Competition, Motivation and the Prego Rant of the Day.

Ok so here goes......

         First off I would like to congratulate Team Roberto Traven for taking first place at the IBJJF Atlanta Open this past weekend.    Everyone trained their tails off for this and there is not a team around more deserving of the title.

         Secondly, holy wow I miss Jiu Jitsu!    It has been 27 weeks since I have been able to train (we found out about baby Roman after 8 weeks) and it has gone by relatively quickly.  I will say that after a month of not being able to train I looked down at my callus healed fingers and said "this is going to suuuuuuuuck building these bad boys back up."  However not being able to train due to being pregnant is much more manageable than not being able to train during an injury.  I think it's due to the fact that I know that I can't train for x amount of time whereas when I'm injured I never know when I will heal, whether it be 3 days or 3 weeks.  I have been able to lift weights and do cardio which has helped me a lot mentally during these months not to mention the baby seems to like it (I am absolutely making that last part up).
         As I mentioned above the IBJJF Atlanta Open was this past weekend and this was the first local tournament I have been to and not competed in in I don't know how long.   It was interesting to take everything in although I get so nervous and excited for teammates (especially Jeff) that my body reacts like I am about to compete;  the jitters, frequent bathroom breaks, and endless pacing had me in a tizzy not to mention I think baby Roman was nervous because I'm fairly certain he turned Saturday and is no longer breach.  LOL. Anyway onto the main point....

         Since I was able to watch and coach all day it was unavoidable that I would observe some great AND ridiculous actions by competitors and coaches.  This post focuses on the ridiculous and to be specific the way coaches coach their students.   I will start by saying that I am not going to mention any names or affiliations/teams.    Most of the ridiculousness was put forth by the same coach the entire day, I just happened to be watching/coaching near the same mat.  I first noticed this behavior around 11 am: as the competitors walk out onto the mat each coach/set of teammates usually yells something along the lines of "let's go (insert competitor name here) or come on or get it or, well you get my point.  In this particular case I heard "This is your match Dumbledore, he ain't got nothin' for you!"  I'm inserting the names of Harry Potter characters so as to not let on to any particular person (you're welcome).  Immediately I looked at this coach in disbelief.    Oh, that's your idea of motivation?  That's not motivation, that's heckling and its ridiculous.   I heard this same line, or at least some variant of this line multiple times throughout the day.   Really people?!   This is disrespectful.   I can honestly say I have never heard Professor or any of his coaches say something like this and that's probably because they know how to be coaches and not jackwagons.  I honestly don't understand how this even forms in one's brain for him to say...."hmmmph; my way of motivating my student is to let the other team know that I think their competitor is garbage."   Seriously.   I'm sure some competitors don't notice this, I never have when I've competed just due to the fact that nerves are running amok and there is so much going on and you're in the zone ready to go.   But from any spectator, coach, or ref's point of view this is just plain silly and unnecessary.    Pump your student up by being encouraging to THEM, not by trying to bring down the other competitor who worked just as hard getting ready for this competition.   Maybe it just boils down to the fact that this particular coach didn't mean any disrespect but just sucks at using words.  Either way you need a new method.
        I really wanted to highlight the above scenario because it stuck out in my mind.   However I had some other observations and I would like to list them for you:

                        - Dudes love to argue with referees
                        - If you insult someone with a terrible slur during a match this person may stand up and headbutt you.
                        - Digital scoreboards are waaaaaay easier to read then the cheap card-flippy ones (thank you Pan Ams and Worlds for spoiling us).
                        - Dudes think they are going to win arguments with referees =)
                       

The tournament was great indeed and word on the skreet is that the IBJJF is going to start to have two tournaments here each year.   I hope one day they actually have the tournament in Atlanta Proper instead of "Atlanta" which is really College Park so that that people think that there is more to this city than an airport and a Citgo with a really crappy selection of sundries.  Until next time.....
             

You're Pretty Tough For a Girl

Listen up:  The next time I hear this I am going to slap the person whose mouth it comes from.   No, I am not tough for a girl, I am just tough.  I think that 95% of the time it really is meant as a compliment from a guy who unfortunately doesn't know how to socialize with women.   However; it is back handed and never comes out the right way.  This also means that you shouldn't say "Man you're really good for a girl."  If Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has taught us anything its that the sport can help to "level" the playing field between the sexes.  Oh, and you don't hear us grunt, scream, and get hernias and break ribs from trying to throw each other all over the mats.  We are good because we train our butts off and learn the techniques and implement them in training instead of trying to prove who the pride leader is.  I AM a woman, I AM tough, I am NOT tough for a woman.    RAWR!  

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

WASH YOUR GI.    HANG IT UP AND DRY IT?  FINE, THEN YOU WASH IT.

Bridesmaid

Growing up I was never amazing at one particular sport.    I usually placed in all of my competitions, but when it came down to the big tournaments or the big competitions, I usually did not win. In swimming, basketball, and volleyball I considered myself above average, and in some instances pretty good.  However I was always aware of the fact that I was never going to be a professional basketball player and I would never make it to the olympics in swimming.  However on that same note, I could usually pick up quickly on most sports and hobbies that I tried (except soccer, I can't kick a ball straight to save my life).  Whenever I lost in high school and beyond did not take it too terribly hard, probably because I was used to being a "bridesmaid" and in many cases I came in second place to one of my best friends.   In particular I think about my summer swim league team.   Good ol' Nantucket.....One of my best friends growing up was Casey.  We had everything in common.  We were fairly inseparable growing up and we also played the same sports.   Summer swim league was pretty much what we lived for each summer.   I don't think I ever beat her in a single race.  Maybe every once in a while I would inch her out, but she usually won every event we swam together.  At the end of the season she would get the high point trophy and I would get the runner-up trophy for point accrued over the season.  At the time I was jealous of course but every year I would say "this is my year."   This runner-up song and dance happened every other year (due to me being 2 years older sometimes I would be in a different division).  I think this is how I learned how to lose, how to be so close to winning, but just not quite there.   In my mind I knew that I was a strong swimmer, even good maybe.  But I knew I wasn't the best.

