200th Post!!!

I'm writing early today because tonight I'm going to be camping. I'm totally excited because this will be my first time for this summer. I love camping. It's going to be weird because I won't have my sleeping bag or a pad to sleep on. I'm just hoping the the grass is going to be comfy. I know sleeping without a pad is really uncomfortable. So, it's hard to fall asleep. Backpacking pads aren't that comfy either.

Mom left this morning. I miss her already. She's going to visit the Bowden's in Livingston, Montana who are family friends of ours. They are the only lasting friends that my parents made while in Montana. They are such a wonderful family.

Well, this is the 200th post. That's pretty cool. I've been writing for three months now, mostly about BJJ. I'm in love with BJJ and think that it's so fun, it's hard for me not to think and write about it all time time. It's so bad that when I get done writing about what I did during class, I get really excited and lay awake in bed. I think more people are reading this blog. I don't really know though because I didn't have anything keep track before this month. If I didn't have those things telling who is visiting, I would have though that no one reads this blog because of the lack of commentary.

Chuck is going to fight tonight. I wished him luck on Facebook. I think it would be lots of fun to watch the fights. However, I'd much rather go camping instead.

Well, I need to do my homework before camping. I still need to pack my bag. I feel better about the written portion of the test because my TA went through an example just like it on the test. Plus, the written homework that we did in class is just like the written portion too. My foot is freezing because I'm icing it right now. It was bothering me when walking on it. Normally when I ice it, I just lay it on my foot, so I don't really feel anything. Right now, I putting pressure on in with my other leg. Now, my foot is freezing. That's a good thing though because it's suppose feel really cold when being iced. It's just my big toe knuckle is really sore. It doesn't like bending or being touched. It's a pain when something bothers me like this. One doesn't like feeling pain. I didn't mind always covering that mat burn because it didn't hurt. It's bothers me whenever I walk, but it's better if I wear my tennis shoes.

The Mayan

Man, my big toe knuckle has been sore all day. I was bothering me when I walked to and from class today. I guess it's a good thing that I don't have class tomorrow. Plus, I'll have more time to catch up on stats. I'm not looking forwards to this next test because it's going to be longer and more complicated than the last one. I need to go to bed earlier tonight. Last night, I only got six hours of sleep because I laid in my bed for a half an hour. So, my brain didn't want to go this morning. Plus, I snoozed a little through the test review. I just need to go through yesterday's and tomorrow's lecture by Monday. Hopefully, I can go through the practice test too, that's really pushing it though.

Rebecka, Preston, Sarah, Mom, and I all went to the Mayan tonight for dinner. I thought it would be better because of Rhea's description. I thought that the show was going to be better. Instead, we just watched some divers dressed in loincloths dive into a small pool. I'm not saying that it wasn't entertaining though. There were lots of kids who thought watching the divers and getting splashed by them was really cool. Some of the dives they did were really high. The highest is 45 feet. The diver was up into the rafters. I couldn't do that for the life of me. The divers dove off of a rock face which looked pretty cool. They had good lighting and water running off the rock face. Sometimes, the water would run faster while they dived. It was pretty cool. It looked like that there were tress around us. We were on the bottom floor. I was really digging the music mostly because of the drums. The food was good, but I thought that the chips tasted the best. The chips were served while we waited for our food to come. So, one would think the main course would be better.

I was thinking a little more about BJJ vs Goju-Ryu today. I told them that Roberto says that BJJ is the best style out there as we were driving home from the Mayan. They said that every instructor will tell their students that. Sensei Chinen definitely told us that we was the ultimate source of Goju-Ryu. I heard from black belts in my old dojo that they really liked it because the style is well balanced. I'm very glad of my Goju-Ryu training because it taught me how to strike and control them properly. I know the all the proper mechanics and basics of punching and kicking. I just need to learn how to apply them.

I just wonder who would win if Roberto and Sensei Villa came and fought each other. I wouldn't be surprised that Roberto would take Sensei Villa down and choke him pretty fast. However, I forget how good Sense Villa is on the ground. I know that he told Levi that he knew Levi was better on the ground than him. Roberto would have to take Sensei Villa on the ground to take him out because Sensei Villa has tons more experience with striking than Roberto. When Sensei Villa was younger, he'd became the best tournament fighter in the whole Northwest. Sensei Villa has gobs and gobs of trophies. I mean they covered the whole back wall in the back room with the mats. I wonder if Roberto has any trophies like that. I know that he started fighting when he was sixteen years old. Well, I can say that BJJ is better for me than Goju-Ryu that's for sure. I just feel more at home on the ground than on my feet.

BJJ is a better style than Goju-Ryu

The last few days I've been asking Supergroup lots of questions about her training and art. It's been making me really think if BJJ is better than Goju-Ryu or any style in that matter. On internet forums, one can run across many people saying that their style is better. I've always thought that one style isn't better than the next until now. I'm really questioning the practicality of kata or even bunkai for that matter. We never went up against full resisting opponents and tried to use our techniques on them. Of course, some of them you can't do. However, it still good to try to use them every time we learn them. What's good about learning stances??? They don't help when fighting.

All I know is that BJJ has taught me how to control a person when they go full out on me. We haven't really practiced striking and taking hits; but we didn't to that in my old dojo either. I know how to defend myself on the ground for the most part. I don't really know if I could have defended myself just with striking. Again, I'll all about how I can use my art in real life. I know that kata and bunkai teaches one how to move properly. However, it doesn't make sense not to learn how to use it when sparring. My old Sensei didn't require sparring as part of his curriculum.

