Stunning lack of competitive drive.

I was about to preface this with "This is how I always get" but that sounded a little funny, as this is only my third spring in jiu jitsu... pretty small sample size. Nonetheless it's accurate. I "always" get fired up to compete after being off the mats for a week over the Christmas holidays... and fired up to work hard and lose all the extra pigs-in-blankets, champagne punch, fudge and lemon poppyseed cake blanketing my derriere. So I jump in with both feet in January-- train 7 days a week, galloping towards the Pan. I'll do 2-4 tournaments on the way to the Pan, then (last year and this year) come to a shuddering stop in the first match there. After that, I'm kinda.. meh. Like right now for example.

Yeah, my knee's fine-- a little fat-feeling, a little stiff when I first get out of bed or have been sitting for a while, but it's not hurting and my doc says it's A-OK. (In fact I'll confess, it felt all right enough for class Sunday morning... it was too late to drive all the way to Dallas for the tourney though. And I did lunch open mat today.)

But I have a choice to make pretty quickly-- Mundials or stay home and visit with the in-laws. What does it say that I'm actually TORN?

A) Her in-laws must be pretty cool;
B) She doesn't want to compete much at all;
C) All of the above.

Yeah, pretty much C here. My husband's parents are very sweet people, totally the antithesis of the "in-law" image popularized in modern media. My MIL is quiet, easygoing to a fault, and a good cook. My FIL is quiet, with a wry sense of humor and a drive to FIND and FIX things which need fixing. (For a visual and aural image, picture a hybrid of Yoda and Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid.) More stuff gets done around the house and garage and yard when he's around than you could possibly imagine. They make no demands (except a half-kidding 'make a grandson!') And they're coming at the beginning of June for 2-3 weeks, for my husband's birthday and to see his brother and the preemie twins up in Dallas.

So there's that-- we could miss 5 days of their visit, and we already have plane tickets. But I am just not jamming on the idea of competing. So I'm analyzing just what exactly drives me to compete. Haven't made up my mind yet, going to talk to the hubs tonight.

Anyway, had a good open mat today-- first rolled with a whitebelt, then a purple, and last a visiting blue belt chick . She's come before so I already knew I was in for it. We're fairly evenly matched size-wise, but I feel like she's a year or two ahead of me-- I haven't yet answered her counter to my halfguard sweep, or her both-feet-in-one-bicep sweep (though she's taught me how to foil her TWICE now. And I WILL remember it for her next visit.) This time we rolled a while and I felt good about it.

Check out this super motivational and awe-inspiring highlight. Filched from Jodi's Combat Sports Review, an excellent blog I always enjoy reading. Here's her comments:

"It's not so much this video that I find inspirational, but the person. His name is Panom Yeerum. You may know him as Tony Jaa. Chances are you’ve never heard of him. He was born an elephant herder in the poverty-stricken and war-torn northeast region of Thailand. His inspiration to study martial arts was Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li. Jaa used that inspiration to overcome many obstacles and become an accomplished martial artist, gymnast, and stuntman. Not only does he hold the record for the longest uncut fight sequence, he also appears to defy gravity and to have rewritten the laws of physics. In this video you will see him in action, no strings attached (literally) and on fire (literally)."



And then check out this ninja roll (backtake from top, feet-facing side control) courtesy of Leslie at BJJGRRL...



And last... a sweep or a back take, counters to the torreador pass... I found this on my very own ;) From a Pedro Sauer affiliate in Honolulu..