Working for a good cause!

Since I've started training at the Combat Club, I have been trying to help support their charity In The Cage 4 Kids. I've been quite blessed with my BJJ network and their support! I'm grateful for such a kind circle of friends and family. If you have any suggestions, ideas or donations...please don't hesitate to contact me..or pass along my info!



Chico Santiago has been a member of our nation’s Navy for 23 years including several tours in the Middle East. On July of 2004 Chico got the terrible news his 4 year old son, Diego Santiago, had a condition called Wilms tumor, a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects children. Also known as nephroblastoma, it’s the most common malignant tumor of the kidneys in children. The peak time of Wilms’ tumor occurrence is at age 3 and it occurs only rarely after age 8.

Initially the family was told that with mild chemo and radiation treatments Diego would be okay, but by November of 2004 the treatments were not working and the family was told Diego only had 6 months to live. Chico was devastated. They tried hard to find Diego some experimental treatment, but nothing seemed to work. After 7 hospitals, 22 doctors, $956,000 in medical bills and many, many chemo and radiation treatments, nothing could stop Diego’s cancer. They then concentrated their efforts on giving Diego his last wishes.

His wish was to be a Navy Chief Petty Officer, like his father. The US Navy, with permission from Congress, allowed Diego Santiago to be in the history books as the youngest Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. His ceremony was a large event. His dream had come true.

On August 2, 2006, five days after his 6th birthday. Diego Enrique Santiago passed away at home in his parents arms. After a long 3 1/2 years of missing his son and a long deployment to Iraq, Chico decided to do something about this terrible illness and started In The Cage 4 Cancer, in 2009, a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness and contributions to fight cancer. To broaden the reach of the children touched by the MMA community, in 2010, In The Cage 4 Kids was established with a focused effort to help all sick or disabled children regardless of the causing factor.
As a veteran, Chico qualifies to be a Ranger Up sponsored fighter, so we’re throwing our weight behind him and supporting his octagon dreams.

Great Day For My Girls!

So yesterday was an awesome day! I'm up 14 ladies in the BJJ class. I've never been so lucky to have so many women to train with. We had 3 or 4 sign up in one night. It seems as if we have taken over the gym during the day. Cardio kickboxing, BJJ and Arnis. Loving the Arnis class! I need practice, but it seems to come easier each lesson I get. Last night we had some impromptu promotions in the co-ed BJJ class. One of my girls got a stripe, 3 fellas and I even got one.I was shocked, but stoked! The cauliflower ear is totally worth it!

Looking forward to a seminar on May 20th with Felipe Oliviera and May 21st with Scott Oates. These should be great seminars. Of course I'm really looking forward to Leticia Ribeiro on June 24th-26th.

I got a great shirt from 31Fifty!

Leticia Ribeiro seminar is set!

Well, it's official for me. Leticia Ribeiro is coming to my academy! I'm so excited. She will be here 24-26 June. She is my all time favorite female BJJ players. I hope that I will see some of my old friends and make some new ones. Looking forward to seeing you Leslie!

What a surprise!

Today I got an message from Leticia Ribeiro, 3rd degree black belt and 5x world champ. I thought I was gonna die and go to BJJ heaven! I made a comment on a Facebook page on one of her seminars in Arizona.."i wish she would do an east coast one.." Well, looks like I got my wish! She sent me the info and all that. I just need to pick a date and settle the business end of it with all those important people and details. I'm hoping that the association approves of her coming. Our guy who does all that is on vacation. I have my fingers crossed and aiming for a weekend in June. She said any time after the Worlds! So I definitely need at least 20 students to come to her seminar. I am hoping when things are solid that my Virginia and Carolina buddies will come and show support. I've never set up a seminar before, but I am hoping this one will be a great success! I think I will have it be a co-ed event to ensure I can meet the minimum 20. The next question is should it be a regular 1-2 day seminar or BJJ 3 day camp (fri,sat, sun)? What would you want to attend? I'm hoping that Addie, clinzy and Leslie will be able to come..any thoughts guys?

Just a few pics to share

Teaching at the self defense seminar with Roel. If you know me, you know I can't ever keep a straight face..even in a tourney!

My promotion in Texas with Josh Lauber at Relson Gracie San Antonio. This guy has the cleanest mats I have ever been on!

My husband and I with Renzo Gracie. He gives a pretty awesome seminar!

Valerie showing us her moves.

Some of my teammates after promotions at Combat Club.

Hmm...

