WOMEN'S ONLY BJJ CLASSES

JANUARY 2011

WOMEN'S ONLY BJJ CLASSES

SATURDAY'S @ 9:00AM

Grappler's Quest, Women's Advanced Absolute Champion, Michelle Welti

                   

Who:    ALL Females

What:   Women's Only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Classes

Where: Manassas Mixed Martial Arts

            10521 Croatia Way

            Manassas, VA 20109

When:  Saturdays @ 9:00am

No experience necessary!  Classes are for all levels and will be taught by Black Belt, Dave Trader, and Blue Belt, Michelle Welti.

Post Christmas Plans

Christmas was great!  I got to spend the entire day with my family.  I got great presents, including my brand new Black Gameness Feather Gi!!! Thanks Dave :-*  This is my first black gi, which I plan on doing BJJ in tonight! My knee is feeling a lot better!  I haven't rolled in almost 2 weeks now.  I am so excited to train tonight....light rolling of course.  Hopefully it will feel fine and I'll be able to get enough training in, in order to do CopaNova on the 8th. 

January 1st, my diet starts again.  I need to be 147lbs for Pan-Ams and I don't want to have to cut any weight, or crash diet the week before to get to my weight.  So the diet and exercise start Saturday, January 1st, 2011!  I am actually pretty excited about it.

The 1st half of 2011 is going to be exciting with all the tournaments I'll be competing in!  I need to save money for travel expenses and entry fees (excluding GQ...FREE TOURNAMENTS FOR LIFE!)  Pam-Ams and Worlds are in California so those will be the two most expensive ones; the rest should be easy to finance.  I need to look for some sponsorships.....

I was thinking about asking Gameness for a sponsorship.  All I train and compete in is Gameness anyway so I am pretty much already promoting their product.  I love Gameness gis too, they fit me perfectly and I've never had any problems with them...so encouraging others to get them would be easy too because I believe in what I would be telling people.  Gameness is the only brand we sell here at the gym and we carry every style they have...and I personally own 2 platinum, 1 elite, and 1 feather.  I think I might just have to apply for that sponsorship......I'll talk to Dave first and see what he thinks.... :-D


Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  Now it's time to train!!!!!!

Strained MCL

My right knee has been bothering me for the past few weeks...nothing big, just a nagging irritation.  After Wednesday night class last week though, my knee started to bother worse than usual.  I'm not sure what did it, but by Friday morning I was hobbling around not wanting to put too much pressure on that leg.  I only got to watch Friday noon class and Friday night class I drilled a little.  Saturday, I had to watch again.  Last night I warmed up (minus the laps) and drilled with class.  The knee didn't hurt too much; the knee pad definitely helps.  When it was time for sparring I had to go sit on the side.  It is so hard to just watch everyone roll!  I cant remember that last time I went this long without being able to roll!

Dave thinks it's my MCL and that we can rehab it pretty easily.  I need to bring an ice-pack to work so I can alternate ice with the heating pad.  I can't even do cardio!  I am so starting to feel fat and I hate it!  Hurry up and get better knee!!!!!!!

All Nighter!

Today I worked 7:00am to 3:00pm, stayed at the gym and put together some new gym equipment, cleaned some gym equipment, did my cardio, canceled Kids BJJ class due to snow, took apart an old piece of gym equipment, put a new one out on the floor, went out to dinner, then to Wal*Mart to pick up some tissues and cough drops -- yeah, I'm sick :( -- and now I am back at the gym to start working the overnight shift! 11:00pm to 6:00am!!! and I am already sleepy - YIKES!  Wish me luck!

Back to Strength & Conditioning

Yesterday I did strength and conditioning training with Josh, at Manassas Ironworks, for the first time in weeks!  I haven't been very excited about PT sessions lately but I was inspired by a video Josh showed me.  It is quite amazing, and it makes you never want to complain about having it tough ever again!



I didn't really want to before we started, but once we got into it I remembered how much I actually liked it.  Yes,  I like it, actually, I think I love it!  It's always hard coming back after taking time off from something, but after the first few days back, it becomes easy again..almost like a habit.  Before yesterday I had been lifting once a week and doing cardio a couple days a week.  That's just not enough though, especially if I want to compete as often as I do!  So on top 6 days of BJJ training and 1 day of lifting, I am going to add back 2-3 days of hard core conditioning and a extra cardio on my own.

But anyway, yesterday was my first day back...I did all 10 SuperSlow machines, and 15 rounds of tabata on the rower! Ugh, talk about hard!  My body felt like jello after that, but I felt great and I was happy that I had gone through with the workout.

