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Someone else showed up to the 6:30 am class today! It was a big, new white belt – but with coach watching I wasn’t too worried. We practiced a heel pick takedown, side control hand positioning, and then taking mount from side control, and then a really sneaky wrist lock from side control. Coach won his 3rd match at the Pan Ams with that wrist lock – snapped it real good!

I’m pretty sure I “at least” bruised another rib or two last week. It’s a bit painful with deep inhalation, and being crushed flat is much more unpleasant than usual. So annoying – I guess I’ll just have to work around it.

No one to play with again at 10 I’m afraid. A group of gi students showed up early for the next class and were rolling around a bit, but there was nobody I could roll with.

The 11:30 class on mon and tue is our intro gi class (no rolling) – so I only take it when I find someone, before class begins, who I can pair off with safely.

We drilled a snap to back takedown, then reguard from side control bottom, then belly out (if hip is blocked). My drilling partner was one of our more experienced white belts with a severe adhd streak. Every other rep he got excited over discovering a new way to kill me, each time quoting “but I would never hurt you, you’re too sweet!”. I caught coach eyeballing him a couple times, it was pretty entertaining!

That was it for today! Tomorrow is my long training day. 10, 11:30, 5, and 7:15. Yay!

I ended up being the only person who showed up for training at 6:30 this morning, so I ended up doing a massage on coach instead.

I came back at 10 and did some light no gi rolling with one of the purple belts in between his turns beating on our training camp guys. He just wanted to keep his heart rate up.

At 11:30, we drilled a fun side control escape – it was very ninja’esc. Then I and one of the other girls rolled several rounds. Coach told us to stay together while the guys switched partners – that way we he wouldn’t have to worry about us getting hurt.

That’s it for training until monday morning! Knees are already feeling better after stim treatment and a day of icing at night, so hopefully I’ll be feeling fresh on Monday!

Got to do a little no gi sparring with one of the blue belt guys at 10. It was a good roll because he doesn’t try to smash me and uses good technique to pass my guard. He made the mistake of telling me he was fat (he’s a bean pole), so whenever he’d get me pinned in side control, I’d reach up and grab a handful of belly skin. Not enough to really hurt, but it distracted him enough that I’d wiggle out. Okay, so we were just goofing off really – gotta have a little fun!

At 11:30 we drilled a slick bravo choke from side control bottom. The added benefit was that if even if they posture out of the choke, you’re still escaping from the bottom.

Had a couple fun rolls, then became the odd one out and coach took the opportunity to beat on me a bit. I always feel like I’m just being toyed with – he could finish me anytime he wanted, but tosses me around a bit first. Played a lot of inverted guard!

Went to see the sports doc/chiro today about my knee. Just wanted to get it checked out. Good news! Ligaments and meniscus all good! Just a little bursitis from hanging by my knees from the chin up bar. He said probably a “little” tendinitis but nothing major. He cleared me for training and told me to do gentle hamstring stretches, ice after class, and no more hanging sit ups.

Decided to wait on getting a bike – let the knee heal up before putting more workload on it.

Speaking of workload… I went in a bit early for 5 pm because I wanted to talk with coach about training. He said I’m on the right track and just keep going – he’ll redirect me when I need it. My dad was worried that I might be over training, but coach said that I’m good – and he would bench me if I needed it. I don’t roll every day, and I don’t roll hard every single time. Coach said if I start loosing recovery time, or feel beat up all day, that’s when I need a break.

Played a bit with my thursday brown belt buddy before 5 pm class. He’s just my size and rolls nice. He has learned most of my tricks by now so I have to come up with new ones to keep things moving. Plus the smack talk we get going is awesome!

Got my butt kicked first match in class, had some give and take in my second, then had my ass handed to me on a plate by one of our black belts. (But in the best, non injurious way possible!) Twas great fun!

The no gi class was next so I worked on my BBB’s (brown belt buddy) shoulder a bit. It’s a nice trade off, he teaches and tests me once a week – and I help his arm move. I told him I gotta keep my good training partners in good working order!

