Monday, April 25, 2011

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?

Sunday, April 24, 2011

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.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

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

Sunday, April 17, 2011

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!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

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..