The specific training of a fighter is already stressful enough and water training can complement and develop various physical qualities. In the water, you may use devices that can increase the intensity of the exercises through resistance, what works better because there are no impacts on the joints. It’s important to understand that exhausting workout routines and competition training can often overwhelm your body and change an outcome. This water training method was developed by Prof. Alvaro Romano who has for many years since the 1980s started to train athletes from various sports.

In the 1990s, Romano had the opportunity to work with the Physiotherapist Nilton Petrone, a reference in the area of physiotherapy in Brazil and many other countries, who developed a method of rehabilitation and prevention of injuries that is used and recognized by various areas of the human wellness movement. Along with the Physiotherapist, Alvaro Romano introduced the “Ginastica Natural” to the rehabilitation of several athletes with the most varied types of injuries resulting from sports. With this opportunity he could observe the importance of working in the water to the recovery of these athletes, so he incorporated and adapted the water training for the physical preparation of athletes and fighters of different modalities.

The preparation of a fighter is totally different from an American football, soccer, or tennis player. Therefore, knowledge and experience within the martial arts is very important to make this adaptation of training. This water training was created for athletes but can be used by anyone who wants to exercise, have a healthy lifestyle and stay fit, but at the same time far away from injuries.

Ideally, you should pick out an outfit that will offer resistance to your legs and arms.  For part of the training you may be using a palmar or surf gloves. You can also use something like a device that you can ” put in your hand ” like boxing gloves to increase resistance in the water.

Here is a basic water training that can be used once a week if you want to change a little bit your workout routine to recover:

Recovery exercises

1 – Walking with water at chest level, going forward, sideways, and finally flexing the knee at your chest. Then after, extending the legs forward, one leg at the time, and also stretching the back of your legs. Do these movements for approximately 10 minutes.

2 – Swimming Front Strokes for 250m

3 – With the surf glove, try to swim for 25m (or as far as you can) with your head in the water, and then come back breathing slowly. Go like this, back and forth, for 250m.

4 – Swim as far as you can under water and then swim back, Front Strokes, slowly. Do this until you complete 200m.

5 – Using resistance devices on your hands and legs (if you do not have the equipment you can do without it) reproduce the movements and sequences of punches with water up to your neck. Complete sets of 50 repetitions, then reproduce the movements of “Knee ups” alternating on average 10 times on each side.

6 – Immediately plunge and try to stay emerged under water holding your breath for as long as you can, coming back up when you feel you can’t hold it any longer. (Make sure you do this under supervision; it can be dangerous trying this alone).

7 – Repeat everything again for 3-4 rounds of 3-5 minutes total with a break of about 30 seconds to a minute between the sets.

Rodolfo Vieira on his way to the title, during semifinal against Bernardo Faria (on bottom) in absolute in Abu Dhabi last April / Photo: Ivan Trindade

Do you remember when Jiu-Jitsu only cropped up in the news when some kid with gnarly ears would do something stupid? These days, things have changed, though, and the sport’s practitioners are being seen, more and more, as role models and formers of opinion.

That’s one of the assertions made in the latest issue of Brazil’s “VIP” magazine—whose editor Cláudia Lima happens to be an enthusiastic practitioner of Thai boxing. The reason: in the “Cuidados Pessoais” (“Personal Care”) section, on page 135, current absolute world champion Rodolfo Vieira, in the company of Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Cesar Cielo and tennis player Thomaz Belluci, opens the doors to his “dressing room” and reveals what he always carries in tote to keep up his hygiene.

The “superathlete” (the praiseful adjective is VIP’s) shows that his choices are as simple and efficient as his Jiu-Jitsu: Dove deodorant, Gillette shaving cream, Bozzano lotion, Carolina Herrera perfume, and a minty antiseptic to relieve any unpleasantness anyone who ventures an attack on his feet might encounter.

“I don’t use perfume every day, because I train every day and don’t want to waste it. I only use it when I go out,” explains Rodolfo in the article.

What about you, gentle Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, got any hygiene tips for sparing your partners in training? Share them with us in the comments field below.

Jon Jones speaks to the press prior to UFC 135. Photo: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC.

Jon “The Man” Jones got himself a special in the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG, where the strengths (copious) and weaknesses (few) of the light heavyweight champion of the UFC are broken down and laid out. Be sure to get your hands on it as soon as it hits a bookstore near you, and to make sure you don’t miss any special reports in the future, subscribe here.

Voted the GRACIEMAG man of the year in MMA of 2011, Jones abounds with lessons. During a lively trip to Rio for the UFC 142 weekend, Jon Jones was interviewed by Brazilian journalist Ary Cunha for the Sunday edition of “O Globo” newspaper, and he also provided one good piece of controversy with Jiu-Jitsu as a theme.

1. LESSON OF LONE LOSS

“I messed up there [disquualification loss to Matt Hamill in 2009]. It was the wrong move at the wrong time; I made a mistake. But rather than getting intimidated and stop using elbows, I improved the technique. I don’t make that mistake anymore, and now elbows are my number-one weapon.”

2. TAKE MORE RISKS

“I always try getting the finish when I fights, using different moves, preferably the riskier ones. I know that putting on a good show for the crowd is just as important as winning.”

3. FORMULA FOR SUCCESS AS FIGHTER

“Passion. Being passionate about what you do (…) You have to struggle to be the best every day.”

4. ENERGY AND GAS IN JIU-JITSU

“I love swimming, to improve my wind.”

5. TOUGHEST WIN IN UFC

“It was against André Gusmão [UFC debut, in August 2008; he won by unanimous decision]. (…) I didn’t have a strategy, my technique wasn’t clean, I didn’t think much during the fight. Now I know what’s going on; I know how to read my opponent, read their body language, which I didn’t know how to do before.”

6. OUTSIDE OCTAGON: PEACE AND SMILES

“I don’t get stressed. There are people starving, living with war, disease. I have no reason to complain, to suffer from little things. I can’t cry; I have to smile, because my worst day is a good day.”

7. “WRESTLING IS A POWERFUL WEAPON AND CANCELS OUT JIU-JITSU”

“And last but not least: the controversy. Jones, who has been wrestling since he was 14 years old, is quoted by “O Globo” as saying, “Wrestling is a powerful weapon and cancels out Jiu-Jitsu. Good wrestlers know how to avoid getting pinned. I’ve never been pinned and never been taken down…”

Jones’s opinion deserves the utmost respect, of course. There’s no lack of wrestlers who have trained hard and managed to get around Jiu-Jitsu. Could be, though, that you, dear reader, might agree that this video here weakens the champion’s case just a bit:

What do you think, dear reader, is Jones six times right and one time wrong? Comment below.