2021 Rio Camp: Day 8

Nov 1, 2021

Got up in time to get the laundry before training in the morning. Caio taught a gi class where we worked knee cut pass. This new camp has a different make up. Previous camp was mainly higher belts with only a couple white belts and a handful of blue belts. This camp has many more white and blue belts with lots of young female competitors. A large part of the group is from CTA headquarters so they already know each other. After class I sparred with a few young lady blue belts and I was little competition. I've embraced tapping early and living to see another round. It's obvious the difference between a competitor and a casual bjj practitioner. I'm definitely a filthy casual. I ran up to my room for a quick shower and to bibi's for lunch. Acai and a hummus sandwich. We then headed to Sugar Loaf. I've been there on a previous trip where we took a gondola up and down the large rock formations. This time we hiked up, it was very rainy but warm especially when in the deep forest. Leandro our security told us about the history of area. It was the site of many battles with countries like Portugal, Spain, England, and Holland. He said there were many sunken battleships in the water below us. We came across the Brazil tree, which the country was named after. They said the wood is red so it was called blaze or Brasil. We saw some marmosets in the trees, which was a treat. The hike was challenging but we finally made it to the top. Shout out to my personal trainer Jessie at Owl High Performance, if I hadn't been working with him the last 5 months this hike would have been impossible. He's been a huge help post surgery and I'm now carrying more muscle than ever before. Once at the top there wasn't much of a view due to the cloudy day. We had a little time to buy some treats before taking the gondola back down. We bought some cookies and Endo got mango and coconut ice cream. We headed back to the hotel for evening gi class. We worked on defenses for lasso guard. I did the drilling but then went to my room to get a long hot shower before dinner, instead of training. For dinner we went to Fogo de Chao again. It was the first restaurant we went to last week, so made sense we were back here for the first day of the 2nd camp. Back at the hotel, we hung out chatting in the lobby, while many campers waited to head to a party happening at a mansion in town. Caio got the price of the party lowered for anyone that wanted to go. $1200R to $200-350R. (Depending on if you are male or female). I happily passed on the opportunity and went up to my room for a full night's rest instead.