I don't know the meaning of tap.

Clearly this isn't something I have said, or will never say.  I plan to tap my way all the way through BJJ.

I am not anywhere near the level of awesome it takes to not only say this, but pull it off.  Dan Hardy, on the other hand, is.

He fought last night in UFC 111 against GSP.  Being that I am a grappler you would think I would be all over GSP for this fight, not only that but he was favorite to win... and he did.

But Hardy totally inspired me the whole fight.  He was out matched on the ground, but he didn't give up, or even come close.  He went all 5 rounds and escaped some pretty sick submissions.  I think I actually screamed during the kimura. .. and I was out in public.  lol

I need to take a page from The Outlaws book, and never say die.  (Tapping on the other hand, I will do.  hehe)

Okay... I'm a little scared.

Remember my first competition...  The Second Annual De la Riva Cup, where this happened:

That girl, the one whose legs are securely preventing any blood from getting to my brain, Tania... she is visiting my school tomorrow.  

I am excited though.  She is VERY nice, and I like her a lot.  I'm just nervous about grappling her again, at my school, on my mat, in front of my teammates.  I feel like I need to represent and am worried I might not be able to do so in the way I would like.  Honestly though, my fight with her is still my very favorite of all my competitions... and I lost that one... by submission.  So I know I will enjoy grappling her again.

Either way, I am going to do my best, and enjoy rolling with some new girls for a change... and I do like being challenged... and while getting owned is never FUN per say... It is nice to get all the holes in your game poked at.  I just don't want a neon flashing sign pointing at me "HOLES IN YOUR GAME ARE LOCATED: Here, here, here and here" 

I wanted to come and edit something in...

I was thinking about this while I was eating dinner, and I changed my mind.  I'm not scared.  I am just excited.

She is another woman, who is also a mom, who trains Jiujitsu.  Not only does she train, but she is just as obsessed as I am, and she trains as much as I do.  With as small a community as BJJ is, I need to grab hold of other women grapplers... esp ones like Tania whom  I can relate to on more then one level.

I can't wait to see her tomorrow.  =)

I'm back, baby!

I rolled on Tuesday night, but went super light, and only twice.  Allie and Gumby.  Allie I trust 100% to not injure me, and Gumby is light and very non-spastic.  Both of those went okay pain wise, and I didn't want to push it.  So I didn't grapple any more after Gumby.  I was aware of my rib after class, but it wasn't pain so much as it was... awareness.  lol

I went to class on Wednesday night too, and told Fabio I wanted to try again, go a little harder, but not push it too much.  So, I went with only girls, and stayed on top... and it was fine.  Yay!  It actually didn't bother me at all.  One of the teenage girls asked if she would work her guard passes though, and wanted to  try the standing pass we did in class.  It's the one where you stand up, and bring the person up with you, press down on one knee and bounce them a little to break their guard.  It would have been fine, except she dropped me.  lol   I'd been catching myself with my arm that wasn't being held when she did it the first few times... I just wasn't ready for the drop.  It hurt when it happened, and for a few minutes after, but it wasn't lasting.  By the time I got home I felt fine...but while I grappled, I made sure not to bend toward or press on my ribs too much.

And I went again this afternoon.  I got to go with Ben, and Derrick.  Both of whom I feel like I could go hard with, (and not threaten them in any way shape or form) and know they will not hurt me, and also prevent me from hurting myself.  I still went easy on my side but I moved more freely then I had been doing.

I feel okay right now...  I am aware of my side.. I can feel where it is sore just sitting here, but it really isn't pain.  It's just...  there.   I do know that a knee to the side right now would be very painful though, or someone using a lot of pressure in side control.  So, I think I am just going to grapple, but protecting my side is going to be my main priority.

While I was going with Ben he was sweeping me... a lot.  Fabio happened to walk by one of the times, and said ..."Watch your base, Stephanie... unless you wanted to go to Brazil."  LOL  -  Thanks, Fabio.  Thanks.


Oh... and it is worth mentioning... Ben and Derrick went today while I was sitting on the wall.  I wasn't aware people could grapple at the speed of light until today.

In case you needed more proof that I am having a crappy week...

