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I’ve really been focused so far this week with training. I got to register for Atlanta on Tuesday, so far it’s 25 Alliance members, and me. This will be my first tournament flying under the Team Lloyd Irvin banner – hope to do the team proud!

Anyhow, went fairly easy on Monday – was still fairly sore from the tournament on Saturday. I popped my biceps tendon out of the bicepital groove – man that hurt! Very thankful I’m an amazing massage therapist and was able to manipulate it back in place. Ice and an evening of anti inflammatories took care of most of the ache. My amazing chiropractor patched up the rest of it in the morning. Good as new!

Good thing too! Training on Tuesday was pretty hard core. Team training at 10, rolled around non-stop in and out of gi. Then went into Coach’s advanced gi class. This week we’re working on mount escapes. Drilled a few options, then set to rolling for about 5 rounds. Yes, I got my butt whipped. Seems to be how I learn.

Was back at 5 for sparring. We did about 9 rounds of nonstop sparring – and made sweat angels on the mats afterwards. I jumped right into the no gi class at 6 and I think I did all right. I landed my first guillotine in perfect form!

I was pretty beat after that. I am pushing myself a lot harder now that I’ve got Atlanta on my mind. That said, I went home and was passed out by 9.

Wed was pretty light comparatively. No 6:30 training still – coach is needing to help his wife with their new baby. I came in and rolled at 10, then we had our intro gi class at 11:30. Usually it’s a drill only class, but we didn’t have any real new people, so we got to roll a bit as well. Yay! I’ve discovered the wonders of what a properly applied knee on belly can do for your game. There are a few upper belts that have put me on their hit lists. I trotted off to get some actual work done at the spa for the rest of the evening.

Today: Thursday, was REALLY busy! Went to the Chiropractor again in the morning – I was feeling pretty good!

Got trounced a bit at 10, then had some fun at the 11:30 class. I teamed up with one of the new white belts – my spidey senses said he was ok. I was explaining to him the concepts of staying relaxed and not working so hard. Demonstrated by staying stiff in mount and letting him dump me over vs staying relaxed – and he couldn’t budge me. At rolling time, I went fairly light. Went with two newer white belts and I don’t go hard on anyone until I know how they’re gonna react (spaz much?) It was fun! Got caught in a triangle and coach just gave me a “why the hell did you do that!?” Kind of look.

Came back at 5 to spar. It was bloody hot and people didn’t seem too motivated to get rolling. The ball started rolling when one of the purple belts offered me a fist. I felt honored as I was his first roll since his mma fight on Saturday (which he won by rnc).

Yea, he ate me for lunch. If I started slowing down or acting tired he called me a pansy – then laughed when I glared at him. We went at it for about 15 minutes and our session ended against the wall when he walked his feet up, did one sided shoulder stand on me… and I punched him in the stomach. It was pretty funny and he told me I did really well. It was a great roll – I need more like that to get me ready for Atlanta. By the time I make the rounds with my teammates, the competition will be a joke.

Anyhow, I made more sweat angels while the no gi class warmed up – I counted myself already warm. We did a really fun mount escape, then sparred for a bit. I did really well for the two rounds I got to roll. Afore mentioned purple belt was teaching class and was (thankfully) picky about my sparring partners. Destroyed my first partner, then had a very good match with one of our blue belts. We apparently have similar game and therefore had some awesome scrambles.

After class I went home to chill and write this up before bed. Oh, and I finally got the video of my no gi finals match from Saturday. The video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYMemGGYta8&sns=em

I gotta admit, I watched the video and was fairly pleased with myself – only one no gi class and all.

Okay. Warrior needs sleep now. Gonna be a light training day tomorrow since I have to work at 12. Hopefully I can get a couple rolls in at 10.

Well the tournament is over and I did all right for myself. Took 2nd in gi, and 1st in no gi.

