Draft: My Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu mini-camp experience from January; better late than never?

Check the WGC website for details about the camp coming up July 20 - 24 in Minneapolis, MN.

So I wrote this draft like 4 months ago, but I kept not posting it because I kept adding people and events and details. WGC coming up this month made me think of this draft so I decided to post it as-is. I can never finish it; it was futile to attempt. So, again, lest I fall into the time trap and never post this...here goes:

Drafted Feb 2011
Women's Grappling Camp was an amazing experience, for which I would like to write a worthy testimonial, but at the moment I am *almost* at a loss for words. I never did "camp" when I was younger, so I didn't know how amazing the immersion and the camaraderie would be.

I guess I'll try a little chronological brain dump. My coach, her 2 daughters, and I went down Friday to catch the Friday night meet-and-greet dinner and we left Monday morning around 11:30 so a nice 2.5 days. This whole deal was very cool for a few reasons. First, car time with my coach (Kelly) who was asked to be an assistant coach. Secondly, I've always wanted to get to know her daughters better, who are growing up in a jiu-jitsu family as Kelly and her husband Marc own a BJJ school in Truckee. I kid you not when I say her youngest routinely betters my jits game when we spar because she *thinks* in jits. Her older daughter I've never rolled with, but is a technician in her own right. And not to leave out their youngest, Keegan, who I'm pretty sure doesn't even get an accelerated heartrate during competition because he's done so many and done so well. Since it was Women's Grappling Camp, Marc and Keegan were left to fend for themselves over the weekend and have man-time. They were still alive upon our return.

We arrived 4ish on Friday to Felicia Oh standing on the balcony. Felicia Oh. Did I say Felicia Oh. Everybody knows who Felicia Oh is, but I did a little additional video homework on her before coming, about which every few minutes I had to point out details like "um, did you see that, let me rewind it, look how she chose to go that direction, did you see, did you see, how do you even go there. So, we arrive and I meet Felicia Oh, who, at this point, seems pretty normal, like no wrath of  deity at her fingertips. Meet and greet was genius, a really nice opportunity for everyone to meet, well, everyone off the mats and get the warm-camp-fuzzies started. A nice opportunity to get names and backstory. I fear starting into any specifics about each women I met lest I leave anyone out, but what is cool is that over the camp I feel like I did get to know everyone. And I am not that person at a party or an event or get-together. It was just so easy. I got to know everyone enough to know that the camp experience attracts exactly the right kind of energy. The range was from white belt through black and from competitors to hobbyists.

Saturday we were up for some breakfast with my teammates Lena and Rita, who I was very happy came to this also. Let me also, as gently as possible, say that Rita is a woman of color in a city of very, very few people of color. At breakfast I was making her laugh with my experiences as the minority in some of the schools I went to in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. I just wanted her to know she isn't alone and I've got her back. Lena, poor thing, was slumming it with us as she is used to a more upper-crust accommodation so we teased her mercilessly about being a little princess. Pretty sure I'll pay for that soon.

At the school, which was beautiful, it was all energy and a little tiny bit of nerves. Everybody was ready to go and difficult to round up because 8 or so mini-groups of chatting about BJJ or kids or training had all broken out. It was often like mingling at an overwhelming cocktail party. Like, seriously, the most awesome cocktail party you can imagine. Saturday was set up as gi in the morning and no-gi in the afternoon and then Sunday was the reverse. Felicia Oh pulled us in for some intro and warmup and we were off. She showed a cool warmup drill and a technique involving posture and escape from bottom half guard. I don't want to slaughter her carefully crafted details so I won't even go into my pitiful notes.

Imagine when the instructor says, "Okay, pick a partner and drill this" how cool it would be if you could literally just look to your right or left and bam there's a partner.done. No looking around the room trying to do the size-up and choose game. No getting the cold shoulder from the guy beside you who doesn't want to get paired with the girl. No looking at the person next to you wondering when that gi was last washed. So easy, partner picking was like, some eye contact, little hand gesture and we were off drilling the technique. "Switch partners"; look to your other side, shoulder shrug, okay, done, drilling. Very cool to have a room full of drilling partners. So cool!

A break was factored in for some hydration, snacks, notes, whatever and then we were back at it. Building from where we left off, situational drilling, etc. A long-ish lunch break left plenty of time for shower and food. After lunch we were back in for no-gi, which I enjoyed about a thousand times more than I expected to. In general, once I decided to start training with the gi, I literally never trained again without it so I expected no-gi to be all frustrating and ridiculous, but it was fun, fun, fun.

Felicia Oh (yes, I must use her full name everywhere, get used to it) opened the afternoon session with some additional warm-up drills that extended the morning series and included movements we would use in this session. And when showing us a neck warmup she just posted on her head and toes like it was nothing and did some yesno's. Hi, I can't hardly do that on my knees with my hands on the ground. So, hello brand new goal.  Then more technique picking up where the morning session left off although I had to squint through the blinding light that was Felicia Oh.

Lily Pagle opened her school to this event, and then she opened her home to us for a dinner/potluck which included bonuses like an outdoor hot tub; heaven. Lily is a woman that knows how to live. It was in aforementioned hot tub that we solved major dilemmas like how to control my high five anxiety and there was some tattoo show and tell as I'm pretty sure this community has a greater than average incidence of tattoos. 

Sunday morning Valerie Worthington, Valhalla, arrived. I was very excited to meet Valerie, as I've said before, hers was the first BJJ blog that I read end to end. Don't be fooled by her constant, and I mean constant, stream of jokes, [and, ahem, attempted jokes], as she is a serious technician. She basically hit the school straight from the airport and got us all kicked off on flow rolling. We alternated through until we had flowed with everyone in the room. Which was easily my favorite, favorite, favorite time at camp. Flow rolling is the.best.thing.ever. I love flow rolling, and if you're reading this I'm going to assume you understand, and thus save us all from me trying to explain it. I got to flow roll with my, well I'm not ashamed, hero. It was short, but there was a "very good" or some such praise in there, which was great. I obviously can't explain it except to say that higher belts feel like they're melting around you and then you're tapping.

And a small handful of shout-outs:
Susan - is so tall that she gives spider guard a whole new meaning; in fact I may start calling it Susan guard. So happy to meet a comedian after my own heart.
Denise - I always love rolling with because she is so strong and aggressive, but her heart is perfect. This is a wonderful mix and I sincerely appreciate it.
Brandi - we got in some weird places where neither of us knew what to do, but we kept  our sense of humor about us and trucked on.
Sasha - was taking it easy, so a cool mental game unfolded.
Hedwich - you say frittata, I say love.

