Thursday, December 30, 2010

Women- jits round robin Jan 15th, entry fee only $15

From Rafael Perez and the Texas Submission League: any female competing in the Adult Women's Division will be able to compete in the Texas Sub League Tournament on January 15th in San Antonio for $15 if they register by 01/07/11. It is a round robin tournament so if there are 6 competitors in your division, you will have five matches. Please let him know if you are wanting to compete. You can register online using the coupon code WOMAN15 which expires at midnight on 1/7/11. They are looking forward to building up a healthy competition in the woman's division. Any females interested, just have them contact Rafael at info@texassubleague.com or they can call him at 210-461-7201.

Men can enter for $40, kids for $30. It will be held at Brazil Top Team in San Antonio and the next Sub League tourney is March 5.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

East Texas jiu jitsu tournament January 8, Girls in Gis January 9

January 8th-9th, in Tyler Texas--



And January 9th, in Edinburg, the next meeting of Girls in Gis. Check the Girls in Gis facebook page for details.

Monday, December 27, 2010

ho ho ho!

Who you callin' a ho?

Ok for serious though. First you MUST check out the new festive episode of Hyperbole and a Half.

Second, I guess, I'll tell you my husband and I had to spend the night in Chicago because the blizzard conditions on the east coast foiled our plans to arrive on the 26th. Now we await our bags. Sigh.

Third, hey hey, two more followers, cool! :-)

Friday, December 24, 2010

Wishing you a happy holiday...

I am so very grateful for a loving family, friends, my jiu jitsu internet community and my academy family, a wonderful job, and most of all, my husband. We don't always see eye to eye, but he is a true friend and I love him.


Hope you all have a lovely, safe holiday. I'll probably still be blogging! but will be out of town Dec 26th-Jan 2nd. I will be visiting The Home Improvement Ninja in DC, in an odd intersection of worlds (jiu jitsu, love of old houses, blogging, and salsa dancing...)

It looks like I won't get to train at all while I'm out and about-- too much family stuff to supervise, too much good food to eat. I will be positively STOUT when I return in 2011.

P.S. Wooo! I now have 100 followers :)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Single best blog post of 2010 (for women, in particular)

If you don't read Krista's blog Stumptuous, you should.

Women who train, women who want to look beautiful, women who fight their bodies, fight with their bodies, love their bodies, indulge their bodies or just tolerate their bodies... all should read Krista's stunning piece about the connection between form and function.


And since you're here... a repost from John Will's great site. I like this mount escape, haven't tried it yet, but will tonight.

Females Only Jiu Jitsu Tournament, Illinois, February 19

Check out this ladies-and-girls-only tournament-- it's in Ashton IL, which is about halfway across Illinois, due west of Chicago, and looks on the map to be about halfway between Chicago and Davenport, Iowa.  For more information and registration go to: Roughneck Combatives.


Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Jordan's wristlock.

BJJWeekly shows this video of Ryron and describes it as Ryron's favorite wristlock from mount, but I'm telling you, for me it was Jordan's first and will always be Jordan's.  I miss him, but I do NOT miss this wristlock.

Monday, December 20, 2010

BJJ Gifts, part 3....

Forgot what number I am on so let's go with unnumbered lists today!

How about a subscription to BJJ Legends Magazine?  $49 for 4 issues a year, you get a full-color magazine with a DVD in each issue with interviews, BJJ matches, and 20-30 step by step techniques in a really well-done instructional format, from greats such as Royce Gracie, Rigan Machado, BJ Penn, Leo Vieira, and Royler Gracie...





Cool shorts from MMAShorts.com.   You can get 10% off your order if you use the coupon code FRIDAY2010.


Freestyle Customs is making womens-fit gis that I'm curious about.  They come in your standard white-and-pink blinged-out like this:

 ... but they also have blue, black, or (!!!) charcoal grey with pink. 

The Atama Ultralight gi is only $126 at MMAOutlet.com.  And it's pretty much as unblingy as you get.

And the Keiko Raca summer weight is only $124 there.

Vale tudo fight shorts from the appropriately-named MMA Gear Pimp... only $35...


This cool longsleeve tshirt (also comes in short sleeves, babydoll fit, etc etc.)


The Grappler.


The Guardfather.



HAhahahaha... you and your Assfliction shirt... love it!


