BJJ Family Matters

The stages of competition, the way that I see it.

2012-02-12T06:22:00.000-05:00

by Jen

I recently identified a cycle of emotions that I traditionally follow around each competition. Here are the stages of competition, at least the way that I see it.

Stage 1: Discovery - Excitement as I set my sights on a new competition. I mentally debate whether or not I should register, although I know in my heart that I will unless I have a work, budgetary or other personal conflict. I imagine myself excelling!

Stage 2: Preparation - Focused training towards tangible goals that will lead to my success. I drive my family crazy because the training consumes me and is all that I can talk about! I eat, sleep and breathe for my training.

Stage 3: 1 Week Out - Panic.

7 days out: What was I thinking? I still can't blank, blank and blank (Fill in the blanks with whatever skills I have been working towards.)

6 to 2 days out - Smart training focused around skill, not intensity, allowing for rest. Eating very healthy.

1 day out - Extreme panic, rest, good night sleep, mental preparation.

Stage 4: Day of -Wake up feeling like I either want to cry or throw up. I can't believe I signed up to do this again. Quiet morning meditation, motivational playlist on my Ipod, good breakfast. Let's do this.

Arrive at the venue and feed off of the excitement of the other competitors. Rely on my IPOD to help get me into the zone.

Know in my heart that I did everything I could to prepare. Do my absolute best to make my family, coaches and team proud.

Stage 5: Post Competition - 24 hours post competition - relive everything that I did right, and even more, everything that I could have done better. Feeling so grateful for the team of people who supported me and helped me prepare.

This leads to a feeling of let down that the big event is over (similar to the let down after a big holiday or vacation).

Quietly work and train...until I discover the next big competition and start the cycle all over again..

Do you experience anything similar?

I hit the wall......literally.

2012-02-02T22:14:00.001-05:00

by Jen

The 8 foot wall at the Heraean Games has already inspired several blogposts and facebook statuses so I almost chose not to write this post, but itturns out that the wall has special meaning to me. Too special not towrite about.

Let me back up for a moment. If you keep up with my blog you know thatI had been training hard for the Heraean Games. The Games were an all femaleCrossFit competition that took place the last weekend.    Therequired standards for the Athena (Masters) division were posted months agowhich helped me to focus my training. But in true CrossFit fashion, atthe last minute, they sprang the 8 foot wall climb on us. I can scale the6 foot wall at ATP, but 8 feet? Hmm, I don't know.

Juan and Stephanie, our ATP coaches, helped my teammates and I strategizeour technique the morning of the competition. Approach it like a box jump, geta good grip on the top, pull yourself up, swing your arms then legs over andyou made it! I did it three times- piece of cake. I got this.

The Wall was a part of WOD 1. It came after 50 double unders, a 40calorie row, 30 box jumps, 20 deadlifts, 10 snatches and 10 push ups. Iaccomplished that in just over 10 minutes. All I had to do was scale thiswall and pull the sled and I was done. I really got this!

Jump one - Fail. Jump two - Fail. Jump Three Fail - and so onand so on and so on. My heart started to sink. I noticed that someof the others took a running jump approach - let me try this. Backup, run and SLAM. Face, meet wall.   When I began to taste theblood I looked at Juan and asked if I was okay. He screamed "You'reokay, keep going, keep going!" So I did.

I remember hearing people that I didn't know, along with my coaches and ATPmembers, coaching me and cheering me on. I remember the words of one ofthe event organizers playing over and over again in my head, "If you thinkyou cannot climb the wall, you won't climb the wall."    Iwas not going to say that I couldn’t climb the wall.

Finally, after minutes that seemed like an eternity, I gripped the top,pulled myself up and pulled myself over. The crowd of people, most ofwhom I didn't know, roared. Wow! What a feeling!

In my forty-one years I have hit many walls - personally, professionally,financially and more. It is the same things that got me over the 8 footwall that got me over the others. I’m talking about the support andencouragement from special people, the words of wisdom from coaches, heroes,mentors, and bosses, mixed with a little tenacity.

I went to BJJ tonight still unsure as to whether or not I was going to writethis post. My decision became clear when I figuratively hit the wall whileon the mat. I was getting tapped out and swept like crazy. Remembering the wall helped me to jump alittle higher. Unfortunately I don’tthink it was quite high enough tonight. But that's okay. I have the wisdom and supportof Marcelo and my BJJ family, along with a little tenacity, to climb the manywalls that I will inevitably meet head on in my journey.

As a side note, you never know who you may inspire in your struggle to climb a wall. A couple of girls came up to me later in the day to tell me that they almost cried when I finally made it over. All the more reason to keep jumping.

Heraean Games Video

2012-01-30T19:52:00.000-05:00

The Heraean Games MMXII from Jarret Streiner on Vimeo.
Here's a video from the Heraean Games. I didn't place, but I accomplished what I set out to do. I will post a recap soon. It will include how I slammed my face into that 8' wall. You can find me around the 4th minute wearing a white tank top.
by Jen

It's Time

2012-01-27T07:52:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Tomorrow is the day that I have spent months training for - The Heraean games are here.

Unfortunately, I woke up on Wednesday feeling a cold coming on so I've been downing Airborne and Emergen-C, eating lots of chicken soup and getting plenty of rest.

Pull ups never made their way into the WODs so I relaxed on practicing those. My double unders are better, but still inconsistent. Fortunately or unfortunately (I'm not sure which one) they are the first exercise that I will have to do tomorrow. I hope I do them swiftly, and if I don't, I hope they don't set the tone for the rest of my day.

Goals for the Heraean Games
1. Leave it all on the floor. Bring my very best to each of the 3 WOD's. Give 'til there is nothing left!
2. Remember that I'm there to challenge myself. I'm there to do my personal best. I prepared as hard as I could without sacrificing my work and family responsibilities. I know this in my heart. Now it's time to bring it.
3. Wear blinders. Don't get discouraged if I see my competitors getting far ahead of me. But leave a little window open to help motivate me. This one is going to be a difficult balance.
4. Make my coaches proud. My ATP coaches have been amazing in helping me prepare. I want to reward them for their belief in me and their dedicated coaching.
5. Represent ATP well through good sportsmanship. When all is said and done, that is what really counts.
6. Cheer on my fellow teammates. Jessica, Lauren and April are outstanding athletes - can't wait to see them in action tomorrow!
7. Be a good example to my kids. They have witnessed my battle with the double unders. I want to show them that persistence pays off.
8. Be an inspiration to other woman my age. There are only 8 of us in the Master's division. While still a small group this is double from last year! I would love to be a part of growing this division even more!
9 Move along when (if) I struggle with an exercise. Keep going and don't get discouraged.
10. Relax and have fun! I often realize that my inability to relax is an obstacle when I roll and crossfit. Tomorrow I need to remember to relax, relax, relax!

When all is said and done, The Heraean Games are just another step in my Crossfit and BJJ journey. I have many more tournaments to fight in and competitions to participate in. Maybe, one day, there will even be an RX in my future.

Lastly, thank you Tom for "believing that I can fly."

JiuJitsuMania World Champion Michelle Nicolini Training Seminar

2012-01-05T18:43:00.000-05:00

JiuJitsu Mania.com posted this video from the Michelle Nicolini seminar in Wellington Florida on November 13.

Looking Forward to Great Things

2011-12-31T09:14:00.001-05:00

by Jen

2012 is near. Resolutions are written and filed in a place where I will see them regularly. Now for the fun stuff - here is a glimpse of what I am looking forward to in 2012.

• I hope to compete in the Pan Ams. This is still not confirmed. I need to be sure I can finance the trip without screwing up my 2012 financial resolution.

• Competing in other BJJ and CrossFit tournaments, including the Heraean games on January 28th. Who knows, maybe 2012 is the year I start working towards the masters division of the CrossFit Games. I have four years to make the 45+ division, leaving much time to work on those skills. If nothing else I will continue to grow as I train.

• Watching the 2012 Olympics. This year will be the first that I will be interested in watching the Weightlifting division. And hopefully my inspiration, Dara Torres, will be swimming.

• Attending female open mats and seminars. There was great energy at the Michelle Nicolini seminar last November and the girls were talking about hosting more consistent female open mats.

• Watching RFLX Training Center flourish. Last August Marcelo Meleiro BJJ moved from our CrossFit facility to RFLX. Our new home continues to grow and expand. I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for our bjj family.

• Getting my new gi. My Atama Mundial number nine should be arriving any day now! After three years I finally invested in a good one!

• Fun experiences and celebrations with our family and friends. We are starting off with our very own 5k on the beach on New Years Day and a camping trip to follow within the next few weeks.

• Another Mud Run or similar challenge. I hope we will bring some new friends this year.

• Continuing to enjoy training with the family and watching my children grow, flourish and experience new things.

• Working with Tom to build our home training facility. The mats are upstairs, the weights are on the porch, the pull up bar is in place and we have identified good places to hang a climbing rope and throw some wall balls. Landscaping has never been our forte so it seems perfectly natural to use the big yard as a gym.

• Those unexpected little surprises that put a smile on my face. Like the Washington DC trip that Logan won for us last year. I have learned that you never know what tomorrow will bring. That is what makes life worth living.

What are you looking forward to?

RELAX

2011-12-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

By Jen

Relax! This was the consistent theme in my training this week. Relax my shoulders as I dead lift. Relax while doing double unders. (I realized that I was jumping without breathing. No wonder why I kept screwing up.) Relax while going for the take down. Logan got the points. I got the lesson.

As I write this, feeling sore (and feeling my age) after a week of some tough training and with a sprained toe from BJJ last night, I vow to relax and train no more until Saturday morning. With the exception, of course, for a little training in Just Dance 3.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T06:12:00.000-05:00

May the light of Christmas bring hope and peace in your life. Merry Christmas!

Bodily Identity

2011-12-23T13:28:00.001-05:00

I have been packing on the pounds lately and starting to feel the consequences of the additional weight during BJJ training. The warm up is stealing more of my breath than it used to and I can maintain fewer rolls back to back. Granted, the extra weight is an asset when I am on top. Jen calls me a bully when we roll and constantly reminds me of my unmovable juggernaut status. She is not the only one I have heard those complaints from. Before I shed the pounds I have one question. Are our personal identities determined by our bodily identities? Mass media constantly bombards us with images of the modern ideal physical form. Even geeky Hollywood actors like Ashton Kutcher are showing up on the covers of Mens Fitness sporting six packs. Stallone, Arnold, Bruce, Chuck and Clint were the only buff actors I can recall from childhood and muscles seemed limited to only action heroes. All types of bizarre exercise apparatuses that promise us the perfect body have been thrust into our living rooms via late night infomercials. We have seen all sorts of exercise programs become popular only to be replaced by the newest trend. Spinning, Zumba, Jazzercise, Tae Bo, Boxercise, Cardio Kick Boxing, Pilates, Yoga, Circuit Training, Roller Blading, Jogging, and even CrossFit. I will probably get kettlebells tossed at me for including the last one as a fad, but it is true. There are a lot of people jumping on the CrossFit bandwagon who could give a rats ass about functional training, they just want to look good. There is nothing wrong with that, functional training will give you results. When I was younger I spent years training like a body builder in hopes that I would have the body of a Greek God. That type of training gets constantly dismissed now due to its lack of functional training but it did get results. To get bigger you have to constantly add weight to increase strength. Strength is an attribute to any athlete including the Jiu Jitsu player. We should not rely on our physical attributes (speed, strength, flexibility, size) to compensate for technique, but they are necessary tools to have in your BJJ tool box. Due to CrossFit and MMA trainers, we are all getting to appreciate old school functional training of yesteryear's strongmen and the gym rats of the 50's and 60's. Calisthenics, Olympic lifting, and body weight exercises which were the staples of an exercise regimen decades past, have reemerged as the holy grail of training wisdom.

So, is our personal identity dictated by our physical identity? I do not believe so, but it is an important factor. I often heard athletes compare our bodies to vehicles. Sayings like "You need to put in good fuel, it takes longer to warm up with age but once it gets going it is as good as it ever was". The thing is, you need to take time to stop for an oil change, to rotate the tires, make a plan to remodel the chassis; in the mean time you know that you are driving around in a clunker. Can you be at your personal best and be out of shape or unhealthy? Why do we let ourselves travel down a self destructive path and avoid eating right and getting proper exercise? TIME is a huge issue, we are all busy with work, extra curricular activities, holidays, birthday parties, school, church, temple, etc... Often training takes a back seat to family activities and it is a lot quicker to eat lunch at a restaurant than it is to plan and prepare to a take a bag lunch to work. TEMPTATION, yes I am weak when it comes to salty snacks and Jen claims to be tormented by the cookie Gods. LAZINESS or being too TIRED, we have all been there. Jen wakes up at 4 AM for CrossFit several times a week while my lazy ass sleeps in until 7 everyday. I believe one of the biggest culprits for me is HABIT. I like to eat. I like to eat whatever I want and how ever much I want. My attitude was if I trained hard I could eat whatever I wanted. This stems from years of the before mention weight training. I was told to eat as much as I could when ever I could. Protein shakes, weight gain shakes, 6 meals a day etc... If you wanted to be big, you ate big and trained big. I have not trained big in 15 years but that same mentality of eating big still resides with me. Granted I have learned portion control and try to eat some what clean....occasionally. The bottom line is SELF DISCIPLINE is the key to being healthy and fit. It is one of the key components of any martial arts training. I included the picture of me at various weights, I know the drill of what has to be done, I have traveled the 50 pound spread between 150 and 200 many times over the years. I am most comfortable at 165 which is a reasonable goal.

Posted by Tom

Three Years

2011-12-22T07:56:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Three years ago today I stepped on a bjj mat for the first time. I had no expectation that my life would be transformed in the way that it has. I have built confidence, challenged myself in new ways and brought amazing people into my life. It just goes to show you that you never know what life has in store for you. To think that I almost backed out of trying the class while we were in the parking lot.

Christmas cookies 25, Me 0

2011-12-21T06:19:00.000-05:00

by Jen

A Facebook friend recently posted "French Fries 10, Me 0." as his status update. For me it's "Christmas cookies 25, Me 0."

I'm seeing the correlation between eating junk and performing poorly. My sick feeling on the mat tonight was a clear reminder that bad eating equals bad training. It is a choice.

Coming soon: I've been experimenting with a few sites to track all of my training, including Daily Mile, Fitocracy and TrackmyPr. I'll be reviewing these in future posts.

That 4 letter word is back.

2011-12-16T06:42:00.030-05:00

by Jen

That dirty little word is back. I've written about it before. A four letter contraction that can paralyze me. The word is CAN'T!

I think it has been around this whole week, but I consciously noticed it last night. My fourth roll was with Tom. It was a tough night all around and he had full mount. His 170+ lbs felt like 250. I just stopped and said, "Forget it, I can't escape. I give up."

I have been able to escape before. I have recalled the "move like the water" philosophy and wiggled my way out. But last night, after already getting tapped out several times, I said I can't.

In an effort to start banishing this word from my vocabulary I have been giving thought to what it really means to me. Here's what I came up with.

I don't want to.

I'm afraid.

It's not important enough to me.

I'm frustrated.

I suspect that if replacing "I can't" with the real meaning, the words will be much more difficult to say and help me deal with the issue at hand. In a way, I guess it's a lot like growing up and accepting responsibility for your decisions and actions.

The Definition of Insanity

2011-12-09T06:26:00.015-05:00

by Jen

"Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein

This is relatable to so many areas of my life.

Why am I still using the same form for my double unders and kipping pull ups when I keep tripping up and cannot get past two kips?

Why do I still try to pull the same submission from guard when I know that my opponent is too strong?

Why do I still fall backwards when I know I cannot capture my opponent in guard, leaving me on the bottom of full mount, side control or half guard?

At home, why do I still keep nagging my kids to clean their rooms when it's not getting done?

Why do I wonder why I gained weight after chowing on brownies, cookies & candy all week?

I can go on and on and on.

