2 Weeks To Go

2 weeks and counting. It's crunch time. Literally...I need to do crunches because I have about 5 pounds to lose in that short amount of time. Besides the weight I feel confident. I think my ground game plan is solid. I have some go-to moves that I feel comfortable with. My stand up seems a lot more smooth and confident this time. I have about 4 different setups that I'm going to be trying. Having a game plan is certainly key. They say a lot of any sport is mental and I can't help, but agree. Say you have a game plan that has 5 moves or positions, the plan isn't there so that you have to go in order, it's more for those times when things aren't going as planned. Your opponent may have stopped you from doing move 1 and 2, but somehow you have made it to 3 and guess what you automatically do next...4. This is like a road map for when you get lost, it puts you back on track mentally and you no longer feel hopeless. Of course if you go out and dominate and pull off moves 1-5 then props to you! I personally do a lot of visualization, how about you all? What are some things you do to mentally get ready to compete? I think my next post will be about my methods of visualizing.

Progress is Best Measured in Pounds?

This past Thursday was the first time I've weighed since getting the shocking news that I had to lose 10 pounds. It was after an excellent class where we had lots of high level guys on the mats. It's always nice to see the mats full because you know you will be rolling a lot when the time comes around. I think I rolled with 6 different people Thursday night. So after class we head over to the gym again and Bri and Justin stepped on the scales and weighed about the same. Bri has lost about 4 pounds even though she doesn't need to. Justin has done well maintaining. I step on the scale and cringe because I have worked hard over the last week and a half, and I knew if I hadn't lost anything it would be a huge blow to my motivation. Somehow I lost 4-5 pounds in a week and a half AWESOME! Makes me feel better about being able to drop the other 5 in the last 4 weeks. 155 here I come!

Porky The Pig Does BJJ

So the other night after Thursdays class, we headed straight to the local gym and weighed ourselves. This was just to get an idea of where we are at and gauge how much weight we have to cut for the Freestyle Grappling Open in Oct. My girlfriend Bri doesn't need to cut weight and never does, so that wasn't a shock. Justin had less then 5 pounds to lose. Me on the other hand...10ish maybe even 12 pounds. One thing as become apparent I am a Taco-holic. I friggen hate cutting for competitions. I cut out beer and try to eat healthy for about a month and a half, but by the time the date rolls around I would kill a man for a Big Mac. So needless to say, this week at the Foundry I have been trying to put in extra work and rolls to shed some of these pounds. I need to cut down to 155 by mid Oct. Tofu here I come!

Life after Bjj

Jiu Jitsu has affected me in such positive ways it's crazy. At the same time it's hard to list them out on paper. I guess it's just an over all feeling that's hard to step back from and dissect. I can state the obvious, like I lost a lot of weight just by doing bjj 3 times a week. I lost like 30 pounds I think. I have been able to cut down lower for competitions so in a way jiu jitsu has shown me that I do in fact have control over my health, and being fat and lazy is somewhat of a choice. The less obvious ones are things like confidence in myself and my abilities. Not just on the mat, but in life. Every night when you step out onto the mats you overcome something. When you are mounted and you feel hopeless, you suddenly gain half guard and work hard to regain full guard. Once you are there things don't seem so bad. This outlook helps so much in everyday life. So what about you? What has jiu jitsu done for your life?

Extended Family

It's often said that soldiers will form lifetime bonds with the people they go to battle with. They trust their lives to each other and know that when the shit hits the fan their teammates will be there to back them up. This happens in jiu-jitsu as well. You may not have to trust your life to your teammates, but you sure as hell put your own safety in their hands. This fact forms the bonds that make teammates like extended family. Tonight at the Foundry we had a big class again, the mats were full of familiar faces. Some we haven't seen in months, some only a few days. There is something about sitting on the mats with friends learning things together, sharing new moves you have been trying out and chatting about life that brings people together.