Spiders, damnit

Let me lay the foundation here by starting with, My name is Lynn and I have severe arachnophobia. And I don't mean the funny kind; I mean the "I'll punch you in the face if you mess around with it" kind. Seriously.

So, with that out of the way... A few days ago I brought a spider home from work. I don't think that his hitching a ride in the laptop compartment of my work bag suggested any type of teammate initiative, so I screamed...exactly like a little girl I think and ran away. This was before I decided that, only because I was the only person in my house, I would have to kill it. I know, I know, but seriously there is NO WAY I could create a way that I could "take it outside"; I mean really with all those chances to hop on my arm!
Anyway, I managed to get rid of that one.

Fast forward to this morning where I opened my gym bag which I zipped up yesterday at the gym after changing into my gi....and, gah, a huge spider jumped out. Seriously, I don't think it was jumping *at* me, but for christ's sake, really?!?

Now I have 2 gym bags, one laptop bag, and a couple other items drying from having their "floor touching" surfaces drenched in spider killer. And, I'll be finding higher surfaces at work and the gym to store my bags. Here's to the carcinogens in Ortho Home Defense. Next step is to spray the cubicle at work. I'm stopping short of a spider bomb just because I don't think my team would appreciate it.

I really should just see a professional...psychiatrist that is.

Attained 159.6 = A 10 month old smart goal done

Back on 2010.04.01 my SMART goal was to go from 173lbs to 160. Done. Better way late than never. I'm convinced cutting out wheat played a factor.

WGC 2011

I am trying desperately to figure out how to explain the awesome-ness that was Women's Grappling Camp, but I just can't do it. I'll keep trying, but with all the important details of all the techniques and incredible camaraderie I may never be able to put it all into words. So, to share just one little tip I picked up I'll say this: To nail the high five you just have to watch the elbow, not the hand.  ;-}

Strength Training Part 1 (Rippetoe Kool-Aid)

Strengthening my lower back and all the surrounding core structures should probably get my lower back to shut up. My back doctor and P.T. are both on board with this, so here we go.

To this end, I've started Rippetoe's Starting Strength Novice program.
The books and dvd:
-Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe
-Practical Programming for Strength Training by Rippetoe
-Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training DVD

I've talked about these books before, so this time I'll just say it is the sheer level of detail on each lift that really got me into them. Last night was my B workout so I found my working weight for the Power Clean. Coach Adam was there, who conveniently just got SST barbell certified. I think learning this lift is a little bizarre because it's a power lift, meaning you've gotta get some acceleration going. Luckily Coach Adam basically knows approximately where I should start and about how much I can lift from coaching CrossFit on days I was there. For Workout A, his guess was spot on for my squats and for my deadlift so I went with his suggestions for Power Clean as well.
There's really no "go through the motions slowly" type of ramp-up. You have to get a little weight on the bar for it to behave properly (i.e. be accelerated). Of course if you put too much weight on you're headed for disaster. Once you pick a weight that you think will behave correctly and is the magic not-too-heavy but not-too-light you just gotta go for it. I've been working on the timing of it a bit with a ball. Last night was time to move to a bar. So, I started with a 15K bar and went up in little tiny increments from there. That old sternoclavicular tear doesn't like shrugging, at all. So I kept it light and kept working on getting that shoulder to move. I think I challenged it just enough to know that it's there, but not too much. That golden place of getting that shoulder unstuck. This morning my traps are a little 'good' sore and my sternum is a tad 'hello' sore so I probably hit it just about right.
Sweet.

Engineering a personal Paleo Solution Part 1 (#*&@ grains)

I say engineering because I'm such a "gear and learning materials" nerd that if there wasn't a manual and a piece of gear I don't understand it.

Last February my girlfriend was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, so I did two things, I went on a learning spree and I began eating only what she could eat while we are together. (We don't live together so this means I was gluten free about half-time). I made a gluten free shelf in my pantry and in my fridge and I learned all about cross-contamination, etc.
I read:
-Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide- Expanded and Revised Edition
-The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook
-Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Alternative to Wheat
-Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine
and I got her this bread machine for her birthday (it is AWESOME and it goes with the above-mentioned book):
-Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker

Then, in October, I had a conversation with my mom and it turns out she is allergic to wheat. I have inherited the rest of my mother's allergies (grass, trees, etc), so I thought what if I am also allergic to wheat. There is a distinct difference between Celiac Disease and a Wheat Allergy and in my effort to understand this I read:
Healthier Without Wheat: A New Understanding of Wheat Allergies, Celiac Disease, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance.

So, in mid October I went wheat free permanently. This fit nicely into the Paleo stuff I'd heard about so I read:
-The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet
-The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat

Both are brilliant books that I totally recommend. So, totally sipping the kool-aid, I got myself some tools:
-Deni 7600 3-Tier 9-1/2-Quart Stainless-Steel Digital Food Steamer
-LUX color changing egg timer
-Calphalon HE600CG Removable-Plate Nonstick Countertop Grill
-Blanched Almond Meal Flour, 5 lb.

So that's the rundown of the prep and information gathering. Lots of great books and information out there. Next was testing out new tools and there's the little detail of learning how to cook. Seriously, notice the hard boiled egg timer, I couldn't even hardboil eggs properly so I have to get tools to make up for my shortcomings. The most major shortcoming is that I don't enjoy cooking at all, in fact I'd go so far as to say I resent it...deeply. Cooking *with* someone else is okay, or watching cooking shows with the girlfriend. As a shared activity, spending time together, I don't mind it, I can ask really stupid questions and we're cooking or eating together. But alone, in sheer terms of feeding myself, it is just a huge timesuck so anything I can do to make it more hands-off the better. It is an important recurring event that deserves more attention and time than I want to devote to it and there is the problem. Enter the tools. :)
The maiden voyage of the Calphalon grill included unboxing, reading the manual, preheating, slap the steaks on, take a guess and set the timer and walk away, return upon ding, et voila there's dinner and some lunches. Same for the steamer; each basket has 6 evenly spaced subtle little divots to place an egg in so I hardboiled 18 eggs just by checking in on my LUX egg timer. Now I know the time ballpark.
So, between my cool new tools and others out there also embarking on Paleo ( like Dagney's revelation of making her own mayo), well there may be hope for me yet.