When I started BJJ I wasn't surprised that I was able to pick it up more quickly than some of the other white belts I started with.   My very first competition as a white belt I was fired up.  It was the Lutador Grappling tournament and I had been training for 2 months.  Traven and Jeff seemed fairly confident in my abilities and I was confident as well.   I got my ass whooped.   My first no gi match I was able to pull off a triangle that was a fluke in every sense of the word, literally the girl fell into it (I think she tripped).  My second match was  against my now teammate Denise Houle.  She licked my hide.  Finally the match came to an end when she had me in an armbar that would most definitely have been my end if I wouldn't have slammed her.  Yeah I know.  I thought this was legal.   Idiot!   I was disqualified and I put on my Gi to get ready for the next division.  My first Gi match was against a girl from Alliance.   I think the final score was 30 to 0, no joke.  Afterwards I was upset, of course no one likes to lose.  But then I knew okay, you thought you were okay at this, but you're nowhere near it.  Back to the drawing board.   So I trained, and trained, and trained.  I ended up placing 3rd at the Pan Ams 6 months later and then 2nd at Mundials.   I received my blue belt when I won my division at Lutador in the fall.  The following Pan Ams and Mundials I placed 1st in my divisions at the blue belt level and I was surprised to say the least.  I was not used to winning big competitions.  It had finally happened!!  I felt great and the following year Professor Traven gave me my purple belt.   Then I won Pan Ams and purple belt.  Then Mundials came around.  I knew I was stepping up in level and some of these girls could potentially have trained twice as long as I have.   I lost my first match.  I didn't just lose my first match, but I lost via armbar within the first minute I believe.  I was so embarrassed.  I felt awful right after it happened and I should have tapped sooner as I ended up having a hurt elbow for 3 weeks following that match.  Then a few days later I felt okay.   I can't explain why, and I wasn't sure if at the time if this was a healthy reaction or not.  I talked to my parents, I talked to a few friends, I talked to my brother.  I think they were all surprised at how well I handled it.  I couldn't rationalize in my mind why I felt the way I did and why I was not as upset as I was.  I'm sure some people thought I was gonna crack, but I was okay.  I couldn't train BJJ for a few weeks, then last week I was able to train again.  I have been able to do techniques I was never able to do before, and I am attempting things that I was hesitant to do for the last few years.  I feel awesome.  I feel strong.  I feel like I have my mojo.  You can't win everything, and I completely understand that.  The only rationalization that I have for feeling the way I feel is that I learned how to be decent at a sport but still lose at that sport when I was younger.  Is my goal to win?  ALWAYS.  No one likes to say that losing is good for them, come on, it sucks!  But you really do learn from it.  You either shut down and quit or you learn from it and get better.  I choose to get better!   I have asked Jeff in the past...would you rather be amazing at one sport, or pretty good at a bunch of sports?   My client Brooke and I had this discussion today, and this is what made me want to blog about this.  I choose being good at many sports.  Granted, I would have loved to be in the Olympics for the 200 IM, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Instead I believe that being okay at many sports has instilled the attitude I have today.  I am more accustomed to getting 2nd or 3rd place than getting first place, and many times not even placing at all.  When I do win, its freaking awesome I'll admit!  Although I played many sports growing up, I have found the one sport that I LOVE, and that is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Win or lose, I will not quit, I choose to continually grow as an individual and a teammate in this sport and get better with each training session.  So Casey Hudson, thanks for always beating me in summer league, this one's for you.  And boom goes the dynamite.

10 Uncomfortable Things

So here is a funny, but quite true post about my opinions on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Today's post describes 10 things that are highly UNcomfortable that you must become comfortable with if you want to make BJJ a lifestyle.  This post is mostly for the ladies, but some of the items on the list might be relevant for the man folk as well.   Yes, I am aware that I am a lowly blue belt and my BJJ journey is just getting underway.  However as you will read I am CERTAIN that you will all agree with this list and its components.  Enjoy!

10 Things that are uncomfortable that you must become comfortable with in order to make BJJ a lifestyle:

1)  Your ears hurt.   Seriously.  Unless you wear ear protection (a lot of ladies don't) your lil' ears are sore all the time.  They get bent, squished, and burned constantly.  Because most of us ladies did not grow up wrestling, we are not predisposed to the cauliflower ear prevention methods, i.e. ear protection.

2)  Your water bill will be 120 dollars a month....minimum.  Every day you wash a gi, sometimes 2;  not to mention all of your other training gear every day.   You may take 2 showers a day, wash your hands a lot, and become good friends with Hibiclens.  ;)

3)  No matter what you do, your Gi just will not get clean anymore and becomes permanently "seasoned."  There comes a point when no matter how many times you wash a gi, on hot, it still smells the second you get warmed up in class.

4)  Someone's sweat WILL drop into your eye or into your mouth.  I don't think anyone will ever get comfy with this, but your reaction goes from "WTF, gross!" to "ah, no worries it happens."   YUCK

5)  Your arms and legs will never be sexy.  They will have at least one obnoxious bruise on them at all times.  A bruise that makes your parents wonder if your fiance is beating you.  Yeah, I just said that.

