Valkyrie The Ranger Visits The Monks

[x Valkyrie x]

Hello! I am Valkyrie, a Ranger! I began my journey with the Rebellion a year ago August (wow!), but have been hit or miss with my activity since February. I began as a Ranger, because I was a lifter and a OCR-training person. I completed a Sprint and a Super this year, and I had plans to complete the Beast this coming Saturday, however, funds being what they are, that isn't a possibility, unfortunately. However, May 22nd, my life changed. I discovered Brazilian jiu jitsu, and truly, my life will never be the same. 

 

As is the case with most young love, I was enamored and, yes, obsessed with BJJ. I thought about it all the time. I shrimped in my sleep. I dreamt of drills, and looked forward all day to class. I could say that the love has tempered in the last few months, cooled with time...but it hasn't. I still shrimp in my sleep and wonder if BJJ thinks about me too. 

 

In July, I received my first stripe and it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I was so honored! Then, in August, I went to Ireland to be with my fiancee for 3 months, and within a week I had found a new BJJ club and had talked the future husfriend into trying it out with me. Hey Mikey, he likes it! (Because, duh. It's awesome! And if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!) So, now I'm training 3-4x a week, going to 2 morning classes on Weds/Fri, because why not? I have the time and freedom, an opportunity I may not have again!  

 

Now enters the Irish Winter Open. The opportunity for men and women of variously colored belts to pit their skills and cunning against their similarly sized competitors. In short? A tournament! And I am going to fight!  October 22nd is the fateful day, and I cannot wait to test my mettle against fellow women...my usual rolling partners are men with 20 to 30 lbs on me. It will be extremely interesting to play the game with another girl who is close to my size! 

 

So, this brings me to the goals for the remainder of this challenge cycle:

 

1. Maintain weight at 143-146 lbs (my weight class is -152 lbs in the gi, and my gi weighs 3.6 lbs, I'd like not to be worried about that for weigh ins)

- This will be accomplished by sticking to my Eat To Perform macros, minding sodium* and added sugar**, drinking lots of water***, going to bed on time****, and getting 8-10k steps a day/comparable bicycling distance. 

2. Train minimum of 3x a week (Mon/Wed/Fri)

- attend 7 and 11 am classes 2x/week (Wed/Fri), and add in or swap a day for an evening class 1x/week or every other week (more people at the evening class to roll with)

3. Write down drills after each class to aid in retention of steps and sequence (this is invaluable and I wish I'd been doing it for months instead of a week! How much could I have remembered!?) 

 

So, that's all I've got for now. Looking forward to boring anyone who will read it with my ecstatic description of drills and free rolls, because I get all kinds of excited about this stuff! 

 

 

*Sodium between 2000-2800 mg 

**Sugar 75-100 mg (my usual is like...130 g, so....baby steps, people)

***100 oz H20

****making 8 hours of sleep a priority, in bed by 9 pm the night before class. 

 

 

[Toshimi]

Welcome!

[Kishi]

You will fail to bore us... because it all looks interesting!

 

Getting to roll with women should be an interesting experience. Definitely different from rolling out of your weight class with the menfolk. There never does seem to be enough women in the grappling arts... huh. Go figure.

 

Anyway, the challenge looks good! We're here and ready to root you on!

[x Valkyrie x]

On September 27, 2017 at 10:57 PM, Toshimi said:

Welcome!

Thank you, Toshimi!!

On September 28, 2017 at 12:16 AM, Kishi said:

You will fail to bore us... because it all looks interesting!

 

Getting to roll with women should be an interesting experience. Definitely different from rolling out of your weight class with the menfolk. There never does seem to be enough women in the grappling arts... huh. Go figure.

 

Anyway, the challenge looks good! We're here and ready to root you on!

I think rolling with guys is good for me because it forces me to really work on staying on top and having really spot on technique, because I'm simply not going to be able to muscle my way out of something, whereas with girls, I tend to be on the strong side and can be more of a brute, muscle them into a sweep/submission or myself out of a submission, so I'm hoping the technique will carry over so that if I match against a girl with spot on technique or who's stronger than me, I'm ready. 

 

I try to get girls to join my club all the time, I'm like, "it's just like yoga, only with more choking!" I haven't been successful yet. I think the entry into combat sports is often very intimidating for women. I know my first time in my club at home in the States, I walked in and almost walked right back out. It was all big dudes with tattoos and rap music in the background, but a nicer group of fellas you never met! And there were even a few girls at that club, which was great for just starting out. In Ireland, I think there's a bit more of a gender gap in what is considered normal for girls to participate in. They do gaelic football and hurling (called "camogie" when it's girls), which are rough field sports, but combat sports would be kind of the domain of the guys, unless it was "kickboxercise" style cardio classes. 

