Since the gym is closed on Monday for Memorial Day, I went in yesterday for a roll. I don’t usually go in on Saturday, but figured may as well!

Got to roll around with a jet lagged purple belt who just got in from Israel. Jet lagged or not, he still kicked my butt royally.

I’ve been having a bunch of mini breakthroughs in the last few weeks. Been doing a lot less scrambling and a lot more thinking. I’m starting be able to anticipate what someone is going to do – just a little bit, but I’m starting! I wasn’t so sure about spider guard, but (of course) coach was right – it works well for me.

I have my first NAGA tournament on June 9th. Not gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous. I know that no matter how I do, the only thing that could disappoint my team or coach would be for me to quit. Since that’s not gonna happen, that leaves me with just my own self.

It’s stupid really. Yet another thing to just “get over.”

Anyhow, my boss is awesome and gave me every day off I requested in order to do tournaments! Here’s what I got:

June 9 – NAGA Memphis
July 21 – EGO Nashville
August 18 – IBJJFO Chicago
September 15 – TN State Championship
October 13 – NAGA St. Louis
November 17 – NAGA Nashville
December 1 – NAGA Atlanta

I figure that should get me primed for Pan Ams next year. Thankfully, I’ve been assured that once I do Pan Ams, I’ll never get the jitters in competition again (unless I do Worlds). On the other hand, I’ve also been assured that no amount of small tournament “warm ups” will help me not be nervous as Pan Ams.

As long as I have my team mates, I’ll be all right!