Roberto says that BJJ is better than any other style out there. I kind of agree with him. I'm going to ask him about kata on Monday to see what he thinks about them. I know that getting good instructors is a very necessary part of the equation too. However, I know that Sensei Villa is a very good instructor for Goju-Ryu because he's pretty high in IOGKF. I know that he was or still is in the running for the top instructor in the United States. I know he's a much better instructor than Sensei Chinen. Sensei Chinen said that he was teaching self defense, but I knew I couldn't defend myself worth crap. Sensei Villa was much better about doing that. Again, I just wish that we sparred, did takedowns, and grappled more. I know that if one doesn't care if one can defend him or herself, it doesn't matter what style they choose. However, isn't that what's martial arts all about? One can do lots of damage to another if one wants to.

Hey, Guess What??? I did a little research about my old Sensei. I found out that Sensei Higaonna named Sensei Gene Villa as the Chief Instructor of the IOGKF-USA in May. However, he's not going to take over until January 2010. I'm happy because he's been wanting this position. Plus, he thought the current instructor was not a nice fellow.

I think it would be cool to fight in the cage. I would have get much better first at BJJ and striking. My body would have to be conditioned to have the correct responses when punched and kicked really hard, especially in the face. I don't know how my stand up would fair because I have bad balance, coordination, and reflexes. I know that one the ground, I don't have to worry about them so much. I know that at my old dojo, Ana, a black belt, fought inside the ring. I remember seeing her punches had lots of power behind them.

Class was OK today. I'm just sad that there won't be any BJJ on Friday or Saturday because I'm going camping with my ward's Relief Society for an Enrichment Activity. I'm totally excited about going camping. There's not going to be class on Friday anyways because everyone is going to watch Chuck fight. There's not going be class on Saturday at BYU because the club is going to the tournament at Throwdown. So, I'm just going to have BJJ twice this week which makes me sad. Oh well.

Anyways, when class first started, I got frustrated when training with Pinky. When working with him, I bent my big toe too far back when he took me down. I couldn't stop from falling either. It hurt. Now, it's sore when I walk on and bend it, so I iced it when writing this. Then, I bruised my shin when landing on him. That really hurt. So, I became a little upset because I was hurting. Then, I got a little more frustrated because it wasn't working when shooting towards Pinky's back. He kept on trapping me with a guillotine. Then, we worked on takedowns which Pinky was keeping always doing this takedown which I don't know how to defend. I didn't get any takedowns with him. So, I just got even more frustrated. My mood became much better when we drilled on chokes during the next class.

I learned how to defend from an armbar from someone's guard today. I put my hand's on his back, have my elbows on the inside of his thighs, and my head down on their stomach. I drilled that with Pinky; however, he got my head up by driving his elbow in my head. However, it worked with a new guy that I sparred with named William. I did pretty well against him. I remember Roberto telling him that I'm tough and Mark agreeing. I don't know if he went hard on me. He got me into this arm lock from side mount. I had no clue how to get out of it. I don't know if he was holding back from finishing the move either. Roberto taught me how to escape it by throwing my legs over his head.

After class, I heard Dan asking if Will could test for his blue belt when the time came. I found out that Roberto tests every six months. I couldn't believe it. I'm really used to my old dojo that tested every month. Well, maybe I can skip a belt in six months to green. I don't know though because I need to drastically improve. Well, I'm trying. After class, Dan said that it's important to be relaxed and slow and quick at the right moments. If we not, we fail. That makes sense. I just need to learn what are those right moments.

Swim Lesson from Mom

I had a good day today even though I didn't get through Monday's lecture. Ya, after talking to Mom about my classes yesterday, I think I'm going to only take two hard classes during fall. They are Molecular Biology and O-Chem. I was thinking about taking a class for my major, but was getting really nervous about it. I don't want to have another spring term. Last winter, I took eight credits which was O-chem, an introductory neuroscience class, and the second part of the Book of Mormon. I handled it pretty well. I played and goofed around in the middle of the semester until the last few week. My grades were keeping going down, so I put went into full gear. So, I got a B plus in my BOM class and two B minuses. That was alright.

I'm just worried that I'd be overwhelmed if I took three classes during the fall because of O-chem and MMBio. I know both are going to be really hard classes. I'm pretty sure that major class will be harder than the BOM class too. I don't want to stress out too badly with grades. Plus, I still want to have fun with BJJ. Mom says it's fine that I could take just two classes. I feel sort of bad because pretty much everyone else can take twice as many classes or a little more and do fine. However, I've always been like this with my schooling. I have to work twice as hard and put twice the effort than everyone else. I noticed that in high school, but I didn't notice it at SCC. I was really smart at SCC. Now, I'm your average student at BYU.

Mom taught me how to swim tonight. I'm going to call freestyle the crawl because it's the same thing. That's how Mom calls it. Plus, I called it by that name my whole life, plus I like the name better. It's like calling the Cougar, a Mountain Lion. That's what everyone called it in Montana. Mom taught me to focus on reaching with my left hand. I kept on slapping the water with it instead of reaching. Then, I need to work on my flutter kick. I just need to focus on using the whole leg instead of just kicking. Finally, I need to focus not lifting my whole shoulder when I breathe. Then, I will be less squirmy. It was hard focusing on those three things while still trying to breathe. However, it felt much better and used less energy by the time the pool closed. Now, I can do a three strokes then breathe, instead of breathing every other stroke. I was keeping swallowing air which made me burp. When I worked on not lifting my shoulder, I swallowed water a couple times. Mom says that I'm doing better than Rhea because she can do a two to four breathes and stops because she gets confused. Mom had fun teaching me.

