Allie the Clear Belt

Jiu-Jitsu is not Capoeira

2012-01-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

We had a new girl come to our Women's Class this morning. She came in a little late--we had already gone through warm-ups and had just started technique--so I did not get to talk with her as much as I normally would a new student.

When she stepped onto the mat, I told her to sit down and asked her if she new what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was. She said, "Not really. But it looked really beautiful."

Agreeing that it was beautiful, I then proceeded to explain that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is mostly ground fighting and told her a little bit about what the goals of BJJ were. She looked a little confused while I was talking, but as many women are a little overwhelmed by BJJ on their first day, I didn't think much of it.

I showed her the basic hip out from under mount, showed her an americana from mount and a few other basic moves that we show on the first day. She worked hard at it and seemed to be really into it. When we grappled, she threw herself into it full force and was not shy. She seemed to to really be enjoying it.

It wasn't until after class was over, when I was telling her about our class options and we were talking about her coming back that she started asking some questions.

"You guys don't do the dancing here?" she asked.

This caught me off guard. "Dancing?" It took me a second to guess what she might mean. "Do you mean Capoeira?"

"Yeah," she said.

She said she had thought this was a Capoeira class and had been waiting the whole time for us to start dancing. Poor girl came expecting a dance class based on self-defense moves and instead got thrown into grappling! She was a really good sport about it, though, and she said, "It wasn't what I was expecting but it was still cool." She said she wants to come back.

In case you were wondering, this is Capoeira. Just a little bit different from BJJ. :)

Remembering Techniques

2012-01-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

Madison is a new addition to our Women's Class. She has been to only a handful of classes, but at 12 years old, she has already become addicted to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Last night, while I was watching her grapple one of the other girls, I saw her try to get a triangle choke several times. She had seen the choke two classes before. She was not able to finish the choke during the grapple but I was proud of her for several reasons.

1. She recognized that she could use the choke from the position she was in.

2. She understood the basics of what the choke looked like and what position she needed to be in to do it.

3. She remembered the first few steps of applying the choke.

4. Most importantly, I was proud of her for TRYING the technique she had learned against a live, resisting partner.

I remember when I first started BJJ how overwhelming all of the techniques were. There were so many steps. So many details. I felt anxiety over the fact that I would go to class, see the techniques and forget most of what I saw after I left and went home.

For a long time, my experience was exactly like Madisons. I would remember that I had seen something I could use from a certain position, I'd remember the basics of what it had looked like, but as I tried to do it, I would realize that I had forgotten most of the steps. I would get through the first few "steps" of the move and then be lost. But, over time, those details were filled in and I was able to go through all the steps.

If you are new to BJJ and you are feeling overwhelmed, try to remember that time is on your side. Your instructor will show the techniques in more than one class. You will see a triangle choke in one class, try it for a few weeks unsuccessfully, and then see the same choke in another class and notice the details you had forgotten. Even now I love it when Fabio goes over basic positions and submissions, because I always notice new details I didn't see before.

But, if you want to maximize your memory and hold onto as much as possible, here are some things you can ask yourself about each of the techniques you see in class. If you can remember the answers to these questions, if will help you on your way to being able to use them during a live grapple.

1. What position is this technique useful from? A common mistake that beginners make is trying to use a submission from the wrong position. For example, they might try to use a gi choke while they are under mount or stuck in someone's guard.

2. What is the goal of the technique? Sometimes people misunderstand what part of the body a submission is aimed at. For example, they might think an americana is meant to break the elbow, when really it is the shoulder joint that is being targeted.

3. Why does the technique work? Here is where you can help yourself to remember the details. If you understand that the reason a triangle choke works is because you are using your opponent's shoulder and your leg to block off the carotid arteries and the blood flow to the brain, then you will be better able to understand the point of those seemingly endless details you are trying to remember.

When your instructor is demonstrating the triangle choke and he/she tells you to squeeze your knees and lift your hips, ask yourself why. Why does that make the move work more effectively? What is that motion doing to my body position and the other person's body position?

4. Make the most of your drilling time. A lot of times, I see beginners trying the technique once or twice and then sit there, looking around as if they have already gotten it. The purpose of drilling is not just about remembering the steps with your mind. Drilling is also about making those details a part of your muscle memory. You are teaching your body how to move. If you practice the techniques over and over again, then when you are grappling, your body will do it automatically. You won't have to stop to remember the steps.

5. Try the techniques you saw during your grappling time. A common mistake people make is to NOT try new things because they don't think they will be successful. The truth is, you probably wont be successful the first time you try a new technique. But you will get closer each time you try. When you try and fail, you will discover the parts of the technique that you need to understand better.

6. Ask your instructor or a higher belt to remind you about the details. If you are grappling and you try a technique and can't remember all the steps, ask someone after class to refresh your memory. Most higher belts will be more than happy to help.

7. Be patient. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes time to learn. Legitimate black belts aren't made overnight. Enjoy your training and have fun. Perfect technique will come in time and with practice over years.

Brood of Jiu-Jitsu Competitors? Mayhaps!

2012-01-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

I am excited! A couple of the girls that have recently joined the Women's Class are interested in competing. They've been asking me about points and positions and all things tournament related. Stephanie and I might take a few of them to a NAGA that is coming up in February to let them watch and see what goes on at a tournament and see if it is something they are interested in doing.

So far, my focus in the Women's Class has been more geared toward BJJ for self-defense. So I have been heavier on escapes, sweeps, taking the back and submissions from guard, mount and chokes from behind. My thought process was that, if these girls were attacked in real life, chances are they would end up on the bottom, underneath a bigger, stronger person. My first priority has been teaching them tools to get out from underneath a heavier person and how to break down someone's posture in guard and them sweep or to go for submissions from guard.

Thinking about preparing them for a tournament changes some of the priorities for what I want them to work on. I have done almost nothing on take downs. And, though I have shown a few basic guard passes, I need to give them a lot more instruction in that area.

I think I will shift my focus more to guard passing and keeping their base for the next few weeks. Also, I want to help them prepare mentally. If you were preparing a class of beginners for their first tournament, what would your primary focus be?

Also, if the girls do end up competing, I think I will probably suffer a nervous breakdown on the sidelines while they're fighting. Someone better have a tranquilizer gun handy if someone hurts one of my girls because mama bears gunna get ya! LOL Just kidding....mostly.

What Your BJJ Instructor is Looking For

2012-01-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

We had something exciting happen in our Women's Class. Rowan got her first stripe on her white belt!

At 12 years old, "Robo Rowan" is our first girl coming through the Women's Class to get a stripe. Congratulations, Rowan! I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to see all the girls learning and using the techniques. So proud of all of you gals!!

Teaching is really making me think differently about BJJ. It has helped me better understand what the goals of each class are--what I should be looking to "get out of" each session--and to give me a better understanding of what how instructors might view their students. Some things I have personally learned are:

1. When I watch the girls, I am not as concerned about whether or not they are winning the match they are in and I'm more concerned with seeing whether or not they are using the techniques they know. If I put on the new girls against Stephanie, I know Stephanie is going to "win" because of her longer experience and technical advantage. Or, if I put a smaller girl with a bigger girl, I know strength and size will be a factor in the grapple. What I am looking for is whether or not the disadvantaged student is using the tools they have learned. If they are on bottom, are they trying to use the escapes that they know? If they are making attempts, at what points are they being effective and at what points are they having trouble? A lot of times, I am pleased even if the student remembers an escape, tries it but doesn't quite make it. The fact that they remembered that tool and are working on it is great! Eventually, I know they will get it.

2. I have learned that, for me, a student who comes in with a humble attitude and who is willing to work hard is much more desirable than someone who has a prideful, selfish attitude, even if that prideful one has more natural talent. What I have noticed with new people is that pride will kill a person's bjj journey before it ever really gets started. A lot of times, girls will come in expecting to do well because maybe they are in really good shape or maybe they have had experience in some other martial art. When they aren't instantly "winning" at BJJ, they feel frustrated and don't enjoy it. They end up not coming back. But when someone with no expectations comes in, they are more able to accept that they are not going to be able to dominate everyone they grapple and therefore they are free to enjoy learning.

3. It does not impress me when a student shows off by being unnecessarily rough with another student. In fact, that kind of behavior does the opposite of impressing me. It makes me want to grapple that person with the same kind of selfish attitude that they showed to their teammate.

4. There are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many holes in my knowledge of BJJ. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to Fabio's classes, seen him show a technique and cringe because I just taught that technique to the girls and left some really important detail out. My only solace is that I will have chances to show that same technique again and point it out later! lol

5. Above all, I have learned that nothing makes me happier than to see the girls ENJOYING the class and to see them gain confidence in themselves.

Pan American Championship Training

2012-01-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

I've been gone, but not idle. Training has kicked up a notch for me because, for the first time ever, I am going to the Pan Ams!! I am very excited. I think there are going to be quite a few people from our gym going this year, so it should be really fun. I can't wait to see all the action and hopefully even meet some of you guys who are also at the tournament!

Lately, I am at Fabio's training 6-7 times a week. At first, it was really hard on my body. But now, I am feeling good. Because I am training so much I have been militant about several things:

1. Laundry-- I only have 3 gis. This means I am almost constantly washing and hanging one. Not to mention all the shirts and pants. Ugh...

2. Ringworm Prevention-- Fortunately, there haven't been any cases of ringworm going around but I am determined to make sure that I don't get it. So I have been using the Nizoral shower gel and have also been spraying myself down once a week at the end of the week.

3. Ibuprofin, Ice and Epsom Salt Baths-- Aches and pains are a given when you're training a lot.

4. Stretching-- My shoulders and neck are problem areas for me. To avoid injuries, I have been making sure I stretch well when I get home before I shower.

5. Resting On Sundays-- I don't do anything on Sundays. No cardio. No nothing. I veg around pamper my body and let it recover.

6. Diet and Hydration-- This one, I am taking in baby steps. I have a few pounds to lose before March, and I don't want to cut. I want to lose it over time. The first step has been to drink no more soda (Except on Moe's Mondays!!) and to drink water throughout the day. I haven't been as good as I should about drinking water, but I am doing better. The second step has been to replace a lot of the carbs I eat (like pasta and a rice) with more protein, veggies and fruit. This hasn't been as painful as I expected it to be. I haven't cut out carbs. I think my body would revolt zombie style and lay waste to a bread factory if I tried. But I try to eat my breads and rice during the day and replace my servings of bread and pasta at night with either more protein or veggies or fruit.

Also, one things I have learned is that I actually wasn't eating ENOUGH. This surprised me. I thought I would have to cut back on calories to lose weight. But when I talked to a friend of mine who is a nutritionist he told me that I was already not eating enough and that my body wouldn't let me lose the weight because it was feeling depleted. What I needed to do is eat enough of the RIGHT kinds of foods so that my body is properly fueled.

7. Keeping My Focus In Training-- I have learned that, for me, preparing for a tournament doesn't mean going into beast mode during every grapple. For me, the biggest priority is preparing myself mentally. I am NOT some kind of prodigy grappler, but I do believe in the quality of the training I have received. What I need to do is keep my confidence up and make every grapple count. My focus in learning over the next few months is not in any one specific area. It is more about problem solving with leverage when I am on bottom, being tight and keeping my base when I am on top, and being able to set the pace of a grapple. We will see how I am able to progress with these goals.

8. Training With Awesome Teammates-- I am more convinced all the time that I am very lucky to train at Fabio's gym. Fabio sets the tone for the whole team, making us realize that when we train we are not just there for ourselves, but for each other. I am thankful for all of my BJJ brothers and sisters who put up with my unintentional MMA and who take the time to help me get better. You guys rock!

It's Kind of Like This...

2011-12-20T14:21:00.000-08:00

When I grapple a lot of the guys at my school, this is kind of what it's like.

I am doing everything in my power to try to get them and they are just relaxing and having fun! :)

Kicked In The Face

2011-12-07T19:55:00.001-08:00

Big knee to the face tonight. No, not to me. By me. To Fabio. Really bad.

And here I thought I was getting a little better about the whole unintentional MMA thing. Man, I clocked Fabio right in the forehead with my knee. It made that horrible "twunk" sound. Afterwards, I apologized. He said, "It's ok, I'm used to it. You do it all the time." Crestfallen, I asked him, "Really? Do I kick you in the face every time?" He kind of smiled and shrugged, then nodded.

Well suckity suck. :(

It is now my mission to make it through my next grapple day of grappling without ANY face kicks! lol For real. This must end. I need to get my knobby knees under control.

I do have some sunshine for you.

Some of our new girls have started training in gi! I see many choke and sweep techniques in our Women's Class' future. :)

BJJ Sweeps: Levers and Force

2011-12-06T06:46:00.001-08:00

In the last few months, the techniques that have most held my attention have been ones that involve using levers for getting your opponent off balance and then using force in the right direction to take them over. I am always thinking about it when I grapple. What can I trap and how can I take them over?

Here is what I look for specifically:

1) Where is their weight distributed? If they are leaning back, that is the way I am going to try to go. If their weight is forward, then I am going to take them that way.

2) Based on there their weight is, what will they use to steady themselves if I push them that way? Whatever it is, I try to trap it. Usually, it is an arm or a leg, or the hips. I am finding that hip movement is MUCH more important to sweeping--and defending sweeps--than is arm or leg strength. In fact, if I am straining, then I can be pretty much be sure that I have the angle off and I need to hip a certain way to fix it.

3) Be prepared to go the opposite way. Every time I push, I am expecting the person to resist in the opposite direction. Because of that, I try to get ready to pull and block on that direction so they go over.

The Trickity Trap:

A lot of the higher belts I grapple are really trickity. They like to pretend to be setting up a sweep, but then when you counter it, they take you over another way.
Anytime a higher belt appears to be letting me pass their guard... Trap.
Anytime a higher belt sits still for a minute while I am coming around to one side or driving into them...Trap.

Sadly, many times I have a feeling it might be a trap...and I keep going. Something like this usually results.

Sometimes, it is not so much that they planned it that way--although sometimes they do. More often, I think, it is their understanding of levers and force and years of practice doing the kinds of experimenting I mentioned above. They know how to get you off balance and how you are likely to try to regain your balance. Since they know the possibilities of what you might do, they already have a string of options in their minds that they can go to depending on your reaction.

Yeah. It's kind of not fair. ;)

But the cool thing is to think about how that could be me in the future. All I have to do is keep dragging myself out onto the mat and keep trying new ways to trap and trip up my opponents.

Women's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Lakeland, Florida

2011-11-30T07:31:00.001-08:00

Stephanie made an awesome website for our Women's BJJ class! Thanks so much, Steph!!

http://womensbjj.weebly.com/

Let me know what you guys think!!

What Were You Thinking?

2011-11-22T07:47:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had a bad habit that you wanted to change? Ever noticed how, the more you try to change that habit, the more control over you it seems to have? If you are trying to stop doing something, then the more you think about NOT doing it, the more you want to do that thing. It can be disheartening and make you feel like you are incapable of "getting better" in whatever area it is.

What I have been learning is that, the best way to change a bad habit is not to focus on that habit or on changing it. The best way to change is to focus on the healthy replacement that you want to adopt in it's place. For example, if you want to eat healthier, going around all day thinking, "I will not eat that chocolate. I will not eat that chocolate," will make you think about how much you want chocolate. You'll be binge eating snickers and kit-kats by 4 pm. But, if you spend your thoughts thinking about creative recipes that are healthier, you will be more likely to make healthier eating decisions.

The general idea is that the focus of your mind determines your actions.

Sounds obvious. But I think a lot of times I--and other people--sink our own ships by focusing on the negative instead of the positive.

In BJJ, it would look something like this: You are having trouble with a certain position. Say, bottom side control. So, before grappling you think, "I'm not going to get into bottom side control. I'm not going to get into bottom side control." But, where do you end up? Bottom side control.

What I have been trying to do instead is focus on what I DO want to do, instead of what I don't want to happen. Instead of thinking, "I don't want to get into bottom side control," I think, "I want to pass." Instead of my mind being focused on bottom side control--even if it is focused on avoiding bottom side control it is still focused on bottom side control--my mind instead focuses on a positive action; passing.

I know this sounds like I am just playing semantics, but it has been working for me. If I start worrying about possible negative outcomes, I tend to see those become the reality. On the other hand, if I think about what I want to accomplish, I see a much higher success rate.

For me, this does NOT mean laboring over the details of a specific pass in my mind, like, "I am going to grip here and then shift my weight there." I think of very general things like, "I want to pass" or "I want to sweep" or "I want to escape". Then, I go by instinct, trusting the hours and hours of drilling and previous grappling that I have done and trusting my muscle memory to know how to accomplish those goals.

This helped me a lot at my last tournament. Instead of focusing on possible negative outcomes--like being taken down or submitted--I tried to keep what I wanted to do at the forefront of my mind. It helped me to manage my nerves because I had a plan (a very lose, general plan but still a plan) and it helped me keep my confidence up because I was thinking about my strengths instead of my weaknesses.

I don't know if that makes sense or not. But it is really helping me to grow both on and off the mat.

Um, that's not how it works...

2011-11-20T19:17:00.001-08:00

This has nothing to do with Jiu-Jitsu, but it was so funny to me I have to post about it.

My son, Noah, is 6. They were having baptisms this morning at our church so he had to come sit through the adult service. While they were getting ready, the pastor was talking about how baptism is an outward symbol that you are joining the family of God.

Noah asked me, "Am I a part of the family of God?"

I said, "Well, do you love God and want to be a part of His family?"

He said, "Yes."

I said. "Then you are. Do you want to be baptized?"

He thought about it and then said, "I'm not quite ready yet."

I said, "Ok," and because of the way he'd said he wasn't ready yet, I was curious, so I asked him, "Why not?"

He said, "I don't want to get naked in front of everyone just yet."

I choked a little bit trying not to burst out laughing. It was during a really serious moment, too. I told Noah, "You don't have to get naked, buddy. You get baptized in your clothes."

He smiled and said, "Ooooooh."

LOL!!!!

2011-11-19T04:31:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday Training!

Fat-Mares

2011-11-17T18:58:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Stephanie McClish, I am probably going to have fat-mares tonight.

She emailed me some pictures of my former self from a couple of months before we both started bjj in 2009. I am in a bathing suit. It is one of the most haunting, horrifying images that I have seen in a long time. And, before you ask, there is no chance in hell that I will be posting these pictures anywhere on the internet. It would probably be deemed an act of terrorism and I can't deal with being arrested right now.

Here is one that is still uncomfortable for me to look at, but doesn't make me want to gouge my eyes out with #2 pencils:

Here's one at Noah's first Christmas. I was still carrying a lot of baby weight. And other various fatness weight. At this point, I was tippin' the scales at 175lbs. I won't show the pictures from just after I had Noah, but I will reveal the horrifying truth that I weight 204lbs at my heaviest before I gave birth.

Here is one from about a year later. I had been trying to lose weight by walking and lifting weights at home. I wanted to get into better shape, but at that point I felt like I'd hit a wall and didn't know how to get past it.

I weighed around 155 lbs.

This is me now:

At the last NAGA I went to. I weighed in at 129 lbs.

At the Miami Open

For Halloween

The one good thing about seeing how overweight I was is that I can see how much my physical health has improved since I started bjj. It's more than just the number on the scale.My body works better. I feel better. And I have learned some awesome Jiu-Jitsu on top of it

I am thankful that jiu-jitsu had become a part of my life. I'd still be a beluga whale without it. I know so many women who are unhappy with where they are as far as health and weight goes. They feel like they don't know where to start. I know Jiu-Jitsu isn't for everyone. But I can also say without a doubt that it works.If you consistently train bjj, you will lose weight, gain muscle, be stronger and healthier. It has also changed how I eat--I look at food as fuel instead of entertainment, now--and it helps me live healthier that way too. If you are thinking about making a change, try BJJ. It's not a diet. It's a lifestyle change.

It works.

In Case Your Friday Isn't Random Enough

2011-11-11T12:59:00.003-08:00

Good news! I've got your random right here!

Random Topic #1
Have you hear of Hyperbole and a Half? If you have, you get one gold Allie star. If not, you will lose a gold star unless you immediately go look at it. Georgette introduced this internet gem to me via her fantasmic blog. Today, this amazing cartoon illustrates my life. I have fallen way behind in every area except those that are absolutely essential. In case you were wondering, BJJ falls into the "absolutely essential" category along with other things like: feeding my child, taking regular showers and making sure I have enough coffee to last me the week.

But I miss blogging. Especially when so many fun things have been happening that would talk about if I weren't falling horrendously below my median productivity line. Anyway, here is one of said fun things:

If you are my friend on Facebook, then you have already been spammed with the news that Fabio won gold in his division at the No-Gi World's Championship in California a couple weekends ago. Go Fabio!

Random Topic #2:
An interesting topic came up as a result of Fabio winning at the No-Gi Worlds. He won gold at the PanAms last year, which is a gi only competition. A local MMA school in our area was talking about how Fabio was good in gi, but wouldn't be able to hang in no-gi. Now I guess that debate has been put to rest, at least for Fabio.

For me, training primarily gi has helped me develop my technique a lot. I do have to actively practice no-gi grips (neck and biceps, for example, instead of sleeve and lapel), but I would take the risk in saying it is much easier to train gi all the time and transition to no-gi than the other way around. Liam did a post about this a few weeks ago.

He said, "What they never count on, however, when they venture into the world of gi jiu jitsu is that grapplers with a comparable experience in the gi have their own tools to make the no-gi levers obsolete or at least less effective. Suddenly, their trusted cross face is just a little weaker. They smile giddy as they suddenly have gi pants to grab to pass the guard with their heads driving low only to get caught in a loop choke or swept with a leg lasso spider guard sweep. Every single session you learn in the gi you learn grips and grip breaking (or at least you should) and they afford you an offensive and defensive advantage that cannot be ignored. "

Here are my observations: When I grapple in no-gi, it seems that speed and strength play more of an active roll than they do when a gi is involved. Sure, there are some things that don't translate from gi to no-gi if the person you are grappling is shirtless--like collar chokes--but I think that training with a gi makes you think more about things like your base--since you have so many handles on your body thanks to the gi that make sweeping easier--and like breaking guard--because again, the handles mean the person has a tighter hold on you. You have to be more aware of sneaky submissions, like the loop choke Liam mentioned, as well as the more traditional submissions you will across the board.

