Double leg takedowns for my first day back

I've been away from Jiu-Jitsu for over two years.  I was excited to get back on the mat last Wednesday and roll with some of my old friends. 

The instructor for the evening was a collegiate level wrestler and we worked on double leg take downs.  We then went into single leg take downs.  I've never wrestled before so it was definitely out of my comfort zone. 

I feel like I learned a lot and enjoyed what we went over.  After we did drills, it was time to spar.  The guy I spared with was younger, bigger, and in better shape.  Jiu-Jitsu is still excellent at leveling the playing field.  I got in a couple sweeps and landed a north-south choke.  I was excited but extremely exhausted. 

After I sat out a round, I went back in and rolled with a guy I knew from the older days.  He's a purple belt now, has a few professional fights under him, and he's a lot faster.  He is also about 50 pounds lighter, 15 years younger, and did I mention faster?  I was completely exhausted afterwards.  It's amazing how much you lose when you're away.  

I felt I did decent and he was impressed with me able to pull guard after he swept me.  Muscle memory is a beautiful thing. 

This was on Wednesday.  Thursday, I felt like someone beat my left quad/hamstring with a bat.  It was insane how bad my leg hurt.  I don't think I stretched properly and obviously, I'm out of shape.  I can't wait to go back and get more.  I skipped Friday so I could rest my leg and not injure myself.

Jiu-Jitsu, such a great sport.  

Back! In more ways that one..

I haven't used this blog in quite a while.  I've been through a lot and then some.  Here is a small high-light of what's been going on.

When I started this blog I was in a relationship and happy.  We got married and about a year in a half into it, she decided she wanted out.  Why?  I wasn't sure at the time being but I found out about a month after our divorce when she told me she was pregnant.  Pregnant with someone else's child. 

WTF?! 

She wouldn't give me details but only said "don't worry, it's not yours".  I sank into the deepest, darkest depression I've ever seen.  I had ZERO coping skills to deal with this.  I had been out of jiu-jitsu for well over a year (I rarely attended since I broke my arm).  And my life took a terrible spiral that has landed me into a mess. 

Back to the cheater.  She stated in January of '12 she wanted a divorce.  We were divorced in April of '12.  May of '12 she tells me the pregnancy stuff and the first week of September 2012, she gives birth to a girl. 

We were still "together" and sleeping together in December of 2011 and January of 2012..  I don't think the child is mine and apparently there is another sucker who has claimed the kid. 

So, over a year later, I'm back here.  My depression is no-longer a factor but it did lead me to some things I had never experienced before.  Drugs.  Drugs that I kind of, sort of took from the hospital...  I was and am not an addict.. but I did abuse some drugs.  I self-medicated to cope with my depression.  I isolated myself from everyone around me.  I screwed up a ton of crap.. 

I'm still a nurse.. I still have friends.. and I still have Jiu-Jitsu. 

Out for a while

I haven't blogged in a while but now I have some downtime. 2 weeks for sure once I have my surgery.

Apparently, they back pain and issues I've been having the past 4-6 weeks is related to my gallbladder and pancreatitis. I had a CT of my abdomen and a gallbladder ultrasound yesterday to confirm this. I came to the ER after my back was hurting for nearly 36 hours straight (I took norco, soma, advil, used ice/heat, icey hot, massage with very little relief). After it was hurting for so long yesterday night/morning I began to have severe abdominal pain along with the back pain. Talk about miserable!!!!

So, I won't be training for several weeks. I'm not sure what I will be able to do at the Ralph Gracie seminar on April 30th. I'm bummed that I won't be able to train and that this will set me back.

The good news is I this will allow me to feel better, rest up, and have more motivation for BJJ!

Back pain and training

Last Monday I rolled with a very strong wrestler who is new to the class. Other than going at 110% he was pretty rough on me. Needless to say Tuesday I was hurting pretty bad and by Wednesday I was having horrible back spasms. I did not compete in our in-house tournament because during the day I went to the ER and was given IV Robaxin (a muscle relaxer) and some pain medication.

I went to class last night and I rolled for 5 minutes towards the end of class (probably at 80% or so) with out hurting myself. Honestly, I think I felt better after class.

I've had some back strains before from work (lifting people, moving people, etc) and I'm not certain that BJJ hurt my back. I'm sure it is a combination of things but I honestly feel that BJJ is helping my back and my body. I'm more active now than I have been in years and I can only hope that my health and my back will prosper.

BJJ class

Tonight we went over side mount chokes and submissions with a "flow" from one to the other.

First, the arm-bar from side control. We started out with our typical side control (one hand behind the head meeting your other hand that underhooks an arm meeting somewhere along their back).

We move a hand to block a hip and also use our knees to block their back and body. From there, we would (close to the same time) roll them to their side and take our arm that is under their head and hook under their arm that is close to our body. We then would move our leg over their head and sit back for an arm bar. Typical arm-bar setup except one foot sits under their torso.

From there, we could go for a collar choke if they block the arm bar. If they block that, we could do a wrist lock, and if they block that, we could go into a head/arm choke.

And as Tony said it "and if the fucker still wont tap".. we then went into the Ezequiel choke. One of my favorite moves thus far. It's pretty sneaky as your opponent is unaware of the beginning of the set-up usually and to top it off, it's probably one of the tightest and most uncomfortable chokes.

Pretty vague on some of the later techniques but I typically visualize these moves as I try to fall asleep. Maybe as I get into my blogging I will give more details (I'm sure that will help me later this year as I test out for my blue belt in front of Ralph Gracie ... that's right, we get our belt promotions from a Gracie legend!)

Lately, my left shoulder has been giving me some problems. I think I should probably take some time off from training and let it rest/heal. I talked to Tony and I can still do the instruction part but I can sit out of the sparring session until I heal up. I hate to do this (H A T E). Sparring is my favorite part!

Anyways, on a personal note things have calmed down on the home front so far. Work is still work (with the possibility of a new part-time job on the horizon) and the relationship is coming out of the slump. I think we just had a bad week or two and it caught up with us.

Life is great tho..

Roll safe!

A slump?

My previous posts have been mostly uplifting and exciting but here lately, I feel that I'm losing ground or not gaining ground. Does that even make sense? Let me explain.

In class I feel like I my technique isn't there. For a few weeks the people I was rolling with would tell me things like "you're getting good" or "man you are slick". But the past few classes, I've felt out of focus, distracted, and weak. One of the assistant instructors told me about about peaks and valleys. He said that he felt that he is in that situation himself at the moment.

It makes sense. I guess that is part of the learning process. I admit, I have several things in my personal life that are distractions (work, relationships, kids, stress, life, etc).

I still don't have any subscribers but I should be patient.

Starting after class tonight I'm going to start blogging about class and what we went over.

Roll safe!

Stripe number 2!!!

Tonight I received my second stripe! I wasn't expecting to get a 2nd stripe for another few weeks or even a month; at the very least.

Ralph Gracie will be here on April 30th and I can't be more excited. Ralph Gracie is a legend and I'm sure his skills on the ground are god-like. If you're close to Lubbock Texas, I encourage you to come by and meet the legend.

I'm still reading the books and trying to use what I read about in the gym. I can honestly say that I've learned quite a bit from the book.

Sorry I haven't blogged lately. I've been working on some relationship issues. I'm sure we all have rough spots in the road, so I have been concentrating on that. Besides, I think I'm the only one who reads this anyways! Ha!

Roll safe!