It hurts so good...?

My entire left side is gimped. My shoulder, rib, knee, elbow and one of my toes are all jacked up. My snake bite is on my left hand too, but I can’t blame that one on Jiu-jitsu. It seems bizarre to me that I’ve injured myself more times in the past 5 weeks then I have in the past 5 years. I know exactly what is hurting me, yet I keep doing it…. happily. Quitting Jiu-jitsu hasn’t even crossed my mind. This morning when I thought my rib was broken I was thinking of ways I could still go to Naga… it seems wrong. Where is sense of self preservation? Lol

Anyway, my rib is just bruised. My doctor thinks it is just deep tissue damage, or possibly some stretched ligaments… I will take anything other than broken. He told me not to grapple for 10 days, and to let my body be my guide. So, I will attempt to not grapple. I think I am going to make myself wear jeans to Jiu-jitsu so I won’t be tempted. Though, I will still go… I always notice things when I watch other people grapple, and I still want to see what Mario/Fabio have to teach us... just because I can’t do doesn’t mean I can’t watch.

Maybe I can shut my mouth after all...

I haven't bloged in like two weeks! Stephanie shut her mouth! No, no, pigs aren't flying.. .at least I don't think they are.

Anyway!

Jiu-jitsu has been awesome the past couple of classes. I am still craptastical with my submissions, but Mario has told me a few times that I am getting better... and I don't think he would lie to me. He also taught me a SWEET arm drag. He said it could really be my bread and butter if I get it down. So, I am going to work on it. It's just not something I have a lot of volunteers for.

Also Naga is exactly two months away. I get a little panicked when I think about it, so I won't.... I am really excited, and just as nervous. Oh man, I am so going to barf. I can feel it. I don’t do nerves well. I do not expect to place, or even win my first fight. Don’t get me wrong, I want to do well, but I don’t expect much. I expect to have fun, I expect to enjoy the experience, and I expect to learn.

On that note… I am off to Disney for a few days! See you when I get back!

Monday, Monday, Monday!

I am going to talk to Fabio and see if I can work something out with him where I only go on Mondays.

I can swing it going one day, and also go to Mario's.

*insert girly squeel*

I had so much fun tonight!!

Fabio did not kill me with his eyeballs on sight. lol He was SO nice, as was everyone else there. They roll SO much there. 6 times at least. I sat out twice, but oh my gosh I was dead weight at the end of class. 20 minutes of grappling.. lol It's hard work.

I can't wait for class tomorrow!

Tonight, I see the top of the mountain.

Tonight, we are going to visit the school where our Jiu-jitsu instructors go. I’ll get to meet Fabio. I almost expect to be submitted by him just looking at me. Mario, Ben and Brian all speak so highly of him. My brain fails to comprehend that kind of awesome. I am awed by those guys, and can’t imagine someone they would look up to.

I am really excited to see some real Jiu-jitsu though. Not that I’m not taught real Jiu-jitsu, I mean I am excited to see two people who know what they are doing go at it. My instructors have shown us a move or two, but not an all out grapple. I am going to bring popcorn.

Children can read minds, and they use their powers to plot against us.

Last night I decided I was going to start getting more sleep. (See Below)

So, I got into bed at 11:30.... and was woken up at 1 am. Braden woke up. I went in to check on him... He was fine, so I put him back in his bed. He kept crying... I check again. Check clothes, check diaper look for any booboos... Nothing. He is fine. So I put him back in bed. Still crying. I knew he wasn't hungry, he'd eaten three.. yes, three pieces of pizza for dinner. He ate more than I did, and I was not hungry.. and I outweigh him by 120 pounds. lol So, I calm him down, and put him back to bed..... More crying. I just let him cry it out. I knew nothing was wrong, and going in there 20 more times would only keep him up longer. So, at around 2 am, he gives one last high pitched wail, and then gave up. That last high pitched wail.... woke Zaile up. Zaile was happy to be up, like she always is if she is waken up at night, because I just take her into my bed and let her fall back to sleep on her own. The only problem with this last night was the fact that Micah asked to sleep with me last night. He has been a little starved for attention lately, so I said yes... and when I brought Zaile into bed, she saw him.... and "Micah!!" .... And then Micah was awake. Finally at around 3 they went back to sleep. And sleeping between a 4 year old and a 2 year old isn't the most comfortable thing ever. I was pretty much woken up every hour if not more often… and Tada! 7 am is here, and Braden is awake.

So much for a good night’s sleep.

I just need to work on.....

I have been eating right, and working out every day for about a month.

Now, I need to get more sleep. I have ALWAYS deprived myself of sleep. Always. I am used to it, and I can go on 5-6 hours of sleep a night, so I do. But I am going to work hard at getting at least 8, at least a few times a week. I am going to start getting in bed at 11:30.