In my first gi match, I went against a 15 year old intermediate girl. She actually passed my guard for a brief second, I re-guarded quickly enough that no points were awarded. I then spent a minute messing with a cross choke that I didn’t have deep enough. I held on and waited until she let go of my bottom arm and shot it in. Tap.

In the finals I went up against a blue belt with a truly amazing base! This chick was keeping me on my toes! She ended up winning off points (guard pass and mount), but I didn’t give up – so I’m happy! She made comment after about my knees being everywhere – at least I made her work!

I watched the video of that match, and I should have had her several times. Twas my own fault – I goofed and she was skilled enough to take advantage. Next time!

The finals in no gi were pretty eventful! I found out halfway through that I forgot to tie my shorts – so I hope no children were scarred by seeing half my butt!

I’d like to find out who is teaching people to try to open guard by digging elbows into the inner thigh. I’d like to slap them. I was still bruised from last week and after a minute of being stuck in my guard, this chick added on a new layer. It didn’t work, but man was it annoying! Our ninja brown belt showed me a triangle setup for next time that happens.

Eventually, I opened guard, shrimped out, and we both stood up. I jumped half guard and managed to snag a funky “armbar from hell” for the tap.

I also found out that the girl I beat in no gi finals took 3rd at worlds this year. Kudos!

So I ended up leaving with a silver medal, a battle ax, and a t-shirt. I skipped the absolute category because my gut was telling me it was a bad idea – and when I don’t listen to my gut, injuries happen. They let me have a t-shirt instead.

So no more tournaments until the Atlanta opens in Sept – which I need to register for asap. But to pacify myself, I’m flying to LA next month – gonna go to Disneyland with my bro and his family, hang with a teammate, and train some with Eddie Bravo. Twill be a most excellent week!

Well twas a fun filled day! This morning we drilled some knee on belly escapes. I paired off with one of our purple belts and we were doing well until the heat hit me and I completely collapsed. He peeled my gi top off and gave me a wet towel for my neck. I just watched the rest of drilling with fuzzy vision.

I cooled off just in time to do a little rolling. Coach snatched me and did some game planning with me. He taught me a new sweep from my open guard that is gonna be my money move for the tournament on Saturday. My directions: pull guard, hit sweep, pass/crush.

I did manage to completely surprise coach! I hit a slight variation of the sweep + a step through that made him yell an involuntary “Shit!” – and he fully admitted that I got him with that. Kudos to me! He told me to be sure I write that down!

I did a little no gi rolling this evening as well. Didn’t take class, but our purple belt, doctor death, rolled with me a bit. He helped me think through a few things since I really don’t train no gi and just needed an adjustment for tournament mode. He showed me how to escape a locked down triangle – which was very useful!

Didn’t go so well in the gi class. It was myself, two newer white belts, and a big purple belt + judoka dude. He kinda let it be known that he thinks of open guard as a weak position after I asked him for tips to avoid getting passed. He did show us a really awesome way to control and submit someone from N/S that involved an inverted triangle. A bit rough rolling with him – I sensed some ego inflation. I tapped to get out then sat on the side. Was a little too late and wound up with a hyper extended ankle that is already bruising. Kinda sucks. Hope it’ll be ok for the tournament!

Good news! Coach told me he doesn’t want me doing a water cut for this tournament. So happy!!!

We have MMA fights going on tomorrow (friday) night at the same location as the tournament the next morning. I’m gonna weigh in then while I’m there. We’ve got several guys on the cards so it’s gonna rock! A buddy of mine won ringside tickets and invited me to join him – so I may just do that!

Next update will be post tournament! Hopefully it’ll be good!

Well I skipped training yesterday – needed some recovery time from that pounding on Saturday.

Still went fairly light today. I’ll be skipping the 5 pm hard sparring class this week since I don’t wanna be beat up for the EGO tournament this weekend.

