Atama Open- my matches

All these ladies were very nice; all had about a year to 18 months of training, so I feel pretty good about how I did. The real credit goes to my instructors and training partners, in no particular order: Christy, Leila, Shama, Phil, Robert, Tom, Nick, Richard, Randy, Kurt, Moss, and Eric. Double kudoes to my corner and instructor Phil who was the most amazing coach during my rounds!

Here's my first match:



The second match went the whole 5 minutes and I think it's too long to post here so you'll have to check it out here on YouTube.

The third, the finals round:



I definitely need work on takedowns, guard passing, triangle defense, and taking the back without getting reversed, for a start.

YEAH!!!!!!

Short version: won my division (white belt adult women in gi) at the Atama Open in Houston.

Longer version: 2 subs + 1 win by points = gold medal.

(Hell choke and americana)

Longer still version tomorrow or even Monday, w/video.

The rest of our team likewise kicked a$$-- Ivelin, Scott, Shama, and I (and I think maybe Trey and Travis too) were all in the medals. Emmanuel was 4th in his division. Scott put Bill to sleep "twice" (there's a story there) and Ivelin choked his opponent out cold in the finals of his no-gi division with a nice tight anaconda from guard.

Headed out to celebrate now :)

Gracie class, evening 11/4

So-- how do I feel getting ready for tournament #2? Tom keeps harping that I need more self-confidence. I find it funny-- I have never been shy of that, and I think my willingness to put myself out there shows I have at least some. But I can't help but have moments of utter fear. I am not so much afraid of losing matches as I am afraid of making stupid mistakes. There will always, always be better grapplers than me.. but I want to lose to other people because they execute faster, better, with more balance and technique. I fear that I will lose because I forget to do simple things or because I put myself in harm's way. I should lose to other people, not to myself.

Gracie class, morning 11/4-- GO VOTE!!

Richard taught this morning.. we started with drilling armbars from guard, back and forth, emphasizing getting your ear to their knee, curling the heel that's over their neck down to the mat, and pinching knees together tightly. Also, just control the arm you're barring, and get your wrist blade on theirs.

Then we drilled armbars from mount.

We rolled after that. With Kirk I worked grip breaks and more side control escapes (I used the term "worked" very loosely, much more like *I* got worked over..) He also pointed out I'm still in spazzy panic mode in open guard-- like pushing and struggling to get away, when I should be thinking of a move to attack them. Then with Tommy, a blue (2 stripes? 3?) I struggled to pass a variety of guards. Then with Shane we started from standup. He was obviously letting me work but I appreciated it.

Then Richard showed me my mistake on the armdrag that left me vulnerable to the ankle pick/knee bar.

Gracie class 11/3-- also, GO VOTE!!!!

So tonight at Phil's it was "scissor sweep and what you can get from that" night.

Whooo... my head is bursting at the seams. I got to roll with another white belt who owned me all over the mat, then got some help from Juan, a 3-stripe blue. He taught me some things about grip fighting, how to practice for a points tournament (always be aware of points and position first), and we worked on scissor sweeps quite a bit. He was so generous; poor guy wanted to roll with Richard but spent so much time with me that he hardly got any time with Richard.

Tomorrow's a big day-- please vote! I already did early voting, so I will be in Gracie from 6-8:30am and 5-9pm.

Thank you Stephan and Donald, a.k.a. Achilles Heaven

Ahhhh... the sweet, sweet taste of victory.

Today I got an ankle lock on my friend Tom. Imagine the biggest grin on my face, that's about half how I felt :) I am so happy because this time part of it wasn't a gift. I think I surprised us both. I was certainly surprised! It was like my body knew what to do without consulting my brain!

The title pays homage to the two men responsible for my ankle lock-- Stephan Kesting and Donald, a brown at the Relson Gracie school here in Austin. I was all psyched up to use Phil's easy-peasy open guard pass but Tom stayed on his knees the whole time. He likes to shove my head down because I don't fight off his neck control, and eventually takes my back. Eventually I turn into him (need to remember to turn into him and go under the arm!) and end up in guard. He opens guard immediately, but I generally wrestle around with legs ineffectually, his feet clinging to me like prehensile little pains in the ass.

