Training in Brazil

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On Friday the 12th August 2005 I departed Durban International on my long journey to Buzios which is situated about 2 hours of driving North of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.

Travelling for 24 hours my Journey took me to Johannesburg, Sau Paulo, Rio De Janeiro and then finally a 2 hour Drive to Buzios. Brazilian Black belts have decided to open their summerhouse located in Búzios, the greatest watering place in the Rio de Janeiro state! It’s the place where, traditionally, they train themselves for the important tournaments. This was going to be 10 days of solid training with 7 Brazilian JiuJitsu World Champions in their respective categories!                                                   

 

  1. Rodrigo Medeiros ‘Comprido’ – 6 times BJJ World Champion. 2 Times Openweight World Champion. Comprido was the joker of the camp. Always ensuring everybody had a smile on their face and playing tricks on each and everyone. A very dynamic coach with excellent techniques and explanations.

    Morn and Comprido

  2. Felipe Costa – Black Belt World Champion. Felipe whom was the main host making all the arrangements and seeing to most of the administration and all of our needs. Felipe is also the smallest of all the Instructors. But as the saying goes dynamite comes in small packages. His coaching abilities were excellent and he wasthe main translator at the camp being fluent in both English and Portuguese.

    Morn and Felipe

  3. Leo Vieira – BJJ World Champion, 2 times Abu Dhabi champion 2003 & 2005. ‘Goofy’ as I nicknamed him was a ball of fun and one of the most friendliest and down to earth world Champions I have ever met. His skill was amazing, backed up by great coaching abilities.

    Morn in action against 'Goofy'

       

  4. Octavio Couto ‘Ratinho’ – Vice champion of 2003 International and seen as one of Brazil’s most technical and advanced coaches. I enjoyed rolling against Ratinho the most as he was always prepared to go that extra time and point out exactly where you are in your game, giving precise detail.

    Morn and Ratinho

    Morn in action with Ratinho

  5. Demian Maia – BJJ Black Belt World Champion. One of the shy silent monsters of BJJ. Demian was always there and interested in ones questions. He had a awesome game no wonder he is currently one of the top BJJ fighters out there. A true gentleman!

    Morn and Demian

  6. Michelle Matta – BJJ Ladies Black Belt Champion. The only woman I have ever met and trained with who has earned the highest honours in BJJ i.e. Black Belt. Sorry no photo…
  7. Benzinho Otero – BJJ Black Belt World Champion. This guy has naughty written all over his face. Besides being a great fighter and coach he is known as the black belt in Surfing ! Sorry no photo….

My trip could not have started any better being notified that the airways lost my luggage when arriving in Sau Paulo! Expecting the worse with such bad news I was quickly motivated with the concerned and friendly 7 World Champions to my exposal. Just had to do and make a plan not knowing that my bag would only arrive 4 days later!

 

The program for the 15 of us who travelled from all parts of the world for the next 10 days consisted of the following:                                                    

08h00 – Breakfast

09h30 – 12h30 Training

13h00 – Lunch

14h00 – Free Time i.e. Beach time, sleeping or visiting town

18h00 – 21h00 Training

21h00 – Supper

 

The training consisted of various warm ups, conditioning, Stand up and groundwork.

We were also exposed to various Self Defence techniques and tactics from BJJ and then also working with the gi and without the gi. After every session about an hour was spent on rolling (sparring), this is where one progressed the most especially having the opportunity rolling against all the Black Belt Champions! We also enjoyed a great training session on the beach. Training was intense with allot of detail, what more would one expect being exposed to 7 BJJ black belt champions.                                                                                      

                                                                                   

Besides all the intense training we had time to spend on the beautiful beaches of Buzios. Although the water was colder than the waters here in Durban it was always a blessing to have a swim after training as the outside temperatures went well over 30 degrees on some days. Going to ‘town’ was also part of the afternoon and evening activities. The people of Buzios are very laid back and seem to gather at some of the local street pubs almost every night for their daily outing. Felipe also arranged an awesome boat trip visiting some of the local islands and beaches. Unfortunately I picked up a bit of a cold at this stage and was unable to enjoy the swimming in the crystal clear blue waters and enjoy the island beaches. Nevertheless I still made a point going on the boat cruise as I was too scared to miss out on anything! The food was really good with Felipe getting caterers in who stood and prepared delicious well-balanced meals.