 

Key: 

Accomplished: +

Failed: - 

 

9/28, Tuesday:

Training: Rest day. 

Macros: +

Sugars: +

Sodium: - A bit high due to amazing roasted veggie mac and cheese and homemade brown soda bread.

Water: - (80 oz, very close, just need to refill more often)

 

 

[x Valkyrie x]

Training today:

2x60 minute sessions, 7 and 11 AM. 

 

Session 1: 

Drilled:

Standing Takedown to Armbar and Triangle with varying amounts of resistance

Armbar/Triangle from Full Guard

Finished with Flow, helping the fiancee with his guard passing technique and working on my own escapes. 

 

Session 2:

Drilled:

Standing Takedown to Mount using de la riva,

A de la riva sweep to take back when you are seated and opponent is standing (i.e. if initial takedown sweep doesn't work, this is an alternate)

Triangle from Full Guard 

 

Free Rolls 2x5' where I struggled to pass my training partner's guard. He's seriously got the fastest legs I think I've ever seen. Salsa dancers, you got nothing on this guy's hips. As per usual, I left class sweaty, humble and happy. 

 

Thoughts on Triangle from Full Guard:

In both classes I was shown different ways to get the arm and break the posture. I prefer the second way because it seems like it creates less space, but you have to be really determined about it or it won't work. 

The first way is to shrimp and get your knee in and in conjunction with controlling the sleeve, push your knee against the bicep and break posture that way, pushing them over and your other knee pins their other shoulder to control. It's good because you don't have to out-muscle their arm, my leg will win every time, but I find it difficult with larger people to keep my other knee tight against the shoulder to control and then you have to free the leg that broke the posture to go over the neck. The second way, that I prefer, has you grip both sleeves, and you push one arm and put opposite foot to hip at same time, giving yourself room to put same side leg over their neck. I prefer this because it's less steps and straight into the triangle choke with less wiggle room. The downside is you have to be really ruthless with breaking the grips or it's a fight the whole way and, knowing myself, I won't get the choke. Determination of spirit is a big one for me, and it's coming along.  

 

I clearly need to work on passing guard. I'm dreadful at it, and my training partner is stellar at maintaining guard, so he's definitely a good one to practice with. 

 

Calluses are starting to form on my first knuckles, which I'm thrilled about. Spider grips tear my hands up, excited for that not to be as much of a thing anymore!

 

 

 

[Kishi]

3 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

I think rolling with guys is good for me because it forces me to really work on staying on top and having really spot on technique, because I'm simply not going to be able to muscle my way out of something, whereas with girls, I tend to be on the strong side and can be more of a brute, muscle them into a sweep/submission or myself out of a submission, so I'm hoping the technique will carry over so that if I match against a girl with spot on technique or who's stronger than me, I'm ready.

 

Yeah. I can relate to this. In my judo dojo, we don't have a wide distribution of weight - you have a lot of light guys and a lot of heavy guys, and me, sitting pretty squarely at middleweight. So when I go to throw, I have to use technique on the heavy guys, but I don't know if I'm being technical with the lightweights or if I'm just heaving them around as opposed to throwing.

 

3 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

I try to get girls to join my club all the time, I'm like, "it's just like yoga, only with more choking!"

 

 

3 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

I think the entry into combat sports is often very intimidating for women. I know my first time in my club at home in the States, I walked in and almost walked right back out. It was all big dudes with tattoos and rap music in the background, but a nicer group of fellas you never met!

 

I can see how that would be. It probably doesn't help that niceness and humility in a gym isn't guaranteed. Those can definitely be intimidating spaces to be a part of. It sounds like it turns into a bit of a catch 22, where you need more women to be there to make it a safer space, but in order to get more women, it has to be a safe-enough space in the first place. It's a tough one to crack.

 

But you were brave, and you showed up, and you did the thing, and you fell in love with something that you wouldn't have had the chance to otherwise. That's really cool.  You doing your part might just make the difference for other women to join in too. #mansplaining #IAmSoSorry

 

Anyway! Keep showing up and thinking about things and getting better!

