Norway on visit in Baku

I have now been 2 weeks here in Azerbaijan. The first week was I here alone, but the second week my wife, Jessica, came and she is going to be here for 3 weeks. The first trainings were very hard as usual after the travel, but now things are better. I have more motivation then I have had in a very long time. First of all I want to congratulate our cadets and the only junior with good results I Finish open. The report says it was 2 gold and 4 silver. Nice job! I also want to congratulate all the winners in the national championships for teams. I would have been there, but I had to prioritize different this time. I hope everybody understand why. It is always nice to come to Azerbaijan and Norwegian judo has many friends here. I have spent a lot of time here the last few years and every time I come here I experience the same hospitality and enthusiasm. This time has not been any different and I am more thankful then words can say. During the stay we live in an apartment in the centre of Baku. The apartment is newly renovated and very nice. Bathroom, kitchen, hallway, bedroom, living area, office and balcony. Better then at home. They are also paying the apartment for us. What can I say? Once again, I am more thankful then words can say. My body needs a long time to adapt to new time and after flights. Because of this, the first few trainings are pure hell, but I just have to bite my teeth and pull thru. I got very tired after 30 seconds, felt dizzy and couldn’t do anything. Usually I sweat a lot, but during practice like these I sweat so much more, and afterwards I am dead. It feels like I am in really bad shape. Steep by steep I am doing better and going to practice is much more fun. Life in Baku is mostly training and rest. During judo, Ali Davrishov is my coach and I follow the training, but in the physical training I am still doing my own thing, except for the training on Wednesday where they have circle training in real Rocky-stile. We are lifting sacks with corn and pulling ropes. It is very hard but funny as well. During the weekends we are lifting weights and rowing for cardio at Excelsior hotel. Afterwards we take sauna; it is healthy for body and soul and a little luxury for the weekend. The 2 first weeks training has been like this: Monday: I came to Baku late at night. Tuesday: 8.00 Cardio, 17.00 Judo Wednesday: 9.00 Weightlifting, 17.00 circle training Thursday: 9.00 Cardio, 17.00 Judo Friday: 9.00 Weightlifting, 17.00 Judo Saturday: 10.00 Weightlifting, 17.00 Cardio Sunday: 10.00 Weightlifting and cardio Second week. Monday: 9.00 Weightlifting, 17.00 Judo Tuesday: 8.00 Judo, 17.00 Judo Wednesday: 9.00 Weightlifting, 17.00 Circle training Thursday: 8.00 judo, 17.00 Judo Friday: 8.00 Judo, 17.00 Judo Saturday: Weightlifting and cardio with sauna. Sunday: All day off. The judo is very intense here and they are doing a much more offensive judo then most places. They are practising a lot on attacking fast after they get their grip. They are also doing a lot of variety in the randori. It is long and short ones. We can also think about that they are doing less randori then back home, but they have more focus on doing all exercises with good quality. They are also very good at training on the level with the partner. If you are doing judo with someone smaller then your self, you should not use so much strength but speed. Then you don’t do any less good randori, you learn something with everybody. It is not always the right way to throw hardest and most  It is also a big variety in how many who comes to practise, all from 20-100. Most of them train twice a day. On Fridays Attila judo club has open training for every club in Baku, this training often has over 100 competitors on the mat. The training is almost always built up like this: Warm up, always the same. Uchi komi, in movement. Fast uchi komi, 6 – 8 rounds of 10-15 seconds. 10-15 min intensive nage komi or 8-10 rounds * 30 seconds fast uchi komi in movement. 10-15 rounds *30 seconds kumi kata randori. Randori, everything from 5*5 min to 10 *1 min. 3* 10-15 seconds fast nage komi. Stretch out and massage. I have a clear goal to be a more offensive and unafraid judoka. Many matches I have lost this year have been on shidos. If I remove this then I almost won’t loose any fights. The training here fits perfectly for that purpose. They are always pushing me to be more offensive and to attack. I have had much focus on moving, never go backwards and to attack fast after I get my grip. I have told you many times on this blog that it has been a very hard fall without a coach. It has also been hard to do the things I need to do to be a good judoka in Norway. This has affected my motivation badly. This has been turned around completely now. I have more motivation in training now and my development has started to go forward again. The things I have been working on for a long time is now starting to work in randori. Of course I have a long way to go to be in top shape, but this has been my best preparation period ever. This is a good promise due to the very important upcoming season. Working hard and thinking about winning is my mentality before the next season. Jessica is also having a good time here. Well, it is hard not to like my company…haha! She is working with the cadets, training physically and filming all my randori. Yesterday after training and sauna we took a walk thru the town. Unfortunately Baku is a big working project right now, but I am sure it will be very nice when it is ready. While working we can see the worriless workingmen climb the buildings without security. I can only imagine what will happen if they fall down. Today it is Sunday and resting day before I start with all the hard work again. This night we will go out and eat with some of the competitors from Atilla, Elmar, Zain and Ramin. The food here is very good so it will be very nice. This blog has been mostly about training, next time I will try to tell you more about the daily life here. Right know the sun is shining and we will take a little walk in Baku! Have a very nice day and train hard until next time