A Master visit

Well feeling like quite the slacker over the holidays. Haven't really done much as we have been focusing on hosting Christmas and getting a lot of projects around the house done. We really need to get back in the groove because Ryron Gracie is coming down for seminars in late January. Now since I am essentially in undercover training as my husbands school wont train girls for religious reasons, I will only actually get to attend one seminar under the guise of photographer. I may wear superman underoos that day. But I will still get to watch and learn and Scott will go over the moves with me when we get home. Can't wait for the day when I can come out of the jiu jitsu closet. Sad that that will probably equate to joining a school that does not include my friends :( It is what it is.......

Diet

I think everyone in any sport is concerned about diet. A good diet is important not just to lose weight but this is the fuel that shapes and moves your body. I have always done really well on a low-carb diet. And by that I mean a plate of pasta can knock me out for days and a baked potato can render me unconscious. I can't eat white stuff, no sugar, no rice, no pasta, no potatos and no amazing pastries of any kind. Not if I want to function. So whatever diet I go on has to not include those things. I don't care how healthy that sandwich is. The bread might as well be pillows. So my diet is a lot of salads and stir frys (minus the rice of course). I remember once I lost 30 pounds in one month and my trainer was like fish and broccoli. All he ate was fish and broccoli. I hate fish. I am more of a steak and broccoli girl. maybe chicken. I bought some turkey in an effort to cut out some of the red meat meals but we will see if that happens.

So eating right is not normally a problem except for*
*ok all men not secure in their masculinity or still have the maturity of an 18 year old please stop reading

once a month. Unfortunately I don't have any physical indicators for this time anymore so my only warning is a sudden desire to eat everything in sight. This usually includes threatening phone calls to my husband with ultimatums like bring me chocolate or lose a dangley.

My main problems staying on diet are motivation and laziness. I love being able to just cook one meal for my whole family. I am also a really great cook with a whole slew of award winning recipes that I can't use. Darn my mad cooking skilz! And sure I could learn new healthier recipes but I haven't yet. I need to. I have a tendency to find meals that work, stick to them and then get bored. Going to have to break that habit and venture forth to new culinary delights or something like that. Or most likely I will just stick with steak and broccoli.

Current Training

Current training consists of not much excitingness since I am brand new to jiu jitsu. I am doing a lot of stretching and trying to get my hands on a copy of yoga for fighters. Cardio is my stair stepper and bike since I have those at home. I love going to the gym but I babysit an extra kid during the day which is why I quit going to lifetime last year. I am going to check with 24hour about the extra kid because I know I wont workout in the evenings unless Scott does it with me (which would rock) but with all our kids activities, we would rarely make it. That would leave me working out at 5am. That may be what happens. I know there is plenty I could do at home and I may stick to that for a few months but eventually I know I get bored easy and will want some more variety. Plus I miss the treadmill and the huge honkin stair stepper lifetime has. I love our lifetime fitness but 24 is closer. If 24 doesn't compare though I would rather make the drive. We will see.

As far as actual jiu jitsu goes, I am following the Gracie Combatives course because it is really great for working out at home. Lesson one is trap and roll escapes. There is the standard variation, the punch block variation (my fav) and the headlock variation. The open guard pass is also in lesson 1. I am going to continue working on those moves and start working on the americana armlock basic tonight. Eventually I am going to have to find a school with people willing to roll with me (a girl dun dun duuuuuunnnnn) And hopefully I can find a good coach to help me prepare for and take me to competitions. I would really love to be trained by Scott's guy, I trust him and know his style but there may be a religious conflict there. My second best option is to find a great woman fighter and fortunately living in a metroplex, that is a viable option.

Ok time to hit the cardio and do some mid morning stretching.

peace out

Evil Perfection

I have a migraine. This is not abnormal. I get several a year usually from weather changes. Unfortunately this means no training for me today. No jiu jitsu, no cardio and not even stretching. I am loaded with medication and trying my best not to move my head. This is so frustrating because I am a perfectionist and a passionate person by nature. When I do something, I want to be the best. I have to be the best whether it is at school or work or play so if I am going to learn jiu jitsu, I want to be the best so having to sit out tonight is frustrating. Especially since I didn't get to practice last night because my husband and training partner (same guy ;p) had his own jiu jitsu class last night. He is a blue belt at a Relson Gracie academy here in Dallas. Ah well, I know my kids will get to do their Gracie Games with their daddy tonight while I sit in a dark quiet room with ice on my head.

