Alliance in Atlanta is freaking awesome.
I went in for class today thinking it was from 12-1:30 and we didn't finish until around 2:45 (but we did start 15 min late, haha)!
Jacare started by showing a fake guard pull into a single leg. It's a take down I've used many times, but he showed a better way to avoid being caught in the guard as you go down, which I hope to employ successfully in the future. Then Cobrinha went over escaping the double-under pass. Some very cool stuff with lots and lots of tiny details that must be executed perfectly - simultaneously. One resulted in a way cool back take I've never seen before that I can't wait to try on an unsuspecting partner, lol! This was followed by lots of King of Hill - but broken into 4 groups by weight classes. But the smallest weight class was under 170, lol! It was funny because they actually have a lot of really small guys but we were lumped in with the bigger guys. Then finally I got three rounds of sparring in (I had to sit out one because there were so many people). There was no timer going so who knows how long the rounds were, lol! 4 rounds lasted at least 30 minutes.
My first round I was paired with a white belt girl about 60 lbs heavier than me. Unfortunately, my lungs weren't warm yet because I wasn't on the ground for more than 30 seconds a pop during King of the Hill and I think I might have scared my first sparring partner at one point because I almost lost control of my asthma - but luckily the round was over then and I could rest and get it under control. But at least that warmed me up so I was fine for the last two rolls.
Everyone at Alliance is so technical, I've never seen a gym with everyone at such a high level of capability in so many different areas. Also, they were super friendly and treated me just like their own student (well minus the mat fee I had to pay, haha). Both Cobrinha and Jacare walked around the room giving corrections and seemed to take a real interest in advancing the capabilities of each student in the room. When it came to sparring, Jacare was careful and thoughtful when it came to making pairs, even with me. And everyone at Alliance trains hard but with no ego, so once again, it was awesome!
I wish I could stay in Atlanta and train there longer. I definitely plan to come back again in the future. What a great experience!
After training I was able to meet up Laura from camp so that was fun too. =) And now we are celebrating my sister-in-law's 30th birthday. And in the morning her daughter will be baptized and this will be followed by a real southern BBQ. So much good times in one weekend! I am SOOOO glad that I am not snowed in at home. Suckers!!!!!!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
I rolled with Cobrinha!
Just after New Years, my brother told me that they were going to be baptizing my new niece in Atlanta, I checked my schedule and was excited that there was finally an out of town family event that I could attend! It wasn't until later that I realized I'm going to be in Atlanta, I HAVE to stop into Alliance while I'm there. Then this week I thought, hey why not get a private lesson while I'm there too. So being super awesome Cobrinha agreed to do a private lesson with me with about two days notice!
I went online and watched a few of his videos again to help me decide what I wanted to work on and called Ryan in Japan to ask him his opinion of what I should be asking Cobrinha to help me fix with my game. I was more interested in his open guard sweep game, but Ryan thought I needed more work on defeating the spider guard and guard passing, so that's what I asked about - and HOLY GOD was it amazing! It's so crazy how many really tiny details there are to everything he does.
His lessons aren't cheap but at the same time it was totally worth every penny. I was a little late arriving because of a delayed fight (oddly enough not due to snow) but he was super gracious and didn't seem to mind. I was planning to jump into their nogi class but after starting late Cobrinha (once again being super awesome) went almost 30 minutes over lesson time! I guess Brazilian time can work in your favor too, lol!
It's been eye opening for me to see how all the really top level guys (and girls) adapt similar concepts all over their games while maintaining different styles. And until Ryan's coaching started to incorporate some of the same things this year, I'd never been subjected to anything quite like it before. I could certainly be wrong, but after working with a number of different Brazilians this year, I wonder why most Americans seem to be very much behind the Brazilians in their approach to jiu-jitsu.
Anyway, the lesson was amazing. It was so cool how he could control his every movement so that it felt exactly as if I was rolling with someone my size and strength. He was willing to drill the same technique over and over and over until I could repeat it as flawlessly as possible for having just learned it. Then we drilled with light resistance so he could see how I switched between the techniques as it was required by his movement. He was constantly adjusting what seemed like minute details the entire time.