Oh ya. When I took a nap today, Roberto was in my dream. I remember that he noticed that I was improving. Then, he said that's because I was overtraining which is a bad thing. I didn't like that. I'm just glad that I'm getting into better shape. I can tell that my cardio is getting better from because when I used a lot of power with Pinky on Friday, I didn't get winded out like when I first started BJJ. I'm thinking that I may be pretty strong, but get tired pretty quickly relatively speaking. However, Pinky kept on taking a water break when working with him yesterday. So, I did some crunches until he came back.

Almost Passed Out

I need to get to bed. However, I want to write about BJJ. I had so much fun today. I first want to tell you that my mom is here visiting for a week?? Actually, I don't know how long she's going to be here. It's really nice to see her because Utah is so far away from Washington. Thus, I never get to see my family. I'm very happy that she's going to watch me in BJJ class on Wednesday.

Anyways, I had so much fun sparring today. I just realized that's when I love class the most. I feel really proud and happy when I last a long time with the guys. All of my matches lasted a good while except one with Mark. He got me in a triangle which I couldn't get out of. When I was it it, I lifted him up and slammed him. I didn't really do that on purpose because I know that's dangerous. I tried so hard to get out of it, but couldn't. Afterwards, Roberto said that we're not suppose to do that. I said that I was sorry.

I lasted particularly well when I sparred with Cory. Normally, I can't escape when he tries to submit me. However, today I escaped an armbar and put up a good fight. I handled Mark pretty well by getting on to his mount. I can never stay on mount for very long though. He got me in another triangle though. Every time I get into one, I try to grab on to their head. I've only done did that with Pinky today. However, I didn't really work. My best defense is ducking when they try to triangle me. That exposes my arms and sometimes they get me with an armbar. I'm getting really good at defending, but I still suck on the finishing moves. However, that's what Roberto wants it to be. I still haven't beaten anyone with an arm bar or a triangle. The only moves that I'm comfortable with is a key lock and some chokes. That's it. Everything else is defending from getting choked, armbarred, and wrist locked.

I had two really good sparring matches with Roberto today. I was the only person that he really rolled around with. The second time he sparred with everyone, he beat them quickly except me. I tried so hard to last with him. Actually, I almost passed out when he choked me. I normally tap out if I can't breathe or hurt too much with a choke. I didn't realize that it was a blood choke after he let go and went into a better position. I was instantly lightheaded and tingly all over. I'm just so glad that I'm getting better because for awhile it seemed like that I wasn't.
When sparring with Roberto, I tried shooting with him, but it didn't work. I shot twice with Mark. However, he got me into his guard every time. I can tell that Mark really relies on getting people into his guard and then, his triangle. The first time I sparred with Roberto, he started slapping me. This time, I became way more aggressive and attacked. It's pretty cool that I'm becoming more aggressive because before I didn't want to hurt anyone.

One more thing, I'm getting submitted from mount a lot less now, which is so cool. Today, Pinky tried to submit me with a choke, but gave up. If he would have held a couple more seconds, I would have tapped. Then, he ask me why that didn't work. I told him that I have a strong neck. Ha, ha. The first time I sparred with Mark, Roberto made us stop because he wasn't doing anything on my mount. I really tried to get him off by sweeping him. All of these guys are hard to sweep from mount. The guys at the BYU club were easy compared to them. I just want to come to a level where I can give all the guys a run for their money.

My Future Husband

I've only had one boyfriend in my life and that was a couple years ago. I don't really date guys either because I don't put myself out there. I'm more of a traditional girl where I would like the guy to ask me out instead of the other way around. I know what I would like for my future husband though. First and far most, he needs to be strong in the church like me and have the same standards. He needs to be worthy so we can marry inside the temple. We need to be pretty alike to each other so he can understand where I'm coming from. My former boyfriend is the only person that I've met so far that who's has lots of things in common with me. It would be nice for me him to be kind of normal; however, I don't know if we'd be attracted to each other. I would love him to be funny and very smart. I expect him to have the same amount of education as me or higher. I would like it if he would be really interested in any kind of martial art. Probably, he'd have to have somewhat the same opinion about processed food and cooking like me. I'm on sort of the extreme side of things. For example, I avoid taking any kind of drugs.

Stretching and Aikido

This is sort of going to be a continuation from yesterday's post. One can tell that I had so lots of fun yesterday by how much I wrote. I just thought it was really cool of all the things that Roberto told me to do actually worked on others. Yesterday, I did a rear naked choke. I didn't try very hard to finish it. Instead, I took really deep breaths and it worked. Yesterday, I sparred a lot more than normal too. We normally take turns and watch the others spar. I probably sparred for more than an hour without a break. It was really good because I didn't get tired right away. I relaxed all throughout my matches, even Ethan noticed.

I noticed that was more comfortable for people being in my mount instead of side mount. I don't know how to escape from side except shrimping. My worst positions having someone in my guard and being in someone else's guard. I was having trouble breaking them. It funny when I stood up in Colin's guard, he told me to not have my legs that wide because if I do, he could grab my ankles and knock me down. That's exactly opposite what Cory told me to do if I stand up. It doesn't help that I don't have great balance when I stand up either.

