The decision to change academies was definitely the right one for me. Now that I am back to training, I actually enjoy it again. It has been a very long time since I have felt that passion for training that we all know. Like I said before, I loved my old academy but it just didn't fit me. I think my style, my personality fits much better where I am now.
I think that I have progressed in my game more in the past few weeks of training there than I had in the last two years (albeit I have had a lot of time off the mats) at my old academy. I am finally getting the attention, encouragement and correction I need to progress. I am starting to get confident with the things I do well and that is allowing me to feel comfortable enough to reach out and expand my game, trying things I would normally never try. I played spider guard with a behemoth of a guy the other day and actually did very well, stifled his pass attempts and managed to sweep. Trust me, that never happened with my game, until then.
Being back on the mats has taken a bit of a toll on the body. Seems that my skeleton isn't used to the extremes we put ourselves thru in training. I aggravated a long time hip injury and just a few days after I hurt my shoulder when I let an Americana go too long before escaping. The funny part was my shoulder felt fine. Until the next morning. I was in agony, had to wear a splint for two days.
Don't worry. I think that I am beginning to acclimate pretty well. I have already seen huge gains in my cardio and strength. Plus, as an added bonus, I have dropped about half the weight I brought back with me from Louisiana. My gi pants are getting baggy and I'm finding myself fitting into things I have not been able to squeeze into for over a year. Too bad styles change. Oh well.
I'm very excited to be back in it again. And to top it off, the Mundials are just around the corner. I didn't get to go last year because I was out of state, but this time I will be there on Saturday and Sunday to soak up all the action and root for some friends competing..
Now that I'm back, its time to update my goals for the rest of the year, update some of my other information, and get myself back in the rhythm of writing about all this madness we love.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
I'm Back
It has been so very long, the phrase "where do I begin?" seems to dwarf in comparison to all that I have to tell. In my absence from posting, and my absence from training for that matter, my life has changed dramatically and I am finally finding that "normal" again.
Let's see. My last post was about the Braulio Estima seminar I attended in February of last year. Yes, that's over a year without a post. Without a whisper, without really training at all. So, what happened in that year? Where did I go? What could have posessed my soul so deeply that I was unable to train? Who is asking? Well, since you are reading, I'll take it that you are asking. And, since we are such good friends, I will fill you in.
I did train again after that Braulio seminar. It took about a month or so for the back pain to subside. It was miserable. If you have the chance to opt out of a pinched nerve in your back, I'd recomend doing so. When I finally got over the pain I attended yet another seminar. This time at my (then) home academy. The seminar was held by Samuel Braga.
Samuel was one of my original instructors in BJJ, when our gym was Gracie Barra in Lancaster California. Since then he has moved on and has opened his own academy in Tennesee. If you are having difficulty in placing who Samuel Braga is, look back to the 2009 Mundials. In the featherweight finals agains Guiherme Mendes, Samuel performed the "shove heard round the world" when he took exception to the Atos team member performing their trademark sword gesture after the win. This momentary lapse in sportsmanship is not indicitive of the man I know, of the instructor who taught me. Yet, I digress. The seminar was incredible and it also marked my last bit of training in California, until two days ago.
You see, my company (a large, areospace and defense contractor) has a location in Lake Charles Louisiana. This location had taken on a contract that they were not prepared to perform on. As a result myself and several others from all over the corperation were sent there to help get things in order. What was supposed to be just up to 90 days of work turned into almost an entire year. So what could have happened in that year away from home you ask? Well be patient. It's coming.
During this time, my marriage came to an end. Not because of the distance. You see, the relationship died long before I was sent away. I think it was the time we spent living independently that made us both realize that whatever we had, ended long ago.
Not one to dwell, and being ever so lucky, I found someone in Louisiana that I have grown to love so very much. I have never ben a believer in fate or destiny, but meeting this girl has made me start to question that. Sometimes we need to take the longest road to reach our destination; that way we truly appreciate it when we get there. And I sure do appreciate it.
I also discovered that while working in an unfamiliar town (that only has one BJJ school) it becomes difficult to perform at work, rebuild a life after divorce, find yourself again, and fall in love all at the same time. Add training into the mix and it becomes downright impossible. The school in Lake Charles was a nice place, full of good guys. I managed to get there about 3 or 4 times in the last year. I never quite felt at home there but I still value the time I spent there. So, Lake Area BJJ I salute you. Thank you for your hospitility!!! Truly a bunch of southern gentlemen.
I had fallen in love so much with the region that I was wanting to go native. I planned on starting my new life there. In fact I was in talks with my company to make that happen when it finally arose that they cannot afford me. And so, back to Cali I came. That was in February. So, after a few months of false starts, I have finally gotten into a rhythm and things are starting to go right.
Now that I am back, I have also changed academies. I had no real problems at my original school. In fact, I love my instructors and training partners there, but for some reason I just never really fit there. I had a great instructor and a great group of guys but it just didn't fit my personality. It was a very hard thing to make that change, but once I decided and realized that the move was what was best for me, it was very easy.
More to come on all that soon. For now, it is so very good to be back in it! See you on the mats!
Let's see. My last post was about the Braulio Estima seminar I attended in February of last year. Yes, that's over a year without a post. Without a whisper, without really training at all. So, what happened in that year? Where did I go? What could have posessed my soul so deeply that I was unable to train? Who is asking? Well, since you are reading, I'll take it that you are asking. And, since we are such good friends, I will fill you in.
I did train again after that Braulio seminar. It took about a month or so for the back pain to subside. It was miserable. If you have the chance to opt out of a pinched nerve in your back, I'd recomend doing so. When I finally got over the pain I attended yet another seminar. This time at my (then) home academy. The seminar was held by Samuel Braga.
Samuel was one of my original instructors in BJJ, when our gym was Gracie Barra in Lancaster California. Since then he has moved on and has opened his own academy in Tennesee. If you are having difficulty in placing who Samuel Braga is, look back to the 2009 Mundials. In the featherweight finals agains Guiherme Mendes, Samuel performed the "shove heard round the world" when he took exception to the Atos team member performing their trademark sword gesture after the win. This momentary lapse in sportsmanship is not indicitive of the man I know, of the instructor who taught me. Yet, I digress. The seminar was incredible and it also marked my last bit of training in California, until two days ago.
You see, my company (a large, areospace and defense contractor) has a location in Lake Charles Louisiana. This location had taken on a contract that they were not prepared to perform on. As a result myself and several others from all over the corperation were sent there to help get things in order. What was supposed to be just up to 90 days of work turned into almost an entire year. So what could have happened in that year away from home you ask? Well be patient. It's coming.
During this time, my marriage came to an end. Not because of the distance. You see, the relationship died long before I was sent away. I think it was the time we spent living independently that made us both realize that whatever we had, ended long ago.
Not one to dwell, and being ever so lucky, I found someone in Louisiana that I have grown to love so very much. I have never ben a believer in fate or destiny, but meeting this girl has made me start to question that. Sometimes we need to take the longest road to reach our destination; that way we truly appreciate it when we get there. And I sure do appreciate it.
I also discovered that while working in an unfamiliar town (that only has one BJJ school) it becomes difficult to perform at work, rebuild a life after divorce, find yourself again, and fall in love all at the same time. Add training into the mix and it becomes downright impossible. The school in Lake Charles was a nice place, full of good guys. I managed to get there about 3 or 4 times in the last year. I never quite felt at home there but I still value the time I spent there. So, Lake Area BJJ I salute you. Thank you for your hospitility!!! Truly a bunch of southern gentlemen.
I had fallen in love so much with the region that I was wanting to go native. I planned on starting my new life there. In fact I was in talks with my company to make that happen when it finally arose that they cannot afford me. And so, back to Cali I came. That was in February. So, after a few months of false starts, I have finally gotten into a rhythm and things are starting to go right.
Now that I am back, I have also changed academies. I had no real problems at my original school. In fact, I love my instructors and training partners there, but for some reason I just never really fit there. I had a great instructor and a great group of guys but it just didn't fit my personality. It was a very hard thing to make that change, but once I decided and realized that the move was what was best for me, it was very easy.
More to come on all that soon. For now, it is so very good to be back in it! See you on the mats!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Braulio, Bad Weather and Backaches
(2/5/10 6:00pm) Braulio Estima Seminar at Gracie Barra Huntington Beach
We have all heard the stories. Insert grizzled old man here describing the treacherous trek back and forth to school every day; uphill, both ways, in the snow, without shoes. Point being, they had it so very bad so how dare you complain about your own little inconveniences in this rather comfortable age in which we live. Well buckle in youngsters, cause I got a whopper (no not from Burger King....mmmm burgers).