New BJJ books for vacay

So, between the laying on the beach and the traveling time I figured I needed a good sampling of reading materials. I hit the bookstore, and with some quick internet hits to slideyfoot's reviews I purchased:
(the links are to slideyfoot's reviews)
The Guard (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Details and Techniques)
and
Passing the Guard: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Details and Techniques: Volume 1
So, thanks for the good reviews as always. They helped me make the purchasing decision to put out over $70 for both books. But I won't be without a jits fix.

I also decided to get a classic Sci-Fi book:
Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation by Asimov
I know, I know, I am a software engineer and Sci-Fi fan and have come this long without reading Asimov. Hey, I did read all 53 Dune novels and I own all BSG on DVD so back off. ;) This is a good size book for the beach. So, now that I will be plenty mentally stimulated I think I'm ready to go.

Also looking at taking the next PADI cert, Advanced Open Water Diver.

If Coach Rippetoe and Stumptuous had a baby.....

...I would propose to it. ;)
I found Stumptuous recently. She's a strong chic who puts up some seriously, seriously good information for women who train. She has training information that will make you go, "Oh yeah, I forgot about those, they're good" or "That's a great order to do those in" or "That's a good plan to start with". She has rants that will put you in an "Amen, sister" mood. The tone is not just conversational, it's chick-locker-room, hence my increasing girlcrush. She feels, to me, like a teammate. Probably the parity of our values and beliefs about the role of training in the health, sanity, and self-esteem of women. From her 2010 predictions "Get some big garbage bags — real or metaphysical — and start throwing shit out, whether that’s energy vampire people who don’t support you, crap “food” that poisons you, or assumptions and mindsets that are fundamentally self destructive." Amen, Sister!! And, her training stuff isn't just for the girls, her advice is sound and relevant to anyone who trains; lots of cool guys read too, as evident in the comments. But, if "Our Bodies Ourselves" had offspring, one of them would be stumptuous.com.

Next, to Coach Rippetoe. I read Starting Strength a few months ago and now I just carry it with me to the gym. If you Oly lift and you haven't read it, seriously, go get it. I mean it's got like 67 pages on just the squat. Proper mechanics, anatomy, tips while learning, ways to check yourself. The tone is conversational and includes such gems as, "If your gym makes a lot of money selling gloves, you have another reason to look for another gym. and if you insist on using them, make sure they match your purse." in a paragraph about the importance and utility of chalk.
Because Starting Strength was so ridiculously awesome, I bought Practical Programming for Strength Training. I read the first 30 pages and I put the book down when I got to "Hydration" so I wouldn't get sucked in and stay up all night. It starts with the Introduction which includes a lot of info about Periodization and how "Periodization is practiced widely in track and field and is used by a majority of NFL and viturally all NCAA strength and conditioning programs...The idea that the practice of a sport itself was sufficient conditioning for the sport became inadequate for preparing high-level athletes many years ago." Now, granted I am a very, very low-level athlete, but I agree with this completely. This is exactly what I'm thinking right now in terms of my Jiu-Jitsu. Well, it's two-fold. One, a strong fitness base (specifically a strong core) will protect me from injury (and further Lumbar compression). Two, a strength base will allow me to absorb and enjoy the technical details more fully as I'll be able to put my attention to the details instead of my lack of fitness (which is followed by self-loathing and negative self talk).
Off to the treadmill and a circuit including Turkish Getups (thanks Dagny...grrr)...

Fake it ‘til ya make it

I’ve finally realized that I don’t post or comment in a lot of situations because of some weird internet form of perfection anxiety and timidity.

I go through about 42 iterations of “Am I saying anything that is of value to anyone”, “Could this possibly be news to anyone or have they all already solved this / been there / done that?”, “I’m not going to complain about this, everybody goes through this.”, and a million other internal judgements before I either just don’t post or I decide “Whatever, nobody knows about my little blog anyway.”. I’m constantly thinking, worrying, planning, wondering about training, but I rarely ever post because I always feel like if I can’t spend the time that I want at the task, for example making a readable blog post with reasonable punctuation (should I have used a semicolon there?), then I just shouldn’t post at all. I mean, every little blog post doesn't have to single-handedly define and represent me as a person for crying out loud. I just need to get over it. Where is my Tyler Durden?

Another thing that stops me from posting is that I’ve trained so little BJJ since last November because of injury (sternoclavicular separation) and issue (Lumbar disc compression = ick nerve). I got over the injury and now I’m just working on coming back from the weakness; hey, I can do 5 whole pushups. I’ve been working on the Lumbar issue...and I may be hallucinating or it may be improving ever so slightly, ever so slowly. Anyway, because I haven’t trained BJJ regularly in so long, I start to feel like, well, like an imposter, like a poser, when I want to be involved still in the jits community. I know, I know, that’s stupid. We all get injured or have downtimes and they don’t revoke our belt, right?

Screw it, I’m going to break all of my own rules in an effort to...to what exactly....to put what I feel out there. Mostly so that when I communicate with someone (via the internet), they can have a sense of who I am. Grok me? I mean, if some of the blogs that I read regularly had never blogged I would still be trying to figure out a number of things related to BJJ, some CrossFit, nutrition, mobility, etc. And I wouldn’t have made some great friends. And one day, when I get my jitsabbatical on, I’ll have a couch or two to crash on.

