GSU: Gentle Sport Understood

It's been a while. Quick update on life:

1) Graduated one school. Yay.

2) Started another school. Also yay.

3) Have continued BJJ, but was unable to compete in the Atl Open this past August due to a concussion that I got from a dipshit who dropped me on my head (I shouldn't be putting all of the blame on him. I did a semi-dangerous thing on a guy who I already knew was a dipshit, so I suppose I was asking for it)

4) Got a bike. I bike places now. More athletic lifestyle, love. Seemingly more hipster lifestyle, which I don't love.

5) Twitter. I folded, BUT only because the UFC is going to be in town tomorrow and they said that all information concerning the event would be on their twitter. So it's justified. I still refuse to have an instagram or anything else that does nothing for me but suck up time. 

6) Cut my hair off. Not to be like Miley Cyrus. Look up Tank Girl (the comic), or Bec Hyatt, or Elliott Sailors if you need proof that this haircut did not originate with Ms. Miley. 

It's officially been a year since I started jiu jitsu and despite the fact that I almost always walk out of training feeling terrible about my BJJ abilities, it's been a good year of training. I've become much creative when I roll - using a lapel to get out of a bad situation rather than just laying there like a squished bug - and have actually started submitting people with somewhat regularity. The coach of all coaches, Traven, put two stripes on my belt recently and I pretty much lost my shit. He is very selective with belt promotions, and it makes that much sweeter when it happens. Whew. I'm getting excited all over again. Anyways, all of this is to say, I am much more appreciative of BJJ now than I think I have ever been before. It is a stress-release, a classroom and a social time all rolled into one (no pun intended). Love me some jiu jitsu. Love, love, love it. 

Some stuff that corresponds to my update list:

 

No Clever Title Today

     I've kept up with all of my resolutions! Yes. I know it's only the second week of January, but it only takes 21 days to form a habit, so I'll be golden if I keep this up.

     Resolution 1 - Get Better At BJJ: Jiu Jitsu is amazing. It's like having a long-term relationship with The One Who Got Away. It's so damn great, but sometimes it's hard to appreciate it until it's gone. I spent the holidays in Vancouver and didn't do any bjj for over a week. I felt guilty for not training and anxious to get "her" back. Bjj is The One Who Got Away, but I got her back! I've been training my ass off since 2013 started, and it has never felt so good to get a second chance.
     Bjj, I love you. I learned my lesson. You won't be getting away from me anytime soon.

     Resolution 2/3/4 - Join the Track Team/Two-A-Days/Kickboxing: Track has started, which means two-a-days have started. And I started doing kickboxing in the mornings on the days when I don't have track, which means that two-a-days have really started.

     Resolution 5 - Compete in a Century: This one still needs some work, but I'm training for it. And due to my competitive nature, I doubt I'll be able to train for another month before I start looking for century bike races to compete in.

Oh! And in case you were wondering, March is going to be crazy.

March 2nd is the GORUCK Challenge.                March 9th is the Spartan Sprint.

        

And March Something is Pan Ams (a bjj competition).

Uh Oh! + Pre-New Year's Resolution

    I got submitted by a striker wearing skinny jeans. Obviously, my jiu jitsu needs work.

    Resolution-wise, I'm trying to get back into the two-a-day game. And the kickboxing game. And the track game. And the cycling game. Lots of games. Yay.
    Two-a-days need to happen. I've been seriously slacking in that department. No good. Happily, they'll happen naturally once track starts up again; pre-season strength workouts begin on Thursday, and the official season begins at the end of Winter/beginning of Spring. Track. Two-a-days. Two birds, one stone.
    Kickboxing needs to happen, not because I think those classes will make me into a fighter - they won't - but because those classes do great things for my legs/glutes/arms/abs. Everything. Kickboxing is pretty great for everything. And the classes provide good conditioning for the OCRs because the structure between cardio and strength exercises is nonexistent. Woohoo.
   Cycling needs to happen because it never really happened before, and it seems like a fun thing to do. I've decided I want to do a century, which is a bike race that's 100 miles long. I don't really have a reason for doing a race like that, but why not?
   So, let the games begin!

Also, found this picture today. It's pretty awesome.

Need Me Some New Zebras, Son!

