Sun 1/31/10

"Blood is just red sweat." - Enson Inoue

Today I grappled no gi (I wanted to do Gi) with my friend Seth, who I have known almost as long as I have lived in GA. He is a fellow Blue Belt and we trained together at Triple Boxing. Neither of us train there any more, but Seth followed Stevie Broughman to TUF.

When we met, I was already a blue, but he was a white belt. He is a tough guy, but I was able to dominate him easily for probably the first year we knew each other, but he caught up to me soon enough.

Besides the fact that he is a really nice guy, I like rolling with him because he helps me to get better.

I used to catch him in the same stuff, but eventually he defended, so I had to try something else. It has been going on like that for a while and while he has gotten better and I submit him less, I have had to change my game time after time. I still have a couple of years of training on him, but he has gotten much better than when we first met.

If I gauged my improvement on how many times I submit him, I would be pretty sad, as some times I can't. But when I look at the fact that he has gotten much better, then just the one time I submitted him today was a victory. Still there is more to victory than just that, there is control, dominant positions, passing guard, not letting them pass (he passed my guard twice which I view as a lose on my part), being submitted, and being able to pull off a certain move. In this case, I had some victories, so not bad for the second time rolling after hurting my ribs.

I was hoping to swim tomorrow, but I think I am going to have to stay home with Jordan because he has a fever and my wife can't miss Monday class again. Still, I will be lifting tomorrow night.

Have a safe journey.

Sat 1/30/10

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

The family and I went to the car show in Atl and I took a pic with the Fonz!! I went through a faze in high school when I wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black MC leather jacket.

Lots of cool cars, trucks, and motor cycles there, plus the kids got to take pics with Brenda Song who plays London on "Suite Life of Zack & Cody & Suite Life on Deck" on Disney.

I normally take Sats off, as I did today, but I am going to do so BJJ tomorrow.

Have a safe journey.

Fri 1/29/10

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants." - Isaac Newton

A little set back today. After chili bingo with the family and some friends at my sons school, I worked out. I was still sore from grappling last night, so I tried to take it easy. I still can't do pull ups because of my ribs and my lower back and legs were sore, so no deadlifts or squats. But here is what I did:

Chest - 4 sets of Bench press x 8 reps

Shoulders/core - 3 sets of hand stand walks with legs against wall x 16'

Shoulders - 3 sets of dumbbell upward rows x 8 reps

Core - 3 sets of ball slams x 10 reps

Bis - 3 sets of dumbbell curls x 10 reps

Tris - 3 sets of tri press downs x 10 reps

Legs/chest /core - 3 sets of burpees x 10 reps

I plan to lift again on Mon late and hopefully swim at lunch. I hope I start regaining my strength.

Up until 1993 (I was 19) I had done some TKD and boxing with friends who were going to schools/gyms. Even though I was taking classes and was 6' 1" (6' 2" with hair) and weighed 125lbs, I thought I was tough for my size, but still had trouble with some bigger guys. The UFC was on pay per view in 1993 and I watched a thin Brazilian named Royce Gracie beating up much bigger guys on the ground. I hated going to the ground. He was doing something called Gracie Jiu Jitsu. I thought it was the best real fighting I had ever seen!!! I still loved Bruce Lee, but really wanted to add this to my boxing and high kicking skills. The problem was that there were no Gracie Jiu Jitsu schools around. In 1994 I met a small and thin guy (he is pretty muscular now) named Rick Cabral at the Olive Garden, where he worked. We talked a little bit and he told me he was a black belt and taught Gen Lee Jiu Jitsu, which was an Americanized version of Japanese Jiu Jitsu. I was sold!!! This style did not just focus on the ground, it was more like Judo ground, Karate stand up, and a whole lot of self defense. Still, I loved it and it made me somewhat well rounded. It turned out that the small thin guy is one of the toughest, athletic guys I have ever met. Only 3 years older than me, he held a black belt in two styles, was a gymnast, and an all around BMFer. On top of all that, he was attending Rutgers and was a super nice guy. I learned so much about many things and I am glad to say he is still my friend and we email each other daily. He has said that the roles have reversed between us, but I am not too sure about that. He will always be my Master. Thanks Rick!!! It wasn't until 2005 when I came across Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in San Antonio, TX. There, I started a new journey, but it was my foundation that saw me quickly learn the beginnings of BJJ. But that is a story for another day. I still owe Royce Gracie for helping me understand the need for ground fighting and bring about the integration of multiple styles to form MMA, which was what Bruce Lee had preached for years.