9/09/09 - Date Win

So - For the past week or two I have been driving myself insane. I've been overly conscious of what people think of me. Normally I don’t give two craps what people think of me, so it’s been an interesting week. And I don’t mean that I don’t care what people think.. I do care how people think, and feel… I just don’t tend to care if people judge me. I mean, I’m not living my life for anyone but God and my family… so if Joe-shmoe thinks my hair is offensive, or that my boots are weird… I don’t care. But all last week, I was hyper aware of everything… My nail polish…Should I take it off?... Should I not wear these flip flops because they have pink on them? … What will people think if I wear this? …. I was driving myself… and poor Allie insane. Allie in her infinite wisdom said she thought it was because lately I have been working losing weight, and I’ve been hyper aware of my body and what it looks like… I for the first time in my life I really truly care what I look like to myself, I was worrying about what everyone else was thinking too…. And I so don’t have to.

On my way to a meeting that I was stressing about, I called Allie. She told me to pray about it after we got off the phone.. so I did. And I am already feeling better about it. Granted, it could just be that all the things that were stressing me out are over… lol… but I do have to do something Friday that was really causing my brain to malfunction, and I am not worried about it anymore… at all.

So, all that is good and nice, but the weird thing was… This morning Youtube had a suggested video for me… and it seems kind of random as I do not listen to or watch other videos like it on Youtube.

My Suggested Video:(It's the song... not the video.. lol)

Here is my gi.

Next time I will try to make a scary face. lol

Today I found out that I will not have to fight Allie at the Naga championship. You have NO idea how happy this makes me. It eased SO much unspoken tension. lol Today we rolled, and it was easily out best one yet. No tension, no competitiveness. It was great. And there is no more thinking… “Should I tell her this?” “Should I show her that?” She is no longer my competition. She is my partner. It makes me so happy!

NAGA!! (Facebook note)

There is going to be a Naga tournament in Florida this November, and I am going to compete. I am completely terrified, but really excited. They have a division for women who have been training for less than 6 months, and by the time November comes around I will have 4 months of Jiu-jitsu under my white belt. hehe If Allie and I go together we can get a family discount, and it would actually be cheaper for us to compete in both gi, and no-gi then just one division. So, that is the plan as of right now.

I spoke with my instructor Mario about it, and he said if we go, he will come too. I really think it is awesome that he would come to support us, (I think he might compete too..) but it makes me a little nervous. I’d want to do him proud…and if I can’t manage that I’d like to at least not embarrass him.

So, my plan is:

Run a mile without stopping. I’ve never actually tried before last night. (I can almost do it..) I used to do high intensity interval training, but that is a lot of stopping and going for 30 minutes. I want to just go the whole mile. I walk four miles every night, and I can easily break it down into a warm up - one mile run – one mile walk – one mile run, and then cool down. My goal is to do that, and be alive when I make it back to my door step.

Keep up with yoga. I started 2 weeks ago, and did the full 50 minutes last night for the first time. I want to do it every day. My goal is to be able to lay my hands flat on the floor with my knees straight. I know it’s a weird goal, but I want to be able to do that. hehe

Those are semi-unrelated to Jiu-jitsu, but they will help me get into better shape, and I would like to lose 5 pounds so I don’t have to worry about spilling into a higher weight class with my gi on. Last night I weighed myself with my gi, and I was literally half a pound into the next weight class. Not that I think weight classes are going to actually matter so much for the women’s divisions. Mario said to expect them to combine the weight classes… but on the off chance they don’t, I don’t want to be going up against giants because of half a pound…though, I am kind of a giant myself.

My Jiu-jitsu game plan is:

Class twice a week, and at least twice a week Allie and I are going to get together and grapple. If I can work it out, I might start taking some extra classes in November. Though, that is a big fat maybe. If I still have my niece and nephew living with me I will go broke paying for a baby sitter 5 times a week on top of paying for two schools. But I really would like to work it out, because I need to work on my submissions. That is where I am weakest. I know I am getting better at moving… I am by no means good, but I know I am terrible at submissions. Maybe I am missing some sort of aggressive gene, or it just goes against my nature to try and bend someone’s arm off. I take care of people, not injure them. lol It’s probably just that I suck, but whatever it is, I need to get better at submissions.

There are also a couple of solo drills I am going to run every day.

I think if I do all of these things, I will not get owned by some 110 pound tween in my first fight.

I really have no earthly idea why I am SO excited about Jiu-jitsu, but I am. It is what is keeping me sane right now. I’ve been under an incredible amount emotional stress the past few months, and I have been able to burn some of that off with Jiu-jitsu. So, it’s a double win.