And finally we rolled, and rolled, and rolled. He even let me choke him once despite him releasing hold after hold after hold if he felt like I was executing the proper escape. I was prepared for him to smash me and instead it felt like I was rolling with a slightly more technical version of myself (how does he do that?) as he fed me specific techniques as I attempted to re-create what I learned during the lesson.
Can't wait to hear from Ryan how he did today in Japan!
I went online and watched a few of his videos again to help me decide what I wanted to work on and called Ryan in Japan to ask him his opinion of what I should be asking Cobrinha to help me fix with my game. I was more interested in his open guard sweep game, but Ryan thought I needed more work on defeating the spider guard and guard passing, so that's what I asked about - and HOLY GOD was it amazing! It's so crazy how many really tiny details there are to everything he does.
His lessons aren't cheap but at the same time it was totally worth every penny. I was a little late arriving because of a delayed fight (oddly enough not due to snow) but he was super gracious and didn't seem to mind. I was planning to jump into their nogi class but after starting late Cobrinha (once again being super awesome) went almost 30 minutes over lesson time! I guess Brazilian time can work in your favor too, lol!
It's been eye opening for me to see how all the really top level guys (and girls) adapt similar concepts all over their games while maintaining different styles. And until Ryan's coaching started to incorporate some of the same things this year, I'd never been subjected to anything quite like it before. I could certainly be wrong, but after working with a number of different Brazilians this year, I wonder why most Americans seem to be very much behind the Brazilians in their approach to jiu-jitsu.
Anyway, the lesson was amazing. It was so cool how he could control his every movement so that it felt exactly as if I was rolling with someone my size and strength. He was willing to drill the same technique over and over and over until I could repeat it as flawlessly as possible for having just learned it. Then we drilled with light resistance so he could see how I switched between the techniques as it was required by his movement. He was constantly adjusting what seemed like minute details the entire time.
And finally we rolled, and rolled, and rolled. He even let me choke him once despite him releasing hold after hold after hold if he felt like I was executing the proper escape. I was prepared for him to smash me and instead it felt like I was rolling with a slightly more technical version of myself (how does he do that?) as he fed me specific techniques as I attempted to re-create what I learned during the lesson.
Can't wait to hear from Ryan how he did today in Japan!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Blah
It's kind of a downer to be back from camp and have to go to my real job and stuff. Plus, I haven't trained since Wednesday. I was too exhausted Thursday so all I did was teach the women's class. Then Friday I was asked to sub in and teach swimming at a swim school in Maryland and spent too long in the showers trying to thaw out so I didn't get to the gym until too late for practice. And then today, I once again arrived super late and didn't end up changing to train. Well, I guess there's tomorrow...
And I really really miss my boyfriend. I haven't seen Ryan since Sunday and he still won't be home for 9 more days. :(
On the plus side, we have plans to visit Reno, Nevada in April or May to train with a female brown belt my size for a couple days and for Ryan to do a seminar at their school. Also, Felipe is planning to come back and train with us before the Worlds which will be awesome.
And I really really miss my boyfriend. I haven't seen Ryan since Sunday and he still won't be home for 9 more days. :(
On the plus side, we have plans to visit Reno, Nevada in April or May to train with a female brown belt my size for a couple days and for Ryan to do a seminar at their school. Also, Felipe is planning to come back and train with us before the Worlds which will be awesome.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Camp, Camp, and More Camp!
I'm sitting at Burbank airport and am finally able to begin processing the last few days. Only one word can describe it - AWESOMENESS!
It was soooo refreshing to train with women all day every day. Especially some of the great upper belt campers like Gina, Lily, Kelley, Ashley, and Jen (crap, I just realized I never got a chance to roll with Nikki - next time). Every single Jiu-Jitsu chick there was just so damn cool! It is almost uncanny. No, really, seriously. And the thing is, we are all so different. From different weights to different belts, to MMA centered chicks, and young ones, and old ones, and all the in the middle ones, married, single, gay, straight, moms, trainers, artists, business women, career competitors and gym owners, we all were gathered in one place for Jiu-Jitsu - awesomeness!
After a few glasses of wine, here I am in the hotel with Laura helping her fine tune a choke Felicia taught us on Day 2.
We had a great discussion last night centered around competition. How do you prepare for it - psychologically and physically? What makes a good competitor? And what might affect you as a competitor? Why do we compete? This in turn moved into a sub-discussion on our training partners (mostly male) and what it means to be a woman in BJJ (they plan to delve into this further on Thursday night).