I found BJJ and I got pulled in (avoiding the swept up pun, poorly) right away. I loved wrestling with my dad when I was a kid. He used to tell me that monkeys that didn’t get enough contact got lonely and depressed and that we weren’t going to be lonely monkeys. My mom wasn’t the wrestling type and probably spent years nagging my dad to be careful. I’m pretty sure he wanted a boy. She wanted a girl. They both won and both lost. They got a girl that can’t stand dresses...or pink...or barbie.
In addition to the overwhelming number of BJJ videos on youtube, I also found the blogger “network” and I read bits and pieces of my own story, concerns, and issues reflected in a number of different places. I believe that Valerie Worthington’s blog is the first one that I found, actually via an article on CrossFit and BJJ, and I read the blog literally straight through, like a book. *That* is an introduction to BJJ. It’s like, “Hello, welcome to BJJ. Would you like to sell your house, quit your job, and couch surf the country training BJJ now or would you like to put that off until slightly later?”. I had to take a seriously deep breath and remind myself that as a brand spankin’ new white belt, with like 6 months training, it was highly unlikely that following in those Valhalla footsteps would have good R.O.I. for me at such an early stage. I keep telling myself I can do that trip when I’m a fresh purple to really get the most out of it. Who knows, it is debatable, highly debatable, at what stage a jitsabbatical would best serve a person. I assume that being in your own personal best physical shape would help wring the most technical bang for your buck out of such travels. That is factored into my plan [dream/concept].
Shortly thereafter I found Georgette, slideyfoot, BJJGrrl, A.D. McClish, Dev (and many, many more great bloggers) and all the good advice out there about training, competition nerves, ego-less improvement, etc. Thank you guys, thank you all. Know that there are new people out there reading even when they don’t follow or post or contact you. They’re there and tomorrow somewhere someone will walk into a BJJ school for their first time or for their 30th with at least one new concept in their head. Recently I found Dagney Taggert’s blog (best.blogname.ever, spelling mod on purpose), which is fascinating to me because she sounds like the truly positive mental spirit (like A.D. McClish, above)...unlike myself. I don’t feel like "I can do anything". I feel like "I should be telling myself I can do anything." So, one of my topics lately is how to get from telling myself that I can do anything to just *feeling* like I can do anything. I’m thinking it’s a learned skill. I shall keep running in the morning, going to CrossFit after work, researching nutrition and leaning toward Paleo, (stopped wheat already). I’m thinking that in the short term I’m gonna fake it ‘til I make it.
I can do 5 real pushups. In February I couldn’t do 1 pushup. In May/June I could do 2 pushups. I’m trying not to feel sorry for myself, but it sneaks in. I feel guilty when I feel sorry for myself...super guilty. I keep telling myself to JUST KEEP DOING THE WORK. That is where blogs come in handy. I follow you guys’ progress and love of the sport and it keeps me in touch with jits and with how I feel about jits. I’ve thought lately about going back, but I don’t want to have a stutter start. I’ve been back just enough this year (May/June) to get promoted to Blue, but my new Blue belt is just that...crispy. It’s taunting me...”I’m so crispy, what’s wrong with you?”. Wow.
I was thinking that I should set a couple of CrossFit type goals (pushups, FGB score, etc) and once I make those CrossFit goals then I can go back to jits. Having that specific barrier to entry will keep me from constantly guessing whether I should go to jits now or keep getting stronger first, etc. It’s not a trick question; for me the answer is get stronger first (specifically core) to protect my Lumbar discs and facets. The minute I step back on the mat it will be the instant rampup that it was last year and it will start out with 1 hour classes, then work its way up to 3 hours at a time. That wouldn’t be smart with Vertebrae and facets grinding on each other. So, I’m brainstorming (and taking suggestions) for my goals that I have to hit in order to go back to Jits. For example, 5 pushups ain’t gonna get me far in jits (and protecting the Lumbar), so I definitely need to pick the magic pushup number to shoot for. I’m thinking a minimum Plank hold time would be good...maybe 4 minutes...more? Maybe a specific “Fight Gone Bad” score and...

Fakin’ it ‘til I make it...

CrossFit works...

I have no idea how this equates in the real world, but I've been struggling for months to break 28 minutes on my treadmill 2 mile time (at 1.5 incline). The other day I hit 26:46 and this morning 26:36, but I haven't been putting in a lot of mileage. I am convinced it is the CrossFit that is improving my run time. Yay for one little stepping stone and yay for CrossFit. I followed that up with my P.T.'s circuit of strength exercises for my back and I'm experiencing the anti-depressant properties of the a.m. workout right now. :)

CrossFit Clean (with the ball) / working to get back to jits

I had that little tiny moment in CrossFit this morning of finally feeling the basic concept of a Clean. Granted it was with the ball only. I think that my shoulder is finally loose enough to actually get a shrug and the ball seemed like an easier way to learn it. I have had little to no luck learning it with the bar.

It feels great when you've shrugged it enough to get that moment in time where the ball is at the top of its arc and you're able to get under it cleanly. It was awesome. And the timing was perfect because I was just starting to feel too uncoordinated to ever succeed at some of the Oly lifts. :)

I'm in this phase where I REALLY want to go back to Jiu-Jitsu, but I've really got to strengthen and stretch my back and tighten up my core first. I don't want to have a stutter-start at jits. I just want to do the work to make a good athletic foundation and then go back. Impatient.

Smart Goal [Bodyweight] 2010.10.24

After the sternoclavicular fiasco and the ongoing back problem, I got up to 174lbs (ridiculous). I've been averaging 164 for about 2 months, but clearly still need to lose more. So, now that I'm easing back into CrossFit and probably very soon easing back into jits, I should be able to average 158 in about 4 weeks. I would like to head off at the pass the couple of lbs of winter weight; there's no reason for it.

********************************************
**** Smart Goal [Bodyweight] 2010.10.24 ****
********************************************
Specific: Average 158 lbs by 10/24/2010
Measurable: Weigh 158.0 (from average 164)
Action:
Treadmill, CrossFit, Home P.T. circuit & Calorie reduction
CrossFit 3xWeek
Treadmill 3xWeek
Physical Therapy circuit every day(BOSU, ball, and bodyweight circuit)
Reign in the food/calories/eat smart
Realistic: sure ;)
TimeBound:
Start: 09/28/2010
Achieve: 10/24/2010

Get off your back....

Hit jits again yesterday for the 2nd time in two days. Rolled with a few different partners including a new female partner. Well, she's a Blue Belt, but she's new to me. :) I spent a lot of time under what I think is called Kurusa Kesa Gatame(both arms in), thinking how the hell do I get my knee in there OR get an underhook. (I am open to suggestions and to video links) I struggled to bridge and/or try to get up on one side and/or get my elbow to the ground, but all to no avail. And in my after action review I'm thinking a few things were wrong. Probably #1 is that I was fatiguing fast and lost faith in my bridging. Huge no no. #2 is that after I lost faith in my bridge, that broke my will altogether. Another huge no no. Since I really enjoy the positional game of it all, I'll obviously have to work on that bridge and that spirit. ;)

I also rolled with a guy whom, since I don't know his name, I will call Spider. Spider was the epitome of perfect partner. He was very skilled, but because we were trying to drill cycling through some things for practice, I could feel when he slowed something to give me a chance to catch it or when he baited me with something and practically pointed at it (say, his arm) as if to say, "gee, that would make a great americana". Anyway, I appreciated his skill and his patience and his total lack of ego. I always feel humbled and like I don't deserve that type of patience and time from someone who is there to improve their own game. But, in the future I will just take it, say thank you, and pay it forward when I am capable. Later when I paired with him in light sparring he actually could maintain a 52% effort and he spun a web around me. However, I did give him what resistance I could and I took copious mental notes. So, thank you Spider. Roll on buddy.