And, of course jiu jitsu ruined my life.


And I am still working my way through Gracie Bullyproof!  It's awesome..... check out Dev's review, part 1, here...  I definitely recommend it as a great holiday gift....

Sunday, December 19, 2010

The babies! and food... and dependence on exercise...

This is my new nephew, Harrison.  Born on December 2.  He weighs 1 lb 13 ounces today. 



Harrison and his mom's pinky...



Mitch, and Ashley my sister-in-law, at Ella's isolette...

That's my hand, today, cradling Harrison.
That's my hand with Harrison.  (Preemies like to be swaddled or cuddled closely, so we just lay our hands on top of them, and watch their heartrate and blood oxygen stats improve.  It's pretty cool.)
John, my brother-in-law, and I at Harrison's isolette...

Harrison is small enough to literally fit in the palm of my hand, or a very small loaf pan.  My thumb is bigger than his hand.

My thumb, his little paw.


And then, for complete randomness, this was our dinner on Friday night back at home.. seared salmon with citrus-garlic sauce, sauteed spinach, and rice.  Afterwards, Mitch had a salsa social he was organizing and promoting, while I went out with the jiu jitsu people to celebrate birthdays and our teammate Kamal Shalorus' victory in the WEC.


My ankle is okay, as is my knee, but taking Friday Saturday and today off is probably good.  However, all the walking and standing I did downtown on Friday night ruined my feet.  I was wearing new boots, which I like very much, which unfortunately do not have any padding under the ball of the feet.  So by 4am when I got home, my paws were really bruised and unhappy.  And as usual, taking 2-3 days off training results in my feet being ridiculously swollen.  I apparently am physically dependent on regular exercise, and sitting in the car, the house, and the hospital is not good for me.  Looking forward to rolling at least twice, hopefully 3 times on Monday.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend...

Friday, December 17, 2010

Tweaked.

Work is kicking my rear. I didn't get home the other night till 4am. (Granted, I did do jiu jitsu class from 5ish-8ish.)

I popped my ankle the other night, too-- I was launching myself into a hard and fast mounted triangle and put just a little too much weight down on the side aspect of my ankle as I was jamming it under the guy's head. It popped audibly and painfully but I decided I could make the triangle happen anyway, so I grabbed my shin and yanked, pulling him towards me. Well, that just further flexed my ankle in a bad way, causing me to yelp, let go, bang my head on the mat in frustration, and beg for ice.

It was fine after a little while-- I walk without pain, but no triangles on that side for a while. It's noticeably puffy but otherwise okay.

Went to a funeral this morning for Ashley, the daughter of one of our blackbelts. She'd been fighting leukemia for a long time, and was undergoing the second series of chemo treatments, but she caught pneumonia. She was a gorgeous and caring 24 year old. So sad.

Christmas shopping tonight, then dinner at home with the hubs (seared salmon and sauteed spinach over rice, with a citrus-garlic sauce)... then meeting up with a bunch of academy peeps later like 10:30 for the going-away-and-birthday party of a visiting fighter, Karl Stahl from Germany (he leaves us on Monday! :( )

Weekend in Plano, visiting sis in law with the preemies... they're doing okay, no brain bleeds, still eating and breathing, so that's all good (though touch and go so far..)

Hope your holiday planning and stuff is not driving you crazy :)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gracie Bullyproof

I have been inundated with two major deadlines at work and they've prevented me from doing much else besides train, eat and sleep.

I'm telling you right now-- if you are a parent, or have BJJ friends who are parents, the Gracie Bullyproof series is awesome. I have been steadily watching it as much as I can, when I can, but I haven't written the review yet and I can't figure out how to make screen shots either :)

Here's what the Gracies say about it:

"Bullies have been around since the beginning of civilization, and they aren't going away anytime soon. The U.S. Government's website against bullying provides no sound solution for a child who is targeted by a persistent bully, and the string of highly publicized youth suicides is evidence that the schools cannot be entrusted with your child's safety.

Over the last 85 years our family has successfully bully-proofed tens of thousands of children. And now we've made our complete system available on DVD and in online streaming video format so you can teach your child how to detect, deter, and deal with bullies - all from the comfort of your own home!

