Oh, hey, Tuesday class!

I had some errands to run after work, but then didn’t have enough time to go home, drop everything off, and then get back for class, so I just went early, changed into my gi pants and rashguard, and sat. The kids’ class was going on.

Intermediate/Advanced, BJJ

Shelby was back tonight. Awesome to get more women training.

Warmup. Then straight on to drilling. Review of the double-under pass from last night, then on to a counter with a slick transition to taking the back with a choke. Drilled with Shelby. Drilling for the rest of class, as we did several things there.

Open Mat

I asked Shelby if she wanted to roll. She was totally up for it. (She said she used to play rugby, so I figured her for a rough-and-tumble, dive-right-in kind of girl. And she is.) We did that for a few minutes, then stopped to talk to Janet and Jen, who were sitting near us.

My knee did well all night. Now the complaint is that the brace starts to stick in some places and shift in others after it gets wet from sweat, and so that ends up pinching the skin behind my knee. Not pleasant. Maybe I’ll start putting a pull-on brace under it. Or something.

Now I’m home listening to the pre-firework fireworks and waiting on the storm that’s looming on the horizon. Tomorrow is July 4th, so I have the day off from work, though we do still have all classes scheduled. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll go tomorrow, though; we’ll see.

Dare you to move

Since I have the day off for the Memorial holiday, and since there was no class Friday or Saturday and none tonight, Aubrey suggested that I come to morning class today. I actually woke up before my alarm and managed to wake up enough to pack all the right things and get myself there on time.

Still in the giant restrictive brace, but I did manage to sloooooowly jog (and turn corners!!) and to slooooowly raise my knees at least a little and to caaaaaaarefully kick up my heels. I can bear-crawl, I found out. There were also going-up to get triangles, and I absolutely cannot slam them in using my left leg. I can do them on the right, except I can’t ratchet down the left leg to lock the triangle. Then triangle + sit-through guard break, and I can’t do those with my left leg under me at all, either. Meh.

Then rolling to continue the warmup. I gave it a try, and just tried to move around and see what I could do. Turns out that there’s a whole lot that I use that leg for, so I spent most of the rounds attempting something and having to bail because it tweaked the knee. Silly stuff, too — like I went to mount once and that was the most excruciating pain of anything else. *le sigh* I’ll get there.

Drilling was first a half-guard pass, and then a counter for that pass. I worked with Robert, who also injured his left MCL a while back, so we talked a bit about that, which was helpful. He said he’s had to learn how to do everything on the other side; the bonus, of course, is that people don’t see it coming because it’s from the “wrong” side.

Everyone else rolled once more, but I sat out because the knee was tired. Now Aubrey and I are off to plant the garden!

Ugga, breathing!

Starting next Wednesday night, gi class will give way to an MMA Fundamentals class. I has a sad, because I’m not interested in doing it at all. But I don’t want to give up my new-found Tuesday and Thursday nights. I’ve been thinking of getting back in the gym to lift, so maybe I’ll take Wed nights for that; then I wouldn’t have lifting too close to any BJJ training. Then train BJJ Mon morning/evening, Wed morning, Friday morning/evening, and Saturday morning. That’s still 4 days/7 sessions per week. Think it’s enough? 😉

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Fundamentals Class

Warmup. Bleh, cardio still sucks. Then drilled the guard break & pass from last night. Drilled with Rob and Andrew. Drilled the counter to that break next.

BJJ

No one else showed up, and we had an odd number, so Tim paired us up and rotated us through. With Brandon, (out), Andrew, (out), and Brandon again.

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Interesting discussion on Sherdog about strength in women’s grappling (thanks to Chris for the heads-up). Hillary Williams has been active in the thread, particularly here, here, and here. I think what she’s saying is everything I’ve tried to articulate in my Women, Women: Training, and Women: Resources pages, though she is seeing it all from the perspective of having been through the whole gauntlet once. (Also, totally itching to read her thesis now, too!)

It’s amusing to me that everyone who thinks they’re arguing against her actually seems to be arguing with the wrong things (often against something that they incorrectly implied or extrapolated from her original statements) and instead providing further evidence for her original point, which is that men & women are not the same.

Vitamin I

…as in “ibuprofen.” He and I are becoming buds this week.

Thankfully, my ribs were only bruised or annoyed or something. By last night (especially after I let them sit most of the night), they had almost entirely forgotten their trauma, and I could sleep without wedging pillows everywhere to keep myself from rolling and startling awake at the pain. (It happened. Once. Wednesday night. Steps were taken…) Though work was fun, as I was still wincing and grunting every time I had to stand or sit or shift or anything, and everyone at work gets their kicks at laughing at me.

Still, lots of joints that are cranky and creaky or otherwise non-cooperative. Meh.

BJJ, morning class

Class this morning. I threw a temper tantrum at myself — I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna… — but it didn’t work well: the auto-pilot got me to class anyway.

Really short warmup (mostly me and Ray jogging around while the other two hurried to get dressed). Then to drilling. Reviewing the elevator sweep first. I worked with the new guy. Then a Plan B-esque sweep for the elevator.

Drilled for a good while. Then a few rolls. New guy, Arkeif, and Ray. Started out slowly with the new guy (though still attacked some), and then that mindset transferred to the other two. Seems I can flip the switch to either side — slow/steady/flowing or pushing/intense — for a whole class, but not back and forth during a class. Oh well: at least I have found that intense side and can get it going sometimes. It’s a start.

Monday night, June 13, 2011

So, my thermostat shorted out. Good news is that I didn’t have to replace anything in the A/C, which can get pretty expensive. But now the A/C is on, and apparently I have to leave it on for a while. Gah. Do not want.

I am already enjoying the fact that my house is close enough to work and jiu-jitsu that I can go home after class and get things done. Now, as long as I don’t sit down on the couch…

Still trying to figure out where everything currently is, where it needs to go, and how to efficiently get things done.

At times, it feels like I’m just house-sitting for someone who happens to have all the same stuff as me. 😛

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Class started with drilling armbars and triangles from guard. Then rolling. Both with Guillaume. One more roll with Adam.

Drilling was a de la Riva-esque sweep. Rolling after. With Chase, Steve, Buddy, and Justin. Justin kept calling out for one more, so we just kept going.