Of course, I might be biased (just a little) since I go to a school where people primarily train in gi. What do you think?

Random Topic #3:

Apparently, I give people death glares pretty regularly when I am driving. A friend of mine, Lucky, who trains with me said that he saw me driving and honked at me and that I looked at him like I wanted to kill him and kept driving. I apologize for the stankness. My face shows everything that I am thinking. And at that moment, I was thinking unpleasant things about the unknown person honking in my general direction.

Here is an example of my rage face. I'm dressed up for Halloween--80's costume--and though I'm not really sure what is going on here, but I was unhappy:

You may notice a resemblance to this:

I do it in the grocery store too. Or when I am walking quickly somewhere. Or when I am grappling. Basically, if I am on a mission, I will probably not see you in my peripheral vision. And, if you call out to me, I might not hear you. If you then try to touch me to get my attention, or honk at me, I will likely turn and glare at you for a few seconds until I realize that I know you and that you have not been sent to stop me from accomplishing my mission.

The worst is when I am on a mission and I am in the zone--we're talking deep in the zone, I have been starving for hours and I am about to get my grilled-stuffed chicken burrito from Taco Bell type of in the zone--and someone walks by me and smiles like they know me. I don't realize that they smiled at me like they know me until just enough time has passed for them to think that I shunned them, or worse, that I hate them with the heat of a thousand suns. It is too late for me to recover, mostly because I am not sure if I actually know this person or not. And, since they are already offended by my previous stankness, I cannot add insult to injury with an exploratory conversation aimed at discovering if I actually know this person or not.

The ironic thing is that when I actually need my rage face--like, say, at a tournament--I cannot muster it to save my life. When I try, I end up looking either terrified or very, very ill.

Epic fail.

Hey, Sometimes Social Networking Is Actually Useful!

2011-10-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

We had a visitor at our Women's Class tonight, Monica Holley, all the way from Okinawa, Japan. She has been reading my blog for a while and, when she knew she would be in Florida, emailed me about coming to class. We are so glad she did! Yay for my blog finally being useful for something! LOL

Monica is competing in her first tournament coming up in December and she wanted to have the chance to grapple some other girls.It was great to get the perspective of someone who trains BJJ in another country. And, after meeting so many people this past weekend at the Open and then getting to train with Monica tonight, I am feeling so lucky to be a part of a community of women who are untied by a love for the sport and for fellowship with friends. I am kicking myself that I forgot to take pictures tonight!

We worked on half guard--both top and bottom--during the class because that is the position that gave me the most headaches in my first two tournaments. We also played Team A, Team B...again. LOL The younger girls beg to play this game every class. Poor Stephanie has her broken nose and had to fend off a bunch of people going bananas all around her. I was dealing with a few injuries too, so I had to get creative to keep from getting overwhelmed by all the crazy girls! They did great, though, and it was fun.

Monica, I hope you had fun visiting us tonight and we wish you good luck at your upcoming tournament and hope that you have safe travels back home!

2011 Miami Open

2011-10-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

Team Fabio Novaes went to the Miami Open this past weekend. We had a blast! Here's a shot of four of Fabio's "Bear Traps" getting ready to head out.

This was my first IBJJF tournament, and it was definitely a different experience than any other tournament I have been to. First of all, I was impressed by how organized everything was. I was able to see my bracket before I even got to the tournament. They ran a pretty tight ship, too, with ring coordinators keeping things moving for the different divisions. It was a little nerve-wracking to have to weigh in right before I fought, but I like that you actually have to be at the weight that you are supposedly fighting at.

I had only five girls in my division, including me, so I only had 2 fights. But the girls in my division were awesome and I made some new friends! One of them spoke only Portuguese, so I got to try to talk to her with my broken Portuguese. It didn't go well. LOL! But we were at least able to communicate on a basic level...with the aid of a lot of hand gesturing. Some shots from my matches:

I ended up being able to take gold in my division! Woohoo!

But the thing I am most happy about, personally, is that I was able to keep from defeating myself mentally this time. I worked hard to keep my head in the right place leading up to the tournament. I reminded myself about my strengths and forced myself not to think about all the possible bad things that could happen to me. Instead, I told myself: you do this every day. You have worked hard. You are ready.

It made a huge difference. I didn't have the horrible adrenaline rush and dump that I have at every other tournament. In fact, I somehow managed to convince myself that I couldn't wait to fight. I got myself excited for my matches and focused on staying calm during both fights.

I met some new friends at the tournament, including Susanne Strobak all the way from Sweden! She came to Florida for vacation and decided to compete while she was here! She was so nice, the girls from my team wanted to adopt her. We cheered her on while she won the blue belt absolute division. This is her in the blue belt, below. Congrats, Susanne!

Stephanie fought both in her division and in absolute. She fought well and took third in her division. Congrats, Steph! But in absolute, the girl she was fighting gi choked her face and cracked her nose. It made me really upset because the girl knew she had Stephanie's face, not her neck. To me, that's not Jiu-jitsu. But I know some people disagree. Some people have no problem using pain compliance to win tournaments.In my opinion, using pain compliance is a sign of lack of technique. Just my opinion, though. Stephanie is one tough girl, though! She kept fighting and finished the match even with a broken nose!

The person I am the most proud of, though, is Joyce Shrack.

When Joyce started BJJ two years ago, she had a few more personal hurdles to overcome than most people do. For years, she has struggled with social phobia, dealing with panic attacks and severe anxiety in group settings. When she began BJJ, just being under mount was a struggle. No one at the gym expected her to stay.

But she showed us!

Two years later, she faced one of her biggest fears and stepped out on the mat in front of everyone to compete. I couldn't be more proud of her tenacity and bravery. GO JOYCE!!

Another of my friends on the team, Amy, came to compete at her first tournament, but unfortunately, she had no one in her division so she didn't get to fight. She will be back to try again in December at NAGA, though! Congrats to Brian "Beast Mode" Moore, Anthony, Jimmy, Orlando, Alan, Mark, Stephen, "Pinkbelt" Brian, Alberto, Joe, Ray, James, Brian, Mario, Mike and Jeremy! It is cool to see how everyone moved from ring to ring, cheering and coaching each other. It makes me really proud to be a part of Team Fabio Novaes!!

Going BLUE!!

2011-10-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Almost all the girls at Fabio Novaes BJJ have a Fenom Kimono. The prices are hard to beat, the gis are of great quality and the customer service is top notch. A few weeks ago, Triin, who runs Fenom Kimonos, contacted me about doing a blog on the Women's Class. I was more than happy to oblige! The blog also features stories about other women's classes in the country. Check it out!!

http://poweredbyshe.com/2011/10/10/womens-jiu-jitsu-in-lakeland-florida/

I also have some exciting news!! Stepahnie, over at http://jiujitsunista.blogspot.com/ was promoted to blue belt on Monday night, along with seven other students at our school. Congratulations Stephanie!! Well deserved, my friend!

Erica, another close friend of mine at Fabio's, was also promoted to blue belt! Here's a pic of the three of us goobers grinning after the promotion.

Also, a big congrats to Scott, Jason, Alan, Chris, Joel and Enrique for being promoted to blue belt!!

At Fabio's, the tradition is that when you are promoted, you are thrown 3 times by everyone who out ranks you. With eight people being promoted last night, there were lots of flashy throws happening!

Here are some of the Fabio girls after class that night. You know you're afraid!! LOL

The Boomerang

2011-10-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Fabio's logo has a boomerang on it. It's that red thing under "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu":

When I first started at his school, I didn't realize that little red swoosh on the logo meant anything. I thought it was just there for design. Then, one night, Fabio gave a talk about what the boomerang means to him and how it applies to training bjj.

The principle is pretty simple: What goes around, comes around. What you do and how you treat people will come back to you eventually.

This applies directly to how people treat their training partners at a bjj gyn. The reason why you can have a school full of men practicing bone-breaking techniques is because they have a mutual respect and concern for each others safety. They understand that they aren't there to beat the crap out of each other, but instead to help each other learn and get better.

Fabio brought up an interesting point regarding this that should appeal to even the most selfish grapplers. If you don't care about hurting your teammates--a.k.a. if you have the mentality that "this is a fighting sport and don't whine about getting injured my bullies. If you're too much of a sissy you should quit"--then think about the fact that, if you injure all your teammates, then you will have no one left to train with. More likely, no one will want to grapple you and you won't get better at bjj.

But the other part of this is that, at most gyms, the higher belts have already learned this idea of "what goes around comes around" and understand the importance of respecting their teammates. When they see someone bullying someone weaker or smaller, they remember it. And not in a good way. The next time they roll with that person, they will likely give them what they dished out and then some.

There's nothing wrong with going for submissions and finishing them. That is an important part of bjj (though not the only part, like some people seem to think). But give your teammates time to tap. And don't be a jerk and do unnecessarily mean things to people who are smaller/weaker/less experienced than you just to make yourself feel more awesome. It doesn't impress your instructor or the other people at the gym. It just makes you look like a jerk and puts a big target on your back.

From a technical point of view, I think that if you have to be a douche to finish a submission then you aren't doing it right. Figure out what is wrong with your technique instead of trying to crank someone's head or limbs off.

It is to your benefit to treat your teammates with respect--especially the ones who you think aren't "as good as you". You never know how "good" they will become in the future. They will remember how you treated them, be it good or bad, and will likely want to return the favor. Plus, if you are gracious toward people who you could "beat up" at will then people who could do the same thing to you right now will be more likely to be gracious to you.

Team A, Team B...again. :)

2011-10-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is a shot from last night's Women's Class. We played Team A, Team B again. :)

It was me and Stephanie vs. Hooter, Joyce, Amy, Rowan and Shelby. In the picture you can see Stephanie arm-barring Rowan whilst being attacked by Amy. Behind them is me being attacked by Hooter and Joyce. LOL!

We played another game that the girls really liked last night too. The technique was a guard pass that requires you to get double underhooks and to use your hips to break the other person's hips to the side. A common mistake, though, that people make is to try to use their arms to push the person's legs to the side instead of using their hips to get the person's hips to turn to the side. The legs follow the hips and go to the side as well, so you can pass.

To get them thinking about using their hips instead of their hands, we had them do a drill that I learned from Fabio's class. We split up into pairs and try to pass the other person's guard without the use of their hands. The person on the bottom was also not allowed to use their hands. They could only use their hips and legs to keep the other person from passing. It was pretty hilarious, but they really seemed to get a better understanding of how important it is to use your knees and hips while passing guard, instead of relying only on your upper body strength.

I am training hard for a tournament coming up and, of course, I am working with injuries. Right now it is my neck again and a pulled muscle in my thigh. The thigh one is really bothering me because it hurts to lift my leg. I can't do much with guard because I have to use that muscle so much. So, instead I have been trying to do other things: a lot of passing, a lot of moving to try keep the top position. As much as I am really annoyed to be injured, this has been good for me. It is opening up my mind to different options of moving that I wouldn't have thought of as readily without this injury.

Still, I am icing and heating the heck out of my leg and resting it as much as possible outside of class. I need it to be in good shape by the time I compete.

Team A, Team B

2011-09-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Last night at the Women's Class, we worked side control escapes. To me, side control is probably the hardest bottom position to escape from because the person can be so mobile. We drilled 3 basic escapes. Because we had a small class with 6 girls, we had time to do 2 games. :) I love jiu-jitsu games, even though I am an adult. lol

We did a side control escape circuit where two girls would be on the bottom, while the rest of the class cycled through being in top side control for a minute, then jumping on the next girl. Once each girl had been on bottom side control with each person, they'd hop up and get in the circuit line to be on top and one of the others would lay down to do the escapes. It was pretty fun.

But after that was when the real fun started. Back at Summerlin, Ben used to do this game he learned from Fabio called Team A, Team B. You split the class up into two sides, line up on opposite walls and when the instructor says "go" it is a free-for-all. The main rules are that you start from your knees and that other jits rules apply (no striking, gouging, etc.). But you can double up on people. At one point I had three of the girls on me trying to submit me at once. lol. The teams were me and Jen (another blue belt female under Fabio) against the rest of the girls--Stephanie, Joyce, Shelby and Rowan. We put three minutes on the timer and went at it. As you might suspect, it was chaos. There was much laughing. Much screaming. Much hilarity.

The girls asked if we could do Team A, Team B again next class. lol. They really seem to like the games. What are your favorite Jiu-Jitsu games?

Experimental Grappling

2011-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

BJJ has been so fun for me over the last few months. I am realizing how lucky I am to be able to train in a place where I can safely go out on the mat and try crazy crap, knowing that if/when I make mistakes, the guy I'm rolling with isn't going to crank my arm or ankle off.

Because I have that freedom, every grapple lately has been an experiment. I don't worry so much anymore about whether or not the guy will try to muscle me or whether or not he will get on top and I won't be able to get out. Even being on bottom is a chance to try new ways of escaping. I end up trying a lot of stuff that just flat out doesn't work.

The other day, I was grappling this guy named Jimmy. Here are some adjectives that describe him: humongous, fast, made-of-bricks, athletic, technical, scary, friendly, awesome. Anyway, he could bend me into a pretzel if he wished. But he doesn't. Instead, he lets me climb around and try to do crap. At one point in our grapple, he lifted me up by the hips kind of like a dad lifts up their kid so they can pretend to be superman. I knew I was going to be swept (I didn't have any base of any kind. lol) so I just decided to try to hook my legs around the front of his to see if that would do anything. It didn't. I landed with a thump. Jimmy laughed at me. I laughed at me. It didn't work, but it did give me an idea that I can try for next time.

Being willing to make mistakes and do possibly stupid things has really opened up my mind to different options I have as far as movement goes. Even with people who aren't as willing to roll for fun as Jimmy is, I still have been trying to have a mind-set of trial and error. They might be keeping score, but I am trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

This has been SO helpful with learning how to move underneath bigger, stronger guys once they get me in turtle or side control. I still have problems with both positions, but my confidence about being able to not get submitted while I am there and about being able to get out is slowly growing.

The biggest factor for me that makes these experimental grapples happen is letting go of my fear and forcing myself to relax. Sometimes I sit down and the guy across from me looks like he's getting ready to fight a tournament match. I have to tell myself to stay calm. Keep relaxed. Don't be afraid. Move.

If I am able to keep that mindset, then the grapple is usually enjoyable. If I lose sight of that and start to let myself worry about how good or bad I am doing, then things go down hill.

Some specific things I have learned through experimenting are that, when I am on the bottom under turtle, I make much better progress if I focus on moving myself instead of trying to push the other person off of me. I've noticed that most people make space when they decide to go for a submission and that is the best time to get out. They usually lose focus on their base at that time too and are more easily swept. A lot of times, a person is so bent on getting a submission, you can use their weight being on top of you to sweep them, especially from turtle. I also noticed that people who are attacking from side control tend to use their arms and make space with their hips when they're going for submissions, which lets me get a knee in or wiggle out the side somehow.

A lot of what I am learning isn't about specific techniques, but about timing and paying attention to weight distribution.

The other really cool thing about experimental grappling is that I am not the only one who experiments. One of my favorite things is when I grapple with someone better than me who is also in the mood to do out-of-the-norm things.It usually means that I tap a lot. But I get to see cool stuff I had not thought of before.

I am planning to compete next month and, as usual, my nerves are starting to do their little song and dance. We will see how it goes! :)

I am so happy today!

2011-09-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

This is me today.

I'm giddy. Even more obnoxious than usual.

Why am I so happy?

Because of the real jiu-jitsu that happened with the two youngest girls at the Women's Class this morning!

Both Shelby and Rowan are 6th graders. They have been coming to class for about 6 weeks now and have been working hard. Sometimes, they like to joke around during class and I wonder if they are learning the things I am showing them. Today, they proved that they HAVE been paying attention. I saw butterfly guard sweeps, guard passes, a scissor sweep, bridge and roll mount escapes, hip out mount escapes and even a half guard escape.

They ARE paying attention! And not only that, they are remembering what they're learning!

I know I am being a gushy tard. But I am just so excited to see these girls growing and beginning to really love jiu-jitsu. It is so exciting! I am so thankful to be able to be a part of it! :)

Kyra Gracie Interview

2011-09-09T15:41:00.001-07:00

This has been circulating around the internet, but in case you haven't seen it, here is an interview with Kyra Gracie about what her experience as a woman doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been like. So inspiring!

If you are a woman who does BJJ, have you encountered any of the same struggles? What has been the hardest part for you practicing Jiu-Jitsu? What advantages have you noticed, as a woman training in this sport?

For me, one of the hardest parts about being a woman training bjj is dealing with my desire to "prove myself" to the guys. When you really boil it down, it is my pride. I want to show them that I can do this just as good and legitimately as they can.

The funny thing is, there have been only a couple of times when any guy has said anything negative to me about training as a female. In fact, the guys I train with are by a great majority very encouraging. They want me to improve and help me to do so.

So why do I still feel like I have something to prove? I guess it comes down to my own insecurity.

A few weeks ago, the result of that insecurity was embarrassingly apparent. I was grappling some guys I hadn't grappled in a long time--maybe 6 months or so--and I had wanted to make sure I didn't fall into some of the same pitfalls I had encountered the last time I grappled them. Unfortunately, I was so determined NOT to get on the bottom, that I started using a lot of strength and going bananas. In one grapple, Fabio actually stopped me and told me I was using too much strength. He told me to calm down and move more. After class, I talked to him about it and said I didn't know why I had reacted that way.

He said something along the lines of, "I do. It's because you were grappling a man. You grapple big, strong girls all the time and you move with them. You don't try to match strength for strength. But when you grapple a man, you use strength. You wanted to prove something. But why? You don't have to prove anything. You already have the proof around your waist."

I realized he was right. My pride was getting in my way.

I know some women really ARE put down at their gyms. They have to deal with people who don't take them seriously because of their gender. It makes me angry to hear some of the stories.

Fortunately, that hasn't been my experience. But if I am not careful, I will victimize myself by creating a stigma in my mind that no one has branded me with in reality. If I don't watch myself, I can use my gender as an buffer to protect my pride, or to muddle friendships because I am too sensitive about the subject. I don't want to do that. It would almost be like crying wolf when there aren't any real wolves around.

For those of you who have to deal with real criticisms and ignorance, take a page out of Kyra's book and don't let them get you down. Keep training hard. Keep learning. The proof will be shown on the mat in time.

I have come to the conclusion...

2011-09-07T06:57:00.001-07:00

...that I do worse when I try to "go in tournament mode" than when I just relax and go with the flow of what the other person is doing. When I try to amp myself up and be uber-aggressive and fast, several things happen that aren't good for jiu-jitsu:

1. I tense up.

2. I waste a lot of energy because I am all tensed up.

3. I try to force things to go the way I am trying to make them go. (And I end up using muscle, which makes me even more tired).

4. I miss opportunities to use leverage because I am so he!! bent on making things go my way.

5. I am exhausted at the end of that grapple.

I have noticed that the exact opposite is try when I decide to be relaxed and not worry about "going hard". At the end of most of those grapples, I notice the following:

1. I got more sweeps

2. Moved into more dominant positions (or if I was going with someone better than me, escaped more).

3. Saw more opportunities to try submissions

4. Was not as tired at the end of the grapple

5. HAD MORE FUN!

So, the next time I compete, I am going NOT going to go into tournament mode. I am going to relax and go with the flow. That doesn't mean I will let the other person be in dominant positions. But I will try to use their aggression against them.

On a completely different note, I have been training a lot lately. Around 6 times a week for the last few months. My body is feeling the effects. I went through a couple of weeks there where I felt like I could keel over and go into a coma at any time of the day. But, thanks to some tweaks in my diet, vitamins and sleeping patterns, my body is finally adjusting...mostly. What do you do--besides cutting back on classes--to keep your body energized when you are training hard?

Well, That Depends...

2011-08-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

We worked on sweeps from guard last night at the Women's Class, specifically on what do do when someone who is in your guard raises a knee. Depending on where their weight is positioned, you go for a different sweep. If their weight is centered over your body--if they are leaning into you trying to stack you--swim the knee, block the opposite arm, and take them over on the blocked arm side. If their weight is back--they are sitting in their base--you pull the ankle toward you and hip into them.

While we were drilling, a lot of "what if" questions came up. What if the person is a lot bigger than you? What if they post here? What if they do this when you do that?

Steph and I fielded most of the questions individually, but eventually I brought them back in and told them that with sweeps 1) The person will generally not know exactly what sweep you plan to use 2) If they do know, and are resisting it in some way that stops you from doing it, you should not force the sweep, you should use that opportunity to do something else that takes advantage of their position/weight distribution/vulnerabilities, etc. I told them that if one thing doesn't work, you switch to another thing. I told them that I know that they haven't learned all those "other things" yet. Neither have I. But that every time they come to class, they will learn more things they can do and they will learn to switch between techniques.

One of the girls asked, "How long will it be before we can do that." (she was referring to being able to switch between techniques).

I told her, "Well, that depends on how willing you are to experiment during grappling. Most people come into bjj wanting to 'win' every grapple. Because of that, they only try things that they know will work. But if you can let go of that pride, you can start experimenting with leverage. Jump. Try to sweep. Move in a way you haven't tried before. If you end up in a bad position or get submitted, its no big deal. Learn from it and try again."

I also told them not to take "failures" personally, like I did when I started. If something didn't work, I got frustrated and felt crappy about myself. But down the road I realized that bjj is a matter of trial and error. If something doesn't work the first time, that doesn't mean I am incapable. It means my technique needs tweaking. So, you should keep experimenting and asking questions until you learn to make it work.

The best part is I think they got it. We did regular grappling, flow rolling and the game where you untie the bow from the person's back (since we've been working guard) and I noticed there was a whole lot more laughter and experimenting happening. It was really fun!

My own experimenting with leverage has been really fun. I definitely haven't had a "breakthrough" or made some huge leap of progress. But I am enjoying every class and learning little things here and little things there. The best thing is, the vast majority of the people I train with have the same mind set of moving and trying things, and they help me learn and (in many cases) let me move more than I would normally be able to so that I CAN try things.

One minor victory (well, it's probably a major victory if you are one of my training partners) is that I have been accidentally hitting/kicking people much less in the last few weeks. I don't claim that I haven't done it at all (baby steps, people!) but there are a lot fewer bruises with my name on them at this point.