I was thinking that if I have choice to wear a gi or not in a tournament, I think I'll wear a gi because I'd have better defense against an armbar. It much easier to hold on to my lapel instead of my tee-shirt. However, it's much easier for my opponent to choke me with my gi too. I'd have to ask Roberto for the next tournament if I have a choice to wear it or not. Ethan, Brent, and Colin defend armbars by holding on to there other hand. Coach Pease taught me to do that to until Roberto taught me an easier way. Holding on to one's gi, blocking your training partner's leg from coming over, trapping the leg with one's head, going over the trapped leg, and then getting to someone's guard sounds a lot better than trying to yank your arm free or hitchhiker the way out.

I noticed during class, Roberto teaches to bounce when we stretch. I never bounce when I stretch. I remember a long time ago, someone told me not to do that. So, I looked online to see if I was right. I was. They said it's doesn't help at all because it produces little micro tears and scar tissue. It doesn't allow the body to stretch. The next time we stretch in class, I'm not going to bounce. The internet also says it shouldn't be painful either. I remember that one day where Roberto stretched us where it was really painful. Roberto is only 29 years old and he has a really bad knee and somewhat bad upper back. I want to take care of my body the best I can. I don't want to be in constant pain when I get older. I would like to push my body beyond it's limit a little. Then, it can rest, recuperate, and then have a greater endurance level. I would like to avoid over training. That's why I try of avoid all the bad things which are in processed foods. I'm doing alright, however I've been much more lenient because I'm exercising and don't have that much time to cook.

Friday night, Roberto taught a little Akido. It pretty much consisted of grabbing another person's hand and then wrist locking them down to the ground. I've done this before in karate. I felt more at home when he was teaching us because it involved a little punching and things that I have trained in for years. Plus, I noticed that I automatically put other hand above my face to protect myself. That was totally from karate. Once, when Roberto got me on the ground, he showed Cory what types of chokes one could do from there. When Roberto tried two, they didn't work. So, he just shoved his fist into my throat which makes me tap every time. He said those other chokes didn't work because I'm pretty strong. I have no clue why I have a pretty strong neck.

After Aikido, Roberto taught us a simple choke that we could do from the guard. I really like it because it uses my flexibility in my legs. Before I forget, last week I asked Roberto if I was pretty flexible. He asked me if I could to the splits. I said no. Then, he said I'm not that flexible. That surprised me because all my life, I've known that I'm more flexible than the average person. Sezia is getting better. Before, I really hurt. Now, it feels like that it's only stretching my ankles, which makes it way more tolerable. I think it's from being in someone's guard because we sit in sezia when we are in that position.

Anyways, the choke consisted of someone trying to break my guard my putting their hand back behind them toward my feet. Let say he uses his left hand. I use my left hand to grab the opposite lapel near his neck. Then, move my right foot over his head to the left side of his throat. I can finish him by a choke. Chuck said it's easier to have both hands grab opposite lapels so it's harder to detect. I need to start working this choke and make it work because it's really simple and easy.

After writing my very long post yesterday, I took a nap. While I was dreaming, I had my third BJJ dream. I don't remember much about it. I think I was drilling with someone and it had to do a lot with the arms and hands.

I'm Improving!!!!

I'm totally stoked about my training with BJJ. Ugg, I wish that I wrote last night our practice. I pretty much remember it all, but it's not as clear though. So, I just want to write why I'm so happy. Last night when we were done doing drills, we got into a circle and sparred like always. I chose Pinky he's more at my level and size unlike Chuck and Cory. I did really well against him. I know that I swept him from mount, got past his guard, went into side mount, and then went into a full mount. This is when I accidentally elbowed him in the face while dropping my weight down in mount. So, he had to take a break from that.

When my turn came around again, I was thinking about going against Chuck. However, just before my turn he sparred a good round with Cory. I didn't want to choose Roberto either. So, I picked Pinky and we sparred again. This match went exceptionally long. I kept on fighting and got out of lots of things like a triangle. I even got out of an armbar. I was on my back and Pinky was on his side. I knew he was setting up that armbar. I didn't resist that much because I knew I could escape it. I had one of his legs already trapped underneath me. He even straighten it out. He said that he had it. I said that he didn't and came into his guard. At one point, I tried to choke him from mount, but I think he swept me. When fighting we ended up on the feet again, we tried to take each other down; however, we were too tired. Roberto stopped us because we were boring him. I was glad that he made us quit because my nose started to bleed.

I was so proud of myself because I defended very well and tried to attack a little. I have never submitted Pinky before even though he's a orange belt. He's a very strong 14 year old and as big as a grown man. So, I was very happy because that proved to me that I'm improving. After our match, I had to clean up because Pinky got blood on my gi top and shirt. He got a cut somewhere on his face from sparring another person. When I was cleaning, I had to deal with my bloody nose. I wanted to clean my gi as fast as I can without it staining. Then, I got some blood on my shirt. I hate blood because it's a pain to wash out.

Today, I went to the BJJ club here at BYU because Roberto wanted to train Chuck Gold's Gym with whoever wanted to join them. We had to wait for a half an hour because Colin was late. Colman was actually there. I really wanted to spar with him to see how I would fair up, but he left before we could. We worked on different types of take downs, mostly from double under hooks. I took the instruction as a grain of salt because I trust Roberto more than them. We worked on the double leg take down. I started to feel really uncomfortable about it again. They were saying that it takes less energy to have both knees on the floor then twist to make them fall. However, I couldn't do it with Colman. I found it easier to post with a foot and drive my ear towards the side like I was taught. They said that the other person would grab the posted leg for defense.

