7.10.10 /BJJ Women's Open Mat /Rape Escape - Self Defense Seminar

Don't hate me. But I didn't go to BJJ last Thursday, and I'm probably not going this week until Sat. ! I know! I know!! Bad Jamie. But I've had a lot of things to do recently and just need to get them done.

The very super sad news is that my bike doesn't work. Well, that's what you get from ordering online, I suppose. Currently the rear brakes are not working and it's possible the gears don't as well. However, I found a really awesome site that I am going to try to use to help me fix these things.

(Update: Fixed my bike yesterday morning! Thanks to www.bicycletutor.com . This site is awesome! Gives you videos, forums. It helped me figure out it was the tension of the levers that needed to be increased and my dad helped me adjust them.)

Ok. Sat my gym, The Grappler's Guide Academy,  held a FREE women's open mat, and then a women's only self defense seminar hosted by Sharon Bonewicz. Sharon has been training in martial arts for over 15 years. After trying different styles she was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by some friends to compliment her Judo training. She is only the 13th American woman to be awarded her black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in March of 2008. During this journey she realized most women were not interested in learning a martial art for self-defense. Sharon researched and found the perfect solution to compliment her training as a self-defense instructor as well as provide women with an effective program to defend themselves. Sharon received her certification from Defend University in June 2009 and has been teaching the Fight Like A Girl (F.L.A.G.) program ever since. Feel free to contact her with any questions or to host a program at: sbonewicz@gmail.com.

This was pretty awesome! The open mat was at 10am, but I didn't get there till like 12:30. :/ . Being lazy this week, I guess. That and I had stayed up till 4am with my boyfriend Friday night lol. My bad. So Sat morning I got up later than I might had planed. James made me breakfast ^.^ (good thing he doesn't read this, he'd kill me), and I tried to stop grumbling about being awake. Made it out the door, though I realized as I was driving to the gym that I forgot exercise clothes to wear underneath. Luckily, I always keep spare clothes for BJJ in my trunk and this is exactly why!

10am /Women's Open Mat
Ok, for this I didn't get there early enough to roll very much, but I got to roll with some really cool girls. I rolled with a lot of girls who have started very recently, around a year or under. There was also a girl who was a brown belt. She was awesome, and very helpful! One thing she pointed out to me while she had side control and I was bridging: She said I had a lot of strength, and I was bridging really well but not doing anything else so just wasting my energy (which I kind of realized but didn't know what to do about it). So she said as soon as I bridge, to right away stick my knee in and get guard back. I tried it a few times with her and it worked fairly well. Can't wait to try it in a more live setting and especially with a guy.

I did roll with one girl who had someone record it, and it was just us. It was a fun roll. I really hope to see the video and will post it up if I get it.

Alright, work time. Self defense I have more to say for so I will post it after work. I'm not going to BJJ today cause I also have to finish my draft term paper for my class. So next class is Wed.

6.28.10 /Muay Thai 7 - 8 pm /BJJ 8 - 9:30 pm

Ok. Monday Class. Righht. Maybe I'll be a good girl and get Thurs up tonight as well after I go. It's almost necessary, considering this is 4th of July weekend and I'm gonna be way too busy with beaches, bikes, and beer to be posting.

7 - 8pm /Muay Thai

I've missed at least one week of this so far, maybe two. I still really like the teacher. MT is kinda hard for me. It's like when I started BJJ, I had no f-ing clue what I was doing. I hadn't even heard of jiu jitsu before. I showed up and that was the first time I learned what it was (and proceeded to fall in love, of course). So it's sort of like when your 5 or even 10 and draw something without knowing how much skill you lack in drawing. Now at 26, if I draw something I can see so much more than could have ever occurred to me back then. Well, with BJJ I sort of had that vision. I couldn't tell difference. Now that I have experience in a similar thing, MT I can tell. It's like in MT I'm all grown up.

That doesn't make it any easier. Mentally, I feel like I have to push more. Keep trying. Keep going to class. Don't give up. It feels like BJJ came easier, but that's because I didn't pay as much attention to my screw ups. I feel like I remember less than ever, but that's because most likely I didn't realize how many things I forgot or didn't pick up in the beginning of jiu jitsu.