Time to open up my game and find some new strategies, starting today!

www.BJJFamilyMatters.com

2011-12-08T22:22:00.002-05:00

It is official, now we are http://www.bjjfamilymatters.com/ . It is alot easier for us to give out a domain name than a long winded blogspot url with hypens etc... BJJ has also been added to the blog name. One of our good friends on face book never read our blog posts because she thought it was about the old TV show "Family Matters". She was not a fan of Steve Urkel and could not understand why we loved that show so much. It took her awhile before she discovered it was about training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu together as a family.

Tom

How to build a Pull Up Bar for BJJ training.

2011-11-27T00:17:00.007-05:00

posted by Tom

My Early Christmas Gift

2011-11-25T10:34:00.007-05:00

by Jen

Most girls will ask for a Coach bag or jewelry. I wanted a pull up bar. Thanks Tom! Now I don't have any excuses to keep me from practicing my pull ups.

Also on the list is a new gi, some fight shorts and a sponsor to help Logan and me get to the Pan Ams. You will never get it if you don't ask! (I will take the Coach bag too.)

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T05:16:00.032-05:00

by Jen

Undoubtedly Crossfit and BJJ keep my body toned, but that is not the reason I train. In addition to the muscle, today I carry on my body:

about 5 whip marks on my left arm from practicing my double unders

an approximately 6 inch bruise on the inside of my right calf

a handprint bruise on my right arm

an approximately 1 inch bruise just above my right wrist, and

a mystery bruise or scratch on my collar bone.

I'm not exactly looking my best, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Today, my thanksgiving list includes my ability to train (especially with my family), my coaches who push me to be my best, (especially Marcelo, who believes in me even when I don't), my inspiring training partners and my awesome BJJ family!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Jane Says...Holiday Eating Tip

2011-11-23T07:45:00.013-05:00

Following up to my post on Weight Watchers, I must give credit to the leader of my 7am Saturday meeting, Jane, for helping me through the weight loss process. Jane was a high energy, tall, thin, Lifetime Weight Watcher from New York. She was a bit of a character who kept our group motivated and educated with all sorts of tips and tricks.

Jane's approach to the holidays was most useful and most memorable. The holidays are a time when many fall of the wagon which can lead to feelings of guilt, hopelessness and ultimately abandonment of the program. She taught us how to approach the holidays. We had 3 choices.

1. Stay on the program as religiously as possible. Adapt recipes according to the meal plan and continue counting points and tracking your food. If you are hosting, you might want to warn your guests that your menu will be Weight Watcher friendly. If you are a guest at someone else's house, this may require you bringing your own dish.

2. Plan your meals for the week to accommodate for the extra points that you will be accumulating on the holiday. Save before and after so you stay within your target for the week.

3. Decide to enjoy the holiday with the food. Eat the yummy stuff in moderation and get right back on the program the following day. Realize that you just may gain a pound or two as a result, but don't feel guilty because you have made the decision to do this, and get right back on the program the next day!

I always chose option 3. Jane was good to point out to us that it was a little crazy how we go so nuts over pumpkin pie, stuffing, yam casserole and more on Thanksgiving Day. After all, isn't this food available every other day of the year? Personally, there is just something about the comfort of sharing these foods with my family on a special day that makes it all worth it.

So I plan to splurge tomorrow, and enjoy all of the good stuff while giving thanks for all of the blessings in my life!

Happy & blessed Thanksgiving to you all!

WW Core Plan - The Right Plan for Me

2011-11-22T05:48:00.021-05:00

May 2005, shortly before my decision to join Weight Watchers

by Jen

I have previously posted about my experience with weight loss, but lately, as I have thought about going Paleo, I have been revisiting my journey. The decision has been made (finally) to stick with what I know - the Core plan with Weight Watchers.

I started following Core back in 2005. The decision to start the program was made after seeing an awful picture of me receiving a donation to my nonprofit on the field at a Florida Marlins game. What should have been a super cool moment in my life is now only a memory because I have deleted every picture that exists from that game.

Six years later I still sing the praises of the Core plan. With the exception of a few pounds up and down throughout the years, I have maintained my weight. When those extra pounds do arrive, I know why they are there. I didn't follow the plan.

Core is the best plan for me because it does not limit my food intake, only certain types of food. Core requires very minimal point counting. You are allowed to eat as much as you want from a list of foods until you feel full. Points are counted for foods that are outside of that list. Within 5 months I lost 25 pounds and have managed to keep most of them off over the past 6 years.

For a long while I was obsessed with maintaining my goal weight, but when I started training harder and developing more muscles, Tom helped me to realize that a few extra pounds over that magic number of my goal weight was okay.

Most importantly, the Core program has become a lifestyle for me. I may not follow it with precision, but my eating habits are based on the concept. When I go too far and need to drop a few pounds, I strictly get back on the program and lose 5 in a matter of a couple of weeks. Even better, I started the program when my children were very young so they were introduced to whole wheat pasta, skim milk and brown rice before they knew any better.

Since following this plan I have had healthy results in my physicals, maintained my weight, and I still get to eat what I want in moderation and with proper planning. In regards to training performance, the program has helped me physically as much as I need it to. Realistically, as a full time mom, wife and nonprofit professional, the chances of me become a world class athlete at this point are pretty slim. So why not stick with a plan that I know inside and out, that my family is accustomed to and most importantly, works for me!

How do you remember?

2011-11-15T08:04:00.012-05:00

by Jen

I attended the Michelle Nicolini seminar and open mat on Sunday. It was a great day of training with like minded women, and a couple of young ones. We focused mainly on open guard and did a few things from closed guard.

As soon as I got home I pulled out my notebook and wrote down everything that I could remember. Unfortunately I found that wasn't much. The moves that I did remember all blended together. To make it more difficult, I didn’t have a training partner from my gym with me so I couldn't rely on anyone else to help spur my memory.

Fortunately, one of my friends from another gym was there and videotaped a few segments. I have resorted to begging for a copy.

A representative from Jiu Jitsu Mania was also there taking photos and shooting video. I'm hoping that a lot of the footage makes it onto his site. (By the way, great content can be found at that site - check it out.)

I hate that my memory is so bad.

I've been using Daily Mile to track my regular training, which has helped. But I usually rely on Tom and Logan to help me remember our moves.

How do you remember what you learn in seminars and class?

The BJJ Lifestyle

2011-11-14T23:37:00.005-05:00

I just got back the blood results from my physical and got a clean bill of health. I believe that training jiu jitsu with my family is one of the main reasons my Doctor calls me a boring patient. I was a little concerned going into the physical, I have gained about 10 pounds since last year and my eating habits suck. I will eat anything, pizza, burgers, fries, chips, subs. When I cut back on diet coke a few months ago my weight instantly shot up. Surprisingly, my cholesterol levels are better than last years physical. A few years ago the doctor said that my HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) was too low. When I started training BJJ my levels increased and I was normal. This year they are even better. I can't contribute the good physical to genetics, my Dad had a heart attack when he was just a few years older than me. I average 3 classes a week and the only outside activity other than BJJ is a short weight lifting workout on Sundays. No drinking, no smoking and no drugs also helps. I rarely even take a Tylenol. Jen gets mad at me when I refuse to take it even thought I am complaining of aches and pains from rolling. This year I intend to get the diet in check and add some supplementary training and stretching. At 44 I am proud to be able to roll with guys 20 years younger than me and be able to hold my own, but I am most thankful that I am healthy. I believe I owe that to Jiu Jitsu and our coach Marcelo.

Posted by Tom

My first women's open mat!

2011-11-11T07:42:00.002-05:00

by Jen

I'm so excited to attend my first Women's BJJ Seminar and Open Mat on Sunday. Pablo Popovitch- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center in Wellington is hosting an all female seminar with World Champion BJJ Black Belt, Michelle Nicolini and an hour long open mat! I'm looking forward to rolling with and learning from other females in a non-competition setting.

Resolving to Succeed

2011-11-06T08:44:00.010-05:00

by Jen

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.” Abraham Lincoln

My 5k time last weekend was my worst in years. Why am I surprised? I walked into the race feeling under the weather and worried about my knees and hip. My goal was to finish without hurting myself. So why was I disappointed? I did exactly what I set out to do.

Through reading and personal experience I have found that these steps to success are pretty accurate:
* Set the goal,
* resolve to succeed,
* work hard,
* embrace and learn from failures,
* try and try again and
* celebrate the success!

In my opinion, resolving to succeed is most important. That commitment will keep you going through the more difficult times.

Such an awesome example of a strong resolve is Lauren, the winner of the Nutrition Challenge that our Crossfit Box hosted a few months back. Lauren is amazing. She kept a daily blog of her food and exercise for the entire period. Here's an excerpt from Day 1 –

Six Weeks to Wonderful

"Every journey begins with a single step. I just took mine. I recently lost 13 1/2 lbs by going sugar-free and now I am going to win my gym's 6-week Fitness Challenge and a FREE year membership... I am going to win this contest because I KNOW I CAN. I am capable! I weighed myself, took the pics, and now...I WORK. I will be posting DAILY food and workout pics. This is how I will be documenting my progress over the next 6 weeks. .."

In the end, she is down in weight, her BMY and Body fat both dropped by 2% and she bettered her mile run time by 1 minute and 9 seconds!

Now that is someone who has set herself up to succeed!

Lauren further documents a longer journey towards weight loss through a post in another blog called Guaranteed Flakiness. Great read – check it out for some inspiration. I don’t recognize the girl she describes herself as back in 2008. She is funny, confident, outgoing and personable and promotes positivity everywhere she goes. Her determination and encouraging words inspire all of the CrossFitters at ATP.

Along with my resolve, I sometimes stumble in setting the bar. That 5K I mentioned earlier – if I set my goal a little higher would I have come in faster? Or when the Crossfit WOD asks for 10 split jerks, I may think "This is too hard so I'll do 5, rest, and then take on the other 5." If I say that, I do that. But sometimes that results in my putting the bar down too soon. What I need to say is “Do until I can't possibly do any more!”

It also rings true on the mat. When I am going for the sweep and just don't think I can push any more, I should try once more. Sometimes that little extra push is just enough to make it happen.

Or in a tournament, when my opponent just killed it in her last match, I often cannot resist the urge to say, “There is no way I’m going to win this one.” I never win when I say that.

The smell of success....mm mm good! There is nothing like the sweet victory of finally pulling off that sweep or submission, winning a match or finishing a WOD in record time. But it all begins with the resolve, the desire. That’s what keeps me going through the ups and downs of my journeys.

That's My Girl!

2011-11-03T05:26:00.012-04:00

by Jen

Logan joined us at the adult class for the first time in months on Tuesday. It was so nice to have her back. Since starting high school she has been buried in the books, finding little time to train both kids and adult classes as she did in the summer. The kids' class is averaging at a younger age, so she recently decided to use that time to do her homework and attend the adult class with us. Unfortunately, this has not been able to happen as often as she hoped because the books are still burying her down. It's killing her to not be on the mat as much as she wants. I must say I feel blessed that my daughter realizes the importance of school work and doesn’t require me to force her to keep on her studies.

In our first roll together I expected to have to go a little lighter. She hasn't trained with anyone her size or larger in a while, she may be a little rusty. Wrong! I guess the young bounce back pretty quickly. The clock started and she was on top of me in a matter of seconds. I couldn't get out from under her if my life depended on it. The difference in rolling with your daughter - instead of getting frustrated and focusing on how to get out, this proud mom couldn't help but think "That's my girl!"

Hydration & Hip Openers

2011-10-24T12:28:00.032-04:00

by Jen

This week at CrossFit Juan brought us some new joint mobility and hip opener exercises that he learned at a Kelly Starrett Movement Mobility Certification seminar. Kelly Starrett has an impressive background as a physical therapist and a coach to the likes of Olympic athletes.

I learned that the number one way to prevent injury in sports is to drink water. According to Kelly Starret, we should each drink half of our body weight in ounces of water daily - and that is without any training. In addition, we should drink 16-20 ounces of water per hour of exercise. So, if I am 140 lbs and plan to train 60 minutes at Crossfit and 90 minutes at BJJ, I should drink 110 ounces of water. In basic terms, the waters effect on our muscles is likened to oil in a car. If there is not enough oil in the car, the engine will not work right. If our muscles do not have enough hydration, they will not work right.

We worked many of the new mobility drills with a lacrosse ball to work the deeper muscles. Personally, I walked into the gym one morning with a sore hip and wondered if I would be able to run the 5K this Saturday. The 10 minutes of work eased the pain and it has not come back. Check out Kelly's Mobility WOD site. He regularly posts video blogs of drills and exercises. Undoubtedly this work will help with jiu jitsu.

In my work towards the Heraean games, we worked deadlifts and pull-ups this week. We used the same bar to front squat and deadlift, so our deadlifts were lighter than usual. Working at the lighter weight, and trying my best not to race the clock, helped me focus on correct form. I learned that the deadlift should be about a 3-second motion.

My hands were torn up again while working pull-ups. Using gloves causes me to widen my grip, causing me to slip easily. Using no gloves causes torturous pain and calluses. I found this tip on taping hands for pull-ups -I'll try it out this week.

On the mat, after a long period of frustration, I feel like I am back in the game. I cannot pinpoint when and where the change happened. Tom reminds me that our training is a journey with both high and low periods. My low period seemed like it was endless, but I am feeling much better and much more confident. I'm really focusing on limiting the space I give to my opponent. It feels good to be back.

Moving Forward

2011-10-23T15:53:00.041-04:00

by Jen

Instead of wallowing in self pity about missing the Open I am moving forward by planning for 2012. I desperately want to go to the Pan Ams with Logan but I am not sure our budget will be accommodating. I continue to pray, pray, pray and research options and resources to help get us there.

The date for the 2nd Annual Heraean Games, an all female CrossFit competition, has been set for January 28th. The standards for the 40+ Athena division are tougher than I expected. To be competitive I will need to add 50 lbs to my deadlift and 25 lbs to my clean and jerk and master pull-ups and double unders. These are some challenging, but clear cut goals to work towards over the next three months.

Juan showed me a couple of tips that have helped with the deadlift. The biggest hurdle is my fear of getting hurt.

These are some great videos about double unders. It's pretty frustrating to have not conquered them yet so I'm hoping these tips will help.

Double Unders from Again Faster on Vimeo.

October 22, 2011 - The Day All of My Worlds Collide

2011-10-21T06:52:00.009-04:00

by Jen

I am so disappointed that I am not competing in the Miami Open tomorrow. For some reason October 22nd is a popular day for everything in my universe. I'm talking about my work world, training world, church world, friend world, scout world and more.

I had my heart set on the Miami Open since the date was set. But little by little, the plans kept changing. The Scout pack planned their first big camping trip of the year. Our Family Ministry planned their Fall Festival. At work, a large company that has yet to financially support our Agency, approached us about hosting their Make a Difference Day project at our campus. I am the Development Director in charge of raising money for the organization, so I really should be there.

Since my "Work World" funds the rest of my life, work wins. The good news is that spending the day with generous volunteers who are giving up their Saturday, and the awesome foster kids who live with us, fuels my passion to keep raising funds for my organization.

I wish the best of luck to all who are competing - especially all of the girls! Post videos, and most importantly, have fun!

Domestic Violence Awareness Month.....continued

2011-10-17T21:10:00.026-04:00

by Jen

I started training bjj while working for a domestic violence program. The agency promoted a strict "violence free" environment. Occasionally we would receive offers of free self defense classes for clients, but the Agency would hesitate to participate. In no way did they want to give victims a false sense of security or promote the Jennifer Lopez "Enough" mentality where the victim kills the bad guy in the end.

This is understandable - domestic abuse kills. This week alone I have read two local stories about domestic violence related homicides. While I agree that self defense moves can prove valuable and give you confidence, I do not believe they are fool proof in the very violent situations that victims deal with.

No one at my workplace really understood bjj, so I kept my training hidden from all but a few. Those who did know still did not understand it, and thought it was a passing phase.

Almost three years later, I am still here. BJJ is a big part of my life. I am proud to represent as a female practitioner. It excites me to see that the number of female competitors has grown, especially in the younger generation. New blogs are popping up every day, helping us "random few girls" in each gym feel a part of a much bigger movement.