For our 7:15 class, I managed to snag one of my favorite purple belts to drill with (okay, so they’re all my favorites!) He always shows me little extra things I can do to solidify position, or just to be a little meaner with a technique. He is also a Judo guy and was explaining how if someone is coming toward me, their strength may be a 6 vs my 4. I won’t win by resisting them. But if I instead grab onto them and pull while they’re moving, the numbers go in my favor and I take their base away.

After drilling, we got to do several rounds of sparring. I need to work more to stay on top, I’m just too comfortable with holding my guard and need to work on sweeps and submissions. Okay, so I really need to work on everything, but I think this next week I’m gonna really focus on sweeps, and maintaining top control once I have it.

Hmmm what can I say about today? Coach wasn’t there this morning to give me my promised beating but I did get to drill some side control bottom escapes (always useful!)

Did some rolling at 10 – started out no gi with one of the guys, then did some gi with a visiting blue belt. He said I’m a “very good white belt”.

Got my ankle slightly hyper extended during drilling at 11:30 – I really just need to stay out of that class on mon and wed. On those days it’s the intro bjj class – all drilling with primarily white and blue belts. I usually end up tweaked in some non-constructive way. Anyhow, I sat and watched the rest of class.

I think I need a concrete training plan. I’m gonna sit down tomorrow with coach and ask him how he wants to see me training. Be it classes, circuits, weights, cardio, or whatever other fiendish ideas he has up his sleeves. I want to know that I’m getting the most out of the time I put in. I kind of feel like I’m just thrashing around and using a ton of energy without a focus.

Got paid today – so I’m going down to the bicycle shop tomorrow afternoon to see about getting a bike. I need some way to get cardio in since I can’t run without dislocating something. I figure it’ll also help strengthen my joints, as well as get me warmed up for class. It’s almost an 8 mile ride to the gym from my house – pretty doable!

Had some play time today at 10! Another girl who is training for an mma fight showed so I got to get in on the action. Here was the drill she had:

2 minutes no gi sparring with one of the guys.

2 minutes in coach’s guard – every 15 seconds switching between punching mits and then trying to pass.

1 minute sparring with me.

1 minute rest

We did 5 cycles of this. Fun times! Coach says that the way we train makes it very difficult for anyone to wear our guys down in a fight.
Anyhow, the gal’s brother is a tattoo artist and sketched out a rough draft of an angry poodle for a girls team logo. I’m including it at the bottom of this post. All the girls like it – except for one who said “hell no!” I asked her to sketch her an idea and send it to me.

After this was the 11:30 gi class. Only one other person showed up – one of the blue belts on my “do not drill with” list. So I sat out and watched. Coach promised to beat me up really good later.

At the 5pm sparring class, I just watched again. It was a large class with lots of big guys that looked like the crushing types. Afterwards was the 6 pm no gi class. During this time, one of the purple belts (who was at the tournament on saturday) pulled me aside to show me some sweeps from spider guard.

He plays a lot of spider guard – and I really appreciated him taking the time to show me some of his game! He also gave me tips for maintaining distance and using inversions to maintain guard and sweep.

At the 7:15 class we drilled a judo throw and it was discovered that I have a mental block against break falling and making noise – need to get over that. As pathetic as it sounds, it’s gonna take some work to get over.

We sparred a few rounds toward the end of class and a fore mentioned purple belt tested my retention of what he showed me. I did fairly well! Think I’ve got some new tools in my arsenal!

Did a couple rounds with our lone blue belt girl (I’ll get there soon!) – she got me with an ankle lock, and I got in a few gi chokes. I think I’m getting better at guard passing! At least when it’s someone my size…

My back is the sore spot this week. It’s enough that I’m having trouble with good bridging motions. Guess that just means I should avoid getting smashed under someone for the next little bit.

After class, I got to play with another of our purple belts for a few mins. He was working on my omoplata from spider (seeing a pattern here maybe?) Both of them told me if I ever have any questions – they’re happy to help.

Coach promised to beat me up real good tomorrow morning. I should be frightened, but I actually look forward to it – I did after all ask for it.

Tomorrow is payday for me! So that means thursday I should be buying a bicycle. The gym is only 7 miles from my house, so I figure I can ride to and fro on tuesday and thursdays – maybe the early morning classes too if I can haul my butt out of bed early enough. It’ll be good for my cardio, and get me nice and warmed up. My main goal however is to strengthen my legs so that my joints can stabilize.