 

I will surely be returning back to this camp on a yearly basis, to continue my friendship with the Brazilian Blackbelts and all the great like-minded participants from all over the world.

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Morné Swanepoel

President JKD High Performance Street Fighting
Website www.jkd.co.za

President World Taiji Boxing Association South Africa

Website www.freewebs.com/sataichi

Article written by Morne Swanepoel

Morné is a full time coach and practitioner and is certified as one of the most qualified Reality Based Personal Protection High Performance Mixed Martial Arts coaches in the world. Travelling countless times to International destinations in the past 15 years and featuring in almost every media medium across the globe the past couple of years, Morné has become one of the leading figures in realistic Martial Arts today.

The 2 mains streams of CombatCoaching.com are:

1- High Performance Street Fighting is a unique blend of Reality Based Personal Protection High Performance Mixed Martial Arts training methods, techniques and tactics preparing you to survive the streets of today.

2- High Performance Mixed Martial Arts will expose you to dynamic combat athletic training methods, techniques and tactics preparing you for the modern No Rules competitive arena.

Students of Morné Swanepoel’s Combat Coaching are coached as combat athletes. The focus is on Performance (Aliveness) orientated training in all the ranges of combat against a resisting opponent. Besides correct training, our students are also educated and encouraged to improve their performance, health and well being by supplementary training advice, correct use of nutritional supplements, positive thinking, healthy eating and sleeping (resting) patterns.

Morné emphasizes the importance of coaching his athletes instead of instructing them. Our staff are actively involved in the classes, training in an alive environment with fellow students as our focus is on Performance and not titles, hierarchy or rituals!

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. This idea is not new; Socrates had voiced the same thing 2000 years ago. If the quality of Performance or learning from experience is important, coaching is a must. If neither is, then tell if you must” - John Whitmore –

“No Rules Anything Goes Are You Ready” is a guiding principle at Morné Swanepoel’s Combat Coaching.

The most common reason for people studying the Martial Arts is to learn how to defend themselves and their families. Morné is a leading figure in the world when it comes to training to prepare oneself for an aggressive street assault. A full time coach and practitioner in Reality Based, functional Martial Arts. A Pioneer in Combat Athletics. Over 30 years of Martial Arts experience in various styles. Personal experience in the streets of South Africa. Training Special Forces and social groups forms part of Morné’s daily and weekly routine. Working as a professional doorman has ensured that Morné stays informed and is able to share functional and realistic training methods and techniques with his students and those who attend his hands on training seminars abroad. Experience in Tactical weapons and urban surveillance. Morné also forms part of a specialised Anti hijacking vehicle tracking response team in South Africa.

On the competitive scene i.e. High Performance Mixed Martial Arts, Morné is a full time coach in the Mixed Martial Arts. Pioneer in combat athletics. Morné has trained with and researched various Mixed Martial Arts professionals i.e. Burton Richardson, Baret Yoshida, Marcello Garcia, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Matt Thornton, Leo Vieira, Rickson Gracie, Felipe Costa, Chris Haueter to name a few. Over 30 years of Martial Arts experience in various styles and noted as one of the world’s best Mixed Martial Arts coaches internationally.

Morné hosts and conducts international and National training seminars where people from all over the world come together for a cutting edge reality based high performance combat athletics training experience. Morné shares his knowledge and experience to anyone who wants to survive the streets of today. The demand for functional and realistic training is rapidly on the increase as more and more people are moving away from the traditional, classical forms of Martial Arts. Morné now has training groups worldwide in order to meet this demand and also offers long distance training programs, this has drawn enthusiasts from all over the world to train with him. Morné has also developed a dynamic in-service instructor program to ensure that Morné’s roll out plan to exposing more people to training in this High Performance combat athletic way.