Manto's recent display has proven, though, that we still have our work cut out for us. I was disappointed to see the list of disparaging comments from men and women, on Manto's facebook page. I recommend that these girls visit a timeline of the women's rights movement to gain a better understanding of the battles that were fought, relatively not that long ago, to give them the rights that they have today.

Kudos to Georgette (Georgette's Jiu Jitsu World), Meg (Megjitsu), and Megan (Tangled Triangle) for taking a very active stance against the company's photo shoot through their blogs and facebook pages.

Back to dv, it is sad to me that victim blaming is still alive and well. I agree with the mentality that blaming a domestic violence victim is similar to blaming a rape victim for wearing a skimpy outfit. Bottom line - it is never okay to hurt a woman (or man for that matter).

As stated in my last post, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I urge you to stop and take a moment to do something, no matter how big or small, to honor the month. Review the links I previously posted to learn more about the issue and how to help a victim, volunteer for your local shelter, host a donation drive, let someone that you suspect is a victim know that you care.....just do something. I am running in a 5k on October 29th to support our local domestic violence program. If you like, visit my fundraising page and support my efforts!

Peace all!

October is DVAM

2011-10-01T20:05:00.073-04:00

by Jen

Today officially marks the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). This post is inspired by this awareness video produced by the Verizon Foundation. I will follow up with a secondary post that will better weave the topic with bjj training (as I see it anyway).

Statistics show that one in four women will be affected by domestic violence in her lifetime. Approximately one in three teens is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner. Although the majority of victims are female, approximately 15% of all domestic violence victims are male.

I feel blessed to say that I am not one of these statistics. So why is the subject of domestic violence so important to me? My 7 years of work for a dv program gave me the privilege of meeting several “victors” over the violence in their lives. These inspirational women and men now dedicate themselves to speaking out for others. I have also come to know and love families who have lost their daughters at the hand of their abusers. To these individuals, and the countless others that domestic violence affects, I dedicate this post.

I believe it is important to start out by debunking some common dv myths.

Domestic abuse doesn’t discriminate. It happens in all income brackets, ethnicities and neighborhoods.

It is not easy for a victim to leave. She doesn’t stay because she likes the abuse. She may be in fear for her life. The most dangerous time in a relationship is when a victim decides to leave. He feels more threatened because he is losing control when she leaves.

Children who witness the abuse are also victims. They are more likely to become abused or abusers when they grow up.

Domestic violence is not about snapping. DV is about power and control over the victim. The abuse is calculated and intentional. Many batterers are charming and very likeable outside of their relationship. If they can control their behavior in public, why can’t they at home?

Domestic violence is not funny. What may seem like a small joke minimizes the fear and sorrow that a victim experiences.

Some bloggers have touched on the subject of domestic violence. Forgive me if I left anyone out. Please feel free to comment with your link if I did.

Jodi of Combat Sports Review bravely opened up about her experience as a victor over the violence in her life. Read here

Meg reflected on domestic violence after experiencing stares because of her bjj induced black eye. Read here

A Skirt on the Mat also asked her readers to reflect and support the women who’s bruises come from the hands of their abusers instead of their time on the mat. Read here

I compiled a few resources in case you or someone you know is being abused. If you are in fear for your life, please take heed of this internet and computer safety information before anything else.

How to help a victim of abuse

Ten signs of an abusive relationship

Healthy relationship (This is great. I once met a woman who told me she posted this wheel in her room as a reminder to herself of what a healthy relationship looks like. It served as a "checklist" for her future relationships.)

Love is not abuse– teen dating abuse information for teens and parents

The virtual pat on the back

2011-09-17T17:03:00.004-04:00

by Tom

Remember when you did a good job at something and someone gave you a high five? They commented “Atta boy!” for a job well done. They hoisted you on their shoulders as they doused you with champagne celebrating a victory. Following the path of the dinosaur, the palm pilot and cellular phones the size of a brick, those expressions are heading for extinction. They have been replaced with the “Like”, “Comment” or “Share”. Yes, Facebook has put the nail in the coffin of something other than Myspace. Our lives are now displayed virtually for all of our friends, families and acquaintances. Our way of showing approval is to click “Like” next to the funny photo of Aunt Mildred’s cat. Sharing a viral video of a chubby Indian kid doing the worm is the way of confirming your allegiance with the tribe. The “Comment” is the ultimate showcase, like placing a bumper sticker on the back of your Ford Escort with you own contrived TGIF or Beam Me Up Scotty. Like the dreams you had in Elementary school of standing in front of the class room in your underwear, Facebook has become your naked avatar. Everything about you is now on display for your peers to review.

What does this have to do with Jiu Jitsu? Everything! In all fairness, Facebook is an excellent way to build the BJJ team. We get to know aspects of our team members that we might never have known. The big sweaty guy in the Gi is now viewed in a different light. He is now the loving father, college student or successful businessman. We get to know each other and discover the human side of our sparring partners. We can share in the victories of the tournament we could not attend. We give our virtual “Atta boy!” to our team mates every time we click “Like” next to their tourney pictures and videos. We find out that we have more in common with each other than just our passion for Jiu Jitsu. Facebook helps us to become more than just a BJJ team; we become members of an extended family.

A Tool In My Parenting Toolkit - Jiu Jitsu

2011-09-05T11:27:00.051-04:00

by Jen

"Prepare to attack," Hunter said. He was wearing his Iron Man mask and holding his supercharged Automatic Tommy 20 Airblaster gun. The Tommy can rapid fire up to 20 nerf-like darts in seconds. (It's actually kind of fun)

I should have known that he was up to no good when I heard him head upstairs towards Logan's room. It was 10:00 am on Labor Day. Logan was enjoying her last morning to sleep in until......"Hunter! Stop it! What are you doing?!"

Oh no, this is going to be a long day - let the sibling war begin.

In his defense he's an 8-year old boy with an exorbitant amount of energy. We spent the previous day working on the house so he didn't get much time to run, play and just be a kid. That pent up energy was going to drive us all crazy if we didn't act quickly.

I had an idea - "Hunter, do you want to roll?" We pulled out our mats and rolled for at least a half hour. Hunter was happy to catch me in a few arm bars and even Logan joined in. Looks like I salvaged the day with the help of bjj.

Jiu jitsu helped Logan and I earlier in the weekend. We were having normal mother/teenage daughter battles on Saturday morning. I'm surprised that we even made it to our 9:00 a.m. class. After warming up together with a few good armbars and triangles our problems were forgotten.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I feel so blessed to share this sport, hobby and passion with my family. I believe that every parent needs a tool like jiu jitsu in their parenting toolkit. Jiu jitsu may not be right for everyone, but I encourage every family to find a hobby that they can share to blow off a little steam and help bring them closer.

At least I still have my smile!

2011-08-21T06:53:00.006-04:00

by Jen

My awards from Grappler's Quest? A little embarrassment, a lesson learned, four stitches and a tetanus shot. Currently I do not use a mouth guard when I roll, but after yesterday's wake up call I promise to start doing so.

I was pumped -waited all morning to fight and it was finally time for my first match. Logan was fighting on another mat so Tom, Marcelo and our team mates were with her, right where I wanted them to be. I had this, or so I thought.

I jumped guard and apparently hit my chin on my competitor's head. I felt my head slam on the mat when we came down, but didn't realize I hurt my chin. She was in my guard and I was trying to work the arm when the ref suddenly stopped the match because he saw blood. I felt my face, saw the blood on my hand and said, "Uh that would be me." Table workers and the ref ran over, told me to lay flat on the mat and gave me towels to compress the wound until the paramedics arrived.

"Is your head okay?" I asked my competitor. She shook her head yes and walked away with a perplexed look on her face. I tried looking down the mat to get Tom's attention, but he didn't see me. I was only down for a minute or two, but I was so embarrassed. I didn't want him to see me lying down and worry that it was something much worse. I kept giggling to myself and saying "only me, only me."

I ended the day at the local hospital getting four stitches and a tetanus shot. I cannot even begin to explain how bummed I am that I did not get to finish even one match. I didn't even last a minute. I had debated whether or not to even put out the money to fight, and now I am going to be spending more at the hospital. And of all tournaments - finally there were at least 5 to 6 girls in my division when there are usually only two or three.

Yes, this all sucks, but I am conscientiously trying to change my attitude. At least I still have my smile. My teeth were in jeopardy without a mouth guard, but thank goodness I still have them. Four stitches are under my chin and will be hardly noticeable once I can take the gigantic bandage off. But the teeth would have been a much bigger issue. Lesson learned - starting next class I am using the mouth guard.

Congratulations to all from Marcelo Meleiro BJJ who competed yesterday, Marcelo, Juan, Danny, Logan and Hunter! You guys make me proud!

Week One: Paleo Nutrition Challenge - Forfeit

2011-08-18T07:14:00.012-04:00

by Jen

This is not the usual way I approach a challenge. CrossFit ATP is hosting a 6-week nutrition challenge and the grand prize is a free one year membership. Participants are judged on food diaries, workout diaries and a few other categories. I figured that starting a new program would encourage me to discover some new recipes to replace my stale "old faithful" dinners.
Week one ends tomorrow. How did I do?

WOD Grade: F
It is okay, I decided early on that it was going to be this way. The challenge requires that you participate in at least 3 WOD's a week. But this was "competition week" - the week of preparation before a tournament. Competition weeks are "CrossFit free" for me. The last thing I want to do is feel the burn of squat thrusters when I am trying to hold my opponent in my guard.

Nutrition and Food Diary Grade: F
The nutrition plan is based on Paleo eating. I've been resisting Paleo for a long time now. The thought makes me want to run far, far away. The first three weeks are supposed to be dairy free and starch free. That means no coffee mate hazelnut creamer in my coffee - I just don't think I can do that.

I decided early on that I was going to forfeit week one. I signed on to participate at the last minute, after I had already gone grocery shopping for a hundred dollars worth of non-Paleo food. Plus I had little time last weekend to study how to eat Paleo, plan new recipes and shop for the ingredients.

Week 2 is almost here and it will be back on! Or will it? I'm struggling with "do I really want to do this?" Will it really help me?

Do you have any experience with Paleo? Have you seen a change in your workout performance? Do you have any recommendations for snacks or quick meals? Is it worth it?

Thank You Sanya!

2011-08-08T16:25:00.016-04:00

Sanya took 3rd in the blue belt absolute division!

by Jen

I'd like to take a moment to personally thank my teammate, Sanya, for continuing to make me face my most dreaded position - bottom half guard. I will owe you! One day I will master this position, and I will have to give you some of the credit. Every time we roll, no matter how hard I try, we end up there. "We meet again," we joked as we arrived in the familiar place the other evening. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! Most specifically, I hate Sanya's top half guard.

I know, I know! I know that this is the only way I'm going to master escaping and sweeping. I consider myself fortunate to have a coach that recognizes my weakness and continues to help me with moves to escape. I WILL DO THIS!

Slow and steady has been the theme this week. The CrossFit WOD on Monday was designed to focus on strength, not speed. This constant reminder from our coaches played a huge factor in my ability to lift heavier. I used the same technique on Wednesday with the AMRAP. Climbing the rope is just as much of a mental challenge as a physical challenge. I forced myself to slow down and achieve the climb each time rather than go for a lot of rounds. It worked for all but one round when I just couldn't get to the top. At that point I recognized the need to take a step away and refresh. I walked away from the workout feeling more confident about climbing so mission accomplished!

In keeping with the same theme on the mats, I'm feeling better in my training. Instead of getting anxious, I'm trying to slow down, relax and think more strategically. I feel like it has helped, but it is a constant mind battle.

As a quick tournament recap, moving up a weight division was a good decision. I was able to enjoy a good breakfast and felt nourished and hydrated. Sanya, Logan and I enjoyed spending the day with our friend from another area school, Gina, and her powerhouse daughter, Buggy! Gina took second in the light blue belt division and her daughter took 2nd in her division! We also met several new competitors from around the state, including Kim, a fellow 40+ mom, and Melissa, the administrator of the Facebook page USA BJJ girls - check it out. Our team results can be found at mmbjj.com.

Don't quit til you've got nothing left

2011-08-05T06:41:00.004-04:00

by Jen

Source of inspiration for the tournament tomorrow from the movie Facing the Giants.

Success in showing up?

2011-08-03T06:56:00.003-04:00

by Jen

I haven't posted for a month! Work has been particularly stressful and the stress continues to spill into other areas of my life, including training. I half jokingly told Tom that I feel like I'm hitting my mid-life crisis.

In early July I arrived back to the gym from vacation to learn that I would be competing in a CrossFit competition that weekend. I had less than a week to prepare, and unfortunately, my vacation menu wasn’t conducive to competition preparation. The competition was called Partner Pandemonium and my partner, Andy, and I were one of 6 teams from our CrossFit box to participate. Andy's a beast (that's a compliment) so my main goal was to not disappoint him. We didn't place, but we did well.

Our judge for our first of three WOD's was one of our former trainers, Christine. It was helpful to have her at my side yelling at me to keep moving. I asked her to yell -the yelling pushes me when my mind and body tell me that there is nothing left. (So if you see me losing steam at a tournament, and you're not cheering for my competitor, please yell at me.)

BJJ training has been brutal. I have been preparing for the Florida BJJ Federation tournament this weekend. But grrrrr, I'm just not feeling the fire of competition. These days my lousy attitude has been that "my success is in showing up." I am quickly realizing that this isn't enough. I can tell as I find myself stuck on the bottom, thrown around the mat, and leave feeling discouraged and questioning if I'm too old for this stuff.

I'm hoping that the spirit of competition awakens in me soon, especially by Saturday morning. Hopefully the success won't just be in showing up. The spirit did emerge briefly at the CrossFit competition. I spent the morning questioning why I agreed to compete and looking for excuses to get out of it. But I felt the rush once I arrived and fed off of the competitive energy in the room. I miss that feeling and hope it awakens in me again soon.

CrossFit ATP's Partner Pandemonium Competition Team

Me with my partner, Andy

Christine "yelling" at me during the brutal 100 m walking lunge portion of WOD 1

The BJJ team came out to cheer me on

Me with my BJJ girls!

I am a member of a team...

2011-07-07T07:12:00.035-04:00

Marcelo's birthday celebration.

by Jen

"I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."...Mia Hamm

Okay, it is time for me to get a little mushy. I love my team! I have the privilege of training with an extraordinary group of people from all walks of life, under the leadership of a strong-willed, determined, but compassionate coach. Had I never started training BJJ, I would have never had the opportunity to welcome these people into my life.

I guess the "mush" has been inspired by many activities over the last few weeks. As you may have saw in a previous post, Marcelo's coach, Master Andre Pederneiras hosted a seminar at our school on June 23. He was traveling with students Jose Aldo and Marlon Sandro who joined us as guests earlier in the week. They were all working with Marlon for his upcoming Bellator fight against Genair da Silva. All were warm, humble and genuinely nice men who made me proud to be a member of the Nova Uniao team.

This was my first official BJJ seminar and I loved it. In the three-hours we learned several new moves from take downs to chokes and had the opportunity to train with guests from other schools. It was an honor to learn from my coach's coach. That Saturday night many of us showed up at the Hard Rock to cheer Marlon on in his fight against da Silva. What a great fight that was!

On the 30th we came together as a team to celebrate Marcelo's birthday. We practically took over our local hangout, Shenanigans, and celebrated over dinner and cake. I believe that evenings like these bring us closer together.

On the 4th I hosted a small barbecue for my family and a few friends and was happy to have our two female training partners join us.

The unanticipated benefit of bjj training is the addition of new friendships found in my bjj family!

More pictures:

Seminar:

Bellator Fight

4th of July

Happy 4th from Team MMBJJ (Tom, Logan, Hunter and me, our nephew Sean, Sanya and Claudette)

The Girls of MMBJJ

Don't Miss This!