On Friday night I attended a seminar put on by Braulio Estima. In case you don’t know who that is; he is an awesome BJJ competitor and won the ADCC last year. But we’ll get to him and the seminar later. I need to talk about the drive down.
I live in Palmdale California and the seminar was in Huntington Beach. According to MapQuest, to get to GBHB its 97.95 miles one way, so I am going to round to 100. It’s my story, if I want to take liberty with 2.05 miles I will.
Not only was it 100miles, it was 100miles with more than half of it on the 405. Anyone familiar with LA traffic knows that the 405 is a special little slice of hell. I refer to it as the world’s longest parking lot.
So, not only was it 100miles, it was 100 miles with more than half on the 405, and it was a Friday afternoon, when everyone and their uncle is either escaping to or away from the city.
Did I mention that it was raining? It was. So it was 100 miles, down the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain. Beat that gramps! Yeah, that’s what I thought. You got nothin! MapQuest tells me that it should take 1 hour and 46 minutes. That is optimistic without the weather being a factor. So let’s do math, I left at 2:30pm and I arrived at the academy at 5:45, just before the scheduled 6:00pm start time. I will subtract 15 minutes for the quick stop I made into Jiu-Jitsu Progear and that puts my total, one way time at 3 hours. Yes, not a typo, 3 hours.
What could be worth spending 3 hours sitting in LA traffic, on the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain? That’s easy, Braulio Estima. Braulio is a Gracie Barra black belt with more accolades than I can mention. Perhaps the most significant, recent, feat of his was his winning the ADCC Absolute last year. Beyond that, he is such a nice guy.
I won’t go into specifics about what we covered because I think people need to go see Braulio when they can and learn from the source. His seminar dealt with working in the guard primarily. I am always looking to fortify my guard game so this was great for me. We took good notes while there so that we would be able to remember the techniques we learned as well as the overall strategies that he gave us. Braulio has a unique way of looking at positions and submissions that I have never thought of but it makes so much sense once you hear it.
His enthusiasm for teaching and sharing his knowledge is so apparent. He genuinely enjoys helping everyone in the class learn something new. We counted 51 people on the mats and though there was zero extra mat space, he made it feel like a small group of friends. Braulio made a point to personally check up on everyone and it felt like one big private lesson.
I have to give some thanks to Professor Filipe “Jerry” Oliveira. He made us feel welcome and at home in a strange academy. He treated those of us from different academies as long time friends and was so very helpful. In fact, everyone at his academy treated us very well, so a big thank you to them.
Ok, so now the dark lining on this big shiny silver cloud. Somewhere during drilling techniques I managed to hurt my lower back. I have no idea how it happened. I was working with Dr. Evil and all of a sudden there was a little pain. That pain began to escalate and by the time we left it was horrible. I made the drive home (two hours this time) and got home at 12:30am.
I tried to get some rest but I could not get comfortable. I managed to get myself out of bed and in agony I drove to the urgent care at 5:00am. The doc there gave me a shot in the muscles in my back and sent me home with a prescription for Flexeril. All day Saturday I wrestled with the pain and tried to rest it as much as I could. Sunday was just as bad, if not worse. There were times that I thought I had broken my back it hurt so bad. I went back to the urgent care, during the Superbowl. This time they took x-rays and luckily they were clean. The doc said it could be a minor burst or slipped disk. Hopefully it’s just a pinched nerve or something. As I write this, it’s Monday and I am still in a great deal of pain. I will keep up my meds and hopefully whip this thing into submission soon. I hate how much I have been off the mats already this year and I don’t need another setback. Fingers crossed it’s just a pinched nerve or something and I can get back on the mats soon.
Bottom Line, if Braulio comes to an academy near you, pay the fee, make the drive and enjoy a fantastic BJJ experience with one of the most talented and nicest guys out there. He is making his way around the states so be on the lookout.
We have all heard the stories. Insert grizzled old man here describing the treacherous trek back and forth to school every day; uphill, both ways, in the snow, without shoes. Point being, they had it so very bad so how dare you complain about your own little inconveniences in this rather comfortable age in which we live. Well buckle in youngsters, cause I got a whopper (no not from Burger King....mmmm burgers).
On Friday night I attended a seminar put on by Braulio Estima. In case you don’t know who that is; he is an awesome BJJ competitor and won the ADCC last year. But we’ll get to him and the seminar later. I need to talk about the drive down.
I live in Palmdale California and the seminar was in Huntington Beach. According to MapQuest, to get to GBHB its 97.95 miles one way, so I am going to round to 100. It’s my story, if I want to take liberty with 2.05 miles I will.
Not only was it 100miles, it was 100miles with more than half of it on the 405. Anyone familiar with LA traffic knows that the 405 is a special little slice of hell. I refer to it as the world’s longest parking lot.
So, not only was it 100miles, it was 100 miles with more than half on the 405, and it was a Friday afternoon, when everyone and their uncle is either escaping to or away from the city.
Did I mention that it was raining? It was. So it was 100 miles, down the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain. Beat that gramps! Yeah, that’s what I thought. You got nothin! MapQuest tells me that it should take 1 hour and 46 minutes. That is optimistic without the weather being a factor. So let’s do math, I left at 2:30pm and I arrived at the academy at 5:45, just before the scheduled 6:00pm start time. I will subtract 15 minutes for the quick stop I made into Jiu-Jitsu Progear and that puts my total, one way time at 3 hours. Yes, not a typo, 3 hours.
What could be worth spending 3 hours sitting in LA traffic, on the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain? That’s easy, Braulio Estima. Braulio is a Gracie Barra black belt with more accolades than I can mention. Perhaps the most significant, recent, feat of his was his winning the ADCC Absolute last year. Beyond that, he is such a nice guy.
I won’t go into specifics about what we covered because I think people need to go see Braulio when they can and learn from the source. His seminar dealt with working in the guard primarily. I am always looking to fortify my guard game so this was great for me. We took good notes while there so that we would be able to remember the techniques we learned as well as the overall strategies that he gave us. Braulio has a unique way of looking at positions and submissions that I have never thought of but it makes so much sense once you hear it.
His enthusiasm for teaching and sharing his knowledge is so apparent. He genuinely enjoys helping everyone in the class learn something new. We counted 51 people on the mats and though there was zero extra mat space, he made it feel like a small group of friends. Braulio made a point to personally check up on everyone and it felt like one big private lesson.
I have to give some thanks to Professor Filipe “Jerry” Oliveira. He made us feel welcome and at home in a strange academy. He treated those of us from different academies as long time friends and was so very helpful. In fact, everyone at his academy treated us very well, so a big thank you to them.
Ok, so now the dark lining on this big shiny silver cloud. Somewhere during drilling techniques I managed to hurt my lower back. I have no idea how it happened. I was working with Dr. Evil and all of a sudden there was a little pain. That pain began to escalate and by the time we left it was horrible. I made the drive home (two hours this time) and got home at 12:30am.
I tried to get some rest but I could not get comfortable. I managed to get myself out of bed and in agony I drove to the urgent care at 5:00am. The doc there gave me a shot in the muscles in my back and sent me home with a prescription for Flexeril. All day Saturday I wrestled with the pain and tried to rest it as much as I could. Sunday was just as bad, if not worse. There were times that I thought I had broken my back it hurt so bad. I went back to the urgent care, during the Superbowl. This time they took x-rays and luckily they were clean. The doc said it could be a minor burst or slipped disk. Hopefully it’s just a pinched nerve or something. As I write this, it’s Monday and I am still in a great deal of pain. I will keep up my meds and hopefully whip this thing into submission soon. I hate how much I have been off the mats already this year and I don’t need another setback. Fingers crossed it’s just a pinched nerve or something and I can get back on the mats soon.
Bottom Line, if Braulio comes to an academy near you, pay the fee, make the drive and enjoy a fantastic BJJ experience with one of the most talented and nicest guys out there. He is making his way around the states so be on the lookout.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Rehab, Retention and Repetition
(1/25/10 6:30pm) BJJ
One of the odd things about training in a gym that has yet to open is the fact that most every night is like open mat. For me this proved to be a very good thing as I am still nursing my shoulder and back…back to health. The pain all day had been very mild which was a welcome change. For days it has felt as though the muscles in my back had gotten shorter and like someone had shoved a small rock underneath my shoulder blade. So, to whoever it was that shoved a rock in there…..a very sarcastic Thank You!
As far as training; I found someone else who just wanted to go light and we worked on drilling a few specific techniques. Armbar from mount, a neat side control kimura set-up from Braulio’s Invisible Jiu-Jitsu, and as always I worked on my guard retention.