[x Valkyrie x]

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

 

Yeah. I can relate to this. In my judo dojo, we don't have a wide distribution of weight - you have a lot of light guys and a lot of heavy guys, and me, sitting pretty squarely at middleweight. So when I go to throw, I have to use technique on the heavy guys, but I don't know if I'm being technical with the lightweights or if I'm just heaving them around as opposed to throwing.

Exactly! That's why it's good for everyone to spar with everyone- the bigger or more experienced people have the opportunity to perfect their technique, and the small people have to find out what works for them and learn what doesn't. 

4 hours ago, Kishi said:

I can see how that would be. It probably doesn't help that niceness and humility in a gym isn't guaranteed. Those can definitely be intimidating spaces to be a part of. It sounds like it turns into a bit of a catch 22, where you need more women to be there to make it a safer space, but in order to get more women, it has to be a safe-enough space in the first place. It's a tough one to crack.

Guys like the ones I've encountered at every club I've had the privilege to train at make it a lot easier, and I hope to be an ambassador for the sport, especially as I improve and can maybe someday mentor the way some of my good friend should have mentored me!

4 hours ago, Kishi said:

But you were brave, and you showed up, and you did the thing, and you fell in love with something that you wouldn't have had the chance to otherwise. That's really cool.  You doing your part might just make the difference for other women to join in too. #mansplaining #IAmSoSorry

 

Anyway! Keep showing up and thinking about things and getting better!

Thanks! Haha not at all, you've said it exactly   

 

I will! Gotta love the grind, or there's no point in playing the game!

[x Valkyrie x]

9/29, Friday

Macros: +

Sugars: + 90 g

Sodium: - 3,200 -.-

Sleep: - 9:45 instead of 9 -.-

Water: +

 

 My label for cottage cheese that I scanned into MFP lied to me. 1 mg it said. I believed it. It's 1,000 MG!!! -.- a LOT of Irish foods I've scanned in have been lying to me about sodium content. No wonder the weight isn't trending back down like it should (I went off the rails about two weeks ago for about two weeks and am back on track now), I've been having a salt lick every day and didn't realize it. -.- 

 

I carb cycle with Eat To Perform, and today is my low day, which has the lowest carbs and lowest calories, and highest fats of the week, and it's about 1,000 calories more than I used to eat when I thought I could starve myself skinny with 1200-1400 calories a day. Tomorrow is my super day, and it's about 1,500 more calories than I used to eat. More food = more work, and I like it  I just need to rein in my sodium and make sure the things I'm entering are accurate, because lying barcodes wreck macros. 

 

Low Day Macros: 

Carbs: 260 

Fat: 77

Protein: 130

[Machete]

On 9/27/2017 at 5:26 PM, x Valkyrie x said:

Hello! I am Valkyrie, a Ranger! I began my journey with the Rebellion a year ago August (wow!), but have been hit or miss with my activity since February. I began as a Ranger, because I was a lifter and a OCR-training person. I completed a Sprint and a Super this year, and I had plans to complete the Beast this coming Saturday, however, funds being what they are, that isn't a possibility, unfortunately. However, May 22nd, my life changed. I discovered Brazilian jiu jitsu, and truly, my life will never be the same. 

 

As is the case with most young love, I was enamored and, yes, obsessed with BJJ. I thought about it all the time. I shrimped in my sleep. I dreamt of drills, and looked forward all day to class. I could say that the love has tempered in the last few months, cooled with time...but it hasn't. I still shrimp in my sleep and wonder if BJJ thinks about me too. 

 

In July, I received my first stripe and it was one of the proudest moments of my life. I was so honored! Then, in August, I went to Ireland to be with my fiancee for 3 months, and within a week I had found a new BJJ club and had talked the future husfriend into trying it out with me. Hey Mikey, he likes it! (Because, duh. It's awesome! And if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!) So, now I'm training 3-4x a week, going to 2 morning classes on Weds/Fri, because why not? I have the time and freedom, an opportunity I may not have again! 

 

Awesome stuff. As a fellow person with a wide variety of interests (I've done many Ranger challenges), I say take advantage of the honeymoon period and "make hay while the sun shines." You'll have all the time in the world to think long-term once you hit blue. Do it while it's fun.

 

I was training to compete in the IBJJF Miami Fall Open on the same date, until my shoulder got smashed.

 

On 9/27/2017 at 5:26 PM, x Valkyrie x said:

3. Write down drills after each class to aid in retention of steps and sequence (this is invaluable and I wish I'd been doing it for months instead of a week! How much could I have remembered!?)

