Sunday, January 30, 2011
Motivational video for grapplers...
Stephy, the Jiujitsunista, made an amazing highlight/tribute video to all the women grapplers out there. Check it out... it is quite moving.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The "Name Your Julia" contest!
OK-- Julia Johansen, bjj blogger and English teacher extraordinaire, is feeling a little handle-less. She needs a nickname!
Please won't you help design the appropriate moniker? Whoever wins (if she picks a winner) gets a fabulous BJJ instructional DVD by Stephan Kesting! (I just have to go home to see which one I have a duplicate of-- it's either Dynamic Kneebars or Dynamic Halfguard!)
Submit entries here in the comments! Contest closes in one week-- good luck!
Please won't you help design the appropriate moniker? Whoever wins (if she picks a winner) gets a fabulous BJJ instructional DVD by Stephan Kesting! (I just have to go home to see which one I have a duplicate of-- it's either Dynamic Kneebars or Dynamic Halfguard!)
Submit entries here in the comments! Contest closes in one week-- good luck!
Awesome throws, flying things, and nonflying things...
When Yves Edwards brought in wrestling coach/superstar Zach Lamano to help him get ready for the UFC, I saw them practicing the throw you see the coach do against the student here. It was SCARY awesome.
Dave Camarillo is a badass, of course. Check out this flying thingie.
While we're on the subject of people flying through the air...
Ryron Gracie with a nice armbar... nonflying...
I always love judo... Sadly this instructor isn't talking at all about the kuzushi you need to properly execute the osoto gari, which is why uke can counter it... but since I can't actually get osoto gari properly myself, this is a nice recounter..
Ahhh hiza guruma...
Dave Camarillo is a badass, of course. Check out this flying thingie.
While we're on the subject of people flying through the air...
Ryron Gracie with a nice armbar... nonflying...
I always love judo... Sadly this instructor isn't talking at all about the kuzushi you need to properly execute the osoto gari, which is why uke can counter it... but since I can't actually get osoto gari properly myself, this is a nice recounter..
Ahhh hiza guruma...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Lightweight gis as IBJJF tourney season approaches....
The Houston International Open has all the makings of being the Texas/central US warmup tournament for the Pans and Mundials (the IBJJF World Championships). It will happen again this year in Houston, February 12-13. Last year notables like Bruno Bastos, Rafael Lovato Jr., Christina Thomas, Donald Park and Bill Cooper competed.. this year I hear Kyra Gracie will be competing (and probably the same people and more..)
Well, with the happy thoughts of weighing in right before your matches, in full regalia, come happier thoughts of lightweight gis. Last year I was cutting it pretty close, so I had to know that my regular BJJ belt weighs .4 lbs (whereas a cheapie karate belt only weighs .2 lbs.) So here's some links and pictures and ideas, if you're cutting it close too... I hope to pull in some discount codes for your purchasing pleasure, so check back for edits!
Break Point's ladies' lightweight gi... only $129 from MMAOutlet.com. Huge size range, though I wish that Break Point didn't assume that ladies from 5'2"-5'5" all weighed 130 lbs or less, and I wish BP included two pairs of pants for ladies' gis.
The mens' BP lightweight is $139 (with two pairs of pants.)
The Atama Ultra Light is $126 there.
The Gameness Air in white is only $118 at BudoVideos. (In blue it's $128.) MMAOutlet.com has a best price guarantee so if you're hung up on this gi you might try to get it for less with MMAOutlet.
The standard is the Vulkan Ultra Light, $135 at MMAOutlet. I have this as my competition gi and my A1 weighs about 2.2 lbs. (I did have the jacket tailored to shorten the skirt a tiny bit.)
Plus, if you're a tiny peep like me or smaller, you'll definitely want to consider a Keiko Raca child's gi in size M4 (it fits me, 5'2" 135ish, just fine) or M3 (for you lady feathers and superfeathers out there). The gi weighs 2.2 and only costs $114 at BudoVideos.
Please comment and tell us what lightweight gi you have, like, etc... Please include the size, model, and weight of the gi. Thanks!
Well, with the happy thoughts of weighing in right before your matches, in full regalia, come happier thoughts of lightweight gis. Last year I was cutting it pretty close, so I had to know that my regular BJJ belt weighs .4 lbs (whereas a cheapie karate belt only weighs .2 lbs.) So here's some links and pictures and ideas, if you're cutting it close too... I hope to pull in some discount codes for your purchasing pleasure, so check back for edits!
Break Point's ladies' lightweight gi... only $129 from MMAOutlet.com. Huge size range, though I wish that Break Point didn't assume that ladies from 5'2"-5'5" all weighed 130 lbs or less, and I wish BP included two pairs of pants for ladies' gis.
The mens' BP lightweight is $139 (with two pairs of pants.)
The Atama Ultra Light is $126 there.
The Gameness Air in white is only $118 at BudoVideos. (In blue it's $128.) MMAOutlet.com has a best price guarantee so if you're hung up on this gi you might try to get it for less with MMAOutlet.
The standard is the Vulkan Ultra Light, $135 at MMAOutlet. I have this as my competition gi and my A1 weighs about 2.2 lbs. (I did have the jacket tailored to shorten the skirt a tiny bit.)
Plus, if you're a tiny peep like me or smaller, you'll definitely want to consider a Keiko Raca child's gi in size M4 (it fits me, 5'2" 135ish, just fine) or M3 (for you lady feathers and superfeathers out there). The gi weighs 2.2 and only costs $114 at BudoVideos.
Please comment and tell us what lightweight gi you have, like, etc... Please include the size, model, and weight of the gi. Thanks!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Fuck stasis.
(she said, around a mouthful of oatmeal...)
Read what the trainer of the actors and stunt crew of "300" had to say about stasis here... (thanks Skinny D!)
"Even in the small world of mountain climbing a few guys were convinced that their betters were using EPO, "because there's no way they could be that much faster than me." Ski mountaineering racing is the same. Cycling is the same; the best guy in the country goes to an international level race, finishes below the 50th percentile and before checking into his own training/diet/recovery/stress-management/genetics/etc the ego goes into self-preservation overdrive and imagines all sorts of doping practices to be responsible. This is a natural consequence of having been told from childhood, "you are a unique snowflake."