Later I taught the Kids BJJ class.  There were only a five kids in class! Geez!  I let one of the upper belts warm up the class and then I had them drill the Americana and the Triangle.  They all did a pretty good job :-)

Class ended at 7:00pm and Judo had been canceled, so I actually got out of the gym before 7:30!!!

Traveled down to Charlotte, NC this weekend with Dave and Bud to pick up some new gym equipment.  The first part of the trip was fine.  Loading the equipment took a little longer than anticipated, but that still wasn't bad.  Driving home in a 26ft U'HAUL towing a Jetta behind it, not so good!  Making a u-turn in that thing was impossible!  It ate gas too, and we probably averaged about 55mph on the way home!  We left at 6:00am Sunday morning and got back around 2:00am this morning.  Coming home was sort of a nightmare, but it was worth it; we got an amazing deal on 11 pieces of Nautilus gym equipment.

Training last week was good.  We went over sweeps from the half guard, passes from the half guard, and sweeps from deep half.  Sparring was good, but I'm still not aggressive enough.  I actually got yelled at by my coach on Saturday for being too relaxed while I was sparring!  :(  I took it up a notch after that...sometimes I don't even realize that I am being "too nice" while I roll.   I think my two biggest weaknesses are not being aggressive enough, and being too accepting of things.  I REALLY need to work on these!

Everyday before class I should read my post The Winning Mentality to get my mind straight.

GQ Team Results

Team Results from 2010 World Series of Grappling Presented by Grapplers Quest and Revgear

 

 

Team Results are up for the Grapplers Quest: 2010 World Series of Grappling! With just two competitors Team Dave Trader Jiu-Jitsu placed 8th overall, 2nd in the Womens, and 5th in the Teens!

GQ Tournament Results

Sorry it took a few days to post theses results.  I wanted to keep everyone updated throughout the day on Saturday but I didn't have any service inside the building.

Andrew did very well, placing 1st in the Teens Advanced Gi division, 2nd in the Teens Advanced No-Gi division, 2nd in the Wrestling Throw Down, and 2nd in the Judo Throw Down!  Andrew won a championship belt and a free Grappler's Quest sweatshirt for this win in the Teens Advanced Gi division.  Congrats to Andrew Babeu!

I placed 1st in the Women's Advanced No-Gi division, winning a championship belt, $50 of free merchandise, $250 cash, and best of all FREE GQ TOURNAMENTS FOR LIFE!  I also placed 2nd in the Women's Blue Belt division.  No one else registered for the women's divsion for the Judo Throw Down so I defaulted to 1st place.

Despite my loss in the gi division, my must say I am overall satisfied with the results!

Thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me get ready for this tournament!  DTJJ FTW!!!

The Tournament is Underway

The tournament has started!
Andrew is up first for the Teen Advanced No-Gi division, then me in the Women's Advanced No-Gi Open division, then back to Andrew for his gi division and then its my turn again for my gi division!
Results to come.

Weigh-Ins

The drive to Jersey wasn't that bad; we barely hit any traffic. The only problem be had was actually finding the venue. We took a few wrong turns and one of the roads the directions said to take was closed off. But eventually we found it, after driving past it about 10 times!

We got checked in, received our free dvd, tee shirt, and grapplers quest coupon, and made out way to the stage to get weighed....

Before leaving I spent almost 2 hours in the sauna trying to lose those last few pounds. I hadn't eaten or drank anything since Thursday night. I was hungry, but most of all I was extremely thirsty that whole long car drive. (Actually, am I still quite thirsty now.)

.....We made our way past the 12 mats to the stage to weigh in. My weight cut off was 159.9 - I stepped on the scale, the screen was facing the staff member, ugh, he didn't say anything about my weight. He started to write my weight on my form.. I could barely read his writing so I asked and I was pleased with his answer - 159.8! YES!

Next was Andrew's turn...but where was Andrew?? I was totally done with everything and he was still at the tee shirt table! Man he can be so slow :) Finally he gets his tee shirt and then, as me and Dave watched laughing, he looked around it total confusion for the place to weigh-in! It was pretty amusing, but he finally saw us and came up to weigh in. Of course, Andrew made weight no problem, he was in the top weight class.

All good to go for tomorrow! Time to eat, but first we need to check in at the hotel..

Haha, so we got the hotel and poor Andrew had to hide in my car so we wouldn't get charged the extra $20 for an extra person. We dropped the luggage in the room and then headed to Outback (gotta keep up tradition!)

Next, it's off to get some rest before tomorrow!