 

This is an very underutilized technique. I still have my 7(?) year-old technique notebook that I periodically review. (Granted, I don't understand half of it anymore. Haha)

 

On 9/27/2017 at 7:16 PM, Kishi said:

Getting to roll with women should be an interesting experience. Definitely different from rolling out of your weight class with the menfolk. There never does seem to be enough women in the grappling arts... huh. Go figure.

 

I always push everyone to take BJJ classes at our gym. I tell them I used to be devastatingly handsome and had a pre-drain bamage IQ of 127. Then boxing/MMA happened.
 

9 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

I think rolling with guys is good for me because it forces me to really work on staying on top and having really spot on technique, because I'm simply not going to be able to muscle my way out of something, whereas with girls, I tend to be on the strong side and can be more of a brute, muscle them into a sweep/submission or myself out of a submission, so I'm hoping the technique will carry over so that if I match against a girl with spot on technique or who's stronger than me, I'm ready. 

 

I try to get girls to join my club all the time, I'm like, "it's just like yoga, only with more choking!" I haven't been successful yet. I think the entry into combat sports is often very intimidating for women. I know my first time in my club at home in the States, I walked in and almost walked right back out. It was all big dudes with tattoos and rap music in the background, but a nicer group of fellas you never met! And there were even a few girls at that club, which was great for just starting out. In Ireland, I think there's a bit more of a gender gap in what is considered normal for girls to participate in. They do gaelic football and hurling (called "camogie" when it's girls), which are rough field sports, but combat sports would be kind of the domain of the guys, unless it was "kickboxercise" style cardio classes.

 

This is a good thing because you tend to learn what some consider "real BJJ," which has self-defense applications. You tend to ditch big-guy moves and start playing like Helio, Dela Riva, etc. There's small jiu-jitsu and big jiu-jitsu--the problem with being medium-sized is you have to learn both. (My problem is I'm a little guy with a big guy game--pressure instead of speed.)

 

Females seem to like group classes a lot more than males. I think it's a Catch-22 as well, and the fact that not a lot of women attend BJJ class makes women not want to go to BJJ. Though some people seem to be figuring out a way with their ladies' night classes.

[x Valkyrie x]

19 hours ago, Machete said:

 

Awesome stuff. As a fellow person with a wide variety of interests (I've done many Ranger challenges), I say take advantage of the honeymoon period and "make hay while the sun shines." You'll have all the time in the world to think long-term once you hit blue. Do it while it's fun.

 

I was training to compete in the IBJJF Miami Fall Open on the same date, until my shoulder got smashed.

I reckon it'll take me a long time to reach blue because I train half my time in the States and half in Ireland, so I reckon I'm less likely to get promoted, but I'm ok with that, as long as I keep learning and improving I'm happy. And it is SO fun haha. 

I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder, how did it happen?

19 hours ago, Machete said:

This is an very underutilized technique. I still have my 7(?) year-old technique notebook that I periodically review. (Granted, I don't understand half of it anymore. Haha)

I knew I should have been doing it from the start, it's such a good learning tool! 

 

On September 29, 2017 at 7:41 PM, Machete said:

I always push everyone to take BJJ classes at our gym. I tell them I used to be devastatingly handsome and had a pre-drain bamage IQ of 127. Then boxing/MMA happened.
 

 

This is a good thing because you tend to learn what some consider "real BJJ," which has self-defense applications. You tend to ditch big-guy moves and start playing like Helio, Dela Riva, etc. There's small jiu-jitsu and big jiu-jitsu--the problem with being medium-sized is you have to learn both. (My problem is I'm a little guy with a big guy game--pressure instead of speed.)

 

Females seem to like group classes a lot more than males. I think it's a Catch-22 as well, and the fact that not a lot of women attend BJJ class makes women not want to go to BJJ. Though some people seem to be figuring out a way with their ladies' night classes.

Haha so far, striking doesn't appeal to me. I like the chess game of grappling, and I'm a wuss about hitting people and getting hit (knee me in the face while you're passing guard, that's fine, hit me in the face on purpose? No thanks! there's no logic, but there it is lol). Maybe someday...

 

Exactly. I actually feel that if I were in a dangerous situation with some jerk in real life, I'd be able to extricate myself from the situation, or at least that I'd be a hell of a lot more likely to! I would love to take a self-defense specific course sometime. 

 

OMG I have much envy of those ladies' night classes! What a wonderful sight! 