Lucas' seminar last night was freaking awesome! I think it may have been a bit over the head of a few of the campers but I thought it was perfect - despite the fact that we were physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the day, lol. Val and Emily shocked me by approaching me last night and asking if I would like to teach this morning. Wow! What an honor! I was so flattered at the request that no way would I turn it down. So I thought about my game and decided to teach something the women were unlikely to get from someone else in the same way - wrestling. I hope they liked it!
After lunch, I had a private lesson with Felicia Oh. Wow! She is so small and her movement is just so freaking fantastic. I can't wait for the day that I have the ability to roll like her. First we rolled a little, then we went over a couple sweeps from the bottom of half guard which could turn into back takes depending on the opponent's movement. Then we rolled again. During/after that she fixed a few small details with my guard passing and went over a few of her game preferences and gave me some tips on how to train as a tiny person. Everything fit perfectly into my current game - awesomeness!
I spoke with Ashley from Girls in Gi's (in Texas) and we hope to hook up and make it a national thing. (I had no idea my little idea back in 2007 spawned her idea - awesomeness - together we can make it a revolution in brazilian jiu-jitsu for women!)
I'm so sad that I can't stay until the end of camp. I miss everyone already. :(
But Gina is planning to come out and visit and the New York City girls and Emily too (holy crap, Emily Kwok is going to come to my gym!). I can't wait! =)
p.s. I know some of you posted comments on my other posts and I thank you very much and promise that I will get to them as soon as I can after returning home.
It was soooo refreshing to train with women all day every day. Especially some of the great upper belt campers like Gina, Lily, Kelley, Ashley, and Jen (crap, I just realized I never got a chance to roll with Nikki - next time). Every single Jiu-Jitsu chick there was just so damn cool! It is almost uncanny. No, really, seriously. And the thing is, we are all so different. From different weights to different belts, to MMA centered chicks, and young ones, and old ones, and all the in the middle ones, married, single, gay, straight, moms, trainers, artists, business women, career competitors and gym owners, we all were gathered in one place for Jiu-Jitsu - awesomeness!
After a few glasses of wine, here I am in the hotel with Laura helping her fine tune a choke Felicia taught us on Day 2.
We had a great discussion last night centered around competition. How do you prepare for it - psychologically and physically? What makes a good competitor? And what might affect you as a competitor? Why do we compete? This in turn moved into a sub-discussion on our training partners (mostly male) and what it means to be a woman in BJJ (they plan to delve into this further on Thursday night).
Lucas' seminar last night was freaking awesome! I think it may have been a bit over the head of a few of the campers but I thought it was perfect - despite the fact that we were physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the day, lol. Val and Emily shocked me by approaching me last night and asking if I would like to teach this morning. Wow! What an honor! I was so flattered at the request that no way would I turn it down. So I thought about my game and decided to teach something the women were unlikely to get from someone else in the same way - wrestling. I hope they liked it!
After lunch, I had a private lesson with Felicia Oh. Wow! She is so small and her movement is just so freaking fantastic. I can't wait for the day that I have the ability to roll like her. First we rolled a little, then we went over a couple sweeps from the bottom of half guard which could turn into back takes depending on the opponent's movement. Then we rolled again. During/after that she fixed a few small details with my guard passing and went over a few of her game preferences and gave me some tips on how to train as a tiny person. Everything fit perfectly into my current game - awesomeness!
I spoke with Ashley from Girls in Gi's (in Texas) and we hope to hook up and make it a national thing. (I had no idea my little idea back in 2007 spawned her idea - awesomeness - together we can make it a revolution in brazilian jiu-jitsu for women!)
I'm so sad that I can't stay until the end of camp. I miss everyone already. :(
But Gina is planning to come out and visit and the New York City girls and Emily too (holy crap, Emily Kwok is going to come to my gym!). I can't wait! =)
p.s. I know some of you posted comments on my other posts and I thank you very much and promise that I will get to them as soon as I can after returning home.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
First Day of Camp
Day 1. We arrived yesterday morning for an ice breaker at 9am. This was followed by a Gi session on the guard taught by Emily Kwok, before Queen of the Hill (yeah that's right, QUEEN not KING) drills and open sparring. After grabbing lunch we showed back up to the gym for an hour discussion on the psychology of coaching by Lily Pagle for anyone interested. This was sandwiched by a no-gi guard session taught by Felicia Oh and Val Worthington. We followed that up with ambush jiu-jitsu (definitely spiced rolling up a bit) before moving on to more regular rounds.