I was always uncomfortable with takedowns because I couldn't make them work. I was uncomfortable with throwing because of my balance too. Now, I'm OK with them. I'm much better at shooting. Today, I shot against this cocky guy and did alright with it, even though he got into my guard. I'll write more about him later. Colin and Ethan were teaching that one could take down a guy by grabbing their ankle, putting your shoulder above the knee, and drive forwards. I was thinking that might not work because one could yank their foot out and get on the back. It may work if one is already scrambling backwards from a double leg takedown and if their foot isn't slippery. Like I said, I trust Roberto a lot more than I trust them.

Then, I sparred against a lot of people. That's where I had fun because I tried my skills against some new people. The first girl I sparred didn't really know any thing. So, I taught her some basics. Then, I sparred with another girl who did really well. However, I overpowered her because she's 60 to 70 pounds lighter than me. I sparred against one girl who use a lot of energy and force while I on mount. She won because of that energy. I wanted to spar again, but she was exhausted because of that spent energy. No wonder Roberto says to relax. It's no use to get excited like that because if one can let her spaz and use a lot of force, it would be really easy to beat her when she's tired.

I was very happy when I sparred against Colin. I could tell that I've improved because I lasted a lot longer with him. I sparred with a guy named Brent has a year of experience and trains at another school at Orem. I was surprised to hear of another BJJ school because that makes it three BJJ schools in Orem. That's a lot of schools for one style for one city. I did pretty well against him too. However, he did moves which I haven't seen before. When sparring, I got into the side defense. When I did that, Colman told me not to expose my back. I told him that I wasn't. I tired to unbalance him, but that didn't work. He just ended up on top of me again. Another time, I think it was him, he went for my foot and got me in ankle lock from side defense. I need to ask Roberto how to defend from that because Chuck did the same thing to me one time.

After him, I sparred with this cocky fella. At first, he looked really nice and happy. He's the guy that I tried the double leg takedown on. The first match he won. At first, he tried to put on this choke with his leg from mount. It didn't really work out that well. He almost choked me, but I kept still and calm. So, he armbarred me instead. It's hard to defend from armbars without a gi because I can't hold on to it. That's why he did it. When Ethan tried to armbar me, I explode over his leg so I can get into his guard. It worked because the other times it didn't with other people. i was really proud of myself.

I had another match against this cocky fella. When we sparred, he would hum to himself and wouldn't be that aggressive with me. This time, I choked him from half mount because I wanted him to let go of my leg. I told him this. I think I said side mount instead of half mount. He said that he could do a lot more things from side or half. I said oh, but in my head I knew I didn't believe him. I told him I'd let go of the choke if he'd let of my leg. He asked my why I would let go.

Actually now I think about it, I don't know since I'd be in mount. Colin said a person could defend it pretty easily. I defended a lot of chokes by sweeping the other person including the spazzy girl. She was pretty impressed with it. I thought sweeping all of these people was really cool because it hardly works on others in my dojo. I'm going to tell Roberto that it actually works. During class, he says that he usually taunts others by giving them his collar when they are in mount.

I sparred with the cocky guy a third time. After his reaction from what I told him, I made a mental note to tap out early if he decides to spaz out on me. i didn't want to get hurt because I called him out. However, I beat him with another choke. During this match, I accidentally elbowed him in the face or something like that. He said that in BJJ, one can't elbow. I said that I was sorry. I told him that I just flop when I get into mount or side. He said not to that. Ya right. After I beat him, I could tell he was upset and left.

My last and final guy that I sparred with was Ethan. He's really good. He kept on doing moves which I didn't know how to defend. I was keeping getting into his X guard. When he was on me, he put his knee on my chest. I had no I idea how to defend from that. Then, he kept on doing ankle and leg locks. I didn't know how to defend from those either. He kept on submitting me pretty quickly. I got out of a choke by rolling on to one side, but he got on top of me.

I was pretty happy after sparring because I knew that I was improving. I actually beat people today which was really cool. I was getting into dominant positions and working submissions way more than normal. Usually, I'm always on the defense. Today, I worked more on my offense. My offense sucks and was glad that I had the opportunity to improve on it. I told Colin that I felt that I don't suck anymore when sparring today with the club because I always felt that I suck at my dojo. Then, he said that he didn't really know how to take that. I could see his point because it means that the club is worse than the dojo. However, of course it is because they are white belts and Roberto is a black belt. He should have been thinking more from my perspective.

I was thinking more about what Roberto told me yesterday. He said that blue belts in BJJ are equivalent to black belts in other martial arts. Maybe, he means if a blue belt goes up against a black belts and wins. However, compared with the knowledge and skill level in one's own art, I say that blue belts are NOT black belts. I know that the black belts in my old dojo has so much more knowledge than our blue belts. Our blue belts have only been training for about a year or more in BJJ. Of course, Chuck and Dan are different stories. Cory is a little different story too. I'm pretty sure that Pablo hasn't trained for more than a year. In my old dojo, it took at least five years or more to get a black belt. A year compared to five is pretty significant.

Asking Supergroup Lots of Questions

This is part of a conversation that I'm having with Supergroup on her blog. I wanted to include this part because it shows my feelings for the differences between BJJ and karate.