With the Gracie Bullyproof system you will empower your child with the verbal strategies to stand up to bullies with unshakable confidence, and a series of non-voilent self-defense techniques to keep them safe if they are physically attacked. Gracie Bullyproof has already been featured on NBC, CNN, and Oprah.com as an effective counter-measure to bullying. The program is engaging, fun, and will ensure that your son or daughter does not have to go through life at the mercy of tormenting bullies."

One thing I really like so far is how well jiu jitsu movements, techniques, and basic philosophy gets worked into the Gracie Games children will love to play. It's like medicine that tastes like candy-- win-win. Check this out:



Buy the instructionals here. You can either get DVDs or you can train your child using the online curriculum. Parents get lessons too, and your child can be promoted using a combination of parent-checked lists and videos sent in for review by the Gracie brothers Ryron and Rener in Torrance, CA.

Here is an example of the parent preparation they provide..





Even a five-year-old can use these techniques (fundamentally the same ones taught in the adult Gracie Combatives series) effectively to defend themselves against older bullies.



So, I promise a real review as soon as I can get it. But it's so close to Christmas, I wanted you to know this is the real deal. It belongs under your tree, menorah, or whatever! :)

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

It's all a fractal. A fractal floorplan.

Lately I have had the same message presented to me in a couple different ways, but most clearly I'm getting it from Donald, one of the blackbelts at my academy and the instructor of our competition class.

That message is-- in order to really make the most of your training time, you can't just go in there and muck around rolling aimlessly. (Ahem. That's me. For reals.) You have to pick a position... see how people react to it... catalog all the possible counters or reactions you observe... then craft responses to all of those. And then so on.

I inadvertently did this as a baby jitsuka when people would go for an americana then try to armbar my other arm. After I'd been caught in that about 80 million times, I realized that I was overcommitting to the defense. If I just barely got my americana arm out of danger but always kept an eye on my other arm, I could switch back to defending the second arm effectively. (Also helps to have short little T-rex arms. I know.) Ridiculously oversimplified analogy, but you get the point.

So now I'm happily marching in there with my crappy standing open guard pass game and I'm going to take it apart. I feel like forever I was incapable of doing this more rigorous and more efficient type of training because I felt like I didn't know how I was getting to any one position, and I couldn't be sure of what to do after it. Now, I have at least a basic conception of a few ways to get to that standing position, a few ways to pass that guard, a few basic ways people are thwarting* me there, and when thwarted, a few ways to move on. Since I have the back door and the front door covered, I feel a little better about starting to draw a floorplan of the middle. And ideally, someday soon, I'll be able to turn off the lights and make my way throughout the house without banging into anything.

It's kind of like a fractal too-- my mental image of choice-- because you see the big picture taking a particular shape, but the closer in you get and the tighter your focus, the more you see that particular shape repeated in varying ways.

Ooh. I'm all analogical today :)

*I actually spent a minute or two trying to conceptualize the spelling of the gerund form of "stymie" until I said hell with it, I'll say "thwarting" instead.

All right, some pretty to go with the philosophical ramblings of someone sadly deprived of more than one training session today. DAMN THESE WORK DEADLINES :)

It's fellow Black Eagle Oli Geddes in the Milano Challenge, Absolute finals. I think it's the Reis pass around 3:45.. a teensy halfguard sweep.. some deep half... and a tricky kneebar finish. Yum.



Oh, and another small person, but way better than me-- Caio Terra... doing a butterfly pass to backtake. It's a nifty counter to this sweep that Dan Dau is always killing me with. Thanks David, at Kirsch's Korner, for piquing my interest in this today.



And some Caio spider madness. :)

Wanna be hungry?

You think I get nutty about food... read THIS at Rock My Palate.





Say a prayer for Ashley, Ella and Harrison...

Ashley is my sister-in-law (my husband's brother's wife) and she had an emergency Caesarian last Thursday to deliver her twins, Ella and Harrison.  There were serious blood pressure and blood flow issues, so the babies had to be delivered at only 26 weeks.  Each baby weighs less than two pounds.


This is Ashley holding Ella's hand.

The babies are on ventilators and have a long way to go.  Please, send good thoughts of healing their way, and of support to John, their daddy, and their siblings Bryan and Sarah.

Thanks.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Weird search terms, part 2.