Now watch, I'll go into class tomorrow and accidentally give someone a black eye. ;)

Unconventional Methods

2011-08-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

I tried to get creative at the Women's class on Thursday night. I knew that the older girls who normally come weren't going to be able to make it. I had a class of two 6th grade girls. Both girls show a lot of promise and really enjoy bjj. I wanted to cater that night's class to them: what I thought they needed to work on the most. But bjj is hard work and I also wanted to try to make the class fun for them, so we tried a couple of games.

First, for technique, I taught 3 mount escapes. One they had already seen and two new ones. The hip out, the upa roll and the upa roll/hip out combination. The girls are small--we're talking maybe 90lbs soaking wet--and, as you can imagine, being able to escape mount is crucial for them.

But when I split them up and told them we were going to do timed mount escape drills, they were looking pretty long in the face about it. So, I decided to try to make it a game. I told them they had 2 minutes to escape the mount five times. If they could both do it, I told them I would take them to this place in town called Rita's Italian Ice and buy them each a small gelato.

It is amazing how quickly their motivation returned.

I wouldn't normally do this, but I have a soft spot for kids (I used to be the youth pastor at the church where one of them goes).

Anyway, they each had to escape 5 times in 2 minutes. Man did they work hard! I was impressed to see them putting their hands in the right spot and using their legs. They did great. Needless to say, they accomplished their goal!

The other thing I wanted them to work on was learning how to get a resisting opponent into their guard so that they could use some of the positions we had taught them in previous weeks. Usually, when newer people grapple, they are thinking more about submissions--either how to use them or escape them--than they are about positions.

So to make them think about how to get the other person in their guard, Stephanie and I tied our belts on backwards and told them that their goal for the next 5 minutes was to untie our belts. I told them they needed to think about what position they needed to get Stephanie and I in so that they could untie the belts. They also went once with each other, with both of them having to untie the other person's belt behind their backs.

I can tell you there was a lot of laughter and creative grappling that happened. It was really fun and I think it made the girls think a little more about what they needed to do to get a person into their guard.

We had normal grappling to wrap up class. There was a torrential downpour going on outside, but the four of us drowned rats made it to Rita's and basked in gelato paradise. All in all, it was a pretty fun night. :)

Don't Move Them, Move Yourself

2011-08-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

I couldn't train this week, so I sat out and watched a lot on Monday night and Tuesday afternoon. Even last night, at the Women's Class, I didn't grapple, but watched the girls. It is amazing how much I learn whenever I get opportunities to watch other people experimenting during rolling.

I had been watching Fabio a lot and, as usual, the people he grappled were breathless and sweaty at the end of every grapple, while he seemed untaxed. During the rolling, they would be going nuts trying to pass or get hooks or go for some submission. Sometimes, it would look like they might get something, but then Fabio would shift underneath them and next thing you know, he's slipped out of their grasp or swept them over.

I didn't even realize that something had clicked while watching Fabio these past few days until last night, when we were doing more flow rolling drills in the women's class. The goal of the drill was to not stop moving for two minutes. If you get on the bottom, you don't stop. You keep hipping/moving until you get out. And if you're on the top, you avoid holding , but try to keep the flow moving.

At one point, a couple of the girls had stalled with one sprawled in side control and the other struggling to get out. She was pushing up on the other girl. Because of the way that the top girl was sprawled, she had the upper-hand, so to speak, with leverage. There was no way the bottom girl would be able to get out just trying to heave the top girl off.

I kept yelling out things like , "Hip! Hip! Keep moving!". But I think I had yelled those things so many times that both girls were ignoring it. lol So I yelled out, "Don't try to move her! Move yourself!" Instantly, the girl stopped pushing and started hipping. This created a scramble and got the flow roll moving again.

After I had said it, I realized that that is one of the big reasons why Fabio is so efficient during his grapples. He doesn't try to move the other person, really. He moves underneath them and either slips out to one side or gets their center of gravity off balance so they go over.

Learning HOW to move this way is what I think is going to be my obsession in the years to come. So much of learning how to move can only come from the experience of being underneath and trying different ways of moving to get them off their base or slip out from underneath them.

I'm really excited about experimenting with this concept. It's been kind of ruminating around in my slow brain these past few months, but I feel like I see what my goal is, now. I am looking forward to putting more pieces of the puzzle together over the next years.

Yeah, I know. I am such a nerd. :)

Also, right after I posted this blog, I went and read Liam's blog. He took the idea of learning by watching other grapplers to the next level. Check it out.

Move It or Lose It

2011-08-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

The Women's Class was really fun last night. We did something we used to do at Summerlin a lot, and that Fabio has taught us several times in Lakeland, that I have missed: boxer vs. grappler. Ok, we didn't actually do any punching. But we started working on techniques to deal with a boxer vs grappler situation.

Last night's technique was dealing with what you can do when someone postures up or stands up in your guard to punch you. If you are in a fight and someone is in your guard, you want to break them down and keep them in close to you, working to set something up. But if they are able to posture up or stand up in your guard, then you need to react to keep from being punched in the face.

First, what we worked on was getting wrist control and creating a barrier with the knees. To create the barrier, you brace your knees against their sternum--knees pointing in, using your feet to brace on the outside of the ribs.

You want to fully rise up on your hips, keeping control of the wrists. That takes away their reach--they won't be able to reach your face because their arms will not be long enough to span your thighs and torso.

Next, if the person breaks wrist control and postures back to punch you, be prepared to open your knees as they come down, using your leg on the same side as their punching arm to bring them into you and push them off center. As they come down, you use your arm that is opposite of their punching arm to grab around their neck, trapping their head and arm between your head and arm. You hip out a little bit to the side (not creating space, but moving around their body) and finish the head and arm choke.

We also worked on transitioning to the back in the event that you are unable to finish the head and arm choke for whatever reason. The key idea I focused on when moving to the back is not dropping your feet to the floor when moving around someones body. Use the body and your leg muscles to move from the side to the back, making sure that you go hips and butt first, with your head and shoulder to the mat.

When you come up to the back, you should still have the head and arm choke.

We also worked the head and arm choke from mount.

A video of the head and arm triangle from mount.

When we finally got to grappling, we had a few rounds of normal rolling and then we did something a little different. We introduced them to flow-rolling, but with a little twist. Each girl would pair up with someone and have a two minute grapple. During that two minutes, the object was to never stop moving. Each girl started out with 10 points. If at any point during the match they stopped moving, they would lose a point. The person with the most points at the end of the grapple won the round.

The idea was to get them used to moving when they find themselves in a bad position, instead of freezing or giving up. Granted, when you get into a position and you're not sure what to do, you sometimes stop and think. Spazzing blindly is not the best option. But I wanted them to get used to using the tools they have. For example, the second they got under mount I was yelling "Hip, hip!" or "Sweep! Sweep!". Right now they only know two mount escapes and two sweeps. But they were able to go to those techniques by memory in the heat of the moment.

They did awesome! We have come to the end of our first month of the Women's Class and I am so pleased with how all the girls are doing! Hopefully in the next month will be even better. :)

Advice for Beginners in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Stiff Arming, Holding and Muscling

2011-08-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, Jiu-jitsu seems to require us to move in exactly the opposite way than what seems logical. We have to work against what many of our instincts tell us and train our bodies to move in more effective ways.

One example of an instinctive habit that has to be broken in order to do bjj well is stiff-arming. A good example of what I mean when I say stiff-arming is what most people instinctively do when someone gets into mount and puts all their weight on you. For most people just starting out, their reaction to all that weight is to push the person off of them and try to keep them off with stiffened arms. Another time when I really notice it is when a person's guard has being passed and they are trying to keep the person from getting into side control by pushing them away with their arms, using all their strength.

There are a number of reasons why this is not the best method to get out from under someone. I'll outline the ones I can think of. If you have any to add, feel free to post them:

1. When your arms are completely outstretched, they are vulnerable to attack. This is especially true when you are under someone mounted on you, but it is also true if you are under someone's side control. Stretching out your arms to try to push someone off is like handing them an armbar on a silver platter.

2. The stiff-arm will wear you out. If you are pushing someone off of you, or holding them at bay with all your strength, you are losing energy that you could be using much more effectively. You can tell if this is happening by the feeling of having "jello arms" or "heavy arms" after you just spent thirty seconds trying to push some heavy dude--or dudette--off of you. Those feelings of muscle exhaustion happen after you've put them through a sustained contraction. Simply put, you deplete your muscles of their energy.

3. Stiff-arming is ineffective. After all that energy exertion, most of the time you will find that you either were not able to push that heavier person off of you or that you ended up having your guard passed and are caught in side control. The reason why is that your arms vs someone's entrie body weight is not really a fair match up.

Another common instinct that has to be overcome is holding. Holding happens usually when a person doesn't know what to do and is worried about either losing control of the other person or are scared of what the other person might be trying to do to them. So, for example, when starting out, you might be worried about what the other person has planned, so you grab onto their wrists and hold on for dear life, using your strength to keep the other person from moving their arms. Or, if you happen to get into a bad position, like bottom mount, you might respond by latching onto the persons arms or neck, using muscle to hold them so they can't try to submit you. It can even happen when you get into a dominant position, like side control. You hold onto them as tight as you can because you don't want them to escape.

The same general downfalls that apply to stiff arming, also apply to holding.

1. Whenever you are holding onto someone with all of your strength, you have committed to that position and other people can use it against you. While you are expending all your energy trying to hold him, he is working underneath you--getting underhooks, slipping a knee in, setting up a sweep.

2. Again, you are depleting your muscles and tiring yourself out.

3. Holding only works if you are stronger than the other person. If a person--bigger or smaller than you--knows more technique, they will be able to use your holding against you, like in the video I posted. So you will have wasted your energy.

Stiff arming and holding are both examples of what people who pracitce jiu-jitsu call "muscling". If you are wondering whether something you are doing falls under that category, here are some tell tale signs you can check to see:

1. If you are doing something with so much force that you are using all your strength and you can't breathe easily, then chances are whatever technique you are trying to do has gone awry somewhere and you are now trying to make it work out of sheer strength and will power. That might get you somewhere with smaller people. But people your size or people who out rank you will overcome that.

2. If you don't know what to do and so you are using all of your strength to try to keep a person off of you, that's using your muscle instead of technique.

3. If someone is trying to submit you and your only way to escape is to try to rip your arm out of their grasp like the hulk, that is muscling. Again, you might be able to pull your arm out if the person is smaller, but if it is someone your size or someone who ranks higher, chances are that your arm will end up barred.

If you are a stiff armer or a holder, don't worry. Everyone who does bjj starts out doing these things. We don't know what else to do. As you start to learn more and the number of techniques and concepts you understand increases, the less muscling you will do. You will replace your instincts with new, more effective ways to move out from under heavy people. You will learn how to do escapes that don't rely on brute strength and how to do submissions that don't drain every ounce of life out of you while you're applying them.

Like so many things, it just takes time. As a beginner, the best thing you can do is to try to not rely on your strength. Focus on figuring out what the problem is (ex: that you are under mount) and ask your instructor what techniques you need to learn to get out from under mount (ex: hip out or an upa roll).

At first, you will feel like you are getting squashed and submitted all the time. You might think the techniques aren't working and be tempted to fall back on strength. But keep working on the little details, and through trial and error find out how to make those techniques work for you. As you add more and more tools to your toolbox, you will start to find out that you know what to do when someone gets into mount and you won't have to rely on the instinctive urge to try to push them off of you. You will re-train your brain until your instincts line up with the techniques you are learning in class.

Leverage and Sweeps

2011-08-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

In the last few months, I have been focused on trying to figure out more about leverage in grappling. Seeing as I am smaller than most of the people I grapple, being able to sweep someone when I get into a bottom position is pivotal (no pun intended. ;P).

I know it will take me years and years of training to really figure out how to use leverage masterfully. It's one of those things that you can only learn by trial and error--seeing an opportunity, trying it, tweaking it, figuring out why it worked (or didn't work) and what other positions you might be able to use it in. Playing with leverage has become one of my favorite things to do because it's such a puzzle.

One thing I have learned is how important it is to bring the person's weight on top of me. It seems so opposite of what reason would tell me to do. I want to get OUT from under this person, not pull them MORE on top of me. But in order to sweep someone larger than you, you have to get them off of their base in order to take them over. Otherwise, they will be too heavy or strong and won't budge. The way to get them off of their base is to bring them on top of you. Then, you can block their posts (arms or legs) and take them to whatever side you are aiming for.

A key detail in this that I am noticing is that hipping--and being on your hips--is key. For example, if I am in bottom halfguard and I want to sweep someone, I first need to get on my side. Being flat on my back when I am on the bottom in any position is not good. Even when I am working guard, I should never be just laying flat on my back.

After I get onto my hip, using the mobility I now have with being on my side makes a huge difference in whether or not I actually can get a sweep to work. Sometimes that means I have to hip in order to get more underneath the person and bring their weight on top of me, getting them off their base.

Here's a rule of thumb that I am going by recently with sweeps: If my arms and neck are straining, or if a person feels very heavy when I am trying to sweep, I haven't gotten them off their base yet and chances are I need to hip in underneath them more.

The other things about moving my hips while sweeping is that I need to be mobile and switch hips sometimes. If you try to sweep a person in one direction and they post, you have to be ready to take them in the other direction. That means switching which hip you are on. If nothing else, switching directions like that creates space and usually starts a scramble. If you don't get the sweep, you still might have created enough room to hip out to one side or take the back or return to your guard.

What details do you focus on when you are trying to sweep from the bottom?

Advice for Beginners in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Training with Hurt Fingers and Toes

2011-07-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's pretty common for people who practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to jam or sprain--or even break--fingers and toes. Most of us don't stop training when we injure these small joints, but they hurt like a beast and can really impede your ability to grip and post.

So far in the two years since I started BJJ, I have broken one toe and two fingers. All of them were minor enough that I could continue training, but they were really a pain in the butt.

As with everything, you know your own body and know how badly it is injured. Fingers and toes are small, but if they're injured seriously and not treated, those injuries can lead to bigger problems down the road that require surgery. Still, most of the finger and toe injuries I've seen--and unfortunately experienced--are minor and can be worked around.

If you do decide to keep training through a finger or toe injury, there are things you can do to help prevent further injury. First and foremost, consider taking just a few days off to ice it and rest it. I never follow the resting part of that advice, but wiser people do. ;)

Another option is to not use the hand with the hurt finger while you are grappling. At our school, it is fairly common to for people who have hurt a finger or something to tuck the offending arm into their belt and grapple one-armed. It is actually a cool experience because you have to move differently, be much more focused on keeping your base because you have one less post and learn to use your head more to grip the person's body and limbs.

If you feel like you can't stand not to use that hand, you can also tape your fingers--or toes if that is the injury--to give them extra support. I saw this video on taping up fingers on the Women Representing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu page on Facebook and thought it would be helpful.

Advice for Beginners in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Soreness and Bruising

2011-07-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

I am no expert on Jiu-jitsu. Half the people at Fabio's have forgotten more about Jiu-Jitsu than I've even had the chance to see so far. Still, having the opportunity to see a lot of people come and go in the last two years, I have learned some things that might be helpful for beginners in the sport to understand.

One thing that I remember vividly was how sore I was in the first month after starting BJJ. Everything hurt. My muscles, my joints; I was sore in places I didn't know could get sore. I was 27 at the time and I remember asking one of my instructors, Mario, if I was too old to start training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The class I was attending at the time consisted of me, Stephanie, a bunch teenage boys and a one other adult man. I genuinely thought that maybe my body was past the point of getting good at Jiu-Jitsu. Mario threw back his head and laughed. He told me I absolutely was not too old. There are quite a few people at Fabio's who are in their forties and fifties and train hard like everyone else and do well.

How long did the soreness last? I would say around a month. As I kept training, it got to be less and less. I still get sore every now and then if we drill something I'm not used to. But for the most part, my body has gotten used to it.

What can you do for muscle soreness? Ice always my go-to solution. I have heard that taking a bath in Epson salt also helps. I've also been told that Ibuprofen will help decrease inflammation. Stretching helped me as well. You don't have to miss class for soreness. Eventually, your muscles will adapt just like they would from starting to lift weights or jogging.

If you have an actual injury--like a torn muscle or a popped joint--that is a different story. Rest from training is probably a good idea then. :)

The other thing that I remember questioning was how many bruises I used to get. A lot of times I was spotted up like a leopard, especially on my legs. If you are new to jiu-jitsu and you are wondering if you are always going to get bruised up, the answer is...yes.

I will tell you that you will get less bruises as you get better in technique and learn how to move in a way that protects you and your partner better, but you are always going to get bumped and scratched every now and then. That is just part of the sport. I usually have one or two good bruises somewhere on my arms or legs at any given time. I've got a nice bruise on my eyebrow at the moment. But the amount of bruises you get will go down as you learn to move more smoothly.

From all you veterans out there, what are your solutions for sore muscles?

Victory Motivational Speech

2011-07-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Stephanie and I have agreed that if we ever win another gold medal at a tournament, we will stand up on the podium and give this motivational speech at the top of our lungs. I am pretty sure we would get a standing O.

Allergy Attack While Grappling

2011-07-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

I have a severe allergy to dogs. If I am around dogs for too long, I break out in hives, my eyes swell and my throat swells shut. It is most of the time accompanied by fits of sneezing. I HATE being allergic to dogs because I love animals.

Did I mention I have a pack of puppies living in my back yard right now?

I think it is a crime against my person that I am not able to cuddle these adorable creatures. If I pick them up and at all I have to immediately go take a shower, or else the hives and the sneezing start. It sucks.

But usually, my allergy to dogs doesn't get in the way of me grappling. Lots of people at my school have dogs that live in the house with them and I have never gotten ichy eyes or sneezing from touching them. It usually takes more than that for me to have a reaction. For the first time ever, last night, I had a problem.

I noticed it after my last grapple. My eyes started itching pretty bad. We were doing cool downs, so I didn't go to the bathroom to wash my hands and face. It didn't even occur to me that it was some kind of allergic reaction. I was honestly worried that I was getting some kind of gross mat funk, fast acting pink eye. LOL

Then my throat started itching. I started thinking, "Oh crap. Who in here has a dog?" Only one girl that I grappled had a dog and it was the girl I had grappled last. I got through cool downs and went to the bathroom. My eyes were already swelling shut.

(The fact that I am putting this horrible picture on the internet proves my love for you guys! lol)

There is a point of no return for me with dog allergies. If my eyes are a little itchy, I can usually just wash them out and wash my hands and I'm ok. But one my throat starts closing up, I have reached the point of no return and HAVE to take medicine because it will continue to get worse from there on. The only thing that really works for me once I start having an allergy problem is Benedryl. I always keep some with me. So I ran out to the car and took one. As we shut down the school and got ready to leave, though, my throat got worse. Me and a few of the other girls had planned to grab a bite to eat so we went on our way.

I had to take another Benedryl almost as soon as we got to the restaurant. It took about 30 minutes for my throat to open up and for some of the swelling in my eyes to go down. I am thankful I had the Benedryl or else I might have had to go to the hospital.

It surprised me that I had this problem at all. I have never had issues with allergies from grappling someone before. And the person who had dogs was even wearing one of MY extra gis over their clothes, so I know it wasn't the gi.

Other than the strange allergic episode, class went really well. We had 8 girls and we worked on taking the back from half guard as well as a sweep from guard. I LOVE seeing the girls starting to put the pieces together during grappling. It is so fun!

This week in my training I have had a blast. I learned and re-learned some things that I absolutely LOVE

1. A heel hook to knee bar transition.

2. A bait and sweep move from open guard (Ben and Fabio have shown me this at least a thousand times but I am just now being able to use it)

3. A half guard sweep tailored for small people where you basically use your whole body against one of the person's legs...and it works really well on people both big and small. (Thanks PP!)

Good week, minus the dog/face explosion.

Passing the Guard

2011-07-14T14:00:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, I grappled one of the blue belts at our school, Salsa John, twice. Whenever I grapple him, he generally makes me work to pass his guard and he tries out different sweeps and different things to defend his guard. He is a very mobile grappler in whatever position he is in, and it is no different in guard, so I make very little progress actually passing.

I really get a lot out of my grapples with him because:

1. He forces me to constantly watch my base. If my hips get too high, I am going over.

2. Having to grapple someone with a really solid guard means that I have to look at it like a puzzle. If I try something and it doesn't work, I need to either figure out what I am doing wrong or try something else. Also, it makes me try a number of different kinds of passes and try out new things I haven't tried before.

3. I get to see what details I have been messing up. I have said it before, but most of my teammates are willing to show me where something is off and how to correct it.

4. I get really good cardio! LOL Spending five minutes moving, moving, moving and trying to pass means that my heart is pumping when time is called. Love it.

Tuesday night we had eleven people at the girls class, including me, Steph and Joyce. Two ladies came to just watch, but I think they want to try it out now that they have seen what goes on. I was wondering the entire class what they were thinking when they were watching people grapple. Were they excited to try it? Or scared by the close, intense nature of what was going on? I guess we'll find out if they come back or not! lol

Second Women's Self Defense/BJJ Class

2011-07-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight was so fun! I am really exhausted, but I wanted to share this picture of us girls after class. We worked on break falls, on what to do when someone grabs you from behind and on hipping out from under mount. The new girls are picking things up really fast and they seem to be having fun. Yay!!

For me, I have been focusing on a few things I noticed I had trouble with in the last tournament. I have gotten way too dependent on gi grips and I need to work on no gi grips. That was pretty apparent this afternoon when I was grappling a few of the guys no gi. I have to be a lot closer and tighter in no gi to get anywhere. I can't rely on sleeves and lapels to hang onto and swing around on. lol

Another thing I've been really focused on is escaping bad positions. Turtle and the scarf hold are still my nemesis positions right now, but I am seeing some progress. With all the bad positions I get into, I have been keeping one major goal in mind: Don't stop moving when someone gets me in one of the positions I hate. Keep moving. That has been making a pretty good difference.

Too tired to type anymore. My bed is calling me!!

Women's Self-Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Class

2011-07-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

We had our first Women's Self Defense Class last night at Fabio's and I think things went pretty well! Including me, there were seven girls. Three of us have been coming regularly to Fabio's, the other four were new to bjj.