Do you wear any special gear when you spar? In my old dojo, we had foam helmets, gloves, and "shoes" to protect us when we spar. Sometimes, we wouldn't use gear. Do you like sparing? Do you use focus mitts and free standing bags as part of your training?

That would be so cool to have four to five hours of training three times a week. However, that would be pretty hard with BJJ because one would get tired. I train for three hours for three days a week.

What does your training consist of? In my old dojo, we would work on basics, kata, stances, transitions to different stances, and bunkai. We had a set number of bunkai for every kata. Does your kata have set number? Is this what your training consist of? Are there different things that you train in too?

What does your ground fighting consist of? I'm assuming that it will look like a MMA style of fight on the ground. That's how my old dojo taught me. With BJJ, there's isn't any striking involved. Do you work on any joint locks and chokes while on the ground or do you just work on striking? Do you work on different positions on the ground like mount, guard, side mount, and the back? Do you practice any takedowns?

How come you chose Kyokushin over Shotokan? It sounds like that Kyokushin is a better style. I'm all for full contact. I disagree with a non contact style. One will develop more control if they are taught to hit a person. Plus, people need to learn how to react from getting hit. They'll either freeze and panic or get angry. Most people will panic if they get rocked. Probably, I'll freeze because I haven't been hit really hard while sparring. I've been hit in the face a couple times.

Which kyu and belt are you in Kyokushin? How long have you been training in this art now? What's your feelings about kata and how it applies in the real world. I know that you love kata. However, there are people out there say that kata is useless. My old Sensei taught me that kata taught how to move the body and do a certain techniques correctly. He said that kata teaches one to over emphasize techniques like pulling into chamber. Then when one has to use it, one can modify it shorten it because the memory is already there. However, one still needs to practice not over emphasizing the real techniques while doing the real thing.

What's your feelings about Bunkai and the application of kata? I know that Bunkai teaches one cool applications. However, I don't know if one can use that in real life. It's cool to practice it without resistance and moves in a set way, however what happens if your training partner resists or moves very differently? This is why I love BJJ. We spar all the time with full resistance. We need to learn how to apply the techniques and drills that we did on a non-resistant partner to a partner who's trying to submit too.

I know that in my evil dojo, they didn't apply anything to the real world at all. My old dojo was much better at it. Now I think that BJJ is the best at it because we have to apply to what we have learned. If not, we will get submitted ourselves.

Probably, one could say that BJJ is unrealistic because it doesn't have any strikes and that it teaches one certain positions that will get ones block knocked off in the real world. I don't know how to fully answer that yet, but one can see it worked during the early stages of UFC. I think that it's really beneficial to know how to strike too along with BJJ.

How do you feel about MMA and UFC? I know that there is a lot of people who do MMA think that TMA is a bunch of crap. I know that my current Sensei thinks that BJJ is a better martial art than karate. I sort of agree with him because of the practicality.

I wish I had more knowledge about BJJ compared with my knowledge about Goju-Ryu Karate. My path has just began in BJJ because I've only trained in it for a few months. I've trained in Goju-Ryu for a few years. Right now, I'm a yellow belt. I remember looking at the yellow and orange belts in my old dojo. I remember seeing that their techniques were off or not as fast and fluid. I feel with that way with BJJ now because I don't know much. My Sensei says I need to be more patient. I cannot get frustrated with myself. How did you feel when you started training in Kyokushin?

Can you elaborate more about the differences between Bunkai and Oyo?

No One Wanted to Train with Me

I'm hot and tired. It's eighty six degrees in this house right now. My body is really sensitive to temperature changes. I get hot and sweaty at eighty five degrees and goosebumps at seventy degrees. It seems like that I get colder and hotter than everyone else.

I was going to do what I was suppose to like doing more homework. However, when Rebecka kicked me out of the bedroom so she could sleep, I watched Rocko's Modern Life instead on Youtube. I remember watching that show when I was a kid. It was a nineties Nickelodeon show. Probably, I watched a good hour and a half of it today. I shouldn't have done that because I still need to do stats. I decided to skip my exercising for today so I can get more studying done and can go on a hike on Saturday. I'm just really hoping that I'll get all the studying I want to get done tomorrow.

I don't want to do any homework on Saturday. I'm a little hesitant going on the hike because probably I'll stay up too late because they are leaving at six am and going to die of the heat. Whenever I walk outside, I say to myself that I'd hate hiking or even walking in the heat. However, I being out in the woods and climbing mountains. My cardio should be better since I'm been doing BJJ. I really hope so because when I hiked up the Y, I was the slowest one because of my huffing and puffing.

I had my second BJJ dream today when I took a two hour nap. It was pretty cool because I beat some young guys who were smaller than me. Plus, I beat them when two came at me at once. I was a some kind of tournament. Only, Roberto was there. There were others from our dojo, but I didn't recognize them. The other team was pretty impressed with my skills and called me an important name. All of a sudden, I found out they were talking about Pinky. I wanted to practice for my match. I asked my team members, but they wouldn't help. I asked the opposing team, but they didn't want to either. I really wanted to talk to Roberto so someone could train with me. However, I felt that I needed to ask one more time. Then, I woke up on laying on my back. It was a cool dream.