6)  Almost every time you train there will be rogue hairs in your mouth.  Not your rogue hairs, but someone elses; black, curly ones that end up inside your mouthpiece and sometimes make it down your throat.  Groooooosss.  Hopefully you can dig them out of your mouth before you swallow them.

7)  The back of your arms getting pinched.  Remember in middle school kids used to pinch that back of your arms and it would make you sooooo mad?   Ugh, I remember this as a crappy flirting technique that guys in 6th grade used to employ...oh yes, pinching the back of my arm will make me want to hold your hand for sure.  About as useful of a flirting technique as snapping a girls bra.  Aaaaanyway this is commonplace and happens on accident on the regular.  This pairs with number 5 because it gives you ugly bruises on your arms that people want to get an explanation for.

8)  Your fingertips look like a Clingon's forehead.  No really.  And yes, a Star Trek reference was warranted here.  Your fingertips look so ugly from the calluses that you won't let anyone take a picture of your engagement ring on your finger because all you see is ENORMOUS RED FLAKY callouses in the picture.   Wait, what?  No, I'm not talking about me.....;)

9) You injure parts of your body that you didn't know existed.  Along these same lines you injure parts of your body that you know exist, they are just completely random.  Oh this tiny little pinpoint spot on my knee hurts.  Or your thumb hurts like hellfire for a reason you can't remember.

10)  Someone will breathe inside your mouth.  Someone who you don't want breathing inside of your mouth. This one is the worst to me.  It actually happened today....let's imagine it shall we......you are near the end of an intense training session, someone is trying hard to sweep you, or vise versa, and at the same time you are starting to breathe in through your mouth because its sooooo hot and humid, your sparring partner exhales hard....right into your mouth.  Then you violently try and exhale their air back out of your mouth before you inhale it back into your body where it will be trapped forever and ever and ever and ever....wait, also not talking about me.  ;)

In my opinion, these are some of the biggest doozies.  There are many more to name and I would love to have them added onto the list.  Please let me know what you think!  Cheers!!

Competition Season Prep

It has been what seems like FOREVER since I last posted....The holidays, combined with the upcoming nuptials and my last semester of graduate school have all taken their toll on my free time to blog.  The holidays were great, I was able to lighten my training which was difficult, but necessary in order to prevent the ever so common staleness and overtraining effects.  They were filled with family, fun time, and great memories.  2012 has been a kick in the pants so far for sure.  My weeks have filled right up with my personal training job, my internship (free, mind you), wedding planning, and my own training.  It has been a daily juggling act but I have finally ironed out all the kinks and am sticking to a pretty strict schedule.  One big change that I have made is switching my off day.  As any competitive athlete knows the off day is the favorite day!  Eat what you want, relax and receup before a hard week of training begins again.  There is team training on Sundays now, so I switched my off day to Friday.   I love this training on Sundays because Traven makes it his personal mission to single-handedly take our souls on the mats.  I leave feeling accomplished and absolutely exhausted!  So far it has been a great training camp!  Each day I learn something new and take away a new technique to incorporate into my game.  Really excited about upcoming Lutador Grappling March 3rd here in Atlanta and Pan Ams at the end of March.  Before I know it Mundials will be here!
         The wedding is going to be on October 13th this fall.  Stressful is quite the understatement so my training is helping with easing the built up tension!  It is crazy the things that stress you out when you are planning a wedding.  Who would have thought that merely collecting addresses would be so irritating!!
         This afternoon I was lucky to be on Tom McManus' radio show out of Jacksonville, Florida.  It is called Suck it Up Radio and each week they do a segment on some aspect of the MMA scene.  Tom and Larry asked me to be on the show and give my perspective being a female in a male dominated sport/atmosphere.  We chatted about all sorts of things ranging from nutrition to training regimen to bullying.  It was a great time and I am very appreciative to Larry and Tom for having me on the show.  Yay!  I will post the interview sometime next week.  
         Until next time; train on!!

The Off Season

This time of the year is considered our BJJ off season here at the gym.  From the end of October until the first of the year there are no big Gi tourneys for the team.  There are a few Nagas and Copa Americas here and there but no IBJJF events for us.  I am not complaining.  Because of the holidays, AKA time o' indulgence, AKA family time, I am not upset that there is not a huge tournament that I have to be in peak physical BJJ condition for.  Speaking of physical conditioning, I am taking this time of year to improve my strength and conditioning.  Instead of S & C 2-3 times a week and BJJ 5 days a week like I did during tourney season I have flipped it.  Right now I am doing 3-4 days a week BJJ and 4-5 days of S & C.  I felt strong during the past year however I felt like my cardio could use a boost.  I am still lifting a few days a week and doing cardio and interval training at least 3 days a week.  Today I accomplished an updated interval workout that has pushed me beyond any prior workout of the same nature (double word score!).  Although I was exhausted I feel like I have taken a big step forward with my cardio.  My goal is to progress even further with my cardio and then be able to maintain the same workout or progress into the tournament season.  I have also started heavy squatting again.  Because of my guard game and the strain on the legs I have been advised not to squat during tournament season so as to avoid injury (did I say advised?  I mean I was forbidden, lol).  I have been squatting consistently for about a month again and I feel like I have picked up right where I left off and probably a little beyond that in terms of weight lifted.  I also have backed down the BJJ sessions so I don't become burned out and get discouraged.  There is not a worse feeling for me than feeling burned out.  Its like a hopeless, frustrated tornado that spins out of control for me sometimes. Instead I have a calorie-burning, fat-blasting, heart-racing, squat-wrecking tornado and its a dandy (F5 most likely).  My goal is to be a beast come next tournament season. I do not just want to be conditioned.  I want to have the tightest female triangle in North America come next March.  I also want to be able to go for days.  Oh, that round was only 10 minutes?  It went by fast. That's what I want to say come March.  Here's to training:  May the intervals seem short and the rest periods seem long.  Cheers!!