After enough reps we moved on to specific training. I put myself into bad situations (mostly under side control) and worked to get back to guard or to reverse completely and end up on top all the while my opponent tried to pass to mount or submit. I forced myself to try a few different escapes. In live rolling I typically rely on the upa-shrimp-up to knees and shoot for a single leg. That escape has served me well but from time to time I am against people who can greatly out-wrestle me and I typically end up losing any advantage and end up back where I started. So for this session I really tried to work on getting to half guard and getting back to full guard.
I had a great deal of success with getting back to guard and I think that now I will be more apt to do the same in live sparring when against a formidable wrestler (of which we have many). Now I am not discounting the fact that I need serious help with my wrestling. If I happen to find that one gem in the rough that is smaller than me with even less wrestling skill I end up doing well. But most of the time I end up working from a bad position. I guess that should be another goal for this year, to improve my wrestling / judo.
When I got home my shoulder started to talk to me again. I dosed up, hit the sack and this morning it feels much better. I am debating between doing jits again tonight and risk aggravating it or to just hit 24 Hour Fitness with my temporary pass and just work cardio and such to save my shoulder. Decisions decisions.
One of the odd things about training in a gym that has yet to open is the fact that most every night is like open mat. For me this proved to be a very good thing as I am still nursing my shoulder and back…back to health. The pain all day had been very mild which was a welcome change. For days it has felt as though the muscles in my back had gotten shorter and like someone had shoved a small rock underneath my shoulder blade. So, to whoever it was that shoved a rock in there…..a very sarcastic Thank You!
As far as training; I found someone else who just wanted to go light and we worked on drilling a few specific techniques. Armbar from mount, a neat side control kimura set-up from Braulio’s Invisible Jiu-Jitsu, and as always I worked on my guard retention.
After enough reps we moved on to specific training. I put myself into bad situations (mostly under side control) and worked to get back to guard or to reverse completely and end up on top all the while my opponent tried to pass to mount or submit. I forced myself to try a few different escapes. In live rolling I typically rely on the upa-shrimp-up to knees and shoot for a single leg. That escape has served me well but from time to time I am against people who can greatly out-wrestle me and I typically end up losing any advantage and end up back where I started. So for this session I really tried to work on getting to half guard and getting back to full guard.
I had a great deal of success with getting back to guard and I think that now I will be more apt to do the same in live sparring when against a formidable wrestler (of which we have many). Now I am not discounting the fact that I need serious help with my wrestling. If I happen to find that one gem in the rough that is smaller than me with even less wrestling skill I end up doing well. But most of the time I end up working from a bad position. I guess that should be another goal for this year, to improve my wrestling / judo.
When I got home my shoulder started to talk to me again. I dosed up, hit the sack and this morning it feels much better. I am debating between doing jits again tonight and risk aggravating it or to just hit 24 Hour Fitness with my temporary pass and just work cardio and such to save my shoulder. Decisions decisions.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Feeling Un-Awesome
Ok, so far this year has not quite gotten off to the start I wanted it to. I started out with some kind of cold that just would not go away. Then I developed a pain in my shoulder / back that just continued to get worse and worse. Once the cold subsided and my shoulder was just unbearable, I decided to go to the urgent care to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. The doc took x-rays and thankfully they looked normal. He told me it is probably a spasm underneath the shoulder blade that is causing all the muscles around it to tighten up and guard it, thereby perpetuating more pain. It’s a vicious cycle. He prescribed Vicodin and Flexeril. The Vicodin is for the pain and Flexeril to relax the muscles. Cool. A few doses of these over the next few days should do the trick.
So I got home from the doctor on Tuesday night, popped my new pills, had dinner and went off to bed. It would seem as though two prescriptions were not all I got from seeing the doctor as I awoke at 0100 racing to the bathroom to vomit. I felt horrible. Then I performed encores at 0200 and 0330. Needless to say that was a miserable night. All day Wednesday I was in agony. I alternated between the sofa and the bed all day, trying to find some relief. I tried to keep my fluids up but it just was not working. I wasn’t even able to eat but a few spoonfuls of the chicken soup my wife made me. It seems as though I picked up some kind of bug at the urgent care that wanted to see me suffer for 24 hours.
This morning I am feeling 1000% better. I still have absolutely zero energy so I know I won’t train again tonight. My shoulder is still killing me so I am planning to get some real food in me and to resume taking those meds to hopefully heal it up. If I am going to miss training it might as well be to heal up so I can get back to healthy. I have not had one single week of being totally healthy at all this year. I can’t wait for that to happen! Mentally I am ready to conquer the world, physically…not so much.
So that is the scoop for now. I am sure that by the end of this month I will be back to 100% and will be able to get back on the path to world domination.
So I got home from the doctor on Tuesday night, popped my new pills, had dinner and went off to bed. It would seem as though two prescriptions were not all I got from seeing the doctor as I awoke at 0100 racing to the bathroom to vomit. I felt horrible. Then I performed encores at 0200 and 0330. Needless to say that was a miserable night. All day Wednesday I was in agony. I alternated between the sofa and the bed all day, trying to find some relief. I tried to keep my fluids up but it just was not working. I wasn’t even able to eat but a few spoonfuls of the chicken soup my wife made me. It seems as though I picked up some kind of bug at the urgent care that wanted to see me suffer for 24 hours.
This morning I am feeling 1000% better. I still have absolutely zero energy so I know I won’t train again tonight. My shoulder is still killing me so I am planning to get some real food in me and to resume taking those meds to hopefully heal it up. If I am going to miss training it might as well be to heal up so I can get back to healthy. I have not had one single week of being totally healthy at all this year. I can’t wait for that to happen! Mentally I am ready to conquer the world, physically…not so much.
So that is the scoop for now. I am sure that by the end of this month I will be back to 100% and will be able to get back on the path to world domination.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Lets Get This Party Started Right
Goal Setting (1/17/2010)
Ok, it’s the end of the second week of 2010. Really, 2010? We have only had two weeks in this New Year and already there is so much to report. It has been a busy year thus far and this is the first real chance I have had to be able to sit down and put virtual pen to virtual paper. Since this is my first post of the New Year and I have had some time to reflect I guess it is time to announce my goals to the community.
Recap of 2009:
Ok, it’s the end of the second week of 2010. Really, 2010? We have only had two weeks in this New Year and already there is so much to report. It has been a busy year thus far and this is the first real chance I have had to be able to sit down and put virtual pen to virtual paper. Since this is my first post of the New Year and I have had some time to reflect I guess it is time to announce my goals to the community.
Recap of 2009:
January started off like I had hoped and expected. There was a lot of BJJ going on until I went back to work and then naturally it began to curtail as the grind resumed. Still, I was optimistic and feeling improvements for the first time in a long time. It might just be a good year.
Then in February I suffered two strokes within 24 hours. Those were strokes 4 and 5 respectively in my relatively short life. To my friends under 30, shut up. I’m still young…ish. Anyway, these strokes landed me in the hospital and shaped the rest of my year.
While in the hospital, I was diagnosed with a PFO, a hole in my heart that allows small clots, less oxygenated blood and other nasties to circumvent the normal filtering process and loop straight to my brain. Yeah, it’s as crappy as it sounds. Well at the end of April I had heart surgery. I was free to return to action in the gym around July. Needless to say, six months of NOTHING really took a toll.
I spent many a night in the fitness kickboxing class to rebuild cardio and strength. That was a long, tedious and sometimes frustrating process. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after each session and now I am so very glad I did it. I can really feel the difference and I know it has helped me to lay a foundation for this year.
I did do more and more BJJ toward the end of the year and I even got my second stripe. Finally. I have been training off and on since October 2007 and I am a two stripe white belt. I am not complaining, just stating the fact. During all that time I have had strokes and other medical problems keep me off the mats for long periods of time. I am so very optimistic that 2010 represents the first year ever in which I will have no substantial interruptions in training so I can get where I should be.
So with all the off the mat stuff in mind, lets take a look at the goals I set for 2009 and assess where I have made progress and where I have not. My comments as of now are in blue following the asterisks.
2009 Goals:
- Become a better BJJ player (Easy one eh?) *I think I did this one despite the odds
- Train more consistently *This one was impossible because of all my medical drama
- Attend minimum of 3 classes/week *As was this one
- Attend Open Mat more frequently (it rocks) *I did attend more sessions when I could
- Improve my guard game *This I fear was a point of regression
- Make the Triangle my go-to submission *Also one I was unable to work on
- Improve my conditioning *After 6 months off the mats and then 6 months of work; I feel that I am now better than ever
- Fitness kickboxing classes *I did a ton of these to recover and rebuild my cardio. It worked
- More cycling (Mountain / Road) *Only made it on a few road rides and NO mountain rides
- • Keep my head in the “right” place *I think the time off helped my mental game. I don’t freeze nearly as bad anymore.