I had SO much fun teaching the class. We went through the three basic submissions that are always shown on the first day of class at our school: an armbar from mount, a kimura from mount and an RNC. But, because this is a class focused on defense, I also showed a hip-out mount escape during warm-ups. When they were learning to hip out, I showed them one of the ways the hip out was used--doing your basic hi-out mount escape. I had planned on going over the mount position in more detail, but I cut that because I didn't want to overload them with too much.

Since it was a smallish class, we were able to go over a lot of the details with all the positions and still have enough time for 4 grapples for each person. To my surprise, three of the four girls that I grappled tried to use the hip out escape during grappling. I had barely touched on it during warm-ups because it was not one of the main techniques for the night, but I was happy to see that they were all paying attention. They also went for armbars and the kimura. A few of them went for the rnc as well.

Seeing them trying the things they had just learned during class was great because it means they understood the basic concepts. They were all willing to be the aggressor during the grapples and weren't afraid to try things. One of the guys at Fabio's is calling the girl's class "Bear Trap Class" because all of us girls are nice and sweet and then when we grapple we turn into...well, less sweet versions of ourselves. If the girls from last night continue like they did, our class will live up to the Bear Trap reputation! Well done, girls!!

I also want to give a shout out to Stephanie and Joyce (A.K.A. Mean Joyce!) for coming and helping out. It made big difference to have a few extra people to help explain the techniques and to make the girls' first grappling experiences safer. You guys rock!!

The only downside of the night was that I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures! Doh!

I do have a really cool video of Delilah the Lion Killer--known by the few mortals who call him friend as Josh Hagan--being interviewed by the local news stations. Couldn't figure out how to embed the video in here. It's funny because Josh was more nervous to have to talk in front of the camera than he was stopping a carjacker! He did great, though. My ugly mug is in the back ground in a few places. You'll notice that I am getting tooled by Ben, one of Fabio's black belts. Enjoy!

Delilah the Lion Killer

2011-07-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

We have a superhero hiding in plain sight at out gym, pretending to be an everyday guy. By day, he is Josh Hagan, an unassuming carpenter and bjj blue belt under Fabio Novaes. By night, he is Delilah the Lion Killer!! ;) We have long called Josh by his superhero name, Delilah, after he made his son cut his flowing locks of hair just before a tournament, leading to his loss! But Delilah decided to use his powers for good this week. Check out this awesome story in our local news paper about how Josh stopped a car jacking using a rear naked choke!! You're my hero, Josh!

Here is an extra tid-bit about the story that Josh told us that didn't end up in the paper. When Josh applied the RNC, the guy woke up after about 45 seconds. Josh knew he would wake up, so he just held onto the choke after the guy went out and when he woke up, Josh said, "I train Brazilian Jiu jitsu and if you try to struggle I will put you out again." The guy did try to struggle a few times and Josh had to tighten the choke again and wait for the guy to calm down. He finally did. But Josh had to sit there holding him until the police came!

In MUCH less exciting news, I competed at the Orlando NAGA this weekend and placed 2nd in No-Gi. My finger was a real problem. I could grip, but any kind of turning to the side of my finger hurt like a beast!! Steph has video, but I don't want to look at it right now because I lost. LOL Maybe tomorrow. As always, I learned a lot from the experience. I may post the video later if I can stand it.

The rest of my team did AWESOME! We had a lot of people show up for this tournament. I don't know what the stats, but every time I turned around someone I knew was getting a medal. Congratulations Team Fabio Novaes!! And thank you to Fabio for being such an amazing coach and friend!!

A few pictures from the tournament. :)

What Do You Remember?

2011-06-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

What do you remember from your first year of training?

What were the hardest things to overcome? What techniques stood out to you as your "bread and butter"? What do you wish someone had told you when you first started? What would have made the process easier for you? What do you consider to be "foundational" techniques that every beginner should know?

I am trying to set priorities about what is the most important to teach a class of beginners. I am glad I have my blog, because I am going to read back over it and remember what it was like in the beginning. It has only been about 2 years (I will hit 2 years in August), but it seems like a lifetime ago because so many things have changed both in bjj and in my life outside of class.

Yesterday I somehow kicked my OWN finger. Hurt like a beast. How did I kick my own finger? I can't even recreate the scenario in my own memory! All I know if that I was passing guard and I somehow kicked my own hand. Super lame! This morning, the knuckle connecting to my hand is bruised and swollen. Now I have two gimp fingers. Both injuries are self inflicted!! lol Check out the most ghetto splint ever:

Also, my reputation for being rough and kicking or kneeing people in the face continues. It is becoming a regular joke. If I don't get this nonsense in check soon, not only will I have no fingers or willing training partners left, but I will also probably get a horrible nick name like Stephen Segal or something to boot!

This must end.

I may or may not show up to my next class with padded elbows and knees. But then, my body would probably betray me by switch to some other method of assault like head butts and heel kicks. Ugggh!!!

Women's Self-Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

2011-06-27T05:22:00.000-07:00

Women’s Self-Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Classes

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the ideal form of self-defense for women. Using technique and leverage, women can learn how to defend themselves against larger, stronger assailants. At Fabio Novaes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, we can equip you to defend yourself in situations most commonly faced by women in a class taught by women and geared toward women.

Improves Cardio and Strength

Improves Coordination

Improves Self Confidence

Enables You to Defend Yourself Against Bigger, Stronger Assailants

Is for people of ALL fitness levels

Does NOT require previous martial arts experience

One Week Free Trial!

Classes are on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 6:30-8:00 pm. Contact Fabio Novaes at (863) 944-3386 or Allie McClish at (813)-391-5199 for more info. All classes are held at 3705 Century Blvd. Unit #4. Lakeland, FL.33811 (close to Drane Field Rd, in front of the airport).

If you couldn't tell by the flyer, I am very happy to announce that we will be starting a women's class at Fabio's and that I am going to have the honor of teaching it. I am very excited!

One of the reasons why I think a lot of women are put off by bjj is the fact that they have to wrestle around with strange, sweaty, scary, hairy men. I think that if they were given the opportunity to try bjj out in a class of only women, they would feel less self conscious and be more willing to give it a shot. We'll see if the theory holds up!

I do think that grappling bigger, stronger men is very helpful. You have to have the techniques right to make them work on someone larger and stronger. Being outmatched by weight and strength is exactly what bjj is designed to equip you for. But for some women, that idea is a deal breaker.

We are going to start classes in July 5th. I will keep you updated on the progress!! :)

Escaping Bottom Turtle

2011-06-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

I had a private lesson with Fabio today about escaping the scarfhold position and about escaping bottom turtle.

As far as escaping turtle goes, some of the major points I took away from the lesson were:

- When trapping an arm and sweeping, you want to trap the arm going over either your head or back and trap it on the opposite side. If it is near your head, you're going to roll over your own shoulder. The video I put in below is similar to what Fabio said to do if the person has their arm over your back and in reaching under your arm.

-When someone is sprawling on your neck/shoulders-- He said to grab the opposite knee and then break your opposite hip and slide through underneath them. I have no idea how to explain this in words. But what happens is either you come out and go onto all fours behind them, taking their back. Or, if they drop their weight as you go, you end up in a guard or half guard situation.

- Fabio also reminded me how to do the knee bar roll out from turtle. I am always reluctant to try this one in grappling because I am scared I might accidentally hurt someone because I don't know what I am doing very well with it. It's just like an arm bar, but with a leg. Don't know why I get hung up on it. Grrr.

Coincidentally, Liam over at Part Time Grappler made a sweet video on turtle escapes in which he details a useful escape from turtle. Go check it out! This is one of those times when the blogger community has really been helpful to me. It is great seeing so many different ideas on how to tackle a tricky situation. Thanks guys and gals!!

Aint That A Kick In The Head?

2011-06-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

I've had this problem for the last few classes. I've been kicking people or kneeing people. A lot. Much more than usual. I know it is common to accidentally kick someone during a grapple. But this is getting ridiculous.

I tried really hard not to kick anyone in the face tonight. Really hard. I made it through my first 3 grapples MMA free. Then I grappled this one guy and my streak of non-violence came to a jaw shattering end. Ok, there was no actual shattering of the jaw. I accidentally kicked him in the face while trying to regain guard.

Either way, I don't know what is up with me. I am not trying to be a beast and spaz across the mat. But somehow my feet keep making contact with other people's faces!

Other than my wanna-be kick-boxing, grappling is going alright. I am starting to see some progress in moving out from under the scarf hold position and out from under turtle. Watching higher belts maneuver out is really helpful. Seeing what they do gives me ideas I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Also, seeing how other people escape while I am grappling them is really helpful too. It is slow going teaching my body to do what I see, though. But that's the nature of the beast! :)

Lots of changes are happening in my personal life right now, with my job. Basically, I stepped down from my position. Its all confusing. I am a little depressed. But I am going to be able to spend more time with my family and train more, now, so that's a plus. It will all sort out eventually.

Women's Classes

2011-06-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Do you or have you ever attended a women's only self defense/bjj class? Or do you have an opinion about women's only classes? If so, I haz questions for you! :)

1. (For women) Would you be more likely to try bjj for the first time if you could go to a women's only class?

2. In your opinion, what would be advantageous about attending a women's only self defense/bjj class? What would be the disadvantages?

3. What time of day would be the best for you a women's class?

And, since this blog entry is a little sparse, here is a lovely example of how men and women are so different:

A man sees a fly in the toilet, he tries to pee on it. A woman sees a fly in the toilet, she decides to go to another stall or hold it until she gets home! :)

Creating Space in the Scarf Hold Position

2011-06-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've been tackling two positions that I find it difficult to escape from: the scarf hold and bottom turtle when someone is smashing down on top of me.

The other day, a friend of mine at the gym gave me some pointers on escaping the scarf hold. He reminded me that I need to hip out. But not just a half-hearted, one time hip out. I need to hip out hard and two or three times. My goal is to create enough space to swim the arm that is over my torso and either get to my knees or take their back--basically to create a scramble.

The guy who was helping me is nicknamed Paddi Cake. He's a big dude. He was telling me that, for me to get out from under him, I need to create enough space to start a scramble, which is where my speed and wiggly smallness will work to my advantage.

Another thing I was thinking about after that conversation was how I need to do better at moving myself underneath the person--moving my body away so that their weight falls--instead of moving the person themselves--trying to use muscle to get them off of me. Still trying to figure out how to do that in a lot of positions.

What is your favorite way to escape the scarf hold position?

I knew it!!!

2011-06-07T13:51:00.001-07:00

Recently, I have been trying to keep track of the calories I eat and burn with this app on my phone called myfitnesspal. On it, they don't have bjj as an exercise. But they do have wrestling. So, I put in 45 min of wrestling to see how many calories it said someone at my weight would burn. I chose 45 minutes because you're not grappling the entire 90 minutes. It said for 45 min of it was only 273 calories!!!

I think this is wrong! So, I looked up online to see other opinions. I saw various things from around 500 calories an hour and upwards. I never saw anything as low as 273. But I founds this video and thought it was interesting.

What is you take on this? How many calories do you think you burn in a 90 minute class of bjj?

Physiotraining

2011-05-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

I went to a different sort of seminar this weekend. Cristiane Barobosa-Timoteo and Giulio Timoteo came to Fabio's to teach us about training to prevent injuries and to recover from them as well. Before I get into the seminar, here are a couple of videos about what Physiotraining is about:

Cris spent most of the seminar focusing on how to rehab and strengthen shoulders and the lower back. I have had problems with my shoulder and I can tell you that already, only a few days after starting rehabbing it with the exercises she taught us, I can see that it is going to really help me.

One of the things she brought up that I haven't paid much attention to is the importance of having a strong core. My strength needs to come from my core, just from the muscles in my arms or legs. This is especially true for bjj, which is a sport that involves the whole body at once. She said a lot of injuries are the result of people straining themselves because they lack core strength.

At the seminar, she showed us exercises for strengthening our core and I have to admit I was sore after doing them!

She is going to come back--I hope!--and do another seminar focusing on other common areas where bjj practitioners suffer injuries. I hope she does one on the knees. Anyway, if you are in Florida and live near Miami, check them out. Giulio, Cris's husband, is also a black belt in BJJ and has a school there as well. Great people. Really enjoyed learning from them.

What is the Goal of BJJ?

2011-05-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Today, a friend of mine and I were getting coffee and she said she wanted to try out bjj with me. Of course, I was excited. So my friend asks me, "So what is the goal of jiu-jitsu?"

Simple question, but one that is hard to explain to someone who has never tried bjj.

"Do you try to pin the other person?"

That gave me a jumping off point. "No. BJJ is different than wrestling because, instead of trying to pin someone by relying on superior strength and speed, your goal is to learn to use technique, leverage and momentum to get into a dominant position so that you can do a submission -- a joint lock, choke or muscle lock. It's not about getting into a position and holding it. It's about being mobile and learning to use the other person's movements and positions against them."

Then, I started trying to explain what you do in a grapple. I could see from her facial expressions that she was trying to understand, but had a hard time picturing what I was saying. So I invited her to come over to my barn so I could show her. To my great pleasure, she did.

Stephanie came over too and we spent an hour or so showing her some of the basic positions and submissions -- mount, side control and taking the back and a kimura, an armbar from mount and an rnc. She was on overload by that time. So Stephanie and I grappled--just a relaxed flow roll--to show her a little bit of what bjj looked like in action.

She liked it and is coming with me to class tomorrow. Yay!

The thing that struck me, though, is that I had forgotten about how overwhelming bjj is in the beginning. It's fast, in close quarters, scary at times and there are so many details that you are aware that you aren't going to remember even a quarter of what you are seeing and hearing. I look at this as the first hurdle--getting over that fear of the unknown. The second big hurdle, in my opinion, is learning to deal with the progressive, trial and error, long term nature of bjj.

But as we were walking out of the barn, my friend said, "I'm glad I did this with you guys here first. If I had gone in there not knowing what to expect it would have caught me way off guard."

I hope she ends up enjoying tomorrow's class!!

New York, Rhode Island and Words of Wisdom

2011-05-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my crazy New England adventure! My husband JJ and I left last Wednesday, went to New York for a day, then spent the rest of the week and weekend in Rhode Island for one of my best friend's wedding. I had never been to New York or Rhode Island before, so this trip was definitely an awesome experience for me.

Me looking windblown and tired in Central Park. ;)

I won't spend much time talking about the trip here except to say that the wedding was beautiful, as was Rhode Island. I didn't get to see much of New York. We only were able to look around for one day and one night. But I LOVED exploring the city and want to go back again when I can.

Here's me with some of my closest and oldest friends from growing up. Robin was the bride. She looked amazing!

Some of the beautiful scenery from Rhode Island. I love Florida beaches, but some of these stretched of rocky beach were breath-taking.

We visited Newport Island and got to see some of the enormous mansions around there. It was crazy! Some of them looked like castles!

Anyway, onto the actual jiu-jitsu talk on my jiu-jitsu blog. Training has been a lot about problem solving for me right now. I can see some of the many gaps in my technique and I have been doing a lot of trial and error to figure out how to handle them. Most of it has to do with transitioning in defense. I know I should be going a certain way but am not sure how to get there.

For example, I've been getting stuck in turtle. I go to turtle a lot when my guard will be passed and I can't invert. Once I get there, I try to either roll out, catch a leg and drive or return to my guard--or attack a leg if I am feeling brave--but usually the person squashes the crap out of me from the top and I have to work really hard to return to my guard or whatever.

I was asking Paul, one of the black belts at our school, for some advice on how to handle some specific problems and he gave me some technical tips for defending my guard differently. But he had some other advice for me about the mental aspect of game that really hit home.

We were talking about having confidence in the techniques I have learned. Yes, there are gaps in my knowledge. But I need to go into each grapple and each move expecting it to work. If I am hesitant, or go into a move half-hearted, expecting it to fail, I have already defeated myself before I even try. I have to admit that this happens sometimes with me. I either don't try something because I am afraid of the risk, or I try it half way. Doesn't work.

Another thing he said was that I need to work on letting my trails and errors just be experiments and not take them personally when they don't work. Basically, I shouldn't judge my grappling ability based off of whether or not a move works every time. If it doesn't work, it doesn't mean that "I suck". It means I need to keep trying and tweak some things. Eventually, I'll figure it out.

He went on to say that letting those negative emotions like anger or frustration take over during a grapple not only defeat me mentally, but they wear me out physically. My adrenaline gets pumping and then I try something and fail, and have this huge energy dump. Then I am feeling defeated AND exhausted. I have had this happen to me several times before.

I tried to keep those things in mind today and it definitely helped.

Great Post on Belt Promotions

2011-05-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

I read a great post by BJJ Cailin morning about belt promotions and McDojos. Hopefully, schools that use belts as marketing tools won't spread in BJJ like they have in the other martial arts.

Handing out belts before students have earned them is not only dishonest, but it robs the student of one of the greatest benefits of BJJ: learning to face yourself--and keep going--when you hit the wall. I think that actually having to EARN a belt helps you grow not only in bjj as a self defense art, but it also helps you grow as a person. Sometimes it takes months or years to get past a snag in your learning process. It forces you to be lose your pride and be humble, to think critically about the techniques and to adapt.

Also, handing out unmerited belts waters down the sport. It certainly won't help the student if they want to compete. They will get trounced at tournaments.

I know it is not my place to judge how other schools do things. But if a school is handing out belts based on time spent practicing BJJ, that sounds illegitimate to me. As Jenn said in her blog, different people develop at different paces. Six months in training will put some students farther than others. Automatically handing out a stripe or a belt to someone based on time devalues the belt system. Just my opinion.

Tip For Beginners

2011-05-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

If you are new to BJJ, here is a tip that will save you some time and energy: Don't try to gi choke someone while you are inside their guard.

Twice today, someone tried to gi choke me from inside my guard. What they did was try to stack me from inside my guard and then use pressure to keep me pinned and try to gi choke me.

It didn't work. Why? For a number of reasons:

1) Their arms are outstretched, in my guard, just asking to be arm-bared. Because their weight is forward, my hips are mobile and, even when you are trying to smash the ever loving crap out of me, I can maneuver around to get an armbar from guard.

2) Because their weight is forward, they are in prime position to be swept, with me ending up in mount.

3) When you are in someone else's guard, your primary objective should be to pass. Any submission you try on the person's upper body will only be exposing your arms and neck for submissions.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest... :)

30 Before 30

2011-05-02T10:50:00.000-07:00

Stephanie made me do it!!

Steph is doing a bucket list to be completed before she turns 30. I decided to do one to.

Here it be!

Hey, if I'm going to get old, I might as well have a little fun doing it, right? ;)

Reporting from Pancake Town

2011-04-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have not been having the greatest success in adapting, lately. There is one person in particular that I have a really hard time with and, as such, Fabio puts me with him nearly every class. I am not complaining. That's good. It is forcing me to learn and adapt. I just wish I could adapt faster.

On of the things I have a hard time doing with this particular guy is moving out of turtle. I can get to turtle to prevent being smashed in side control or half guard (those were the places I used to get stuck in all the time with this guy, so I can see some progress, I suppose). He is very strong and fast, and also is technical. It is hard for me to get out of turtle once I get there. When I try, I usually end up getting smashed or getting my limbs peels back so he can take my back, which is strangely easier for me to escape than turtle.

Anyway, I haven't been having much luck moving out of turtle when I try it against this guy, so I started deliberately putting myself in turtle with some other people I grapple who I feel I have more of an advantage against. I think it is helping, though it has only been a week or so that have been doing that.

Read a blog over at Jiu Jitsu Blues talking about starting from bad positions. He brought up some great points.

Also, estou aprendendo Portugues. Yes, I found a way to use my nerdiness to increase my obsession with BJJ. I love languages, so I am looking forward to tackling Portuguese. :)

Do you expect to submit me?

2011-04-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Ever grappled a guy that is about as solid as a brick house? Ok, now add to that a 100 lb weight advantage. And a five year skill advantage. That's Tony, one of my friends at Fabio's. I grappled him yesterday. Let's just say things didn't go well for me. He didn't use a whole lot of muscle or anything. He just submitted me a bunch of times, which is normal. It wasn't a shock to me, as this happens every time I grapple him.

After our grapple, I must have looked a little deflated (though I don't remember feeling particularly down. Just...vexed. I felt like I was handing him my legs on a silver platter the whole time).

He said, "You know, it's cool for me to see how much you've grown since you started. You don't see it, do you?"

I shrugged awkwardly. It's hard to feel good about a grapple in which you were categorically owned with very little effort on your opponent's part.

He said, "I've been grappling five years, Allie. Do you expect to submit me?"

"No!" I said, laughing.

"Do you expect me not to be able to submit you?"

Again I said no.

He shrugged and said, "You're doing good."

It was a good reminder for me. I am very competitive and, too often, I forget that BJJ is a marathon, not a sprint.

Also, I had a funny miscommunication with one of the girls I grapple. We had a seminar with Marcelo Saporito this past weekend (which was AWESOME. Another post on that later) and I learned some cool stuff. I was going to try one of the sweeps we learned in a grapple yesterday. Got about halfway through it, then drew blank on what came next. The girl I was grappling had not been at the seminar, but I started to ask her, "Hey do you remember...oh, you weren't at the seminar." She thought I said something like, "Hey, do you think you're going somewhere?" LOL She goes, "Are you talking crap?" And I was like, "Huh?" After we sorted it out and laughed, I realized I mumble things a lot while I grapple. And most people probably wouldn't ask me to clarify what I said. Again, it's kind of like the looks I do. Don't realize I'm doing it. I need to figure out a way to zip my lips!! GRRRR!!!

Passing Guard and Other Random Things

2011-04-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

Very descriptive title, I know. I haven't been posting as much, because things have been so busy, but several things have been ruminating in my little brain. In fact, I've run out of space in there so it's time to clean out the bjj corner of my mental storage. :)

Somewhere over the last six months, I have slowly started to do more of the aggressive, top game player stuff. I have always felt like I "should" do that. But I actually started doing it when I A) realized I actually could and B) noticed how much easier it was to control larger people when I was on top.

But grappling in the aggressive, on-top way is not as organic to me as grappling the passive, reactive guard style that I love so much. I still do the latter much more than the former. I wonder if I always will. Don't know.

But figuring out how to work on top is slower going for me. Stuff from guard seems so natural. Stuff on top seems awkward and blundering. Take, for example, something someone said to me in a grapple last week.

