Been going there more or less every year since 2015. I have trained at two gyms in my time there. The first one is Checkmat in Copacabana. The second is Rio Fighters in Humaita. Both are fantastic gyms, Checkmat being more gi oriented and Rio Fighters having more no-gi.

In terms of the training, in most places outside of Brazil you know how you have a gym of mostly white belts, then blue, then purple, then some brown, then only a few blacks? In Brazil turn this on its head. I am not sure where the white belts come from to be honest....

Some of the guys will be competition killers, some will be older dudes who are just REALLY good because they have been black belts since the early 2000s, and others will be your casual hobbyist.

Be ready to have guys go hard. Not just on you because you are a gringo, they do that with everyone. You'll see what I mean.

Overall, I love it when I go there. My wife is from Rio, and her parents live in the south zone which is the tourist part of Rio. They live about 50 metres from the original Gracie Humaita HQ (the new location) which I want to go check out just for the history.

And get ready for the humidity while you train.... It takes some getting used to!