I woke up yesterday morning to head up to GQ, just in time to catch the PBP of Ryan's first match on fightworkspodcast.com. (Thanks, Caleb!) I watched - er read - the pbp all the way up to Lancaster, PA (prob not a smart thing to do while driving, but I couldn't help myself, lol!) I'm so happy that Ryan performed so well this weekend, what a bunch of awesome fights! Third Place! Woohoo!!! During practice today we logged into the live feed and were able to watch Ryan receive his medal on the podium. He looked so happy. I'm SO proud of him!
Okay on to GQ: It's been about two weeks since I started training consistently for the first time since the Mundial, and I am definitely starting to feel sharper. I was a little slow coming out of the gate in my first few matches, but by the end of the gi division I started to feel a lot better. There were a total of EIGHT purple belt women at GQ. I've never seen anything like that at any other tournament that wasn't a CBJJ tourney. They put us all in one absolute division - we were prob 4 diff weight classes. I was happy to place third and get my first cross choke in competition ever!
The guys/gal all fought well too. Kenny, Anthony, and Rich all placed FIRST in their divisions. Seph did well - placing in both his divisions. Lisa did great for her first tournament ever! She ended up competing in both gi and nogi and placed third in her gi division!
Every single person who competed this weekend placed!
What a great weekend for Fifty/50 BJJ!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Looking forward to this week!
* Ryan comes home from California in 10 hours!
* I have tomorrow off so I can spend time with him before he leaves for Spain.
* Val is coming to teach a seminar tomorrow night.
* Son Duong is up from Richmond and is planning to stay and train all week.
* I will be able to TRAIN all week.
* I am back on weight - 112lbs woohoo!
* Grapplers Quest is on Saturday.
Things are going well =)
* I have tomorrow off so I can spend time with him before he leaves for Spain.
* Val is coming to teach a seminar tomorrow night.
* Son Duong is up from Richmond and is planning to stay and train all week.
* I will be able to TRAIN all week.
* I am back on weight - 112lbs woohoo!
* Grapplers Quest is on Saturday.
Things are going well =)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Safe Training Rules for Women
The inspiration for today's blog came in part from a conversation I had at the women's open mat sponsored by Gracie 360 in Philly today.
I am one of the first women to say that women deserve everything and are capable of a lot. We are more than a lady, a mom, a housekeeper, or a cook. Mentally we are equal to men...and yet physically, we are not.
Although in general, I have always considered myself tough, I do not suffer the illusion that I am equal to a man in strength. It is a biological fact that men are bigger, stronger, and faster than women. Fact. Any woman training BJJ/Muay Thai/MMA who is not willing to accept this, is opening herself to injury and frustration.
BJJ women, do not expect to overpower and defeat the men in your class. Do not forget that even the ones who seem reckless are still in all likelihood holding back to some degree. The better at BJJ the men are, the more capable they are at tempering their abilities to match yours and give you a good match. But make no mistake, you are not physically equal.
This does not mean that you can't learn from training with them and that they can't be good training partners for you. I am describing this difference because you need to take ownership of your training and your safety and protect yourself.
Simple Rules to Follow:
1. For (at least) the first 2 yrs of training, avoid training with brand new male students at all costs
2. If you are unable to avoid training with a new male student, roll defensively, protect your limbs and your neck from accidental injury. Temper down attacks to avoid a spastic dangerous response.
3. Let go.
4. Sometimes you still need to remember to protect yourself even when rolling with more experienced male students, as you improve your BJJ, they sometimes forget you are weaker than them - it's not intentional, they just forget
5. The majority of your training should be with the students within 20lbs of your weight where possible. If you are like me and small (even for a woman) - avoid rolling with guys over 150lbs unless they are a purple belt or higher, even then, they shouldn't be your main training partner.
6. Don't allow being crushed by guys to frustrate you too much, it happens to us all.
7. Getting beaten by a guy does not mean he is "better" at BJJ or that you don't deserve your belt. It's simple physics.
* This idea does not mean that you aren't capable of protecting yourself against a man who doesn't know anything or who knows less than you. It doesn't mean you can't beat a lot of the new guys who come in the room. It is simply meant to allow you to train BJJ for a long time without serious injury. Do not allow your own ego to get in the way of your health and safety. That kind of stupidity is for men ;)
Do yourself (and BJJ women everywhere) a favor, and encourage women to join your program. This will allow you to train hard consistently and develop your skills properly for competition.
I am one of the first women to say that women deserve everything and are capable of a lot. We are more than a lady, a mom, a housekeeper, or a cook. Mentally we are equal to men...and yet physically, we are not.