FOOOOOOOD

Over the years I have grappled with soooo many different styles of eating.  Ever since I became crazy workout lady I have tried to stay as healthy as possible, however I will admit I have fallen for a few of the diet fads over the past few years.  When I was a freshman in college in 2000 (sigh) the Atkins diet had just become popular.  There hadn't been much research done into the health disadvantages of this diet, so of course it was all the rage.  My Mother had been introduced to the Mayo Clinic Diet.  In essence this was the Atkins diet.  No carbs; just veggies, meat and any fried combination of the two you wanted.  During my freshman year of school I was not working out.  I had spend my entire life playing sports and being active so when I went to college I just assumed I was naturally going to stay thin.  WRONG.  I gained the freshman weight.  One day I looked in the mirror and said "what the hell is wrong with me?!  You are horrendous!!"  It really hit home when I was on Christmas Vacation and my brother looked across the room at me and said, "dude you're gaining weight."  I was mortified and so upset.  My mom told me to try this Mayo clinic diet.  I still wasn't working out and I decided to try this diet anyway.  In 2 weeks I had lost 10 pounds and I felt terrible.  I was able to eat as much as I wanted and was losing weight but I felt like a chicken finger.  I seriously felt like one big chicken finger dipped in full fat ranch.  My body didn't feel right.  I went to try and run one afternoon in Statesboro and had NO energy whatsoever.  Diet fail.  I took a vow to workout every day and get on a clean diet.  Throughout the next 2 years I dropped my weight dropped drastically.  I was doing cardio 5x a week, with no strength training.  I did not have a drop of alcohol for a year and a half.  I attributed my weight loss to the cardio and the fact that I did not drink alcohol like all of my friends did.  I did not realize that the reason I dropped so much weight was because I was not eating enough food.  Yes the cardio burned the calories but I was lucky if I consumed 1500 calories a day.  Sometimes I would eat breakfast, get busy and then not eat until supper time when I would eat a pint of ice cream instead of eating real food. I weighed 125 pounds, and at my skinniest in 2002 I weighed 120 pounds.  I was 5'9 inches, 120 pounds of skinny fat. Yuck.  Diet Fail No.2.  After that stint I started a cardio and weight training regimen and took up middle distance running.  I gained about 10-15 lbs of muscle and was able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted.  As far as performance goes, I still didn't feel right.  I would get crampy when I would run, my muscular endurance wasn't where I wanted it to be, and I would sometimes have champion cardio and then the next day I would gas after 10 minutes.  This did not bother me that much because I was working out to stay in shape.  I did not have a sport that I was still trying to be competitive with that I would need to be in peak physical conditioning for. Then in 2008 I started submission grappling, muay thai, and boxing at a gym in Savannah.  I took a liking to it but did not know if I was going to be competitive with it.  I made the move to Atlanta and started training with Team Traven.  Boy did things need to change.  I fell in love with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and decided to compete as often as possible.  I was in between weight classes so I decided smaller was better. I decided to do a low calorie diet instead of doing the ever popular paleo and no-carb diets.  I was still eating breads and rice, but I was counting calories like a beast.  I would take in 1200 calories.  Sure I lost the weight, but I was a miserable cranky mess.  I decided (well Traven and Jeff decided for me) that maybe light weight was not for me.  I would try out middle weight and just eat what I wanted.  Middle weight has panned out to be the right weight class for me, so over the past 3 months I have been trying to tune my diet to where it needs to be for peak performance.  I have a friend in Savannah who has been specializing in nutritional plans and diets for athletes for over 40 years.  I took Jeff down to Savannah with me and we decided to take his advice and try his nutrition plan.  In essence the plan is 5 meals a day consisting of carbs, protein and veggies. Not to mention you have to drink a gallon and a half of water a day.   There is veeeery low fat in the diet.  The goal of the diet is to lose fat, maintain or build lean mass, and to give your body enough fuel it needs to endure however long you are training each day.  The diet is specific to my body and workouts and I feel great.  I hit a small speed bump because I got lazy with the veggies, but I am back on track now.  I did not realize my success until I went to my Bioenergetics lab session today and was given  a submaximal exercise test.  I did this in 2007 at Armstrong and has terrible results.  Today I did the same test and my numbers were 100x better.  My professor informed me that hydration and diet has a lot to do with these values, it's not just how "in shape" you are.   I was using a lot of carbohydrates during the test because I had so many of them to use.   :)   My results excited me and I feel like I am in a really good place with my eating.  I take Sundays off of the eating plan to eat brunch and yes, eat some pizza or something delicious that I can share with Jeffie.  :)  I do feel like I have finally figured out how to eat and train at the high intensity that I would like.  My next venture is to write a blog on the dangers of low carb dieting and intense exercise;  not just speaking from experience and feeling stupid about falling for the gimmick but also discussing some facts I have learned in my Bioenergetics class.  Carbohydrates are our friends!!   Yay!