Today, the shoulder is on fire, the pain meds aren't helping, but I don't care I'm going tonight anyway. For the record, the shoulder is on "wow, lots of use"-fire, but not on "ooh, stop, something is bad"-fire.

(p.s. Youtube rules; I just found a couple of escapes from Kurusa Kesa Gatame that I think would have worked brilliantly)

Smart Goal [Bodyweight] 2010.04.01

********************************************
**** Smart Goal [Bodyweight] 2010.04.01 ****
********************************************
Specific: Attain 160 lbs by 04/01/2010
Measurable: Weigh 160.0 (from 173)
Action:
      BSG,BJJ,CF, & Calorie reduction
      CrossFit Ramp-up (easy on the shoulder) MON, TUE, THUR?
      BSG Treadmill 3xWeek
      Reign in the food/calories/eat smart
Realistic: sure ;)
TimeBound:
      Start: 03/03/2010
      Achieve: 04/01/2010

Some progress on Smart Goal [Running] 2010.03.01

I am SO NOT A RUNNER. After my injury I went from consistent weight of about 159 back up to 175. Since the treadmill was the first thing I was allowed to get back to after the Shoulder injury I had set a SMART goal. I was just starting again so 2 miles was taking me anywhere from 35 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how I was feeling. So my first goal was to get 2 treadmill miles under 30 minutes. When I hit that twice I changed the goal to:

********************************************
**** Smart Goal [Running] 2010.03.01 ****
********************************************
Specific: Run a 14min/mile for 2 treadmill miles (1.5 incline)
Measurable: 28min/2mi.
Action: BSG 3xWeek (BSG is BattleStar Galactica...what I watch on the treadmill)
Realistic: Now ~30min. Need to drop 2 minutes
TimeBound:
      Start: 02/05/2010
      Achieve: 03/01/2010
History:
      2010.03.01 close, but reached it with interruptions
      2010.02.04 reached just under 30 minutes
      1996.01.17 - 1996.03.17 (Basic Training) went from 24:00/2mi to 13:30/2mi
      ~10:30 lost in 16w = ~39s/w shaved off very aggressively during Basic Training

I ran 2 miles on the treadmill in just under 28 minutes the other day, BUT I had to step off twice for other things which is cheating. So I missed my goal of having this done by 03/01, BUT I'm very close...so I'm revising the goal end date to 03/20. So now it's 2 treadmill miles under 28 minutes, strict, by 03/20.

Taking longer than I thought

This injury is really irritating me. :) Yes, this is after 3 months. I thought, a few weeks ago, that I would be going back to jits very shortly, but I still can't roll over that shoulder, shrimp on that shoulder, or Upa over that shoulder. I'm getting a lot of treadmill time in, drilling in my living room, and stretching, stretching, stretching my shoulder. It hurts a lot lately, kind of like it did in the 2nd month. I don't think I'm overdoing it, but apparently it's still a fine line.

Wow, I fell off the planet

The only way I can describe the last 8 months is:

1. Prepping for Grappler's Quest; lost 14 pounds, felt great, great, great.
2. Got hurt in a match 11/14 (3 weeks before GQ). Ripped the ligament between sternum and clavicle, tore a lot of surrounding tissue. Difficult to explain, but they had both of my arms for an armbar attempt but my thumbs were facing inward (toward them) so when they pushed with their hips my chest got the leverage and ripped. It was a freak thing. There was time for me to tap out if I had known I was in trouble. 8-12 week estimated recovery and it's been just under 3 months so the Dr's were pretty much right on.
3. Went to GQ to cheer my team on.
4. Many mental ups and downs about why I grapple, what are my goals, what do I enjoy, how to improve, tournament mentality, etc, etc.
5. About 2 months into the injury, finally got comfortable in my head
6. Last week the P.T. gave me the go to start using my shoulder in controlled exercises, no plyometrics, no partner, just solo, controlled drills.
7. Immediately moved all furniture out of my living room and put down mats. Now there's plenty of room for drills. ;)
8. Found out quickly that I lost so much strength that I literally can't do 1 single pushup.
9. Fuck it, I'll come back from this
10. This morning 2 miles on the treadmill and tested out a few bodyweight exercises

The most dissapointing thing that happened is that I had to miss Women's Grappling Camp. The best thing that happened is some of the understanding I've gained about match mentality, etc.
Gotta keep recovering my strength, flexibility, etc. Gotta lose the 15 pounds I put back on. Forward, forward, forward.

**** Smart Goal Bodyweight 2010.04.01 (post-injury) ****
Specific: Lose 15 lbs by 04/01/2010
Measurable: Weigh 160.0 (from 175. I did it once, I'll do it again.)
Action:
Treadmill TUE & (SAT or SUN). Some weeknights.
BJJ MON,WED,SAT
CrossFit TUE, THUR?
1300 calories a day
Realistic: 2.5lbs/week
TimeBound: April 1

BJJ 6/22 My first real *Flow*

5:15 women's Marc
Flow
Rolling at the end of the women's class today I had my first real moments of Flow during BJJ. It was amazing. I knew that was how BJJ is supposed to feel, but today was the first time that all the components of Flow were present at the same time for me; most importantly characterized by the loss of consciousness of self and a distorted sense of time.
For one submission and two positional transitions I had a clear goal and I was relaxed, breathing, and executing. Time didn't seem as frantic and crazy as usual. I saw the opportunity for a move and I saw the path of it in front of me and I started working down that path by the numbers and the movements fell into place. To get the tap I was calmly increasing the pressure; I wasn't stressed or angry or frantic. It was so weird, I just knew where we were going and kept working the path. It was really amazing because it just felt fluid and natural.

Choke
Today we learned the papercutter choke, which I'll just say I find awkward. I did take a lot away from the lesson just from Marc's general attitude about head pressure and body placement (where chest to chest) and Gary showed this from North/South the other day so I can see the versatility of it. I think that I am beginning to notice the difference in style between Kelly and Marc. Of course, I know it's incredibly difficult to tell what a higher belt teacher is doing or not doing or changing in order to help facilitate your learning, but they both feel different.

