I have been updating this using an app on my phone, but just discovered it has magically not been updating when I thought it was. So now to condense the last 3 months of events into one post!

Major Updates:

I won double gold at the Bluegrass BJJ Open. I made quick work of my opponents in my division and then had an all out war in the absolute division finals. I ended up winning by 2 points that I was awarded for a sweep i executed in the first 30 seconds of the match. The rest of the time was spent with her trying (and very nearly succeeding!) in passing my guard. I have fought her before and we love seeing each other at tournaments – just exchange nods before, and hugs after.

My gym hosted a tournament and we had a great turnout! No girls, so I fought with the boys. I won 1st place in gi, and 3rd in no gi. It was great to see respect (and a little fear) in the guys eyes!

I’ve also teamed up with a brand new fight wear company based out of the UK. It is Raijin Fight Wear and I’ll be wearing their gear in tournaments! Yay! I’m currently waiting for them to send me their prototype.

I got my neck sprained in the process of one of the no gi matches. It put me out of training for a few weeks, and out of the next two NAGA tournaments I was going to compete in! Yea, I was a bit irritated. Oh well!

2013 European Opens:

In my irritated state of sitting out, I decided: “forget NAGA, I wanna go to Europe!” Coach gave me the nod, and 3 weeks later, I was registered and had a plane ticket! I’ll be leaving for Portugal on January 22, arriving the 23rd, and competing on the 24th. I’m so excited!

Coach has had me on a strict diet of training with purple belts and up only for the last month since he doesn’t want me getting any more boo boos before Europe. In the last week I have started rolling with blue belts again, and I am giving them quite a bit of trouble! Coach told me that my technique is getting good enough that he has to use a bit of weight to get through my guard now, and my top game is starting to gel.

I’ll be the only person from my school going to Europe, although I’ll be able to meet up with the rest of the Lloyd Irvin crew once I arrive. It’s gonna be a blast!

2013 Tournament Hit List:

European Opens

Pan-Ams

World Championships

If I do well at Worlds… I’m considering Pan-Asia as well. That’d be a trick of financing however – one step at a time!