Working with Chris

Hi. I love BJJ!!!! Today was such a great training day. It was really nice that we started an hour earlier because everyone warmed up as a group instead of separately. We ran, army crawled, and shrimped. In between those, we did push ups and front and back rolls. Then, we watched Cory test for his blue belt. He went up against Tazz, Pinky, and Chuck for easy matches. Then, he spared with the army guy who sparred with Dan when he tested a couple weeks ago. After that, we got to whip him with our belts. Roberto says that it's a tradition in Brazil whenever anyone gets promoted. We stand into two lines and fold our belts in fourths. The person has to run through the line four times as we whip him or her with our belts. When I did it with my testing, it wasn't bad at all. I didn't really hurt. I thought it would hurt because it sure looks like it. However, I don't know if everyone was going hard on me because when it was my turn, Roberto said for everyone to go medium. As I went through, I told them it wasn't bad at all. So, they might have hit me harder.

At the start of class, I got to work with Chris (I think that's his name) who just started. He's a friend of Pink. When working with him, I found out he's a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He got it when he was fourteen years old. He hasn't done much with it since he acquired it. I found out he's seventeen years old and 123 pounds. He doesn't have a gi yet. When working with him, I we switched by sweeping each other off mount and getting into a more dominant position which is pretty much guard. I'm really glad that we got to practice that because I get into that position a lot. That what happened last Saturday when I sparred with Vanessa in the tournament. I lasted the whole five minutes with her because I didn't expose my arms when in mount. However, I couldn't sweep her. Thus, I was stuck. I did pretty well because she had a year of experience and I have a few months.

Then, we worked on sweeps from guard. I learned one that I shrimp and put my foot on the inside of their thigh and knee. I block the other leg by wrapping my other leg on the outside of theirs and putting my foot on the inside of their calf. Then, I sweep them. I did that pretty well against Chris. However, when I practiced resistance with him, I didn't know how to prevent him jumping my guard while trying to sweep him. So, I asked Roberto. I tried to do it with Cory. It ended up that Roberto said that I don't have to use my body to sweep, just my legs. However, I couldn't do it because I wasn't strong enough. Cory says that it requires a strong core. I was just feeling it in my legs.

We all spared against each other so what we learned. I sparred with Chuck who tried to choke me from the guard. So, I stood up and prevented that. I knew that if I went down, I'd be toast. Then, we all got in a circle and did real sparring. When it was my turn, I chose Roberto. I thought that he'd be a little easy with me like he was with little Nick. However, he started slapping me when we started. Then, he grabbed my hand and forced me to the ground. He has done that to me before. However, this time I got out of that armbar. Instead, he did a triangle. I tried so hard to get out of that doing what Cory told me to do by standing. I was getting a little air at that point. When Roberto knocked me back down, I tapped out because I ran out of air. After that, I started breathing fast to catch my breath. When I talked to Roberto about our match, he asked me if I almost passed out. I said no. It was like holding my breath and running out of air. He said that my face turned red when I was in that triangle. Afterwards, Cory taught me how to get out of that triangle by standing up, grabbing on to their gi, putting my foot cross my chest, and then sitting down. However, Roberto says that doesn't work because they can just sweep me from that position. Roberto said to grab their head and make them tap out instead.

Then, we all did human chess. I went with Chris again. I won every single one of them. I just takes me a minute to think about what I can do next like chess. However, I shouldn't take that long because we only should have five seconds. When Chris went to have a water break, I watched Roberto and Cory play. It was really cool because I could see a lot easier. It was cool watching them take turns. Then, I played with Cory. During the match, I ended up with his arm between my legs. I had a difficult time trying to figure out what to do with it. I finally tried a wrist lock again. It worked. The second time, Cory choked out in guard. I didn't know how to get out of it. He said that I need to extend my hips and abs to get him away from me. I wanted to continue in that position, but Roberto said that we needed to spar for five minutes. Cory was being nice to me by working and giving me pointers while we sparred instead of trying to beat me right away.

I was proud of myself that I didn't get upset when Roberto started talking about Gold's Gym. On Monday, I was a mess. I'm very happy because I didn't feel the slightest twinge of sadness. He said that classes will start on the first of August. He said that eventually it will be free for members of the team. He said it might take one to three months. He doesn't know. I talked to Roberto about yesterday's swim. He said to do 20 lengths with freestyle. I'll try that tomorrow. I'm so glad I don't have school on Friday so I can focus on catching up with stats. I asked him about strength training. He said to ask any of the guys there in the weight room at BYU. He said he knows that BYU has free programs. However, I doubt that. I don't know where it's even located. When I asked Sarah about strength training, she said I need a gym to do that. She said that the one at BYU is probably only for athletes.

Tonight when I got home, I found that Dr. Mercola's personal trainer posted a video about training with bands. I think that I'll do that. I just want to keep up with the guys who will train at the gym. They'll get ahead of me with the BJJ. Hopefully not with the strength and cardio. Important points in this video is to do go slow for three seconds. Plus, he said to do two to three sets max with 15 to 20 repetitions.

62 lengths

I love this little gadget which I put on my blog. It tells me if anyone reads blog and where they are from. So far, the post that's visited the most is the Northwest Profiles that featured my evil Sensei, Teruo Chinen. I have five different Google entries that have searched for him. I guess he's pretty popular. Then, just today some one had these search words that brought up my previous post, "knee between his legs". I wonder why someone wanted to search for those exact words. They sound kind of awkward. I just don't know how long these visitors are stay and read my posts.

