This started as a blog about training together as a family, in part to inspire other women & families to get involved. As female participation in jiu jitsu has increased, as we have grown as athletes and as we learned that families training together aren’t such an anomaly, the blog has evolved. Jen gets personal with posts on ambition, challenges & achievements in BJJ, CrossFit & with nutrition, while Tom's posts are more educational, informative and analytical in regards to training. On occasion you may hear from the kids.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Passing, Passing and More Passing


My dad is the young guy in the white shorts.
Guess I’m more like him than I realized.

by Jen
So last night I had to pass guard over and over and over again. Or maybe I should say "try to" pass. I spent an entire round in one of our white belt’s guard and could not pass! Since we didn’t do anything significant in the entire 6 minutes, Marcelo had us try again for the next 6-minute round. Again, no luck. Then, I had to try to pass Tom’s guard. Ugh!

Excuses? I have plenty. The white belt was strong! There was no moving his legs – they were tight. I did CrossFit that morning and did a bunch of 55lb snatches. (Snatches include in an overhead squat). My legs were burning when I tried to stand up! And let’s not forget that he is determined – this guy has a lot of heart. Plus, I was getting so frustrated!

And Tom? He is great with the grips. Every time I broke one grip he quickly grabbed another. Over and over and over again. Grip, sweep, repeat. Ugh!

Excuses aside, the fact was I could not pass and I should have been able to. I may not like it on the surface, but I appreciate why Marcelo made me pass (or try to) over and over and over again.

I need to know that I can pass. It is better to work through the frustration and feelings of defeat in practice instead of in a tournament. If I keep trying I will finally figure it out. Most importantly, I will eventually develop more confidence in my passing so when I am in a tournament, I won’t be held back. Do I have to like this though?

2 comments:

  1. Girl, we are going through the same stuff!! lol Fabio does similar things. If he knows I struggle with something a particular person does, he puts me with them more!! I don't enjoy it either, but eventually (I hope!) it will benefit us. Keep working! :)

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  2. Nice to know I'm not alone. Keep working too - I know it will pay off!

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