OK, Kitsune... I took you up on it.  Here's two of the first images that came up when I googled "sex condoms for horse" ... I'm just the messenger!!!


Weird search terms...

Somehow, the following search terms led two people to my blog:

"sex condoms for hourse"

and

"bed sores pictures"

Weird.

Monday, December 06, 2010

BJJ Gifts... part 2....

Continuing, as promised, with goodies for grapplies...

6. A custom-embroidered gi or belt. This is a no-brainer (though you have to hurry if you want any chance of putting it under the tree.) Go check out the beauties that are possible at Black Eagle, and use the code geobjj2010 when you check out, for 10% off your whole order including shipping. Pretty sweet deal!

My Black Eagle is one of my favorite gis (hence them sponsoring me) and now they offer in-between sizes like 2.5 and 3.5. You can't go wrong with a Black Eagle.



7. More funky clothing...

The broken arm.


Ippwned. For you judoka :)


For moms (especially tournament moms!)


SubMISSion has some cool shirts that honor your ethnic origin, and with the code JINGLESALE41  you get $6 off shirts and free shipping on orders over $35.  Here, for example, the Brazil one. But they have a bunch-- USA, Thailand, the Philippines, France, Australia, Italy, Ireland and so on...They're available in long sleeves, short sleeves, and all different cuts, men's and women's.

 


8. If they have little ones: a baby onesie.

9.  Instructionals are always good picks.  For books, my essential library (aside from the Guard series I mentioned yesterday) includes Jiu Jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro and X Guard by Marcelo Garcia.  For DVDs, Blue Belt Requirements by Roy Dean and Science of Jiu Jitsu by Demian Maia top my list.



But I will be reviewing the Gracie Bullyproof series for you parents, and let me tell you right now, it's an awesome series.  (11 DVDs! so it takes a while to watch it all and digest it.)

10.  Cool semi-unrelated books.

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle: observations from brain research, behavioral research, and real-world training.  Makes our obsession seem rational :)

The Paleo Diet for Athletes -- haven't read it but I hear good things about it.  Not that I'm considering going on this diet, as I love baked goods far too much!

Dynamic Stretching: The Revolutionary New Warmup Method -- great book, you'll never do static stretches (especially before tournament matches!) again.


More to come, more for under the tree.  Enjoy :)

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Gifts for the BJJ lover in your life.... Part 1

Ahhhh, the holidays :) Show your family this post, or refer to it for ideas if you're scrounging on what to get the jitsuka(s) in your life... oh, and it's a multi-part series, too. Keep tuned here!

1. Sick rashguards from X Liquid: Granted, they will be shipping from Hong Kong, so might arrive in 2011, but they're cool-- some tattoo designs, others with nature scenes, kanji characters, etc. I have one, have worn it 2+ years, and have not had any problems. Very smooth, no fading, the design is sublimated so it doesn't peel or crack... really nice. I wear a size small and it fits me fine.



2. Rashie and "spats" (a.k.a. grappling rashtights) from Scramble: Scramble is a British company with cute ideas. Fortunately for us Yanks, MMAOutlet.com is distributing them on this side of the pond so you have a good shot at receiving this in time for Christmas!



3. The mighty Guard series: From BJJ blackbelts Joe Moreira and Ed Beneville, this 3 volume series is nothing short of mindblowing and amazing. Each one can stand alone, or you can get the whole kit and kaboodle. Really clear and easy to follow instruction and excellent photography on all aspects of the strategic guard (including, of course, passing and defending the pass, but also addressing how to recover once you are passed or almost passed.)  Joe Moreira, a 7th degree blackbelt, has 37 years experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (and is a 3rd dan blackbelt in judo) while Ed Beneville is a black belt under Joe.  I love this series and hope this year Santa brings me volume 2, since I have 1 and 3 already and cart them around with me everywhere.


4. T-shirts that aren't tacky. Check out the variety of designs from BJJTshirts.com.


5. A new duffel bag. I like this extra-large "Zone" duffel from Under Armour because it has a separate section which I would use for shampoo, conditioner, and all the other junk for taking a shower to keep it apart from my clothes. It is big enough for gi and equipment, or a few changes of clothes and a clean towel.


So, that's the start of a good wishlist, I think. I'll be following this up shortly with some recommendations on gis, instructionals, and more goodies. :)