Well you're not and I'm not. If you weren't given the gift you can't get the gift so the best you can do - if your goal is important - is work as hard as you possibly can, pay attention every hour of every day and then maybe, maybe if you've done enough and been smart enough you'll emerge from the muck of mediocrity to shine a bit brighter than you shone before. Then, upon reflection you might decide your goal is a bit more important so you'll start paying attention every minute of every hour of every day. You'll find people who are better than you and you'll take an empty cup when you meet them. Their example will destroy or inspire you and if it's the latter you may stay and learn. You might imitate, doing as they do because you've already accepted that you do not know best - if you did you'd be leading the group they were trying to join. Perhaps being exposed to their superior ability will drive you to work harder than you thought possible, or necessary. Maybe you'll overcome your self-imposed (or worse, society-imposed) limitations and shine even more brightly. Wow, you're getting it: positive reinforcement for hard work and suffering. So maybe you give your goal even more significance and you begin cutting away the ideas and the expectations and the people who you believe prevent you from achieving it. Now you become a real selfish prick, and you begin paying attention every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and you sustain your awareness for weeks and months at a time. You no longer think yourself a unique snowflake, you're a steel-edged blade shaped like a snowflake and you're spinning at warp speed. You're the biggest fish in the pond. You're a badass. Now you have options."
Read that trainer's whole post and look at the pictures at the end. Amazing.
Let's get to work. Fuck stasis.
Read what the trainer of the actors and stunt crew of "300" had to say about stasis here... (thanks Skinny D!)
"Even in the small world of mountain climbing a few guys were convinced that their betters were using EPO, "because there's no way they could be that much faster than me." Ski mountaineering racing is the same. Cycling is the same; the best guy in the country goes to an international level race, finishes below the 50th percentile and before checking into his own training/diet/recovery/stress-management/genetics/etc the ego goes into self-preservation overdrive and imagines all sorts of doping practices to be responsible. This is a natural consequence of having been told from childhood, "you are a unique snowflake."
Well you're not and I'm not. If you weren't given the gift you can't get the gift so the best you can do - if your goal is important - is work as hard as you possibly can, pay attention every hour of every day and then maybe, maybe if you've done enough and been smart enough you'll emerge from the muck of mediocrity to shine a bit brighter than you shone before. Then, upon reflection you might decide your goal is a bit more important so you'll start paying attention every minute of every hour of every day. You'll find people who are better than you and you'll take an empty cup when you meet them. Their example will destroy or inspire you and if it's the latter you may stay and learn. You might imitate, doing as they do because you've already accepted that you do not know best - if you did you'd be leading the group they were trying to join. Perhaps being exposed to their superior ability will drive you to work harder than you thought possible, or necessary. Maybe you'll overcome your self-imposed (or worse, society-imposed) limitations and shine even more brightly. Wow, you're getting it: positive reinforcement for hard work and suffering. So maybe you give your goal even more significance and you begin cutting away the ideas and the expectations and the people who you believe prevent you from achieving it. Now you become a real selfish prick, and you begin paying attention every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and you sustain your awareness for weeks and months at a time. You no longer think yourself a unique snowflake, you're a steel-edged blade shaped like a snowflake and you're spinning at warp speed. You're the biggest fish in the pond. You're a badass. Now you have options."
Read that trainer's whole post and look at the pictures at the end. Amazing.
Let's get to work. Fuck stasis.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Stasis
According to wikipedia, stasis means (in part):
"A state of stability, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel each other out. Stasis implies, especially in science-fiction, an artificial pause that stops all physical and chemical processes, including those of life; they resume as if uninterrupted as soon as the stasis is ended."
I'm in stasis. It seems all the forces driving me forwards are countered by ones pushing in at least two other directions. The closest I'm coming to any real movement is a tense vibrating wiggle of sorts, while experiencing some pretty intense internal pressure.
I'm taking a deep breath, focusing on the easy stuff (eat healthy food, get 8 hours of sleep, keep training, work hard, be kind) and trusting that putting one foot in front of the other, even if I feel like I'm walking in a circle, will eventually make progress.
But at least I keep training! :) The bright spot in most days. Working on anticipating where passers need to go, so I can get my hip there ahead of time.. working on making a decision tree covering all options for when I'm passing.. seeing the back more and making more use of it.
Had a nice open mat Friday night, lots of good rolls though I caught a knee or some other hard thing right on my cheekbone, which is still red and swollen like a cherry tomato. Then my husband met me and a small group of people at the churrascaria near the academy to celebrate a friend's birthday.. then yesterday we all went out to watch UFC Fight Night. Our teammate Yves Edwards was fighting in the undercard, and won Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night with his second-round RNC (ctfo!) of Cody McKenzie. Woot!
I really want to work some guard stuff. But more technically and precisely than rolling affords.
"A state of stability, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel each other out. Stasis implies, especially in science-fiction, an artificial pause that stops all physical and chemical processes, including those of life; they resume as if uninterrupted as soon as the stasis is ended."
I'm in stasis. It seems all the forces driving me forwards are countered by ones pushing in at least two other directions. The closest I'm coming to any real movement is a tense vibrating wiggle of sorts, while experiencing some pretty intense internal pressure.
I'm taking a deep breath, focusing on the easy stuff (eat healthy food, get 8 hours of sleep, keep training, work hard, be kind) and trusting that putting one foot in front of the other, even if I feel like I'm walking in a circle, will eventually make progress.
But at least I keep training! :) The bright spot in most days. Working on anticipating where passers need to go, so I can get my hip there ahead of time.. working on making a decision tree covering all options for when I'm passing.. seeing the back more and making more use of it.
Had a nice open mat Friday night, lots of good rolls though I caught a knee or some other hard thing right on my cheekbone, which is still red and swollen like a cherry tomato. Then my husband met me and a small group of people at the churrascaria near the academy to celebrate a friend's birthday.. then yesterday we all went out to watch UFC Fight Night. Our teammate Yves Edwards was fighting in the undercard, and won Submission of the Night and Fight of the Night with his second-round RNC (ctfo!) of Cody McKenzie. Woot!
I really want to work some guard stuff. But more technically and precisely than rolling affords.
Two genius how-to's
First, Abby writes a good post on how to travel with training in mind...
Second, Christian (the Globetrotting Grappler) filmed a mini-instructional on how to flow roll, found here on his usual blog, Zhoozhitsu de Graugardo...
The salient points of light rolling and two useful drills, he says, are as follows.. check out his original post here including the excellent video.