BJJ 6/20 themes, themes, themes

I'm starting to see some movements that are major themes woven throughout the jiu-jitsu and how those major themes come in to play from almost any other position. It's interesting that BJJ is often taught at a "specific technique" level to beginners instead of from a thematic level. I know everyone learns differently and that for many people the reward is in the submission, but I feel differently about it. The reward to me is in understanding the nature of the system and then applying that understanding. In this case Jiu-Jitsu; at work it's the computer, programming languages, etc. The submissions will naturally come later, but they won't be in a vacuum. A good submission, to me, seems to be the culmination of the position, the transition, the setup, the sum of it all. Again I have to say it's a really beautiful art.

So, for today it was conceptually about knee to elbow and the 101 groovy things that knee to elbow will help save you from. In addition, how to use knee to elbow to make the available area also conveniently be your guard. For example, if you get the correct knee up to protect from side control you're also conveniently opening up your guard area. Same concept from a lot of other positions. The other major conceptual movement is the post on one foot and the opposite elbow and the 101 groovy things you can do with that; get away, get back in, etc. I'm also seeing the value of make some space in order to do something with it. Hip out to get your knee in is a good example. My "death grip" seems to be easing up just a little bit so maybe I'll feel more able to make some space when I need it. :)

This is why I love my private classes. I want to see the overarching, interwoven theme and then allow my body to spontaneously apply that theme in a place where it is appropriate. It seems to me a lot like, "teach a (wo)man to fish..."

6/17 BJJ -High Mount Part 2

6/17 built from 6/13 where if the choke wasn't working out or they put their arm up in there to defend it or if it's a Tuesday :) then you'll work this into an armbar setup instead. I found the bodyweight balance aspect pretty sketchy even though I intellectually understand the concept; I'm not pulling it off so well. I'm sure it's just a drilling issue.

6/15 Lynn's rough notes - will clean up later

6/15
5:15
high mount and a choke
keep your hand pushing down on their head while you are moving up into high mount
Then weasel your hand in cross and get deep in their collar, use the other hand to get your thumb in and grip real tight, sweep that arm over their face for a choke. give them a shake to open up the chin and then pull your elbows back (you'll lean forward and post on your head)

6:00
A choke from NorthSouth. The arm that is underhook sweep around the outside of their shoulder and grab deep in their collar. the other hand reaches in with the thumb and grab a fistful of gi, then rotate away from your thumb - using should weight and sprawling on them. clear their chin and press your elbow down into the ground. One arm is pulling down the backside of their body and the other arm is pressing elbow into floor with bodyweight. I could sort of get this on Tim. I didn't stand a chance of getting it on the big guy...I think that my hands were too close together too far around the back of his neck - so I think if the person is WAY bigger than you, you can actually get too deep.

Tim taught me: (was a super cool, tough, helpful, nice guy)
-snatch your leg back (careful not to hyperextend the knee...I almost did this twice, very scary)
-if their head is on the outside, crossface up and away while pulling your leg back
-if their head is on the inside, push down on the back of their head
-I could tell he was working his open/butterfly guard a lot
-showed me the difference between me being squared up and me having one leg behind when I'm in their butterfly guard
-when they have your sleeves and their feet in your armpits, you can step on one of their arms to get them to let go
-if you're getting into sweep trouble from guard you can jump your legs out and over sort of disengaging. You haven't lost much and you haven't been swept.

7:00 sweeps from half guard
my friend Brian came to class.
One is lock up the leg, underhook the arm and the leg, pull all your limbs upward first and then over. If up and over isn't working (or they post that arm up there) you can also push your knees down to the mat dumping them to the side.

One is where you get a knee in and underhook that same side. You can extend to get their arm in front of you and then post up on your elbow to reach over for a handful of lat and pull them tight to you. scoot your but out and get up on knees, then pull leg out to swing over for mount. If they drive into you here is where you drop your shoulder and sweep them over doing the breakdance thing with your underside leg to use it for momentum and then get it out of the way.
Gary of course showed how you have a lot of other options if any of these things don't work out.

BJJ 6/13

10:00 Private class w/Kelly
Mount & side control - How to keep them and transition between. Biggest a-ha moment was the baseball slide.

I had been feeling a little *flaily* in terms of lacking a real curriculum in Jits, but we talked about it and now I feel comfortable that my training progression is in good hands. This means that I can relax and just let go of that part (the curriculum), at least for now, because I trust that the person I spend the most time learning from, has an understanding of how I learn and how and when to give me the next piece.

Jits is a perfect, yet difficult sport for a Type A person. A software engineer no less; everything to me is a thinking puzzle, but Jits is a body puzzle...physical chess...and my mind has a hard time turning off (or down). I have to work on (as in, relax) the Nexus between my mind and my body more. I have to allow power, information, and trust to flow both directions. I can learn by listening and seeing, but I have to allow that to pass over to my body for movement. In addition, when I learn something from the physical act of it happening to me I need to bring that up in my conscious mind to assimilate and store it. So, I really need the pathway to be open and clear both ways. I'm working on that and a lot of it is relaxation. I felt some of this happen on Wednesday and a little of it happen on Saturday. It's a very difficult exercise to turn the brain control-center down and to transfer power and decision-making over to the physical realm, but I'm working on it. I believe that over the last 3 months my body has been earning some trust, so take that OCD brain. ;)

I had decided, probably a few weeks ago, that I just want to learn and work on positions and transitions. The women's classes have been positional in nature and my private classes have been about positions, so it's all on the right track. The revelation that I had Wednesday (about speed not being the deciding factor), will help me with this.
I really don't care about who I am better or worse than in class so I'm going to just focus on what we learned that day and trying to apply it. I know this seems like a total "duh" moment, but when I was rolling, even at 50%, if I was trying to win I was compromising the new thing I just learned by using the thing I already know and was more comfortable with.

I'm starting to see a pattern of major phases that I'm passing through and to identify them all is an exercise for another day. For now, I'll say that I'm in a phase where I am conceptually learning position, position, position...and it is good.

