Hitting a Plateau

Do you ever feel like you've hit a plateau?  Like you are just stagnating at a certain level?  Like no matter what you do you just can't seem to improve your weaknesses?

This is how I feel right now.  I know all the things I need to do but I just can't seem to make my game change.  I need to make my mind think quicker and retain more knowledge...but I can't figure out how to make it do this.  I learn things in class, drill them, and understand them, but as soon as the day is done I seem to forget how to execute them.  I spar and my coach yells for me to do things but by the time his voice processes through my head and I think of what he is saying the opportunity is gone.  I see openings but by the time my head processes what to do the openings are gone.

....I have my good collar grip, I'm breaking the posture, I'm going for the choke -- he postures waaay back -- ooh, I should hip bump sweep.....

Do I get it? NO.  By the time this thought gets to my brain the opportunity is gone. 

It's the same with transitions.  I know how to transition from one thing to the next....but when I spar my mind seems to forget.  I shoot a triangle, they posture.  I know I should switch off to an armlock or an omaplata but do I do it? Of course not.  The thought doesn't even seem to cross my mind.

WHY??? I don't understand this.  I have been doing jiu-jitsu for years, why am I having so much trouble all of sudden?  I need to be quicker and transition faster.  I know these things, but why can't I do them?

No matter how hard I try, it doesn't seem to be enough.  The harder I push myself the more I seem to shut down.  I go into class thinking about my weaknesses with the plan to conciously think about them and try to fix them.  I try, and try, and try, and the harder I try without results the more frustrated I get.  I push myself more, I tell myself to relax and not get upset, but I can't.  I go insane.

I feel lost...

I don't know what to do to take myself to the next level...

I need help...

Pans - Day 3/4

Pictures and Videos coming soon!

Pans - Day 3: Local Competitor Videos & Pics!

LEO DALLA

Leo Dalla vs Alessandro L. Gomes Almeida

ISAAC JULY

 Isaac July vs Omar Sabha

NAKAPAN PHUNGEPHORN

Nakapan Phungephorn vs Aldo Januario de Oliveira

Pans - Day 2

So I know today is day 3 but I want to recap day 2 before I say anything about today.

Yesterday was my day to compete.  I woke up early, took a shower, and got ready to go.  I left nice and early so I could get to the venue with pleanty of time to check my weight, settle in, and relax before my bracket was up.  I got there at 10:00am and my weight was 160 -- great! that's 3 pounds under!  I ate some granola bars and an apple throughout the day and drank some water and Gatorade.  I kept weighing myself throughout the day and my weight never went above 160.5 (which I don't get because I was drinking a lot!).  Forty minutes before it was time for my bracket to go I decided to start getting warmed up.  I like to warm up early because I always get nervous jitters and running around helps me to get rid of them.  My bracket was called to the warm-up area at 1:20 so I went from running around the back hallways to bouncing around in the bull pen.  I was in there for an hour before they called me to get my gi and weight checked.  Surprisingly I was pretty relax this whole time, even as I walked onto the mat. 

Michelle Welti (DTJJ) vs Brooke Goldsworthy (Crispim BJJ) 

We shook hands and the match began.  Brooke crouched down low - I knew this meant she was going to try to pull guard.  She backed away from me as I came in to get my grip.  I remained in the center of the mat to wait for her to come to me.  I wanted her to play my game.  Time was ticking by and she wouldn't come to me so finally I went to her.  I grabbed her lapel and she immediately pulled guard.  I held her up, her feet weren't closed yet - this is not so bad, I like the top, I'll just pass to the side and submit.  Oh no, she grabbed my ankels - I can't let her sweep me, I am not starting this match down to points.  She ended up sweeping me.  She was in my open guard in combat base.  I tried for submissions, and I tried for sweeps but she was holding her positions and not wanting to move.  I was getting frustrated.  All of a sudden I here someone call out "30 seconds left!"  No, I refuse to lose in the first round again.  I MUST get a sweep!  I tried so hard, but was unable to do anything.  The buzzer rang - I lost. 

I was so mad, and dissapointed, and frustrated.  I couldn't believe I lost in the first round.  I honestly thought  I was going to win gold.  I wanted to cry.  I gathered my things and returned to the stands to watch the remainder of my braket.  Brooke Goldsworthy ended up placing third in the bracket.  First place went to Jessica Eve Richer of team Gracie Barra Long Island.  And 2nd place went to Alexis Dufresne of team Carlson Gracie.

Hours past as I watch the rest of the women's blue and purple belt divisions.  Time was closing in on the Women's Blue Belt Open.  I cleared my head and was ready to make my comeback in the Open.

Michelle Welti (DTJJ) vs Hana Fischer (Alliance SP)
Match starts and I immediately get my grips.  Hana also gets her grips, a huge power grip around my arm and to my belt.  Great, gotta break this and get my posture - she's creating an angle, she wants to throw - break that grip NOW.  I broke the grip - we gripped back up, same grip.  I broke it again.  We gripped back up, SAME grips - ugh this is getting frustrating. Oh no, I just got thrown.  I won't let her take my side...turtle up.   I reached for her leg to drive he back.  She was big and sprawling hard - I just couldn't pull that leg under.  New plan, sit through to guard.   I tried a few time to sit through to guard but had to revert back to the turtle.  Eventually I got to the half guard. I need to sweep to the top, I can't let this 200 pounder stay on top.  Let's try to get to deep half and sweep, I don't think I can lift all her weight with a hook sweep with my bad knee.  Oh shit, she has my arm and is going for a paint brush!  My shoulders are bad!  This hurts so bad...  Tap.  I lost again.

