Tag Archives: BJJ

Nov26

Fun with Photoshop

Posted on by
Standard
Fun with Photoshop
Not photoshopped: Here I am with four of my Jiu-Jitsu friends at a going away party for Tess (middle).

Since Tess’s departure to the other side of the country, I’ve had a running gag going in our JJ Ladies text group, frequently implying that Tess will be present at whatever get-together we plan.

I’ll say things like, “Tess, when does your flight arrive? I’ll pick you up.”

I used it recently when trying to plan a karaoke night. When we moved the date, I wrote: “Tess, I hope you can avoid a change of flight fee.”

Then it was, “Who wants to join Tess and me at karaoke?”

This made Tess laugh and “Pink” say, “I love how you keep sneaking Tess in there.”

Karaoke night never came to fruition, but that didn’t stop me from having a little fun.

Read the rest of this entry →

Nov15

Rolling with Instructor

Posted on by
Standard
Rolling with Instructor

I discovered this in my drafts folder from August.

🤦

The below is from July 3, and it took about a year to scroll to find it. Apparently Mrs. Instructor and I chat a lot. Mine is the writing in purple.

I do appreciate clever people.

More recently, I wrote to her, “Uncontrollable loud sustained laughter during a wall drill with Instructor. Super embarrassing.”

Her: What happened?

Me: I don’t know! I just couldn’t stop!

Her: lol

Me another day:

Read the rest of this entry →

Oct22

Alright, alright, already!

Posted on by
Standard
Alright, alright, already!

I received this message a little bit ago:

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ilsa.png

First of all, aren’t you a subscriber so you get notified when there IS something here and don’t need to keep checking? (Take note, all of you.)

Second, I’ve been swamped with work and authorly stuff, like bio, acknowledgements, finding other authors to write blurbs, etc. [Check, check, and check, but those were the easy items.]

Third, this means I’ve been ignoring all other blogs, and I feel guilty when I post here but don’t visit others.

But the above message is what I get for telling Mrs. Instructor I had a post waiting in the wings called “The One About Mrs. Instructor.” Some people just love seeing their name in lights blogs. So, without further ado…

Read the rest of this entry →

Sep24

Meh.

Posted on by
Standard
Meh.
😑

Warning: I chronicle my Jiu-Jitsu Journey here. This is a low moment post. If you’re not in the mood to be brought down, just skip to the end.

I wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I arrived for Jiu-Jitsu. Because of other life stressors, my normal place of refuge has lost its euphoria. But I’m trying to push through.

I showed up for a mini-Reflex Development class, where Master Cycle students are encouraged to help the Combatives students. Instructor seemed glad I was there and eager for me to assist him in demonstrating the moves.

Read the rest of this entry →

Sep10

And they’re back!

Posted on by
Standard
And they’re back!

Okay, friends. After lulling you into a false sense of security with posts related to baking, beeping, and random food pics, I’m bringing Jiu-Jitsu back in force! (I just heard Mrs. Instructor quietly say, “Yay.”)

In a recent class, Instructor used the Combatives Belt Kid (CBK) as his demo partner. I thought of telling CBK later, “Hey, man, good for you. What an honor.”

But in last night’s class, Instructor used me as his demo partner, so I now realize it’s a matter of who’s sitting closest or randomly makes eye contact, rather than a matter of skill. [Note to self: Sit far away and avoid eye contact as though Instructor is Kaa from The Jungle Book or the basilisk from Harry Potter.]

Being demo partner in Master Cycle is frightening. Thankfully, the moves here are sort of a crap shoot. Some are ridiculously complicated, but a lot are really quite simple when you get down to it.

I feel like that last part is asking too much of me.

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug22

Surfer Dude has it coming

Posted on by
Standard
Surfer Dude has it coming

While I was doing triangle chokes in Reflex Development with Iceberg, Surfer Dude was watching.

“Where do you have your foot?” he asked me.

I looked. “Oh, it’s on his knee. It should be on his hip. Sorry. That was lazy of me.”

“You’re in Master Cycle now,” he reminded me, and continued reminding me as he pulled no punches when we rolled together later. “I want you to be as good at triangles as I am.”

“Whoa,” I said, kind of flattered at his apparent faith in me, since he is the king of triangles. “New life goal.”

Next SD helped Iceberg properly triangle choke me.

“When her face starts turning red like that, you know you’re getting it,” SD told him.

“Thanks, man. Appreciate it,” I said. He smiled.

Screenshot from a video I took in Betsy’s Jiu-Jitsu Journey Part 1, when SD’s blonde hair helped him live up to the name. The unfortunate man stuck sniffing his arm pit is Blue Belt, once called Mustache, if we’re trying to keep track. I asked them to do this video for me because I struggled most with triangle set up. I *think* I’ve finally gotten in down. 😉

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug16

More on Master Cycle–which has nothing to do with bikes

Posted on by
Standard
More on Master Cycle–which has nothing to do with bikes

In another Master Cycle class (my apologies to those I confused about that), I partnered with The Combatives Belt Kid. He started by congratulating me on the new belt. What a polite young man.