And, to borrow from one of my favorite novels, Dune,
"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it." -The First Law of Mentat, quoted by Paul Atreides to Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

BJJ 6/10 -You don't have to sneak it on them

5:15 Women/Teens Kelly
Today we covered some sweeps that I've seen before, but I could never get to work for me.
2 things came clear today:
#1 - Kelly told us a slightly different placement of one limb which worked way better for me
#2 - I realized today that if you have the techniques correct, it is not required that you surprise the opponent. This is a huge, huge lesson for me because I've been thinking, "Well, they know exactly what I'm going to do so I've got to try to slip it on them quick." and of course that wasn't working out very well. So, today I said, "I know that they know this is exactly what I'm going to do, but I'm so frustrated with these sweeps that I'm going to just go ahead and drill them anyway....over and over". Surprisingly, the sweeps worked for me like 3 out of 5 times (as opposed to 0 out of 5 times like usual).
Now when I think about this for a minute it makes total sense. Often I tell Kelly, "I knew where you were going with that, but I didn't know what to do about it.". So, I feel like that is a major milestone in my personal Jits process. :)

BJJ: Time Management

You know what; I'm pretty sure I can just say "Time Management" and anybody who reads this blog will know exactly what I mean.

But just to include a few of my own time management jewels:
-Balancing the significant other with the *significant hobby* a.k.a "I do love you, but I love Jits too" a.k.a "Oooh, that's right during the only time this week I can roll with fill-in-the-blank-fave-rolling-partner. Can I catch up with you after?"
This particular time management task totally blows!!!

-Finding new and inventive ways to get out of work in time to catch fill-in-the-blank class without looking like a slacker

-"Damn, this isn't all the way dry. Screw it, I'm gonna sweat anyway, right?"

-"Which day was supposed to be my rest day?"

Please, feel free to chime in your personal faves. ;)

BJJ ear protection - looking for your reviews, experiences

Okay, so today I noticed that I have the slightest little (new) bump on my ear (the ear that I favor mashing into my opponent when I'm afraid of them doing *something* to me if I raise my head). So, any new bumps, and the dreaded cauliflower ear is not an option for me. I'll be picking up some headgear this weekend. Maybe it's a girl thing, but I don't think it's cool at all.

I've got a pretty small head (hat size 6.75) so I thought I'd ask for some comments about brands and fit from you guys. I think the Adidas ones look cool with their graphite look, but ultimately I need to get what fits best and does the job. So, if you have experience with what brands runs large or small and/or falls apart quickly, etc, etc, please share.
I love having a space to get some ideas/answers from fellow BJJ sufferers, I mean enthusiasts.
;)

BJJ 6/4 in Truckee at Kelly/Marc's school

I had to work late Wednesday so I missed the 5:15 at Gary's school. Thursday 6/4 I got out of work early enough to drive up to Truckee to catch the 6:00 women's class and stay for the 7:00. It was great training because it was with girls that are better than me and with guys that I think are really great. A handful of the Reno guys are just not fun or helpful to roll with; too much ego. The Truckee guys that I have met have had a better attitude about BJJ in general. So, it was a really great class.
The 45 minutes each way totally blows though so I may not be going up there as often as I had planned. I'll just play it by ear on a day by day basis. Work has been demanding lately because of some deadlines so I don't know whether I can hit jits or not until the last minute.
The other thing that holds up my *Ultimate Training Plan* ;) is that my CrossFit gym and my BJJ gym are not merging just yet. They were supposed to merge on 6/1, but some last minute negotiating problems came up with the landlord. I've been looking forward to having everything under one roof. Then I'll do the women's class at 5:15 and the CrossFit at 6:00 and then decide whether to roll after CrossFit.

You know Jits has you when.....

-when the skin on your feet is contantly missing in 1-4 strategic places
-when you post on an elbow and foot to roll over in bed...in your sleep
-when you use a swimming underhook type motion to pull your arm under the covers
-when you swim out of bed in the morning (leading with the hand you throw your arm forward while you sit up)

5/30 BJJ - First day I ever wore a gi or “Intro to getting choked with your own clothes”

10:00am private Kelly –

Gi - First off, to find someone who teaches in a way that really clicks for you is a priceless asset. I experience too many “a-ha” moments to mention them all. I will say that although it’s going to be a very hard road I’m going to go ahead and embrace the Gi training. Although it was an utter train-wreck for me today; I can see the beauty on the other side. Because today was my first Gi day we talked a little about grips and she showed me two chokes. I have to say it is real nice having all these cool handles conveniently placed all over the opponent; but getting handled in my Gi was a real eye-opener. The first thing that became glaringly obvious to me is that I am NOT in tune with it (my gi) at all. I would find that I couldn’t, for example, move my knee and I would basically mentally write it off and try something different. It’s not my first thought to make the connection that clearly they have a hold of my Gi at the knee and are controlling my knee with it and I should probably stop that. I’m not making that connection at all. I’m not feeling through the Gi, but I’m sure that has to get better. Right now it feels like all this extra stuff between me and the opponent. Gi: 2, Lynn: 0

Hips - A few classes ago Kelly told me some conceptual things about hip movement and I’ve noticed that I am starting to apply it better (particularly when I’m in trouble) and that it’s really helping me out a lot, but today I learned a hip movement in side control that had never occurred to me. The concept of using the hips to clear the arm or the knee in side control wasn’t going to occur to me naturally. I was going to just keep driving and driving to no avail. Having a private class is the.coolest.thing.ever.

Don’t quit - I also need to not give up on something when it doesn’t work the first time or when the outcome is not what I expected. A prime example of this was when she would be passing my guard and the way I would move my hips out would allow her to press her hip down next to me and then I’d think, “Well, that didn’t work like I planned” and sort of blank out. After I did this a few times we addressed it with “keep moving the hips out”. In essence, I would try once and then quit. Same with sweeps, shrimps, etc. Don’t give up on it.

Brain disconnect - Everything from here on out was a total disconnect between my conscious brain and my physical body. Many examples of “I know this, but I did this instead”.

Death Grip - I was seeming to do better with another major concept about keeping elbows and knees in until we noticed that all session I kept getting a grip on her collar or over her shoulder and behind her neck and then just hanging on to that so of course she’d show me the error of my ways by getting that arm isolated. In fact, she did the exact same thing that ended in my arm bar twice in a row. I knew exactly what she was going to do and I couldn’t override the *death grip* command that was sent to my hand and she got my arm again. I noticed that I feel less vulnerable with my arm over her shoulder than under her shoulder. I thought I had learned the value of underhooks in my match and then today I completely disregarded them over and over and over and over. And, of course, Kelly was helpful enough to keep demonstrating my death grip by pushing my head away and letting my own refusal to let go add to my head control stress. She is quite good at the non-verbal lessons.