This particular guy is a really good blue belt and also is bigger, stronger and faster than me. I was dancing around his open guard, holding onto the hems of his pants legs, trying to out maneuver his hips and either sneak around or slip through the middle. That works with the bigger white belts. Not so much with any of the higher belts. Their hips are too move-y for sneaking around and if I try to slip through the middle, their legs shut around one of mine like a steel trap and next thing you know, I'm swept. My friend deftly pointed this out to me by saying, "You know, sometimes you need to just stop and pass."

At first when he said that, my cheeky thought was, "Oh yeah, like it's that easy. Don't you realize I have been trying to pass this whole time?!?!" lol But then he explained a little more what he meant. I wasn't able to pass because I was letting his hips be mobile. It was a race and I was at a disadvantage. The only reason why I was able to be effective with that jumpy-aroundy passing stuff with white belts is because they haven't figured out how to be mobile with their hips yet.

Well, that sucks for me.

But he's right. He said that what I needed to do was get in close, get tight, immobilize his legs and hips and pass in a slower, more methodical way. So...I tried.

That experiment left me with two very clear lessons 1) Something is off with my base as I pass because I am getting swept SOOOOOOOOO much when I try to be slow and methodical. 2) I am missing most of the method of my methodical-ness. I kept getting the details of different passes crossed.

I found out later that the two passes I was cross-breeding made a really ugly baby. Their union opened up a bunch of space for people's arms to get in and under me for the sweep. Also, another blue belt friend observed that I was "leading with my head too much." We blondes are rarely accused of that, so I took notice. When I asked one of my instructors about it, he said that, with that particular pass that I was trying to do, I DO need to lead with my head. However, I need to drive with my head into their abdomen and, as I come around, across their body. If I keep driving higher up their body, I walk into the sweep because I am too parallel to their body and too much of my weight is on them. I need to be perpendicular.

That made instant sense. He also sorted out which two very similar passes I was crossing and helped me remember the details of each. Yay for that.

Last but not least, there is this pass I sometimes try where I hold down the pants legs at the ankle and literally do a forward roll on top of the guy, flattening him out. When it works, I flip over into side control. But what was actually happening many of the times was that, as I flipped, the guy would follow me and we'd end up in a scramble. Well, the other day Fabio pointed out that I needed to keep my arms straight as I flipped over, holding the guys' legs down so they can't follow me.

"Oh!" I said. "Yeah, I've been having trouble with that."

He laughed and said, "I know. I've seen you do that a lot."

Face palm.

Other random observations:

1. My cat is obsessed with IcyHot and Biofreeze. I have to stay away from him whenever I use it because he wants to lick it off. Weird.

2. I am excited because there is a seminar at Fabio's this weekend with Marcelo Saporito. Saporito, who trained under Carlson Gracie Sr., is the man who trained Fabio. I missed his seminar last year because I had to work. But this year I get to go! :)

3. I am thinking about getting a ripstop, ultra light gi. Not sure which brand. Thought I'd ask around and find out which ones are the blogger favorites. So, if you have an opinion, please share! ;)

Pulling Faces

2011-04-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

So, I have this problem. With my face. :)

Ever since I first started I have made faces while I grapple. To this day, I am still taunted for the look of terror that was on my face when I faced off with Tania in my first ever tournament grapple. View exhibit "A":

During one of my first grapples with one of the bigger blue belts at my school, Jimmy, he actually stopped mid grapple to ask if I was ok. Perplexed, I said, "Yes, why?" He said, "You look like I'm killing you." He wasn't hurting me at all, but apparently I had a look of terror on my face.

Early on, my facial expressions caused problems between me and some of my close friends. When I get serious, it shows on my face. When I get frustrated, it shows on my face. When I'm having fun, it shows on my face. The bad thing is that I A) Have no idea I am making these expressions and B) Probably couldn't keep myself from doing it even if I tried.

As I said, early on this caused me problems. A few people thought I was being a poor sport, because I looked angry while I was grappling. I had to explain that I was not angry and didn't even realize I was making faces. Thankfully, my friends know me well enough not to be offended.

A few of my friends in class have noticed this trait and are now taking full advantage of it. They think it is hilarious to do things that frustrate me because I get my "frustrated face". Or they joke with me when I get into "go mode" and have my game face on. One guy, who is way better than me, even started humming while he was grappling me and sweeping me a lot just to enrage me. It wasn't real anger, to be clear. I knew he was just messing with me because I get so animated (we'd had a conversation about my expressions the night before). So I hammed it up and acted like I was in rage mode and started going MMA on him, throwing body punches. It really didn't help me much but it made me feel better. lol

It is all in good fun, but it does make me wonder how I come across to people who don't know me very well. To be honest, my mind goes somewhere else when I grapple. I am not focused on my face. lol.

I don't really know what I can do about this. Honestly, I am not meaning any ill will toward my grappling partners. I just make horrible faces. lol. Have any of you ever grappled someone like me who "pulls faces"? What did you think of them while you were grappling?

Steroid Testing

2011-04-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this video on Facebook today:

While I do think it might be inappropriate to call somebody out like that, I think Caio has a valid point. Most major sports test for performance enhancing drugs. What do you think? Should bjj athletes be tested for steroids after major competitions?

Tornado in Lakeland, Florida!

2011-04-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a first for me. I saw a tornado. Had one pass right by my house. It was storming pretty badly outside and I was actually sitting at my computer reading some of your blogs and things start pelting my window. I thought, "Man, this is a pretty bad storm."

I was just about the check the weather (I had not seen the news or anything that morning) but then more things pelted the window and the wind got really loud outside the window behind my desk." My cat started freaking out and ran under the bed. Then I lost power. I looked out the window and, though I didn't see the actual funnel cloud itself, I saw the rain spinning around my house in circles. We get a lot of funky rain in Florida, but circular rain is not normal! The trees were bending like crazy.

I knew it was a tornado. (Yeah...I'm super smart. lol) So I ran into my room, grabbed the thick comforter off my bed and ran into the bathroom, where I jumped into my tub and balled up in a turtle position, piling the comforter above my back and head. Everything was very dark. It was a very loud, very scary few minutes.

(This was a picture of a tornado that touched down in Kathleen, which is not too far from me)

When things got quiet, I got out of the tub and walked to my front window. Debris from he trees was everywhere. I started trying to call people -- my husband, my son's school, Stephanie-- but my phone would not work. My phone would not text or place calls or anything. I could not get on the internet either. I did recieve a few texts from my husband, which I couldn't respond to.

He was warning me that a tornado had been spotted at Bartow Hospital and was headed my way. lol. Thanks hon.

Finally, after a while, I was able to talk to Stephanie for a few minutes before our phones crapped out. She and Chad came to the house and told me the tornado had taken out several powerlines down the road. A crew was already on the scene starting to fix them. I decided to drive to my son's school since I could not reach them on the phone. And, after that, I decided I would drive to Fabio's to see if he was ok because we had heard reports that the tornado had downed a building and flipped over planes at the airport right across the street from Fabio's.

Looking back, it probably wasn't the best thing to do to go driving around. Down the street from my house, the roof of a barn had been ripped off. I saw huge oak tress snapped in half. One of them had fallen on a roof. Another had fallen on someone's truck. A few trailers I passed had siding and roof pieces ripped off. Smaller trees were snapped in half like toothpicks. On the main road I saw a metal business sign--a big one--with the sign part bent all the way backwards. Billboards had been blown down. Debris was everywhere. Emergency responders were driving all over.

(This is a picture at the airport across the street from Fabio's)

At my son's school, everything looked fine. Steph had said she could come to get Noah a little later if all was well. So, I drove on to Fabio's. He was fine too.

The worst part for my family--which is definitely small compared to some of the things other families in our area are dealing with now--was that we were out of power for yesterday and last night. But it came back on in the middle of the night, so it wasn't that big of a deal. We had Chad and Stephanie and my niece and nephew over and grilled out, then played word association games with the kids via candle light. That was actually pretty funny. The kids didn't quite get the game. Someone would say something like, "28." Next person said, "28 days later." Next person said, "Zombies." Then it got to my son who says, "Poop!" lol Oh well. At least it was entertaining.

I am thankful we and our house are fine. I haven't heard any reports of any deaths so far, so I am thankful for that too. Hopefully we don't get anymore tornadoes this season!

Stephanie also blogged about these weather phenomenons, if you want to see more pictures and hear more details! :)

Move it!

2011-03-31T05:02:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been some of the busiest and most productive weeks I've had in a long time, both in and outside of the gym. While the PanAms were going on, I was at a retreat called The Walk to Emmaus. It was a time for me to get re-centered and remember what is really important.

Since I've gotten back, my schedule has been a whirlwind. I have been training, and enjoying it thoroughly, but my brain has been so fried at the end of the night that I haven't had the energy or creativity to write anything.

Congratulations of all of my teammates who went to the Pans. Stephanie wrote a blogabout the results from our team. Congratulations to all of you out there who went as well. Wish I could have been there to see it all! :)

As far as grappling goes, I have been very, very tired lately because of how hectic my schedule has been. However, in class I decided not to let that be a factor. I have been trying to look at each grapple as a cardio work out and not think about how tired I am but instead just focus on moving. Fabio says "go" and I try to move until he calls "time". I'm not going like a crazy spaz. But I am trying to keep a constant flow of movement.

Its funny because there are some grapples where I sit down and think, "I've got nothing left. I'm not going to be able to move a lot this whole grapple." But then we go and my body can do a lot more than I expected. It's amazing what the human body can do with a little determination.

One bad habit that I am STILL trying to eliminate is going to my guard the moment I feel at all off balance. Instead of fighting for the top position, I just jump into some form of guard. That could cost me points in a tournament, depending on how it happens, because I am going from a top position to the bottom. The problem is I just really like to attack from guard. But I need to continue to push myself to grow.

I am PanAm ready. Too bad I'm not going. lol

2011-03-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I don't normally go to Open Mats. They're usually on every other Saturday morning, but with so many people training for the PanAms, Fabio has been having Open Mats every Saturday. I have been to the last few and have gotten a lot out of them. I get a lot of great cardio at Open Mats because there is no time limit on the grapples and people generally don't go submission crazy, so there is a lot more flowing and moving.

On top of that, I have been going to T.O.P. Wednesdays. "T.O.P Wednesday" stands for "Tap Out Paul Wednesdays." ;) It's a day where several of the people who want to get in some extra mat time. They jokingly say they are trying to get a leg up on Paul, who was recently promoted to black belt and is the guy everyone in the gym dreams about one day tapping out. He is a scary beast, though, so I don't think that will happen any time soon. lol

Also, at Open Mats, we've been doing a lot of shark pits. The guy who is going to the Pans gets in the middle and a bunch of people go in three minute spurts, switching out with someone fresh after the time is up. Sometimes, I am on two rotations at a time. I get off one person and jump on another one. Or I go from a normal grapple, to a shark pit, back to a normal grapple.

With all the PanAm prep, a big focus in the gym has been cardio. I've been grappling the two girls who are going from our gym 5 or six days a week. And some of the guys who are going too. We have been doing longer grapples with a focus on constant movement.

It has been GREAT! My cardio has gotten a lot better. And, even when I am out of gas, this has forced me to keep moving and pushing through even after my muscles are jello.

Because of the buzz about dieting, I decided to focus on eating healthier...just because. It's almost bathing suit time, after all. ;) As a result, my weight is perfect for competition. I feel good. I wish I was competing!! I mean, I have no illusions that I would be able to go to the PanAms and place or anything. But I feel like I am in better shape right now than I ever have been and would have had a great time.

Unfortunately, there is just no way I could afford to go the PanAms this year. There's always next year, I know. I just wish I could have gone with my team this year. I will be rooting for you guys from home!! :)

All of this has gotten me to think more about keeping my body in better condition in between tournaments. Getting into good habits so that getting ready for tournaments isn't such a shock on my body. I know I can't train hard ALL the time. But the two main things I want to keep-up with are my eating habits and my cardio. We will see how it goes.

Black Belt Promotion

2011-03-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was going to post about Fabio's promotion of Ben Aubin and Paul Kimbrell, but Stephanie already put up a great post about happenings, with a nice layout of pictures, so I won't double post all of that. Congrats to Ben and Paul onb their black belts, and to Kyle for getting his brown, and to Rhee, Thomas, Ricky, Nick and Sam for getting their blues!!

This was the first time Fabio has ever promoted any of his students to black belt, so it was a very exciting and emotional evening. Also, Kyle is the first brown belt Fabio has even had that trained with him from white belt up (both Ben and Paul were blue belts when they came to Fabio). So it was a very meaningful belt promotion.

Thomas, who was one of the ones promoted to blue, had some video taken of the throwing ceremony. Everyone who is at the belt level you are being promoted to or higher gets to throw you three times. For some reason, the sound didn't work on the video. Imagine the sounds of five brand new blue belts hitting the mat over and over and over again. I am near the very end, at around 9:20. Thomas dared me to do a flying armbar. I decided to attempt a flying triangle. First time I have ever tried it. Didn't work out as well as it went in my head. lol

I will say, though, that people generally don't try to throw hard. They know the people being promoted are going to get thrown a million times so they're usually nice about it. It's more of a fun thing. Some people do crazy fancy throws and those are fun to see. But most people just do three "nice" takedowns. ;)

It was a great night. Both Ben and Paul are great instructors. I was especially happy to see my former Summerlin instructor, Ben, get his black belt. Ben, if you read this, I want to say again how thankful I am to have gotten to train under you at Summerlin. You're a great instructor and friend. Congrats!!

Top Ten Snacks!

2011-03-14T12:59:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of people are trying to shed some pounds for the Pan Ams tournaments and have to get creative with cutting calories. So, I thought I would open up a discussion on healthy eating. I am not a nutritionist, nor do I claim to be an expert on healthy eating. I am going to list the things I do. I don't claim to stick to these rules all the time. Far from it, unfortunately! But when push comes to shove, this is what I do.

Some of the basic things I do when I am trying to drop a few pounds are pretty simple:

1. Drink lots of water

2. Up my cardio. For me, part of this means that I try to make every the most out of every grapple. It DOESN'T mean I go crazy and try to get as many submissions as possible. It means that I move as much as I possible can. A lot of times, I don't hold positions where I normally would, because I want to keep my heart pumping and don't want to allow my body to rest. I also like to add in walk, jogging and sprinting intervals at home.

3. Cut as much salt as possible from my diet. Unfortunately, I am a salt-o-holic. I prefer salty things over sweet, but salt is horrible when you are trying to lose weight.

4. I try to eat mostly fruits/veggies and protein. Lots of chicken. Lots of fish. I try to limit --but not cut out--carbs. For me, it is all about portion size.

5. As a general rule, I try to keep every meal under 400 calories. But inbetween meals, I eat a snack that is around 200 calories or under. I don't stick to this strictly. I just try to keep my portion sizes small and eat healthy things when I'm hungry. I try not to deprive myself too much. If I am craving something salty, I try to find an option that is as healthy as possible. The same with sweets. Otherwise, I am tempted to binge when the cravings become too much! lol When I am trying to lose weight over time, I aim for around 1600 calories a day. If I am actually cutting -- losing weight that I don't intend to keep off -- it drops down to around 1200 calories, and then even less the week before the tournament. But I am not good at being disciplined about cutting, so if I know I need to lose for a tournament, I try to start as far out as possible and lose the weight slowly.

6. Even though I am no expert, I know there is more to food than just how many calories are in it. I try to pick foods that do double duty -- low calorie but also rich in vitamins, protein, fiber, etc.

My Top Ten Favorite Snacks (from lowest calories to highest).

1. Popcorn – One bag popped 50 calories

2. ½ Cup Unsweetened Applesauce – 52 calories

3. One Borden Part-Skim Mozzarella String Cheese – 70 calories

4. One Cup Strawberry Applesauce – 80 calories

5. Small Veggie Plate and Ranch – 90 calories
- Celery Stalk cut into fourths – 5 calories
- Five baby carrots – Around 35 calories
- Five grape tomatoes – 10 calories
- Marketside Low fat Buttermilk Ranch dressing (2 tsp) – 40 calories

6. Rice Cake Pizza – 159 calories
- White Cheddar Rice Cake – 45 calories
- Teaspoon of pesto – 58 calories
- Sprinkle of Mozzarella cheese – 30 calories
- 2 Tomato slices – 10 calories
- 3 onion slices – 16 calories

7. Lowfat Yogurt and Granola – 180 calories
- One cup “Great Value” Banana Cream Pie Yogurt – 80 calories
- A teaspoon of Craisins – Around 30 calories
- 1/8 of a cup Bear Naked granola – 70 calories

8. Hummus and Pita Chips -- 200 calories
- 10 Stacy’s Pita Chips – 130 calories
- 2 tbsp Sabra Spinich and artichoke hummus – 70 calories

9. Sweet Trail Mix (I usually eat less than one serving. Just kind of pick at it.) – 293 calories
- ¼ cup mixed berries – 130 calories
- 1/8 cup yogurt covered raisins – 93 calories
- 1/8 cup Bear Naked granola – 70

10. Salty Trail Mix – (About a ½ cup. Same as the sweet mix. I don't usually eat a whole serving.) – 300 calories
- ¼ cup mixed nuts – 170 calories
- ¼ cup Mixed dried berries – 130 calories

What are your go-to snacks? What secret, easy recipes do you rely on? How do you change your exercise habits when you are trying to shed pounds for tournaments? Good luck to everyone in their last week of training for the PanAms! Wish I could be there with you guys!!

Grappling and BJJ tips. The Part-Time Grappler.: BJJ / Grappling News! BJJ app for the iPhone - Int...

2011-03-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

Good morning, blogosphere! Stumbled across something on Liam's page that I thought you techies might be interested in. Ever wish you had a quality BJJ app for your iPhone? Yeah...they've got that now. Check it out via the link to Liam's blog below! ;)

Grappling and BJJ tips. The Part-Time Grappler.: BJJ / Grappling News! BJJ app for the iPhone - Int...: "As promised earlier (well, half a day late but still!) I have big, huge, ginormus news! As soon as I posted on the Part Time Grappler and o..."

What's The Difference?

2011-03-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Something I have been wondering about lately is what the difference is between a good white belt and a blue belt. I know that the determination of who is a white belt or a blue belt is completely in the hands of their instructor. But I want to know from you higher belts, what is your understanding of what the difference is between a good white belt and a blue belt.

Just wondering. :)

Dedication

2011-03-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

If you had an illness or an injury that prevented you from training, how long would you wait before you gave up on your desire to train BJJ? I complain if I have to miss one week of jiu-jitsu. But imagine if you were diagnosed with a disease that had the potential to take you off the mat for good.

A friend of mine, Daniel, went through exactly that.

He was annoyed that I took this picture because my stupid phone refused to behave. If you're reading this, Daniel, sorry it took so long. :)

Daniel trained at Fabio's before I even knew what BJJ was. But in June of 2007, Daniel was diagnosed with Crohns disease, a very painful and physically limiting disease. After a major flare up in 2009, Daniel was sidelined for almost two years.

Ever since I began at Fabio's, Daniel has been there. He wasn't grappling, but he always came to class and watched from the wall, supporting his teammates and soaking up the technique as much as he could without actually drilling. For nineteen months he waited patiently, hoping the medicines he was taking would bring him to the point where he could have the surgery he needed to get him back to his career and back on the mat.

A few months ago, he got the news that he would be able to have the surgery. And now, almost two years after Daniel had to stop training, he is back in the gym. He got in his first grapples on Monday night and will be bringing the ruckus again tomorrow. Other than being tired and a little sore from his first day back to grappling, he said he's doing well and is just glad to be able to grapple again.

I asked Daniel if he ever got to the point where he thought about quitting BJJ for good. His simple response was, "Never." When I followed up with the question of why BJJ had such a powerful hold on him, he described the feeling that I and so many of us have had about the sport. He said, "The biggest number one thing was that I just love it. I love the comraderie, the competition. The brotherhood. That it's a lifestyle, a philosophy."

I've had conversations with several of my friends about why BJJ is so addicting, and I can't narrow it down to any one reason. There is something intensely emotional about the sport that keeps us all thirsty for one more class, one more grapple. We all go through so many of the same challenges and are forced to face ourselves when we hit the wall or when we succeed. The team becomes so much more than just a group of guys and girls trying to figure out techniques. It becomes a big, sometimes dysfunctional, always entertaining family.

Anyway, I want to say kudos to Daniel for sticking it out. Glad you didn't give up. And welcome back!! :)

Humility

2011-02-27T04:49:00.001-08:00

What do black belts normally do when it is time for them to get a stripe? I have only ever been a part of one school, with one black belt and all I know is that his recent promotion to third stripe left an impression on me.

Fabio been a black belt for 9 years now. As I understand it, you get one stripe every three years for the first three degrees after you get your black belt. Then it bumps up to five years for a while and then seven, I think. Stephanie was telling me all the details last night and it is more complicated than I care to process in the pre-coffee hours of a Sunday morning.

Last week, Fabio hit his 9 year anniversary of becoming a black belt. He was standing around in the office with some of the guys from class and he just put on his new stripe. No fanfare. No announcement. Not even in front of the school. He just put it on and went out to teach class like normal.

Of course, the guys didn't let him get away with that. They cheered for him and congratulated him when people were lined up after class. He said thank you and that was pretty much it. I wouldn't have even known about it if some of the guys who saw him put the stripe on hadn't told me. I don't know if part of the reason there wasn't more done about it is because his teacher, Marcelo Saporito, lives in Brazil and isn't around to stripe him. But I think it goes deeper than that.

I want to brag about my instructor for a minute. I can do that without being a suck-up on here because I know Fabio doesn't read this blog. lol.

He always tells us it isn't about the belt or the amount of stripes on it. He doesn't just say that, though. He really doesn't make that his focus. I am sure he is proud to have earned his third stripe.

But for him, jiu-jitsu is about his team. He lights up when he talks about his students. He puts tons of hours outside of his regular classes into the people who are a part of his school. He is not just our instructor. Everyone knows that he will be there in a heartbeat if we need him for anything, Jiu-jitsu related or not. At the school, he doesn't let us call him sensei or master or anything like that. He just wants to be called Fabio, because he doesn't want to make it about him. It's funny because I think the guys in our school respect Fabio more because he doesn't demand respect. He earns it from everyone he meets. On top of that, the bjj that he teaches is top notch.