Yesterday was annoying. I had too many things to do, not enough time to do them, and also had to squeeze in time to take me and Micah to the doctor. We both have ear infections. Our doctor called us in prescriptions to the Walmart Pharmacy. I tried to pick them up yesterday, but because the Walmart pharmacy is so awesome and on top of things it wasn't ready on time, and like I said... epically busy, didn't have time to wait around for them to get their butts in gear and fill them. I figured we could live with our ear infections for an extra 12 hours.

This morning I just wanted to chill out, relax and then go sit and watch Jiujitsu instead of doing it since I am all broken.

That didn't happen.

I woke up this morning to Zaile vomiting.

That alone drove me insane.

My kids aren't sick very often, and for the past two months they have been sick on and off. It is getting old. I feel bad they are sick, and taking care of sick children kind of sucks.

Anyway, Zaile fever starts spiking, and I freak out and take her to the doctor. Her fever got up to 103.8 before I tossed her in the car and took her in.

The doctor calls her in a prescription as well. I needed to go there anyway, so I head there after the appointment. Mine was filled, as was Zaile's. Micah's was not... it was never called in. I called my doctor; they accidentally called it in to a Walgreens. They tell me they will call it in to the right pharmacy. I asked the lady at Walmart how long it will be... she tells me an hour. So, I go poke around Walmat for about 40 minutes.... at which point Zaile starts to vomit all over the place. All over me, all over herself, all over my cart full of groceries... Awesome. It takes me about 15 minutes to get it all cleaned up. So, I go back to the Pharmacy to get Micah's medicine. Still not ready. I go to the drop off window to see how long it will be.... Still not called into the right Pharmacy.

UGH!

So, I explain to the lady as nicely as I could that my kid was super sick, throwing up all over Walmart, and how I just waited an hour for nothing. I asked her if I called my doctor and had her call it in while I was standing there if there was anyway they could expedite it so I could just take my sick kid home. She pretty much told me, I don't care how sick your kid is, it wasn't her problem and I would have to wait two hours just like every one else.

I swear to you, I have never wanted to choke someone out so much in my whole life. But I was covered in vomit, holding my sick vomited on kid...so I opted to bite my tongue and just take Zaile home and pick up Micah's meds the next day.

So, I pay for my cart full of vomited on things... one of which was a 24 pack of bottled water, and leave.

When I was unloading my cart, I was talking on the phone, explaining to Allie how I wished death on every single person in the Pharmacy at Walmart, so I was loading my grocery getter with one hand. When I got to the water, I grabbed it by the plastic on the side, and tried to kind of underhand toss it into the back of my car.

The plastic ripped mid toss, and the water flew out of my hand. It landed nicely in my car, but the force and momentum of the throw... now minus the 24 bottles of water.... carried my hand up to my face.

I punched myself directly in the eye.... so hard I drew blood, and gave myself a little mouse on my eye lid.

I got white hot angry for about 3 seconds. Then, I realized I had just punched myself in the eye in a crowded parking lot, and started laughing.

Moral of the story... next time someone pisses you off, punch yourself in the eye. It will make you feel better.

Yes, I know I am an idiot...

I went to class Monday night.  I brought my gi... thinking I would ask Fabio what he thought about my grappling.

He basically, said take it one step at a time... Do warm up.  Do drills.  Do technique. Then grapple llight if the first three went well.

I did warm ups.  Everything was fine.  Fine as in, no pain, but I could feel where I was sore.

Drills.  We did drills that had my partner basically using my side as a kicking off point for a hip out.  I opted to sit out of that.  (See, I'm not THAT big an idiot.)

Technique was a sweep from guard.  I did it once.  My side was not having it.  I sat and watch everyone else do the technique, then I took of my gi and pouted in the office like a big baby when it was time to grapple.

I almost cried...

I hate this.

"Let's go light."

What does that mean to you?

When I go light I just move.  I don't go for submissions, and once I establish a dominate position I move on.  I tend to go a little more slowly too.

Apparently, going light means different things to different people... otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here with busted up ribs.

Do I need to change my approach to going light?  Or perhaps I just need to be more aware of who I 'go light' with.

Either way, I am curious as to what other people mean by 'go light'.


Also - I'm getting excited for the Pan Ams.  I'm not going, but Fabio is, and a handful of my teammates are going too.... and a few of the bloggers I follow.  I can't wait to hear about it!   Good luck everyone!