BENEFITS
1. Everyone can spar together, regardless of the size or skill difference.
2. Good tool for warming up.
3. You can still spar, if you are injured or tired.
4. Good tool for experimenting.
5. Work on specific situations, without having to fight to get there.
6. Lifts teams level as a whole.
7. Create a training environment with room for everyone.
CHESS DRILL
1. One move each turn
2. Gentleman rules
3. No resistance
4. No time limit
MONKEY DRILL
1. One move each turn
2. Gentleman rules
3. No resistance
4. No time limit
5. Do the LEAST likely move possible
6. If it resembles something you know, do ten pushups
THE FIVE RULES OF SLOWROLLING
1. Always remember the purpose
2. Turn down speed and intensity
3. 50/50
4. Submissions are catch and release
5. Communicate with your partner
Second, Christian (the Globetrotting Grappler) filmed a mini-instructional on how to flow roll, found here on his usual blog, Zhoozhitsu de Graugardo...
The salient points of light rolling and two useful drills, he says, are as follows.. check out his original post here including the excellent video.
BENEFITS
1. Everyone can spar together, regardless of the size or skill difference.
2. Good tool for warming up.
3. You can still spar, if you are injured or tired.
4. Good tool for experimenting.
5. Work on specific situations, without having to fight to get there.
6. Lifts teams level as a whole.
7. Create a training environment with room for everyone.
CHESS DRILL
1. One move each turn
2. Gentleman rules
3. No resistance
4. No time limit
MONKEY DRILL
1. One move each turn
2. Gentleman rules
3. No resistance
4. No time limit
5. Do the LEAST likely move possible
6. If it resembles something you know, do ten pushups
THE FIVE RULES OF SLOWROLLING
1. Always remember the purpose
2. Turn down speed and intensity
3. 50/50
4. Submissions are catch and release
5. Communicate with your partner
Friday, January 21, 2011
Scariest moment in jiu jitsu?
Please share the scariest moment (or moments) in jiu jitsu for you. Not MMA-- we can do that in another post if you like. Just jits.
It can be a youtube clip, story, photo... it can be something happening to another person, or to yourself. It can be scary because damage was done, because you snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, or even because you screwed up and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Personal scariest moment is when my friend and training partner, Leila, broke her neck during training. She was rolling with a larger guy, and it was just a perfect storm of big person vs. little person, stacking, trying to roll over her shoulder to go inverted and beat the guard pass, etc. She broke her neck in every possible way without actually becoming paralyzed. She was in the hospital for months and we were all petrified. Fortunately she's such a badass that surgery and therapy succeeded and she even has continued to train.
My contributions should not be viewed by people with weak stomachs or children under age 18.
It can be a youtube clip, story, photo... it can be something happening to another person, or to yourself. It can be scary because damage was done, because you snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, or even because you screwed up and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Personal scariest moment is when my friend and training partner, Leila, broke her neck during training. She was rolling with a larger guy, and it was just a perfect storm of big person vs. little person, stacking, trying to roll over her shoulder to go inverted and beat the guard pass, etc. She broke her neck in every possible way without actually becoming paralyzed. She was in the hospital for months and we were all petrified. Fortunately she's such a badass that surgery and therapy succeeded and she even has continued to train.
My contributions should not be viewed by people with weak stomachs or children under age 18.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Xande- DVD review
If you're not already reading Jake's outstanding blog The Ground Never Misses, you should be. Especially you should check out his recent review of Xande's 5-dvd instructional... very nicely done.
Which makes me feel like I should take a week off work to finish my Bullyproof review, the Tony Pacenski Sao Paulo Approach to Passing review, and the delectable Abmar Barbosa 4-dvd set too.....
Which makes me feel like I should take a week off work to finish my Bullyproof review, the Tony Pacenski Sao Paulo Approach to Passing review, and the delectable Abmar Barbosa 4-dvd set too.....
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Nice new blogs
Well, not new, but new to me... they're on my Favorite Blogs list...
Afrorican's blog "Work Play Obsession," Jonna's "Pink Jiu Jitsu" and Shakia's "I Wonder as I Wander"....
Among others of course! :)
Afrorican's blog "Work Play Obsession," Jonna's "Pink Jiu Jitsu" and Shakia's "I Wonder as I Wander"....
Among others of course! :)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Los Angeles on a moment's notice...
Last week a good friend of mine, a photojournalist from Denmark, called me from Los Angeles and invited me to spend some time there with him while he worked at the Golden Globes. Of course, I jumped at the chance. I was already committed to teaching a women's self-defense class with my kajukenbo instructor and friend Robert on Saturday, so I flew out on the first flight Sunday. I had a realllllly good 36 hours playing rockstar/tourist with my friend Kaspar, came home late yesterday, and I've been enjoying the pictures ever since. When Kaspar emails me some of his, I will add them.
Right off the plane, we headed to the hotel on the Sunset Strip to drop off my suitcase and grab his cameras. Here's the view from his window.
Then out to Santa Monica down Ocean Avenue.
Then the Pacific Coast Highway out to Malibu. Looks familiar, right? Made this same lovely drive with my husband last spring at the Mundials.
The Malibu Pier. (The photo critic in me wants to erase my recent habit of putting the horizon in the middle. I didn't use to do that when I was a photojournalist. When did this creep into my lexicon!?!)
And this is Kaspar. If you're curious, we met 13 years ago in Ireland... then he came with another Danish journalist and stayed at my house in Texas for 3 weeks, in 2001. I hope it's not another ten years before I see him again!
Surfers in the Pacific (I think maybe a surf school? since the waves were very petite but there were lots of surfers in this one area...)
We stopped for lunch at the Sunset Beach Club... this was my view across the table..
And this is what I saw when I turned my head to the right. (See, damn horizon, in the middle..)
On the table for me was a heavenly burger-- brioche bun, juicy VERY rare burger, caramelized onions, bacon, dijon mustard, and skinny-winny fries... yum! was too hungry to shoot it though...
After lunch, I ran into the surf (briefly, it was a little chilly) and we watched the dolphins swimming right near the surfers before heading back to town. We took a road through the Topanga Canyon, which wasn't as beautiful as it could be, being January and all... though it was a balmy 76 all day...Here's the view from one of the overlooks. I need to add Kaspar's amazing shot of the hummingbird as soon as he sends it to me.
So, Kaspar and his journalist Jacob were there to cover Denmark's presence at the Globes... a Danish director's film was up for the Foreign Film award (and won it!) and Tara Reid's boyfriend is Danish, among others... so we were assigned not to the Globes themselves but to a preparty at Universal Studios, where Tara made an appearance. Before she arrived, Jacob and I quietly snarked to each other about the cracktastic clothes, hair, shoes etc. on the never-were's and the wanna-be's. This is about all I saw of that particular red carpet-- nothing fancy! So don't get all jealous. And no, I wore no ball gown. Jeans and an Austin tshirt, baby.
Here's Tara and her boyfriend... she's beautiful, I must say. Boyfriend needs a shave. Kaspar's pics are better of course.
