Brazil Visa Strike 2 + Training

Left the house at 6:15a today to make my 10a appointment at the Consulate General of Brazil in Los Angeles.  Arrived 15min early, signed in, and was called almost immediately.  A very nice young woman helped me and reviewed my paperwork.  Everything was in order.  Perfect she said.  Whew.  But...  Oh the dreaded but...  My host letter said I'm going to Brazil for a competition.  Apparently that means I need a type III visa for athletes.  And that requires prior authorization from the Department of Labor in Brazil.  Hmm...   I explained that I am not being paid and I'm in fact paying an Brazilian organization for the opportunity to compete in an amateur event.  She spoke to a supervisor and explained that pro or amateur, if over 21 and going to Brazil to compete in an athletic event, I need prior authorization from the Brazilian Department of Labor.  Ok.  No problem.  I can roll with the punches.  I'm sure our INS is at least equally if not more bureaucratic about processing visa's for our Brazilian friends.  :)

Training tonight was great.  Professor Antonio taught.  Started with a nice, slow warm-up.  Felt really good.  Learned a basic and more advanced butterfly sweep.  Both review.  I feel like I know the techniques, but have time implementing them exactly as taught in a live situation.  I get butterfly sweeps fairly often, even against upper belts, but I always seem to have to modify them a bit to match my opponent's responses/defenses.  That's jiu-jitsu, I suppose.  About 15 mins of positional sparring from butterfly guard before training.  Had three rounds.  Not sure how long.  Maybe 5-6mins.

Got Professor Anotonio, a large new White with a rassling background, and a Brown.  Round with the Professor was awesome.  He worked the butterfly sweeps the entire round.  I tried my best to defend, and think I did okay for a while, but I only delayed the inevitable.  He eventually took my back and I found myself defending choke and arm bar attempts most the round.  But...I survived.  The White was a beast.  Young, strong, fast, bigger than me, good ground instincts.  Sweeps, knee on belly, mount, back, but no subs.  He also forced me to turtle a few times, but I managed to roll out to take his back and x-guard sweeps.  Points notwithstanding, he about gassed me out.  The Brown has been out for a while with a knee injury.  The last time we trained, maybe 9mos ago, he tapped me 5 or 6 times in a round.  This time he only got me once.  Cross choke from within my open guard.  I let him get and keep his grips of choice.  Should have attacked before he sunk the grips.

After class I spoke to the Master about the Rio trip.  I described my training regimen and he said it's too much.  Said to back off on the conditioning and train light.  Not to put too much mileage on the car.  He wants me to peak at the right time and if I go into camp burned, I won't make it 2x per day for 9-10 days.  Hmmm...  To be honest, I totally agree.  But I'm worried about weight.  How can I maintain weight if I don't work out 10-12hrs per week?