So, I took the drugs...

My day that started out horribly, ended much worse.

That cough I was talking about got worse... and in a desperate attempt to stop myself from coughing, I some how made my self gag so hard I threw up.  Violently.  Let me tell you how much worse throwing up was then coughing.  I laid on the floor for about an hour, throughly convinced I had broken my body in half.

I finally had to get up when my daughter accidentally locked herself in my closet.  Your two year old crying, "Mommy, help!  Please let me out!"  is pretty much motivation enough to cut my own hand off to help her.

I decided then, that I was going to go ahead and take the Vicodin.  It was past the kids bed time anyway, so I hobbled around, put them to bed and took the meds.

O.M.G.

I should have done this days ago.

I feel okay.  A little weird, but movement is no longer painful... I'm sure my side would hurt if I poked at it, but I'm not an idiot, so I won't test that theory.

So, I am off to bed, for hopefully what will be a good nights sleep.  I've had trouble falling asleep since Tuesday night.

Rib injury advice?

I really do not want to take the Vicodin I was prescribed, but I appear to have developed a cough.  Or, I had one and I didn't realize I had it until coughing became borderline excruciating.

They said not to wrap your ribs at the ER because it can cause pneumonia... but I wonder if that will make coughing hurt less.  If I just wrap them for a little while, take it off for a few hours and then re-wrap, will it still be an issue?

I'm just really starting to get frustrated with the pain.

And btw I don't want to take the Vicodin because I so seldom take pain killers of any kind, I don't know how my body will respond to them, and I am here alone with my two kids.

100 Monkeys!

This has nothing what so ever to do with Jits.

BUT I AM SO EXCITED!!

100 Monkeys are FINALLY back in Florida!

I'm going to go see them on the 31st.

www.100monkeysmusic.com

Sit down and shut up.

When I first hurt my rib, I didn't not grapple like I should have.  I rolled less and went light.  This time, I am going to act like if I bend over, my ribs are going to snap in half.

I'm going to just do a s little as possible, and hope that it speeds my recovery.  

I took some of the pain meds I was prescribed yesterday, but I don't think I am going to today.  I want to feel what hurts, so I can avoid doing it.  I need to recover...now.  I need to be grappling yesterday.  

I went to class last night, and watched.  Fabio let me be the timer girl.  I finally got to sit and just watch some of my favorite people roll.  I always complain that when Fabio goes with Ben or Paul I never get to watch because I am grappling.  Last night I got to watch...and it was awesome!  Fabio is insane.  Insane.  I am sure I sat there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot... and all he did was guard passes last night.  

He also taught a super fantastic choke from guard.  I hope I can remember it, and try it when I can move a little better.  Because A. I love chokes, and B. I love guard.  Chokes from guard = Happy.  

And seriously, I do love my team.  They are the best.  =)   ...even if they make fun of my chicken wing.   

Back on the side lines.

I injured my ribcage again!  UGH!  I am beyond frustrated.  Esp since I was going to class on cloud nine... finally feeling back to 100%.

It was kind of a freak incident, but it could have been avoided all together, and because of that it annoys me.


I cried last night after I got hurt...  not because I was in pain, but because I was mad, and embarrassed.  I hate laying on my back on the mat, with everyone huddled around me.  I know they are doing it because they are concerned for my well being, and I do appreciate that.  I'd probably hate more it if no one cared, and ignored me too, but you know what I mean.. It just sucks.  Getting hurt sucks.  .. and I hate crying.  Hate it.

Ben is awesome though.  I pulled my gi over my face because I was crying and felt stupid... and after a minute or two Ben says "We can still see you, you know."

It made me feel better... well, it made me feel worse, lol, laughing hurt, but I needed to laugh.  Later, he was running an errand, and stopped by the hospital.  I felt kind of like an idiot hopped up on morphine in a hospital gown, but it was nice to know he cared enough to stop by.  I love my jits family.  =)  Allie was there with me all night, and Phil was there for a few hours... and half my team was blowing up my phone checking to see that I was alright.

I wrote a note on Facebook to update everyone, I will just cut and paste it here instead of typing everything out again.  As much as I like to blab, sitting in this chair is not the best thing ever.