[x Valkyrie x]

Saturday, 9/30

Training: + 

Macros: +

Sugars: - 110 

Sodium: - 4399 (thank you, entire Domino's Mighty Meaty medium pizza...I waited for you all week, and it was worth it)

Water + (4.5 Liters)

 

Training Log:

Drilled arm bar from full guard and variation for a quicker arm bar.

Variation:

1.Clinch with an undertook and pull down to break posture (my partner has 20 kg on me and when I tried this I was basically a koala climbing a tree, he didn't even have to try to stay upright, but I figured out how to get the leverage and break him down) 

2. Keep underhook tight on shoulder to force him to posture up with opposite arm

3. When he postures up, control arm at tricep and pass leg over for armbar

Literally easy as 1-2-3, if you can be quick and decisive about it. Really nice for me because if I've got a tight hold, he is gonna expend a lot of energy trying to posture up while I'm just letting gravity do the work, and I don't have to be strong for very long because I go straight into armbar. 

 

Drilled progression for if he escapes the armbar: Fast armbar -> omoplata, then if you can't submit there -> take the back, and if he defends against your hooks -> twister submission (though this is a tricky one to actually get into the right position and I don't see that happening for me very much)  

It was SO fun! I really enjoyed drilling omoplata because it's one I forget about and one that I could use a lot of the time, because people are always getting out of my armbar (maybe not so much now that I've drilled it 8,742 times), and you don't need much to submit from omoplata once you get that arm around their back to stop them rolling away, and I worked on fine tuning  things, like bending the wrist the right way and keeping my base stable. 

 

I haven't felt overly involved in my club because I come to the morning and midmorning classes where there's not many people, often I'm the only one, but rolling on Saturday makes me feel part of the group because I'm starting to know those guys and they're getting used to seeing me around every weekend, so that was really nice! I told them I was going to do the Irish Open and my training partner said he would probably sign up too. =D He's a 16 year old heavyweight of pure lean muscle mass, and would absolutely dominate, I hope he does sign up! 

 

[Machete]

15 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

I reckon it'll take me a long time to reach blue because I train half my time in the States and half in Ireland, so I reckon I'm less likely to get promoted, but I'm ok with that, as long as I keep learning and improving I'm happy. And it is SO fun haha. 

I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder, how did it happen?

 

Hey, I get it. I was a 6-year White Belt (with 2 years of MMA even before that). Having said that, Blue is fantastic--you're not treated like a child, but there are also no expectations of you. I knew a guy who kept skipping belt promotions because he wanted to stay Blue. Haha. The only downside is you can't wear your blue gi anymore.

 

 

Shoulder was just a bad accident. Rolled with a huge athletic guy who landed on me and I landed with my arm out the wrong way.

[x Valkyrie x]

On October 2, 2017 at 5:12 AM, Machete said:

 

Hey, I get it. I was a 6-year White Belt (with 2 years of MMA even before that). Having said that, Blue is fantastic--you're not treated like a child, but there are also no expectations of you. I knew a guy who kept skipping belt promotions because he wanted to stay Blue. Haha. The only downside is you can't wear your blue gi anymore.

 

 

Shoulder was just a bad accident. Rolled with a huge athletic guy who landed on me and I landed with my arm out the wrong way.

LOL skipping promotions to stay blue...the thing is really just time on the mats, who cares what color the belt is at the end of the day...my professor here in Ireland is a very tough grader, I doubt I'll get a stripe from him before I go home in November, and then I'm starting over with a new club in Utah because my old one was just way too expensive for the amount of training they offer, oh well, still getting better every day! 

 

I'm sorry about your shoulder, that's a major bummer. I hope it heals quickly!

[x Valkyrie x]

Monday:

Training: - Skipped to go to Dublin with my honey

Macros: - Blew carbs but stayed within calorie goal

Sugar: - Not even sure, but definitely high

Sodium: + actually good!

 

Tuesday:

Training: Accessory training for BJJ with sit throughs and agility ladder work and a short 1.5 mile run because the sun was shining.

Macros: +

Sugar: - 103...I was so close

Sodium: + nailed it!

 

Macros have been pretty good the last couple days, but weight is staying on the high end of the 140s. Hoping I get a small decrease in my plan so I can get back to 140-ish and not worry about weighing in with my gi. 

 

Wednesday:

Training: + BJJ 2 sessions: 60 minutes class, 90 minutes private instruction (no one else showed up, so just me and the professor, I'm so spoiled) 

Macros: + (I mean, so far so good...it's a bit early still, but the projected macros are good lol) 

Sugar: - Yeah...cake. I guess I'm not super invested in this particular goal...