2011-06-21T22:23:00.004-04:00

Thursday, June 236:00pm - 9:00pmMarcelo Meleiro BJJ School(714 South Federal HWY, Dania Beach, SOUTH FLORIDA)Attention to all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in South Florida; Grand Master ANDRE PEDERNEIRAS will be hosting a seminar JUNE 23rd at Marcelo Meleiro BJJ School from 6PM to 9PM (714 South Federal HWY, Dania Beach). Meet Andre's students UfC Champion Jose Aldo and fellow Sengoku Champion Marlon Sandro who is preparing for Bellator 46 this weekend at the Hard Rock Hollywood. Please note that spots are limited. Do not miss the opportunity to meet and learn from one of the best BJJ/MMA coach of all time. Mmbjj students $65, Others $85More infoContact Marcelo to reserve your spot today 954-243-2179

Families in BJJ

2011-06-21T05:27:00.022-04:00

by Jen

The third issue of Jiu Jitsu Style is now available and I'm thrilled to say that we are quoted in the "Families in BJJ" article. One of the objectives of this blog is to open up the discussion and encourage more women and families to try bjj. Thank you for seeing the importance Meg!!

The magazine is full of great reads so I suggest you check it out. I enjoyed reading about the other families who train, the review of the Mundials and articles like "Five People You Should Never Train With."

Also, thank you Combat Sports Review for highlighting our series on kids tournaments in your June Blogsphere Report!

FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real

2011-06-17T07:15:00.019-04:00

by Jen

I scaled the wall today! The big wall! I told myself that I couldn't do it, but I did! Encouraged by my CrossFit coach, Juan, and morning classmates, I did it! Wow that felt good.

Earlier this week I attended a conference and had the benefit of listening to motivational speaker and Wall Street vet, Carla Harris . She shared a few of "Carla's Pearls" with us, her personal and simple strategies for success. The pearls included a reminder that one of the biggest impediments to our success is our fear of failure. She also said that "failure always brings you a gift and that gift is called experience."

With success and inspirational words still fresh on my mind, it is time to start working on those fears. In BJJ the fears are nothing new - fear of passing guard, fear of not being able to escape from the bottom of half guard, fear of opening up my game and fear of fighting heavier in tournaments.

What about your fears? What is impeding your success?

"Fear has no place in your success equation." Carla Harris

Master ANDRE PEDERNEIRAS Seminar in South Florida

2011-06-16T11:50:00.003-04:00

Thursday, June 23
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Marcelo Meleiro BJJ School
(714 South Federal HWY, Dania Beach, SOUTH FLORIDA)

Attention to all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in South Florida; Grand Master ANDRE PEDERNEIRAS will be hosting a seminar JUNE 23rd at Marcelo Meleiro BJJ School from 6PM to 9PM (714 South Federal HWY, Dania Beach). Please note that spots are limited. Do not miss the opportunity to meet and learn from one of the best BJJ/MMA coach of all time.
Mmbjj students $65, Others $85
More info
Contact Marcelo to reserve your spot today 954-243-2179

DON'T yell at your daughter before her match!

2011-06-15T20:47:00.025-04:00

by Jen

The four previous posts shared tips about kids' bjj tournaments. Now I will share my personal "DON'T" on this topic. Let me preface this story by reminding you that my 14-year old, Logan, and I have a close mother/daughter relationship which has only been strengthened through our training. Let me also explain that Logan and I are very similar in the way we handle tournament nerves. We are quiet, serious and a little irritable. Sharing in these behaviors helps us understand each other. But that is no excuse for my behavior at the last tournament.

DON'T yell at your daughter before her match!

The two of us were waiting at Logan's assigned mat and were surprised when they called her name to fight early on. Our coach, family and friends were scattered around the gymnasium because no one expected her to fight so early. I quickly grabbed my phone to text Marcelo and Tom to coach and film. At the same time, Logan took one last swig of her water, put her mouth guard in and tried handing me the container and water bottle. "Take my mouth guard- my water!" she exclaimed. "Wait! I'm texting Marcelo! Would you rather I take your mouth guard or text your coach? Just throw them on the ground!" I ordered.

At that point, a man standing next to us, whom neither of us knew, put his hand on Logan's shoulder and said in a caring voice, "Good luck out there." Clearly this was his way of de-escalating the situation. I knew then that I would win the medal for the worst bjj mother in the world. Here I am, her only supporter at the mat, and the adult, yelling at her minutes before her first match. "Uh, sorry Logan. Good luck out there, girl. I know you'll do great," I said humbly.

Luckily, that is exactly what she did! Our heated words were forgotten as we celebrated her victory.

Fortunately we can laugh about this now. However, I will always remember how awfully I behaved. The memory will be an ever present reminder to focus on what is important as my children participate in future competitions. - Sorry girl!

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 4, Coaches

2011-06-01T04:53:00.015-04:00

by Jen

Coaches
Competition days are a good opportunity to see what coaches are made of. I would suggest to anyone looking for a kid’s bjj school to spend a day observing at a tournament. Not necessarily to see which schools are winning, but to see how the coaches interact with the children. Stay away from the ones who are viciously yelling at the 5 year olds while they are fighting (YES, they exist!). Keep away from the coaches who are yelling at their students after the match. Look for the ones that promote good sportsmanship. Look for the coaches who are lifting their kids’ spirits up – win or lose. Which teams look like a happy and united group? Which teams are supporting each other, smiling and enjoying the day? These are the schools that you want your kids to train at.

31. Remind your child that the coach’s training helped bring them to a win – remember to thank him! Remind them that the training with their teammates has made them the fighter that they are – thank them! In a loss, also thank the coach and your team for the training and support.

32. Tournament days are busy days for coaches, especially when they have several students competing. Let him do his job. Let him give the attention to the other students along with your child.

It may happen that two students will be called to fight at the same time in different rings. Understand that the coach will do his best to support each student, but can only be in one place at one time. When this happens, my coach will ask the table workers to hold off on one match until he finishes coaching the other student. Sometimes the tournament staff agrees, but sometimes they do not. If it is inevitable that two students will fight simultaneously, other adult students or a knowledgeable parent should support one of the students.

Okay, you made it through the first tournament and you and the kids are ready for the next? The two main tournaments in our area are Grappler’s Quest and NAGA. These two usually post their tournament dates one year out. I check them regularly and reserve the dates on our calendar so we can do it all over again.

Good luck! Let me know if this helped you out or if you have any other tips!

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 3

2011-05-31T08:00:00.012-04:00

by Jen

Fight Time

21. Usually, the tournaments run No Gi divisions in order of skill level (Novice, beginner, intermediate and advanced) before the Gi divisions. Therefore if your child is fighting gi, he or she will have a few hours to wait before fighting.

22. Tournament staffing typically includes at least one table worker and one referee at each ring. The referee gives the fighters the rules, starts the match, allots the points, and overall manages the matches. The table worker develops the brackets, calls the fighters, manages the clock and records the points. I am sure there is more – it seems like a stressful job. The interaction with stressed parents, children, coaches and other family members would be hard enough. Experience has shown me that they want to be helpful and answer your questions. Be respectful, realize how much they have going on, and do not interrupt them while they are scoring a fight – you would not want anyone taking their attention away from your child’s fight, would you?

23. Pay attention to what is going on in your designated ring at all times. If your child is fighting in the beginner no gi division, you will want to stay close by early on. If your child is fighting gi only, keep checking back to see where they are with the brackets. Stay near the ring when they get closer to your child’s division so you will hear the table worker call his or her name. You do not want your child to be disqualified for not responding. You can ask the table worker for a time estimate of when your child’s division will be called, but it is up to you to pay attention.

24. As previously stated, most tournaments divide rings by weights. At some tournaments, the table worker will further break down the bracketing by ages if appropriate. For instance, Hunter weighed in at 67 lbs. Other children in his weight and skill division were aged 7 through 12. The table worker further broke down the division by ages 7 to 9 and 10 to 12. My understanding is that you never really know what this next phase will look like until you know who shows up to fight that day.

25. In all, the table worker will do their best to ensure a fair fight for everyone. Keep in mind that they are human and can make a mistake. If you are concerned about your child’s match up, politely inform the table worker before the fight.

26. Here is where it gets ugly - sometimes coaches and parents register their child in divisions they do not belong. This is often referred to as sandbagging – e.g. registering your child at the beginner level when they really should fight at the intermediate level. Although we would like to believe it does not happen – it does. If you feel your child was matched unfairly, talk to the table worker to see if they can arrange for your child to fight in another match.

27. Teach your child good sportsmanship - remind them to shake their competitor’s hand before and after the match and to congratulate their competitor if they win. Be respectful of the competitors, coaches and workers.

28. Encourage your child to watch his teammate’s matches. Personally, my favorite part of the tournament experience is the camaraderie shared between the team. I believe that tournament days bring the team closer. Hearing your team mates cheer you on during a match fuels you to keep going. Words of support are comforting after a loss, and celebratory hugs make victory even sweeter.

29. Remember to give your child moral support. Remind them that the tournament experience should be enjoyable. Remind them that it is natural to be nervous and that their competitor is as nervous as they are. Remind them that you love them win or lose. Tell them to go out there and do their best, but most importantly, make sure they have fun.

30. Inevitably some children will end up crying. This can be as a result of a loss, frustration or simply stress. As stated above, reassure your child. Remind your child to also reassure and comfort his teammates as needed.

As a helpful tip, prior to the tournament, teach your child relaxation techniques. Hunter uses breathing exercises– inhale through the nose for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale through the mouth for a count of eight. I see him use it from time to time in class, and most recently at his first competition.

Truly evaluate his or her readiness for a tournament before encouraging him or her to compete. The experience can make or break a child’s will to keep training.

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 2

2011-05-29T08:46:00.014-04:00

Hunter and his teammate practicing on the warm up mats.

by Jen

You arrived, now what?

13. The tournament will usually have separate tables for pre-registered competitors and those needing to register that day. At these tables you will need to complete or finalize paperwork, the parent will need to sign a waiver, and all paid competitors and spectators will receive their wristband for entry.

14. Competitors will be directed to the weigh-in area for their official fighting weight. Some tournaments give you a 1 lb clothing allowance. This should be listed in the brochure if it applies. (Some tournaments allow you to weigh in the Friday night before the competition.)

15. Just a note of caution - even though the weigh in allowance is given, many of the adult and even teen competitors will drop to their underwear to help make their fighting weight. Kids and adults weigh in at the same area so your young ones may see a guy in their underwear. Logan and I now know to just look straight ahead, but it was a shocker the first time she competed.

16. Using your weight and age information, determine which mat your child will be fighting on. Most tournaments divide the rings by weights. For instance, all 60-69 pound children at all levels will be fighting at Ring 6 that day.

17. Set up your team’s “home base” in the bleachers. We like to settle towards the top of the middle section for a decent view of all the rings.

18. Pay attention to the rules meeting hosted at the beginning of the tournament. I have sat through so many, but still manage to learn something new each time.

19. Having the kids warm up together helps them to work off some of their anxiety. This also promotes good bonding for the team. The more experienced competitors can take the newer ones under the wings to help them feel more comfortable.

20. If you are like me you will be as anxious, or even more anxious, then your child. Keep yourself in check and reassure your child. Remind them that the most important thing is that they enjoy the experience. Remind them that you are proud that they have chosen to fight and that you love them no matter what happens.

Tomorrow, Part 3 - Fight time

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament - What to expect - Part 1

2011-05-29T08:22:00.009-04:00

by Jen

Tournaments can cause a lot of anxiety for children (and parents) or can be a fun and rewarding experience. It is all in how you approach them. Knowing what to expect can help to reduce the anxiety so here is the beginning of a four part series with tips that we have learned throughout the years. Use this as a guide, but pay attention to the rules and the specific tournament information to plan accordingly.

The series will cover
1. Preparation
2. You arrived- now what?
3. Fight time
4. Coaches

Preparation
1. Read the details in the brochure or on the tournament’s web page. Read through the rules, the schedules, the divisions, etc. All tournaments are different so read the specific tournament information to help you in your planning.

2. Verify the spelling of your team name and make sure you register correctly.

3. Pay attention to the Pre-registration date. Online registration typically ends Friday one week out from the event. If you do not make pre-registration you usually have to pay a slightly increased rate in cash at the door. Spectator tickets are usually sold at a discounted rate during the pre-registration period. NAGA charges $10 in advance or $15, in cash, at the door.

4. Consult with your coach on which division to register your child - novice, beginner, intermediate or advanced.

5. Plan your snacks and meals for the day. Some venues allow coolers and others do not. Tournaments have concession stands but sometimes they can be pricey or will not have something that fits within my eating plan. We bring peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, water, juices, snack foods like Cheezits, almonds, etc. and fruit. We bring enough to share with the team. If I have time and I am feeling up to it, I will bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies to share.

6. Bring something to keep you occupied. Do the same for younger siblings. Tournament days can be very long and boring for children. When Hunter was a spectator we brought his Nintendo DS, books and toys. He has also developed a group of “tournament friends” – other siblings of competitors that help him pass the time.

7. Make sure you bring the correct gi, belt, mouthguard and any other required gear. Also, bring something to keep the competitor busy during downtimes - an Ipod, light read or handheld game system.

8. Bring a sweater – sometimes the gym can be cool so it is best to be prepared.

9. Bring cash – some tournaments charge a cash only parking fee. Concession stands are usually cash only. Not all locations have ATM’s.

10. Of course, bring a camera and video camera.

11. Bring your cell phone loaded with the numbers of the other parents and your coach. Texting is a good way to notify the others when one of your fellow students is starting his or her match.

12. Arrive early so you have time to get organized and you are not feeling rushed.

Tomorrow - Part 2 - You arrived - now what?

The people make it awesome.

2011-05-22T19:56:00.008-04:00

by Logan

Out of all the tournaments I have ever competed in, I think this is the one I’ve had the most fun at. Even if I were to have lost every match, it still would have been a great day because of all the people that were there. Coached by Marcelo, Caelin and I competed along with Max, Anthony, and Hunter who competed for the first time. My lovely cousin Sean, who also trains, came along for support. He says that next time he too plans on competing. In addition to parents and other family, Sanya, David, and Carlos came to support us. It was nice to see Cheyenne again too. Later on, Lorraine, Brie, and Antonio also joined us. In addition, I made a couple of new friends at the tournament.
I think that competing is only truly fun when you have friends and team members there to support and be supported by. We’re all like a big family there to support each other. When you’re anxious from waiting many hours to compete, it’s nice to have people to talk to and make you laugh.
A great coach and team members make competing worth while.

Read about Team Marcelo Meleiro BJJ at NAGA by clicking here.

Competition Day!

2011-05-21T04:32:00.007-04:00

Good luck to all of our Marcelo Meleiro BJJ teammates competing at NAGA this weekend. We wish we could be there to cheer you on in person, but we will be with you in spirit!

The Perfect Ending to a Bad Day

2011-05-20T05:00:00.014-04:00

by Jen

The perfect ending to a bad day - a good night of jiu-jitsu, a long hot shower,hugs from the best family I could ever ask for and praising God for all of his gifts. Sometimes just knowing I am going to class gets me through the day.

I am a firm believer that everyone should find a hobby that is as positive, healthy and challenging as BJJ.

You Cannot Stop!

2011-05-15T11:41:00.018-04:00

Sprinting to the finish line with dead Ipod in hand.

by Jen

Some friends and I recently discussed songs and inspiring words that keep us going during runs, workouts and competitions. My Mud Run partner, Jenny, and I both agree that Eminem's Lose Yourself is just what we need. David, another runner, suggested Van Halen's Right Here. My sister uses the words of her trainer, "Be the boss of your body!" Tom jokes that he reminds himself that "it's almost over." Logan strives to do her best and asks herself "What's the worst that can happen?"

At our BJJ School, Marcelo's slogan is "You Get What You Give." Love it, although there is another phrase that he uses that helped me the other day.

It was Mother's Day weekend and I wanted to race in the Run for the Roses Mother's Day 5k. The event was hosted by a local running club which meant the good runners were going to be out. Rather than try to beat those "6 minute milers", I showed up with the goal to beat my personal best.

I was tempted to quit when my Ipod died in the first mile. I figured walking away over a broken Ipod would look pretty weak so I kept going. I used the sound of my footsteps and people cheering us on to stay motivated.