I have heard stories about schools where that black belt doesn't even grapple or when he does grapple he just submits the garbage out of everyone. When Fabio grapples, he doesn't destroy us and submit us a thousand times (though that is a little different when he is training for pan ams). He moves and lets us try stuff--then catches us off balance and dumps us over on our butts.

My point is, Fabio's gym is one of the most relaxing places I can go because of the humble, family-type mentality that he demonstrates both on and off the mat. So, even though you won't see this, congratulations on your third stripe, Fabio. I hope I will have the privilege of seeing you earn many, many more.

Reverse! -- Half Guard Sweeps

2011-02-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Fabio taught us a series of bottom half-guard sweeps. I say series because it is one of those things that is an "if/then" situation. If your opponent does this, then you do this.

Two major things stuck out to me as "most important" in this series:

1. Getting your opponent off balance by switching directions. One of the central ideas of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not fighting force with force, but instead "going with" your opponent and using their momentum against them. First you try to sweep one way, but they block. You be prepared to either sweep them the way that they are pushing or to take advantage of whatever space they are making. Instead of trying to force something, go another way. And then another way. And then another way. You keep switching directions until you catch them off balance and then take them over.

I used to waste a lot of energy trying to force sweeps to happen. Now, I try to be more patient and to keep moving. Sometimes it takes a while to actually get the sweep, especially if the person is bigger. Sometimes I don't even get the sweep, but instead have to use the space created by the sweep attempt to return to my guard.

The important thing I am learning is to go with my opponent and use their movement and weight distribution to my advantage as much as possible.

2. Bringing your opponent on top of you. For a long time, this seemed counter productive to me, especially if my opponent was heavier than me. How would bringing their weight on top of me help?

I am only just starting to understand how to do this with bigger people, but the benefits I see so far are that(1)it removes the effectiveness of their posts. Their weight is on you, not on their arms or legs and (2)when you bring the person on top of you, they have to go where your body goes. If I bring someone on top of me and turn my body to the side, they will fall off to the side.

Other random things I noticed that are important with half guard sweeps:

1. Hipping into the person or diving under the person (in order to bring the person on top of you).

2. Using your knees to pinch the leg and help bring the person up on top of you and then over.

3. NOT using arm strength, but instead using arms to remove bases or swim things.

4. UNDERHOOKS!! :)

I think for the next month or so, I would like to focus on trying to get better at half guard sweeps and side control escapes; especially side control escapes from the scarf hold. We'll see how it goes.

What is Brazilian Jiu-jitsu?

2011-02-23T04:07:00.000-08:00

Check out this awesome video of Fabio explaining what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is.

This really explains a lot about Fabio's philosophy of BJJ. It's not about strength. It's not about size. It's about leverage, momentum and flow.

One of the things he said in the video is that he doesn't want to hurt the people he grapples physically, he wants to "hurt them inside" to make them take a look at themselves. I have experienced this under Fabio. He makes you face challenges that you hate. He puts you with people who can just pick apart your game and frustrate you. He doesn't say much about it, beyond a little encouragement. He makes you work through it. That approach has forced me to grow so much--not only in bjj but as a person--over the last year and a half.

By the way, I am in this video at one point (in the background) but I was only able to grapple with one arm because I hurt the other one at NAGA. That's why I am scooting around weirdly. lol Hope you enjoyed the video!

NAGA 2011

2011-02-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

Warning: This is a looooong story. If you only want to know about what actually happened at the tournament, skip to the bottom. lol

So, let me tell you the story of a tournament that tried it's hardest to keep me from coming. If you remember, last time I wanted to go to a tournament, my neck was giving me major problems. I still have problems with it from time to time, but it's manageable. But add onto that these minor injuries: a finger that was injured on an exercise ball and refuses to heal up, a knee that got tweaked in class two weeks ago and a rib that got popped under another one (but came right back out) that same week. I was beat the crap up. But I was STILL going to compete!!

My house has been a wreck the last 6 months because of a pipe that broke behind my kitchen sink. We've gutted the kitchen and master bedroom. Everything is so close to being done, but we have Noah's birthday here next weekend, so I am going to have to be Wonder Woman to get everything done by then. I was tempted not to compete because of that. But I went anyway!!

Also, very few people from our gym decided to do this competition. Everyone is training for PanAms. And my instructor was reffing this tournament, which meant I probably wasn't going to have a coach during my matches. I wasn't sure if my husband would be able to make it and none of my close friends from the school were going. But I decided to go anyway.

Only one guy from the Lakeland school that I knew of was going, so I convinced him to let me ride up with him. Who was it? THE VERY SAME GUY I HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT ON HERE!! lol. It's a guy I have been so frustrated with during grappling because he is so strong and because I absolutely cannot get out of bottom half guard once he gets me in it.

That actually turned out to be a good thing. We talked about a lot of stuff (It was a 3 hour drive) and I apologized for having such a poor attitude while I grappled him. I told him I had nothing personal against him, that I was just getting frustrated because of my OWN inability to adapt to his style of grappling. He said it was all good and we are pals now. I will probably still hate grappling him. lol But he is a nice guy.

So, we get to Boca Raton and go to the weigh in. All was well. We both made weight. Then, I met up with my instructor and everyone went to their respective hotels. That night, I slept in a room with 2 other people from our school. NONE of us could sleep. I took some melatonin at around 1:30 am, but it only made my body feel heavy. We had all gotten in bed around 10, laid there tossing and turning until about 3 am when we all realized everyone else was still awake. We talked about why we shouldn't be nervous for about an hour. Then we tried to go back to sleep. No luck. I think one of the guys actually drifted off around 4 in the morning. But me and the other guy were up ALL night.

I wasn't even all that nervous. I just couldn't shut my MIND off!! Every time I tried to close my eyes, scenarios would pop into my mind and the next thing you know I am grappling some faceless opponent in my imagination.

One of the guys in my room had to be there early the next day, so we all had to be up and out of the room by 7 something in the morning. When I got to the gym, I found a spot beside the wall and tried to sleep. No good. Just got up and tried to enjoy the hubbub of the tournament beginning.

At that point, all the pressure was off. I figured that I was entering in this under the worst possible circumstances: alone, beat up, bad cardio, no sleep, first time competing as a blue belt. If I ever had an excuse to do poorly, it was today.

But then I thought to myself, "No. I am going to go out there and give it everything I've got. I am not going to give up. I will just take it one fight at a time."

Then all the enormous girls started arriving. Giants. Oops, I mean Giantesses. I started freaking the crap out. There were no other girls my size that I had seen. Just one tall, muscle-bound girl after another. I laughingly told my friend that it was a good thing I was used to grappling guys because I was going to be outmatched in the size and strength department. A few minutes later, I realized all the girls were wearing the same sneakers and had the same gym bags. With the college logo on them. We were in a college gym set up for the tournament.

My tired brain finally put two and two together. They were not here to grapple. They were here for basketball practice. LOL!! I think that was the biggest sigh of relief I have had in a while.

My husband and a friend of mine, Joyce, and another blue belt who trains at our school who we call Delilah (his real name is Josh) decided to drive up that morning. I was going to be one of the first divisions to go, since I am a girl, so I knew they would have to hurry to make it on time.

At 10 am, the girls were supposed to head to mat 13. I looked at the mats. None were marked 13. What the crap?!?! Then they announced over the loud speaker that mat 13 was upstairs. When I got up there, I saw they had set up kind of a mini tournament in a room that looked like it was made for dancing lessons. All the girls and the masters division men had been sent up there.

At first, I was kind of put off that we'd been shucked to the corner. But then I was happy. It was like being at a really small, home town tournament. Only the close friends, family and teammates of the competitors were there and it was a really friendly room. I got to meet a few fellow bloggers: Megan from Tangles Triangle and Jennifer from Family Mat-ters (who I ended up fighting), and Gina who I think reads some of our blogs (Hi Gina!! :)) who I also ended up fighting.

Here's where the good things finally started happening. My husband and friends arrived. Yay! Delilah agreed to coach me and another one of my other teammates who were there competing in masters. Delilah is a really good blue belt who I have learned a lot from. I was not very nervous. I just kept telling myself, "I'm going to go out there and show them what I've got. That's all." There were only four girls in my division, so we all started talking and making friends, which was fun.

So. At long last, here are my fights. This first one was with me and Gina.

Gina was a good competitor and I am glad to have met her. She, Jennifer and I are hoping to get a girls open mat together sometime so we can all have more girls to roll with. Woohoo! :)

Things that I was happy about in this match:

- I got my first take down ever in a tournament!!! I know, it is a really ugly, sloppy one. But it is my first! Don't make fun of it! lol

- I stayed calm. I remember thinking at a couple of points, "You're using too much energy here. Calm down. Work steady."

- I tried knee on belly in a tournament. I don't know why, but I have always been scared to try knee on belly in a tournament. Ok. I know why. It's because I suck at it. LOL My attempt was a gross failure, but at least I tried! ;)

Things I saw in this match that I need to work on.

- While I was grappling, I felt like my hips were too high and I was leaning too far over her while I was trying to escape half guard. I need to keep my weight down on the person and use my hips to break out.

- Knee on belly. My failed attempt in this grapple is very similar to how I injured my finger! lol

Here's my second match against Jennifer:

Jennifer was a tough competitor, as you can see. She shocked me by how strong she was!! I thought we had a good match and I learned a ton from it.

Things was happy about in this match:

- I stayed calm even when I was in bad positions. She caught me off guard (literally) from the beginning. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE JUMPING GUARD! lol!!! But I kept telling myself to stay calm. Because she was so strong, a few times, I was tempted to fight back with strength. But I clearly remembered thinking that I was way too tired for that and that I needed to rely on technique if I was going to do anything. I had to just work steadily. That strategy didn't pan out for me in the end, I guess. lol

- I did well defending or escaping submissions. In class, I purposefully got myself into submissions in order to practice escaping them. Man, am I glad I did!! I needed it! lol. During the armbar escape, on the second roll, I ended up hurting my elbow and shoulder. But at least I escaped!! The kimura she was going for at the end was frustrating. I could only remember the first part of that escape. It was enough to defend from her finishing it, but if I had done the rest of the escape correctly, it would have ended with me passing her guard. Oh well. That was right at the end of the match and I probably wouldn't have had time to do anything anyway.

Things I saw that I need to work on:

- I need to be quicker on the draw. I waited too long to move after we started and she jumped on my faster than a flea on a dog! lol

- Apparently, I need to work on getting out of closed guard!! LOL I never have a problem with this in class. But then, we always wear gis in class. I am used to having the fabric to hold onto. Also, I was too uncertain to try any of the other guard passes I know. I didn't feel confident in them, which tells me I need to work on them. So, I need to work on closed guard passes in no-gi.

- I need to ask Fabio how to finish that dang kimura escape!

- At one point, when I came up after escaping the armbar, I didn't attack her. I hesitated and because of that, I ended up in a bad position. I need to be prepared to attack as soon as I come out of an escape.

- I need to move more when I am scared. My gut-reaction to being intimidated is to stiffen up. That's not a good thing in BJJ. I need to get it through my thick skull that the way to safety is moving, not hunkering down.

Unfortunately, because I hurt my elbow and shoulder, I ended up having to bow out of gi. I thought about doing it anyway--the elbow isn't that bad. Just stiff and sore.--But I was worried that if I got armbarred again, it would get seriously injured. I felt a little like a quitter, but after I sat down and the adrenaline started to wear off, I knew i had made the right decision.

All in all, I had a great time. This was the first tournament I actually enjoyed competing in, which is ironic considering that it was the one I was the least prepared for. I am ready to get back on the mat and work on the stuff I need to work on (as soon as my elbow is ready). Thanks for all your well wishes!! It was definitely worth going.

Dealing With Tournament Stress

2011-02-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Throwing my stuff together to leave for NAGA today. Last time I competed, I remember feeling like I wasn't ready. I needed a few more months to learn this or that.

Do I feel ready now? Meh. I feel like I am a good blue belt. Not the best. Not jaw-droppingly awesome. But I believe in the skills Fabio and Ben have taught me and I am going to trust them when I fight.

I am not expecting to win. But I am going in with the intention of coming at those girls with all I have. My goals are to make sure that they leave the mat tired and that I leave having given it my all.

One thing that has been on my mind a lot coming up to this is courage. You may have heard the Mark Twain quote, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.”

I am not one of those people who looks forward to tournaments. Normally, I dread them. I spaz and obsess over them. But this time it has been different. I've had moments of panic, upwellings of fear. But I've been mostly calm. I am at the weight where I need to be.I've been focused on refining details to moves I am already good at, working on escapes, focusing on staying calm while I grapple. But I knew a month and half ago when I started preparing that my skill level would be about where it was when I started prepping by the time I went to compete. I am where I am. And I am ok with that.

Something happened when I went to watch my teammates compete at the Miami Open a few months back. I saw two of my most respected teammates lose. These guys are awesome. But they lost. And when they lost, the Earth did not shatter. The universe did not implode. No one lost respect for them or thought less of their skill. Life went on.

That really freed me up from the pressure I had felt the last time I competed. If those guys--who are way better than me--can lose and get away with it no one is going to blink if I lose. lol

So, instead, I am approaching this in a different light. This is an experiment. I am testing myself to see how my progress is coming. If I win. Awesome. If I lose. Great. Now I know where my weaknesses are.

I know I will feel nervous before I step out on the mat. But I am going to use that adrenaline to fuel me and give me superhuman abilities--like those women who throw cars off of pinned children. I am going to throw me some women! lol I am going to give them hell. And then I'm going to make friends with them afterwards. :)

Hips and Hooks

2011-02-15T17:20:00.001-08:00

Today, I rolled with a guy we all call Barf. Barf is a purple belt who routinely kicks my butt seven ways from Sunday. But, in that good I-just-learned-a-lot type of butt kicking way. Today, he reminded me about the importance of underhooks.

I know underhooks are important for a lot of moves from butterfly guard to passing and sweeping. But today, Barf made me realize I don't focus on those enough. He told me the two things I really need to worry about most are hips and underhooks. I need to move my hips and block theirs. I need to get the underhooks, thus blocking theirs.

A lot of times I will start a guard pass or half-guard pass to one side and forget to get the underhook on the opposite side. Even if I do the rest of the pass right, if I don't have that underhook, they are out and scrambling seconds after I pass. The underhook is about control.

Just like the hip is. If my hips are free, I can move. If I can block the other person's hips, then their options become more limited.

Barf suggested that I focus on those two things only today in class. It was great. I never noticed how much I was neglecting the underhooks. Fun exercise.

Tournament Preparation: Should You "Go Hard"?

2011-02-14T18:52:00.001-08:00

Tonight was much better than last Thursday. I grappled all of the same people, except for one or two, and had completely different results. I think the reason for the difference was two-fold.

One, I talked to Leslie about some of my frustrations and she reminded me of a lot of things I needed to remember like: I am still a blue belt and therefore I am still allowed to suck. I am not the only girl who deals with frustrations over size/strength disparities. What doesn't kill me will make me stronger. Etc. Honestly, just talking to someone who understands and who has gone through the same thing made a world of difference for me. It made me feel like less of a loser. lol Thanks, Leslie!!

The other reason why tonight went differently is because I went back to grappling like I normally do. For some reason, last week when everyone was in tournament-prep mode, I thought I had to grapple like everyone else was: going as hard as I could, using all of my strength and explosiveness, etc.

But that is not how I normally grapple. I normally don't try to go a million miles an hour. I try to move as much as possible, but I also TRY to stay calm. I decided that tonight I wasn't going to "go hard". I was going the be aggressive, but in a calmer way.

The result was that my gas tank lasted much longer, I was more relaxed so I could move more and I didn't feel the pressure to be a beast. Yay!

I don't like prepping for tournaments by going crazy every grapple. That's not how I want to grapple in the tournament. I want to stay as relaxed as possible. I can be aggressive without going as fast as I can and using all my strength. Honestly, I make a lot more mistakes when I do that and end up having to muscle--or try to muscle--my way out. And, considering my general lack of muscle, that's a bad thing. It tires me out like crazy, anyway.

What do you guys think? Do you grapple differently when you are prepping for a tournament?

One other thing happened too. Fabio saved my hardest grapple for last. On purpose. LOL. He is really trying to push me. I was so tired my arms and legs were heavy. But I resolved to stay lose and relaxed, even though I knew I was about to have a rough go. Surprisingly, it went a LOT better than last time, even though I was exhausted. Last time I was trying to "go hard" and was wasting a lot of valuable energy trying to use muscle and explosiveness. This time, I still tried to be aggressive, but I tried to focus only on leverage and sweeps, hipping, guard, etc. Not-so-surprisingly, relying on what mediocre technique I have worked WAY better than trying to match the guy's strength. I still found myself in bottom half guard or the "fetal position" side guard a few times, but not nearly as much as last time.

Tournament is this Saturday. Going to train tomorrow and, since I can't train Wednesday, probably Thursday. Then I hit the road Friday.

Yesterday Sucked

2011-02-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon sucked. There's just no other way of putting it. I wasn't feeling it even before I got to class. My body was just...tired. And sore. But I only have a few classes left before NAGA, so I figured I could just roll light and move a lot.

Um...no.

Several other people are training for various tournaments, especially the Pan Ams. No one wanted to go light. One particular grapple I spent the entire time glued to the mat. I was able to keep half guard and prevent the guy from getting into mount, but I just couldn't pull off any sweeps. I tried to keep working, inching my way here or there, but it was just constant smash the entire time. Ended up hurting my rib, too, when he had me in a fetal position with me clinging to one of his legs for dear life. I posted up on my ribs kind of like a knee on belly type of deal, except I had his other leg. I tried to sweep him when he did that, but he just sprawled his weight back down on me. My rib is not bad, but it is enough to be annoying when I move certain ways. At the very end, I got so mad I went into Hulk Mode and muscled the guy off of me (that was a feat of adrenaline, I tell you) and attacked him like a rabid animal. But I could not pull off any submissions. After that roll, I felt like garbage about myself and slumped off the mat and went into the office.

I want to be able to overcome that weight and strength advantage, but I am not there yet. At best, all I can do is survive, wait for the guy to make a mistake and then attack with all I've got. It's so frustrating to feel that helpless.

The way I handle frustration is to cry. It's not voluntary. It just happens. Not a good coping strategy, I know. But whatever. I hope my instructor doesn't get frustrated with me because of how emotional I get sometimes. I try not to be that way, but sometimes it just happens.

I decided to take tonight off from class in favor of having a date with my awesome husband. An Outback bloomin' onion sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Hopefully a few days of rest will help my body get back to normal.

Tournaments and Energy Drinks Part One

2011-02-06T05:39:00.001-08:00

I still vividly remember my first tournament. The crowds. The noise. The excitement. One of my most vivid memories was a guy guzzling an enormous energy drink right as his weight class was called. I have never done that at a tournament, but I have seen lots of people doing it and was wondering what the benefits/risks are of drinking large amounts of caffeine or energy drinks on tournament day.

I am going to do some research, but I want to know what all of you think? Does caffeine help or hurt athletic performance in tournaments like ours? Do you use it at tournaments? What has been your experience?

I Will vs. I Have To

2011-02-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

I've been getting ready for a tournament coming up at the end of the month and I have been doing only two things to get ready for it:

1. In at least one grapple every class, I am deliberately getting myself into bad positions and working my way out of them. The reason for this is because, in my last tournament, I freaked out a little bit when one girl passed my guard and got side control. Then I spent the last part of one grapple frozen in bottom half guard. I was defeating myself because I let the fact that I was in a bad position distract me. I was too busy thinking, "Oh no! I'm in a bad position! I'm down on points!" instead of thinking about what I needed to do to go after the girl.

2. I am forcing myself to change the way I approach every grapple. Instead of thinking, "I need to do well," I tell myself, "I'm going to give them hell." I decided I would not put pressure on myself to win. But I would come into the grapple knowing that I was going to give it all I had. Even if the person ends up out-moving me or out-muscling me or whatever the situation may be, I know that by the end of the grapple that person is going to be tired because I will not stop until time is called.

This approach has changed SO much for me. I don't feel like I HAVE to do well in any of my grapples anymore. With the pressure gone, I can focus on moving and on technique and planning ahead while I'm grappling. It also enables me to relax, which in turn helps me move better in itself.

Last week, I lost that focus and started thinking about the tournament and letting myself start freaking out. The result was that I sucked on the mat. I was stiff and hasty and many times desperate. This week, on the way to BJJ every time, I told myself, "I will give it everything," and I forced myself not to worry about whether or not I was "doing" well. It was not a matter of me NEEDING to win. It was a matter of me deciding that I was coming after whoever I grappled.

This has worked even when I am not "going hard". In fact, it works even better when I am relaxed. I am always on the offensive, even when I am in a bad position. I have my mind made up that I am going to sweep. Or I am going to pass. Or I am going to catch. Not I need to. But I am GOING to. It has taken so much pressure off of me.

I wish I could say that I am owning everyone I grapple. I wish I could tell you that this new philosophy has made me an unstoppable beast woman. But that is not the case. I still get schooled a lot. If I get swept or caught, oh well. I will try not to make that mistake again next time. It doesn't bother me because I know that I did what I could do.

That's enough for me.

Devil's in the Details

2011-01-31T20:48:00.000-08:00

The gi choke from guard was one of the first submissions I learned when I started BJJ, but it amazes me that there are still small details that I have missed up to this point. And, probably, in a another year's time I will notice even more.

I find that I really enjoy when Fabio goes over basic techniques sometimes because I always pick something up that gives me a better chance of actually finishing the technique in a live grapple.

Tonight, some of the details Fabio hit on were:

- using my top arm--the arm that grabs for the lapel first--to get in deep in their gi and break down their posture, turning their face to the side before I even get in my second arm.

- using my legs to bring the guy in, further breaking down his posture.

- getting my second arm in deeper by angling my torso to the opposite side a little bit, so I can reach my hand in deeper.

- Turning my wrists out so they press into the carotid arteries more.

- Bringing in my elbows as I go to finish AND bringing my head in close to their shoulder, closing all the space.

I think one reason why I sometimes don't finish gi chokes is because I rush to do them instead of working to get my hands in deep enough. If I am too shallow in my lapel grabs, then it becomes a matter of strength--me trying to pull the gi to block the arteries. When I do it right, there is no strength involved. My wrists are blocking he arteries even before I turn them out. And as soon as I turn them out, the person is tapping.