Sodium: + more invested in this one. 

 

So, my gi is from my old club at home and has my old club's patches on it...I told my professor I was competing and he said I need to switch out the patches, cuz he usually doesn't let students train at his club with another club's patches, and he just made an exception for me because I'm kind of short term, but that he'd really like it if I changed them so that I represent our club at the tourney...I'm gonna call around some alterations places and see if they can help me out. Otherwise, if it's that important to him, he can lend me one of his A2's, cuz I'm not buying a new gi just for this. (I'm hoping for a Fenom kimono for Christmas, but I'm not gonna buy one right now!). It feels a bit disloyal to change the patches, but at the same time, I'm not gonna even train at that club anymore when I go home, so I guess it doesn't matter, and, for that matter, this gi is staying in Ireland, so it extra doesn't even matter cuz it's never going on US soil again anyway. I just hope an alteration place can take the patches off without messing the gi up, cuz they're really well attached patches...

 

 

[Machete]

13 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

LOL skipping promotions to stay blue...the thing is really just time on the mats, who cares what color the belt is at the end of the day...my professor here in Ireland is a very tough grader, I doubt I'll get a stripe from him before I go home in November, and then I'm starting over with a new club in Utah because my old one was just way too expensive for the amount of training they offer, oh well, still getting better every day! 

 

I'm sorry about your shoulder, that's a major bummer. I hope it heals quickly!

 

Haha. I got stripes from my old gym (after rolling with 13 people straight). My mom washed my belt. I lost the stripes and just never put them back. Got striped again at a different place, on my competition belt (with a black bar for stripes). However, I liked my Royce Gracie-signed no-bar pure white belt, so I kept wearing that and was essentially back to zero. They just put me straight to blue from there in my current gym. Usually though professors respect what your last professor ranked you as.

 

I didn't really mind being a White Belt, because I could always act stupid. But I always felt like a sandbagger in competitions. I've forgotten how many flying armbars I've thrown in tournaments, and I actually armbarred 5 people in one. (The only match I lost was the Absolutes where a guy 160% my size just literally tried to pull my head off from half guard and won by advantage.) There is an enormous skill gap in Blue though, while not thinning out the competition ranks. You see Blue Belts tap Black Belts in tournaments, while some have trouble subduing particularly spazzy white belts.

 

13 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

So, my gi is from my old club at home and has my old club's patches on it...I told my professor I was competing and he said I need to switch out the patches, cuz he usually doesn't let students train at his club with another club's patches, and he just made an exception for me because I'm kind of short term, but that he'd really like it if I changed them so that I represent our club at the tourney...I'm gonna call around some alterations places and see if they can help me out. Otherwise, if it's that important to him, he can lend me one of his A2's, cuz I'm not buying a new gi just for this. (I'm hoping for a Fenom kimono for Christmas, but I'm not gonna buy one right now!). It feels a bit disloyal to change the patches, but at the same time, I'm not gonna even train at that club anymore when I go home, so I guess it doesn't matter, and, for that matter, this gi is staying in Ireland, so it extra doesn't even matter cuz it's never going on US soil again anyway. I just hope an alteration place can take the patches off without messing the gi up, cuz they're really well attached patches...

 

Nice. One of my teammates has the gray Fenom gi, and I would have stolen it if we were the same size. Haha.

 

I sew my own patches, and usually they come off. Or you could eventually get a cheap, sterile white gi for such occasions. I got an HKC one for $50 that I use as my generic, unaffiliated uniform.

[Kishi]

Those training sessions where it's just you and the prof are pretty awesome. I'm actually rather spoiled that way myself - in two of the classes I attend, it's basically just me and the teacher, and if we're lucky one other student. It's fantastic for learning, although I'm sure the teachers wish we had more students. /shrug

 

21 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

Sugar: - Yeah...cake. I guess I'm not super invested in this particular goal...

Sodium: + more invested in this one. 

 

Y'know, I really sympathize with this. I honestly think it's kind of impossible to eat enough food and keep sugar and sodium in check at the same time, because at a certain point you need the calories more than you need to worry about those other things.

 

The only way I've found to do it is to get Primal about it and keep my carbs low, and TBH that's not a good fit for everyone in every circumstance. In the meantime, you're following your macros and earning the food you eat. That's a way bigger win anyway. The body, I've found, manages itself pretty well with sugar and sodium, provided you're training a lot and drinking enough water.

