I just wanted to say...

I love my instructors. I really, really do. They are all amazing.

De La Riva!

There is a small tournament here in 18 days. I think it will be good practice for NAGA, so I am going to do it.

And I am going to attempt to drop 4.9 pounds. I am not going to kill myself over it, but if I don't I am in the 145 and over weight class... whereas losing the weight I will be in the 130-144.9. I wouldn't mind being the bottom of my weight class if there was a cut off weight, but I really don't want to go against some gigantic woman.

I will have to put it right back on for Naga though, because at 145 I will be near the bottom of my weight class.

Rawr!

I love Saturday mornings!

I have class... and class again on Monday and Tuesday! ... Then I have to wait three days... and I get sad! lol

I wish I could stagger my classes a little better. Maybe trade Monday for Wednesday, but alas... Either way, it makes for a nice beginning of the week.

Today we learned another guard pass. Ben called it the "can opener". It pretty much seems a sure fire way it get your knee in, but then again, I was practicing with someone who was only on their second class... so I don't how easy it would have been with someone who knew what they were doing... and something tells me it may not be the best guard pass ever because I'm two months in, and I have never seen anyone even try and do it. I'm still going to try it a few times in a grapple to see how it goes.

One thing I have really been trying to work on the past few classes is staying calm while grappling, and taking a few seconds to catch my breath if I feel like I am getting too worked up. I hope I can make a habit out of doing that, and work it in to my game with out thinking about it too much. It does seem to be helping... I don't feel like dead weight at the end of class.

It is 4 am...

And I am still awake. Why? Because I had a really crappy night of Jiu-jitsu and I can't shut my brain up about it long enough to let myself fall asleep.

Ugh. I don't even know why I let it bother me so much. Well, that is a lie, I know why it bothers me so much. But... I know myself well enough to know that I shouldn't blog this tired, so I'm just going to end the blog I never should have started in the first place... My giddy sleepy ramblings are bad enough, I don't need angry sleepy blogs too.

I got to grapple Ben!

Tonight I got to grapple my instructor Ben, for the first time in about 5 weeks. The difference between Ben, and say another student who is a blue belt is like a mountain and a mole hill. He moves SO much, and so fast, and so fluidly... it's just insane. I can do nothing against that man except try and move under him... he even started with his back to me. lol I think I got half a hook in.. maybe. It is great movement practice though, and he does things that you just don't see... or feel in a normal grapple.

And tonight Ben made us grapple for 6 minutes instead of 5 and didn't tell us until afterward. I didn't even notice. Yay for that.... and we did 6 back to back grapples, which is more then we normally do. I am just glad that tonight was the night I decided to try and pace my breathing, and remain calm when I grappled. lol Other wise I would have been a limp noodle by the end of class.

And I hate Tuesday nights... I go to classes on Monday, Tuesday and then Saturday. The wait from Tuesday to Saturday kills me every time!

I really want to get a private lesson sometime soon. I think I might do it this Thursday. I really just want to sit down with someone who knows what the heck they are talking about and pick their brain... ask them all the weird random questions I have, and get some advice on take downs.

I also just want to roll with someone who good, and then ask them what I need to work on most. I grapple a lot with Allie and Phil during the week, but we are all pretty much on the same basic level, so it is hard to tell where exactly I suck the most.

And on a random side note, it is really hard to tell someone who knows nothing about Jiu-jitsu a story about jiu-jitsu. I tried to tell a friend about my hole in the wall incident, and the response was basically this...

" ...... .... I have no idea what you just said."

Wow

Last night was a great night.

Two girls came to class for the first time. They were both adults, like Allie and I are. And it really made me feel good about my progress.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am NOT talking trash about these two girls... We all start somewhere, but they were pretty terrible, and I know I was just as bad, if not worse when I started.... and seeing someone else just starting out made me realize just how much progress I have made. I know I am still a crappy white belt, but I can at least see positive proof that I am if nothing making progress. Woohoo!

Other highlights:

I got to use an arm drag on someone who has at least 80 pounds on me, and it worked. I got his back! Woohoo! Thanks Mario!

I also to grapple Brian., my former instructor. lol He can still pretzel me with one arm and both legs tied behind his back.. as I expected, but he said he could tell I was making progress...and it was fun to roll with him... he does crazy gymnastics when he grapples. It's confusing, and intimidating, but he is super nice, so it makes me laugh instead of frustrating me. =)

And I put a hole in the wall. This isn't so much a highlight as it is just something that happened, and made me laugh. The wall is riddled with holes, and everyone blames Paul for them all... he claims they are not all his handy work, but now I know at least one of the holes isn't Paul's doing. Then when he saw the hole, he said his only problem with the hole was the placement. LOL! Had I being doing the triangle escape properly the hole would have been much lower.

I freaking love Jiu-jitsu!

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.