But that's ok. I'm gonna keep pushing; keep going. I'm definitely not gonna give up!

Points of MT to Remember

1. Always aim for the center line of the body
2. In MT, there are 3 "levels" of a person's body, and you learn to incorporate all 3 while fighting.
3. Do NOT PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR FEET/THEIR FEET/ ANYONE'S DAMN FEET. That needed caps cause I find it mad hard. All the time, I want to watch myself as I do something. But you know where your body is. You can feel your limbs and every part of you. You DON'T need to see them to feel them. Gregg, our instructor, used the example of telling me to close my eyes and touch my nose. See! I know where my nose is. Oh. Right. Finnne. Look up. Look at the chin, chest.
4. Always protect yourself.
5. Always be moving
6. You need GOOD balance/flexibility. I might have to start yoga. Damn. (Cause it's so boring!)
7. Do not point your toes as you kick!

We went over basic hooks, crosses, and jabs. Which I really wish I could practice doing on someone once or twice out of class too, actually. No doubt if I did that a few times outside of class I would feel more confident with what the correct way of throwing one feels like. Oh wells.

We also did a take down, but there is a detail of it I can't remember and I'm going to text my friend Kelly who takes it also to go threw it with me. Be a delayed post.

8 - 9 pm /BJJ

Was a fun, but not all together productive class. I felt like everything I know I've been doing wrong kept happening, no matter how hard I tried this class to NOT do those things! It was def a little frustrating. That's how it goes, sometimes.

I'll give a few examples of my problems. I really like passing guard from standing, which means often I have to face open guard. This tends to be much harder on guys than girls, of course, and I usually get caught there eventually. I've been trying to get control of the grips, to stack them and not allow for space. But that's so much easier said than done. I know, keep on it. But Monday was exceptionally worse than normal. I think. Or maybe I just want to improve quicker than will actually happen. Who knows. Then there's that I tend to lean forward while in someone's guard, or trying to pass open guard or anything. I KNOW I'm not supposed to. I know that it sets me off balance, and makes it easier. And yet, just another thing I keep on forgetting as I actually roll! It makes it worse that if I saw someone else doing it, I would know to say something. I know what I'm doing, but sometimes it almost feels helpless to change it. Grrrrr.

I definitely need to work on grips and not keeping my arm open to armbars so much while in guard. But I'm gonna stop now, because the list of things I need to work on is endless.

Scarfhold Choke

We worked on a scarfhold choke in class. At least, I'm pretty sure it's called that. You get it from starting in scarfhold, so either way it's a good name.

1. You start in scarfhold position let's say on their left side.
2. Your left hand is going to be gripping their collar on their left side. (So arm under their head).
3. They try to shrimp out, which is when you take a BIG stomp with your right leg over their left arm. Should go up in the air like an arc, because otherwise it might not clear their arm!
4. Immediately go onto your knees to secure side control, keeping tight with their arm between your legs now.
5. Your right hand should grip the collar on their right side, and your left hand is going to go under their left shoulder and grip the collar from underneath.
6. Your right hand is gripping on the right side, and you are going to bring your arm around and across their neck tight.
7. Extend your body down towards the floor, and also make your right leg completely straight. (The leg that is straight is always the one on the outside near your opponent's head/shoulder.)
8. Squeeze tight! And they tap.

Some notes: I felt as this was being done to me, that when they go to switch the collar grips one getting side control, my right arm was free to use as I please. Thus I could have possibly tried to get free. This might not make a difference depending on who is doing it against you, or if someone did it to me in a live rolling situation since no one gives 100% while learning a technique. However, I did feel it was something I might bring up next class (oh shit, that's tonight haha).

All in all, I really like the choke. I have gotten scarf hold (ish) positions in the past a few times after passing guard, and then be like, ok, I'm here, now what. There were def a few times when I had the position, went to side control, then went back because I felt scarf was more secure in stopping their hips (at least for those particular opponents and moments and me!). So my goal in the future will be to hopefully try this choke out while rolling a few times.

Alright. I need some food. Plus, that's all to write. Now I will just send a little prayer to the Blogger Gods that this email-posty thing will not screw me and my layout. For the third time.