ladies Jiu Jitsu – Page 4

Circuits, Weight Classes, and… Mexico?

January 11, 2014January 11, 2014Leave a comment

Well I introduced the ladies in my Saturday morning class to circuit training today! We started off with just a three minute circuit with three minutes to recover in between – we will eventually work it up to a five minute circuit with a minute rest in between.

Today we drilled loop chokes from half guard. Our position this week has been guard, but one of my ladies has sore ribs and a bum wrist – so we worked around it!

Mexico City Training Camp:

I just registered for a training camp in Mexico City with Mackenzie Dern and Sophia Drysdale. It will be at the end of July, and I am EXTREMELY excited for it already! Get your registration in now to reserve a spot!

Weight Classes:

In other news, I talked with my coach yesterday about my weight cut. He decided he wants me to stick with light weight instead of continuing my drop to feather weight. Not gonna lie, I’m kind of happy about that!

Size wise, I fit in the feather division better. Problem being, my doc says I have very dense muscle, so I weigh a lot more than I look. I’d have to lose a substantial amount of muscle to make featherweight, and that isn’t safe for me because of my hypermobility.

Meaning: I’m currently 132, so coach wants me back up to 137-138. I’m not just gonna fluff up though. I’m sticking with eating really clean, upping my caloric intake, and adding more strength training into my routine. I will confess, I’m going out for Italian food tomorrow for dinner with friends – but i’ll burn through that in no time flat!

See what Tournaments I’ll be at next! I love to meet people!

Hello 2014!!!!

January 9, 2014Leave a comment

New year, and new look for my blog!

I started my year off with circuit training followed by an hour of drilling the morning of the 1st. Did three massages, and then another circuit. Oh, and I did a cool video of it!

Kudos to you if you watched the whole thing!

My awesome sponsors at Raijin Fightwear liked this video so much that they have requested I start a “move of the week” video series. I’ll be filming some of that this Sunday after circuit training – They are even designing me a cool custom video intro! I’m so excited to get started with that! I am of course just a blue belt, so I definitely still have a lot to learn – but I have learned some good things in the last two years that are worth sharing.

Weight Cutting:
I’m in the process of cutting down to feather weight. I did 2013 at light weight, walking around at about 145 and cutting to 138 for competitions. It was recommended to me that I try feather based on my body size. Currently I’m weighing in at 130 and am shooting for 126 to make 129 in my Gi. Coach says I am pretty close to my limit of what my body will allow me to do, so it’s slow going at this time. I’ll probably post more about this later (maybe a few angry posts).

Ladies Team:
I love my ladies team! It’s slowly starting to pick up a bit, and I am now teaching a Saturday morning class as well as the Friday evening one. Coach says he will eventually have me take over the program – I’m being groomed it appears. I’m very excited that this year we have a confirmed 4 ladies from our school going to the Pan Ams, as opposed to last year being just me.

Training:
I’ve been drilling a lot lately – one good thing about the ladies is that they love to drill! Getting in at least an hour a day on top of class time.
I’m finally starting to feel competent as a blue belt, it took me a few months to get in the swing of it but I’m good now!

Competition:
My first competition of the year will be the IBJJF San Francisco Open on Feb 9. It will be my debut as a featherweight. It’s a bit of a distance to travel, but since the Chicago tournament falls after Pan Ams this year, this is my chance to test my new weight class out before Pans.
NAGA is going to be in Nashville on Feb 22nd so I think I’ll try out the expert and intermediate divisions if they will let me do both – otherwise I may just go to coach and save the money for my Pan Ams trip.

Hmmm I think that is about it for now. I’ll probably think up some other things to say tomorrow. It’s almost drilling time again!

Lloyd Irvin Mixed Martial Arts Academy

October 9, 2013Leave a comment

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to train with the crew at Team Lloyd Irvin HQ just outside of DC! Best two days of training ever!

Day 1

10:00 am I got to enjoy my first ever wrestling class! Warm up of jogging, sprints, shots, and… Cartwheels. I haven’t even attempted a cartwheel since I flunked out of gymnastics at the age of 8 (for not being able to do a cartwheel!) I had momentum and went for it though, and was actually able to do it! Yea!
Next up we did sprawls/shots on command while just moving around in stance. I was informed that if I went out of my stance it’d be 25 push-ups… I asked “what’s my stance?” And saw the instructor take a step back to “basics” and showed me proper wrestling stance – which I then stayed in!
We did takedown drills for probably 45 mins – which I needed desperately! My arm drag is already showing improvement! The rest of the 90 min class was technique drilling, and I got a REALLY awesome takedown from it which I have already hit a few times live!

11:30 am Jiu Jitsu time! Warm ups, then pairing off to do positional drilling. I liked the format of each person getting a set amount of time to drill before switching – as opposed to keeping count, which I’m not that great at. (I get lost after 2!)
After drilling guard passing a few times, Master Lloyd emphasized the importance of blocking the hip, post-pass, for at least 4 seconds before moving on. Then he had us all line up on the wall while he called out pairs to move to the center of the mat and attempt to pass and stabilize position. Good times!
After this, he started pairing us off to roll. I have no idea how long the rounds were, but they were longer that I normally do. Again, awesome!
Time really flew by fast, and before I knew it, it was 2:00 pm and class was over!