I was talking to my friend Dain about the tournament, and this is what he said… (I hope you don’t mind me quoting you, I just laughed SO hard.)

“I'm sure you'll do well in at naga btw
Even if they do combine, eff blue belts they are weak.
They know just enough to not be sure and not enough to be awesome at it
Where as you are the VIOLENT NEWB DEATH MACHINE
You kung fu your face off with awesome ignorance of technique, overpowering your opponent with awkward attack after awkward and unpredictable attack!
HIYAH!”

I love you, Dain! hahah

While I don’t agree with the blue belt comment, blue belts would eat my face for dinner. I do know that I can be a spastic white belt.. and I want to work on not being one. lol

Thus ends my overly long ramble about NAGA. If you read all the way through, I am sorry you wasted your time… lol But you can expect more of the same in the future. You are warned. Next time you waste your time reading my notes; it will be your own fault. =)

Wounded

Frustration.

Sometimes Jiu-jitsu is just frustrating. I have to not let it get to me. Tonight grappling I got really frustrated… and I’m not even sure why. I was able to snap out of it pretty quickly, but still... I hate when I get like that. I think some of it has to do with my left hand. I cannot use it properly. I think I am going to make a doctor’s appointment. Allie thinks I might have a fang lodged in my finger somewhere digging into a nerve. Whatever it is it hurts, and I have to get it taken care of. But I am just going to do what I can do in the mean time, and try not to let my frustration get the best of me.

Other than that tonight I ran.. or mostly ran a full mile. I had literally just eaten, so I didn’t really choose the best time to do it, but I still did it. lol and I did not throw up! Yay. Then we grappled… see frustration above… and then did the full 53 minutes of yoga! I’ve never been able to finish the video but tonight I did. Wooohoooo! So, all around good night minus the 15 or so minutes of stankatude from frustration. Sorry Allie and Phil!

I stole this from Mike.

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C. The Russians used a pencil.

My gi is here!

I ordered it three weeks ago... and in that time, my Jiu-jitsu partner who ordered hers after me got two. Way to fail me Canadian post. If you have read any of my previous ramblings you may have seen my rant about my incorrectly sized body for gis. I am tall, and long… and I lack bulk. So, if the gis that will fitmy length were off by about 20 pounds… and in light of the weight I have lost, it is now about 30 pounds off. It is also very, very stiff.. and since it is slightly too big, the collar stabs me in the neck….it feels like a choke. That’s right… I am so not amazing at Jiu-jitsu my gi can tap me.

It is in the wash as I type.

Patches, we have a problem.

So, I found that awesome Super Mario patch, and everyone from church who does Jiu-jitsu got one too... We were going to all put them on our Gis and represent Mario. (and hope we aren’t an embarrassing representation of him.) Last night we mentioned it, and he seems to think it is a bad idea. Or at least that the higher ranking belts from his other school would give him a hard time over it. I am sad. LOL I really like Mario and want to put a patch on my gi in his honor…. But I guess I will have to put one on my bag instead!

I think I’ve gotten really lucky as far as Jiu-jitsu falling into my lap, and landing some awesome teachers.

Allie got hassled into going by some of the kids from her youth group, and she didn’t want to go alone so she talked me into going… and let me tell you how quickly I would have said no if I had ANY idea what Jiu-jitsu actually was. But I went, and loved it… and 99% of the reason I liked it so much was because of Brian. He made me feel completely comfortable, and made it Jiu-jitsu fun. (Hot sweaty no personal space fun?!) If it hadn’t been for him I would have never even considered going back… He has a new job and a lot on his plate right now, so he can’t continue teaching us. *insert sad face here* The guy who replaced him, Ben scared the pants off me the first day he came… as in .. “This man could kill me where I stand and I am not so sure that he won’t do it.” Though, it’s been a few weeks and I’ve gotten to know him better he is really nice and scares me less. Still scary.. just less scary. But he is REALLY good, and I know he has a lot to teach us.

Then of course there is Mario. I really like Mario, he is awesome. Though, like Ben the first time I met him... terror. lol I couldn’t be more comfortable with him now though. He is great… and always smells clean. LOL I wish I could say that about the rest of the class! Some of those boys smell… well, not good….they don’t smell good at all.

One Month

I have been doing Jiu-Jitsu for one month today. Woohoo!

I am still terrible, but I can see improvement... Though let's face it.. when you started like I did... with having ever even attempted sports in any way shape or form for my first 27 years... the only way you can go is up.

I'm kind of shocked at how much I still love Jiu-jitsu. It is so many things that I hate combined... and somehow SO fun! .. And it makes me feel better about myself, and motivates me to be more healthy and fit. Not to mention the fact that I am pretty sure if some Joe-schmo tried to attack me, I could if nothing else get away.