The Gracie Barra Northridge Grind
Let me start off by saying that I use to preach on how much I loved the grind of training hard multiples times a day. I realized, now that I have been going to the competition training at GB Northridge for a few weeks now, that I had no idea what grind truly meant.
The Facility
Romulo's school is beautiful. The second you walk in everything is neat and organized. The gray mats make a nice contrast with the white wall mats, the office area is clean cut, and the bathrooms are pretty modern and spacious. I never trained with Romulo in his older school but just from watching older Youtube videos and seeing what his old academy looked like, he has earned and worked hard for the academy he currently has. What I like most about his school and from a business perspective I think he has done a phenomenal job is maximizing mat space.
The Structure of Competition Training
Warm up - The warm-up is pretty flexible. You basically choose a partner or if you are lucky, one of the black belts, and trust me there are plenty of world class black belts in class, would choose you and you guys can work on whatever you want. I personally work on my takedowns (foot trips, single leg, and lapel drags), lasso guard sweeps, and De la Riva passes since this is the guard that people play on me frequently. You will drill anywhere from 5-10 times your move and then you play the good partner and let your partner work on his/her moves.
Technique - Sometimes, Professor Romulo Barral would gather everyone up and show a technique that I believe he has been working on his Fundamentals class. This week, for example, he showed a transition from the De la Riva to single X, to X guard, to a fake sweep and finish with the Omoplata. I know, wow... so many moves in one; but this makes you have to be even more focus during your training since the number of details Romulo covers in a few seconds can be overwhelming.
Thanks for all the details champ!
Specific Training - This is by far, as Romulo says, the most important part of the training. "You don't need to worry about who is coming up next on the line to face you, you worry about the guy in front of you and that's all", he says. This makes a lot of sense when you are competing. On the eliminatory rounds, I often think, "man what am I going to do when I get to the finals?". NOTICE, I say "when" not "if". I'm not saying I always get to the finals, but I know I train physically and mentally for it so, therefore, I know I'm worthy of reaching and winning the finals. Anyways, going back to Romulo's speech for the specific training, you have to train yourself to give it 100% with the fight that you are at; in other words, don't hold back because you are thinking about your next opponent. Truth be told, you might not even see your next opponent since the current one beat you because you held back. I know this is pretty rhetoric, however, knowing vs applying the knowledge, more than often, isn't a smooth transition. Specific training is great to train your mind and body for those tough moments when you are tired but know you have to keep on advancing in order to get through the challenge. In my opinion, specific training and sparring are the best ways to get ready for tournaments.
Sparring - this is where you develop grit. There are no easy rounds in GB Northridge. Of course if you go against one of the black belts training there (Romulo, Vitor Silveiro, Felipe Trovo, Gabriel Arges, Otavio Sousa, etc) and then you get another round with a purple belt, the latter round would be easier compare to the former; however, the purple belts are very tough so expect to go to war every single round.
The End - After is all said and done, below is what the mat looks like most of the time
After warming up, practicing technique, getting your ass kicked in specific training and sparring, I can't help but to think how much of an accomplishment it was to have endured. I walk off the mat with a smile, hit the showers and head back to my home gym thinking about what I did right and wrong during training.
The Brotherhood
It's pretty freaking cool when you get to train and develop a relationship with guys that you admire and see on all these big-time tournaments. The black belts training at GB Northridge are top notch but one thing that seemed pretty evident the first time I walked in was that they are as goofy and human as any other person in there, regardless of belt color - seriously, these guys are characters. At the end of the competition training, after everyone has cross faced, smashed and choked everyone else, there is an aura of brotherhood that takes over the mat. You'll see guys like Otavio Sousa and Vitor Silverio, who 5 minutes ago were trying to chop each other's head off, talking and laughing. You'll see Romulo, who just a few moments ago did a beautiful knee cut pass, popped to knee on belly, and tried to go through the bottom guy's sternum with his knee, hugging and sharing experiences with the same guy - mind you, the bottom guy is still trying to catch his breath as he is listening to Romulo. I can go on giving examples like this, but you guys get the point. In the end, the environment that GB Northridge fosters revolves around a single word, brotherhood.
--
We all know how important it is to train our mind. Even though GB Northridge is straight up a grind, I feel my mental strength heightens after the competition training. When you constantly get physically broken down and keep coming back, that's a sign that you weren't completely broken down (physically and mentally), after all, your mind kept you afloat and always will.
Ps. Be on the lookout for this brown belt that keeps smashing me without no mercy - Thanks Julian Vanderlinden
Oss!