I was exhausted but gained new strength when I saw the finish line within reach. That is until I turned the corner and realized there were more twists and turns. There was a much longer road ahead. I nearly gave up on my goal to beat my personal best. At this point, I just wanted to finish.

Then, from within, I heard Marcelo's voice in my head "You cannot stop!" Wait, this is what I hear when I am on the bottom of a roll, tired, squashed and tempted to wait it out until the 6 minutes are over.

"You cannot stop." Wow, those words work on and off the mat - thanks Marcelo. Before I knew it, the finish line was within reach. The time clock showed that I had seconds to beat my personal goal so I sprinted, finished and collapsed. (A true sign of knowing you gave everything is when you can do nothing but collapse at the end!)

End of the story, I missed by personal best by 7.5 seconds (didn't realize this til I got home) , but I placed 2nd in Overall Female Masters (40-44 age group). Luckily the "6 minute milers" took the morning off!

What keeps you going?

A Girl on the Wrestling Team?

2011-05-03T20:36:00.060-04:00

by jen
Logan, Hunter and I ran the Miami Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run last Sunday. What a blast! Logan and I ran the 5k and Hunter ran the 1 mile Adventure Kids race. I was so proud of my kids. We ran with some friends which made the experience even more fun. If this or a similar event comes to your town you should definitely check it out.

Last night we attended the freshman kick off at Logan's future high school. We stopped by to meet the wrestling coach to discuss her potential participation on the team. She is interested as long as it would not conflict with her current bjj training. Jiu jitsu is first in her life!

The coach was talking to a young man and encouraging him to try the team when we approached his table. Wow, the tone changed when we introduced him to Logan! A recap of the coversation is below. The italicized part represents what I was thinking but refrained from saying.

"I don't go easier on the girls just because of a pretty face." Grrrr. Did you really just say that? Do you believe that a pretty face means you can't be a bad ass? Because I can introduce you to some really beautiful bad ass women that I train with.

"We've had a few bjj guys come out before. They always say wrestling is too hard." He referenced some kid who did karate. Do you understand BJJ?

"You know wrestling involves intimate contact, right?" Seriously, do you understand bjj?

"We work them out really hard. I make them run 3 miles two times per week." Can I share with you some of the work outs her coach puts her through?

Okay, so I am an overly proud mom. I understand the need to give a reality check to future team members. I get it. I also know that the guys can be tough competitors. I've seen the teen boys compete in tournaments - they are aggressive. I do realize that she is not perfect in all that she does, that wrestling is different, and that wrestling would require hard work and shifts in her training. All I ask is that you give a girl a chance before you discourage, discourage, discourage seemingly based on gender.

Do you have any insight into girls' participation in high school wrestling or combining bjj and wrestling training? I would love to hear from you and learn from your experiences.

GSP in print and on DVD

2011-04-22T11:39:00.005-04:00

Another really good magazine has hit the stands geared towards MMA conditioning and training. This is the premier issue of "Train Hard Fight Easy" featuring an in depth interview with GSP and his trainers. The article is written by UFC commentator Joe Rogan and explores GSP's training with side bar interviews of his coaches. Ironically, GSP claims he only does olympic lifts once a week, all the rest of his conditioning occurs through sparring, wrestling and pad work. No crossfit, no circuits and no roadwork. He says the footage of him on Spike; waking up early to run through the snow laden streets of Montreal was just done to make the prefight documentary more interesting.

This is interesting since GSP is the spokesperson for a new DVD series called Rushfit. The DVD's are similar to Beachbodys P90X but feature more MMA specific drills. I bought the series which was developed by BJJ practioner Eric Owings. I have been doing the workouts inbetween my BJJ classes for the past few weeks. So far I am really happy with the workouts, I wanted a functional training program as opposed to just strength training. I like to train exercises that will direclty help me move better in BJJ. These workouts are geared for metabolic conditioning including lots of level changes, sprawls, burpees, air squats, hindu pushups, getups, plyometrics etc... The seven discs consist of five, 5 minute rounds and some of the rounds are dedicated completely to BJJ drills. The price of the collection is only 89.99 which is a fair price.

Back to the magazine, it is nice to see a new magazine emerge that has tons of content and a nice layout. I used to buy alot of different magazines on all sorts of topics but lately the competition from the internet is driving them out of business. Some that are still on the news stands tend to be more advertisments than information. This magazine is the opposite, it is full of content that covers topics important to BJJ trainees such as routines, sleep, diet, training and articles by an A-list of MMA coaches. Check it out.

Posted by Tom

Not Your Typical Mixed Martial Artist

2011-04-16T11:52:00.004-04:00

I stumbled upon this inspiring video about an MMA fighter who trains at Florian Martial Arts Center. Enjoy!

Miami Open Date is Confirmed!

2011-04-15T05:14:00.017-04:00

by Jen

I just saw that the Miami Open has been confirmed for October 22nd! It is hard to travel to other IBJJF tournaments so I will be focusing on this one. I have 6 months to prepare. That is a long time, but time flies and I have a lot of work to do. It's time to start working a plan.

Wishing I could compete at NAGA in May but I have other commitments that day. It looks like no competition for me until Grappler's Quest in August and perhaps NAGA in September, which happens to be my birthday weekend. It still makes me laugh - a few years ago Tom could have never guessed that I'd want to spend my birthday at a tournament.

for info

Passing, Passing and More Passing

2011-04-14T05:20:00.008-04:00

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?

Going Against the Grain

2011-04-07T21:12:00.047-04:00

by Jen

Exciting things going on at the gym. We got new mats so we have more space for our growing class.

Marcelo added a few new classes to the schedule too. Check out Logan in the video to advertise the new kids MMA class.

I am so proud to see how hard she is working and how well she is doing. What makes it even better is to see how happy she is with the training.

I have always admired Logan's ability to go against the grain. This is becoming even more apparent as she begins her teenage years. I am proud to say that she is the one that will stick up for what is right, even if it means going against the crowd. She also chooses to do her own thing rather than go with passing trend.

Take for instance the new hobby taken up by her friends and mine - Zumba. I was afraid that she might feel like she was missing out, so I offered her a chance to jump on the Zumba train. She looked at me with a puzzled face and responded with, "Uh, no thanks."

Now let me clear this up, there is nothing wrong with Zumba. From what I hear, it is a fun and demanding work out. It is just not something that we are interested in. Most importantly, though, a night at Zumba could take her away from a night on the mats.

I have worked in social services for more than 9 years now, and spent most of that time at a domestic violence agency that strongly promoted non violence. With their lack of understanding of bjj, I sometimes wonder what my friends and co-workers think about my training, and my encouragement of my daughter's training. Honestly though, I have come to the point where I don't care. For more than two years this has been a major part of my life. It's something they will just have to learn to accept. No matter how awful my day, I feel a sense of peace when I step on the mat. Who wouldn't want that for their friend?

Principles of BJJ = Principles of Life

2011-04-03T12:25:00.000-04:00

by Jen

Have you ever noticed that some of the principals of bjj are similar to those for success in life? Before I explain further, here is my disclaimer - I am not an expert in either category, just a dedicated student of BJJ and a student of life.

• You cannot stop. You have to keep moving.
• If what you are doing is not working, try something else.
• Slow and steady wins the race, just like the fable the Tortoise and the Hare.
• Think through your moves. Use strategy. In most cases, be proactive, not reactive.

What do you think?

Games, Competition and Catching Up!

2011-03-30T05:22:00.000-04:00

by Jen

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so this is a little long. Busy, busy times at work and at home -all good though.

I competed in the 1st annual Heraean games over the weekend, an all female CrossFit competition. What an amazing, amazing group of female competitors! One of the benefits of being forty was the ability to compete in the Athena, or 40+, division. This meant lighter weight and fewer competitors. (wphew!) Here's a recap-

The Heraean Games from Jarret Streiner on Vimeo.

One of the main event sponsors and organizers was Sarah and her company Fashletics. Fashletics sells handmade jewelry inspired by a passion for fitness and competition. I asked Sarah to consider making a piece for bjj and she asked for ideas on designs. Do you have any? Logan and I have a couple but were curious to hear yours.

One of my fellow Athena’s was Lorraine, who by the way PR’d her deadlift that day (Congrats Lorraine!!). Lorraine was featured as a Fashlete of the Month on Fashletics blog last December. Her entire family is active including her children who train bjj with our kids.

The games helped me get my competition fix since I could not be at the Pan Ams. Our teammate, Adam, and Coach, Marcelo, made the trip to California. Congratulations to Adam who took 3rd in his division! Also congratulations to Victoria Trueb for taking 1st in the blue belt middle division. She was one of the tough competitors that I faced at the Miami Open.

Other happenings since our last post, congratulations to Sanya, one of our other female students, for earning her blue belt! Juan, the owner of our CrossFit and BJJ facility, joined us back on the mats last night after a more than a one year hiatus. Nice to have him back!

I’ve been spending more time rolling with some of the heavier and more experienced guys, which is helping me with my goal to better fight heavier opponents. I still have a long way to go. I am also trying to open up my game more – it is so easy to rely on your old habits.

Lastly, the post below is a survey to gauge the interest in a female open mat for girls. Check it out and pass it to anyone in the Florida area who might be interested – whether they currently train or not.

Calling all Florida girls!

2011-03-27T17:05:00.001-04:00

If you're currently training, or interested training in BJJ, and you're in Florida, please take a few minutes to answer this brief survey. We'd love to follow in the paths of girls in other states by creating a place to gain practice rolling with other girls outside of competition. Here are some links to open mats in other areas - it's time to put Florida on the map! Fifty/50 Women's Program Inspire London BJJ Women’s Open Mat

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

How Young is Too Young?

2011-02-23T07:25:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Logan and Hunter plan to compete in the May NAGA. This will be Hunter’s first competition. He loves BJJ, and it shows as he smiles and giggles while he rolls. Marcelo, along with Tom and I, have made it clear that he will need to get more serious in order to prepare. Until now, we have not entered him in competition because we have not felt he was ready. I am a little nervous, but we will see how it goes now that the goal of competition is in sight.

The last thing I want to do is push him to the point where BJJ is not fun for him any more. As a side note, his New Year's resolution was to earn his Yellow Belt so training for NAGA should go hand in hand with achieving this resolution.

I’m wondering what others think about the right age for competition. We noticed that NAGA has divisions for 3-4 years olds. I’m not sure I agree with this – do these kids even know what they are doing? What do you think? What is the right age?

As far as training this week –

I enjoyed all of the drilling that we did Monday and Tuesday night - going to the back and from guard. Last night I worked with one of our blue belts with vast wrestling experience. He is always helpful.

I returned to CrossFit on Monday and it was brutal. I planned to go this morning, but in keeping with my commitment to listen to my body, I decided to make today a true rest day. One more BJJ class tomorrow will make 3 for the week, the same for CrossFit if I go Friday and Saturday.

I’m preparing for the Heraean games on March 26th. I was thrilled to see that this competition has a 40+ age division. I do not anticipate placing well because I’m still scaling and doing assisted pullups, but it will be fun to give it a try.

Two Weeks - Two Tournaments - Wphew!

2011-02-21T09:10:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Two tournaments in two weeks and Marcelo Meleiro BJJ (MMBJJ) showed well at both! I’m humbled by all of the congratulatory messages I’m receiving. First, watching the matches, all I can see are my mistakes and missed opportunities (more on this later). Secondly, the successes are not really my own.

They are a result of patient, skilled and committed coaching by Marcelo, and the support of the students at MMBJJ – from the white belts to the purple belts. No matter how much I hated passing and working the guard over and over and over again - Marcelo knew that was what I needed.

In my teammates, I have a group of brothers, (and Sanya - my “adopted daughter”) who respect my love for BJJ, don’t let me slack, coach me and prepare me for tough matches. These guys and gal show up on tournament day – and even wait around when it seems like I am one of the LAST people to go for the day. Those who can’t be there are with us in spirit.

Of course, I have to mention my dear husband Tom, who persistently encouraged me to try BJJ, and seized the moment the day I finally caved. He’s patient and supportive of me pre and post tournament - even when the stress makes me unbearable to be around. Thank you honey!

I absolutely LOVE the BJJ community. I had the privilege of meeting fellow bloggers Allie from Allie the Clear Belt and Megan from Tangled Triangle. I saw my friend and competitor, Gina – we meet up at all of the tournaments and keep in touch through Twitter. I also met several new friends. (Congrats to Gina’s daughter who took 1st in Gi & No Gi on Sunday!)

Nothing inspired me more than the competing mother of a 6-month old at NAGA. I read on Megan’s blog that she even breastfed in between matches – WOW! Childbirth does a number on your body. Couple that with the stress of a tournament, and the stress of caring for a 6-month old – WOW! This woman deserves the Wonder Woman award!

It’s awesome to be in a room of women and families of all ages, sizes and backgrounds who love BJJ as much as I do. This helps me to feel so much more normal. In my daily life, most folks just don’t get it.

Many of us talked about our desire for female open mats in Florida – Girls, we are going to make this happen. Contact me at jenstewy@hotmail.com if you are interested or want to help!

It was also great to see our 8-year old, Hunter, connect with all of the other kids in the room. What could have been long and boring days turned into a great deal of fun for him as he made new friends.

Now for the tournament recap -

Things that helped in tournament prep:
• Turned to a much healthier diet in the weeks leading up to Grappler’s Quest and NAGA. Until then I was still stuck in the holiday junk food rut. In preparation, I changed to high protein, low carbs (I cannot do no carbs), and more fruits and veggies.
• No CrossFit (CF) the week before tournaments. Marcelo always warned me about training too much before tournaments. I was a little stubborn, but now I am a believer. I felt the increased energy and hunger to perform on tournament day. (By the way, it was so nice to have Juan from CrossFit ATP out there supporting us as well! It was a surprise to see him walk in while I was in my match with Allie)
• Good breakfast – I am a big eater! Once I am at the tournament, the nerves keep me from wanting lunch – the good breakfast helps keep me nourished.
• Freshen the playlist – I always add a few new motivational songs to the tournament playlist.
• Pack snacks for the family and a “fun bag” for Hunter.

Grappler’s Quest
I fought a total of three matches in Grappler’s Quest. I had one match in the No-Gi advanced division. They didn’t have a partner for me so they asked a younger and probably lighter girl to fight me. She had already fought in 6 divisions! Although I won by submission, I have to give her the credit for moving up and for fighting so much that day. She is one girl that you will want to keep an eye on.

I fought two matches in the blue belt gi division, winning one and losing one. Biggest lesson learned here is to learn to work with heavier fighters. A battle I have been fighting for years now. I took 2nd in this division.

NAGA
I won three out of four matches, lost the fourth by submission. All of the matches were tough, and in all I see the errors and missed opportunities.

Lessons learned:
• Use sweeps from guard – need to get more comfortable with these.
• Remember to push the knees – I always push the hips, the thighs – everything BUT the knees.

• Sweeps from half guard –this is a constant battle for me.
• Learn when I lose the armbar and move on to something else right away.
• Several missed opportunities to go to the back – become more aware of these openings.
• Learn how to finish a Kimura – I couldn’t get the positioning right - UGH!
• Don’t lose my focus – sometimes I get tired and confused and don’t pay attention to what I’m doing next.
• Tighter control - The opponent who beat me was a master at leaving me no room at all (absolutely zero), and keeping every move tight. I aspire to be able to do that as well as she did!

Once more I have to give credit to Marcelo’s coaching – he is so calm, patient and to the point in guiding you in every move. He knows when I’m on the verge of losing heart and says what is needed to keep me going and to stay calm. I have 100% trust in his coaching on and off of the mat.

Oh, and of course I can’t forget – a little prayer always helps, with some praising and thanking post tournament!

I will not be able to make NAGA in May so I’m not sure when I’ll be back on the competition mat. Until then I’ll get to work on the long list of things to work on.