Then I uppercut him in the jaw.

To be fair, it was an ACCIDENT! And it was rather light. His braces didn’t cut his mouth or anything.

I apologized, he smiled, said “It’s okay,” then, “Would you like to try again?”

So that time I DID make him bleed.

Kidding, kidding. I did the move properly, no blood involved.

When we switched partners, he told “Pink” I had punched him. She said to me, “That’s okay. I’ve frequently made his nose bleed.”

See? I’m a lamb!

Also while rolling with The Combatives Belt Kid (CBK, anyone?), I tried a cross choke.

Cross choke. Fairly straightforward.

“I feel really bad that I’m actively trying to hurt you,” I said. It seriously felt wrong. But he got away by rolling over his head somehow. It was rather impressive.

“You almost got me, though,” he was kind enough to tell me. “It was really close. [Long pause.] I need a minute.” We waited for the flow of blood to return to his brain.

Why aren’t more people into this stuff???

Read the rest of this entry →

Aug11

Rolling with Mrs. Instructor, aka Do Not try this at home.

Posted on by
Standard
Rolling with Mrs. Instructor, aka Do Not try this at home.

So, you would think since Mrs. Instructor and I are friends, we’re both female, I’m new to Master Cycle, and given that the guys are nice and easy on me, she would be too, right?

Wrong!

That chic’s leg hooks were SOLID. I feel like 75% of the time I’m able to slip a choke. She was all, “Oh, you want to slide out by getting your back to the ground? Let me just pull you back on top of me as though you weigh approximately 7.5 pounds.”

“You got a frame in on the right side? That’s cool, I’ll just fling you over to the left and sink the choke in with that arm.”

Daaaaaaannnnnggg. Such fierceness!

Basically, I didn’t stand a chance.

See? We’re friends! Remember these good ol’ days? (Never mind that this was a tactical “hug” just before I swept her leg.)

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul31

Most girls dream about their future wedding…

Posted on by
Standard
Most girls dream about their future wedding…

I never did.

I did, however, daydream about how I’d most like to receive my new belt. In my ideal world, my old friends from Betsy’s Jiu-Jitsu Journey Part 1 would be there. They would understand how much finally getting this belt after 16 months away and having to start over would mean to me.

The students in my beginner class, meh. They’d sort of care, but also not, with the possible exception of the few other females.

I commented to Instructor and Mrs. Instructor that it would be nice to get the new belt when the blue belt students were around. Mrs. Instructor laughed and reminded me that it’s meant to be a surprise.

I was indeed surprised. At the end of a class, Instructor awarded a stripe to one student. Then he did the recap of the day’s lesson, signaling to me that the awarding of promotions was over. Disappointed, but whatever, I let my gi top hang around my waist to cool off, thus making me to look like an idiot (aka, my natural state) when the moment came.

See that big line up of dudes? Only a couple of them know me.

HOWEVER, it just so happened that one blue belt friend from the old days WAS there. Not only that, he was standing right next to me. If I could only choose one person from back then, this is the one I would have chosen. It was truly a blessing to me that he was there.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jul27

Turns out, you can accomplish something when you work really really hard at it. Who knew?

Posted on by
Standard
Turns out, you can accomplish something when you work really really hard at it. Who knew?

Yet another previously written post, but I had good reason to delay publishing.

The writing was slowly appearing on the wall. The beginner Jiu-Jitsu class was becoming too basic. I’d lingered longer than a normal person would because I wanted to soak up every last detail.

Then when a student I’d been helping when he was relatively new earned his fourth stripe, I knew I had overstayed my welcome.

With this new resolve, after class one day, I approached Instructor.

“When do you think I’ll be ready to test?” I asked.

He looked down, thoughtful, then turned to his brother.

Surfer Dude looked at me. “Now?”

I rapid fire blinked at him.

“Yeah, do you want to do it now?” Instructor asked.

“What? Uhhh.” I had not expected this response, and I was not prepared to test on the spot.

“Do you want to watch the demo videos first?” SD asked and suggested I print the test pages which list the moves for each of the four main drills.

I agreed with this plan and left in a daze.

Before I had completed my old card, the gym’s system changed, and I got a brand new card. Remember how uptight I was about getting marks for Class 20? Turns out, it didn’t matter. I’ve got plenty of twenty now.

Having made the decision to test, I needed to prepare. The best person to help me was someone who knew enough Jiu-Jitsu to be a knowledgeable “bad guy.”

Read the rest of this entry →