Confessions of the first born

I am a first born. I am a textbook first born. I like being a firstborn. I am confident, an extrovert, assertive, authoritative, task oriented and defensive about errors and mistakes. So what does this have to do with my journey through jiu jitsu? Well honestly it probably has a lot to do with why I even started. I am stubborn. Stubborn should probably be in all caps. I will write it again. I am S T U B B O R N. I don't like being told I can't or shouldn't do something especially if it is because I am a girl. Now you may think I am some bra burning feminist but I am pretty sure that movement was started by the devil himself. No I would rather stay at home and cook nummy meals for my man while homeschooling our three children. I believe in gender roles and am very conservative politically. That being said, I just like to know I COULD do things for myself if I need to. I like to rely on the kindness of strangers and be taken care of but I also want to know that if I don't have someone there to take care of me that I could open the jar myself or kill the spider or shoot the burglar or escape from the rapist. Plus, I don't like being told I can't do something ;p

But I'm just a girl!

I really do love all forms of martial arts. My background is Tae Kwon Do and I wanted to start training at one of our local schools run by my son's former teacher whom I adore. Then I saw this video with Rener Gracie and his girlfriend Eve Torres






What really stuck out was when she said "For most women, this is the worst case scenario, having basically a man between your legs." This made me realize the importance of knowing how to fight on the ground because chances are if a man attacks, that is where he wants to go. The other selling point is that Gracie Jiu Jitsu is about technique and leverage as opposed to brute strength. As a woman, I will never match most men with just strength. Thankfully, Helio Gracie, the creator of this particular art, was very small and weak and created moves that compensated for the strength he didn't have. Using these techniques, he was able to defeat opponents much larger than he was. Thirdly it teaches patience. If a man is all over you, most likely you are going to panic. You can't think straight in a real situation like that. You have to rely on muscle memory. Teach your body what to do in case your mind checks out.

Why jiu jitsu

I have started training Brazilian jiu jitsu..... And I am a girl dun dun duuunnnnnnnn. I consider myself to be pretty feminine. I like shoes and accessories. I keep up with hair and makeup trends. And sometimes, I feel the need to just take someone out. I actually started training tae kwon do when I was very young. My mother and her sister trained and it was something my mother always pushed. If you knew her background you would understand why. She needed to be able to defend herself. All women do.So back to jiu jitsu. My darling husband was never interested in tae kwon do AT ALL so when this local guy started offering lessons in Jeet Kune Do he was quick to sign up. Unfortunately, in my third trimester of my second pregnancy it became increasingly difficult for him to make it to class and by the time our daughter was born, his jeet kune do career was over. As someone who enjoys martial arts and understands the necessity of an outlet, I never forgave myself for being the cause of it. Well fast forward about four years and another child and we get a new childrens pastor at our church who happens to be a purple belt under Relson Gracie and as an ex-Navy S.E.A.L/ air martial/ swat team guy, he needed an outlet as well. So he began meeting once a week up at the church with a group of men who not only trained together but had weekly devotions, prayed together and were encouraged to hold leadership positions in the church. And while people have come and gone in the last two years, the mission remains the same. The fatal flaw in this scenario for me is that as a group that is headed by one of our ministers and meets at the church, it would be somewhat inappropriate to have females training there. Now I will argue in a future post why it is incredibly important for women to train in jiu jitsu but we will get to that. For now, my husband was really enjoying his training and had even begun training our three children in Gracie games from the bullyproof program put out by Ryron and Rener Gracie. And I was very excited to support all of them in their training but as someone who loves martial arts, I was feeling a bit left out. Now I had two options. I could join another school which would take time away from my family, or I could be trained at home. Thankfully the Gracie's also put out a program for adults called Gracie combatives. My husband can now help me learn the basics at home and this gives the added benefit of more training time for him. So instead of having family game night crowded around a monopoly board, we gather on our living room floor and train. It takes family bonding to a whole new level!