I learned a lot yesterday.  There are many things I need to work on.  But the number 1 thing is my confidence.  I know I am better than most, if not all, of the girls out here, but for some reason when I get to the mat all my confidence goes out the window.  I start to fear losing and it crushes me mentally.  I need to search deep inside myself and figure out why this is.  It is only then that I will start winning the titles I deserve.

Pans - Day 1 Con't

I got to the tournament, paid $10 for parking, and made my way inside.  It's a pretty big place, not as big as the venue for the World's, but still pretty big.  There were all the usual stands -- Atama, Jiu-Jitsu Pro Gear, Keiko, Vulkan, Gracie Mag, the Brazilian BBQ, and the Acai ice cream with granola and sliced bananas on it (soooo good!).  I took a couple pictures and then started trying to find the stand to pick up my event t-shirt.  I wanted to get my t-shirt right away because there were already a lot of people there and I didn't want them to run out of size small.  At last year's World's I had to get a medium that I don't even wear :(  Eventually I found it -- downstairs in the competitors area.  I had never seen a line so long to get a shirt!  I was a little worried they wouldn't have my size, but after standing there for 45 minutes I found out they did!!

I went back upstairs and found a good seat to settle in at for the day.  I watched hours of matches and finally left the tournament a little after 4:00pm.  It wasn't over yet but most of the blue belts were done and the next 3 hours of the schedule were supposed to be white belts.  I did want to see the blue belt male open division but it wasn't scheduled until 7:00pm and I just didn't want to sit through all those white belts to see it.  My drive back to my hotel is supposed to only take 15-20 minutes and it took me an HOUR!  Ugh, traffic was so bad.

Now I think I am going to head over to the 24 Hour Fitness and do a little cardio and kill some time!

Pans - Day 1

When I got to my hotel last night I was a little scared.  It was dark and rainy, my room was all the way in the back of the building, and there were weird people sitting outside.  I was planning to go to Walmart to get some food and drinks and other stuff I'd be needing for the next few days, but decided to stay in because I didn't want to walk past those people again.  I talked to Dave on the phone for a while and then went to bed.  It was only like 10:00pm here but it felt like 1:00am.  I ended up waking up at 5:00am (equivalent to 8:00am back home, which is like sleeping in for 2 extra hours for me) went back to sleep and woke up again around 7:00am.  I got dressed and went to Walmart.  The neighborhood I'm in is not actually bad like I originally thought.  Like two blocks away there is an amusment park, Knott's Berry Farm - America's First Theme Park, and tons of stores and restaurants and a mall!  I feel much better now :)

 I got all my groceries and have settled in a bit so now I am ready to head out for the day.  Check out the venue, watch the white belts and blue belt males compete.  I want to get my event t-shirt today too so that I can get a size small -- at last years Mundials I had to get a medium and I don't even wear it because it is too big :-( 

Well, I'm off -- I'll take pics while I'm there and post them for you guys!

Later!

Heading to Cali -- ALONE!

This is the first time in my 23 year of life that I have ever traveled alone. It’s a little scary but kind of fun. I feel like I am being forced to grow up a little bit and becoming more independent. I am traveling to Irvine, CA to compete in the IBJJF: Pan Jiu-jitsu Championship. I wasn’t supposed to take this trip alone, but due to unexpected circumstances I had to. I was pretty stressed out this morning – I had to work before leaving for the airport, and the entire time I was at work I was on the phone with the travel agency making changes to my trip – cancelling a flight and changing the car rental. After being on the phone for what seemed like forever, I finally got things straightened out. After getting of the phone I felt like one weight was lifted off my shoulders and another was put on. I am about to travel to the other side of the country to compete in the second largest tournament in the world – ALONE!

Dave Trader was supposed to bring me to the airport but because of those unforeseen circumstances he was running late. Those of you who know me know how crazy I get when I am feeling stressed. So finding out Dave was going to be a little late got my heart rate going and I could feel the stress coming on. Luckily for me, Dave is awesome and knows that I got nuts about this kind of stuff and he suggested I drive myself to the airport and just pay to park. Initially my heart sunk at the thought of not being able to see him before leaving for this trip – my first trip alone, to a big tournament. I wanted to wait for him so I could get some last minute words of wisdom before the tournament, but then I decided it would be best to just get to the airport and not stress myself out too much. I can always talk to him on the phone right? :-)
Josh was in between clients on a long break so he said he would take me to the airport. (Thanks again!) My flight was scheduled to take off at 2:20pm so getting to there airport at 1:00pm gave me plenty of time to get through security. So I head to security dreading the long line I’d have to stand in, but luckily for me there was almost no line at all! I flew right through that (no body scanners) and headed to my departure gate. When I got to my gate I saw there was a flight delay! Ugh, I wished I had waited for Dave! We didn’t start boarding the plane until 2:45 and didn’t take off till after 3:00! This pushed our arrival time back to 6:00pm – hopefully this doesn’t effect my car rental…I know they are weird about you picking your car up within a certain amount of time. I’m sure things will be fine – why do I always do this to myself, stressing over nothing!

Anyways, now I am bored on the plane with nothing to do. The last two times I traveled out to California I traveled on Virgin America, which was awesome. They have TV’s behind every seat and you can watch TV or movies, play games, listen to music, order food – it even shows you a map of where you are, how fast you are going, your altitude, and your ETA! Today I am flying American Airlines and I must say I am very disappointed. The only thing for you to do is watch the “feature film” on the one TV they have for every 3 rows. Fortunately for me I was interested in what they were showing – a documentary on how bad the education system and teachers in America are. Now that that is over there is nothing to do again, so I thought to myself, what better time to write a blog entry! As soon as I land and am able to connect to the internet again I will post this!


Later!