THE BUBBLE

              Today was stellar.  It really was. Nothing makes you feel better than having great  BJJ training sessions. Everyone has heard of runners high?  Well Jiu Jitsu high is runner's high times 10.  The feeling is wonderful.  I am not quite sure why the after BJJ bubble is so much bigger than it is after I have a great run or a great workout.  It must be because it exhausts me more than any other workout I have done in my life and that makes me feel great.
             This morning there was ladies class as usual, and there were a bunch of faces missing on the mats but the training session was great.  One of the blue belt ladies from the Marietta affiliate came and trained and as we all know it is wonderful to be able to train with your usual teammates as well as new faces.  There were only three of us azul ladies and about 6 white belts so it was still a full ladies class.  We worked some open guard sweeps with the leg lasso and then finished the session with some intense rolls.  Our fellow comrade Anna stopped by to say hello.  She hurt he knee about a month ago and has been laid up healing.  ;(  Can't wait to have her back on the mats!
             I stayed for the second class for all level belts as well.  The class was strictly warm up and and straight to rolling today.  There was a round robin scenario on both side of the mats. One side for the big boys and one side for everyone else.  You tap, you move out.  Today was great not only because I was absolutely worn out and fingertips raw when I finished but I learned so much while rolling today.  I learned a toe hold defense (which you always have to learn the hard way after you get put in one) and a knee bar defense (yep, have to learn the same way, haha).  I don't get put in these situation often because the higher ranked brown and black belts are really the only ones who do this in training.  Today there was a black belt on our side of the mat who helped me with this and he also taught me a wicked way to finish head and arm choke from side mount (thanks Paul).  I figure it is never too early to learn these defenses so hopefully in the future I will become much more aware of my feet when I roll.
              I love the feeling the Jiu Jitsu gives me after a training session.  I'm sure I am quite annoying to Jeff, Traven, and everyone at the front desk because I 'm just a talkin' after I get done training.  My little workout high bubble is at full capacity and I will talk to you about your plans for the day, your relationship, your dog's intestinal problems, which conference has the best football, your upcoming move, Lord of the Rings, my family, Rooster Cogburn, noodling, sushi, and the fact that we are all having the best day ever.  FYI some of those convos have never happened.
           

Too many chiefs and not enough......

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians (sorry for being politically incorrect, its just a saying).  Soooo, whilst training have you ever heard "that won't work on me," or "I almost had you."   SERIOUSLY.   I have heard this not only directed at myself but I have heard other students in class say that to each other.  White belts no less!   I have noticed that this is a beginner trend usually; like when white belts who have been training for a few months roll with a brand new white belt.  They say something like "that armbar won't work on me." Okay, that brand new student (may I remind everyone we were ALL beginner white belts once) is attempting a technique that he/she has just learned.  There is most likely no transition into it, it may be very "robotic," by the book, or it may be incorrect.  He or she just learned the technique.  If you see something wrong, grab the instructor and get it fixed.  If you feel like the person can't break your posture and they aren't going to get the armbar, then ok, keep your mouth shut and keep working.  It is so disrespectful and discouraging to hear something like this, especially to brand new students.  At Traven's place I have never heard any of the higher ranks say this.  Everyone is super respectful and mindful of their training partners.  If for instance I try an armbar on a higher rank and he knows it is not going to break his posture or be able to sink in, I will either pay for my mistake and learn that way or I get helpful advice like "hey instead of this, try this instead," or "this is a good way this works for me."   White belts and most blue belts for that matter do not have the credentials or knowledge base to give out this kind of info."  So instead of being disrespectful grab an instructor or just keep your mouth shut and do some Jiu Jitsu. I heard the "I almost had you" the other day.  I was rolling with a relatively new white belt and had double unders and was attempting to pass.  He locked his legs together and though if he squeezed his legs I would tap.  It was tight on my head, but I ripped out and passed.  Then he said "I almost had you."   NICE.

The value of training partners

Yesterday was glorious.  I was able to fit in great bjj sessions.  I always look forward to the different array of people who train in the day and then at night.  During the day class there were 2 of us ladies, 3 black belts, a couple brown belts, and the rest were purple belts.  I started off with the other lady in the class for the first roll. One of the black belts is coming off of a knee injury and is just able to get back to light training.  Traven had me train with him 4 different rolls yesterday.  I have always liked training with him for a few different reasons.  Firstly, the great advantage about training with blackbelts (I'm using the term collectively, I am referring to the ones that I have trained with) is that even though my 100% matches their 20%, I know that I am safe.  I never have to worry about them muscling me around and throwing me on my face.  I also get to try techniques that I am too timid to try otherwise without them trying to kill me.  Also, especially in yesterday's case, all of my mistakes get exploited.  If I turn the wrong way or stick an arm in when I shouldn't or grab the wrong lapel I not only pay for it but I get an explanation of what I did wrong and pointers on how to make it better.  The other lesson I gained from yesterday's session was that I need to learn to be on my toes more.  Literally and figuratively.  I was in positions that I have typically felt "safe" in.  Like certain halfguard situations and when in inverted guard when I am on top.  Suddenly, I am on  my back.  haha.  I only pray that someday I will have even half of the Jiu Jitsu that Chakalaka does.  I also noticed that the kid NEVER stops moving.  The variety of the bjj styles at the gym is extraordinary.  There is slow-smothering guy who makes you want to die.  There is crazy backflip inverted guard man.  There is leg-lock fantasy guy.  There is brute strength "I will treat you like a small child" dude.  There is "every roll is a competition" guy (yeah every gym has one).  Regardless there is something to learn from all of your training partners!
             

Please is there any hope left?