I’ll need to write “underhooks” on the backs of my thumbs so I’ll see it every time I wrap my arm around the back of their neck and just hang out there. It’s weird to identify something that my brain just keeps ignoring. I can literally say, “Okay, don’t do that” and then 8 seconds later I’ll do exactly that. So, my mantra last week was “hips, hips, hips”. I’m thinking this next week will be “underhooks, underhooks, underhooks” .

Make space – Related to my lack of letting go with my grip in order to try to get an underhook is my seemingly natural instinct to close the space no matter what. I intellectually know that BJJ is about closing space when you need to and also about making space when you need to. However, physically I apparently am only comfortable closing the space. I think the death grip around the back of their neck is related to this and so is my inability to get my knee in there when I want to. I have plenty of room to go ahead and make more room (sliding my hips back or away) in order to get my knee in, but I would just stay so tightly engaged that I wouldn’t allow myself the room. In essence, I will suffer (Kelly proved this over and over today) to stay tightly engaged even when making space would be very good for me. I won’t “make space”. Seriously gotta get over that.

Knee - The other thing I’d like to see happen more naturally is getting the knee in there when they want to pull me into guard. During tit-for-tat today I overcommitted forward and I could feel that I was in a place where her next move was going to be to pull me into her guard and I couldn’t think of what to do about it….so simple, get that knee up. It’s bizarre the things that my brain decides to ignore or just refuse to commit to long term memory.

I know things will occur to me over the next few days that I can't recall so I'll add them later.

BJJ More technical, less strength/weight

So, I'm kind of in a place where I weigh vastly more than the other 4 women that I have a chance to roll with. For example, I weigh ~168 right now and I'm sure the heaviest female I roll with is probably <140. I don't want my technical game to suffer because I can get away with some pure strength/weight things...so I'm thinking I've really gotta just start rolling with the guys. It's tough though since it's been no-gi for the last few months at my school I don't know which guys are which belt (kinda wanna roll with more experienced, less-flaily, guys so neither of us get hurt) and of course they all outweigh me, but I've just gotta put the time in. I just wanted to understand my positional goals and a few submission defenses before rolling with the guys regularly since I'm pretty sure (and many women's blogs I've read pretty much second this) that I'll spend a lot of time just incrementally working my positional transition with the guys while defending submissions off. And, of course, that is part of the process. :)

So, in the near future my goal is to become more technical and less strength-based by #1-learning and training with the gi (start on Saturday 5/30) and #2-rolling with the guys.
I also just have to lose more weight; intelligently - lose fat. Back to CrossFit for me. My grand plan is to go back on 6/10 and a really good friend of mine will be coming to her first CrossFit that night too so we'll be going together.

Muay Thai 5/27

7:00am Muay Thai (private) Casey BBCF
This morning was my third class with Casey and I have to say that when you're a total beginner things seems to get better very quickly. Today, many things felt far more natural than they did last class. Of course, some things were still exceedingly akward (teeps).

Always working on:
1. Breathing
2. Standing tall (Don't sink down and down and down. This doesn't mean to put my head up like a target, it really means keep good posture, don't shrink down)
3. March on toes, don't do the tank (Don't sink down real heavy and start flat footing around like an army tank)
4. Eyes (peripheral vision)
5. Keep the torso engaged (part of standing tall...not leaning backwards)

The warmup kicking is starting to feel better. The hips are loosening up for a more natural swing around. With the kicks, I'm working on:
1. that downward arc for the leg kick (still kicking too high)
2. stuff with the hand
3. heavy leg, not snapping
4. quick reset
5. on the toe at the end (the follow-through so to speak)

Then we did some drills with the jab, cross, hook, kicks, teeps. All of this is starting to feel better.I'm starting to feel the rhythm of it all and it's really cool. My hook is still a little bizarre, but I'm starting to get the arc down. With my kicks and teeps I need to keep that core engaged to keep that torso in there so that I'm not leaning back off balance (especially with the teeps). This is where the "stand tall" thing really comes into play. If I am standing tall then usually the kick or teep starts in the right place and it has nice power because I'm really engaged with it. If I start off all hunched up or backed off then I either have no power and/or have to reach akwardly.
During the drilling today he started giving me little taps between my drills to make sure I was defending, keep my gloves up, getting them back quickly, etc. I'll throw some punches and he would give me a hook to make sure I was back in defense or 'keeping me honest' so to speak. When he starts taking these little shots back at me he barely taps me, but in my mind I want to enter defense mode (which is heavy and low like a tank, quits moving and covers everything). So, when he's tapping me back I have to do my little mantra, "stand in it, march in it, keep tall, keep defending, don't scrunch, don't back away". I'm trying to see with my peripheral vision the physical ques that are precursors to where these strikes are coming from, etc. Today I noticed what his chest looks like when he opens his left shoulder for a left hook. It was my first "a-ha" moment; granted on probably the most telegraphed strike and in slow motion, but it was still cool.
I know this is going to sound funny because I've been doing BJJ, but the close Muay Thai distance feels way too close to me. It feels to me like if you're that close to somebody you may as well be grappling. Most of the Muay Thai is in an uncomfortably close zone that just feels akward to me. Also working on that (staying jab close, staying engaged, etc).

I think he's a great teacher because I notice that he is progressing me a little bit at a time, yes, even over 3 lessons. I noticed that today he started giving me the pad locations and not calling out the numbers so much and I was noticing that a pad in that location should be a jab, there means a cross, there means a hook, etc. Seems like a small thing, but it was nice to see that my body/vision/rhythm has potential to all come together naturally. I noticed this again when he taught me some blocks. I'm not staring down his gloves and I can still see other stuff. I'm trying really hard to work on this. I need to develop that peripheral awareness. I don't have the accuracy so I especially end up kicking him a lot. The teeps seem ridiculously off balance and off target right now. I'm aiming dead center, but I could hit anywhere in a 1.5 foot radius. I keep telling him he'll need to wear a cup for my training. ;)

He gave me a jab block, a cross block, a hook block, and an over the top right cross block. What they all have in common is one hand is stuffing in their shoulder or face and the other hand is protecting your head (usually with the palm facing your head). BOTH hands are open. The reason for the left hand open has to do with naturally bringing your shoulder up to protect. The right hand is open because it leaves less space. So, front, side, and then opposite side with the blocking (opposite side is open palm facing out). We discussed slipping vs blocking and I'll just say we're in agreement and I get it.(Risk vs Reward)

So, it was a great cardio workout first thing in the morning; loosened up my hips and back for the day and I got to hit stuff. Who doesn't like to hit stuff?