At 10 I rolled with one of our black belts who has been out with a bum knee. I call him mountain man – since he’s so huge. I’m small enough that his knee wouldn’t be in too much danger. He remarked that my movements would be very well suited for no gi since my guard passes aren’t grip dependent. He recommended I take some no gi classes.

11:30 we drilled some knee on belly escapes. I got to roll some with coach. He said he’s gonna regret teaching me shit because my legs were giving him all kinds of hell. He showed me an awesome lapel choke from a wizard – and by awesome, I mean excruciating.

I came in at 6 and watched the no gi class. Blue spider was there and decided to ask coach if I’d be getting my beat down for my blue belt. Thanks dude – apparently I’ll be having the skin peeled from my backside.

Class at 7 was run by our neutron star purple belt. I call him that because he’s very small, but can weigh a ton when he wants to. I told him that today and he seemed quite pleased – mentioned making that into a patch.

We drilled some spider guard sweeps – yummy! I had another girl to drill with and we rolled for a nice 15 min round after drilling (neutron forgot the timer). I got her in a cross choke and a triangle. She gave me a small black eye with her elbow, and I made her almost throw up. Twas a good night!

I’m gonna start circuit training in the morning with blue spider. He’s gonna be cutting 25lbs for the IBJJF Chicago Opens next month. I’ve only got another 8 lbs to go with my cut – started early to make it easier. Started 141, down to 134. I need to get to 125 for feather weight. So far so good!

Wow it has been a busy week!

I’ve been doing really well, feeling pretty “on” lately. I think I’ve made another progress leap!

Coach won’t be able to come in the early mornings for the next few weeks. There were 3 brand new white belts on Wed morning – leaving me as senior student with no instructor. So I taught class. One of the guys seemed fairly put out to have me, white belt girl, teaching – I suppose the lavender gi added to my authoritative image. He’ll get over it.

We drilled mount to fat boy transitions, then a bow/arrow choke from fat boy. I told coach and he approved.

I did a tournament today (Saturday). It was a small, friendly tournament pulled together by several schools in the area. I was the only girl there so I asked to be put in with the lightweight guys. There ended up being seven people in my division.

The matches were submission only for 10 mins, then they go into “first point wins”.

The first match I had went very well for me – and it was apparently spectacular for the spectators to watch. I imagine the poor guy is gonna get a lot of harassment for the thrashing I put on him. He had to fend off: triangles, mount, side control, ezekiel choke, and multiple sweeps. The only thing he got anywhere close to threatening me with was a straight ankle lock – which gave me opportunity to stand and pass his guard. Finally he got tired and I finished him with a cross choke from guard.

He kept trying to open my guard by digging his elbows into my legs. He looked so surprised when I didn’t even wince.

Anyhow, my next match didn’t go so well. He smashed through my guard and kept me crushed in side control for about 6 minutes. I had a few brief moments of breaking free – but otherwise, stayed smashed. I avoided all of his submission attempts and finally he grabbed the back of my collar and leg, stuck his knee in my rib, and coach called a stop to the match.

I ended up with 2nd place, and they gave me a 1st place as well for “being an awesome competitor”. That was sweet although I don’t feel like it was earned.

My biggest mistake was attempting to pull guard on that last guy. He did a very good job of keeping me small – and not giving me a chance to play my game.

What made me proud, was I didn’t give up. After a few minutes of being smashed, I felt my resolve weakening – then I steeled myself for a fight to the death. I refuse to be beaten because I lost the will to fight. If someone is gonna beat me, it will just be because they are better than me.

So it turns out, what I thought was a latex allergy spot on the side of my knee is actually ringworm. Aaaaahhhh!!!

The doc told me that if I keep it covered I can still train. She said it isn’t “shedding” – whatever that means – ergo, would only transmit to another person through direct contact. I’m a bit iffy on that, the guys seem to equate sharing air space with contamination.