- Get more photos during training *Not a single one
- Write more *I did write more, most though was chronicling my heart condition and surgery
2010 Goals:
- Continue to Work on my Guard
- Work Hard Enough to Deserve Promotions
- Third Stripe
- Forth Stripe
- Blue Belt
- Train BJJ 3 Times/week (Minimum of 156 Sessions in 2010)
- Strength and Conditioning 4 Times / Week (Minimum of 208 Sessions in 2010)
- Visit and Train at 4 Other BJJ Schools
- Write More; 2 Posts / Week (Minimum of 104 Posts in 2010)
Now, keep me honest community. Hold me to the fire and help me attain these goals, help me to grow as a BJJ player and help me to grow this fantastic endeavor that has us all in its spell.
*PS: My original Professor, Kazeka Muniz is opening a new gym in Palmdale and I have left Fight Factory to train with him. The new facility will be as amazing as his instruction. So, if you ever find yourself in Palmdale California, stop by Premium Fitness and take a look.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
2 Hours and 5 Rolls
(11/3/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
(11/3/09 6:00pm) BJJ
Kickboxing:
Renee taught the class again tonight. And again, the "warm-ups" were rough. We started off with what I think were 50 squats before we started jogging. The warm-up period is always difficult and leaves me doubting that I will be able to push thru and finish. Particularly when we do sprints down the long sides with shuffles around the short ends. That little delight feels like it lasts for an hour and a half but I am willing to bet it is only like two minutes.
We worked some different combinations on the heavy bags tonight, which was a nice change. Over the past few weeks my left hook has been getting pretty strong and tonight we worked hooks on both sides and now my right seems to be catching up.
The end of the class was pretty mild as compared to normal. The ab work, though a lot of reps, was not too extreme and only included a handful of the normal torturous exercises. At the conclusion I went to the locker room to change and get ready for Jits.
BJJ
I hit the mats just as the warm ups were hitting the to-the-wall and back phase. I looked around, saw Dr. Evil but someone was conspicuously missing. Where the hell is Neil. Ok enough of a jab at him for not showing up. I hope the Big Mac was worth it buddy!
We drilled a spider-guard pass. For this one, we gripped the pants, on the inside, shook off their foot-to-biceps control one arm at a time. You then drive one leg to the ground, never letting it go till you obtain stable side control. With the other hand you shoot under the free leg, drive your head to their thigh and reach back grabbing the belt to prevent escape. You then walk around, passing the trapt leg and establish side control. This was pretty nifty and I actually pulled it off twice in rolling. That is great for me because I typically suck at getting past spider.
Rolling:
My first round was with Paul, a big guy tipping the scales at 240+. Big, strong guy. I did pretty well against him. To my surprise, I was able to negate a lot of his strength. I even got to mount and threatened a choke by the end of the round.
Second round was with Dr. Evil. As always we had a see-saw battle. The first half I was in control and even caught him with a wrist lock from on top in side control. But then, I started to gas. As he later pointed out to me, this was like minute 116 of training for me so it is understandable. We finished out the round with him taking my back.
Third round was with Sarge (Ruben). Traditionally Sarge would always take my back right off the bat. This time though I did pretty well with my wrestling and even managed to win an exchange. Sarge is very strong and surviving his constant onslaught felt good.
Fourth was with Ian, our resident phenom. He would instantly trip me up with his slick spider-guard entries and I would be on defense from the start. He choked me from various positions in many different ways. At the end of the round he said something that I am going to try to remember. He said that when being attacked, you need to respond right away; when attacking, you can take your time and wait for openings. On defense I tend to wait for small mistakes or opportunities and sometimes I get too patient till I don't have anywhere to go any longer. So thanks for the advice Ian.
Fifth round was back with Paul. I was doing well again till I missed on a guard pass, got caught in an oma plata sweep attempt and rolled into the wall. Once trapt I was pretty well stacked and with his weight bearing down, I felt something in my left ribs pop. I verbally tapped and sat out the rest of that round (about a minute). The rib is just fine now, but at the time it really took my breath away.
Great night of training. I seemed to hold up pretty well with the double work-out. Just need to keep it going.
(11/3/09 6:00pm) BJJ
Kickboxing:
Renee taught the class again tonight. And again, the "warm-ups" were rough. We started off with what I think were 50 squats before we started jogging. The warm-up period is always difficult and leaves me doubting that I will be able to push thru and finish. Particularly when we do sprints down the long sides with shuffles around the short ends. That little delight feels like it lasts for an hour and a half but I am willing to bet it is only like two minutes.
We worked some different combinations on the heavy bags tonight, which was a nice change. Over the past few weeks my left hook has been getting pretty strong and tonight we worked hooks on both sides and now my right seems to be catching up.
The end of the class was pretty mild as compared to normal. The ab work, though a lot of reps, was not too extreme and only included a handful of the normal torturous exercises. At the conclusion I went to the locker room to change and get ready for Jits.
BJJ
I hit the mats just as the warm ups were hitting the to-the-wall and back phase. I looked around, saw Dr. Evil but someone was conspicuously missing. Where the hell is Neil. Ok enough of a jab at him for not showing up. I hope the Big Mac was worth it buddy!
We drilled a spider-guard pass. For this one, we gripped the pants, on the inside, shook off their foot-to-biceps control one arm at a time. You then drive one leg to the ground, never letting it go till you obtain stable side control. With the other hand you shoot under the free leg, drive your head to their thigh and reach back grabbing the belt to prevent escape. You then walk around, passing the trapt leg and establish side control. This was pretty nifty and I actually pulled it off twice in rolling. That is great for me because I typically suck at getting past spider.
Rolling:
My first round was with Paul, a big guy tipping the scales at 240+. Big, strong guy. I did pretty well against him. To my surprise, I was able to negate a lot of his strength. I even got to mount and threatened a choke by the end of the round.
Second round was with Dr. Evil. As always we had a see-saw battle. The first half I was in control and even caught him with a wrist lock from on top in side control. But then, I started to gas. As he later pointed out to me, this was like minute 116 of training for me so it is understandable. We finished out the round with him taking my back.
Third round was with Sarge (Ruben). Traditionally Sarge would always take my back right off the bat. This time though I did pretty well with my wrestling and even managed to win an exchange. Sarge is very strong and surviving his constant onslaught felt good.
Fourth was with Ian, our resident phenom. He would instantly trip me up with his slick spider-guard entries and I would be on defense from the start. He choked me from various positions in many different ways. At the end of the round he said something that I am going to try to remember. He said that when being attacked, you need to respond right away; when attacking, you can take your time and wait for openings. On defense I tend to wait for small mistakes or opportunities and sometimes I get too patient till I don't have anywhere to go any longer. So thanks for the advice Ian.
Fifth round was back with Paul. I was doing well again till I missed on a guard pass, got caught in an oma plata sweep attempt and rolled into the wall. Once trapt I was pretty well stacked and with his weight bearing down, I felt something in my left ribs pop. I verbally tapped and sat out the rest of that round (about a minute). The rib is just fine now, but at the time it really took my breath away.
Great night of training. I seemed to hold up pretty well with the double work-out. Just need to keep it going.
Death to the Fat Kid
No offense to any actual fat kids out there. I am not talking about you. This post is about me personally and is not intended to portray any other fat kids real or fictional.
About one year ago I wrote a post in which I talked about having lost 30 pounds (195 to 165) and that I was 15 pounds from my goal of 150 (http://grappling-with-life.blogspot.com/2008/11/changing-weight-classes.html). Since that time I have had some...challenges. I had a couple of strokes at the beginning of this year that kept me off the mats, followed by the diagnosis and surgery to repair a hole in my heart.
All in all the first half of the year was shot from an exercise perspective. I was not allowed to do anything but normal life minus exercise. That was pretty difficult for me but hey, it is what I needed to do in order to make sure I would be alright for a long time to come. So I followed doctors orders and in the process lost focus on my eating habits. Lets see, no exercise and eating too much, not a good combination. Lets just say that I backslid a bit.
I was down to around 165 last November and now I find myself at 178.4lbs a gain of 13-14 pounds. When I look at it in that perspective, 6 months of nothing and only a 14 pound gain, its not too bad. Only 2.5ish pounds a month. Needless to say I still want to reach my goal. I want to get down to my original planed weight of 150 and I am motivated to do so.
I have added a weight tracker to the right hand side of my blogs homepage. I will keep track on a weekly (at least) basis of my current weight and body fat percentage. My first post in there is:
Bottom line, I need an accountability system and this is the right venue. Reporting progress or lack there of is a heck of a motivator for me. So I ask your help. Keep me honest and if you see me eating crap, call me on it. Help me kill the fat kid once and for all.
