typically a pretty lazy and relaxing day. Last Sunday was the exception. Nicole had purchased tickets from a student of hers to the Rock In Rio music festival. Every couple of years year in September RIR brings in some of the biggest musical artists from around the world in to play over the course of two weekends.
The venue was by far the nicest (and biggest) concert venue I have been to. The RIR area consisted of three stages, rock street- a strip of vendors with small bands playing all day, a techno dance area, and much more. The main stage line up for last Sunday was Jessie J (Nicole’s favorite singer), Alicia Keys, and Justin Timberlake. Though it might not have been my ideal line up, it was a great time. Justin Timberlake put on one of the best concerts I have been to, and I would recommend that if you are a fan of his go and see him. The night ended with a great fireworks display that lit up the night sky.
Big BBQ for UFC 165 at the Connection Rio House
This past Saturday we put on a huge BBQ here at CR for UFC 165. Everyone chipped in and we grilled KILOS of meat, yeah that’s right kilos of meat. Throughout the night while we watched the fights live on Channel Combate we had food coming off the grill. Thin Flank steaks and thick tender cuts of picanha with a garlic Cilantro dipping sauce, chicken and spicy pork sausage, grilled blocks of cheese on sticks, steak and veggie kebobs, and spicy marinated chicken breast. To top it all off we had fresh made pasta salad.
It was enough for everyone eat until they were full (and then some), and with the total bill divided amongst us came out to around R$15 a person. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night– watching great fights, with good friends, eating great food.
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