Silencing the Hungry Ghosts

2011-02-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

Hungry ghosts are beings tormented by insatiable cravings for physical desires. They have tiny mouths and huge empty bellies that can never be satisfied. They are a Buddhist metaphor for people caught up in the cycle of addiction; who are trying to find happiness through food, sex, alcohol, drugs, power etc... I have a huge addiction I am trying to kick, Diet Coke. I love the stuff, I drink on average 8 cans a day and I have been addicted to it for over twenty years. It is more expensive per gallon than gas and has questionable effects on your health. The latest study came out last week and found that diet sodas may increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 61% over non drinkers. This is just one of similar studies performed throughout the past few years. The American Beverage Association disputes the findings but they are a vested partner interested in the beverage corporations success, not my health. I train Jiu Jitsu to develop my mind, body and spirit. I train to be an inspiration to my children and anything that compromises my success at BJJ should be questioned. I am trusting my gut on this one, I have not had any Diet Coke for 3 days now. I have had severe head aches, body aches, sleepiness, depression and nightmares. Am I detoxing from Coca Cola or a street drug? Anything that causes withdrawal symptoms like this can not be good for you.

Posted by Tom

What would it take?

2011-02-10T20:17:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Here's a photo from Grapplers Quest, which I still have to recap. In the meantime, check out this survey at Combat Sports Review Blog about getting more girls on the mats training in BJJ. If you haven't already done so, take a few minutes to fill it out.

Grappler's Quest Today

2011-02-05T07:34:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Preparing for Grappler's Quest today. Luckily I finally lost those 5 lbs I gained from my food binge that occurred between the Miami Open and New Year's Day. Some of us weighed in last night. I wanted to do this since I am close to the top of my weight category. I wanted to eat my breakfast and drink my coffee with no worries this morning - I can be a little neurotic.

Like the guy at NAGA last June, the young guy who registered me seemed a little surprised when he learned I was 40. He was looking down to complete my form when he asked me my age and slightly paused before writing the number down. I caught him trying to inconspicuously look up to see what a 40-year old female BJJ competitor looked like. Made me laugh. With the exception of a few wrinkles and a few greys I haven't had time to touch up, I think I look pretty much the same as the rest. At least he was a little more polite.

I'm guessing that my morning routine before competitions looks a little different from most. As a working mom of two who loves the morning, I have been mopping my floors, dusting the house, and cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms since 5:30 am. The work has to be done, it's going to be a long day, and I'd like to have a little time to rest tomorrow.

I did find some time to include my morning meditation and prayer time and to download some new songs into my IPOD.

Well here's to my Marcelo Meleiro BJJ teammates today! Looking forward to seeing everyone's matches! I hope to represent the school well!

Inspiration While you Drive

2011-01-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

I work as a broadcast engineer for a group of radio stations in Miami and I have a long bumper to bumper commute every morning. Even though I have worked in the radio industry for years, I will be the first to admit that the South Florida radio market leaves a lot to be desired. I have ditched listening to local radio in favor of listening to my ipod. My favorite commute pastime is listening to podcasts that I have downloaded from itunes. A podcast is typically an amateur talk radio show produced specifically for download into a mp3 player or streamed via the Internet. Some of these shows are more interesting than professionally produced radio. I have learned so much from listening to them. College lectures on philosophy and religion, interviews with media professionals on video production and expert entrepreneurs discussing marketing for small businesses. ALL FOR FREE!

Here is the best part, there are some really good Brazilian Jiu Jitsu podcasts that have interviews with the top competitors, trainers and founders of BJJ. My favorite BJJ podcast is the Fight Works podcast http://thefightworkspodcast.com. Listen to advice from champions like Andre Galvao, Jean Jacques Machado, Saulo Ribeiro, Hillary Williams, Leticia Ribeiro and Marcelo Garcia. Learn the history of the art from legends like Renzo Gracie, Rorion Gracie, Carlos Gracie Jr, Ricardo Liborio, Kid Peligro and Carlos Machado. There are also some other good BJJ podcast starting to surface. Grapple arts radio by Stephan Kesting http://kesting.libsyn.com has some great interviews including GSP's conditioning coach and a podcast dedicated to BJJ competition. Nova Uniao black belt Robson Moura has a new podcast RMNU Radio http://robsonmoura.com/wordpress. There are a slew of MMA podcasts as well that also interview BJJ guys that cross train MMA, a quick search of the itunes store will bring up dozens of them to download. http://www.thelightsoutshow.com and http://mmajunkie.com are two that you might want to check out.

Posted by Tom

Stances & Studying

2011-01-07T04:41:00.001-05:00

One of our blue belts has been teaching the kids class while Marcelo is in Brazil. He's been working on their stances and takedowns. Check out Hunter's stance - enough to intimidate any opponent.

One of my challenges continues to be remembering new moves. I think I'm going to start writing down what we learn each day, including the little tips and tricks that go along with the moves. When I was in school I used flash cards to help me study. Just by writing the information down, it was committed to memory. I rarely had to review the cards to continue studying. We'll see how it goes. Do you do anything similar?

posted by Jen

Another Anniversary

2010-12-30T07:39:00.000-05:00

by Jen
Last week was our bjj anniversary and today is our 15th wedding anniversary. We had many highs and lows throughout the years, but training has played a valuable role in helping us grow stronger. Especially during the stressful times while Tom was out of work. We're fortunate to share a hobby that we both enjoy and that is so important to us - and even better, important to our children. My wish is for every couple to find something so meaningful to them!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Too Anxious

2010-12-28T06:12:00.001-05:00

by Jen

Marcelo is visiting family & training in Brazil so our purple belts, Lior and Boom will be teaching the classes for the next few weeks. Yesterday was Lior's class. We worked on open guard sweeps to full mount, triangles from full mount, and triangles to arm bars. He had me roll with one of the new white belts. This was the guy's first time rolling so I asked Lior what he wanted us to do. Knowing I need to work on submissions, he told me to try submissions from full mount, while the guy tried to escape. I thought this was going to be easier than it was, but he threw me off and escaped over and over and over again. This clued me in that I still need to work on leveraging my weight on the mount - something that I thought I had a handle on. Tom pointed out how this guy was relaxed and nimble in the way he fought, which worked to his advantage.

We also had a visiting brown belt from Montreal training with us. I was honored that he asked me to roll with him. I'm always glad to get a new perspective on my training. He told me that my technique is good, but I'm too anxious to go for the mounts and submissions. He suggested that I wait and make the opponent uncomfortable which will more than likely lead to them making a mistake - then I go for it. He's 100% correct.

When we got home, Tom asked me to watch a scene from Rocky 3 that he cued up on our dvr. It's when Adrianne gave Rocky the pep talk on the beach. It was one of his ways of motivating me after my few months of frustration. He wanted to show me that it's common to get frustrated now and then. Great scene - haven't watched the movie yet, but think I will now.

This, along with a good class and encouraging words from Marcelo before he left, have me ready to go in 2011. Looking forward to see what Boom has in store for us tonight.

Two Years of Training!

2010-12-21T05:52:00.000-05:00

by Jen

This week marks our two year anniversary of training. The first day I almost didn’t get out of the car. Look at us now.

Who knew that in two years time:
1. Logan’s room decor would include a belt, swords, medals and posters of Rocky & Jose Aldo?
2. One of Hunter’s aspirations would be to be an MMA fighter?
3. I’d be okay with Tom making a space for the mats in our bedroom?
4. I would be the one pushing Tom to get to class on some nights when we’re tired & don’t feel like training?
5. We would meet such awesome people who have become important parts of our lives?
6. Logan, our oldest child, would find lots of “big brothers” in our team to help look after her?
7. I would now watch the Ultimate Fighter & UFC and actually know who the fighters are?
8. We would develop such a strong friendship with our instructor, Marcelo, whom we respect and love dearly?
9. That our kids would have the privilege of training under someone who serves as a great role model to them?
10. That I’d be ready for more training & new challenges in the coming year?

Resolution Time

2010-12-19T06:41:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Reviewing my 2010 resolutions, I realize I haven't done too shabby. Fortunately, my work in the nonprofit sector has me well versed in using the S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goal method, which translates well for personal goals.

Reflecting on ideas for 2011 resolutions I’ve been thinking about areas for improvement in the different parts of my life, including training.

My progress has stalled lately and I’ve become more and more frustrated. I had my “Oprah AHA” moment when I realized that my confidence has been lost since the Miami Open. Since then, I don’t feel my performance in class has been up to par. And, although I want to compete in NAGA in February, I’m scared to death and subconsciously looking for excuses not to compete.

In my opinion, I need to continue my work on 1) passing guard, 2)sweeping and 3) takedowns. I also have a terrible memory and can’t remember all of the new moves we learn in class. So my fourth goal will involve figuring out a way to improve on this. Any ideas, please share. In the meantime, I'll get started developing these goals using the S.M.A.R.T. strategy.

One step towards progress, in the coming year Tom and I are committed to supplement our training by practicing at home. We rearranged our room to create a larger space, making it easier to pull out our mats. This will also be beneficial for the kids – especially Hunter who has recently become more assertive in his training. Only wish I had a whole barn to train in like Allie! Maybe I'll ask Santa.

Back in the game

2010-12-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

I feel inspired again and ready to train. For a long time I have just been going through the motions in my life and in training. I feel everyone has some thing in their personal lives that holds them back. It keeps them from being who they are and who they could be. I think that is one of the things that made the characters in the TV show 'Lost' so interesting…they all had some hang up in their flash backs that kept them from being who they truly were supposed to be.

I started martial arts when I was 14, trying various styles like tae kwon do and karate. When I was 16 my friend and I found this guy training some students in a parking lot. My friend Tom Moy had just immigrated from China and started a conversation with the instructor in Chinese. The instructor (Sifu) was Andrew Chung, and he was starting a new school to teach Wing Chun kung fu and San Shaou kick boxing. This guy was the real deal, a strict traditional teacher and a practicing Buddhist who taught philosophy as well as fighting. The style was designed to fight in very tight spaces, it used very short powerful strikes and low stomping kicks to the groin, knees and feet. I had found my Mister Miyagi, I trained with him off and on through my teens and early twenties. I always remember Sifu saying ""martial arts is not about fighting." I thought WTF, of course it is. We spar and drill all the time to fight.

My Father passed away in 2003, and it left me in a rut emotionally. I was questioning my faith and had lost all interest in my creative endeavors. I went back to train with Sifu for the next 3 years. I eventually stopped training to make time with the family. Jen and I would often argue about how much time I spent training. I realize it was unfair to her, we used to work out together at the YMCA and now she was left home alone with the kids. I had always been interested in BJJ and one day Jen came home after a bad day of work and asked if they offered family rates for Jiu Jitsu. I was searching for a gym that very next day. I found our gym and BJJ coach Marcelo Meleiro. The whole family fell in love with training and our coach Marcelo. I am very fortunate to have the situation that I now have. Jiu Jitsu along with faith, family and friends has helped get me through some tough times. I now understand what Sifu meant, martial arts is not about fighting…it is about self discipline. It is about defeating yourself.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."

Buddha

Posted by Tom

Congratulations to the First Fenomenal Woman!

2010-12-03T05:48:00.000-05:00

by Jen

Congratulations to Yasmin Soto as the first “Fenomenal Woman” profiled by Fenom Kimonos! Check out her interview at Fenom Kimonos Powered by She . It was inspiring to read about another family that trains together. Though we're scattered across the nation and world, the blogging community brings us closer together.

I'm Back

2010-12-01T06:43:00.000-05:00

By Jen

For the second year in a row I was sick during the long Thanksgiving weekend. Logan came down with it Thanksgiving Day. I was fine until shortly after I battled “Linda – and her 3 bars of death” at CrossFit on Friday morning. (Loved Linda, by the way!)

I started feeling weaker and more achy throughout the day, but kept attributing it to Linda. I cursed Linda and Juan several times because of this. I was asleep by 6:00 pm. It wasn’t until I woke up with my throat on fire on Saturday morning that I decided it was time for Logan and me to head to the doctor. Sure enough, strep throat.

By Monday we were well enough, and on antibiotics long enough, to return to school and work. We were happy to return to the land of the living. She skipped her BJJ class and I skipped CrossFit, knowing our bodies still needed some rest. I decided to go to BJJ to practice techniques, but I would withhold from rolling.

I was okay with my decision until we pulled into the parking lot and I saw all of the CrossFitters wearily running as part of the daily WOD. I so wanted to be one of them! I knew my body wasn’t up to this yet, but I didn’t care. My husband warns me that this is a sign of my CF/BJJ addiction.

I handled the BJJ warm up better than expected. I thought the burpees and running would do me in, but I felt great. We learned a few chokes that I practiced with our other female student, Sanya.

It was so hard to sit on the sidelines while everyone rolled. I absolutely hate that! But I knew it was the right thing to do. And after all, I need to set an example for my overachieving children. (it scares me when I see some of my workaholic habits in them) I just don’t understand why doing the right thing is always so hard.

Happy to say that today I feel 100% better and ready for CF and BJJ! As hard as it was to sit most of Monday out, I know that was a huge factor in my readiness for tonight! Watch out!

The Sisterhood of Jiu Jitsu

2010-11-26T17:09:00.000-05:00

by Jen

It seems that the number of female Jiujitsu bloggers and resources has exploded in the two years that I’ve been training. This may be because I’m paying more attention lately, but I don’t think so. I find it comforting since I personally know only a few women who train. Folllowing the other bloggers helps me to remember I’m not alone in my love for bjj.

New blogger, Ashley, recently posted this video which was shared with her by Slideyfoot in this post. It sums up a lot of my feelings about training so I wanted to pass it on.

Girls, keep sharing your love for this sport. Hopefully, the more we talk about it, more will be moved to join us!

PS - Check out our blog list for some inspiring female writers.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

2010-11-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

By Jen

I had every excuse to not go to CrossFit today. I’m not very creative, unless it has to do with excuses. I can think of every reason not to do anything.

I’m taking the day off from work to take care of projects around the house. With the many busy weekends lately, the house has become a victim of neglect. I’m hosting Thanksgiving so it’s time to get my butt in gear.

Since I don’t have to rush to the office I planned to start my Monday at CrossFit. This way I can get a little more rest between the WOD and BJJ tonight. But, when I woke up, I had every excuse to skip out.

• My allergies are acting up – I won’t be able to breathe properly.
• I have soooo much to do today – I should get a jump start on the list.
• I’m really tired; maybe I should let my body rest.
• Logan needs to wake up at 6:30. If I go to CrossFit I won’t be home in time to make sure she wakes up to her alarm.
• I have a backlog of TV shows on the DVR to catch up on.

The list of excuses goes on and on, and yes, they get weaker and weaker with each one.

The guilt set in and I made my way to CrossFit. I wasn’t feeling it, but figured showing up was the right thing to do. I confess I didn’t push myself as hard as I could, but I showed up. I’m wondering, is that enough? If I average 3 CrossFit WODS and 3 BJJ classes a week, can I really give 100% of myself every day?

I’m proud about what I pushed:
• The warm up included ten minutes of sets of 5 pull ups, 10 pushups and 15 air squats. I decided to try kipping the pull-ups since the repetitions were low. I’m only able to get 2 consecutively, but I tried. I decided to use the purple bands on the last few sets.
• I RX’d the push presses at 65 lbs – this was tough for me. These were my least favorite part of the WOD.

What I know I could have done better:
• RX the overhead Kettlebell swings at 16kg – I dropped down to 12kg
• Run faster
• Faster burpees

I’ll work through my list now and will head to BJJ tonight. Hopefully I’ll be feeling stronger so I won’t have to work so hard to come up with more excuses. But, I still wonder, on those days when I’m not feeling it – isn’t it enough to just show up?

Battle Wounds

2010-11-12T05:25:00.000-05:00

by Jen

It was warm yesterday so I chose to wear a sleeveless shirt to work. The problem – as I got ready I noticed my BJJ battle wounds. I have three scratches around my left eye, one handprint bruise (yes, all five fingers) on my right arm, and two more bruises on my left arm. I wore pants that covered the giant bruise just above my right knee. These are only the larger and more noticeable marks. They don’t hurt, but they look pretty vicious.