About one year ago I wrote a post in which I talked about having lost 30 pounds (195 to 165) and that I was 15 pounds from my goal of 150 (http://grappling-with-life.blogspot.com/2008/11/changing-weight-classes.html). Since that time I have had some...challenges. I had a couple of strokes at the beginning of this year that kept me off the mats, followed by the diagnosis and surgery to repair a hole in my heart.
All in all the first half of the year was shot from an exercise perspective. I was not allowed to do anything but normal life minus exercise. That was pretty difficult for me but hey, it is what I needed to do in order to make sure I would be alright for a long time to come. So I followed doctors orders and in the process lost focus on my eating habits. Lets see, no exercise and eating too much, not a good combination. Lets just say that I backslid a bit.
I was down to around 165 last November and now I find myself at 178.4lbs a gain of 13-14 pounds. When I look at it in that perspective, 6 months of nothing and only a 14 pound gain, its not too bad. Only 2.5ish pounds a month. Needless to say I still want to reach my goal. I want to get down to my original planed weight of 150 and I am motivated to do so.
I have added a weight tracker to the right hand side of my blogs homepage. I will keep track on a weekly (at least) basis of my current weight and body fat percentage. My first post in there is:
- Weight: 178.4
- Body Fat %: 21.5
Bottom line, I need an accountability system and this is the right venue. Reporting progress or lack there of is a heck of a motivator for me. So I ask your help. Keep me honest and if you see me eating crap, call me on it. Help me kill the fat kid once and for all.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Kicking Off The Week On Tired Legs
(11/2/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
I started this session with quite a bit of apprehension. I totally expected for my legs to barely work if they worked at all. Yesterday was the now fabled 50 mile road ride so I knew that I would just be spent.
I was surprised all day that I was not really sore at all. I had a little bit in my legs but my shoulders and arms bore the brunt of my residual soreness; what there was. I guess that ice bath really did help. Thanks interweb for all those videos of folks like Wand and Tito dunking themselves into freezing cold water after a workout. Finally something useful pulled off the idiot box (other than this blog of course).
We did basically the exact same workout as all of the sessions I attended last week. Starting off with 110 squats before we even started the normal"warm-up" phase. I started feeling it in my legs around squat #30, but I pressed on and completed the entire workout as normal.
Unlike Saturday morning, at the end of class I was able to prop myself up without collapsing into a heap on the mats. Progress. Tonight I actually felt as though I started to turn a corner and that I am in fact getting a bit fitter. It has been a long while of plateaus, road blocks and uncertainty about my heart. Now though, I think it is all starting to come together. So a big thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way to get to this point and thanks in advance for helping me to see it thru.
I started this session with quite a bit of apprehension. I totally expected for my legs to barely work if they worked at all. Yesterday was the now fabled 50 mile road ride so I knew that I would just be spent.
I was surprised all day that I was not really sore at all. I had a little bit in my legs but my shoulders and arms bore the brunt of my residual soreness; what there was. I guess that ice bath really did help. Thanks interweb for all those videos of folks like Wand and Tito dunking themselves into freezing cold water after a workout. Finally something useful pulled off the idiot box (other than this blog of course).
We did basically the exact same workout as all of the sessions I attended last week. Starting off with 110 squats before we even started the normal"warm-up" phase. I started feeling it in my legs around squat #30, but I pressed on and completed the entire workout as normal.
Unlike Saturday morning, at the end of class I was able to prop myself up without collapsing into a heap on the mats. Progress. Tonight I actually felt as though I started to turn a corner and that I am in fact getting a bit fitter. It has been a long while of plateaus, road blocks and uncertainty about my heart. Now though, I think it is all starting to come together. So a big thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way to get to this point and thanks in advance for helping me to see it thru.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
On the Road Again....and Again, and Again
(11/1/09) Road Cycling
*I normally don't list my cycling workouts here but this one is special.
Sunday. Normally this time of year Sundays are for sleeping in and watching football. Not this Sunday. I was up at 0600 (would have been 0700 but my phone didn’t auto update with the stupid time change) and getting ready for a ride on my road bike with my neighbor Greg. We had been talking about going mountain biking together for just about as long as I have lived there (4 years now) but as of yet had not. On Halloween evening as my wife and I were sitting outside waiting for kids, Greg and his wife were doing the same. We got to talking and he suggested a road ride and for once, I had nothing else on the docket so I eagerly said yes.
Greg said we could take a normal route of his, do an out and back. Now I already knew that Greg was in much better shape and that he would be kicking my ass on the ride. What I did not count on was just how destroyed I was from Renee’s beatings at the gym all week. When I left the gym on Saturday I could barely walk or hold my arms up due to totally fatigue. So that was the state I was in prior to this ride.
We started out at 0800. I was on my slick little road bike and Greg was plugging along on his mountain bike. All was well until we hit the first little climb on Godde hill road (it is a big, steep, up and over) and that is when all the leg work from the week hit me. Lactic acid was flowing and I could not shake it. Greg pressed on and waited for me at the ends of various sections. I was dying the entire time but I pressed on and made it. I am very proud of that ride.
*I normally don't list my cycling workouts here but this one is special.
Sunday. Normally this time of year Sundays are for sleeping in and watching football. Not this Sunday. I was up at 0600 (would have been 0700 but my phone didn’t auto update with the stupid time change) and getting ready for a ride on my road bike with my neighbor Greg. We had been talking about going mountain biking together for just about as long as I have lived there (4 years now) but as of yet had not. On Halloween evening as my wife and I were sitting outside waiting for kids, Greg and his wife were doing the same. We got to talking and he suggested a road ride and for once, I had nothing else on the docket so I eagerly said yes.
Greg said we could take a normal route of his, do an out and back. Now I already knew that Greg was in much better shape and that he would be kicking my ass on the ride. What I did not count on was just how destroyed I was from Renee’s beatings at the gym all week. When I left the gym on Saturday I could barely walk or hold my arms up due to totally fatigue. So that was the state I was in prior to this ride.
We started out at 0800. I was on my slick little road bike and Greg was plugging along on his mountain bike. All was well until we hit the first little climb on Godde hill road (it is a big, steep, up and over) and that is when all the leg work from the week hit me. Lactic acid was flowing and I could not shake it. Greg pressed on and waited for me at the ends of various sections. I was dying the entire time but I pressed on and made it. I am very proud of that ride.
Here is the box score:
- Total Distance: 50 miles (yes really….50!)
- Total Time: 3.5 hours
- Total Elevation change (climbing): 3,000’
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Earn That Candy
(10/31/09 9:30am) Fitness Kickboxing
Happy Halloween!
I decided that my costume at the gym today would be an in shape and talented BJJ practitioner. If nothing else, sometimes it helps one to perform if they simply play the part right? Well maybe it worked a little bit, the in shape part. I’ll explain why the talented BJJ player didn’t work out.
Happy Halloween!
I decided that my costume at the gym today would be an in shape and talented BJJ practitioner. If nothing else, sometimes it helps one to perform if they simply play the part right? Well maybe it worked a little bit, the in shape part. I’ll explain why the talented BJJ player didn’t work out.
I arrived at the gym right at 0930 (class start time) but not to worry, Renee was just getting there as well. There were 5 of us in the beginning (this too would change by the end). We started out by doing the warm-ups. Renee’s class is a bit different from the others. His warm-ups are so very brutal and are a good mix of cardio and strength (two things I do not possess) and leave you broken before the real fun even begins.
Being a Saturday morning, we did circuits right after the warm-ups. This weeks slice of hell consisted of the following five stations of purgatory:
- Cable Rows: 70lbs
- Triceps Extensions: 20lbs
- Alternating Dumbell Presses: 25lbs
- Lat Pulldowns: 70lbs
- Hanging Leg Raises: My own fat
We did three sets. We did 1 minute on each station with 30 seconds rest in-between. That equals a lot of weight moved in a very short period of time. During the first round, one of the group wrestled with asthma and tapped out due to MPH. the rest of us kept on, keeping the five stations.
After the circuits we went back to the mats and put in our ab work. We did the same exercises as normal with counts of at least 50 on each. Some of them we doubled up on and hit 100. I cant remember all we did, I think I have already repressed that memory, but trust me when I say it was yet another ring in the inferno.