Alright people here it is, my first blog that has nothing to do with BJJ.  I have absolutely had it today.   Can someone please answer me:  are there any men left on this planet that have any decency when it comes to hitting on women?  I have heard it all as of today.  I have heard some really ridiculous pick up lines aimed at myself as well as lines aimed at strangers that are absolutely insane.  Today I received two.  The first one was from a vagrant:  "Hey Hey Hey let's pump some iron!"   That was actually pretty funny and I laughed.  The second was "hey you just get done workin out?!  Lemme walk you to your car and you can tell me about it."  No thanks, not now, not ever.  Lately since Crossfit has become all the rage I have gotten the "Hey you must do crossfit."  I take that as a complement but I never knew that Crossfit had a body type.  Apparently it makes you have small boobies and no badonkadonk.  There it is, the Crossfit body.   haha.   Now none of these insult me, these are just pretty funny if you think about it.  Today however, I heard one that took the insulting cream filled cake.  I was walking into Publix minding my own business when I notice a lady being approched by a vagabond.  He said "hey lady you gots sum munny?"  The lady politely replied "no, I'm sorry."   Then homeless McGavin says to the same lady "hey you know I like heavy women like you, right?"   I answered for her.  I don't know why, I don't know why this came out of my mouth, I don't know why I went from minding my own business to chiming in on this exchange but I said "Did you reeeallly just say that?!"  Lady looked at me, homeless dude looked at me, I stared at homeless dude and just said "really?"  Then I walked inside.  I do not know what came over me, maybe it's the lack of decency and respect that some men have nowadays. The entire situation made me think.  What happened to the good ol' boys?  The boys who offered to buy you a drink or the boys who try to make small talk over the section of People magazine you're reading (knowing full and well they could really care less about what is in People Magazine).  Or, smh, when guys used to ask their friends to hook them up with "that girl"  Now its butt-grabby, handsy, foul-remarked dudes who just want to skip the formalities.  Hey I have a word of advice....ladies like the formalities.   I remember the first thing Jeff ever said to me, I asked for some scissors and he said yes that the front desk had scissors but none for me.   haha.  It was funny and cute, and it opened up some friendly banter (I in turn made fun of his pants), flirting, and the rest is history.   I'm not writing this for me.  I am just wondering if there is any hope for the ladies out there as far as the courtship process is concerned.  I am thinking no.  Please if I am wrong let me know, and also I would love to hear some other amazing pick up lines.  FYI Atlanta is the haven of terrible pick up lines, I'm convinced.

Shaun White Hoodies and Deeenim!

        I titled this blog that because I have had that amazing Target commercial song in my head all day.   Mainly due to the fact that I started back to class this week.  Yeay!  My Monday class is epidemiology, which I had a little experience with in environmental health class.  The good news is that I do not have any big projects or presentations, just a couple homework assignments and 2 exams.   The bad news is that our class is in a room that is the width of a hallway and it is super hot in there.
      Today I also started back training full time.  I did a killer weight and cardio circuit this am in which I almost could not make it 5 rounds.  I really had to push myself to complete the workout.  It was MISERABLE.   Then school and then back to the gym for BJJ tonight.   It was wicked hot in the bjj cave this evening, so even an easy workout felt brutal.   For technique we worked hip escapes from mount then we worked where the person on top transitioned to a collar choke and then to the armbar when the person on bottom tries to hip escape.  During the training portion of the class I was on a mission.  TOP GAME.  Believe it or not I only went on my back once tonight, and had a good session playing on top and trying to pass.  Against one classmate whom I had never started on top against, I learned the hard way (again) about where my true weaknesses lie.   We all have to start somewhere!!  Overall it was a good session and I am confident about it.  I did not stay for the second class this evening because I am starting to listen to my body more lately.  I was tired, sore, and did not want to push too hard and force an injury.  Instead I stretched and watched the advanced class.  Tonight Traven was training and that is always great to watch.  He stays soooo heavy and tight when he is on top.  I only hope that one day my bjj will be 1/10th of what his is.   He truly is a genius in this sport!

Back to the Grind

        My deepest apologies for not blogging in the past week or so.   After the Vegas trip I needed a few days to relax and recoup (and eat some bacon).  Tomorrow I start back to training for the Nogi Pan Ams.  I am thoroughly excited about this tournament as I have not competed in a nogi tournament before.  I am nervous, anxious, and overall excited.  I felt comfortable at the Lutador tournament during the nogi portion;  I was able to submit my first opponent in my weight division and then in the open I was able to go to referees decision against a heavier, higher ranked, and more experienced opponent.  I am eager for tomorrow!   Also tomorrow I start classes in grad school (blah).   A necessary evil!  I only have this semester of classes and then an internship in the spring.   The good news is that while achieving higher education I get to train at will for the most part.  ;)  
        A lot of peoples' BJJ blogs have a lot to do with pet peeves.  There is nothing wrong with that.  This blog is not dedicated to my pet peeves, but rather to my life/training and the melding of the two.  However once in a while there are some things that just plain rub you the wrong way.  I will list a few.  (for a great bitchy blog check out extremealphamale@blogspot.com)  White belts teaching other white belts.  As a matter of fact, unless you are asked or until you achieve the rank of purple belt I don't think it is EVER your place to try and tell other bjj practicioners what to do.   I keep my mouth shut, and always call Traven or another higher ranking person over to coach.  Coaching is not my place yet, and I find it disrespectful when blue and white belts try and act like experts in the game.  Just because you have a high GPA or have 6 degrees or are a world famous sommolier, DO NOT act like you know everything about spider guard, wrestling, and leg locks.  The end.
        Talking during the entire class.   Oh my gooooosh.   Unfortunately females hold the crown for jawjacking while doing technique.  Girls are somehow able to do advanced sweeps/submissions while talking about the dumbest stuff.   Yep.   Whats worse is the person who talking in the middle of a roll.   Like "so how is training going?"  Or "oh I didn't see that pass coming, how did you do that?"   Yes, right in the middle of a roll.  One time I received this from a a fellow in class "do you feel like you overtrain sometimes?"  Dude.   Can we talk about my training schedule after class please?
           Enough of the pet peeves for the time being.  Ready to get back to the gym tomorrow!   I feel as if I have been going through laundry withdrawal.  I am so used to washing gi's everyday that not washing them for a week due to the time off seems very weird!   Cheers!