Because the gi choke is so common, I don't usually go directly for it. I get one hand in, then try to do something else and go for the choke if the opening comes. But I think that that quick switch is what ends up getting me. I am rushing to try to sneak my other hand in and am not getting it in deep enough. It's something to work on. :)

I am noticing that I am having problems finishing triangles again, both from guard and from mount. Ugh. I think I know what I am doing wrong. I keep forgetting to lift my hips up. I'm squeezing my knees, pulling their head down, their arm is in the right place. But I forget to hip up into them. Going to work on that too.

Details, details, details...

Witch Hunt

2011-01-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

I noticed something about myself yesterday during rolling that bothered me.

For a long time now, I have had a love/hate relationship with new, big, white belt guys. I hate that they muscle me and smash me and scare me with their spasmatic explosions. But I love that they challenge me and force me to learn new ways to deal with their insanity.

At first, they intimidated me and I stayed in guard. Then, over the last six months or so, I forced myself to move more. What has happened is not I am a white belts destroying machine.

I am not saying that I always end up "destroying" all white belts guys I go with. There are two white belt guys in particular that I can think of right off the top of my head that frustrate me to no end because I can't seem to adapt to their particular brand of smash.

But, in general, I am able to out-move most of the newer white belt guys. And I HAVE to, because they are all coming after me with everything they've got. It's kind of a kill or be killed situation.

At this point, I don't have the technical skill to be able to be like Fabio and a lot of the higher belts and roll all relaxed. I can get into dominant positions and get submissions, but I have to really fight for it most of the time, especially if the guy is a lot bigger.

Here's where my problem comes in: not all white belt guys are the devil. Not all of them are trying to smash me. Some of them just haven't learned how to calm down and not use muscle. They aren't trying to be jerks. They are just new. Unfortunately for them, I look at them and my brain says, "Must submit hard and fast!" And that is what I try to do.

Yesterday, I was grappling one particular guy who is pretty new; somewhere less than six months. He also is smaller than a lot of the other guys. Still considerably heavier and stronger than me, but not average beast man. He was coming after me and was quite spastic. He even picked me up like he might slam me at one point--I mean up to where he was standing up completely--and I said, "If you slam me, I am going to be pissed." That's the second time I have had to say that in the past few classes. And this was a different guy. Anyway, he put me down gently and Fabio pointed out to me that next time I need to just hook his legs and take him down. He'll learn if I do that. Anyway, other than that, this guy wasn't anywhere near hurting me. But instead of relaxing a little bit, though, I went after him with everything I had.

He was rubbing his arm after that grapple.

I apologized for hurting his arm. But the whole experience left me feeling confused. He was coming after me. And he was spastic. When I feel spasticness, my brain automatically shifts into "go mode" out of self preservation. What I did felt reasonable during the grapple. But afterwards, I felt like I had done something mean.

I need to find a balance. With some guys, I really do need to submit them hard and fast if I am able. But that's not every white belt guy I come into contact with. Even with guys who use muscle and who move unpredictably with a lot of force, I need to learn to use restraint. They might be out of control, but I SHOULD be in control of how hard I put on submissions.

UGH!!

Slow It Down

2011-01-24T20:31:00.001-08:00

Tonight was an awesome night. Just...awesome. Steph blogged about most of the reasons why it was awesome, but I will reiterate.

We had three new girls and some new guys as well, which is great in and of itself. But the coolest thing to see Joyce, was one of the girls who is a regular at Fabio's, have a break through tonight. Joyce is the smallest adult in the school. By a lot. I outweigh her by at least 25 pounds. She has always been a timid person and BJJ did not come naturally to her because of her shy nature. But she stuck with it and tonight she saw the fruits of her persistence.

One of the new girls she grappled was bigger than me and quite a bit stronger too. But Joyce was able to use technique and dictate the grapple. I didn't see the whole thing, but every time I looked up she was in a dominant position.

I am so proud of her. I know that it has been a struggle for me being "smallish" and a girl, but it has been doubly so for Joyce. Lately, she has come into class with a fiery, go-get-em attitude and she is really making head way. To me, it is yet more solid proof that BJJ really works and can not only give you solid self defense but also confidence as well.

GO JOYCE!!

Fabio showed an omaplata tonight and, after he let us drill it for a while, he called us back in and gave us all some drilling advice. I guess a lot of people were trying to do the technique fast. But Fabio said that we need to drill the technique slowly. It's not only for safety reasons, but to also because we need to take time to make sure we're getting the details right. Speed comes later, after a technique is already committed to your memory, after you've done it over and over and over again. But, most of the time, speed should be unnecessary. If a technique works, it will work when you put it on slowly.

I tried to put that into practice in some of my grapples. Instead of rushing through submissions, I tried to relax and go through them smoothly, without hurrying. What I found was that, while I wasn't able to finish every submission, I was able to make transitions a lot easier and smoother. My mind wasn't so hell-bent on one thing, I guess. It was cool.

Overall, great night. Now to sleep and do it all again tomorrow. Loving life. :)

Getting Stripes

2011-01-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

Recently, a few of my white belt friends at the school have been asking me about stripes. When should they be getting stripes? What do I think they need to work on to get stripes? How long did it take me to get stripes?

Before I go what I think about this, let me explain how things are at Fabio's school.
Fabio does stripes a little differently than I have heard it done at other schools. For one thing, he only gives out three stripes in between belts instead of four. So, if you are a white belt and you have three stripes, your next promotion will be to blue belt.

If you do get a fourth stripe, it means there is a problem, whether it be pride or some kind of technical block or something. Only three people at my school have gotten a fourth stripe that I know of.

Another difference is that Fabio gives stripes--and belts for that matter--randomly. There is no set curriculum to achieve a belt that I know of--though I am sure Fabio has the criteria in his head--nor are there belt tests. Sometimes, at the end of class, he will call someone up and give them a stripe. Sometimes he'll call a few people up and give them stripes. You never know.

When someone is going to get a new belt, there is no test, as I said. Fabio only tells that person to order their belt and that sometime in the near future--could be a week, could be six months--they will be promoted to that belt. He also sometimes tells them there are a few things they need to work on before they get the belt. Then, whenever Fabio decides they are ready, Fabio holds a belt promotion and they get their belt.

The reason why Fabio does it this way, as far as my understanding goes, is because he doesn't want his students focused on the belt. He wants us to focus on learning.

But it is inevitable that people will wonder when they should be getting a stripe. I have worried about it every now and then.

Here is why I have decided it doesn't matter and why I am glad that Fabio does things the way he does them.

1. The obvious reason: It's not about the belt-- "In Okinawa, no need belt! Use rope, hold up pants!" -Mr. Miyagi. Gotta' love the Karate Kid. The sentiment is true, despite the 80's hair. The belt is a sign of progress, yes, but it should not be the goal. The goal should be to learn BJJ and to be able to use the techniques and move correctly in a live grapple. If you focus only on trying to learn techniques so you can earn a stripe or a belt, you are missing the point. And you will probably slow your progress as well.

2. Less Showing Off. Because Fabio gives stripes randomly and does not tell people exactly what he is looking for, people don't have as much incentive to do things for show. They focus on learning and trying to get better in general instead of trying to prove that they know a certain sweep or submission.

3. Less Direction. I felt like this one was not a good thing at first. How am I supposed to know if I am improving if I don't know what I am working for? How do I know I am doing well? It has only been in the last few months that I have realized why this is a good thing.

For starters, it makes me think about BJJ as a whole instead of as a set of techniques. I am learning a lot of techniques and movements, but there is no set order. So, I am developing a style natural to my body and my set of strengths (and weaknesses), not just developing things that I think I need to know in order to advance.

Also--and this is the biggest one for me--it has helped me to get over my intense need for constant approval from Fabio. Of course I still want him to approve of me. That's not want I mean. But when I started, I was consumed with worry about whether or not I was "doing well" or "sucking".

As I said, it has only been in the last several months that I have started to get past that frame of mind and realize that I am not there to try to prove anything to anyone. I am not there to sky-rocket to the top of the class as fast as I can. I am there to learn BJJ. And I will learn more and more over the next years and hopefully I will never stop learning.

All of the sudden, I'm not paranoid about it anymore. I know I am doing the best that I can and I am confident in what I have learned so far. Amazingly, that is enough for me now. Considering what a perfectionist I am, I am surprised that I feel this way now.

I think a good part of the reason for that is that I have been forced to let go of all the markers of "progress". Now I can't focus on progress. I just have to focus on BJJ.

But for my friends who are wondering, what I tell them is what Fabio has told me. Don't worry about stripes or belts. You're doing fine. Just keep grappling.

Don't Wait, Act Now!!

2011-01-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

Tonight kind of reminded me of one of those commercials that tells you that unless you call in the next 30 minutes this amazing offer will expire and you will miss out FOREVER on their awesome product.

Except, in my case, waiting doesn't mean missing out on a buy one get one free topsy-turvy tomato grower. Waiting means the difference between escaping a submission and tapping.

There are two times when I am tempted not to go into an escape from a submission, and to try to fight for the position. One is when someone goes for a heel hook on me. I have been told numerous times to got for the escape right off the bat. But instead, what I usually do is hold onto one of the person's sleeves for dear life and try to somehow come up on top. And, what usually follows is them getting their arm free and me tapping to a finished heel hook.

There are escaped where I can come up on top, but those depend on me acting very fast and a lot of times the person may already be past the point when that escape will work. I need to know when that "point of no return" is and be smart enough to go to the roll out escape when that time comes instead of trying to force the other escapes.

The other time I am tempted to do this is when I am escaping a triangle and the person switches to an armbar. If I escape a triangle correctly, I will usually end up in a low side control. If I roll out of an armbar, the chances are less that I will come out in a dominant position. Usually, people will take advantage of the time that I am rolling out to prepare for when I come up. So, I try to do the stacking option to escape the armbar instead of the roll out, which I have a better chance of using successfully.

Tonight, I went for the roll-out escapes right away. And it worked. Shocking, I know. I had to give up "better" positions, but at least I didn't have to tap.

I am learning that I don't need to force good positions to happen. I need to be fluid and move between different positions, not just try to hold one forever. This is true when dealing with submission escapes. I just have to learn to better recognize when I have reached that point.

Slamming

2011-01-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! I was able to grapple today for the first time in a week and a half. It felt great!

One thing did happen that bothered me, though. There is one guy who has slammed me a couple of times before in grapples. A couple times it was when I was going for a triangle and he picked me up and slammed me. Today, I am not even sure how he got me up in the air--it was in the middle of a scramble--but he slammed me again.

Slamming always makes me angry. I mean, I understand that I need to know how to deal with slamming in case I get into a street fight. And, in tournaments, slamming is illegal, but sometimes happens anyways and it is good to know how to defend. I am not talking about take-downs here. I am talking about when the person on top picks up the person on bottom and slams them. In my opinion, there is no need for slamming when you are sparring with your teammates.

On top of that, my neck got hurt in the process today. I have been doing pretty well avoiding putting pressure on it, but when that guy slammed me, I came down right on my neck. Ouch.

But, even so, I can't excuse how I reacted. I got really mad and told him that it really ticked me off when he slammed me. As soon as we started grappling again, I turned up the intensity big time. When I caught a submission--it was an arnbar--I finished it hard and fast, which is something that I don't normally do.

He stopped after that and said he was sorry and that he hadn't meant to slam me. I said it was okay, just not to do it again. I also apologized for how hard I had gone for the armbar.

I don't know. The whole thing makes me wonder if I am oversensitive about slamming. It has annoyed the crap out of me since day one. What do you guys think?

Bundle of Joy

2011-01-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

I have been M.I.A. for the last several days, but with good reason. My sister, Erin, gave birth to my new nephew, Eli.

He's beautiful and perfect. And Erin is doing wonderfully (as is her fantastic husband, Matt). They live about 2 and a half hours away, so I was only able to be with them for a few days. I wish I could have stayed with them longer, but I had to come back to my neck of the woods.

Hoping to get to train tomorrow. It all depends on if I get the green light with the ringworm. It has healed up pretty well. We shall see!

I'm exhausted from this weekend. Time to hit the hay. :)

Training For When You Can't Train

2011-01-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

I have come to the conclusion that jogging is a very poor substitute for Jiu-jitsu. I HATE jogging. See, it's near the top of the list of things I hate right now:

1. Ringworm
2. Running
3. Ringworm
4. Ringworm
5. Persons who infected me with ringworm.

I have never been good at running. But yesterday, I was so annoyed that I couldn't go to BJJ that I jogged two miles and ended up getting my fastest time yet for the first mile. My first mile was at 8:09 (told you I suck at running), the second a wee bit longer.

...Still hated it, though. ;)

Also, I am really thankful for my barn right now. We didn't do class Tuesday night in the barn and we won't have it again until Sunday, so I decided to use it as my quarantine gym. Don't worry, I will disinfect it before people come back.

I have come up with a weird workout that I do when I can't train (which has been way too frequently, the last few weeks). Unfortunately, jogging is a part of it. Or the slightly less evil elliptical. Then, I do a whole bunch of stuff for my abs:

1. Crunches (around 150)
2. Side planks (I hates them too. Mentally adding them to my list)
3. Hanging Leg raises (80)

After that, I do some squats and lunges. Then I go to my resistance bands and work on my arms, targeting the different muscle groups. I don't just go for short, high reps. Sometimes I like to pull back and hold, to really fatigue my muscles before going on, to simulate how sometimes you get tired muscles in mid grapple and have to keep going.

Lastly, I go to my nemesis: The exercise ball. Despite how it tried to kill me the other day, I actually like exercising on it. I practice balancing on my knees on it. I practice knee on belly on it. But what I really like doing is just flow moving on it for five minute intervals. Just keep moving the whole time, to simulate the cardio you need in a grapple. I try to mimic bjj movements while I am doing it, but you can only go so far since a ball isn't exactly the same shape as a human being.

Anyway, that is my workout when I can't train. What do you guys do when you are stuck at home?

There's a Fungus Among Us

2011-01-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Had a great Christmas and New Year. Hope all of you guys had safe travels and good times with your friends and family! We have some weird New Year's Traditions in our family. Everyone flies in from around the country, goes to Disney, dresses up in crazy hats and literally rings in the New Year with bells.

Then the next day we drag our exhausted buts out to the parks.

I was so ready to get back on the mat today. But, alas. It was not meant to be. I may have the dreaded ring worm. On my freaking face. It has been going around our school. This really annoys me because if you have ringworm, you really shouldn't come and grapple. Though, I suppose you could be like me and have it and not know it.

The spot on my face is right on my jawline, near my ear, and I didn't know it was ringworm. Still am not sure. A few people at the school say it might be. It doesn't itch. It's very small. I thought it was gi burn that scabbed over. But, to be safe I didn't grapple tonight and won't tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm treating it with over the counter meds. We will see.

The whole thing is really frustrating because I have only gotten to grapple one a week for the last two weeks. And now I am out again until Thursday.

We were drilling a knee on belly move tonight. The same one I injured myself doing on an exercise ball a few weeks ago. I guess it is alright that I have to take a few more days off because my finger is still really swollen and hurts badly when it is moved forcefully in any direction. I still would have liked to have had the chance to work on that knee on belly stuff tonight, though! Grrr!

I am still going to go to class tomorrow, but I am not going to drill or grapple. I am going to sit on the side in my quarantine zone and watch and mope. Booo!

Knee on Belly Defense

2010-12-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

This week I got hit with some pretty nasty cooties, so I missed out on a lot of class. But today, since I was finally feeling well enough to change out of my pj's, I decided to go in and train once more before the school closed for New Years weekend.

Today, drilling centered around escaping the knee on belly position.

I looked for videos of the escape, but couldn't find any that matched what we learned in class. Basically, when the guy has knee on belly, you swim the foot and grab onto the guy's thigh (so the foot of one leg and the thigh of his other leg).

Then, you are going to block the knee that is on your belly with your hand and hip out the way their knee is pointing. An important detail is that, as you hip out, you don't want their knee to touch the mat. You want to push the knee in between your knees and pinch your knees together, trapping their knee. As you hip out, they will fall on their butt and you can sweep them that way, coming up into side control.

Today was a day of small breakthroughs in grappling. I have been working on taking the back without hipping out, using my legs and hips against my opponents body to kind of shimmy around in a smooth motion, without making space. The movement is really hard to explain. Again, couldn't find a video to help show it.

It's difficult to get that movement right, especially when the person is leaving you very little space. But today, I was finally able to get the movement right, so that my legs and hips gave me the momentum to go up and over. Woohoo!!

Going to Disney for New Years with my family so I will be off grid for a few days. Hope you all have a safe and fun New Years! See you in 2011! :)

Donkey Kick Pass

2010-12-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

Great, great class tonight! My sister-in-law, Stephanie, got to come back to BJJ after a long hiatus. It was so great to have my training partner back!! Woohoo!

Tonight's focus was on passing butterfly guard. We worked three passes, all having to do with getting in close and locking up your opponents hips, keeping shoulder pressure and passing to one side over one leg.

This is one pass similar to one of the ones we worked tonight:

One main difference between the pass on this video and the one we drilled tonight is that, as you are coming over the leg to complete the pass, Fabio tells us to keep our hips down until we pass the leg and THEN break our hip. So basically, you kind of sprawl on the one leg and walk on your toes over that leg, keeping pressure with your shoulder and head while you pass. After your hip clears their knee, then you break your hip toward their head.

Another pass we drilled that I really liked was the donkey kick pass. This is a similar to the one Fabio taught us tonight:

One main difference between this video and the one Fabio taught is that you isolate one leg, similarly to the first pass, and donkey kick over into full side control, with one knee at the hip and one knee at the shoulder. I love this pass, but one word of caution: When I first learned this pass last year, I hurt my toes coming down one time. So not, I keep my toes pointed, landing flat on the tops of my feet!!

Grappling tonight was great because I was able to go with some younger, smaller people, which gives me a chance to experiment with some of the techniques I am struggling with, like half-guard sweeps and taking the back. Grappling smaller people always makes me have more respect for the bigger guys who grapple me because it is hard to keep tight of small people without using muscle or too much weight.

Details, details...

2010-12-26T05:42:00.000-08:00

So, Liam had a great comment on my last blog. He basically was saying that it is good to understand the fundamental concepts and details that go into each move--why they work and how--so that you can build a solid foundation of techniques that you can rely on.

That got me thinking about something one of my instructors, Ben, said to me before I got my blue belt. I was worried that I didn't deserve my blue belt because of precisely the reasons Liam mentioned: I don't have the details right. I either forget them or never noticed them in the first place. Ben made me feel better by explaining that I am not supposed to know them at this point. That's why I'm a blue belt and not a purple belt. lol.

Still, at this stage in my BJJ journey, I am starting to want to refine a lot of the basic things I learned as a beginner. There are still a lot of techniques I haven't even seen yet. But I am wanting to make the ones I do know work better.

Over the last few months, one of the main ones that I have focused on is the triangle. This is one submission that I always was good at catching, but not so good at finishing. The same was true with the armbar from guard. Both really basic techniques, but ones that have little details that, if you don't get them right, make it much more difficult to finish the submission.

Here's where having a great team comes into play. I go to Fabio, ask him what is wrong with my stupid triangle. He tells me. Then I go and try to do what he says on a bunch of the guys. Some of them let me try to finish it. Others escape so fast that I can only dream of what finishing might have felt like. lol. Usually, I have to go back to Fabio at least a couple of times to troubleshoot problems I ran into. Then the trial and error process starts again.

The hard part for me is that sometimes my body doesn't do what I picture in my mind! I know what I need to do, but that is only half the battle. The reason why drilling and practicing the moves in a live grapple is so important is because you also have to teach your body how to move. A lot of the stuff BJJ requires your body to do takes time to master.

For me, getting my hips to move the right way was the key detail I was lacking in finishing the armbar and the triangle. Why has been your Achilles heel, lately?

Half-Guard Escapes

2010-12-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

In tournaments, half-guard has always been my nemesis. I have gotten stuck there numerous times. Even when I am grappling at Fabio's, I get stuck when someone pins me tightly. So lately I have been focusing on half guard escapes and have met with some success. We happened to work one escape today, which I really liked.

When you're in bottom half guard, you block the knee that is on the outside with your elbow. You don't have top pull the knee to you (I tried to do that and it doesn't work if the person is bigger than you). You can scoot closer to that knee if you feel like you need to have it tighter to your body. Once that outside knee is blocked, you hook the other leg with your legs, pinch your knees together and bridge over your shoulder towards the other leg (the one that is blocked by your knee). It's kind of like the upa escape from mount, except you have to pinch your knees around their leg as you go over, or else they will just pull it out as you bridge and get to side control.

I don't really have a favorite escape from half guard. Why? Because usually, in a live grapple, the actual escape comes from a combination of escape attempts. Most of the people I grapple with know the same escapes that I know. So, I have to go for one and have another one in mind to jump to if the first one is defended. Very rarely do I actually get a full on sweep. Most of the time, I start to sweep, they post, then I can either return to my guard or come out one side and try to take their back. Fabio mentioned that today. Sometimes the sweep is a distraction. But it only works if you actually go for the sweep and make them react.

The problem for me right now is that I forget so many of the options that I have. I have learned a ton of half guard escapes. But putting them together in a chain during a live grapple--especially one that is intense--is the challenge. For me, experimenting with the different options is key. I find out what I have a better chance of pulling off and what falls flat. Hopefully it will pay off in the next tournament I enter.

This is one I saw randomly. Haven't ever tried it, but I will soon! ;)

Loop Choke

2010-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

New post on my other blog. Good things, for me. :)

Yesterday in class we worked a choke that you can apply from a whole bunch of different positions. It's really hard to describe, but I'll try. From guard, you grab your opponent's opposite lapel at the collar bone. As they try to pass your guard, you use your other arm with your elbow against the back of their neck and head, feeding that hand underneath your other elbow. As you lift that elbow up, you fall towards the side of the arm that is on the back of the neck. At the same time, you turn the wrist of the hand holding the lapel out. Choking ensues!

[After I posted this, Georgette pointed out that this is called a Loop Choke. Fabio doesn't give names to things. He just calls it another choke.] Here's a video of this choke:

I really like this choke because:
1. It chokes fast. If you put it on right, your opponent should start to go fuzzy almost right away.