Next we took a quick break to grab dinner and bring it back to the gym for an evening discussion on women in Jiu-Jitsu. Why do we do it? What issues have we had with continuing our training and maintaining our love for the sport? What can we do to help promote women in the sport? And why is it so damn awesome?! Yeah, pretty much covered everything, lol!
Okay so there were a few tears in the last discussion as the women shared some of their relevant life/jiu-jitsu experiences but they were always surrounded with happiness, laughter and the camaraderie gained through a shared love for the sport. It was absolutely amazing to hear that everyone from white belt to black belt goes through so many of the same issues in regards to training and competition scenarios. I am so glad that I was finally able to come out for one of these and believe all BJJ women would benefit from participating in an event like this.
Come on ladies! It's up to you!
Attend an open mat in your area or begin hosting one. Participate in camp. It's totally worth every penny and every minute!
p.s. I almost forgot - we have a surprise schedule change and Lucas Leite is arriving today to give us a free seminar this evening. Holy Sh*t!!!!
Next we took a quick break to grab dinner and bring it back to the gym for an evening discussion on women in Jiu-Jitsu. Why do we do it? What issues have we had with continuing our training and maintaining our love for the sport? What can we do to help promote women in the sport? And why is it so damn awesome?! Yeah, pretty much covered everything, lol!
Okay so there were a few tears in the last discussion as the women shared some of their relevant life/jiu-jitsu experiences but they were always surrounded with happiness, laughter and the camaraderie gained through a shared love for the sport. It was absolutely amazing to hear that everyone from white belt to black belt goes through so many of the same issues in regards to training and competition scenarios. I am so glad that I was finally able to come out for one of these and believe all BJJ women would benefit from participating in an event like this.
Come on ladies! It's up to you!
Attend an open mat in your area or begin hosting one. Participate in camp. It's totally worth every penny and every minute!
p.s. I almost forgot - we have a surprise schedule change and Lucas Leite is arriving today to give us a free seminar this evening. Holy Sh*t!!!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Gracie Nationals Report
I arrived at Burbank Airport after almost 12 hours of travel from the time I left my house. I immediately picked up my rental and drove down to New Breed Academy in Santa Fe Springs to train with Johnny Ramirez and crew. Johnny (of course) helped me a lot and then he and his girlfriend were kind enough to let me stay in their apartment. (Thanks again!)
I was psyched that Ryan was coming down to coach me and headed out in the morning ready to go. But a big roadblock was dropped in my way when, as I walked into the convention center, I received a phone call from Ryan that he was unable to catch a ride down from Santa Barbara after all. I'm not gonna lie, that almost had me in tears I was so upset. I could tell he felt bad but it didn't help me feel any better about not having a coach. I knew I hadn't flown out here to let occurrences outside my control affect my ability to compete.
...and then I ran into the girls. Boing! Sparkle weird. Roller balls. And all. It helped me forget how upset I was to hang out with Jen, Lola, Liz, Emily, Alaina, Laura, etc, laughing our asses off at all kinds of silliness. =)
I warmed up like 4 times waiting for my turn to go, knowing that because of my asthma a warm up is crucial to maintaining adequate cardio. But as soon as I got up to get up to start my next warmup after having sat still to watch the white and blue belt ladies compete, I was called. Oops, not a good warmup after all that...
Luckily, my first match in the purple belt division went well, she was about 50 lbs heavier and I finished with a gi choke. The second match was against a girl my size! I won that one 22-0 and the last match was the toughest as I was getting tired and she outweighed me by 20 lbs and was at least 6 inches taller (height is harder than sheer size sometimes). I screwed up my takedown by doing something stupid (sorry, James) and was down on points in the guard struggling to do anything when I inverted in the last minute and was able to snatch a triangle. Her defense was pretty good though and I couldn't finish but was able to sweep her over. However, still unable to finish, I was swept back over and with almost no time left and still holding the triangle knowing I was about to lose, I grabbed her arm for a key lock. I succeeded finally with about 10 seconds left. Whew! It was tough!