 

So, all in all, things are looking good! It sounds like you're balancing life and training really well and not joining the cult, like I did.  Glad to see things are well!

[x Valkyrie x]

On 10/5/2017 at 5:49 AM, Machete said:

 

Haha. I got stripes from my old gym (after rolling with 13 people straight). My mom washed my belt. I lost the stripes and just never put them back. Got striped again at a different place, on my competition belt (with a black bar for stripes). However, I liked my Royce Gracie-signed no-bar pure white belt, so I kept wearing that and was essentially back to zero. They just put me straight to blue from there in my current gym. Usually though professors respect what your last professor ranked you as.

 

I didn't really mind being a White Belt, because I could always act stupid. But I always felt like a sandbagger in competitions. I've forgotten how many flying armbars I've thrown in tournaments, and I actually armbarred 5 people in one. (The only match I lost was the Absolutes where a guy 160% my size just literally tried to pull my head off from half guard and won by advantage.) There is an enormous skill gap in Blue though, while not thinning out the competition ranks. You see Blue Belts tap Black Belts in tournaments, while some have trouble subduing particularly spazzy white belts.

 

 

Nice. One of my teammates has the gray Fenom gi, and I would have stolen it if we were the same size. Haha.

 

I sew my own patches, and usually they come off. Or you could eventually get a cheap, sterile white gi for such occasions. I got an HKC one for $50 that I use as my generic, unaffiliated uniform.

There is a huge discrepancy in skill levels! I like to be graded hard, because I’d hate to be promoted and not actually have the skills for it...it would be so awkward lol.

 

theres a black one with blue embroidery that I’m  eyeing. It’s beautiful AND functional, which is much how I see myself  

 

i looked into it, but realized it’s actually embroidered straight onto the fabric. I talked to my prof and he said not to worry about it. 

 

20 hours ago, Kishi said:

Those training sessions where it's just you and the prof are pretty awesome. I'm actually rather spoiled that way myself - in two of the classes I attend, it's basically just me and the teacher, and if we're lucky one other student. It's fantastic for learning, although I'm sure the teachers wish we had more students. /shrug

 

 

Y'know, I really sympathize with this. I honestly think it's kind of impossible to eat enough food and keep sugar and sodium in check at the same time, because at a certain point you need the calories more than you need to worry about those other things.

 

The only way I've found to do it is to get Primal about it and keep my carbs low, and TBH that's not a good fit for everyone in every circumstance. In the meantime, you're following your macros and earning the food you eat. That's a way bigger win anyway. The body, I've found, manages itself pretty well with sugar and sodium, provided you're training a lot and drinking enough water.

 

So, all in all, things are looking good! It sounds like you're balancing life and training really well and not joining the cult, like I did.  Glad to see things are well!

I have seen a huge improvement from simply having the opportunity to practice the same two or three techniques with my prof for literally hours over the last couple of weeks, the attention to the details you can have when drilling with someone who has mastered it makes a huge difference! 

 

Honestly, if I weren’t trying to cut just a little bit, I wouldn’t care about the sugars, but I’d like to go down about 3 lbs so that my weigh in isn’t stressful. I’ve spent the last 7 months building up my calories from, initially 1400/day before ETP, to about 1900 when I started ETP, and now about 2500-2700, and my carbs are fairly astronomical (280 g on my low days, 370 on my high days), and I feel great with it (though eating is a fecking full time job some days lol) and I see the difference in my body composition. After the tournament I won’t care if my sugars are 100-120, because I’m happy with where I’m at and just want to keep building muscle. I wouldn’t even mind doing the next weight class up next time, if the weight gain is muscle mass! But for this time, I need to be down around 145, and I’m maintaining right around 148, which means a ton of oats, rice and potatoes for the next 3 weeks to keep sugar and sodium down. -.- lucky that I like rice a lot  

 

haha the fiancée prevents me from going full cult-mode! But he’s so supportive of me going 4x a week for the next couple weeks before the tournament. 

[Kishi]

3 hours ago, x Valkyrie x said:

-.- lucky that I like rice a lot  

 

Dude, rice is the best. It's a starch that'll do just about anything you ask it to, and it's cheap. Consider me a fan.

 

My favorite is to do up ground meat on rice with salsa on it. Call it Poor Man's Curry. It's pretty great. If you can get something grass fed, it's even better, because you get to keep all that nice fat and let the rice soak it up. Do that with some coconut oil? It is life-changing.