Anyhow, it’s already responding to the meds pretty well – not itching and redness is almost gone. Doc was gonna just give me a topical, but I sweet talked her into a pill as well. I wanted the pill just to make sure nothing else pops up – plus the guys told me it clears up REALLY fast that way.

The gym is closed tomorrow (Happy Independence Day!!!), so we’ll see how it’s doing by Thursday. The guys said the meds usually kill it in a few days, hoping I can train soon!

So I finally figured out why I’ve been in a funk lately. I miss my training partner who moved to LA. Now that I know what my problem is, I can deal with it – been doing much better mentally!

The doc got me unkinked, just in time for one of our purple belts (the same one who blackened my eye last roll) to jump all over me and mess it up again. He is going on my “do not roll with” list. And I’m going back to the doc in the morning – I’ve got a lecture coming to me I’m sure!

We’ve got a girl who teaches at another gym who has been coming in a few mornings a week at 10. Some of her guys are helping one of our guys get trained up for an MMA fight on the 20th.

She’s fun to roll with! She’s bigger than me (shocker!), but we seem pretty well matched. Haven’t gone all out like that for a while, and it felt good! She’s pretty tough and got me in a straight ankle lock… Twice… really need to watch for that. She’ll be back tomorrow morning to play some more. Yay!

In other news, I weighed in at 137 yesterday – that’s down 3 lbs in the last week. Yay for fruits/veggies/meat!!!!

I want pasta. Bad.

So the doc told me that looking at my xrays, he’d say I was jumped by a football player, then hit by a car, then fell down a (carpeted) staircase, then finally tripped over my dogs.

I sat out of class for the remainder of the week. I poked a bit with my foot at coach on saturday; he looked at me and said “no, you’ll hurt yourself.”

I’m really looking forward to getting in some training tomorrow! Going stir crazy!

Things to work on in these next few weeks:

Hip escaping from bottom. It’s a concept I’m finally starting to understand: I need to move myself, not my opponent.

Sweeps from guard. My closed guard sweeps just do not exist. If my opponent happens to lean back, I’ve discovered the “bridge them backward and land in mount” sweep, but that’s all I use. Open guard sweeps are getting a bit better, I just need practice. Lots and lots of practice!

Maintaining top control once I get there. Since I’ve spent the last month with a “fight for top position” goal, I now need to work on maintaining position!

I decided I’m going to TRY getting down to 125 for the Chicago opens in August. This means I gotta really watch my diet since I’m about 135 right now. That’s 14 lbs in two months – totally doable (gotta weigh in with gi)

So I went in to see coach’s REAL chiropractor this morning. He did a pretty comprehensive evaluation, took a bunch of xrays, and declared me to be “all jacked up”. He also knew exactly who the guy was that mucked me up and had this to say about him “THAT guy? Are you serious? He is just full of himself!”

Anyhow, he told me that I need to talk to an attorney. At bare minimum, this guy should have to pay for my correctional care. I also need to report him to the licensing board.

Anyhow, main problems are that my spine is twisted and my hips are severely rotated, with the right one up higher than the other – SI joint is ANGRY. Ribs are ridiculously sensitive, can’t flex or rotate to the right. Also can’t take pressure to the sternum. That’s the short list.

Doc was able to even out my hips, but my ribs were too sensitive to really work on my thoracic area.

I’m gonna go see him again in the morning so he can show me my xrays and what exactly has happened to me. I’ll try to take pictures of anything spectacular.

He later texted my coach and told him I need an attorney and that my hips and spine are really horrible.

I just watched class today. We’re working on N/S bottom escapes this week and I just can’t do the twisting motions. I was getting pretty grumpy, but then coach let me roll a couple rounds with him. It was fun! Was working on fighting off his grips, kept me from getting swept as much!

Anyhow, time to wash gis and get some shut eye. Side note: I’m ordering a new gi from Storm Kimonos. A girl at the NAGA Memphis was wearing one and it was awesome – and IBJJF approved! Will make an great competition gi!