When all was said and done and we were allowed to go toward the light (Carol Anne) I could not even lift myself off the mats. As I was sitting, holding myself up with my arms, they were acting like jackhammers, shaking uncontrollably. Now that’s a good time!!! The BJJ part didn't work out because nobody showed up for open mat. At least not in the time I was willing to wait. Oh well, I'll break out that costume again next week!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
It's Been a While, I'll Have a Double
(10/28/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
(10/28/09 6:00pm) BJJ
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been attending a number of kickboxing classes and had not posted anything about them. Well, last nights (as well as Monday's) are worth reporting on. Monday (10/26/09) Renee was at the helm. Normally when Renee runs a class, it is safe to assume that first; it is going to be brutal and second it is going to be different than we are used to.
Well, he did not deviate from his normal form in either of these sessions. I have thrown the term "destroyed" around before and I truly feel like I have not done it justice after going thru these two workouts. The warm-ups were harder than a typical entire session. We kept a relentless pace and he made us perform sooo many reps of sooo many different exercises. Every part of by body hurts. Here is a brief example, when we were at the "cool down" phase of the workout; the section wherein we decimate our abs, there were 12 of us in the class. Renee would count off 10 reps for us then pass the counting to the person on the end. Once done the next person counts off 10 and so on, and so on. Yes, that is 130 reps of each ab exercise in rapid succession. Here is a list of what I can remember:
- Crunches 130
- Planks 130 (counting)
- Planks with Right Leg up 130 (counting)
- Planks with Left Leg up 130 (counting)
- Side Planks 130 (counting)
- Ceiling Touches 130
- Knee Slides 130
- Long Arm Crunches 130
- Raised Leg Toe Touches 130
- Obliques 130
- Flutter Kicks 70
- And many, many more!
Basically total devastation twice this week. Looking forward to doing it again tonight!
BJJ
It had been a long time since I have been on the mats. But since I got thru two brutal cardio sessions with no chest pain, I figured it would be safe. I took my sweet time putting away my gloves and wraps before changing into my gi. I made sure that the BJJ warm-ups were done before joining the class. It quickly became a bit of a nostalgic night as myself, Tank, Kemo, Fritz, Dr. Evil, both Alex's and Neil were all on the mats. It felt like old times. I drilled technique with Neil and the Doc worked in with us until Tank hit the mats.
We worked on spider guard passes. Particularly we learned the "bullfighter" or "matador" pass. Where, controlling the knees you fake out your intentions by moving their knees either side before exploding around to one side, dropping your near shoulder into their chest. Fritz also showed us a number of ways to pass if they are defending. Including a nifty knee on belly kinda version.
For the rolling portion we did the Submit, Sweep or Pass drills. This was my first bit of "rolling" in quite a while so while I never did get a pass, I had a few shining moments in that black sea of frustration. On my go with Kemo I actually broke his guard, almost passed, got swept but kept him from establishing position, shot for a single, he took my back, I rolled him off and almost drove to side control before he was able to sweep me. All the while I could hear Fritz coaching me and that was awesome. Knowing he was watching and wanting me to achieve means a lot.
My other moment was with Iron Man. I got out of his guard and found myself in his spider, just as we had drilled. I knew he was expecting the Matador so I faked it and tried that Sakuraba style Cartwheel pass. I didn't quite make it and ended up right where I started but at least I got a good laugh from the sidelines. Ian was laughing his ass off and that made me laugh a bit too. I said "at least I tried it huh?". At that moment class was over and we did the cool down. Good times.
Bottom line, I am back in action. No chest pain to report on either Monday or last night. So I will keep charging on and getting better.BTW: I am so very, very, very sore today.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Guess Who is Back
Ok, Ok. I have been a horrible blogger as of late. I will try to quickly sum up my reasons for not posting anything for a while and attempt to not whine in the process. If at any point this post begins to take on a whining, complaining tone, please reach thru your screen and slap me. Not to hard though please I have a meeting this morning.
So, my blog has undergone quite a metamorphosis. I have covered a wide range of topics. The blog started out as a training log and a place for me to vent my frustrations with the things that keep me from training, namely work. Then earlier this year when I had stroke number 5, it became a log of my journey to get healed. I documented my hospitalization wherein I learned that I had a PFO (hole in my heart). I chronicled my search for the right doctor to fix the issue, taking me from UCLA and finally to Cedars Sinai where I had my surgery on April 24th. I wrote about my procedure and recovery, my frustrations in being out of action for about six months of this year and finally I told the tale of my return to the mats. Very long story short, it’s been quite a year.
Last week my blog turned one year old. The one thing that strikes me as particularly funny is the fact that it has in many ways come full circle. Now it’s not my heart or a stroke keeping me off the mats but the same things I wrote about in my blogs inception. And frankly, isn’t that better? I think so. I am healthy. For the first time I am now living without the constant fear of migraines or of suffering another stroke. I had felt like a ticking time bomb over the past three years and now I feel as though I have permission to be optimistic, to live without limits. That is a pretty cool thing and I don’t take it for granted.
So here we are. I mentioned full circle, well here it is. Over the past month and change I have been working odd and inconvenient shifts in support of a special project at work. This has meant sometimes working from 10pm to 7 am or from 6pm to 4am or even 3 pm to 1am. You get the point; I’ve been all over the place.
I have not been totally inactive during this time. I have been taking a number of the conditioning kickboxing classes when possible and I have been at open mat on a few Saturdays, so not a total slouch. I did have a little scare though. Over the past few weeks I would occasionally get a slight chest pain during some of the more exertive moments of the conditioning classes when sudden bursts of strength and speed were required. Those pains would last throughout the remainder of the class and sometimes persist thereafter for a while. You can see why I had been hesitant to re-join BJJ lately as it is entirely moments of exertion of strength and speed.
So I contacted my wonderful Doctors and they assured me that all is well. I have my 6 month post-surgery checkup at the end of November so if anything is wrong we will find out for sure. Until then I will continue to try and get / stay in shape and listen to my body while doing so. Basically I am back, I plan to post like a madman and keep everyone updated.
Thanks to everyone who dropped me a line to make sure I was doing well because of my conspicuous absence in posting. I really do appreciate everyone’s concern. So now, you can get sick of me because I will be back to posting all the time.
So, my blog has undergone quite a metamorphosis. I have covered a wide range of topics. The blog started out as a training log and a place for me to vent my frustrations with the things that keep me from training, namely work. Then earlier this year when I had stroke number 5, it became a log of my journey to get healed. I documented my hospitalization wherein I learned that I had a PFO (hole in my heart). I chronicled my search for the right doctor to fix the issue, taking me from UCLA and finally to Cedars Sinai where I had my surgery on April 24th. I wrote about my procedure and recovery, my frustrations in being out of action for about six months of this year and finally I told the tale of my return to the mats. Very long story short, it’s been quite a year.
Last week my blog turned one year old. The one thing that strikes me as particularly funny is the fact that it has in many ways come full circle. Now it’s not my heart or a stroke keeping me off the mats but the same things I wrote about in my blogs inception. And frankly, isn’t that better? I think so. I am healthy. For the first time I am now living without the constant fear of migraines or of suffering another stroke. I had felt like a ticking time bomb over the past three years and now I feel as though I have permission to be optimistic, to live without limits. That is a pretty cool thing and I don’t take it for granted.
So here we are. I mentioned full circle, well here it is. Over the past month and change I have been working odd and inconvenient shifts in support of a special project at work. This has meant sometimes working from 10pm to 7 am or from 6pm to 4am or even 3 pm to 1am. You get the point; I’ve been all over the place.
I have not been totally inactive during this time. I have been taking a number of the conditioning kickboxing classes when possible and I have been at open mat on a few Saturdays, so not a total slouch. I did have a little scare though. Over the past few weeks I would occasionally get a slight chest pain during some of the more exertive moments of the conditioning classes when sudden bursts of strength and speed were required. Those pains would last throughout the remainder of the class and sometimes persist thereafter for a while. You can see why I had been hesitant to re-join BJJ lately as it is entirely moments of exertion of strength and speed.
So I contacted my wonderful Doctors and they assured me that all is well. I have my 6 month post-surgery checkup at the end of November so if anything is wrong we will find out for sure. Until then I will continue to try and get / stay in shape and listen to my body while doing so. Basically I am back, I plan to post like a madman and keep everyone updated.
Thanks to everyone who dropped me a line to make sure I was doing well because of my conspicuous absence in posting. I really do appreciate everyone’s concern. So now, you can get sick of me because I will be back to posting all the time.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
(Un)restful Saturday
(8/15/09 9:30am) Fitness Kickboxing
Ok here was the plan. I was going to hit the 9:30am kickboxing class. This would get out at 10:30 so I could rest up a bit, change and hit the 11:00 BJJ class and stay for open mat at 12:00 if I were feeling good and there were people to train with.
Here is what happened. I showed up a bit early and sat in the truck waiting for someone to come along and open the gym. Just before 9:30 Renee showed up walking like he was 105 years old (threw his back out). There was a bit of banter and then we were doing our normal warm-ups without having wrapped our hands. "We are going to do something different" Renee muttered as we warmed up for what felt like forever.