Have a safe journey.

Thurs 1/28/10

"Life can either be accepted or changed. If not accepted, it must be changed. If not changed, then it must be accepted." - Unknown Author



Today I grappled (no gi) for the first time in 3 weeks. I had one of my good friends come over and a new guy that found me online. They both knew I was still getting over my boo boo ribs, so we took it easy.

I jumped rope for 5 mins and then stretched.

We warmed up with a light, no submission roll. Then we went over a technique variation.

My friend showed us a different approach to the guillotine choke (different to me any way). You get the choke position in closed guard, making sure your arm pit is high on their neck, as far down their neck as possible. Holding the choke with one hand, make sure the choking elbow is pushing down against the side of their head, nice and snug. Also make sure your knees are over their floater ribs. With your head on the mat, pinch your knees together over the floater ribs, stick your crossed feet straight in the air (those two parts are important), then push them down and stretch the guy out. His neck will be in the same place and you should be able to choke them with little to no strength and with only the one arm. The biggest probs are getting/keeping your knees over their floater ribs and keeping your head on the mat as I am used to lifting it. Now, I normally stretch them out depending on the type of choke, but the difference is pinching the knees with your legs straight in the air before the stretch.

I did pretty good as long as no one was on the ribs and was a bit winded, but moved well and transitioned from bottom to top to bottom like normal.

Looking forward to lifting tomorrow.

I started to think about when I started having an interest in MA, and like most, it was from watching Bruce Lee, when I was around 4/5, 1978/79.

My parents were divorced around then, so we didn't have money for lessons, but as I got a little older I started to train myself (not the best idea as a kid). I found ways to train with others in my teens, until I could pay for classes myself. Now there are a few different reasons, one is because I have a hero complex, always have. Being able to beat up 5 guys and save the girl has always been my dream, but luckily I have not had to lately. I think a lot of guys suffer from the disorder... The other reason was because it wasn't always easy being the only blond haired, blue eyed crack for most of your years in school. Self defense was a big part of it, but once I got decent at it, I hardly ever had to fight again. Confidence can be a great thing as long as it doesn't turn in to over-confidence.

With that being said, I think it is more than that. It is like this, why does a painter paint, a singer sing, a sky diver sky dive? Because they are good at it? Because it gives them a thrill? Because they get a release? Because they want to improve? Yes...but for me it is because it makes me feel free. I am most relaxed when someone is trying to beat the white off of me. When I am trying to combine body, mind, and spirit. Fighting is something natural. Kids can do it at young ages and animals do it for many reason, but the trick is to become good at it without being the biggest bear around. Thing what would happen in the wild if a deer could use BJJ against a lion....any way. The other thing for me is because I have always had an aggressive temper, later to be told I am bi-polar. What ever it is, getting my aggression out doing Martial Arts and/or working out keeps me the level headed, mild mannered, nice guy that most know, but ask my wife how I am when I am not doing any of that for a while...GrumpyAMF. So that's mainly the reasons I do what I do. Not to hurt people or because I like pain (I do enjoy a smack or two from my wife ;p) or want to be a pro fighter or prove how tough I am. I hope that helps a little...

Royce Gracie is the reason I turned to Jiu Jitsu, but that is for another night, I have to tend to my wife, she is sicky.

Have a safe journey.

Wed 1/27/10

"The difference between try and triumph is a little umph" - Author Unknown

Yea!!!!!!!!!!! I finally had a full workout!!!!

It wasn't anything fancy or with heavy weight, but it's the first one in 3 weeks.