My boss knows about my training, although she hardly understands it. When she saw the fingerprints on my arm she asked, “Is that from your ….uh?”, and I replied, “Yes, that’s from jiu jitsu. It doesn’t hurt.” We both previously worked in the domestic violence field so she appropriately responded, “Well okay, but if you ever feel that there is something you need to tell me, I’m here.”

Now she has known me and my family for years, and I’m pretty sure she knows that there is really no need for concern, but it made me wonder. How many people wonder what’s up with the marks, but don’t say anything? Maybe I need to start telling more people about my training.

As a side note, after I decided to write this, I accidentally gave Tom his own battle wound. He pretended to try to take me down and I shouldered him in the mouth causing him to bite into his tongue. I felt sooooo bad. I guess that was our reminder to keep the fighting on the mats.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-11-05T22:53:00.000-04:00

by Logan

Last weekend, I competed at NAGA along with Caelin and Brie. Caelin did very good, winning first place in both gi and no-gi. This being her first tournament, Brie also did well, competing against boys with higher belts, even though she had only been training for a few months. Since I just turned 14, I was moved up from kids to teens (14 to 15 years old). The only thing that made me a little nervous about this was the word “teens”. I had to remind myself that I would only be fighting people my age or a year older, not someone a lot bigger and older than I am.

I had also chosen to compete in advanced. Originally I was supposed to fight intermediate because of the way NAGA splits up different skill levels, but Marcelo gave me the choice to fight a higher division. Last time I competed, he also gave me the choice, but I decided to fight intermediate. This time I decided to take the challenge and fight advanced.

Waiting in front of the mat to fight was, and always is, when I am the most nervous. It helps to think about the worst and best case scenarios. I learned this from my mom. Whenever I’d be nervous about something, she’d ask, “What’s the worst possible thing that could happen?” The best thing that could happen is that I win. The worst thing that could happen is that I lose, but that would be okay because I fought a higher division and I did my best. Not that bad at all. Thinking about this calms me down.

While my mom waited in front of the mats listening for my name, I sat down against the wall listening to my iPod and eating little pieces of broken chocolate chip cookies (It’s hard to eat when I’m nervous). When I was listening to my iPod, I was really distracting myself from being nervous more than getting ready to fight. It helped more than I thought it would.

Feeling a lot better, I got up and went over by my mom and the mat that I was supposed to fight at. I saw that they were starting Novice for gi so I put mine on. I’m glad I did, because that’s when they called my name to a ring on the opposite side of the mats and said I’d be disqualified if I didn’t hurry. After swimming through a crowd of slow moving people, I made it onto the mat and stood before the girl I was supposed to fight. She looked a little bigger than me and had a green belt, but I didn’t let it get me nervous. Not because I didn’t have time too (I really didn’t), but because one of the things I’ve learned to do is ignore the things about my opponent that will make me think I don’t have a chance.

Before I knew it, the match had started and I was fighting. When I fought I stayed focused and determined and only listened to Marcelo’s voice. I didn’t think about whether or not I was losing. If I thought about how good I was doing, I would be less determined and focused. If I thought about how behind on points I was, I’d get too nervous and frantic and not be able to think right. Instead I stayed calm and only thought about what my next move was. Even though I don’t like to think about where I am on points, it did help a lot when Marcelo yelled to me that if I passed, I’d win. I did it, and as soon as the match was over I was relieved. I was breathing heavy; partly because I was out of breath and more so because I was happy that I had won a match that I wasn’t sure I could win. I gave my former opponent a hug and told her she did good because she did and she deserved some credit.

Congratulations Kids

2010-11-05T04:20:00.001-04:00

by Jen

Three of our students, including Logan, competed at NAGA last weekend. Here's a recap. Logan will soon post about her experience. (You can watch her match here. -Yes, I'm a proud mom.) She had me worried in the first few minutes, and amazed me at how she kept her cool through it all.

After spending the last two Saturdays at tournaments, I'm glad to have a break tomorrow. Even though we'll be busy, busy, busy with school functions, errands, housework, and more, I'll get a break from the stress of competition. (But I really can't wait til NAGA in February)

Lessons in Losing

2010-10-24T07:10:00.000-04:00

By Jen

Yesterday I participated in my third bjj tournament. I placed second in the female blue belt light division at the Miami Open. (Yeah!)

Looking back at all three tournaments, there is a pattern of winning my first match and losing my second. With each loss, I’m disappointed, but I take away a lesson.

Miami Open 2009 – Lesson 1: Work on escaping full mount, especially with a much heavier competitor. I think I’m finally beginning to grasp this one.

Naga June 2010 – I mentally defeated myself. I tapped in the last half minute of the match. I panicked in a choke. I should have won that match on points. Lesson 2 – don’t panic!

Miami Open 2010 – Lesson 3: Eat better and rest more. I ran out of fuel during the 1st match. I felt dizzy the minute I stepped out on the mat for the 2nd match. This caused me to defeat myself mentally before the match ever began. Lesson 4: I cannot defeat myself mentally. I tried to overcome this in the beginning, but as soon as my competitor got into a more dominant position, I defeated myself. Lesson 5: Improve on pushing the legs, stepping back and passing. Marcelo knows this is one of my weaknesses because he has me drill it often. I try to avoid doing it because I know I’m weak here. Yesterday proved to me that I better keep drilling.
A few more words on the nourishment – I still need to figure out how to manage the weight. Weighing in with the gi stressed me out. I normally walk around between 135 and 138, so I knew I had to be careful in order to make 141 or under with my gi. As usual, I went a little overboard and ate and drank very little on Friday and Saturday. Normally I eat about 6 large and small meals and drink about 6 bottles of water between the hours of 5 am and 1 pm, so I was HUNGRY. I ended up coming in somewhere at 137 or 138 with the gi– meaning I could have nourished myself more.

I was proud to be there with Nova Uniao South Florida. I watched the video of my matches and heard the great cheering section I had in my team. I train with a great group of people – not full of egos and attitudes like you see with some of the other coaches and competitors. We’re all here to support each other.

A goal for the next tournament – break my streak of winning 1 and losing 1!

Two Wolves

2010-10-18T23:13:00.000-04:00

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed.”

I told this story to Hunter tonight to illustrate why we do not want him to spend too much time playing games on the computer. The games have no game over, they just keep going...there is always a new level etc... It is very easy for a seven year old to neglect things that are important while playing the games. I would rather him use his imagination with his toys or play outside with his basketball. I explained that we all have things in our lives that end up stealing our time. I told him that I have wasted more time in my life than I care to remember. It is time I could have spent training, working out or developing myself professionally. But REGRET only feeds my dark wolf. Everyday I try to feed the good wolf by putting off bad habits and making wise choices. It is never easy. I know the more I feed my good wolf, the better I will get at jiu jitsu and life.

Which wolf are you feeding?

Posted by Tom

Michael's Special 5K

2010-10-17T18:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah! I got second place!

Here is me with Jim & Michael Sayih and the 1st place finisher in our division.

By Jen

Yesterday I raced in Michael’s Special 5K . This was the most emotional 5K I ever participated in.

Michael, the 17-year old son of Jim Sayih, has Cerebral Palsy. Jim included Michael in 5K’s since he was 8 years old, either by pushing him or pulling him on a bike. Michael wanted others with disabilities to experience the joy that he feels through these activities, and asked his dad if they can raise funds for United Cerebral Palsy through a 5k where runners can push other riders.

This request turned into 250 runners and walkers of all abilities participating in the 5k. I consider this a success given it was a first year event, a new concept, and competing against the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Walk happening that same morning.

Before the start of the race the event organizers asked the competitive runners to think of this as an event rather than a regular race. The 3 individuals in hand crank wheelchairs were given a head start. This was only to ease the traffic between the chairs and the runners – certainly not because they needed the extra help. These athletes were fast! The winner of the Hand Crank division finished the 3.12 miles in 20 minutes and 40 seconds. The other two weren’t far behind.

I am counting my blessings after witnessing the adults and children, confined to chairs, enjoying the sunrise as they were pushed along the boardwalk. I was moved to see the young boy who pushed so hard to walk on his own. Each step was a struggle, but he was determined. I couldn’t help but remember how often I take my ability to walk for granted.

Seeing Michael’s face as he was pushed through the finish line at his “party” was another emotional moment. Jim and Michael should be so proud of what they accomplished yesterday. I hope to see the event grow in a 2nd year!

Training Partners

2010-10-11T13:50:00.000-04:00

by Jen

Patner WOD at Crossfit ATP

I’ve been thinking about how others affect my BJJ and Crossfit training. Here are a few of the roles that I play.

Healthy Competitor

Last Friday night at CrossFit I was near a girl who consistently finishes the WOD (Workout of the Day) faster than me and lifts heavier than me. My personal challenge to keep up with her played a big factor in my finishing the brutal workout in 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have been as motivated to keep going if not for the dose of healthy competition.

There are a few healthy competitors in CrossFit and I’ll continue to station myself by them for each WOD -especially on those days when I’m just not feeling it. In BJJ, I'll continue rolling with them with the goal of strengthening my game.

Mom
Rolling with a new person in BJJ, and even more so, rolling with my daughter, kicks my maternal instinct into overdrive. I don’t want to squish them, I don’t want to hurt them, and I don’t want to discourage them. I know, I know – I’m not helping anyone if I’m not giving a fair fight. That won’t prepare them for competition. I’m working on it.

Partner WOD's in Crossfit can turn me into either Mom or a Healthy Competitor. Depends on the partner.

Funny thing is that oftentimes, the people I mother quickly surprise me by turning into healthy competitors. My daughter included.

Weak Girl
This is the one I have to fight the most. I’m no longer allowed to say that the guys are too heavy or too strong, but that's a hard habit to break. Again, working on it.

Student

This is a role I like to play. There is still so much that I need to learn and perfect. Everyone I train with has their own strengths and I believe that I can learn something from anyone.

Rolling with Marcelo can make me feel like a ragdoll , but I know when I'm doing something right because he lets me do it. The opportunity that I have to roll with a black belt as often as I do is so valuable to me.

Run Your Own Race
Perhaps, I should try running my own race more. What does that mean?

Actor Danny Thomas, once told his daughter, Marlo, " When thoroughbreds run they wear blinders to keep their eyes focused straight ahead with no distractions, no other horses. They hear the crowd but they don’t listen. They just run their own race.."

Wouldn’t that be better? After all, aren’t I really doing all of this to better myself? With the exception of competitions, should it matter how I compare to others?

PS –Our CrossFit facility was mentioned in a recent local news story – check it out.

Whats in my gym bag

2010-10-04T21:28:00.000-04:00

My gym bag is like a jiu jitsu survival kit. Here are the contents:
1. Bottled water, at least 3 for class and a few extras. Often new members forget to bring water and I will offer them one.
2. First aid kit. Occasionally we get nicked or scraped while rolling and it is important to have something to stop the bleeding and some neosporin to prevent infection. Again, we share with our class mates.
3. A clip to hold our head gear (ear guards) on the outside of the bag. It is better to keep them in the open air and not shoved in a dark stuffy place ripe for bacteria growth.
4. A clean t-shirt to change into after class. It is good to have a complete change of clothes, a towel and soap in case you need to run some where after class.
5. A light snack like a banana to hold me over until I eat dinner after class. I do not eat much before class anymore, it slows you down and makes you feel like puking after a hard roll.
6. Toilet paper. I did not put it in the bag but it is there. It might be useful someday so I will leave it there.
7. Gym ID holder clipped on the bag.
8. Glasses case so they do not get crushed.
9. Athletic tape for taping up injured fingers or toes.

Here are some essential BJJ items that used to be in my bag, I now leave them home.

10. Zeasorb-AF, a powder that will kill ring worm, athletes foot and helps prevent heat rash.
11. Nu skin, liquid bandage that stings like hell but is great for covering mat burns (skin that is peeled off due to repeated friction).
12. Tinactin spray, prevents athletes foot.
13. Ice bag filled with little balls resembling frozen peas. The ice bag conforms to your body and is great for pain relief of injuries.
14. My favorite pain relief item can not fit in my gym bag. It is the HoMedics Shiatsu Back Massager. It fits on the back of a chair and is the next best thing to having a little kid walk on your back. My kids are pretty smart and they tend to run away when I lay on the floor around them after class.

Posted by Tom

Congratulations Jose Aldo!

2010-10-01T05:36:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Nova Uniao Black belt, Jose Aldo Jr., for retaining his World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight title last night!

Never Give Up!

2010-10-01T04:51:00.001-04:00

by Jen

I heard this old folklore tale over a year ago and it has stuck with me since. It applies to challenges I’ve had personally, professionally and in my training. I love it – enjoy!

Frog in a Milk-Pail

A frog was hopping around a farmyard, when it decided to investigate the barn. Being somewhat careless, and maybe a little too curious, he ended up falling into a pail half-filled with fresh milk.

As he swam about attempting to reach the top of the pail, he found that the sides of the pail were too high and steep to reach. He tried to stretch his back legs to push off the bottom of the pail but found it too deep.

But this frog was determined not to give up, and he continued to struggle.He kicked and squirmed and kicked and squirmed, until at last, all his churning about in the milk had turned the milk into a big hunk of butter.The butter was now solid enough for him to climb onto and get out of the pail!

"Never Give Up!"

I haven’t posted in a while. Life has been super busy. We celebrated my mother-in-law’s 80th, my 40th and now, this weekend, we’ll celebrate Logan’s 14th. Birthdays, the beginning of the school year, extracurricular activities, and, professionally, the arrival of fundraising season have all quickly taken over my life. I’m still trying to adapt to that new balancing act. But, I'll "Never Give Up,"- especially the training. That helps me keep up with the rest.

Old Chicks Rule

2010-09-18T21:23:00.000-04:00

by Jen

It's the one week countdown to 40. In some ways I feel as though I've been working towards this birthday since the Summer 2008 Olympics. Yes, this sounds cliché for a thirty-something year old woman to say, but Dara Torres was an inspiration to me.

She wasn’t alone. Less talked about Romanian Women's Marathon runner, Constantina Diţă, was also an influence. At 38 years of age, she became the oldest Olympic marathon champion in history. I was about to turn 38 at the time. These two women showed me that I still had a long way to grow in my athleticism.

I think the age thing is hard for younger athletes to understand. Take for instance the guy who weighed me in at the last Naga tournament. After looking at my driver's license, he apologized to me for having to write my age down. I told him that there was no need for the apology - I was proud to be woman competing at my age.

He just so happened to work the table across from the mat where I won my match. It took everything within me to keep from waving my medal in front of his face and telling him that "old chicks rule." Now I guess that wouldn't have been very mature for an old lady to do. I’ll just take comfort in the fact that he, too, will grow old one day and understand what it's like on this late side of 30.

I look forward to seeing what the next 40 years will bring. And 43-year old Dara has announced that she's training for 2012! More inspiration to keep me going!

Little Shifts

2010-09-11T08:28:00.000-04:00

By Jen

We received our Naga brochure for the October 30th Tournament. Two things about it made me smile. They expanded the women’s weight classes from two to four divisions. Second, when explaining the family rate they gave the example of a mom and three children competing. Typically the examples have been about dads. Finally, we’re getting somewhere! Women’s (and moms’) participation in tournaments must be growing. Little shifts like these can eventually have a huge impact. Thank you Naga!

You can

2010-09-09T06:20:00.000-04:00

By Jen

We’re training hard for the Miami open – 6 weeks to go. My biggest hurdle is a mental one - finding my belief in my abilities. Marcelo recognizes this even when I don’t and, consequently, I received more coaching last week. I’m feeling better so far, but I’m beginning to think that this will be my personal battle every time I’m on the mat. Now that I know that, I can work on overcoming it.

I once read that coaches are there to encourage, motivate and inspire. We’re lucky to have found a coach who does just that. Marcelo constructively shows us our weaknesses and motivates us to overcome them. He’s constantly challenging us to get better and to push our limits. It's our job as students to listen and learn. It's only personal in that he is trying to bring us to our personal best.

I’m looking forward to competing on October 23rd and to sharing the day with my Nova Uniao South Florida teammates. Some of us will be returning from last year and some will be competing for the first time. Win or lose, we will be out there doing our best and making each other proud.