Today started off pretty good. A bit sore from yesterday's 6 hours of rolling. Met up with my usual ladies to train then off to Roanoke Rapids to pick up the hubby. Got home a lil late so I missed class at the karate place. Then my hubs says he got an email from them. Basically saying that it's bad business for us to teach at another school and train with them, etc etc..
To me that's pretty lame. Like saying we can't attend seminars at any other place or that if I have a BP gas card, I can't fill up at Exxon. Or that I can only buy one brand of gi, or that I have to only eat at the restaurant I work at. You get what I mean.. I pay him for a service whether I attend or not. I love this sport; I want to train all I can! I'm a volunteer at another local gym that he has a grudge with. What does that have to do with me and how was I supposed to know all his personal business? Is it really my problem that he has a personal issue with the other guy? There's no clause in my contract that says I can't train elsewhere or work for that matter. I trained with him 6 days a week and twice a week at the other place. He was getting 3 of us full time.Should I be upset or just say screw it? Do you think I'm in the wrong? How would you handle it? Be honest..I can take it. The rejection stings a tad, but maybe he is doing me a favor.

Guess I'm kinda shocked, but suspected an ill reaction. What ever happened to one love for the sport!?! LOL

Insane Weekend

I had a great first week teaching the womens BJJ class at Combat Club. I had a really good mix of ladies. A few who had no experience whatsoever and some who did. It was really cool to be able to get to know them and their reasons for participating. I started with the basic fundamentals and incorporated some Ginastica Naturalthat I use in my routine. If you never tried it, you should! Or catch a seminar with Alvaro Romano. He is well worth it and he is all over the globe (seriously)!

They seemed to progress well over the week. They are really becoming more comfortable on the mats. Most of them had expressed that they were skittish of co-ed classes because of a brutish experience with a training partner at one time or another. Some were just a tad intimidated in general. Others just wanted a safe environment to train technique without the worry of a guy muscling her right off the bat and getting hurt. I got just about every shape, size and personality training. And they were quite shocked that I encouraged questions.

Tomorrow, we are gonna step it up a bit. I had a sick seminar that I attended this weekend in Beaufort, South Carolina at my friend, Abe Stem's academy. It was with US Grappling's black belt, Andrew Smith He's clinzy's biz partner). This guy was phenomenal. Never seen a guy so flexible or insightful in BJJ. His entire seminar was Q&A. It was slotted for 3 hours and ended up lasting over 5! Every person in attendance got the chance to ask questions about their problem positions/submissions. No one left without an answer. Some with multiple solutions. I walked away with a several pages of notes! Can't wait to try them out..then I will share em! LOL!

By a strange stroke of luck, I took a different route instead of my usual to get to SC. Good thing, because we missed the tornadoes that struck the interstate I normally take and also the town I live in. It did considerable damage in out town..missed my house, but only by a mile. Literally. Everything a few streets over was smashed to bits. I guess it's a blessing to be so obsessed over BJJ that I just up and travel hours away to pick up seminars. My poor English Bulldog was a ball of nerves when I got home..he gets really freaked about storms..I didn't even know we were having bad weather! Next time I will pay more attention to the news!

New beginnings aren't always a bad thing

So I went on a vacation to Texas for 10 days to see my daughter graduate from the Air Force boot camp (yes, I'm that old!). It was break I really needed. I also got to get back to my original academy. It was great to see old friends and training partners who have seen me grow from my very first class. Those people are more family than friends. On my last day there, I was promoted. I was super stoked!

Then I had to come home. It's no secret that I train at two different schools in NC. One is a karate/pancrase geared school; the other is a Ribeiro affiliate. I volunteer at the Ribeiro one to instruct women's self defense. It's a charity based gym, so that's a bonus to support a program that gives back to the community. I try to train in as many places as I can, taking in seminars all over. I remember when I was upset about moving from Texas and leaving behind my Relson Gracie academy...Georgette told me that cross pollination is good. And she was right. There was nothing wrong with trying a new style or new school.

I was happy to be home to get back to my usual training schedule and diet. I ate completely too much good food in Texas. I came home to a new FENOM gi from my husband for my birthday and I loved it! All my gifts are almost always BJJ related, which I am totally okay with! I kind of got a distant reception at the karate place, but that is ok. It's a small world and who know if someone read my blog. From what I was told they were offended I promoted elsewhere. I certainly never set out with the intent of being hurtful to others, but what I post is my opinion and my feelings. I've pretty much had to deal with the awkwardness by not going anymore. It's sad really when I was one of the most regular students there.

On to the good news..the Ribeiro school was so excited for me. They asked me to join staff and teach the ladies only BJJ class ( under direction of our senior belt of course). We are now the only place that offers a ladies only class in our area. I am quite taken back to be offered this honor. I am truly flattered and nervous about it. I hope I don't let them down and all that. I know most of the ladies that asked for this class and they asked for me to do it. No pressure, right? LOL. I just really want to do a good job and do them justice. But I'm willing to step it up and share my love of BJJ with these ladies.

So wish me luck in my new adventure..I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more. I'd love to hear from my more seasoned BJJ friends.
Any advice is welcome..

I just don't get it...