[x Valkyrie x]

Training Notes:

 

Class was absolutely class today! 

 

The other girl in the club came to the early session and we had so much fun rolling together!

 

And the 2nd session was just super fun for some reason, things were clicking and I felt like I was moving well, escaping things with good technique, and my buddy that’s my size was there, which is fun cuz we’re on par with each other skill wise, makes for fun free sparring.

 

 I tapped a bunch of times as always, but I also took my buddy’s back twice and escaped a tight triangle from a much bigger dude purely based on stamina and a smidgeon of calculation.  I was able to keep my grips on his knee and brace my elbow and forearm into his stomach to stall him getting my arm for the choke and kept my head up, and I also remembered vaguely how to break out of triangle. It worked because he was getting tired faster than I was, or else my shoddy technique would never have worked, I was definitely forgetting a step in there somewhere, but still felt like a win haha. 

 

I rolled with my professor and there were parts where I was so completely controlled it made me want to laugh, but he’s kind; he tends to let me be successful in my attempts if my technique is correct, even though he could destroy me in 2 seconds no matter my efforts, and tap me out mostly only when I make a mistake.  All in all, I felt really successful and pumped at the end of training. I can’t wait for class tomorrow! 

 

 

[x Valkyrie x]

19 minutes ago, Kishi said:

 

Dude, rice is the best. It's a starch that'll do just about anything you ask it to, and it's cheap. Consider me a fan.

 

My favorite is to do up ground meat on rice with salsa on it. Call it Poor Man's Curry. It's pretty great. If you can get something grass fed, it's even better, because you get to keep all that nice fat and let the rice soak it up. Do that with some coconut oil? It is life-changing.

 it’s so versatile and full of carby deliciousness! 

 

Yum!! I will have to try that!

I love rice and milk warmed up with a bit of cinnamon or bananas as a bedtime snack.

[Kishi]

Nice! I've only recently discovered the possibilities of sweetened rice, so I might have to give that a try at some point if the macros will allow it.

[x Valkyrie x]

7 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Nice! I've only recently discovered the possibilities of sweetened rice, so I might have to give that a try at some point if the macros will allow it.

When I’m not watching my sugar levels (AKA: October 23rd), I will immediately resume putting a tsp of brown sugar on mine! It’s delicious  

[x Valkyrie x]

Friday and Saturday:

Training: ++

Macros: ++

Sugar: - -

Sodium: ++

 

Training notes:

Class kicked my ass today. I was a bit tired from the week of training, and then today was a much higher intensity than usual with a larger amount of time spent on free rolling vs drilling, which was fun, but omg exhausting. We had an odd number of students, so for the first couple rolls we alternated who sat out, and then our professor decided to get in on it and just as I was like, "oh, pick me, pick me, I'll sit out!" He's like, "come on, Kate." And laughs at me, because I'm pretty sure my face said it all, to which he responded, "tournaments are not something to mess around with, come on, let's go, 5 minutes, stay on top." Of course, I didn't stay on top, but I tried really hard and did better than I used to. We did about 7 five minute rolls, alternating partners every time, and when we had about 3 left I was already exhausted, my limbs were tired and I really struggled because I was expending so much energy because I end up fighting to escape the whole time, but it was really good for me to train tired.

At the end of the class, my prof said, "you're doing very well, but we need to practice a little bit more...a lot more...on your takedown at the start. You need to be more confident and go for the grips straight away, and don't run away and wait for them to grab you. Have your game plan in your mind, and every time you train remember what you're going to do." Nailed it, professor, and challenge accepted. I know that if I can attack first, and be really strong with that (tight grips, decisive action, know exactly where I'm trying to go, use my momentum and leverage so I don't have to use brute strength), I could get somewhere and expend way less energy.  

 

"Operation: Get A Grip" is a go. 

 

[Elastigirl]

Hey, I found you! Didn't know you were hiding over here. So glad you found a club in Dublin, and that you found a sport you love. You are enjoying your life, and that shows in your posts.

[Kishi]

Man, newaza is just hard. It's a wriggling mass trying to get on top of you and do things that you really, really wish it wouldn't. Still, 7 rounds of sparring is good work. The tourney will be easy by comparison, provided that you don't just dump all your adrenaline in the first 12 seconds and then just fight to hold on for the remainder. You working with heavier bodies should, in theory, make this easier.

 

Good work!