Drill to Win

On Monday I was able to train all three classes.   In the mid morning class, there was a lull in the attendance due to the tournament on Saturday.  Traven made it open mat, and there were about 10 ppl who showed up to roll.   Because I wanted to save some gusto for the evening training I rolled 5-10 minute rounds and called it a morning.   In this 6:30 evening class there was a solid group of people to train with.  After technique we had  pairs on the mat and the remaining people on the wall; if you tap you go out and another person comes in.  We did this for about 30 minutes.  The 7:30 class was drill time.  We warmed up and then Traven split us up into two groups.   This was the schematic for the evening:  1 person on bottom closed guard drill for 6 minutes.  During that 6 minutes every 2 minutes the person on top would change.  This took about 25 minutes and then we changed the roles, i.e. there would not be a person on top for 6 minutes and every 2 minutes the person on bottom would change.  This was not a cardio taxing exercise, rather it forced me to work on top, which is exactly what I have been trying to work on.  Drilling has so many obvious advantages.  The most important is that it forces you to work on positions/scenarios that may otherwise fall by the wayside during training.  I will use myself as a classic example:  every class I want to go in and work on top as much as possible.  Depending on who I am paired up with this either will (25% of the time) or it will not (the other 75%).  In some situations it is unavoidable as some big dudes will illegally grap your pants leg and throw you up in the air and onto your back.  The majority of the time I find myself on my back working guard, either put there or for some reason I put myself there.  I leave the class saying "why did I do that?!"  Needless to say I enjoyed the training session!
           Something else popped into my head last night as I was drilling with one of the guys.  The kid is phenomenally strong.  Granted almost every guy is stronger than me in there, they're dudes.  It has been a while since he and I have rolled together.  There is not any particular reason for this, it just so happened we did not have the same training schedule.  I would say it has been about 6 months or so, probably even longer than that.  He was on bottom first and I was inside his guard.  Saying he was strong is an understatement. Grips, pulling, base, everything was so strong.  It got me to thinking.....the changes that people go through while training BJJ.  The last time I rolled with this person we were both new blue belts (I mean we still are but I'm talking baby blue belts).  I don't remember this ridic strength.  Whether he had just been doing BJJ, or strength and conditioning as well, whatever it was, I was being treated like an infant.  It could be that you are finally able to pair that strength with technique together instead of just "muscling" your way through things like we all try to do as white belts.   I believe I even said to this person "dude, you're strong as s***"   Alas, the evolution of the BJJ athlete.

Lutador Results

Yesterday was the Lutador Grappling Challenge at the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta Georgia.  It was a great event that moved smoothly and quickly and was staffed well.  TRT showed up with over 200 competitors and as you can imagine the team took home the title for the second time in a row.  I believe the final score was 476 to 225 for first and second place for the team titles.  This is a great victory for the team seeing as how this tournament is an Alliance run affair.   =)  Yesterday was a nice warmup for the 5 tournaments coming up in the next few months.  I was in a gi and nogi division with 4 ladies including myself, one of which was a fellow teammate Denise.  The first match of the gi portion was against a lady from North Carolina named Christy.  I knew of her but had never seen her compete so I didn't know what to expect.  I pulled guard (yeah i know) and swept.  Then I'm not sure if I got cocky or I was being nonchalant but she was able to sweep me back.  I then worked for a gi choke, received an advantage, and then swept again and the match ended.   Denise was able to control her opponent and we both made it to the finals.  I bowed out to her so we closed out the division.   Nogi was next.  I was eager to compete nogi because I have been training nogi a lot lately and wanted to see how I performed.  I went against a tough opponent from Knuckle Up and I told my coach and Denise that I was going to go for a takedown in that match.  I was going to shoot in for the single as I had been working on this in class.  We started.  Touch hands, go.  We fought for grips, moved our feet, everything was going smoothly.  Then she smacked me on the head.  You know how wrestlers place their hands on each other's heads?  Well I do believe that't what she was trying to accomplish but instead she smacked me...  right on my forehead.  Then I hear her coach say..."Yes, that's it, do it again!" Okay.  I saw red.  I was not going to wait to take this to the ground.  I wanted to be there and I wanted to be there right then.  So I yank her head down, jump guard, we scramble a minute and then I lock in a triangle and finish.   Forehead smack = angry Victoria.  On the other side of the bracket Denise was able to dominate her opponent and we met in the finals again, this time Denise bows out to me.  Then comes the nogi open.  I did this division for experience and of course it would have been nice to win, but I was pleased with my performance.  There were only 6 girls and in the semis I met a purple belt who is a weight class above me and a pan am and world champion this year as well.  It was 7 minutes of me not sweeping or attacking and her not being able to pass.  0-0-0-0 across the board.  She was way more aggressive and won the decision; I was just pumped that she could not pass. :)
           The rest of the team did AMAZINGLY well yesterday.  There was a great turnout on part of the kids and teenagers for the team and that is exciting!  There was a sea of TRT competitor shirts; so many that an Alliance member who came in that morning asked why he didn't get a competitor shirt when he signed up.  (There were so many of those shirts he thought that every person at Lutador was supposed to get one.  Mrs. Avecilla informed him that Jacare would not approve)  haha.  Excited to get back to training tomorrow.  Only a few more training days and then Las Vegas Open!   I looked at the final brackets, there are only 3 of us in the medio division.  This is ok because I am really looking forward to the open more than anything!   Off to the gym, no rest for the not so wicked!
             Congrats to the team for taking the title yesterday!!!   So happy and lucky to be a part of the best team around ;)

