Octopus's Garden
One of my favourite parts of any trip we go on is when I can get a chance to get some good training in. Why? Not because I've a lack of it at home, not by any means. My teammates are tough and by no way am I top of the heap or even close. But because I love the camaraderie and I love seeing how other academy's/schools run their classes.
During my travels, I've noticed that everyone's idea of class is different compared to the classes back home at Brian's. You have classes with all drilling and no sparring, classes with no drilling and all sparring, and classes with some drilling and some sparring. I've seen classes where no one asks questions on the technique shown and classes where you have so many questions the instructor can't get through the technique. You have simple warm-ups with only one or two activities and complex ones when you are exhausted by the time you get to practice the technique of the day. Some classes have no structure, with random lessons and technique being thrown at you, while others are meticulous and build off the previous technique which in turn builds off the techniques from earlier in the week or month.
Before my last trip, which was to Atlanta, Georgia, I reached out to a few places to get some training in, two of which returned my messages before I left home so I was able to set up a loose plan. Once the conference schedule was worked out and once I figured if my coworkers wanted to do some things together, not just wander separately it was time to figure out where to train. The way everything ended up working out, the best option for me turned out to be Team Octopus Midtown.
Team Octopus is run by World and ADCC champ, Roberto Traven, (side note, I've Never seen that many stripes on a BlackBelt in person before). Knowing this going in I expected a tough class with some tough rounds and I was not disappointed. First the facility, the place itself was easy to get to, had ample parking, was pretty large and well set up. You walk into a reception area that opens to a large matted section with a bunch of heavy bags for a kickboxing class. To your left you had a water fountain, cubbyholes for shoes/bags and then you had separate men's and women's locker rooms with lockers, showers and a changing area. The entire place was very clean and neat.
Now for the training...The class was an hour and a half of nonstop work. The warm up started simply enough with 2 laps each of jogging, skipping facing in and then out, heels to butt and level changes all around the mat perimeter. After this we (everything done in duplicate & going the length of the gym) shrimped, front and back rolled, bear crawled forward then in reverse, then moved to sprawls while facing your partner. From here we moved onto positional speed drills, with the first position being side control. For one minute, we had to pop up to knee on belly and then go back down to side control, then our partner would take their turn, before we went again, starting on the opposite side this time. This cycle was repeated twice before moving on to the next positional speed drill. Here Professor Traven had us passing to knee on belly from open guard, moving from one side to the other for one minute before our partner took their turn. We also repeated this twice before grabbing a drink and moving on to positional sparring. Professor broke us up into two groups based on belt colour and then subdivided us further by pairing us up, with two people on the wall ready to go. In this drill we started from turtle position with someone off to the side of us, not on the back. To stay on the mat, you had to get a sub, otherwise you were out and back in the line. We did this for the remainder of the class, probably about an hour. By the time 8 p.m. rolled around I was completely shot.
I thanked Professor Traven and his students for the training and good rounds, grabbed a picture with him and headed off to take a shower. Later, after getting back to the hotel, I went out for a few well earned drinks and reflected on the day's training. A few things about the whole experience really stuck with me. Number one, there is clearly a reason why Professor Traven's team has won the IBJJF Atlanta Open 12 times. Not one of those guys was an easy out and they came after you with speed and technique. In a room full of killers, I felt I was the weakest link. Number two, for whatever reason and as much as I got my ass beat, I thoroughly enjoyed this style of training. It was both a mental and physical test. As tired as I was, I got to a point where my movement (albeit sloppy) just happened and I didn't think too much about how exhausted I was. Finally, I need to focus more on both my cardio and my intensity on the mats. Hopefully, now that I am injury free (for now) I'll be able to. Taking it easy won't do me or my training partners any good, especially if I want to get back to competing this fall.