I did have a little bit of trouble and was close to over doing it. I started with a warm up 3 min fast paced run on the treadmill, no prob. Then I started to stretch and the problems began. My legs were so tight, I had a bit of pain. I did some push ups after I stretched and then was ready for the workout. I tried to keep it simple and light, but worked most of my body, here it is:

Chest - 3 super sets of bench press x 8 reps & pec deck x 10 reps

Legs - Squats - 2 sets x 10 reps

I wanted to do some pull ups, but they caused a little pain in my side, so I skipped them. So I did

Back/Shoulders - 3 super sets of T bar rows x 8 reps & T bar 1 handed shoulder press x 8 reps

Core - 3 sets if dumbbell swings x 6 reps

Bis/Tris - 3 super sets of bar curls x 5 reps & weighted dips x 8 reps

Stretched - protein shake - shower - shaved head...

I had a shaky start but once I got going I didn't want to stop, which was bad. I have been injured in the past and worked through it, but made the injury worse or it took longer to heal. I don't want to do that this time. Some times being tough is being patient.

My kids are happy that I am working out again because they enjoy working out (playing) in the workout room also.

I hope to have two MA workout partners come over tomorrow, but will still take it light.

A friend of mine who lifts weight and does MMA asked me why is it that we put our selves through all of the pain, injuries, and time of training...I hope to have an answer to that, but first I need to remember why I started in the first place. I should have an answer to both tomorrow.

Have a safe journey.

Tues 1/26/10

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places" - Author Unknown

I had a work dinner tonight, so I only got to do a small workout, but I finished arranging my Smith Machine.

My plan is to do a full workout tomorrow, but with light weight because of my ribs and a light Martial Arts workout on Thurs night. I hope all goes well.

I have someone new coming to workout with me on Thurs, plus my of my good friends. The new guy seems nice and humble, so it should go good. Unless he goes crazy and hurts my ribs...

Thurs will be 3 weeks since I did any MAs, but while I rested my ribs, I went over instructionals and mags to find some techniques and details. So I have some grappling techniques I want to drill, plus some postures I want to go over.

I think it will take me a couple weeks to get back in to the swing of things, but my challenge is not over doing it, as I normally do.

We shall see...

Have a safe journey.

Mon 1/25/10

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness." - James Thurber

Well, I only did a bit of lifting, but the good thing is that I got a nifty Smith Machine on Craigslist for about $200 less than about a dozen others that were on there and the guy helped me take it apart, load it in to his pick up truck, and drove it to my house!!!

Now I am going to sell my squat rack/lat pulley machineon CL. This new machine is cool, it has upper/lower pulley, fly attachment, smith counter weighted bar, weight rack, and a place for another bar. I hope to post a pic on it tomorrow.

I felt bad because Jordan wanted to help me put in together, but it was 10PM. He went to the doc today and has strep, again...

The gas was turned on today, so we now have heat and hot water. I can take a shower!!!

Have a safe journey.

Sun 1/24/10

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid" - Franklin P. Jones

Well, I started this blog to log my training and share some of my ideas, but there hasn't been much working out going on. It was cold and raining here and the gas is not being turned on until tomorrow, but I am feeling good and should be able to start some light working out tomorrow.

Not much going on today, Jordan is sick, and Kayla and Amanda went to the store for a "be right back" trip....they came back 3 hours later.

Jordan and I played with his WWE wrestlers and my Royce Gracie action figure that I got for Xmas. It was a three way tie between Royce, Jeff Hardy (Jordan's favorite), and Triple H (his second favorite).

Kayla and I played the Wii and then we all finished watching Lord of the Rings part 1.

Hopefully I have some workouts to blog about tomorrow.

Have a safe journey.

Sat 1/23/2010

"In time of test, family is best" - Burmese Proverb

I hurt my ribs a couple of weeks ago and haven't started working out yet, but I have been feeling better since the Doc gave me some anti-inflammatories.

Had a great day today with the family at the Georgia Aquarium, went out to eat, did some shopping, then went back to our cold home.

Our gas was shut off on Thurs in error, but they can not put it back on until Mon. No heat or hot water until Mon...Sux!

I borrowed the Lord of the Rings DVDs from a friend because my kids wanted to watch it, so we watched the first half of the first movie in front of the fire place. My wife fell asleep...

I am looking forward to working out/Martial Arts soon, maybe tomorrow.

Have a safe journey.

First blog