I have been looking forward to the day I earn my next belt for months now. It was really hard to adjust to the different teaching styles I was accustomed to. I've been super faithful in my attendance, taking notes, going to great seminars and getting some privates in. This sport is a serious addiction for me...a religion really. I know that just because you attend all the classes it doesn't mean you are the level that you think you should be. Not everyone is a sponge and not everyone can pull off the techniques you learned in class with ease. I think I do pretty good for the training I received...I certainly think I can land the promotion....and I absolutely don't mean that in a arrogant way. I most certainly do not get anything given to me and the guys here are very hard on me. I have gotten black eyes, cauliflower ear, and my elbow popped. I can't complain because I choose to participate in this sport..it is just how it works, you know? I wear it like a badge of honor really..unfortunately, I get asked a lot if I feel safe at home when I go for check ups. LOL!

Anyways, the time for testing is finally around the corner. It is a 3 day event, covering all the techniques you should know for karate, pancrase, and bjj. We are required to do the entire 3 days plus a 3 mile run to test out. I only do muay thai and bjj (pancrase is included in our nogi classes). I found out that the cost is $100 bucks for basic members and $50 for upgraded members. I was like ok, that isn't so bad. I signed up. Then I got the newsletter.It stated that each stripe you earn is $25 and a blue belt is $100. $50 for each stripe after blue and $200 for your purple and so on..you get the picture. Each discipline has it's own fees. Maybe I am spoiled by my original Gracie academy I started with. Where there wasn't formal testing and no extra fees. If you were ready, the instructor awarded you whatever it is he felt you deserved. When I learned it could cost me 150 to 200 bucks, I was quite put off, discouraged and disgusted. I immediately withdrew my name from testing. I recognize that facilities need to make some revenue to function. And I was okay with the testing fees, just not the belt fee. I felt like I would just be purchasing myself the next level instead of earning my advancement. Am I totally being ridiculous about this? Is this a normal price range? I don't need the belt, but it's nice to know where my jj stands. I asked the instructor about how he felt about my jj..he said it was hard to gauge since I don't compete for him here and that I'm too nice to my training partners. I thought you should be kind enough to them that you both could continue to train another day!?!

They told me that if the fee was an issue, they had payment plans. It isn't the money for me, it's more principle. A few days later after I declined testing, they sent me a text saying they would only charge me half. I think I would rather wait till I make it back to my original affiliation to earn my belt, even if it takes me years to get orders back there. Is it wrong to feel offended about this?

I'd like to know what you guys think about promotions and advancements in this sport.( I do compete, but have not lately. Mostly teaching women's self defense and participating in classes.) How do you guys feel about the way promotions work and these fees? Just need some input from outside the box. Do you think you need to constantly win competitions to prove your level? Should having that next stripe or belt be that important to you that you pay whatever they ask? How does your academy advancements work?

Change is Good

It's been awhile since my last post. If only could commit to blogging like I do keeping up on Facebook and BJJ classes..LOL. I have changed schools twice since I last posted. I tried out Evolution MMA which was great, but over an hour away each way..and let's face it..gas prices are a killer! So I ended up going to a school a lot closer to home. It's not bad, but not entirely my style. They do a lot of different styles there and I'm just used to attending a strictly JJ academy. So since I'm told change is good, I decided to open my mind a little more and push myself outside the comfort zone. I prefer traditional gi classes hands down! But to be able to maintain my habit of training 6 days a week, I've decided to try the nogi twice a week and also add the muay thai kickboxing to my schedule.

It's a killer work out and most days it's hard not to feel the burn in the thighs. ugh! The nogi is sort of frustrating for me. Being in a military town we get a lot of "boots" fresh out of school, wrestlers and self proclaimed MCMAP experts. This is annoying to so many degrees for me. (I know, I know..there will always be one or two in the group who will gnaw on your last nerve!) There is nothing wrong with using your experience to compliment your BJJ style, but don't go overboard just to suit your ego. Everyone, well, most everyone knows, that you check the ego at the door when you jump on the mat..right?

Apparently the guy I rolled with last night missed the memo! He was trying to pass my guard and was making comments the entire time like "I could pass your guard in no time, I was just trying to give you half a chance" and " are you finished with your attempt now?"..........really?! This coming from the guy who has yet to come to class in the correct uniform who wants to use my gi against me but wears only shorts to class! Well, I got news for you little man..when you get off your ass and buy a gi..I got a top notch collar choke for your rude ass! Seriously, you should keep your nasty comments to yourself since you have no way of knowing who your partners are or what their backgrounds may be. Their belt doesn't always speak their potential standing next to you on the wall, but wait until they get you on the mat. You can thank me later for the armbar.

Whew! Now that I have gotten my rant out of the way...on to my rave! I am so stoked to be going to the Xande Ribeiro seminar in VA Beach this weekend! I have high hopes and expectations about this one! I am looking forward to learning a new approach in this endlessly evolving art! I miss my Gracie family deeply, but I think Georgette was right..cross pollinating is good! Absorb all the knowledge you can and keep advancing! I hope to test for my next belt end of the month. Never had to have a formal test to advance before..I just assumed that every time you roll is a test of sorts..but you know what they say about assuming...LOL.