      The bjj people have a big matted room to roll around in. And it's awesome, except for the fact that half of the room needs new mats. They have not aged well after months(years?) of being used, coupled with some water damage from the dialysis clinic upstairs. That's really the only part of the gym that obviously needs work. I asked Mr. Gym Owner why we didn't get new mats. He responded, "Zebra mats are expensive. I want to spend money on other things. I don't care enough about bjj or the people who do it." Ok. That's not exactly what he said, but that's what it boils down to. He wants to put money elsewhere, which is stupid, but he is Mr. Gym Owner so he gets to make those decisions. Alas, I will continue on dreaming of the day when those crusty, frayed, water-stained mats are replaced.

  This is what the bjj room should look like:                    This is what it currently looks like*:

                                                  

   












*not really

Lady Cop

     Today I had a length conversation with one of the cops who works on my school campus. She's a pretty cool chick. In addition to being a police officer, which is cool on it's own, she has two degrees (one in criminal justice and the other in forensic phycology), and she's a professional football player. I'm pretty sure she's the only pro female football player that I've ever met; she plays for a team called Atlanta Xplosion. She definitely gets cool points for everything.
     During our little talk, one of us suggested that she train me. I'm not sure if the idea is to train me to play professional football or if the intention is just to make me stronger. Either way, I'm more than happy for her to train me. Oh! Adding to her coolness, she's dabbled in bjj and boxing. I think we're going to get along quite well.

We start training on Monday (the 29th). There will be updates.

I'm excited.

Muscle Always Wins

It's been a while since I've posted, sorry about that.
Quick update:
-As far as bjj goes, everything is amazing. I'm in love with this sport. Actually. I competed in my first tournament in mid-September...and I got my ass kicked. Admittedly, I was crazy upset about losing, but looking back it was definitely a good experience. I lost and it was shitty and it's not going to happen again. And after the tournament my coach gave me the go-ahead to start training with the guys. What does that mean? It means I get to train 6 days a week instead of 2. It also means, theoretically, that I'll get better a lot faster. I love training. Love, love, love it. Bjj. Yes.
-Speaking of training, I've adopted a workout that was put out by MusclePharm. Nothing too crazy and nothing that I wasn't already doing. So I guess this update was useless. Whoops.
-School still stucks, but not for the classic I'm-a-lazy-kid-who-hates-homework reasons. I don't mind the work, and I've got pretty great teachers. Problem: I have to sit in a classroom 8 hours a day. That's 8 hours that I could be training. And I don't mind the work, really, but I can't see the point in having one assignment that takes 2 hours to complete (cough *AP Physics* cough)! That's 10 hours. Gone. And that's only school plus one class!! Oh well.
-I'm trying out the Warrior Diet. I've never been a fad dieter, but this seems like something I could stick to...and Rhonda Rousey does it, so it can't be that bad, right?


Anywho, the point of this post is to talk/rant a little about the Williams sisters.

I was told by a grown woman that Serena and Venus look fat in this photo. She said, "I can tell they're trying very hard to suck in, and they still look huge." That is a problem.
These woman are not huge or fat or obese or gross or anything other than strong. I don't mean to sound cheesy, but come on. I don't understand how someone, especially a woman, could see this picture and think of these athletes as being fat, i.e. out of shape. Not okay. Really not okay.

Dear world,
  Stop encouraging people to associate beauty with chicks who are barbie look-a-likes. Muscle will always be more attractive than being "skinny." Muscle always wins.*





*The guys I roll with are at least ten times stronger than I am. It makes training....interesting.

Clocks Are Dumb

      School has started, which means that I am once again realizing that my time management skills are terrible. I want to train three hours a day. Ideally, I'd be doing an hour before school and two hours after. My current school schedule is already set up so that I can do this. Class doesn't start until 8:30, so I've got plenty of time to get beastly before school begins. After school I've got cross-country practice, which lasts around an hour, and that leaves me with enough time to drive to the gym and get my ass on the mats (for bjj). Yes, if attending school and going to the gym were my only obligations/desires, I'd be the happiest camper alive. Unfortunately, school follows me after I've left the campus. An average of two hours of schoolwork a night, plus another 30 minutes at least of college-related work, combined with my spectacularly horrible time management skills, and I am unable to make it into the gym for those three hours. Ok. That's all. Short post becauseI don't have much time tonight to devote to the blog. Shocker.