-----------




Thank you every one for your concern. =) I feel all loved.. which is nice because I also feel all run over.

Last night in class while I was grappling, I got kind of slammed down on the mat. The lower left side of my rib cage hit first, which happens to be the same are where my rib got popped originally. That wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that the person I was grappling came down on top of me, shoulder first on top of the lower part of my left side. Basically, the little baby ribs on the left side of my rib cage got pancaked between a shoulder and the mat. It was for the most part just bad luck. If he landed higher, or I had landed differently, I doubt it would have hurt nearly as much.

I was concerned that I may have cracked or re-popped my rib so I agreed to go to the ER. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be doing any more damage if I continued to grapple.

So, I went, and the triage doctor poked me a bit, and was worried I might have some internal damage. So, he ordered a cat scan, and some x rays. Allie got to watch my cat scan... so, she got to see all of my insides. lol - Now she can really say she knows me inside and out. =)

Thankfully, I have no serious damage. Nothing is broken, organs are fine, and no internal bleeding. Yay!

The doc said I can return to the mat as soon as I feel up to it... which sadly, may be a while. =(

I was prescribed an epic butt ton of pain medication. Flexeril, Vicodin and Ibuprofen. I am willing to bet I could probably grapple all doped up without pain, but I going to opt to not be retarded, and stay off the mat for a bit.

Allie was super awesome, and stayed with me all night, and pretty much helped me do everything short of going to the bathroom... which I am sure she would have done too, if I had asked. Phil and Ben also came to make sure I was alright. Thanks guys! Love you! ... except you Phil... you, mayhem causing, picture taking nincompoop. =) Though, Phil brought me food, so I won't be hatin' too much.


There are a few bonuses of going to the ER straight after jits though... well ya know, aside from the fact that, that is why I was there in the first place.

I had on little stretchy fight shorts under my gi pants.. which means, no peek-a-boo panties through my hospital gown. It also means that my veins were nice and sticking out for my IV. And it gave me something to talk about with every single nurse, doctor and tech who crossed my path.... "So, Brazilian Jiujitsu, huh?"

As it turns out, one of the doctors at Bartow Regional knows on of Fabio's other students, my x-ray tech is a kick boxer, and my nurse has a personal trainer name Sergio who is Brazilian... and she apparently hates him. lol

Sometimes it does matter...

Man vs Woman

Tonight I grappled a guy for the first time who is roughly my height, but has about 20 pounds on me, and according to our instructors, we are of the same skill level.  We both have three stripes.  I've always wondered how I would fair against a man of my size.  I have been told probably 100 times that a man of my relative size and skill level would probably beat me just due to the strength difference.  Tonight, that theory was proven right... and I am just going to go with it.  lol

He pretty much owned me.  Or at least I felt like he did.  Allie claims it did not look that way, but it sure felt like ownage.  He was just SO fast... I felt like I could do nothing to stop him save getting a knee in.  (I was able to defend all his submissions, but I don't think I could ever stop defending long enough to go for one myself.)  And he just flipped clean out of my butterfly guard twice.  The third time, I kind of expected it so I could kind of stop him.  Normally, if someone tries to flip out of my butterfly guard like that, I just sink my hooks extra deep and go with them to mount, or if nothing else stop them. (this is on someone who is around my skill level, obviously I'm not stopping a brown belt or even blue belts with my hooks) .... but not tonight.

Now, he wasn't mean, or anything like that when we grappled he was just bigger, stronger and faster... and it sure felt like, more skilled.

But either way, I am going to chalk it up to him being a man  Cop out?.. perhaps... but whatever, it makes me feel better.  =)

Kiss grappling...

It is like submission grappling, but the goal is to kiss other person face.  LOL

Another bonus of grappling with your best friend.... you can do idiotic things like this.  =)

I have mention before I am a touchy person... I hug and kiss everyone.  Allie on the other hand isn't so much with the kissing.  Not that I am kissing people on the mouth or anything... Anyhow, after class, I went to go kiss her on the cheek, and she defended my kiss as if I were going to choke her, and it went from there.  We got into a full blown grapple, except I was trying to kiss her, and she was trying not to be kissed.  It was really fun, and a great way to have no pressure grappling.  No one cared who was on top, or who was sweeping who... We just moved like crazy.  I did get my kiss though.  LOL  So happy endings all around.