After the tournament I drove to Santa Barbara to get Ryan and we ended up going to dinner out there with Jeff Glover - definitely a good time. In the morning we headed to the tournament and were disappointed to find that I had no one in my bracket. They offered to put me in the Intermediate division, but we didn't think that would be right. Instead, we asked if Ryan could use my registration in my place so they were kind enough to add him to the 170lb division and the absolute. He won both.
I left Ryan in LA to train at New Breed for two days and trekked up to Valencia with my new friend Laura from Knuckle up Atlanta.
Just woke up and getting ready for camp! Woohoo!
I was psyched that Ryan was coming down to coach me and headed out in the morning ready to go. But a big roadblock was dropped in my way when, as I walked into the convention center, I received a phone call from Ryan that he was unable to catch a ride down from Santa Barbara after all. I'm not gonna lie, that almost had me in tears I was so upset. I could tell he felt bad but it didn't help me feel any better about not having a coach. I knew I hadn't flown out here to let occurrences outside my control affect my ability to compete.
...and then I ran into the girls. Boing! Sparkle weird. Roller balls. And all. It helped me forget how upset I was to hang out with Jen, Lola, Liz, Emily, Alaina, Laura, etc, laughing our asses off at all kinds of silliness. =)
I warmed up like 4 times waiting for my turn to go, knowing that because of my asthma a warm up is crucial to maintaining adequate cardio. But as soon as I got up to get up to start my next warmup after having sat still to watch the white and blue belt ladies compete, I was called. Oops, not a good warmup after all that...
Luckily, my first match in the purple belt division went well, she was about 50 lbs heavier and I finished with a gi choke. The second match was against a girl my size! I won that one 22-0 and the last match was the toughest as I was getting tired and she outweighed me by 20 lbs and was at least 6 inches taller (height is harder than sheer size sometimes). I screwed up my takedown by doing something stupid (sorry, James) and was down on points in the guard struggling to do anything when I inverted in the last minute and was able to snatch a triangle. Her defense was pretty good though and I couldn't finish but was able to sweep her over. However, still unable to finish, I was swept back over and with almost no time left and still holding the triangle knowing I was about to lose, I grabbed her arm for a key lock. I succeeded finally with about 10 seconds left. Whew! It was tough!
After the tournament I drove to Santa Barbara to get Ryan and we ended up going to dinner out there with Jeff Glover - definitely a good time. In the morning we headed to the tournament and were disappointed to find that I had no one in my bracket. They offered to put me in the Intermediate division, but we didn't think that would be right. Instead, we asked if Ryan could use my registration in my place so they were kind enough to add him to the 170lb division and the absolute. He won both.
I left Ryan in LA to train at New Breed for two days and trekked up to Valencia with my new friend Laura from Knuckle up Atlanta.
Just woke up and getting ready for camp! Woohoo!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Women's Grappling Camp
I'm getting ready to pack and catch a few hours of sleep before getting on the supershuttle to Dulles (it picks my up at 4am...ugh!).
I'll fly through San Francisco to Burbank, CA and from there drive down to LA where I'll weigh in for Gracie Nationals. Then I'm dropping in to New Breed for their 6pm class to work out my post-flight kinks by training with Johnny and team.
Ryan has decided he will take a break from training with Cooper and Glover to come down and coach me on Saturday and Sunday before heading back! Yay! Then I'll be on my way to Valencia, CA for the Women's Grappling Camp! I can't WAIT to train with all the ladies from Mon-Wed! I can't take the whole week off work but I'm sure I will have an absolute blast the three days I will be there. =)
Fun BJJ times ahead this week! Woohoo!!!!!
I'll fly through San Francisco to Burbank, CA and from there drive down to LA where I'll weigh in for Gracie Nationals. Then I'm dropping in to New Breed for their 6pm class to work out my post-flight kinks by training with Johnny and team.
Ryan has decided he will take a break from training with Cooper and Glover to come down and coach me on Saturday and Sunday before heading back! Yay! Then I'll be on my way to Valencia, CA for the Women's Grappling Camp! I can't WAIT to train with all the ladies from Mon-Wed! I can't take the whole week off work but I'm sure I will have an absolute blast the three days I will be there. =)
Fun BJJ times ahead this week! Woohoo!!!!!
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