Although in general, I have always considered myself tough, I do not suffer the illusion that I am equal to a man in strength. It is a biological fact that men are bigger, stronger, and faster than women. Fact. Any woman training BJJ/Muay Thai/MMA who is not willing to accept this, is opening herself to injury and frustration.
BJJ women, do not expect to overpower and defeat the men in your class. Do not forget that even the ones who seem reckless are still in all likelihood holding back to some degree. The better at BJJ the men are, the more capable they are at tempering their abilities to match yours and give you a good match. But make no mistake, you are not physically equal.
This does not mean that you can't learn from training with them and that they can't be good training partners for you. I am describing this difference because you need to take ownership of your training and your safety and protect yourself.
Simple Rules to Follow:
1. For (at least) the first 2 yrs of training, avoid training with brand new male students at all costs
2. If you are unable to avoid training with a new male student, roll defensively, protect your limbs and your neck from accidental injury. Temper down attacks to avoid a spastic dangerous response.
3. Let go.
4. Sometimes you still need to remember to protect yourself even when rolling with more experienced male students, as you improve your BJJ, they sometimes forget you are weaker than them - it's not intentional, they just forget
5. The majority of your training should be with the students within 20lbs of your weight where possible. If you are like me and small (even for a woman) - avoid rolling with guys over 150lbs unless they are a purple belt or higher, even then, they shouldn't be your main training partner.
6. Don't allow being crushed by guys to frustrate you too much, it happens to us all.
7. Getting beaten by a guy does not mean he is "better" at BJJ or that you don't deserve your belt. It's simple physics.
* This idea does not mean that you aren't capable of protecting yourself against a man who doesn't know anything or who knows less than you. It doesn't mean you can't beat a lot of the new guys who come in the room. It is simply meant to allow you to train BJJ for a long time without serious injury. Do not allow your own ego to get in the way of your health and safety. That kind of stupidity is for men ;)
Do yourself (and BJJ women everywhere) a favor, and encourage women to join your program. This will allow you to train hard consistently and develop your skills properly for competition.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Good times at Fifty/50
Paul's seminar last week was pure awesomeness! As expected of course.
I was able to train twice last week before the hours at work took over again. It should be uphill from here on though. I didn't go to class on Friday but we had a new girl come in with her boyfriend to train. Then I taught class on Saturday, and we had another new girl come in (also with a b/f in tow). If they both sign up that will put us at 10 women! I'm trying to get as many on board before Val comes as possible. :) Some awesome plans are in the works for Fifty/50 in general and the women's program specifically as well so I am getting very excited!
Son Duong came up from Richmond to train on Sunday so I rolled with him for a while. He's a good blue belt and exactly my weight so I love when he comes to visit. He's one of the few people I can roll with full speed without fear of injury (and he can roll full speed with me, unlike most of the guys at our gym who although they will roll hard, always have to hold back a little so they don't accidentally out-muscle or injure me).
Training today was at 1pm due to the holiday and Brian was in so I trained with him all day. He is definitely my favorite partner at Fifty/50. He is bigger but not so much bigger that we can't both roll pretty hard. We have pretty even rolls but he'll beat me practically 90% of the time so he is super fun to roll with because I know if I can pass his guard, even if only long enough to score points, it's a big deal because he fights like hell.
It's been a great BJJ weekend!
I was able to train twice last week before the hours at work took over again. It should be uphill from here on though. I didn't go to class on Friday but we had a new girl come in with her boyfriend to train. Then I taught class on Saturday, and we had another new girl come in (also with a b/f in tow). If they both sign up that will put us at 10 women! I'm trying to get as many on board before Val comes as possible. :) Some awesome plans are in the works for Fifty/50 in general and the women's program specifically as well so I am getting very excited!
Son Duong came up from Richmond to train on Sunday so I rolled with him for a while. He's a good blue belt and exactly my weight so I love when he comes to visit. He's one of the few people I can roll with full speed without fear of injury (and he can roll full speed with me, unlike most of the guys at our gym who although they will roll hard, always have to hold back a little so they don't accidentally out-muscle or injure me).
Training today was at 1pm due to the holiday and Brian was in so I trained with him all day. He is definitely my favorite partner at Fifty/50. He is bigger but not so much bigger that we can't both roll pretty hard. We have pretty even rolls but he'll beat me practically 90% of the time so he is super fun to roll with because I know if I can pass his guard, even if only long enough to score points, it's a big deal because he fights like hell.
It's been a great BJJ weekend!
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