Afterwards we wandered through the area and found this cool IFly thing-- you get one minute, swirling through the jet-powered air.... if we'd had time I know we'd have done it. But we were hungry as heck and dinner awaited.
We dropped Jacob off at his apartment and made a quick run to Grauman's Chinese Theater to peep the stars and the footprints. Normally when on assignment, Kaspar is stuck working, so this was a unique chance for him to play tourist, and we enjoyed it to the hilt.
Jacob met us around 7 and we walked to a yummy place called STK on La Cienega. I'll add pictures from my real camera (these were all Android shots!) later. Suffice it to say you can't go wrong with foie gras French toast as a starter (though I found a sweet starter a little different), a petite filet with peppercorn sauce, heirloom tomatoes, fries with parmesan and white truffle oil, and a nice Syrah from California... I was so full I didn't eat dessert and that's saying something if you know me.
The next morning, Kaspar and I started off with a drive up to the Griffith Observatory to look down on Los Angeles (and over, at the Hollywood sign, which I was too proud to photograph.) I'll add the video I took from the catwalk as soon as I can.
Then, breakfast at Mel's Diner. I was so envious of his Iphone app Hipstamatic that I found some similar ones for my Android, and took these...
Of course, taking pictures of everything is second nature. I'll have you know it's all his food, except for the Belgian waffles in the foreground.
Which were soon in my tum. Leve weight class, here I come.
Then we went to Rodeo Drive to see how the poor folk live.
The poor people drive Bugattis, apparently. (The night before, walking to STK, we saw a Lamborghini parked with the top open and the keys in it. Unguarded. So glad I am a law-abiding citizen. Or I might be blogging from the LA jail.)
Enjoyed a cappuccino before we had to leave for LAX. My trip was entirely too short but had to come back to earth and get some work done.
And here's me, messing around in the airport with my new toy... :)
I was deeply saddened not to get to meet with or train with (or both!) so many friends in the LA area who were kind enough to offer their time... Mark, Paul, Hugh, Mary, Jon, Max and others... I am really sorry! but 36 hours is not enough for even the one person I was there to see. And I'll be back twice in the spring, for Pans and Mundials, so....
I did learn that people listen more to you when you're quiet. That's a handy thing to know. I learned it because I lost my voice on Friday night and still haven't really found it. I was scratchy, hoarse and soft all the way through my visit, but enjoyed the experience and will try to apply that lesson (and its corollary, "listening is as much fun as talking") in the future.
I already knew this, but it was great to be reminded that I am blessed with wonderful friends and a charmed life. I don't usually get whisked away at a moment's notice to visit dear friends, but when it happens, it is truly delicious. Hope it's not another ten years in the making.
Right off the plane, we headed to the hotel on the Sunset Strip to drop off my suitcase and grab his cameras. Here's the view from his window.
Then out to Santa Monica down Ocean Avenue.
Then the Pacific Coast Highway out to Malibu. Looks familiar, right? Made this same lovely drive with my husband last spring at the Mundials.
The Malibu Pier. (The photo critic in me wants to erase my recent habit of putting the horizon in the middle. I didn't use to do that when I was a photojournalist. When did this creep into my lexicon!?!)
And this is Kaspar. If you're curious, we met 13 years ago in Ireland... then he came with another Danish journalist and stayed at my house in Texas for 3 weeks, in 2001. I hope it's not another ten years before I see him again!
Surfers in the Pacific (I think maybe a surf school? since the waves were very petite but there were lots of surfers in this one area...)
We stopped for lunch at the Sunset Beach Club... this was my view across the table..
And this is what I saw when I turned my head to the right. (See, damn horizon, in the middle..)
On the table for me was a heavenly burger-- brioche bun, juicy VERY rare burger, caramelized onions, bacon, dijon mustard, and skinny-winny fries... yum! was too hungry to shoot it though...
After lunch, I ran into the surf (briefly, it was a little chilly) and we watched the dolphins swimming right near the surfers before heading back to town. We took a road through the Topanga Canyon, which wasn't as beautiful as it could be, being January and all... though it was a balmy 76 all day...Here's the view from one of the overlooks. I need to add Kaspar's amazing shot of the hummingbird as soon as he sends it to me.
So, Kaspar and his journalist Jacob were there to cover Denmark's presence at the Globes... a Danish director's film was up for the Foreign Film award (and won it!) and Tara Reid's boyfriend is Danish, among others... so we were assigned not to the Globes themselves but to a preparty at Universal Studios, where Tara made an appearance. Before she arrived, Jacob and I quietly snarked to each other about the cracktastic clothes, hair, shoes etc. on the never-were's and the wanna-be's. This is about all I saw of that particular red carpet-- nothing fancy! So don't get all jealous. And no, I wore no ball gown. Jeans and an Austin tshirt, baby.
Here's Tara and her boyfriend... she's beautiful, I must say. Boyfriend needs a shave. Kaspar's pics are better of course.
Afterwards we wandered through the area and found this cool IFly thing-- you get one minute, swirling through the jet-powered air.... if we'd had time I know we'd have done it. But we were hungry as heck and dinner awaited.
We dropped Jacob off at his apartment and made a quick run to Grauman's Chinese Theater to peep the stars and the footprints. Normally when on assignment, Kaspar is stuck working, so this was a unique chance for him to play tourist, and we enjoyed it to the hilt.
Jacob met us around 7 and we walked to a yummy place called STK on La Cienega. I'll add pictures from my real camera (these were all Android shots!) later. Suffice it to say you can't go wrong with foie gras French toast as a starter (though I found a sweet starter a little different), a petite filet with peppercorn sauce, heirloom tomatoes, fries with parmesan and white truffle oil, and a nice Syrah from California... I was so full I didn't eat dessert and that's saying something if you know me.
The next morning, Kaspar and I started off with a drive up to the Griffith Observatory to look down on Los Angeles (and over, at the Hollywood sign, which I was too proud to photograph.) I'll add the video I took from the catwalk as soon as I can.
Then, breakfast at Mel's Diner. I was so envious of his Iphone app Hipstamatic that I found some similar ones for my Android, and took these...
Of course, taking pictures of everything is second nature. I'll have you know it's all his food, except for the Belgian waffles in the foreground.
Which were soon in my tum. Leve weight class, here I come.
Then we went to Rodeo Drive to see how the poor folk live.
The poor people drive Bugattis, apparently. (The night before, walking to STK, we saw a Lamborghini parked with the top open and the keys in it. Unguarded. So glad I am a law-abiding citizen. Or I might be blogging from the LA jail.)
