Training pix

It's been business as usual out here in Al Ain, not been as busy on the Blog, due to one thing and the other; suffice to say the training keeps on getting better and better and tonight was no exeception.

A whopping thirty two black belts were on the mats for the Open Mat and after ten minutes of drilling with Rogerio, my brother from another mother, it was straight into rolling.  Six minutes on, two minutes rest and boy was it tough.  Just like every night.

 

Al Ain Massif

Each roll is never the same out here, so you can never prepare yourself for what's about to come your way from the black belts; all shapes and sizes, all kinds of guard passes, all manners of sweeps and a never ending supply of submissions, keep you well on your toes and as sharp as a new pin.  There's so many academies represented on the mats out here, it really is a unique place to learn jiu jitsu, probably the only place on the planet you'll find so many black belts from different academies, all training under one roof, week in, week out.

 

With Gilberto, after a WAR!

This for me is a truly humbling experience; to be part of such a great wealth of jiu jitsu talent and experience, I have to pinch myself at times to make sure I am not dreaming all of this. 

 

Another session ended and I pick myself up off the mats, dust myself down and wipe the sweat that's flowing freely down my face and into my eyes and head to the water cooler and have a well earned drink, with the rest of the guys; then I find myself a small space on the mats and stretch off and cool down and try and get my heart beat back to normal, as I can still feel the pounding in my chest, like a jackhammer on full power.

 

With 3 stripe Felipe, a real pocket rocket!

The weather here is ideal for training, nice and warm in the day, around 29/30 degrees C and drops down to a mild 18/19C in the evening; it's track suit jacket weather after class to avoid a chill, but the drive back home offers a welcome cooling breeze, so better make the most of this fine weather and carry on training hard. 

 

Iron sharpens iron.   Oooosss!