Today, I scooped up under his ankle that was around my hip and going towards my back. I got the outside, underneath leg angled properly, with my heel in his hip and ball of the foot down on the mat-- got my inside, top leg right with the shin against his privates, instep under his bum-- laid down on my side, arched and looked away... I think, looking back, that I probably didn't surprise him at all, but I was thoroughly surprised that my body seemed to identify what I needed to do without me thinking it through in words, for once.

The rest of the roll: I need to work on takedowns from the clinch. I have to try to go for more triangles. Screwed up my armbar counter to side control-- instead of mindlessly trying to regain guard, when their head is up high, frame on the jaw, catch the head with your leg. I also need to work on triangle counters and armbar counters.

Tonight, I have Gracie class from 5-8; the Atama Open is this Saturday and it's my second tournament. I'm feeling pretty excited... no pressure no pressure I keep telling myself.

Creative heel hook entry..

Sweet transition from standing/back to grab the heel hook, by Jorge Santiago.

Thanks to Jason H. for the link!

Gracie class 11/2

This morning's class was really good. I finally was brave enough to ask a question, and the class ended up being all about my topic. Plus, I brought milk chocolate chip-pecan cookies still warm from the oven... plus it's less than a week till my second tournament... plus Richard worked with me for an hour after class... plus unlike every other weekend, I didn't gain weight even though we went to the Salt Lick last night, and had Sandy's great cream puffs with homemade ice cream, berries and chocolate fudge sauce... plus my chicken tortilla soup turned out great... so I guess it's just generally this weekend has been a happy one.

My question? I said I wanted to learn to pass open guard (thinking specifically of the tricky Randy and his "spider monkey" self.)

Gracie class 11/1

In the end I got my brief done yesterday-- emailed it to my boss for his review-- and Mitch decided to take a nap, so I was free to go to the Gracie school for the noon class. Then this morning I forgot about resetting the clocks, so I'm up an hour earlier than necessary, which gives me a chance to blog about the class, and to scarf down the last Runts from halloween. Breakfast of champions.

Happy Halloweenie!

Yeah, yeah, so it's the day after, so what?

I had yesterday off entirely. Well-- speaking of my physical labors only; I still had to work (and work a lot, which is partly why I didn't go to the gym at all.) I have a brief due on Monday, and I underestimated how long it would take.

So, I worked, and worked, and skipped class, and worked more. Helped do two witness interviews.

We have a friend from Conroe TX staying with us this weekend because he's taking the State Bar's certification exam for a criminal law specialization today. We had dinner with him at Chuy's last night (which means chicken fajita nachos. Boo.) Mitch stayed home, so I taught salsa at Copa by myself. It was fun-- Ivelin came with a black cape, a funky hat, and a mask. Zade and his friend Tom stopped by dressed as drunken sailors, but they weren't drunk yet. I danced a fair bit, and then agreed to check out a party with Ivelin.

It was the single biggest, craziest block party I've ever seen-- kind of like footage from spring break in some college beach town, except no beach... this party was so big, people were arriving in cabs and you couldn't park for blocks. Vendors sold food, glow sticks, and who knows what else.. I wasn't costumed as anything except for a salsa teacher. The night's best comment-- a guy walked up to Ivelin and asked if he was dressed as Pimp Zorro! Truly comic. Lots of skinny, fat, and in-between. One girl had a totally cool look-- black and white checkered scarf tied over her head (think pirate), a white blouse with a black leather half corset (laces up just around your waist), a belt with bullets all around, tight grey capris with a scimitar hanging from the belt loop, black tights, and amazing high heeled lace-up boots. She didn't look like she rented it, it looked like stuff she owned and wore regularly... it was truly attractive. Unfortunately one guy-- well, just think "man who recently gave birth" without a shirt on... and he was wearing a DIAPER taped around his waist (no pants!) with packing tape. *SIGH* I told Ivelin it was like watching a train wreck, you can't tear your eyes away from the disaster.

By about 1:45 I was getting chilly and a little bored... the DJ had shut down his music because a band was about to get started, but I didn't care to stay. Got to bed about 2:30 and woke at 6 this morning to get my car's tires rotated, alignment, etc. I need two new tires, wahhh!

So I'm home now, made a pot of chicken tortilla soup, gonna work on this brief some more, and then I'll hit the gym. I hope I can find someone to roll with today, I miss it.