"The only one who can tell you 'you can't ' is you. And you don't have to listen."- Nike

The Family Tree

2010-09-03T18:52:00.000-04:00

Last night my nephew Sean joined us in the adult jiu jitsu class. Sean is 14 and has been training jiu jitsu for several months. He averages about 2 kids classes a week but is the largest one in the bunch. We asked our coach Marcelo if he could try the adult class to help improve his conditioning and his jiu jitsu skills. I worked with Sean during the drills and I also rolled with him. He already outweighs me but he is still like a little kid in a big body. He is going to be a big guy when he gets older and if he keeps training he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. He really seemed to like hanging out with the older guys and he plans to come to both the kids class and adult class regularly.

I like the fact that our jiu jitsu is spreading to our extended family, Sean's sister Emily and their cousins Jamie and Jon Jon have all expressed interest in joining the class. Jiu jitsu is a healthy activity that builds character, confidence, humility and team work. Brazilian jiu jitsu was created and developed over many decades by the Gracie family; the values they incorporated into the system are still relevant and apply to the American family today.

Tom

I Don't Want to Cut Weight!

2010-09-03T08:46:00.000-04:00

by Jen

It's time to start managing my weight in preparation for the Miami Open. If I had to weigh in today I would just make the light weight division, accommodating for the weight of the gi. But I hate being that close. I don't want to worry about cutting weight the week before. Knowing that I have 8 birthdays to celebrate between now and then, I need to start managing my diet now!

In August I celebrated my fifth year as a Weight Watcher (WW). I became a Lifetime Member in January 2006 after losing 25 pounds. I no longer follow the principles religiously, but I still use them to guide my daily eating.

Here are the top things that have helped me to keep the weight off, and drop a few pounds when needed:

1) WATER! - Water is key to the program. I drink 16 oz of water the first thing in the morning - before I eat or drink ANYTHING else, even my beloved coffee. I drink at least 64 oz of water each day, and sometimes more.

2) PLAN MY MEALS - In order to be successful I have to plan my meals for the week, write a grocery list and stick to it. I'm an early bird so I cook our dinner before I leave for work in the morning. This prevents us from ordering pizza for dinner because I'm too tired, too busy or home too late to cook.

3) PLAN FOR CELEBRATIONS - As I mentioned earlier, I know that I have 8 birthdays to celebrate between now and October 23. I'll pick and choose which food is worth it. I'll stay away from the Publix cake that I've eaten thousands of time before, but if it's a delicious gourmet chocolate cake from a special bakery, you bet I'm going to splurge (in moderation). I'll also adjust my eating during the week to make up for the extra calories that I'll consume at the parties.

4) KNOW & AVOID MY TRIGGER FOODS - My trigger foods are peanut butter and bagels - together and separately. Once I start with my trigger foods, I can't stop, and the scale shows it. These are the two foods that I just have to say no to.

5) IF I HAVE A CRAVING, I SATISFY IT WITH THE REAL THING, IN MODERATION - If I want chocolate, I'll eat a Dove dark chocolate candy bar. I don't do this every day, only the days that I just really need it. Those 100 calorie snack packs don't work for me. I'll wind up eating a few because they're not satisfying my need, and then eating the real thing anyway.

6) IF I THINK I WANT A SNACK, I DRINK A GLASS OF WATER AND WAIT 5 MINUTES BEFORE I EAT IT. The water usually fills me up, I move on to something else and forget about my craving.

7) EVERYTHING I EAT, EVEN THE KIDS' LEFT OVERS, COUNTS. I think that's enough said. I was never one of the WW'ers who wrote down everything I ate. But I did, and usually still do, think twice before I pop a quick bite in my mouth when cooking or cleaning the table.

8) EAT SOUP- I don't mean the cream based soups. When I'm trying to lose a few pounds, I eat a bowl of soup before my lunch and dinner. This helps fill my stomach before diving into the meal. This one works really well for me.

Hope these help you as much as they helped me.

The Poor Guy Can't Win

2010-08-31T21:42:00.000-04:00

Posted by Jen

Training with Tom has helped strengthen our relationship. We share a common interest, we motivate and encourage each other and we both keep fit. However, I have found one challenge in keeping it from getting personal.

Earlier this week Tom was having a good night. He tapped me out a couple of times and I didn't handle it well. For the rest of the night he heard from me "You're too strong..too heavy...it's not fair!" These thoughts don't even come to my mind when I roll with the other guys - only Tom. When I realized I was wrong, I apologized and made him promise that he wouldn't go easy on me the next time.

Last night was a little better. I was able to sweep him a few times. But instead of enjoying the success, I said “I told you not to go easy on me!” He tells me he didn’t, but seriously, what's his better option - dominate me in a 6 minute roll or enjoy a night without me complaining?

So there it is - the hard part about training with Tom is learning to keep my personal feelings aside. Whether he does good or bad against me, there are nights when the guy just cannot win.

Why share this? Our relationship works because we admit when we're wrong, and I know I'm wrong here. Moving forward I will try to stop focusing on what he's doing and focus on my own training! This is going to be a hard one!

Sprawl Lord Vader

2010-08-29T23:50:00.000-04:00

Marcelo asked Jen to teach the kids class while he is in Boston competing. I was able to get off work early and made it in time to help her. Darin another blue belt and father of one of the kids also helped out. You would think that three instructors would be overkill for a kids class but the little ones need a lot of supervision. They knew Marcelo was away so they tend to act a little more rowdy than usual. Jen worked with the older kids, Darin worked with his son and another little one while I had Hunter and Gabriel. We were focusing on take downs, however, Gabriel would assume some sort of kung fu posture and then run away from Hunter. It almost looked like a game of tag rather than jiu jitsu. To keep them from running all over the place, I picked one small portion of the mat and told them they could not step out of that area or they would fall into hot lava. I addressed Gabriel as Anakin Skywalker and Hunter as Obi Wan. This was their final duel, who ever got taken down was thrown into the hot lava. Gabriel could not believe that I knew his favorite part of the movie. For the rest of the class it was: Sprawl Lord Vader! Take him down Obi Wan! May the force be with you.

Posted by Tom

Stepping up

2010-08-26T22:26:00.000-04:00

Our BJJ coach Marcelo is out of town competing in a tournament and asked Lior Klepach to teach our class tonight. Lior is a blue belt with a judo background and he spent some time tonight focusing on take downs and sweeps. Lior always steps up and offers to teach a class when Marcelo is away. He is always helpful and a good example of a dedicated team mate. He was one of the first guys to welcome us when we tried a class for the first time. The point I am trying to make is that a good attitude is an essential attribute to succeeding in jiu jitsu. It can be intimidating walking into a BJJ school for the first time but it is guys like Lior that make you realize that training in jiu jitsu is being part of a family.

Posted by Tom

Two Great Races!

2010-08-24T05:25:00.000-04:00

Posted by Jen

I'm preparing to run in two incredible events during the month of October. If you've always wanted to run a 5K but haven't yet, I suggest these 2 events!

Michael's Special 5k, Runners Pushing Riders
Michael is a 17-year old boy diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. He has participated with his father, Jim Sayih, in community 5K runs since the age of 8, with his father either pushing him in his wheelchair or pulling him with a bicycle. Michael wants others to enjoy the thrill of Runners Pushing Riders with Disabilities and created this special run benefiting United Cerebral Palsey.

Saturday, October 16, Hollywood Beach, 7am , details

Oleta Trail Run presented by FLIPANY and the Crockett Foundation Running the trails in this park is exhilarating!

Sunday, October 17th, Oleta State Park, 6am-8am registration,

Check it out on FLIPANY's website

First Day – Time to Rebalance

2010-08-23T07:55:00.000-04:00

By Jen

First day of school AND the first day of Tom’s return to work. Our lives are about to be filled with homework, field trips, scouts, Sunday school and more.

When Tom lost his job more than a year ago we were forced to take hard look at our budget and determine what could stay and what had to go. BJJ was a non-issue – we knew it had to stay. Going to class was what kept us going on some of those stressful days. We’d rather do without the vacations, dinners out and trips to the movies then give up our time on the mats. How fortunate that as a family we agreed.

I’m thrilled that Tom is back to work. Although, admittedly, it was a huge help to have him more available to manage the day to day needs of the kids. It will take some shifting and balancing to keep all of the activities going as he returns to the workforce. Fortunately, we’re blessed with his mother who generously helps us balance it all.

Today brings new changes. We’ll need to plan, stay organized, remain flexible and be a little creative, but we’ll make it work. With all that we have going on we know that we’ll still need our time on the mat to keep us going. It’s just a matter of staying committed - and with our love for BJJ – that’s easy!

Finally, the Right Sport for Me

2010-08-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

Posted by Logan

When I was little, I had tried several different sports but I was never interested enough in any of them to keep doing them. I had tried dance, gymnastics, soccer, ice skating, and once considered joining the swim team. When my dad found a bjj school close by and asked me to try, I didn’t want to do it. Martial arts wasn’t one of the sports I thought I’d be interested in. Somehow he convinced me to try the class.

My first class was the day before Christmas Eve in 2008. That was when I met my instructor, Marcelo Meleiro, for the first time. I didn’t know then that he wouldn’t just be my instructor, but a good friend to me and the rest of my family. I remember that I was nervous because I knew little of what to expect from the class; I hardly knew anything about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at all. But at the end of the class, I decided I liked it so I came back the next week, the week after that, and so on. The more I came to class, the more I ended up liking BJJ. Soon I was training for and going to tournaments. I was having fun and making friends. None of this would have happened, though, if my dad never convinced me to try the class.

There are a lot of things that I like about BJJ but one of the things that I like the most is that at our school, Nova Uniao South Florida, we are taught that we are a team and that we are there to learn and do our best, not to be the best and tap everyone out. If it weren’t for this, I probably wouldn’t have stuck with BJJ.

2010-08-18T20:26:00.000-04:00

Question and Answers by Hunter Stewart age 7

1. What do you like best about jiu jitsu?

I like rolling in jiu jitsu.

2. What is your favorite move?

My favorite move is the arm bar.

3. What do you want to learn to do better?

Chokes.

4. Tell me about Marcelo.

Marcelo is a good teacher.

5. What does it take to be a black belt?

It takes skills and training.

I Am A Champion?

2010-08-18T07:19:00.000-04:00

Posted by Jen

Most of my training partners are men of all ages who are heavier and stronger than me. And most have been training much longer than I have.

Marcelo has been encouraging me in my progress, but pointing out that many of the moves I’m missing and mistakes I’m making are a result of a mental block. I need to stop telling myself that I can’t win against these guys. I’m so thankful that when my confidence is lacking, he helps me to believe that I deserve to be here.

A couple of weeks ago he posted a you tube clip called I Am a Champion –it’s a coach preparing his team for a battle on the football field through a powerful speech. I told him that I needed to pump it into my ear guards.

For days after, he kept asking me “Who are you,” but I just couldn’t utter those four words out loud. He told me that I need to think it in my head, even if I can’t say it.

This week, I decided it was time to try it out. My workout started Monday with a CrossFit Work Out of the Day (WOD) at CrossFit ATP, where my bjj school is located. It’s always a bad sign when the previous class is working up to the final minutes of the hour and then, lying motionless on the floor from exhaustion once it’s over.

The warm up was a 1-mile timed run and the WOD was three rounds for time of: 30 Wallball shots, with a 14 pound ball (10.5 foot target) breaking parallel and 35 pound Squat snatches, 30 reps (from floor). The last round of Squat snatches was tough –especially with trainers Juan and Christine yelling to me “Jen, you need to squat lower!”

I decided it was time! I stared at the bar and said those four words in my head, and powered through the work out in just under 17 minutes!

Next, it was time for BJJ. The warm up was tough - especially after just finishing the WOD, but I did it. When it was time to roll, again, I played those words in my head. And guess what, it worked! I felt like I had my best night in weeks! I got tired, the guys got super heavy, but I found the strength to sweep, to go forward, and do whatever it took to get on top!

What will next week bring? Will these 4 little words still work? And will they work for me at IBJFF in October? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Keep showing up.

2010-08-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Continuous effort is the key to unlocking our potential. -Winston Churchill

I am a firm believer that just showing up is one of the biggest factors in becoming successful in life. To get better at any activity requires constant effort. Jen used to get very frustrated when we first began training jiu jitsu. She did not know very many techniques and everyone in class outweighed her. She even considered quitting because she was not doing well in the rolling sessions. My only advice to her was "keep showing up". I knew if she kept showing up to class consistently and working hard, her jiu jitsu skills would continue to grow. She is a very committed person and does not like to miss work, church or working out. I knew that her committed attitude would eventually carry over into success at jiu jitsu.

We have seen many young guys come into class all fired up and they will train really hard for a awhile...then they just disappear. I feel it is better to train consistently than to train in short bursts followed by long layoffs. I used to be the same way when I was younger. I used to lift weights a lot when I was a teen and in my twenties. My friends and I would get inspired and train like beasts for weeks, doing heavy squats, bench presses etc... Then we would lose steam and stop training for long periods. I would have been better off training less frequently but consistently showing up for workouts.

We try to always attend class at least three times a week. That is the number that seems to work for us. It allows us to still maintain a family life and gives us time to focus on other aspects of our lives. As parents we always have something going on, scouts, school activities, birthday parties etc... It also allows us time to train different attributes that contribute to jiu jitsu (strength, flexibility and endurance). As an older athlete, it also allows me time to heal. I am always beat up; sore back, shoulders, toes and fingers. I often have my best rolling sessions after a few days of rest that allows the nagging minor injuries time to heal. Having some down time also keeps you from getting burned out.

For us, jiu jitsu is a lifestyle. It is something we want to continue for the rest of our lives. Good jiu jitsu skills will come, we just have to keep showing up.

Posted by Tom

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.
- Buddhist Saying

BJJ Family Matters

The stages of competition, the way that I see it.

I hit the wall......literally.

Heraean Games Video

It's Time

JiuJitsuMania World Champion Michelle Nicolini Training Seminar

Looking Forward to Great Things

RELAX

Merry Christmas!

Bodily Identity

Three Years

Christmas cookies 25, Me 0

That 4 letter word is back.

The Definition of Insanity

www.BJJFamilyMatters.com

How to build a Pull Up Bar for BJJ training.

My Early Christmas Gift

Giving Thanks

Jane Says...Holiday Eating Tip

WW Core Plan - The Right Plan for Me

How do you remember?

The BJJ Lifestyle

My first women's open mat!

Resolving to Succeed

That's My Girl!

Hydration & Hip Openers

Moving Forward

October 22, 2011 - The Day All of My Worlds Collide

Domestic Violence Awareness Month.....continued

October is DVAM

The virtual pat on the back

A Tool In My Parenting Toolkit - Jiu Jitsu

At least I still have my smile!

Week One: Paleo Nutrition Challenge - Forfeit

Thank You Sanya!

Don't quit til you've got nothing left

Success in showing up?

I am a member of a team...

Don't Miss This!

Families in BJJ

FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real

Master ANDRE PEDERNEIRAS Seminar in South Florida

DON'T yell at your daughter before her match!

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 4, Coaches

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 3

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament -What to expect - Part 2

So your kid is fighting in their first BJJ tournament - What to expect - Part 1

The people make it awesome.

Competition Day!

The Perfect Ending to a Bad Day

You Cannot Stop!

A Girl on the Wrestling Team?

GSP in print and on DVD

Not Your Typical Mixed Martial Artist

Miami Open Date is Confirmed!

Passing, Passing and More Passing

Going Against the Grain

Principles of BJJ = Principles of Life

Recommended Reading

Games, Competition and Catching Up!

Calling all Florida girls!

How Young is Too Young?

Two Weeks - Two Tournaments - Wphew!

Silencing the Hungry Ghosts

What would it take?

Grappler's Quest Today

Inspiration While you Drive

Stances & Studying

Another Anniversary

Too Anxious

Two Years of Training!

Resolution Time

Back in the game

Congratulations to the First Fenomenal Woman!

I'm Back

The Sisterhood of Jiu Jitsu

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Battle Wounds

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Congratulations Kids