The Facility
Romulo's school is beautiful. The second you walk in everything is neat and organized. The gray mats make a nice contrast with the white wall mats, the office area is clean cut, and the bathrooms are pretty modern and spacious. I never trained with Romulo in his older school but just from watching older Youtube videos and seeing what his old academy looked like, he has earned and worked hard for the academy he currently has. What I like most about his school and from a business perspective I think he has done a phenomenal job is maximizing mat space.
 |
| GB Northridge |
 |
| Main Mat Area |
The Structure of Competition Training
Warm up - The warm-up is pretty flexible. You basically choose a partner or if you are lucky, one of the black belts, and trust me there are plenty of world class black belts in class, would choose you and you guys can work on whatever you want. I personally work on my takedowns (foot trips, single leg, and lapel drags), lasso guard sweeps, and De la Riva passes since this is the guard that people play on me frequently. You will drill anywhere from 5-10 times your move and then you play the good partner and let your partner work on his/her moves.
Technique - Sometimes, Professor Romulo Barral would gather everyone up and show a technique that I believe he has been working on his Fundamentals class. This week, for example, he showed a transition from the De la Riva to single X, to X guard, to a fake sweep and finish with the Omoplata. I know, wow... so many moves in one; but this makes you have to be even more focus during your training since the number of details Romulo covers in a few seconds can be overwhelming.
Thanks for all the details champ!
 |
| The Champ |
Specific Training - This is by far, as Romulo says, the most important part of the training. "You don't need to worry about who is coming up next on the line to face you, you worry about the guy in front of you and that's all", he says. This makes a lot of sense when you are competing. On the eliminatory rounds, I often think, "man what am I going to do when I get to the finals?". NOTICE, I say "when" not "if". I'm not saying I always get to the finals, but I know I train physically and mentally for it so, therefore, I know I'm worthy of reaching and winning the finals. Anyways, going back to Romulo's speech for the specific training, you have to train yourself to give it 100% with the fight that you are at; in other words, don't hold back because you are thinking about your next opponent. Truth be told, you might not even see your next opponent since the current one beat you because you held back. I know this is pretty rhetoric, however, knowing vs applying the knowledge, more than often, isn't a smooth transition. Specific training is great to train your mind and body for those tough moments when you are tired but know you have to keep on advancing in order to get through the challenge. In my opinion, specific training and sparring are the best ways to get ready for tournaments.
Sparring - this is where you develop grit. There are no easy rounds in GB Northridge. Of course if you go against one of the black belts training there (Romulo, Vitor Silveiro, Felipe Trovo, Gabriel Arges, Otavio Sousa, etc) and then you get another round with a purple belt, the latter round would be easier compare to the former; however, the purple belts are very tough so expect to go to war every single round.
The End - After is all said and done, below is what the mat looks like most of the time
 |
| The After Math |
After warming up, practicing technique, getting your ass kicked in specific training and sparring, I can't help but to think how much of an accomplishment it was to have endured. I walk off the mat with a smile, hit the showers and head back to my home gym thinking about what I did right and wrong during training.
The Brotherhood
It's pretty freaking cool when you get to train and develop a relationship with guys that you admire and see on all these big-time tournaments. The black belts training at GB Northridge are top notch but one thing that seemed pretty evident the first time I walked in was that they are as goofy and human as any other person in there, regardless of belt color - seriously, these guys are characters. At the end of the competition training, after everyone has cross faced, smashed and choked everyone else, there is an aura of brotherhood that takes over the mat. You'll see guys like Otavio Sousa and Vitor Silverio, who 5 minutes ago were trying to chop each other's head off, talking and laughing. You'll see Romulo, who just a few moments ago did a beautiful knee cut pass, popped to knee on belly, and tried to go through the bottom guy's sternum with his knee, hugging and sharing experiences with the same guy - mind you, the bottom guy is still trying to catch his breath as he is listening to Romulo. I can go on giving examples like this, but you guys get the point. In the end, the environment that GB Northridge fosters revolves around a single word, brotherhood.
--
We all know how important it is to train our mind. Even though GB Northridge is straight up a grind, I feel my mental strength heightens after the competition training. When you constantly get physically broken down and keep coming back, that's a sign that you weren't completely broken down (physically and mentally), after all, your mind kept you afloat and always will.
Ps. Be on the lookout for this brown belt that keeps smashing me without no mercy - Thanks Julian Vanderlinden
 |
| Beast Brown Belt |
PPS. Follow the link to gain some knowledge from the champ himself
Oss!
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