And here's me, messing around in the airport with my new toy... :)
I was deeply saddened not to get to meet with or train with (or both!) so many friends in the LA area who were kind enough to offer their time... Mark, Paul, Hugh, Mary, Jon, Max and others... I am really sorry! but 36 hours is not enough for even the one person I was there to see. And I'll be back twice in the spring, for Pans and Mundials, so....
I did learn that people listen more to you when you're quiet. That's a handy thing to know. I learned it because I lost my voice on Friday night and still haven't really found it. I was scratchy, hoarse and soft all the way through my visit, but enjoyed the experience and will try to apply that lesson (and its corollary, "listening is as much fun as talking") in the future.
I already knew this, but it was great to be reminded that I am blessed with wonderful friends and a charmed life. I don't usually get whisked away at a moment's notice to visit dear friends, but when it happens, it is truly delicious. Hope it's not another ten years in the making.
Sydney Oz?
Hey-- who all trains in Sydney, Australia? Got a girlfriend who's looking for people to train with before the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials.... let me know! Thanks!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
It's just funner this way.
Tuesday night was competition class... a little unusual since Relson was holding a seminar on 2/3 of our mat space, so our routine was cramped a bit. Still, Donald pushed us harder than usual and it felt like a great workout. We worked on chaining some judo takedowns together, which reminded me I need to improve my seoi nages. *sigh* We also reviewed an armbar that I try to get regularly and just as regularly find myself missing a piece here and there.
Wednesday night was "just" a regular class but it was just what I needed to hear-- some guard retention-to-armbar or triangle stuff... then re-emphasis on gi chokes... then attacking the turtle. Relson taught a mini seminar the other day at the conclusion of lunch class, and happened to mention a few things I found helpful when I was defending the turtle.
During last night's class, we also covered an unusual ankle lock defense, and in chatting about it with my partner Zack, we kind of mentioned two ways of learning jits. One is attend class only so much that you're not overwhelmed, you can distinctly recall the moves taught and have time to drill them between times.. if that makes sense. The other is to attend as much as you like or as much as you can, and let the moves themselves get muddled together perhaps, but still be practicing the muscle memory of basic movements, which can be found in many specific moves.
I'm obviously one of the latter. Maybe it wouldn't work for some. Maybe I would learn jits faster if I trained less. Maybe whatever. But I find that I enjoy doing it the way I've been doing it. My ultimate goal isn't to be a world champion, or to learn jits as fast as possible. It's to have fun. Yeah, maybe sometimes I complain, so you might think it isn't fun for me.. but that's not so. I love training jiu jitsu and I feel like I'm missing something in my day when it is lacking at least some mat time.
Wednesday night was "just" a regular class but it was just what I needed to hear-- some guard retention-to-armbar or triangle stuff... then re-emphasis on gi chokes... then attacking the turtle. Relson taught a mini seminar the other day at the conclusion of lunch class, and happened to mention a few things I found helpful when I was defending the turtle.
During last night's class, we also covered an unusual ankle lock defense, and in chatting about it with my partner Zack, we kind of mentioned two ways of learning jits. One is attend class only so much that you're not overwhelmed, you can distinctly recall the moves taught and have time to drill them between times.. if that makes sense. The other is to attend as much as you like or as much as you can, and let the moves themselves get muddled together perhaps, but still be practicing the muscle memory of basic movements, which can be found in many specific moves.
I'm obviously one of the latter. Maybe it wouldn't work for some. Maybe I would learn jits faster if I trained less. Maybe whatever. But I find that I enjoy doing it the way I've been doing it. My ultimate goal isn't to be a world champion, or to learn jits as fast as possible. It's to have fun. Yeah, maybe sometimes I complain, so you might think it isn't fun for me.. but that's not so. I love training jiu jitsu and I feel like I'm missing something in my day when it is lacking at least some mat time.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Homework from a year ago....
Last February, Stephan Kesting sent out this homework assignment, and I thought it would be useful to do it again... put down at least two answers to every question.
Closed guard submissions: looping choke, numerous gi chokes, triangle, armbar
Closed guard passes: knee-through, low pass, double-under
Closed guard sweeps: pendulum, whitebelt-killer, flower
Open guard submissions: reverse armbar, omoplata,
Open guard passes: torreador, step-through
Open guard sweeps: scissor, push, elevator
Half guard submissions: americana, pillow choke
Half guard passes: Relson's pass, Donald's pass, double-under
Half guard sweeps: old school, diveunder, Ryan Hall
Side mount submissions: americana, papercutter, near and farside armbars
Side mount transitions: N/S, mount
Side mount escapes: elbow-knee; needle through to knees
Knee mount submissions: baseball bat choke, armbar
Knee mount transitions: mount, N/S
Knee mount escapes: Shrimp like hell, arm under their base ankle and push on belly.
Full mount submissions: Ezequiel, mounted triangle
Full mount transitions: N/S, side control
Full mount escapes: elbow-knee back to guard, upa roll, Rickson's push
Rear mount submissions: Fredson, 4-finger, RNC, armbar
Rear mount transitions: to mount, side control
Rear mount escapes: roll into guard, slide down and out, stand up high and go to sidecontrol
Turtle submissions: toehold (to person turtling), kneebar (from inside turtle)
Turtle transitions:
Turtle escapes: roll to guard, ??
Closed guard submissions: looping choke, numerous gi chokes, triangle, armbar
Closed guard passes: knee-through, low pass, double-under
Closed guard sweeps: pendulum, whitebelt-killer, flower
Open guard submissions: reverse armbar, omoplata,
Open guard passes: torreador, step-through
Open guard sweeps: scissor, push, elevator
Half guard submissions: americana, pillow choke
Half guard passes: Relson's pass, Donald's pass, double-under
Half guard sweeps: old school, diveunder, Ryan Hall
Side mount submissions: americana, papercutter, near and farside armbars
Side mount transitions: N/S, mount
Side mount escapes: elbow-knee; needle through to knees
Knee mount submissions: baseball bat choke, armbar
Knee mount transitions: mount, N/S
Knee mount escapes: Shrimp like hell, arm under their base ankle and push on belly.
Full mount submissions: Ezequiel, mounted triangle
Full mount transitions: N/S, side control
Full mount escapes: elbow-knee back to guard, upa roll, Rickson's push
Rear mount submissions: Fredson, 4-finger, RNC, armbar
Rear mount transitions: to mount, side control
Rear mount escapes: roll into guard, slide down and out, stand up high and go to sidecontrol
Turtle submissions: toehold (to person turtling), kneebar (from inside turtle)
Turtle transitions:
Turtle escapes: roll to guard, ??