After the warm ups we headed to the weight area to perform some circuits. Here is the order of things.
Circuit #1:
Ok here was the plan. I was going to hit the 9:30am kickboxing class. This would get out at 10:30 so I could rest up a bit, change and hit the 11:00 BJJ class and stay for open mat at 12:00 if I were feeling good and there were people to train with.
Here is what happened. I showed up a bit early and sat in the truck waiting for someone to come along and open the gym. Just before 9:30 Renee showed up walking like he was 105 years old (threw his back out). There was a bit of banter and then we were doing our normal warm-ups without having wrapped our hands. "We are going to do something different" Renee muttered as we warmed up for what felt like forever.
After the warm ups we headed to the weight area to perform some circuits. Here is the order of things.
Circuit #1:
- Straight punches with dumbbell (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Uppercuts with dumbbell (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Hooks with dumbbell (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Push-ups (1 minute)
We rested for another 30 seconds and began the circuit again 2 more times. After the third go round we moved on to the next circuit.
Circuit #2
- Hanging leg raises (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Cable rows (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Triceps extensions (1 minute)
- Rest (30 seconds)
- Lat pull-downs (1 minute)
As with the previous circuit, we did this one three times. Again we rested for another 30 seconds after the last set and then it was time for another burst of cardio. A few sets of sprints and shuffles were followed by a bevy of ab exercises.
When we finally finished up and were doing the cool-down stretches, I was sitting in the middle of lake Jay just wiped out. I looked up outside of the cage and saw one of my good friends watching from outside. I whispered "what time is it?" and the response shocked me. It was already after 11:00. By the time all was said and done it was just about 11:30. Yeah, that's right two hours of weights, cardio and other various levels of hell. I love it!
The only problem was I was tooo worn out to partake in BJJ, that was half over and I could not even think about open mat. I had nothing left to give. My shoulders were burning with lactic acid and it was all I could do to drive home. What a way to start a Saturday!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Same Work Outs; Different Ways
(8/13/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
(8/13/09 6:00pm) Open Mat
Tonight Renee led the class so it was a bit different. It’s good to change it up now and then so that makes three different class leaders and I like that. They all have a different style and that helps keep you from getting comfortable. We did many things that I’ve never done before and I look forward to actually being somewhat sore over the next few days! Wow, I need help.
There was no BJJ class tonight because a couple of our guys were supposed to fight in the King of the Cage event. One of them is still fighting but the other one had a cut above his eye and the commission would not let him fight. I’ll provide updates on outcomes tomorrow.
So we had an open mat session and I just did a couple of very, very, very long rolls. I went against a really big guy who said he weighed in at 200. How do I put this delicately…..LIAR! Big, over 200# Liar! Maybe he was embarrassed to admit his real weight, maybe he didn’t know, maybe where he’s from has a different gravitational pull making his equivalent mass “lighter” there or maybe he just lied. No matter the reason, I know that if my good buddy Neil clocks in at about 220 and this guy is bigger; I’m guessing he weighs more than Neil. Call it a hunch.
Anyway, we rolled for probably a good 12-15 minutes. Of course against someone like him I was in total survival mode most of the time. I was able to sweep and get to dominant position a few times. But as per usual as soon as I got into good position he proceeded to use his “200#’s” worth of strength and just pick me up and move me to suit his needs. I am quite proud at how well I did. I was controlling my breathing and remaining so very calm during the entire exchange.
I’ve said it before and here I go again, I think all the time away from the mats has helped my “game”. Not that I have a game, it’s more a random scramble with a couple of moments of brilliance sprinkled in occasionally. But I have a much better mind and feel for what I am doing now. I don’t get mat anxiety any more, I am feeling good.
(8/13/09 6:00pm) Open Mat
Tonight Renee led the class so it was a bit different. It’s good to change it up now and then so that makes three different class leaders and I like that. They all have a different style and that helps keep you from getting comfortable. We did many things that I’ve never done before and I look forward to actually being somewhat sore over the next few days! Wow, I need help.
There was no BJJ class tonight because a couple of our guys were supposed to fight in the King of the Cage event. One of them is still fighting but the other one had a cut above his eye and the commission would not let him fight. I’ll provide updates on outcomes tomorrow.
So we had an open mat session and I just did a couple of very, very, very long rolls. I went against a really big guy who said he weighed in at 200. How do I put this delicately…..LIAR! Big, over 200# Liar! Maybe he was embarrassed to admit his real weight, maybe he didn’t know, maybe where he’s from has a different gravitational pull making his equivalent mass “lighter” there or maybe he just lied. No matter the reason, I know that if my good buddy Neil clocks in at about 220 and this guy is bigger; I’m guessing he weighs more than Neil. Call it a hunch.
Anyway, we rolled for probably a good 12-15 minutes. Of course against someone like him I was in total survival mode most of the time. I was able to sweep and get to dominant position a few times. But as per usual as soon as I got into good position he proceeded to use his “200#’s” worth of strength and just pick me up and move me to suit his needs. I am quite proud at how well I did. I was controlling my breathing and remaining so very calm during the entire exchange.
I’ve said it before and here I go again, I think all the time away from the mats has helped my “game”. Not that I have a game, it’s more a random scramble with a couple of moments of brilliance sprinkled in occasionally. But I have a much better mind and feel for what I am doing now. I don’t get mat anxiety any more, I am feeling good.
Open (mat) Your Mind: Teach and Learn
(8/8/09 12:00pm) Open Mat
I’ve talked before about just how much I love open mat time. Its my time. My time to work on anything that I feel I need to. Time to work with friends I don’t get to see that often (cause they rarely get to class anymore…Neil). It’s also a much more relaxed atmosphere that works well for me. My brain tends to learn the best in that kind of environment. When you can experiment without fear of getting killed, and are free to swap ideas and moves, that just clicks.
As you might have gathered from my allusion above, my buddy Neil made a special guest appearance. Ok enough bagging on him for now. As I was waiting for Neil to show up, I started talking to a new guy named Jason. I didn’t recognize him (due to a fresh shave he said) but I had worked with him on his very first night just a couple of weeks ago. He mistook the schedule and thought that class began at 12 when in actuality it ends at 12 and then becomes open mat. So I invited him to work in with Neil and I.
I’m glad I did. It was good for Neil and I to teach someone many of the things we have learned and in return we relearned some of the details we had lost. We showed him many of the good ol basics, including armbar from the mount, how to apply good pressure from half guard, side control and mount. That was especially fun. I love demonstrating the very difficult to understand concept of getting “heavy”. It made me feel quite good that here was something that I have totally gotten thru my training that people find very difficult to describe let alone pull off in the beginning of their training.
We did a few rolling sessions and some positional drills. We did a round robin style bit of rolls in which one guy would start in guard, half guard, side control or mount. The winner stayed on the mats and a fresh guy rotated in. This is the kind of training I love to do. I felt that my movement was very good. Neil was monkey strong and I struggled against him only pulling off one Americana.
Poor Jason on the other hand was tapping like Gregory Hines (you know, if the tap dancing legend were still alive and all). I know he learned a lot during the experience. It was good for me to be able to feel free and attempt some submissions I rarely go for, so thanks Jason. I know before long, he’ll start to find his game and I’ll have trouble rolling against him.
I’ve talked before about just how much I love open mat time. Its my time. My time to work on anything that I feel I need to. Time to work with friends I don’t get to see that often (cause they rarely get to class anymore…Neil). It’s also a much more relaxed atmosphere that works well for me. My brain tends to learn the best in that kind of environment. When you can experiment without fear of getting killed, and are free to swap ideas and moves, that just clicks.
As you might have gathered from my allusion above, my buddy Neil made a special guest appearance. Ok enough bagging on him for now. As I was waiting for Neil to show up, I started talking to a new guy named Jason. I didn’t recognize him (due to a fresh shave he said) but I had worked with him on his very first night just a couple of weeks ago. He mistook the schedule and thought that class began at 12 when in actuality it ends at 12 and then becomes open mat. So I invited him to work in with Neil and I.
I’m glad I did. It was good for Neil and I to teach someone many of the things we have learned and in return we relearned some of the details we had lost. We showed him many of the good ol basics, including armbar from the mount, how to apply good pressure from half guard, side control and mount. That was especially fun. I love demonstrating the very difficult to understand concept of getting “heavy”. It made me feel quite good that here was something that I have totally gotten thru my training that people find very difficult to describe let alone pull off in the beginning of their training.