Obviously, this is not something I would attempt with one of my male teammates.  That might get a little hairy.  lol

May I also say... OMG!  It was so awesome to be back on the mat!

Reflections of a sick girl

I have been a blob of a human for the last few days.  Even walking to the mail box was a bit of a challenge.  So of course grappling was out of the question for many reasons.  The primary one being that I need to breathe to grapple, and I could hardly manage that sitting in my bed.  Other reasons being that I didn't want to infect my entire team with my cooties, and I am sure no one wanted me and my ever dripping nose anywhere near them.  I am finally starting to feel better, thank God.  I seriously have not been this sick since I was in the 10th grade... and I am almost thirty.  

I was forced to take the longest break I have taken from grappling since I started Jiujitsu seven months ago.  I did stop grappling for a week after my initial rib injury, but I still went to class.  By the time I roll again, it will have been 5 days.  

I am looking for the silver lining, and I believe I have found it.

Today, for the first time in months I woke up, and nothing ached.  My finger joints didn't hurt and I didn't have to stretch carefully.  I was forced to let my body rest, and I think it appreciates it.  Yay! 

All I have been able to do since Thursday was watch Jiujitsu online, and think about it.

I watched my NAGA matches from February... and they annoy me already.  Why, oh why, for the love of all that is holy do I just close guard and SIT THERE?!  Open guard has been my main focus for ... uhhh three months.  I can work open guard, open guard is one of the things I think I am decent at... and by decent I of course mean, decent for a white belt.  I even had a stander...  I love when people stand up in my guard... epic fun sweeps all over the place, and De la Riva guard.  I love De la Riva guard!  And all I did was grab her ankles and push her over.  Blarg.  So annoying.  Now I want to compete again to redeem myself... to myself.  I know no one else thinks, or at least I hope no one thinks, redemption is necessary.

Recently the subject of size has come up a lot...as in how to grapple someone larger.  I was actually going to get a private about that subject, but this blasted disease kept me home.... but I have been wondering.. Am I a big person... or a small person?  I am tall, at least for a girl, average for a man, but I am light.  There are a good number of men I grapple who are my height, but I only outweigh one of the guys... and he is about 5'6.  So, when Ben says something specifically about being a small grappler, does that apply to me?  I have always thought so, but again.. no grappling, too much thinking I wonder if I am considered small.   People call me Ginormica for Pete's sake.  Does it have more to do with weight, or length of limbs?  I assume weight because there are weight classes not height classes, but still....  I think I am going to do the private Tuesday since I missed Thursday, and I will ask then.  If it turns out I am  not considered small, I will have to pull something out of my butt to focus on for the private lesson.

I am so excited to grapple on Monday.  I am for the most part just excited to get back onto the mat, but I really want to work on taking the back from guard.  I think my go to submissions are chokes.  I still feel like an epic oaf when I go for armbars, and you can forget leg attacks.  I am getting semi-decent at defending leg attacks now since apparently my 10 foot legs are prime targets for ankle attacks, but I rarely see them, and have only gone for them a few times.  Anyhow, I love chokes, and there are chokes galore from the back.  So, I need to get better at getting there... and now that I have been shown the finer details, I need to work it, work it, work it.  I need to be able to do it without thinking, "grab gi sleeve, hip, shuck, get on your elbow, sit up, grab the arm pit, head on mat, hips up, hooks in."   I need to do it without thinking at all.  I need muscle memory... and to do that, I need to do it... a lot.  And it's not like people are just going to give up their backs.  I think this will be hard for me to work, but I want... need to get good at this.  


I will take your back, and I will choke you out.  


I need to make this my motto... Just pretend I am awesome...go into every grappling thinking I can do it.. and then try to do it... no no, then do it.

I think since I figured out that triangle from bottom side control, it is less of an ordeal in my head, and I can focus on things that actually matter.  lol

                    

Side control reverse triangle thing.

This is the triangle I was talking about.

Random non-Jits happenings.

I am sick.  Still.  I thought I was better, and went to class on Wednesday and I am not better.  I am much much worse.  Hopefully I did not pass my cooties on to anyone, and I assume I am worse because I went and pushed my body when it was in no mood to be pushed.

