Ever wondered what it would be like to make the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey down to Rio for training?
Most of us who’ve trained in BJJ for any reasonable amount of time have had that thought cross our minds at least once, if not over and over again. It’s a dream that goes something like this: you wake up every morning without a care in the world other than your morning training session. After putting in a few solid training hours on the mats you head to the beach with a few of your buddies before eating some Brazilian food, relaxing, and then doing it all over again.
Sound familiar?
Seems kind of like a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner’s paradise, doesn’t it?
From speaking to Camron Couch, a native Texan who’s actually been down in Rio de Janeiro in these past few months, that description of what a Rio Training Trip would be like sounds incredibly accurate.
A wrestler since fifth grade, Camron found himself training BJJ for the first time just a few years with the team at Mohler BJJ in Coppell. Immediately falling in love with the sport, Cam has since been on a journey to get as comfortable grappling in the GI as he’s been grappling without it. Taking that challenge to heart and having recently attained his purple belt, he decided to make the pilgrimage down to Brazil this year decided to do so with Connection Rio – a company that provides BJJ practitioners with accommodations and training opportunities should they ever decide to make the trip down to the Mecca of the Jiu-Jitsu world.
Based on the help they provided, Camron says he’s quickly found himself in an ideal situation for training and everything else in Rio.
The Real World – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Style
“I’m staying at a big house that’s about a 30-second walk from the academy I mainly train at (Gordo Evolve),” Camron says about where he’s been staying in the Cidade Maravilhosa. “The gym is literally like five doors down and then the market is about a three-minute walk. I can catch the bus from around there if I need to go anywhere else or have something to do around the city. It’s a perfect spot.”
Being paired with other travelers from all over the world by Connection Rio, Camron best described his living situation as being “kind of like a house from (MTV’s) The Real World but with great jiu-jitsu and people from all over the world.” The company accommodates travelers of all skill levels but he says he found himself in the house at just the right time.
“Right now in the house there are Kazua Misaki, this 2x world champ, and this kid from Poland who just fought and won in Bellator (Marcin Held). My bro from Cali just left so it’s me, a kid from Alaska and another from Montana from the United States but really, it’s mostly guys from other countries. There are two dudes from Poland and one from Australia. There are guys here from Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Belgium, a Japanese dude, and a hot girl from Germany. There’s also another girl here from Thailand. She’s hot too. It’s a pretty crazy mix of people and cultures but everybody gets along great.”
While references to The Real World can bring about images of debauchery and other unruly behavior, it seems that with this group, the focus has been on the task at hand.
“There’s no TV or anything in the house so everyone is either training, watching Jiu-Jitsu or fighting on the computer, or doing something else that’s active. I haven’t gotten to surf yet since it’s been a bit rainy but I’ve been to the beach at least 3 or 4 times a week since I’ve been here. And when we’re at the house, we all just like to work on stuff. The guys are always down to drill. Some of them talk really fast and nobody can understand them but me but that’s not too big of a deal. We can communicate on the mats. I don’t want to sound annoying or anything but it really is just an amazing environment.”
To learn more about Connection Rio, visit their web site at www.connectionrio.com