We did a few rolling sessions and some positional drills. We did a round robin style bit of rolls in which one guy would start in guard, half guard, side control or mount. The winner stayed on the mats and a fresh guy rotated in. This is the kind of training I love to do. I felt that my movement was very good. Neil was monkey strong and I struggled against him only pulling off one Americana.
Poor Jason on the other hand was tapping like Gregory Hines (you know, if the tap dancing legend were still alive and all). I know he learned a lot during the experience. It was good for me to be able to feel free and attempt some submissions I rarely go for, so thanks Jason. I know before long, he’ll start to find his game and I’ll have trouble rolling against him.
Sharing the Pain
(8/5/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
Good session. I didn’t have nearly as much energy as last night. I guess that’s to be expected because last night was just crazy and the body needs some regeneration time. Unlike last night, there was no contemplation of doing the double. I had just enough to survive the one session.
The class was like most. A lot of sweat, a lot of punches, a lot of leg and ab work and a lot of gratification when it was all over. One of the more notable aspects was having my co-worker and cube mate Derick in the class for the first time along with a few other familiar faces. It was fun to watch some of the pain I had gone thru in previous sessions showing up on his face. Good job Derick, proud of you.
Good session. I didn’t have nearly as much energy as last night. I guess that’s to be expected because last night was just crazy and the body needs some regeneration time. Unlike last night, there was no contemplation of doing the double. I had just enough to survive the one session.
The class was like most. A lot of sweat, a lot of punches, a lot of leg and ab work and a lot of gratification when it was all over. One of the more notable aspects was having my co-worker and cube mate Derick in the class for the first time along with a few other familiar faces. It was fun to watch some of the pain I had gone thru in previous sessions showing up on his face. Good job Derick, proud of you.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
First Real Rolls Since My Last Stroke
(8/4/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
(8/4/09 6:00pm) BJJ
That's right, another double. Another chance to prove to myself that I am getting better by the day. Another chance to put the memories of strokes and heart problems far behind. Don't get me wrong, I will never forget those things, I wont forget that they helped shape me into who I am today. But I need to move on from them, find out who I am now without them and whenever I can, help others struggling with the same problems.
Kickboxing was the normal, @$$ kicking good time. I actually felt really good all they way thru and at the end was confident that I could press on to BJJ and do well. I ran to the back, changed into my gi and hit the BJJ warm-ups just after they started. I powered thru them the best I could though my body was still a wreck from Kickboxing.
The drills we did focused on sweeps when your opponent is standing to pass your guard. We did quite a few good ones including one that sends the guy flying overhead and allows you to roll to mount. I have done this one before but it was the first time I had "learned" it. It was good to see what I did right and more importantly what I did wrong.
This was my first session of real rolling. Not limiting myself, not holding back. It was awesome. First I went against George who is a good 3 or 4 stripe white belt. He is about my same size. We had a back and forth battle with no submissions. We traded good position a number of times and when we ended I was actually in mount. Not too bad for a first roll back.
Next I went against Sarge. He always owns me. 4 stripes and a lot of strength. I only got tapped a few times and I was actually able to sweep a couple of times. So again for me, this soon back, that's a win.
The last roll was with a newer guy whose name I don't remember. He is very tall and luckily for me very easy to take down and control. I was able to shoot in for singles and doubles at will and get to side control right away. The times I landed in half guard I just used shoulder pressure to his jaw to open up the pass to mount. I don't want to go over each and every short roll so I'll just list what I caught him in.
(8/4/09 6:00pm) BJJ
That's right, another double. Another chance to prove to myself that I am getting better by the day. Another chance to put the memories of strokes and heart problems far behind. Don't get me wrong, I will never forget those things, I wont forget that they helped shape me into who I am today. But I need to move on from them, find out who I am now without them and whenever I can, help others struggling with the same problems.
Kickboxing was the normal, @$$ kicking good time. I actually felt really good all they way thru and at the end was confident that I could press on to BJJ and do well. I ran to the back, changed into my gi and hit the BJJ warm-ups just after they started. I powered thru them the best I could though my body was still a wreck from Kickboxing.
The drills we did focused on sweeps when your opponent is standing to pass your guard. We did quite a few good ones including one that sends the guy flying overhead and allows you to roll to mount. I have done this one before but it was the first time I had "learned" it. It was good to see what I did right and more importantly what I did wrong.
This was my first session of real rolling. Not limiting myself, not holding back. It was awesome. First I went against George who is a good 3 or 4 stripe white belt. He is about my same size. We had a back and forth battle with no submissions. We traded good position a number of times and when we ended I was actually in mount. Not too bad for a first roll back.
Next I went against Sarge. He always owns me. 4 stripes and a lot of strength. I only got tapped a few times and I was actually able to sweep a couple of times. So again for me, this soon back, that's a win.
The last roll was with a newer guy whose name I don't remember. He is very tall and luckily for me very easy to take down and control. I was able to shoot in for singles and doubles at will and get to side control right away. The times I landed in half guard I just used shoulder pressure to his jaw to open up the pass to mount. I don't want to go over each and every short roll so I'll just list what I caught him in.
- Americana
- Ezekiel
- Ezekiel
- Armbar
- Americana
- Ezekiel
I'm pretty sure that's it. It was a great session to have my first real roll since being back. The really cool thing was that I had to wait for him to catch his breath between rolls. That made me feel like I am making progress.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
One More Mile Marker
(7/29/09 6:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
I left work with plenty of time to spare but somehow I still ended up being a little bit late to the class. I was still wrapping my hands when the rest of the group started warming up. In actuallity I didnt miss that much at all but at the time it felt like time was flying by. I joined up the group and still got PLENTY of the warm-up.
When it was time to get to the bags I convienently got one right under the A/C duct. Go figure, wonder how I ended up there? Anyway, it provided some relief to offset the ambient temperature in the gym and all the body heat I was generating. A little relief anyway.
We didnt go straight into heavy-bag combinations, instead we kept the gloves off for a while and worked a lot of kicks. Leg kicks, push kicks and side kicks were the chosen ones, with various one legged squats inbetween.
We then worked punch combinations and alternated them with a trillion different push-up variations.
Nearing the end, we did some speed drills that had us running to a bag, performing a set of combinations, running back to the start, performing an assortment of ab exercises and doing it all over again.
I felt pretty good during the session. I made a conscious effort to not miss any reps, and while I did not suceed at that goal, I was vastly better than I had been previously. So I consider that a win.
The road to full recovery and to get some gains is a long one. But I finally feel that I am at least in a car on that road and I'm making progress. Every session takes me to a new mile marker. Since this road has no end, and therefore never stops.....neither will I.
I left work with plenty of time to spare but somehow I still ended up being a little bit late to the class. I was still wrapping my hands when the rest of the group started warming up. In actuallity I didnt miss that much at all but at the time it felt like time was flying by. I joined up the group and still got PLENTY of the warm-up.
When it was time to get to the bags I convienently got one right under the A/C duct. Go figure, wonder how I ended up there? Anyway, it provided some relief to offset the ambient temperature in the gym and all the body heat I was generating. A little relief anyway.
We didnt go straight into heavy-bag combinations, instead we kept the gloves off for a while and worked a lot of kicks. Leg kicks, push kicks and side kicks were the chosen ones, with various one legged squats inbetween.
We then worked punch combinations and alternated them with a trillion different push-up variations.
Nearing the end, we did some speed drills that had us running to a bag, performing a set of combinations, running back to the start, performing an assortment of ab exercises and doing it all over again.
I felt pretty good during the session. I made a conscious effort to not miss any reps, and while I did not suceed at that goal, I was vastly better than I had been previously. So I consider that a win.
The road to full recovery and to get some gains is a long one. But I finally feel that I am at least in a car on that road and I'm making progress. Every session takes me to a new mile marker. Since this road has no end, and therefore never stops.....neither will I.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Unfitness Kickboxing
(7/28/09 6:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
Unlike the hot box of last week, the ac was on and so was I….at least for a few minutes. Right off the bat I was feeling good. Fast and strong. But when I began to taper off, the curve was dramatic. I felt at times like my lungs were the size of thimbles and my muscles were made of play dough. I completed the class but I made some observations that I will follow in the future. Some of these are pretty simple and mockable so have fun:
Unlike the hot box of last week, the ac was on and so was I….at least for a few minutes. Right off the bat I was feeling good. Fast and strong. But when I began to taper off, the curve was dramatic. I felt at times like my lungs were the size of thimbles and my muscles were made of play dough. I completed the class but I made some observations that I will follow in the future. Some of these are pretty simple and mockable so have fun:
- Get hydrated beforehand and get hydrated all day
- Do Not eat the Super Nachos from Chronic Taco at any time before heading to the gym
- Do not over caffeinate before a work-out. For me the two DO NOT mix.
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