I'll try to update everyone tomorrow and post picture and videos throughout the day.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Getting Ready for Grappler's Quest

REGISTER FOR TOURNAMENT ✓
BOOK/PAY FOR HOTEL ✓
MAKE WEIGHT X

As of Monday I was 8lbs overweight for Grappler's Quest this Saturday!  NOT GOOD!

Monday I started to diet, did two hours of BJJ class, and lifted.

Tuesday I continued to diet, did another 2 hours of BJJ, and 1 hour of Judo.  I was way too sore from Monday's lifting to do any additional cardio.

Wednesday I stuck to the diet, did 25 minutes on the step mill, 25 minutes on the treadmill, 2 hours of BJJ class, followed by 1 straight hour of rolling with myself in the middle the entire time.  It was exhausting, but I loved it.

This morning I weighed myself and I am still overweight by 4.5lbs.  This afternoon I plan of doing 1-2 hours of BJJ, maybe some cardio, and 1 hour of Judo.

Tomorrow I should be down another pound or two, and hopefully I will only need to sweat out a couple pounds!

Next time I am going to start the weight loss process a bit earlier.

I've Been Lazy...

So over the Thanksgiving holiday (Thursday - Sunday) I didn't train or workout at all! Originally I thought this was a bad thing considering I have a tournament this weekend, but now I believe I got some much needed time off.

Thursday I completely pigged out for Thanksgiving. It was a great day overall and we got to take home LOTS of leftovers :-)

Friday I stayed home all day, in my pajamas, in my bed, and did absolutely nothing that involved much effort - it felt so good! Dave and I had planned on going shopping early for all the Black Friday deals, but we didn't wake up until after 11 so we decided to just stayed home and relax. And somehow ALL of the Thanksgiving leftovers vanished that day.... 0:-)

Saturday was pretty much the same as Friday up until the evening when I dragged Dave out shopping with me. I felt sort of bad because I was kinda just browsing around with nothing in particular on my mind to buy and Dave looked totally bored...so, we headed over to the tools department of Sears! And after that we were back off to our house to relax again!

Sunday was another all-day pajama day! I slept till 1:00pm. Totally awesome. I don't even think I looked at my phone that day.

Then it was back to reality on Monday, which I didn't mind too much. Waking up at 4:15am was easier than I thought it would be. Work wasn't all that bad. Jiu-Jitsu class was good, and I rolled pretty well. I even did Super Slow before heading home, which I am extremely sore from!

After a while you can get worn out and unmotivated from being in a place sooo much, even if it is a place you love. It is good to get away from things every once-in-a-while, even if it is just away to the privacy of your bedroom. So I must say, my long, lazy weekend was quit nice!

....but now I am so ready and happy to be training again! 4 days felt like forever!

RIP Mac

My family dog, Mac passed away this past weekend. He was 11 years old. He lived a long happy life and has gone to doggy heaven.

Thanksgiving!!!

I love this time of year!  Some people don't get excited about all the family gatherings that tend to happen during the holiday season, but I love it!  I get to see my huge extended family tomorrow - all my aunts, uncles, siblings, sibling-in-laws (yes I just made that word up), nieces, nephews, cousins, family friends, and the list goes on! 

Thanksgiving 2008 (minus a grandma, add a few new kids, a new boyfriend, and a new wife this year!)

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I bought a veggie platter, 4 pounds of shrimp cocktail, blue crab dip, and a pumpkin cheese cake to bring for the big feast!  My mom will be cooking the turkey amongst other things.  My aunt Jenn will be bringing her famous 10 pounds of mashed potatoes and watergate salad!  When I was a kid I used to eat an entire plate full of her watergate salad!  Everything else will be covered by everyone else that is coming. 

I have a tradition of breaking the wishbone with my cousin Rachael, we have done this every year for as far back as I can remember.  This year will be different though :( because she is in Disney World for an internship.  I will just have to save it for when she comes back!

My brother David will also be missing this year.  He took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Miami with some of his friends!  Two of my cousins just had babies (like just days ago) so they will be missed this year too.

I can't wait until tomorrow! :-D

My Weekend

Thursday night at midnight I went to see Harry Potter!  It was awesome!  The only bad thing about it was that I only got about 3 hours of sleep before I had to be back at the gym to work in the morning.

Friday and Saturday classes were awesome!  We learned some great techniques and I rolled extremely hard.  (I think this new mentality is really starting to set in.)

I decided its finally time to see a doctor about my shoulders.  They have been bothering me for almost 2 years now so I am going to make an appointment to get an MRI soon.  I'm hoping I will be able to rehab them and not need surgery!

Dave and I  looked at a potential house to rent, but it was a bit of a disappointment.

And I bought my Dad a Christmas present!

