Artic Chaga Tea is a new supplement sponsors... well no TEA
sponsor that will is sending me some hand picked Alaskan mushrooms!!
Their tea has amazing amounts of antioxidants and helps speed
recovery time by a ZIILION!
I couldn’t think of any good ways to inform Rio
de Janeiro that I would be leaving the comforts of my beachside favela. After
several hours of debating it, I decided I was left with only one logical
solution. Facebook.
Social media has reduced human interactions to
comments and likes. A definite plus for shy people like me.
So, in one quick and concise status update, I
informed the world… Well, the Portuguese speaking portion of it at least, that
I would be leaving Nova Uniao and moving to Curitiba at the end of the July.
I initially expected people to talk a lot of
shit (people probably are talking a lot of shit they just aren’t posting it on
my wall), but I was surprised by the amount of support via comments and private messages
that I received. They were an unexpected, but much needed reprieve from people
that generally act as if I’m slightly crazy… living in the favelas of Brazil
and all.
Sunday training in Curitiba. I was supposed to be back in Rio But I missed my flight and ended up spending some extra days!!
I’m not going to lie, I’m definitely
apprehensive about leaving the picturesque beaches and tropical climate of Rio.
Not to mention, the safety net of friends and pseudo family that I’ve assembled
here. The thought of burning bridges, whether they are useful or not, is always unsettling to a certain degree. As a buddhist I'm well aware that attachment causes suffering, but as someone thats been living with little more than 2 suitcases for the last two years, abandoning everything that I have come to know is perplexing.
Plus, Curitiba is one of the coldest cities in Brazil. I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking.
Which brings me to my next point…
What the hell was I thinking?
I mean seriously... leaving Nova Uniao, one of the best MMA teams worldwide. No longer will I be training next to Jose Aldo, Renan Barao, or the umpteenth number of UFC fighters the adorn the gyms prestigious pedigree. They have everything an athlete could desire... physical therapists, and nutritionists, a pool, sauna, and a strange room that they claim is for pilattes, although to me it looks like it came straight out of 50 Shades of Gray. I'd be traded up my sports bras for sweatpants!! And then there's the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Front row for Carnival, New Years, and Christmas events.
But, I came to Brazil because I wanted to fight.
Although Rio is great, I’m not getting any fights here. It’s also a very
expensive city. So after thinking about it, it just makes more sense to go to
Curitiba where I can save money and fight more. So I'm trading up the beaches of Rio to train at Parana Vale Tudo (PRVT). Its relatively a small team compared to Nova Uniao, but they have a pretty big girls team with fighters from UFC and InvictaFC.
Unlike Nova Uniao where there are about a million classes offered through out the day (wrestling, boxing, conditioning, Nogi, BJJ, Muay Thai), PRVT only has 1-2 training sessions a day. The week I spent in Curitiba meeting everyone was a complete 180 in my overly hectic training schedule. The team gathers in the afternoon and the coaches divide everyone based on what they need. The amateurs may practice a little muay thai off to the side while some of the girls roll Nogi to warm up a guy that has a fight coming up. Then switch to some work against the cage, muay thai sparring, and end with judo take downs. Its seems like a completely random, haphazard way to go about training, but in actuality it is tailored to the specific needs of each person. I was able to get more 1on 1 help from the coaches in their small informal setting than when I'm training with 30 plus people on the mats of Nova Uniao.
Its definitely different. But it reminds me of my team MiKiDo from home. So in the end I think its a better fit for me!
On another note...I also got to travel to Sao Paulo with my friend who was giving a few seminars!
Shout out to Eduardo Castro owner of Half & Half academy for letting me Crash at his place!
Per usual, met some great people on the mats in Sampa. New friends and new places to visit on my next trip!
They said I couldn't...
So naturally I did!
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