Went out to grab a bite and then was dropped off at my hotel to nap for a couple of hours.

7:00 pm Sarj picked me up from my hotel and dropped me off for the evening class times. More drilling, more sparring – until it was 10:00 pm and I was dropped back off again! I slept REALLY well that night!

Day 2

11:30 more Jiu Jitsu! They had MMA sparring at 10 that morning, and I haven’t learned enough Muay Thai to be of any use in that class whatsoever – so I slept in a bit!

6:00 pm Nijah teaches a ladies “Cage Fitness” class and I asked to watch so as to get some ideas for our ladies program. It seems to have a completely different approach and feel than our ladies classes – I am going to see about integrating some ideas, or even talking with coach about a totally new program!

8:30 last Jiu Jitsu class! Again, more drilling and rolling! When we finished, I said all my goodbyes and dragged myself back to bed to prepare for my trip home early the next morning.

I just thrive off pushing myself, so I had an amazing time! I’ve never had a chance to roll with any high ranking ladies before, and getting to roll with Sijara and Nyjah was the highlight of the experience. Also, the effort everyone puts into their training very inspiring as well – there is a reason why they are as good as they are. It’s called hard work!

I’ve visited other schools before, and always felt some level of awkwardness walking in the door. This felt like visiting my hometown and seeing those awesome family members that I’ve missed! Thank you everyone!

Girl-Jitsu Ranked Rashguard

September 21, 2013September 24, 20132 Comments

I suddenly realized while preparing for the Chicago Gi/No Gi tournament, that I did not have a ranked rashguard! So I set out on the hunt for one ASAP!

I decided on the Girl-Jitsu Ranked Rashguard for the simple reason that they sponsor several of my friends. If they are going to support my friends, I’ll support them in turn!

Preamble aside, I decided that they deserve a quick review since I have received quite a few questions about it already!

Delivery was freaky fast! In less than 5 days I had it in hand! I have ordered a second one since that first order, and it was just as fast the second time around.

This was my first official Jiu Jitsu rashguard because, hey, I didn’t really need one since I wasn’t participating in any IBJJF No Gi tournaments as a lowly white belt. As a blue belt, a whole new world of No Gi, wrist locks, and absolute divisions was opened up to me!

I was astounded as to how silky and light it was! I didn’t even want to take it off once I tried it on the first time! The sleeves are 3/4 length and I was surprised that they were a fairly loose (unlike my skin-tight underarmor!) the “Pretty. Tough.” lettering on the left sleeve was a really nice touch! The little things such as the contrast stitching along the bottom show that this rashguard was designed with care. I got quite a few compliments on the look of it at the Chicago Open.

Sizewise, I’m 5’3″ish, typically a size 4 (USA) waist, and the small fit me perfectly. I’d say if you’re lightweight or under, you’d probably fit a small as well.

The cost was $42, which having never purchased a rashguard before seemed a good chunk of change to me, but after comparing prices with the larger companies it’s actually a bit cheaper. I could tell at first touch that they did not skimp on quality in the slightest either.

So ladies, support the company that supports you! I highly recommend it to every female Jiu Jitsu’er out there!

I think I’m going to be turning into a rashguard hoarder – already showing the signs. I’ll review each one and eventually learn to compare them properly! So far my collection is:

Girl-Jitsu Ranked Rashguard

Raijin Fight Wear Rashguard (pre-release from my sponsors!)

Meerkatsu/Kenka White Tiger Rashguard (In the mail now!)

IBJJF Limited Edition Ranked Rashguard (Won raffle for No Gi Worlds, pick up there)

Side note: the reason I had to purchase a second Girl-Jitsu rashguard, is that my first one magically disappeared. On the off chance that it didn’t show up in time for Pan Ams, I figured I would be best off getting another one. Good thing too since it has now been missing for two weeks. Wherever it is, I hope it is happy!

Strength & Conditioning Training

September 20, 2013September 24, 2013Leave a comment

I never thought that I could both love, and hate, the same person – at the same exact time!

This new strength and conditioning coach is killing me!

Yea, that’s what it’s like…

At least I know I won’t get tired next weekend at No Gi Pan Ams!

1st Ladies Open Mat

July 6, 2013September 24, 2013Leave a comment

Well we just got done with my first Ladies Open Mat hosted at my gym!

I was hoping for more people to show up, but it ended up being about right I think. We had 6 total, which was enough to get some decent rolling in, but without overwhelming me with the need for organization.

We started out with some light warm ups and then asked each person to show a favorite move or two of theirs for us to drill. After about 30-45 mins we moved on to sparring some rounds. There were varying levels of experience, and I was so happy how awesome everyone was! My big concern was keeping this a non-competitive environment, where we could just have fun and learn from one another – and I didn’t need to worry a bit! Everyone was so cool and there to just have fun, experience, and learn!

I stink at marketing and promotion, but I’m hoping that I can get word out better for the next time around! I’m tentatively saying either August 10, or 24th for our next meet up – depends on availability at the gym.

For anyone who is wanting to stay updated on Facebook, I have put together a group for keeping people updated. Here is a link to it, feel free to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/407696842682321/

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