I am getting a puppy!  I have a dog right now, but she is my little old lady dog, and sadly I think she is nearing the end.  She is perfectly healthy, but she is 12.  I know she more then likely only has a few years left. =(  Anyway, I have been wanting to get a second dog, but I was in no real rush.  A friend of mine, Jiujitsu Jen, works at an animal hospital.  About two weeks ago one of their clients brought her dog in to have puppies.  She is a Golden Retriever breeder, and one of the puppies, who also happened to be the biggest, and healthiest looking puppy, only had three feet.  Four legs, three feet.  The owner told Jen to put the dog down, because she could not sell a dog with a birth defect.  Jen didn't want to put him down, so she asked the vet there if she kept the dog if he would be willing to do any necessary surgery on the leg if the dog ended up needing it.  He agreed, and also agreed to neuter him for free.  Jen can't keep him, but she knew she would be able to find a home for him when he was old enough.  And that home is going to be my home!  YAY!

I am going to name him C-3PO... and call him Three for short.  =)  I had been planning on getting a black dog, and naming him Vader, but alas this little puppy kind of fell into my lap, and I super love him already.  So, Golden Retriever it is.

I did it!!

I closed that blasted side control triangle!!!

Apparently the majority of my problem was an obvious one that Ben helped me figure out on Saturday morning. It is pretty much a reverse triangle, but I was squeezing my knees forward like you would in a normal triangle from guard.  I needed to be pointing my knees the other way while squeezing together... and I also was not creating enough of an angle.  I did both tonight, and closed it!

I got so excited, I said "Really?!" after he tapped, and then felt kind of like a jerk.  It was someone I had never submitted before and I get the impression he thought I was referring to the submission in general, but really, it was that I figured that one in particular out.... it has been my nemesis for so long now, I was just so happy to actually close it.  Either way, I am going to mention it to him next time that I wasn't trying to be a jerk, I was just so excited that I figured that triangle out.  I dunno, I don't want to be like, "So, remember when I triangled you.... "    Maybe I should let it go.  I just feel bad.  I know the person wasn't going 100% or anywhere near... so we both know it wasn't a real submission...  He actually is one of my favorite people to grapple because he comes down to my level when we roll.

Anyway, on top of that happening today I got help with taking the back from guard, and hopefully will be able to do that now with out feeling like a clumsy oaf.  To be honest though, even being walked through it, I still felt oafish with it.  Perhaps fluidity comes with time.  Ah well.... that is my new goal.  Learn to take the back with out feeling like an oaf.

America's Best Grappling Academy....

...Just happens to be my school.  At least according to Tapout Magazine.  =)  I tend to agree with them.

There was a two page article on my school in this months issue, the one with Frank Mir on the cover.

It seems strange to me that seven months ago I had no idea what BJJ was, and now I am completely and totally obsessed, and grapple almost every single day.  BJJ has changed my life for the better in so many ways.  I seriously don't know where I would be with out it.  It helped me get through one of the most difficult times in my life.

Not only that, but I stumbled into one of the best schools in the country.  I probably couldn't repeat that if I tried.

On top of all of that, I have a whole new second family.  Seriously.  I love everyone at my school, and feel accepted there.  My kids come with me to class sometimes, and while I know they are an epic pain in the rear, I still feel welcome to bring them.  Fabio's pregnant wife, Roberta, and son come to most classes too, just to hang out.  I love that.  And I love how Fabio announced to the whole class when they found out Roberta was pregnant, and when they found out they were getting the girl they wanted.  It is so much more then just an academy where I train.  They really are like my second family.

I love Fabio Novaes BJJ!

In seven months...

I have not missed a single class unless I was forced to, against my will.

Tonight, I am not going by my own choosing, and it is making me miserable.  Well, more miserable.

I am sick.

I'm not super sick, but I am an achy kind of sick, and every single one of my little injuries feels flared up... and my non-injured joints ache a bit.  So, grappling right now would just be stupid.  I would go and watch, but I would have to bring my kids tonight....so I might not even get to pay attention.  So, to avoid what could be just an annoying evening, I am going to stay at home, go to bed early and hope I feel better in the morning.

I am so bummed.  I have been looking more forward to grappling tonight then I have been in a long time.