Training and Big Macs

Yeeah!   So the start of another tumultuous and fun tourney season starts in two days.  I will be able to breathe again in November.  I am excited about what the next few months will hold.  I started it off right this am with a massage from Jennifer, who by the way, works wonders for sore and tight muscles.  Then A few cardio sessions and then rest tomorrow in lieu of Lutador Challenge this weekend.   A few of the guys and myself were just debating an issue which is a hot button one for Coach Traven.  The concept of getting a massage, loosening up tight muscles, and then going to train afterwards.  Traven said that it is like having a really great training session and then going to McDonald's and eating 4 Big Macs.  He says no training after a massage.   If you ask some of the other fellas, they get the massage just to loosen up so that they can go and train  BJJ again.  Me?  I had my massage and knew full and well I was going to drink a bit of water and then hop on the stair master in a bit.  I had my upper body worked on today, mainly my shoulders and neck, so I figured the least I could do was tackle the stair master and give the upper body a break.  I definitely see Traven's point however I know for a fact that I have done Jiu Jitsu immediately after a massage before.  oops :)  I will post again after Lutador with team results.

2 Thumbs Up!

Today I tried a new rashguard from mmahq.com.  As soon as I opened it I knew I was probably going to like it.  It was soft material, and I could tell by the cut that it looked snug and (gasp) looked to be a longer fitting top.  I have found that the rashguards I have purchased in the past have never fit me.   The sizing is always a little "iffy" if you will and it will be tight in some places and loose in others.   And let's talk about the elastic bottom.  I am NOT a fan of the elastic bottom.   The draw string and tight elastic bottoms on rashguards tend to force the top to ride up almost immediately and I spend half of my training time pulling it back down.  This rashguard is different!

Design:  The Clinch Gear rashguard I received is short sleeved, predominantly light gray and has black trim on the sides.  The Clinch Gear emblem is inconspicuous making it easy to don the top with a team name or other logo.

Material:  Fantastic!  Super soft and the rashguard is not too thick.  I mean who needs to sweat even more when training because the rash guard is too thick (especially in the gi, it makes you hot enough!)

Fit:  So I assumed that there was going to be some kind of flaw when I put the rashguard on.  For Instance, the sleeves are either too big or the sleeves are tight and the midsection is enormous.  This was not the case at all.  It fit me like a glove, and when I pulled down the bottom of the top......it stayed in place.  I trained Gi this am for 1.5 hours and had no issues with having to constantly readjust (except in between rolls of course, that is unavoidable).  The cut is a bit longer than most, almost like a surfing top.  So I didn't feel like I needed to be 5 feet tall to fit into it.

Overall:   I really like this rashguard.  The material is nice, I like the design, and it fit very well.   I cannot attest to the durability of the product since today was my first time wearing it.  I will cross that bridge if and when I come to it.  :)

Check these guys out for sure!   http://www.mmahq.com  or http://www.bjjhq.com    What I like about this site is that they sell one item per day and here is the kicker:  a $5 flat shipping fee!  They sell everything from rashuards to gi's to mma shorts.   Enjoy!!

Double Doozie

Today there was no BJJ for me.   It is kind of weird to take a day off of BJJ during the week, but I got the chance to go to Come Fly Away this evening.  It is a musical based on Frank Sinatra music.  Needless to say, the show was fantastic.  So today I pulled a double dose of the cardio good times.  I teach Cardio kickboxing classes so I took one of my classes (and taught it, yea yea) and then a few hours later I gulped down some GU and pushed myself through a grueling stair master interval session.   Sweat box.  You know how people say girls don't sweat, they glisten?  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this girl doesn't sweat, my skin rains puddles onto the earth.  Today the brackets were posted for Lutador Challenge this weekend, and I am relatively disappointed at the number of girls registered!  The past few years there have been big divisions and this year I have 4 in gi, 4 in nogi, and there are 8 of us in the open this tourney.  But this small number of females doesn't change my desire to win...AT ALL.  So the countdown is on....Lutador, then Vegas, then Chicago!  

What just happened?

Do you ever have those training sessions where you feel like you wasted your entire session?  You tell yourself you're going to give it your all, you're going to go in and try new techniques, take risks, and who cares if you get tapped.  That was my intention when I woke up this morning.  However after my first session at 11:30 this am I felt like I did not accomplish any of these goals.  I found myself getting very frustrated with everything I was doing....I was doing the same stuff.  I was in my safezone and I did NOT want to be there.  I want to be that BJJ player that can do it all, and today was supposed to be the start of that mission.  I said its ok, I am going to train again tonight so I will start then.  Well it is now 9:45 at night and 2 more sessions later I am telling myself the same thing.  I have no idea why I trained the way I did today.  Was I just tired?  I felt like after I did 3 classes today that I did not even train hard.  And that is completely my fault.  During the advanced class a majority of the time was dedicated to drilling.  We started from mount and had to escape, winner stays on top.  This is all well and fine and I always tell myself  "hey, youre the only female in here, don't get mad if the bigger guys throw you off of them."  And this is what happened, and I still found myself getting frustrated!   Then we moved onto open guard drills.  Finally my strength.  Oh no, the winner stays on bottom. And I was starting on top.  SO basically I went repeatedly with the same guy who would let me pass and then throw me over top every time. I said "Victoria don't get mad, he is stronger and much bigger than you."  But once again I kept getting mad at myself.  I believe this then carried over to my rolls later on.  I am not chalking today up as a loss, but rather as a lesson that I can't be so damn hard on myself.  Tomorrow I do not get to train due to work and then I have a show to go to tomorrow night, so maybe a day off will do me some good.  Then Wednesday is my last day training BJJ before the tourney Saturday.   TRT!!