So this morning coach told me “good job for your first tournament!” We’re gonna spend the next 4 weeks before NAGA Memphis getting me working offensively. I’ve proven my guard game, so it’s time to build off that. He wants me to do the IBJJF Chicago Open on August 18th – so that’s the next big goal. After that, it’s Pan Ams.

At 6:30 we were drilling side control top, blocking the hip, and jumping on the head for a kimura when they try to roll. We also practiced some grip breaking for the kimura – including a really mean elbow grind in the ribs.

The guys were doing no gi drilling at 10 and I was the timekeeper. Really glamorous I know, but I can learn a lot by watching.

At 11:30 we drilled a takedown, and a couple of escapes from side control bottom. I also took the opportunity to practice some no hands open guard – did fairly well!

That’s probably gonna be it for today as I work this evening. If I don’t get booked a 7:45 massage, I could go to the 7:15 class as I’ll be done at 7 – but I doubt that will happen.

So probably no rolling today, but that’s all right. My back is a bit sore from being stacked by that big ol’ blue belt on Saturday. Time to Kinesiotape up!

Well I just got home from my first tournament! It was the bluegrass open in Louisville, KY – about a 3 hour drive from my house.

Coach wasn’t able to come (had to be in a wedding), and I didn’t know who was going to come. Had a fair amount of jitters! I spotted someone wearing my team shirt so I sat down with him – he was from an affiliate school in Cincinnati. When I saw 3 of our purple belts walk in I instantly relaxed!

They had the upper level belts go first (then kids, teens, women, guys). We took one gold, and one silver in the purple division! Yay!

I had a jitter moment again, so the guys walked me away from the crowd and reminded me that I do this every day in class. They reminded me of coach’s directions (pull guard, and play spider) and to relax and breathe. By the time my name was called, I skipped up to the table.

There were only 8 girls so they divided us up into 2 weight class groups of 4. I weighed in at 141 so I wound up in the group ranging from 135 to (brace yourself) 214. Good thing I’ve been practicing with the boys!

Anyhow, got to do the first match of our group. I pulled guard, and played my spider guard. I found my grip wasn’t up to it’s normal snuff and found myself not breathing. Managed to catch myself, breathe, and somewhat relax. I wasn’t able to get a sub, but she spent the whole time trying to pass my guard. We ended in a draw.

The guys all patted me on the back, rubbed my hands, and gave me water while I waited for my next match. My directions were to just breathe, stay loose, and not sit down.

My second match was against a 214 lb blue belt. I jumped guard to get her down and then opened up to play spider (couldn’t lock my guard around her midsection). I was breathing a lot better this time and was quite comfortable. It took her several minutes to pass my guard – then she kept me smashed. She couldn’t get a sub, but beat me with points. I did however get a pat on the back from the ref who commented “great guard!”

The guys were impressed – they expected her to walk all over me, but I held my own very well.

My final round instructions were to shoot for the omnplata. I told them I’ve never actually landed it live, but they told me to go for it and take the sweep if I miss.

I’d watched my last opponent in her previous fights, and she’s a guard puller. So I beat her to the punch and pulled spider again. We had to be moved back to the mat center and after that I snapped into a triangle but couldn’t get the angle. I reguarded and grabbed for my cross choke grips (In retrospect, I should have pulled out my #1 sweep instead). She went for the choke as well so I pulled my knees up into her chest and made space to reposition. Ended up running out of time and it was (another) draw.

Thought I was done, but I ended up having one more tie breaker match with the same girl. They gave us a few mins to rest (I got another hand massage!) Then we had at it.

Still managed to pull guard. This time I played spider, snapped the triangle, switched to omnoplata, then snapped back into a solid triangle and nailed it.

I ended up taking home 3rd place – was pretty happy with myself overall. The guys said I have a solid guard and they’re gonna work with me to get some sweeps down for NAGA next month.

One of the guys took video of my matches – he’s gonna get it to me sometime this next week.

This warrior needs some rack time!

This week we have been working in the guard. Posture and passing is the name of the game. This will come in handy on Saturday!