Frustration and Perseverance

Frustration: a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be.                -Wikipedia


It's hard sometimes being the only female in the school, and not just a female, but a blue belt as well.   Every white belt wants to catch a blue belt, and no guy wants to get beat by a girl. Because of this my technique must be sharper, my drive to win must be stronger, my mind cannot get frustrated. The better I get, the more everyone wants to smash me. The better I get, the harder it is for the white belts to do anything to me.  The better I get, the greater the power gets that is used against me.

Last night I was reminded of this.  It seemed like the more I wanted it, and the harder I pushed, the tougher the fight became.  Nothing I did seemed to be working and I was getting extremely frustrated.  Everyone was sweeping me or passing my guard and frustration was taking over my mind.  Everyone felt so powerful, and I felt so weak.  My breathing started to get rapid and heavy, almost like a panic.  I felt my eyes watering up, but I couldn't let myself cry.  You can never let yourself cry...at least not in front of anyone.  You cannot let any weakness show through.  I continued to spar with increasing frustration and when class ended and I left the cage, went into my room (I have a private room at the gym) and the tears started falling.  Women are emotional beings, and when I get emotionally overwhelmed I tend to cry.  I wasn't crying because I was sad, I was crying because of how badly I wanted every move I attempted, and failed to execute.

I pulled myself together after about 10 minutes, painfully replayed the sparring through my head, figured out where I made mistakes, and told myself I needed to work to fix these mistakes, and not get frustrated next time.   Persistent hard work is what will get my through days like these, and bring me to success in the future.



Perseverance: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.

I wish everyday could be like this!

Yesterday I got to sleep in til noon, work for two hours, and then train for the rest of the day. What a life!

Immediately after getting off worked I changed into my gi and got ready for a two hour training session with my strength and conditioning coach, Josh Wehrmann. First I gave him a hour long one-on-one BJJ lesson, followed by 30 minutes of non-stop sparring, then he put me through a grueling 30 minute personal training session!

Drilling cross mount transitions with a 400 lbs man on top of you is pretty rough, my ribs are sore and my skin raw from the grind of his shoulder pressure on my face. But can I complain? No way! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? If I can handle 400 lbs driving into my jaw now, then anyone I compete against will feel like nothing.

Rolling was great! The sweat was rolling off my face, and believe it or not, Josh was doing the same. That's right, Josh, my 400 lbs partner, rolling with a 160 lbs girl, was sweating bullets. I took the advice from my post yesterday and rolled hard, telling myself I could beat him. Did I tap him? No, but I did put him in a triangle, and dominated the positional game. Never underestimate the power of good technique!

After rolling I got a short break before starting my conditioning. I ate an apple for some extra carbs (I started dieting again and I didn't want low blood sugar to effect my training), I put my tennis shoes on, and headed to the PT room. I was asked on a scale of 1-10 how bad I wanted it....i said 9. Three six minute rounds of hell started after that. My legs were burning and my cardio was hurting. I could definitely tell that I had taken the last month and a half off from dieting and conditioning. It was rough, but I lasted, and I loved it! Then I finished it off with my dear friend, the foam roller. (And if you have ever used a foam roller before you know how bad it hurts!)

Yay, time to relax right? Wrong!

My precious, adorable, well behaved kids were waiting quietly and patiently for their instructor to arrive for Jiu-Jitsu class.......in my dreams! I walk into the room and what do I see? Six gi-less children wrestling one of the parents! Needless to say, class was interesting that night. Three more kids ended up coming during the warm up. Eventually, after a hard warm-up, they started to calm down. Drilling went well, and they were rewarded with sparring. As much as those kids drive me nuts sometimes, I gotta love them! :-)

I was supposed to do Judo class after the kids class but I was so exhausted from training with Josh that I just went home, took a shower, and watched Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (Yes, I am a dork!) before falling asleep.

The Winning Mentality

If you want to win you have to believe you are the best. You cannot accept failure. You cannot accept defeat. You are capable of beating anyone, even your instructor, and you must roll in this mindset. Whoever your opponent is, they are just another person.

In the words of my instructor, Dave Trader, "You have to take it personally and refuse to accept [defeat]. If someone beats you today you make it your mission to beat them tomorrow. You roll it back in your mind again and again and search for the error you made so you can correct it. That is what it takes to be a national or world champion at the highest level."

Defeat is not just losing a match, it is getting taken down, having your guard passed, getting mounted, etc. You can never accept this. You must give as much effort in class as you would in competition. You will compete the way you train. If you accept defeat during class, you will accept defeat in the tournament.

Believe you can beat anyone, and train this way.


Listen to the interview with Kyle Dake's teammate around the 4:00 mark.