Monday, January 10, 2011
Getting serious about passing scissor guard.
I had a lovely weekend near Dallas, visiting with my husband's family and seeing the preemie twins again. Of course, didn't train, and sat around eating, so of course, gained weight back (but I'm pretty sure it's water weight.) There's an IBJJF tournament in Houston next month, the Houston Open, and I'm semi-thinking about competing in it. Not motivated, not excited, but out of a feeling of duty (since it's been since August!) In which case, I'd really like to be 15-20 lbs lighter, one month from today.
Knowing that it IS possible for me to drop 20 lbs that fast, but knowing I will have all the internet howling at me not to mention my stomach and my husband, I'm going to be reasonable and settle for "sensibly lose as much as I can by then and not worry about competing." So, I'll be blogging my usual stuff, and then at the end, I'll post what I have eaten or what I ate the day before, and how much I trained, and where the weight is, relatively speaking.
This morning's training was all right... nothing to write home about. Still having a hard time getting around that stupid fucking knee in scissor guard, but hey, I burned some calories.
And just for fun, almost 40 minutes of Christian Graugart rolling. I like his invert guard. :) He'll be coming to Austin as one stop on his BJJ world tour next summer!
Headed to lunch open mat now, then an afternoon full of work before taking my parents-in-law to the airport.
So far today: roughly an hour of rolling, 1.5 slices of banana nut bread.
Knowing that it IS possible for me to drop 20 lbs that fast, but knowing I will have all the internet howling at me not to mention my stomach and my husband, I'm going to be reasonable and settle for "sensibly lose as much as I can by then and not worry about competing." So, I'll be blogging my usual stuff, and then at the end, I'll post what I have eaten or what I ate the day before, and how much I trained, and where the weight is, relatively speaking.
This morning's training was all right... nothing to write home about. Still having a hard time getting around that stupid fucking knee in scissor guard, but hey, I burned some calories.
And just for fun, almost 40 minutes of Christian Graugart rolling. I like his invert guard. :) He'll be coming to Austin as one stop on his BJJ world tour next summer!
Headed to lunch open mat now, then an afternoon full of work before taking my parents-in-law to the airport.
So far today: roughly an hour of rolling, 1.5 slices of banana nut bread.
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Poll: please respond by comments
Please write a comment and describe your relationship versus BJJ negotiations (if any.) For example: you're single but future relationships will have to accommodate your desired level of training as part of the deal, as Kitsune mentioned... or you're married and can train twice a week, or whatever. Feel free to comment anonymously if that makes you feel better. I would get more out of greater levels of detail or a historical perspective (like, first we agreed on this, then we tried that, now we're looking at this other thing, or one relationship ended over jits, now this one is experiencing issues).
Also I think there's a bug in Blogger right now-- don't freak if the blog tells you your comment is too large or whatever. I am getting multiple multiple copies of your comments and people are emailing them to me, thinking the length is the problem, but they're coming through just fine, and I will approve them all (even the snarky ones that make me want to cry, wink.)
THANK YOU!
Edit: Pictures from this weekend. Harrison is now 3 lbs 3.5 oz; Ella is 2 lbs 9 oz. Yay!
Here's Ella (sorry it's so dark, obviously flash would disturb them..)
And here's Harrison. We came during a quiet time for them, so the lighting is very subdued with just blue bulbs.
Also I think there's a bug in Blogger right now-- don't freak if the blog tells you your comment is too large or whatever. I am getting multiple multiple copies of your comments and people are emailing them to me, thinking the length is the problem, but they're coming through just fine, and I will approve them all (even the snarky ones that make me want to cry, wink.)
THANK YOU!
Edit: Pictures from this weekend. Harrison is now 3 lbs 3.5 oz; Ella is 2 lbs 9 oz. Yay!
Here's Ella (sorry it's so dark, obviously flash would disturb them..)
And here's Harrison. We came during a quiet time for them, so the lighting is very subdued with just blue bulbs.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
I've been lazy/busy...
I haven't been writing much about my training specifics, or about how I feel about anything, lately. And I'm sorry. It's a combination of being busy and the holidays and whatever, just everything and life in general intruding. My priorities usually have a jumble of things at the top, at any given moment-- family, food, sleep, work, and of course jiu jitsu- and then a bunch of other stuff scrambling for whatever time is left, things like errands, car maintenance, writing letters, home tasks, friends. Once those things all happen it just seems like there's rarely time for things like writing, thinking, watching DVDs etc. So I'm sorry.
(Normally, when work is a little slower, I can spend a lunch hour blogging away-- but lately I'm either working through lunch or training through lunch.)
This week's been a little stressful for me. [major understatement] Work is nutty. My husband and I have had some conflict over my addiction to jiu jitsu. [ha ha ha- understatement of the century, we have been quarreling over jits for just about the duration of our marriage. sigh.] I'm about to vastly vastly oversimplify things (and I'm not even going into how long I'm trying this or into all the other factors we're dealing with, so please, skip the advice for now) by saying I'm trying his latest request which is to not train jiu jitsu at all in the evenings so that I can be home when he comes home from work. As a result, I am attending all the early morning classes I can, and all the lunch classes I can. Which means I'm working later in the evening. And I'm definitely grumbly, because IMHO our night classes are ... different. Different instructors, 3 hours instead of 2, different people taking the classes, more smaller people at the night classes, Donald's competition team class is only at night, and having gained weight over the holidays I'm chomping at the bit to burn as many calories per day as I can. So, yeah, grumbly. But this week, I only trained (at night) on Wednesday, while he was doing his night of volunteer work at the hospital. We stayed home and watched movies and ate dinner the other nights and it was pleasant. But honestly, really truly, I wish I could have done jits first and then come home and had dinner and a movie. But anyway.
Today his parents and his aunt flew in for the long weekend. We go to Dallas tomorrow to visit the preemie twins again, yay. They're both over two pounds now so I'll be sure to take more pictures and share the good news with you.
The bummer is, I only train once tomorrow and none at all Saturday or Sunday, unless I can sneak out and get on the mats with Steve Hall (Pesadelo BJJ) for a little while one day.
Enough bitching. I trained twice Monday, twice Tuesday, had a 3-fer yesterday, and got two in today as well, so that's all good. We have had THREE new brownbelts show up lately- one just visiting from Alaska, but the other two are newly moved to Austin, so I'm very excited to feel them out and start learning from new perspectives. Only rolled with the Alaska guy the one time on Monday, so far.