I’ve been going fairly easy so far this week. My ribs are feeling a bit less sore, and after kinesiotaping my knees, they’re about 90 percent better.

Got some rolfing work done yesterday – compliments of my old massage instructor. He said the lateral sides of my legs are much tighter than the medial, probably what is putting the extra strain on my knees. I’m blaming all the open guard I’ve been playing. So I’ll be doing a lot of lateral hamstring and shin stretches so keep that balanced out.

My abdominal obliques on my right side are really tightened up. He said it’s like my body is a tin can that has had a dent kicked into it. Lots more stretching – and another session after the tournament.

I felt so good after that session that I just couldn’t help myself. I decided to play a bit at the 7:15 pm class that evening. Didn’t do anything too intense – just moving around and feeling things out.

We had a guy visiting from out of town. He teaches Aikido in Georgia and has just started getting into BJJ – had fun rolling a bit with him – he really liked my spider guard.

I just finished with my 6:30 am class and weight sets. Coach had to run out so I’m guarding the castle right now – depending on what time he gets back I may just hang until 10 if I can scrounge up some food.

Pretty low key the last few days. Coach has been having me sit out of rolling because he wants my sore spots to heal up for this tournament on the 12th. Most of the classes lately have been full of large white and blue belts – the type that crush me.

I have gotten some good practice in between classes with some of the upper level belts. On wed (the 2nd) I played for a bit with one of the black belts at the 10 am class. I was his warm up. He encouraged me to really “snap” into a triangle from my open/spider guard. He said that move is “gold” for me.

On Thurs I drilled in the classes and watched the rolling as well. After the 5pm class, I snagged one of the brown belts to play with. We went non-stop for the next hour. The last time I rolled with him, he told me I need to start recognizing an opening and to go for it.

I learn a lot rolling with him! Afterward, he told me I was doing a lot better (got that triangle “snap” a few times). He said to stop hesitating and just go for it. Even if I miss – he said my re-guard is quick enough that I’ll get my position back no problem.

Only one other person showed up for the next class – so coach put us to work with drills; terry underwood pass, then the re-guard. The rest of class we drilled coach’s #1 sweep back and forth.

I’m gonna start bringing a snack with me. My blood sugar plummeted halfway through the last class – apparently I turned quite white and scared my partner.

At 6:30 on Friday, I got to train with one of the guys. He had me drill a couple chokes from the back (including one using my foot!), then did some positional rolling. He said coach has to stop teaching me things because I’m learning them too well.

He seems to think that if I win the tournament on the 12th that coach will give me my third stripe – dunno about that since I just got my second – but I’m gonna kick butt anyhow!

Taking the rest of Friday, and the weekend, off – per coach’s recommendation. Gonna hit it again Monday morning!

Training at 10 was fun! Did some rounds of no gi grappling with a team mate who is getting ready for an mma fight in June. Alternated rounds with one of the smaller guys so we could keep her moving.

At 11:30 we drilled a slick arm bar from the back – it’s useful against an opponent who is protecting their neck well. I rolled a bit after drilling, but then I got smashed in the rib too much and squeaked – so coach made me sit out.

Good news! Coach gave me my second stripe today! Halfway to my blue belt in under 4 months – Yay!

At 5 we drilled the same arm bar for about 10 mins then settled to rolling. I played some fun entanglements with my legs – switching between spider, inside de la riva, and an x guard. I just LOVE when people try to stand and pass my guard!

I got my beatings after that. Rolled two more rounds, then someone got tired and sat out so I took the time to be lazy as well. Coach threw me back in on the last round. Guy was goading me to use my spider guard on him so, of course, I went for the inside de la riva instead (got him all confused). Turns out he had a new spider guard defense he wanted to test on me. I had him show me after class – it would work on someone with less mobility, but I think my re-guard is too fast for it to work all that well on me.

I did some massage work on a couple guys between classes. 7:15 was more drilling that arm bar – I’m gonna be doing that one in my sleep tonight.

We had a purple belt visiting – and he’s hypermobile too! We spent the time before class comparing contortions. Coach had me sit out from rolling again – so I was watching how this guy moves.

Good day of training! Got smashed a little, did a little smashing. Now here’s hoping I have someone to work with tomorrow morning at 6:30!