2. It is unexpected. They think they are passing and then suddenly they are choking.

3. Even if they roll, you can roll with them. Half of the time, when they rolled, I was still able to finish the choke. But even on the times when I couldn't, I ended up in side control. So, worst case scenario, you go from almost getting your guard passed to being in a dominant position.

Rolling yesterday was good. I tried to do other things besides going inverted, and had mild success. There are two submissions I am really working on right now: triangles from weird positions (like jumping into them from north south or getting reverse triangles) and knee bars. Both are really fumbly right now and I rarely finish either. I've also been hunting omaplatas, which I usually pass up because I have a hard time flattening the other person out. I can't seem to hip out the right way to make them flatten. Grrrr.

Grappled one big blue belt who feels like he is made of bricks. He doesn't muscle me a lot, but when he gets in his base, I seriously feel like I am trying to break down a stone statue. I can't get anything!!

The biggest change in grappling, though, is that I am trying to make myself move the whole time instead of stopping to think. I'm forcing myself to just go on instinct and not worry too much about making mistakes. Trust me, many mistakes are made. But I am learning a lot in the process. And getting a much better work out!

Finishing up some Christmas stuff tonight so I won't be able to go to class and the school will be closed Friday for Christmas Eve. So, I'm going to get in as much good rolling tomorrow afternoon as I can! Merry Christmas to all of you and have safe travels if you will be on the road!

Here's a little something to give you all nightmares for years to come:

It's About Dang Time!

2010-12-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

For the first time in a while, I had a great night tonight. Things just...worked. And man, did I need it! A couple of things that I was just having a mental block on finally clicked.

One thing that I did for the first time was the knee on belly spinny thing. It was the same one I injured my finger practicing the other day. Well, my injury paid off! Because I was finally able to do it in a live grapple against a bigger, stronger guy! Woohoo!

The key thing for me with learning how to use knee on belly was making myself posture up. I am so used to being low on my opponent. But with knee on belly, you have to posture up and drive your knee into them. I thought of knee on belly as an unstable position, but I am finally starting to learn how to balance and use it a little bit. Still have a long way to go, obviously.

Other things that finally worked: triangle transition to arm bar when I am being stacked and smashed (I realized I was waiting too long to make the transition and that I wasn't shifting my hips right before), defending my open guard by attacking with a straight arm lock as someone comes around to pass and a reverse triangle/kimura thingy (I don't know if these things actually have names). These things may not sound that complicated, but for some reason it has taken me months to get them to work right.

But I also cheated tonight.

For a while now, I haven't been going inverted at all while I grapple. I have an issue with my neck and going inverted was just making it worse. Well, tonight I did it. I will tell you, it felt great to be able to just react on instinct and not have to stop myself from doing stuff. I was able to just flow again.

I wonder if the reason why a lot of that other stuff worked tonight was because I felt more confident. I wasn't hesitant, like I have been, having to stop and think every few seconds.

The bad news is that my neck is a little stiff. It doesn't hurt. But I am not going to do anymore inverted the rest of the week. I'm restricting myself not only because of my neck, but because I need to develop other ways of doing things.

Fabio was telling me about another black belt friend of his who relies too heavily on inverted guard and how he is getting caught a lot now and is having trouble adjusting. He said inverted guard is great, but just like with everything else, it isn't the a perfect game and it has it's draw backs, which is why I need to make myself learn other things as well.

So, I will be back to trying to integrate all the new strategies Fabio has been teaching me. Tomorrow I will probably be back to feeling like I am not getting anywhere, but tonight proved that those feelings aren't true. There is progress being made, albeit slow. It was just great to feel like things were working for once!

Exercise Balls are Self Aware...and Very Unfriendly!

2010-12-17T06:44:00.000-08:00

Since I have missed a lot of class this week due to putting on youth group events, I went out to do some solo barn-jitsu this morning. Captain Fail decided to join me.

I put on some music and was using my exercise ball as a "body" and just moving around on it. I decided to work on some knee on belly transitions. Apparently, my exercise ball was offended by this. I was trying to do that spinny-aroundy thing. You know, the one where they swim the leg that you are posting out with and you turn toward their head. What I am talking about is in this video around the 2:05 mark.

Yeah...I haven't exactly perfected that spinny move yet. And my exercise ball took advantage of that. I spun. It rolled. Balance was lost. Hand was posted. Finger was JAMMED!

Ouch.

This is more what I was going for:

Or this:

But instead, what happened was more like this:

Ok. I didn't get owned as bad as these people did. But my finger still hurts!
Beware the exercise ball! It will fight back when least expect it! ;)

The Importance of Instinct

2010-12-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

I've been working on trying to make a certain move to escape side control work for a while. It's the running man escape. This is the basic idea. But Fabio teaches a few details differently.

First of all, the main difference between this video and what I am talking about is that I am on my side, kind of in a fetal position, with someone behind me. The other main differences are that, where Saulo leads off the escape with his top leg, Fabio tells us to lead off with the bottom leg, driving your hip far forward and keeping it on the mat. At the same time, you bring your bottom arm up under yourself like, using your elbow and your hip on the mat to prevent your opponent from getting his hook in as you do the escape. With your other arm, you reach around and to block them coming the other way.

I can attest that this escape works. But I have one problem. After I do this escape, I ALWAYS pause. I just stop in a sort of turtle position and the person I am fighting sprawls on top of me or tries to attack my turtle.

Which brings me to my point. I am learning that I can't pause to think about what is next. Sometimes I get so worried that I'll make a wrong move, that I will pause and end up giving my opponent the advantage.

I know most of you have heard this quote, "If you think, you are late; if you are late, you use strength; if you use strength, you tire; if you tire, you die..."

For me, being "late" means I am always on the defense. I need to let go ! Use my instincts more! I tell myself that before I grapple, but then somehow, I go back into the careful mode once I start grappling. Grrr....

Cross Facing

2010-12-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

What is your opinion on cross-facing?

Is it a legitimate technique or just a douche move? Is it something that you use in any grapple? Or Is it something you reserve only for tournaments? Or do you swear off cross-facing completely?

Just wondering? :)

Yeah, I know...

2010-12-11T22:58:00.000-08:00

Went to watch the fights tonight. Enjoyed seeing G.S.P. pick Koscheck apart, though I did feel a little bit bad for Koschock with his eye so messed up like it was. I was there with a few BJJ buddies of mine and we were talking about tournaments and one of them asked me why I hadn't been competing lately. I told him that one reason is my neck. It still bothers me and I am having to learn how to grapple differently so that I don't put so much of a strain on it all the time and the learning has been slow. But also, I said I still don't feel like I am ready to fight at blue belt level yet. I wasn't being negative. I was just being honest about how I think I would measure up against other seasoned blue belt girls.

He told me the same thing everyone tells me. I have the wrong attitude. I am putting too much pressure on myself. I need to go out there and have fun.

His comments really bothered me. Not because he was being a jerk--my friend didn't mean anything negative by his comments and he probably had no idea how much they bothered me--but because this is something I have been mulling over for a while.

A lot of people tell me I shouldn't take competitions so seriously. But that is not my personality. To be honest, I wish it was. I envy people who can just go to competitions and have fun. Whether it is BJJ, my job, some random task at home, I have some kind of drive inside of me to want to excel. I don't want to just kind of do good. I want to do the best that I possibly can. And, yes, sometimes that means I put undue pressure on myself, but it also means that I usually accomplish my goals.

In my job, I deal with the same type of thing. I am acutely aware of where I need to improve. I probably focus too much on it. I could do with some mellowing out. But at least that means I am always striving to do better. Could I learn to direct my drive in a more positive way? Absolutely.

But I don't think the solution is for me to force myself to care less.

My husband is my exact opposite. He rarely stresses over things like I do. He's an easy-ghoing guy who laughs off a lot of the things that keep me up at night. But he is also not as easily motivated to go out and achieve his dreams. He envies my drive. I envy his ability to relax. It's why we make a good couple, I think. We balance each other out.

My point is, not caring about whether I win or lose a tournament or not caring about the fact that I am struggling to pick up a certain set of skills is not in my nature anymore that not caring about whether or not I am actually reaching any of the kids in my youth group.

I told my friend that, if I really like something, I usually become very passionate about it. He then said that I take BJJ too seriously, that it's just a hobby. He could be right. Maybe I do take BJJ too seriously. I am not a professional fighter nor do I intend to become one. I don't make any money off of BJJ and I probably never will.

My friend was just trying to encourage me. You know, give me a boost. But it still bothers me when people say I take BJJ too seriously. It makes me feel like I am doing something wrong because I care as much as I do.

If I am honest, it is more than just a hobby. It's not a job, so I can't really justify all the time that I spend on it to anyone. Maybe I let it be too much a part of my life. Maybe when I'm three or four or five years in, I won't be as obsessed as I am now. I doubt it, but we'll see.Truth be told, I think it would be wise for me to cut out one class a week. With the added "classes" in my barn, I am training every day except Wednesday and Saturday.

Either way, I am getting to the point where I want to just tell people that this is how I am and that they can take it or leave it. When I set my sights on something, I am intense. I am driven. I will keep pushing myself because I DO care. Sometimes I will be on cloud 9 and sometimes I will swear to you that I have discovered a new level of fail. Should I be this way? I don't know. But that is how I am.

I dunno. I'm committing the blogging sin of late-night-grumpy-rambling. I promise I am not as much of a jerk as I sound like, right now. I will probably read this in the morning and decide it is too melodramatic and end up taking it down. But I had to get this off my chest. Good night.

I'm Lucky

2010-12-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'm lucky to go train BJJ at a gym with an understanding instructor. Most of the time, I am pretty easy to deal with (I think). But there are certain times when I'm not. Very specific certain times.

Boys, you may want to stop reading now. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway, I cried in class on Tuesday. I was crying because I was frustrated with my inability to do anything remotely correctly. I was just getting flat-out owned. After three grapples, I was almost in tears. By the time I got to the wall, the almost disappeared and the guys had a full fledged crying mess on their hands. I tried to keep it quiet, putting my head down on my arms. But everyone knew I was crying.

Sucks.

What is funny is that I also got owned the night before and it didn't bother me at all. In fact, I was laughing while one of my grappling partners knee-barred me for the umpteenth time in a row. So why couldn't I keep it together on Tuesday?

Come on, do I really have to say it? Aunt Flow came to visit. Or, her visit was pending, I should say. Whatever. I was an emotional basket case.

The hard part is that, I knew rationally that I was crying for no reason. I knew that I was only crying because of Aunt Flow. But even knowing that, I still couldn't stop.

Fabio came over and sat down and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was just being stupid and that I was frustrated. He encouraged me. I went home. The whole thing was really embarrassing. I mean, come on. Crying?!?! There's no crying in Jiu-jitsu!

I hate it when my emotions get away from me like that. I feel like I'm "that girl", you know? The wimpy girl who cries when she gets frustrated. I don't want to be annoying or make everyone feel uncomfortable because I can't handle a couple of crappy grapples. I was even considering not coming to class on those days when I know I am an unstable time bomb waiting to burst into a weepy puddle of fail.

When I came into class today, I decided I was going to try to explain myself to Fabio. But before I could even really begin to explain, he stopped me. He told me he already knew. He has a wife and a mother. It's no secret to him how women get when Aunt Flow comes around. He said it was good for me to be in class and learn to keep going, keep fighting through my emotions and frustrations. It would make me stronger. He said it didn't bother him because he understands that it's just one of those things that happens.

I breathed a sigh of relief and had a great day of class. Just knowing that my instructor understands and doesn't hate me and my teary face makes me feel free to learn to deal with those emotions without the added pressure of worrying that I'm a burden.

I DO want to be able to handle my emotions without crying. Maybe I can just count to ten. Or maybe I can turn my tears into rage juice and own anything that touches me. Ok, that last one is unlikely. But, hey, I'll give it my best go.

I know you don't read my blog, Fabio. But thanks anyway for being awesome.

Boxers vs. Lone Grappler

2010-12-07T14:40:00.001-08:00

Due to the insanely cold weather (30 degrees! When you live in Florida, that's pretty much the equivalent of -30 degrees) our younger barnjitsukas did not attend class. Those of us who are really hard core (a.k.a. stupid) put on sweatshirts under our gis and headed out to the barn. Since it was old people's night, we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary...

Boxer(s) vs. Grappler!!!

This was one of my favorite things that we used to do at Summerlin. I know very little when it comes to striking, but it's still fun. My friend Phil wanted to practice defending strikes and so he had us gals take turns trying to punch him. We did some stand up and some with us punching him on the ground. No takedowns because our mats suck and we are sissies.

We were really just messing around most of the time, but it got intense for short spurts. Here are some pictures from the night!

The Weigh In: (Ok. There wasn't an actual scale there. And we didn't really have weight classes. We just wanted to do the whole staring each other down thing).

Phil and Steph

Kara and Steph

Me and Steph

Some Fighting: (My phone camera really sucks. Sorry.)

Us Being...Us:

This is me freezing.

These are my friends riding the short bus.

Fun For Everyone?

2010-12-05T04:38:00.001-08:00

One of the purple belts at my school, Yeti, likes to use me as a test dummy. I am small(ish) and a baby blue belt, which means that if he is really trying, there's not much I can do to resist. When I say that he uses me as a test dummy, I don't want you to get the wrong impression. He never hurts me. But I have to laugh at myself when he pulls off some sort of crazy sweep to a triangle and then says, "Wasn't that cool? I just saw that on Youtube and wanted to try it."

LOL! Glad to be of service!

And really, I am glad. Because it is a cool sweep to triangle. And while I have no idea how to do it myself, I have no doubt Yeti would help me learn it if I asked. I didn't ask because at the moment I have smaller fish to fry.

One benefit, though, is that now I at least know that sweep to submission exists. Now I can start learning how to defend it. Plus, it was kind of a fun, flippy sweep. Kinda' like when your dad used to flip you up in the air and catch you. Except when you get caught, you get choked. lol

As humbling as it may be to know that Yeti can watch something on youtube and come in and pull it off on me, it's useful for my him to try things on me because he is learning and I am learning at the same time. Fun for everyone.

But what if it's not so fun for everyone?

This past week, I had a private lesson with Fabio. It was fantastic, as always. The major focus was learning how to replace inverted guard with other attacks, sweeps or taking the back. Learned a LOT. More on that in another post. I was eager to try out some of these things.

Fabio had the same idea in mind, so he put me with one of the girls in class twice. The first time was a normal roll. I did what I normally do; grappled enough to keep her moving, catching submissions but letting her work out of them. Then the second time Fabio put me with her, he told her she was only allowed to pass my guard. If she passed, she had to go back and start again. He told us my assignment was to do all the things I had learned.

I did. And it was great practice. But the only thing was that my partner looked really frustrated about mid way through. I was tempted to stop the drill and let her pass and work like before. But I didn't. I kept on trying out my shiny, new techniques. I never hurt her or even finished any submissions. But I think she was frustrated because she spent the entire five minutes getting pulled and pushed and squashed and swept. Hey, I'm not a purple belt. I can't pull these things off as smoothly as Yeti! lol At the end, I felt a little selfish. But at the same time I learned a lot from my clumsy trials and errors in the roll.

Here's the thing. There are only a few people who are A) small enough and B) new enough for me to try out new techniques on with any success. All of them are either girls or teenage boys. Most frequently, I roll with the girls. With some of them, I don't have that same experimental rolling relationship that me and my purple belt friend have. They don't enjoy being test dummies.

So my question is, should I still test? I want to be a good friend and training partner. But I also want to be able to try things out.

I can always try them out of people who are at my level. But to test these things out, I need to be able to practice it without a ton of resistance. Kind of like drilling, you know? And, well, people at my level or higher resist!

Body Surfing

2010-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last night, I grappled a guy named Derrick. He is one of the senior blue belts at our school and one of the most flow-y, talented grapplers I know. He moves a lot and I am always exhausted after grappling him, but in a good way.

When we were grappling, he kept sweeping me. Sweep. Sweep. Sweep. Most of the time, the sweeps came as I was trying to pass his guard and come into side control, or when I was in half guard. After the roll was over, he pointed out some of the mistakes I was making.

He said I get myself into a tight little ball, for one thing. I do tend to do that. When I am on the bottom, it works out because my arms and legs make a nice frame to keep space. But when I am on the top, i make myself easier to sweep. He told me that, when I feel like I am being swept, I need to make myself as big as possible.

I am like this:

I need to be like this:

He said also that I was using my shoulder to pin him at the neck, instead of just using my shoulder to block him from turning into me. The result was, I was gripping onto him and making it easier for him to take me over.

What I need to do instead is be more mobile. Me? Need to be more mobile? Big shocker there.lol. I guess what I have been doing is, when I am grappling bigger guys, once I get into a good position, I want to hold onto it. But getting rigid and gripping them actually works against me.

Derrick said that, because I am small, I need to be able to surf on top of my opponent.

I need to feel what they're doing and adapt, move my hips, adjust my balance, shift my weight. The way for me to keep a position is not to pin someone down, it is to be mobile. When they move, I have to adjust. Otherwise, I'm like a big weight on top of a lever. If I don't move, he will get leverage on me and I will go over.

If You Have Kids Who Believe In Santa...

2010-11-29T09:41:00.001-08:00

...then they will love this.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/XSi4PoFVLSFt2A3Y8BO5cA

A friend of mine made a video message "from Santa" to her daughter and she told me her daughter loved it. I made one for Noah too and he absolutely flipped out. He said, "Mommy! Santa actually knows me! He really knows me!"

If you have kids who believe in Santa, this is a really cute little way to make Christmas a bit more special for them!

Can't wait to get back into class tonight. Feeling like a tub of whale lard. Haven't grappled since last Wednesday! My neck is all stiff and achy. I have found that it hurts a lot worse when I am NOT grappling as opposed to when I am. Guess everything is more stretched out when I'm consistently grappling.

This is a snap shot from my Thanksgiving. That is my husband with his back to the camera, dueling his Mom on Toy Story 3 on the Wii, with his older brother and the kids jumping in front of him trying to make him lose. Don't ask me why my brother in law is wearing sunglasses indoors, at night. My husband was very upset that he lost that round. This just supports my theory that boys never grow up. They just get bigger and fart louder (and smellier).

This week, my main focus is still on hip movement from the bottom. I need to be on the move more, since I can't go inverted; take the back, sweep, return to guard. Attack, attack, attack! Being out of class has given me some time to peruse the internet and find some nasty little treats I can't wait to try out in class. Hopefully at I'll be able to at least mimic them! ;)

Getting Girls to Engage

2010-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

How do you get girls to engage? No, I am not talking about getting girls to get engaged. I am talking about getting girls to engage in grappling.

We've had good luck getting girls out to the barn and, even better, getting them to keep coming back. But I am finding that it is difficult to get some of them to want to grapple. I've also found the same is true for some of the younger boys we have coming out to the barn.

They sit down on the mat and stare at their opponents, clearly terrified. When they do engage, they are tentative and deferring, not resiting when they are swept and just laying there when someone is in mount or side control. It takes every ounce of self control I have not to start "coaching" them from the sidelines. Usually, they only want to do one or two grapples each class.

I can remember feeling like that when I first started. My first grapple, the teenage guy across from me said, "Attack me." I just stared at him. He was like, "Come on. Attack me. Get into a dominant position." I remember thinking, What the heck is a dominant position?!?!? But it didn't take long for my competitive nature to take over. I was spazzing like a champ in no time. I couldn't get enough grappling.

Some of these girls are different. If they didn't keep coming to class, I would think they didn't like grappling. I never push them to grapple. But I would like to figure out some ways to encourage them to be more aggressive. I know everyone has different personalities. And I have no problem if they want to take things slow. But should I be challenging them more? Or is this one of those things that just takes time?

I know part of it is that they know very few things at this point. All we have taught them so far is what the basic positions are, one main guard pass, the rear naked choke, an armbar from mount and the americana.

That's another thing. I am so tempted to overload them with techniques every class. I think to myself. Oh, we really need to teach them the basics of side control. But wait! They don't know anything about taking the back! And then there's guard. We haven't gone over anything from guard! AHHHH!

For me, training has been going...Ok. I am still not allowed to go inverted because of my neck. And I am still not adapting well to doing other things. I see some glimmers of progress. A random sweep here. A break down of posture there. But it is really slow going and I find myself cheating sometimes and going inverted. Then Fabio gets onto me. "Porra, Allison, I saw you go upside down like five times that round. You need to stop." lol

I noticed the other day that I am starting to pick up some Portuguese. There are a few people at our school who are Brazilian and Fabio talks to them in Portuguese. I was grappling one of those guys and he went for a gi choke on me. I heard him talking behind me in Portuguese and I can't tell you now what he said, but I immediately said, "No, it's ok if he chokes me. That doesn't hurt my neck." Both Fabio and the other guy looked at me. I shrugged. Fabio sighed and said, "You need to be careful. No chokes for now. We'll see how it goes later." lol! Ok, so maybe I'm not actually picking up Portuguese, but I can at least tell what they're talking about sometimes!

Instant Turn Off

2010-11-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

Despite the upcoming holidays, I'm in a bad mood today. This post is going to be crabby. Sorry. Just need to get something off my chest.

There are few things that instantly repel me more than arrogance. I know we all say dumb stuff sometimes, but I really dislike it when I hear people talk about how they want to fight people. I'm not talking about fighting people in the ring, in an organized competition. I'm referring to guys who talk about how they want to beat some guy up because they talked crap or because they looked at them wrong or whatever. Some guys seem to be looking for offense just so they can have a reason to get into a fight.

Example: Koschek on this season of Ultimate Fighter. I know that he's probably hamming it up for TV or whatever. But he isn't making himself look awesome. He's making himself look like an idiot.

It's even more annoying when I see this kind of attitude in young guys who sometimes come through the gym. You know, the ones who know a little bit; just enough to get themselves into some real trouble. They're still newbs (like me lol) but they don't realize they're still newbs.

So, macho guys, let me tell you how girls view your I'm-going-to-pulverize-anyone-who-looks-at-me-wrong attitude. We are not impressed. We think you're meat heads who don't have enough intelligence to solve problems with words. You're not as awesome as you think you are. Grow up and learn how to act like adults.

Now I am going to grow drink my coffee and transform back into a non-rabid human being.