Today after lunch class one of the people I rolled with was a new-to-us blue belt. He's on the smaller side, maybe 160ish? Felt very strong and definitely more explosive than me. Have I mentioned how much I hate playing guard? My guard is epic failblog. I think my passing game is getting garbled too-- like 80 different fragments of 40 different pass strategies rattling around in my head at once, so I shake a few bits out and see if I can make a puzzle picture out of them. Usually, ahem... NO. Well, I did pass his guard once or twice though he passed mine more. He tapped me once, can't remember the exact position, but he was grabbing for my hand and twisted my fingers (all 4 at once and totally by accident I am sure, so I mean nothing derogatory about him in mentioning it). He once also sucked me in to a triangle, but I had one arm and the other hand in and his angle wasn't quite right, so I was happy I could eat it till he transitioned to something else. I got his back off an armdrag twice, I think, but I was too high and he was able to just pull me off his back by tugging my arm down in front of him. (grumble, grumble) Most of the roll I felt like he was being a bit rough, but I rationalized I'd rather him feel he had to pull out all the stops to manage me than for him to pussyfoot around me to be nicey-nice. At one point I had a solid armbar on him, just needed to separate his hands... at the end, I had his back, but we'd rolled about 25-30 min straight and I had to leave for the airport, so I just quit and gave up. :)
There's a whole SLEW of tournaments around the corner. Tyler TX this Saturday; a round robin in San Antonio (only $15 for women!!!!!!!! CRAP!) next Sat the 15th; something else the 22nd... Feb 12-13 is the Houston Open IBJJF. I will admit, I have NO DESIRE to compete. I like to win. My last tournament I crappled and I have no reason to think I'll do any better now. I freaking POINT-TIED A WHITEBELT (though Tara is rock solid and super strong, and is finally a well-deserved blue belt now) and got tapped by a TEENAGER, and I'm not eager to risk a repeat or worse. Call me a giant pussy chicken, I don't care. I'm just happy to roll and play and train for now. And DON'T ask about Pans and Mundials. I'll definitely be there and work both of them. Just not sure about competing.
*snif*
I just want to feel like I'm a rock for others to dash themselves on, an unstoppable force, a terror on the mats. Instead I'm happy when I train, I'm learning, I'm making progress, but I still feel too timid for competing. When will my badassery come back?
Oh well. Bringing some DVDs this weekend and hope to watch a LOT, learn a lot, bring some new tricksies with me. And hope to get some training in.
Thanks for listening. Woooo 104 peeps following! You're all crazy by the way ;)
(Normally, when work is a little slower, I can spend a lunch hour blogging away-- but lately I'm either working through lunch or training through lunch.)
This week's been a little stressful for me. [major understatement] Work is nutty. My husband and I have had some conflict over my addiction to jiu jitsu. [ha ha ha- understatement of the century, we have been quarreling over jits for just about the duration of our marriage. sigh.] I'm about to vastly vastly oversimplify things (and I'm not even going into how long I'm trying this or into all the other factors we're dealing with, so please, skip the advice for now) by saying I'm trying his latest request which is to not train jiu jitsu at all in the evenings so that I can be home when he comes home from work. As a result, I am attending all the early morning classes I can, and all the lunch classes I can. Which means I'm working later in the evening. And I'm definitely grumbly, because IMHO our night classes are ... different. Different instructors, 3 hours instead of 2, different people taking the classes, more smaller people at the night classes, Donald's competition team class is only at night, and having gained weight over the holidays I'm chomping at the bit to burn as many calories per day as I can. So, yeah, grumbly. But this week, I only trained (at night) on Wednesday, while he was doing his night of volunteer work at the hospital. We stayed home and watched movies and ate dinner the other nights and it was pleasant. But honestly, really truly, I wish I could have done jits first and then come home and had dinner and a movie. But anyway.
Today his parents and his aunt flew in for the long weekend. We go to Dallas tomorrow to visit the preemie twins again, yay. They're both over two pounds now so I'll be sure to take more pictures and share the good news with you.
The bummer is, I only train once tomorrow and none at all Saturday or Sunday, unless I can sneak out and get on the mats with Steve Hall (Pesadelo BJJ) for a little while one day.
Enough bitching. I trained twice Monday, twice Tuesday, had a 3-fer yesterday, and got two in today as well, so that's all good. We have had THREE new brownbelts show up lately- one just visiting from Alaska, but the other two are newly moved to Austin, so I'm very excited to feel them out and start learning from new perspectives. Only rolled with the Alaska guy the one time on Monday, so far.
Today after lunch class one of the people I rolled with was a new-to-us blue belt. He's on the smaller side, maybe 160ish? Felt very strong and definitely more explosive than me. Have I mentioned how much I hate playing guard? My guard is epic failblog. I think my passing game is getting garbled too-- like 80 different fragments of 40 different pass strategies rattling around in my head at once, so I shake a few bits out and see if I can make a puzzle picture out of them. Usually, ahem... NO. Well, I did pass his guard once or twice though he passed mine more. He tapped me once, can't remember the exact position, but he was grabbing for my hand and twisted my fingers (all 4 at once and totally by accident I am sure, so I mean nothing derogatory about him in mentioning it). He once also sucked me in to a triangle, but I had one arm and the other hand in and his angle wasn't quite right, so I was happy I could eat it till he transitioned to something else. I got his back off an armdrag twice, I think, but I was too high and he was able to just pull me off his back by tugging my arm down in front of him. (grumble, grumble) Most of the roll I felt like he was being a bit rough, but I rationalized I'd rather him feel he had to pull out all the stops to manage me than for him to pussyfoot around me to be nicey-nice. At one point I had a solid armbar on him, just needed to separate his hands... at the end, I had his back, but we'd rolled about 25-30 min straight and I had to leave for the airport, so I just quit and gave up. :)
There's a whole SLEW of tournaments around the corner. Tyler TX this Saturday; a round robin in San Antonio (only $15 for women!!!!!!!! CRAP!) next Sat the 15th; something else the 22nd... Feb 12-13 is the Houston Open IBJJF. I will admit, I have NO DESIRE to compete. I like to win. My last tournament I crappled and I have no reason to think I'll do any better now. I freaking POINT-TIED A WHITEBELT (though Tara is rock solid and super strong, and is finally a well-deserved blue belt now) and got tapped by a TEENAGER, and I'm not eager to risk a repeat or worse. Call me a giant pussy chicken, I don't care. I'm just happy to roll and play and train for now. And DON'T ask about Pans and Mundials. I'll definitely be there and work both of them. Just not sure about competing.
*snif*
I just want to feel like I'm a rock for others to dash themselves on, an unstoppable force, a terror on the mats. Instead I'm happy when I train, I'm learning, I'm making progress, but I still feel too timid for competing. When will my badassery come back?
Oh well. Bringing some DVDs this weekend and hope to watch a LOT, learn a lot, bring some new tricksies with me. And hope to get some training in.
Thanks for listening. Woooo 104 peeps following! You're all crazy by the way ;)
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Daniel Roberts' sense of humor....
Did you see any undercard fights from the last UFC? Daniel Roberts likes kimuras, and has a sense of humor.. Thanks to DSTRYR-SG for pointing out this funny interview with him...
Monday, January 03, 2011
Back home and back on the mats.
Hope you all had a lovely holiday!!
I ate, and ate, and ate. Didn't train a stitch (from Dec 26th-Jan 2nd) and man, that SUCKED. I didn't do any kind of exercise except for pushups when I thought about it... gained about 5 lbs over that week, and of course I gained about 8 more between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I am quite fluffy at the moment.
Got home from the airport last night at 11:30pm and was on the mats at 6am. Open mat this morning was excellent, I got to roll with some peeps I hadn't played with in a while, and generally all I looked for was calorie burn which I got plenty of. Noon open mat was also lots of fun- Jolly back from his knee injury, Courtney who is a gifted whitebelt chick AND a pastry chef, wooooo, and then Brandon, the brown belt visiting from Alaska... Paul, the purple who runs Rigan's school in LA, and Marc, my peer here at my academy. Sadly a week off is insufficient to heal my ankle, which I tapped myself out with during the roll with Courtney (she upa'd to escape my mount and I rolled it just a TEENY bit, and had to tap, lay down, and tap my fingers on the mat really fast to distract myself.)
I learned a new attack sequence from side control so that I'm not so fixated on arms all the time. Also felt that brown belt do some nifty passwork on me which I'd like to incorporate into my game... sigh :)
So, here's pictures from the trip in a crazy order or none at all... the view out into the forest, from my Aunt Linda's house in the Eastern Shore.. they got 12" and more of snow the day before we got there.
My second father, Uncle Art, playing dominoes..
Aunt Linda, who makes the best meatloaf ever (also amazing cheesy potatoes, lemon poppyseed cake, icebox fruitcake, stuffed roast pork, greens, need I continue? this is why I'm so fat!)
A delicacy-- they found a tiny softshell crab inside one of their oysters. (the little round red thing is the crab!) Yes, you just eat it with the oyster.
My uncle shucking oysters for breakfast on New Year's Day.
Big family dinner, uniting shoots of all 3 branches (the 3 brothers: Louis who died in October, my dad Walter who died in 1996, and my Uncle Leonard..) Back row L to R is Liz (Leonard's daughter), Katelyn (Liz's) Nathan (Judy's, daughter of Leonard), me (Walter's) and Joann (Jerry's wife.)
Bottom row L to R: Deborah (Uncle Jerry's daughter) Carolyn (Leonard's) Mark (Cathy's husband) Cathy (Leonard's) Uncle Leonard, and Uncle Jerry (Louis's son).
Lots of grandkids and kids weren't able to make it but this is a representative sample at least.
Deborah and Carolyn.
Getting ready for dinner..
This is my Uncle Louis's widow, my Aunt Orie, and their son Lou. Aunt Orie fell and broke her leg a month ago so I visited her in a rehab hospital.
My Uncle Leonard, on his sun porch. He's pretty well senile now but still has a little of his old sense of humor.
My cousin Deborah's funny license plate :)
My NYE group-- neighbors of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Art's and Mitch in the middle. We raged! till almost 9pm! :)
Good to visit but good to be home!!
I ate, and ate, and ate. Didn't train a stitch (from Dec 26th-Jan 2nd) and man, that SUCKED. I didn't do any kind of exercise except for pushups when I thought about it... gained about 5 lbs over that week, and of course I gained about 8 more between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I am quite fluffy at the moment.
Got home from the airport last night at 11:30pm and was on the mats at 6am. Open mat this morning was excellent, I got to roll with some peeps I hadn't played with in a while, and generally all I looked for was calorie burn which I got plenty of. Noon open mat was also lots of fun- Jolly back from his knee injury, Courtney who is a gifted whitebelt chick AND a pastry chef, wooooo, and then Brandon, the brown belt visiting from Alaska... Paul, the purple who runs Rigan's school in LA, and Marc, my peer here at my academy. Sadly a week off is insufficient to heal my ankle, which I tapped myself out with during the roll with Courtney (she upa'd to escape my mount and I rolled it just a TEENY bit, and had to tap, lay down, and tap my fingers on the mat really fast to distract myself.)
I learned a new attack sequence from side control so that I'm not so fixated on arms all the time. Also felt that brown belt do some nifty passwork on me which I'd like to incorporate into my game... sigh :)
So, here's pictures from the trip in a crazy order or none at all... the view out into the forest, from my Aunt Linda's house in the Eastern Shore.. they got 12" and more of snow the day before we got there.
My second father, Uncle Art, playing dominoes..
Aunt Linda, who makes the best meatloaf ever (also amazing cheesy potatoes, lemon poppyseed cake, icebox fruitcake, stuffed roast pork, greens, need I continue? this is why I'm so fat!)
A delicacy-- they found a tiny softshell crab inside one of their oysters. (the little round red thing is the crab!) Yes, you just eat it with the oyster.
My uncle shucking oysters for breakfast on New Year's Day.
Big family dinner, uniting shoots of all 3 branches (the 3 brothers: Louis who died in October, my dad Walter who died in 1996, and my Uncle Leonard..) Back row L to R is Liz (Leonard's daughter), Katelyn (Liz's) Nathan (Judy's, daughter of Leonard), me (Walter's) and Joann (Jerry's wife.)
Bottom row L to R: Deborah (Uncle Jerry's daughter) Carolyn (Leonard's) Mark (Cathy's husband) Cathy (Leonard's) Uncle Leonard, and Uncle Jerry (Louis's son).
Lots of grandkids and kids weren't able to make it but this is a representative sample at least.
Getting ready for dinner..
This is my Uncle Louis's widow, my Aunt Orie, and their son Lou. Aunt Orie fell and broke her leg a month ago so I visited her in a rehab hospital.
My Uncle Leonard, on his sun porch. He's pretty well senile now but still has a little of his old sense of humor.
My cousin Deborah's funny license plate :)
My NYE group-- neighbors of my Aunt Linda and Uncle Art's and Mitch in the middle. We raged! till almost 9pm! :)
Good to visit but good to be home!!
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