Well, I swam tonight. I swam the breast stroke for an hour. I was shooting for 72 lengths which equals a mile, but swam for 62 lengths instead because the pool closed. I think that I did very well. That didn't try doing any freestyle this time. I just focused on going back and forth in the pool as fast as I can. At first, my heart rate went up. As time went on, my heart and breathing rate became pretty normal because when I rested on the side of the pool, I wasn't breathing hard. I'm assuming that because I became tired and slowed down my pace. I was getting tired of opening my eyes all the time because of the chlorine. I noticed that I go all over my lane. If someone swims in my same lane going the other way, I'm afraid I'll kick them. I need to get some goggles.

Of Course I Cried

Well, I had fun today at BJJ. When I first started class, I was in a bad mood because I want to train every day and was tired. I didn't want to run around the dojo ten times and do twenty push-ups. Then, I worked with Cory. We we drilling that I would get him escape guard while I tried to get work on a triangle, choke, or a armbar. However, he's so much stronger than me that I have really hard time defending. Then, we switched. So, I was trying to get out of his guard my standing up and getting a knee between his legs, however; he sat me back down by pressing his legs against my knees. He said that I cannot have my legs close together like that. I need to ask Roberto how to do that if Cory can just sit be back down. I didn't know how to get them far apart while trying to get a knee in. After a couple times, I nose started to bleed a little because of my nose rubbed against Cory's arm. I was in no mood to deal with a bloody nose. Good thing it was a little one.

Then, we worked on a choke from standing up. It's sort of like a shim, but we jump on the guy. Cory grabbed hold of my lapel. Then, I take a small step to so I can duck under his arm. Then, I shoot up, put my head a little backward, and drive towards his side. At first, I had trouble breaking his grip. Then, I caught the hang of it. Then, I put my left knee near his chest, grab on around his neck, and launch myself with my other foot. The first time Cory did that to me, he slid right off of me and landed hard on his back. However, he still choked me.

Afterwards, everyone got to spar in a circle except me. However, I was the first one to start when we went around in a circle between Pinky, Cory, and I. After awhile, Pablo came and joined us. I suck because I always lose. Cory always wins, so he gets to grapple the longest which is a little no fair. However, it's good to get him tired. He only lost to Roberto a few times. I got to spar with Roberto twice today. Cory, Roberto, and Pablo is keeping trying to choke me with my gi while standing up. I did pretty well against Roberto. He made me happy because I didn't go out quickly. I just love sparring with him. I just realized today that Roberto likes to give my arm up by doing something painful to me. When I was sparring with Cory, I was on my stomach while he was on my back. I was surprised that he didn't come in and choke me from the behind. Instead, he attacked my back instead so I can give up my arm. When I was sparring with Pablo, he tried to choke me with my gi on the ground. However, my lapel was on my face instead of around my neck. He tired really hard to choke me by trying different ways. I was hurting because my ear was folded over under my gi. It was going the wrong way when he kept on trying to choke me. I didn't like that because it hurt. I didn't want to tap out though. I did pretty well against him. He finally got me in an armbar. When I sparred with Cory, somehow my head got between his thighs. I almost tapped out because he was crushing my head. However, he isolated my arm and barred it instead. BJJ in can be painful.

We ended class an hour early. Roberto said that we will start at five and end at eight instead of nine. I started crying when he talked about Gold's Gym. After class, he asked if I my dad said yes. I shook my head no and started crying again. We went into his office. I told him that my dad wants me to focus on school. I wanted to talk to him more after he talked to Cory and Pablo; however, the chance never came up. He said to relax and have patience. He said I'll eventually join them. I want to ask him more about the classes because he said it will start in January. Plus, he said that he's working towards that they'll be free for all of us. I just didn't talk that much around the Pinky and his friend because he Roberto talked to me a little about it, I wanted to cry again. Ugg. I knew I would do this. So hopefully, I can talk to Roberto more about it on Wednesday. It's just going to kill me when the class start up and I won't be able to be there. :( Like I said, I'm in love with BJJ. However, probably it's a good thing right now because I need to catch up a little on stats. I meant to go through the whole lecture that was on Friday. However, I ran out of time. Hopefully, I can catch up tomorrow.

Dad said no about Gold's Gym :(

I really need to go to bed. I didn't write last night because I had a headache which prevented me to write and forced me to go to bed. I read two verses in my scriptures and had to stop because my head hurt. I really wanted to write yesterday, but couldn't. This is still late Sunday to me so you wouldn't get confused. Yesterday, I went to my first BJJ tournament and saw the new Harry Potter movie. I've been really thinking about BJJ the yesterday and today because Dad said now about the Gold's Gym. He said I'll become overwhelmed and my schoolwork will suffer. I really wanted to write after I talked to him to defend myself. I was so excited about it that I cried after he said no.

I'm in love with BJJ right now. No joke. I got really excited at the prospect that I could work with Roberto and do BJJ everyday. Even Roberto said I will even join them. So, I need to talk to Roberto to see what he says. I really want to train everyday right now. Probably, I can do it everyday in the summer. However, I don't know about it during the fall. It wouldn't make sense to pay the sign up fee and pay for a month, then end up not doing it. Plus, I'm going to be gone at the end of August for two weeks. I just really hope that Roberto and I can put together a scedule for me on Tuesday's and Thursdays. It would be really nice for him to train me like the guys because he pushes me a lot harder than I push myself. However, I know sometimes I can't put so much time into BJJ because of school. Plus, I'm only taking one class.

I just want to learn BJJ as fast as possible. I know that Roberto wants to train people for tournaments. I need to get good enough to win them because it doesn't make sense for me to go to them and lose all the time. I suck right now because I'm still a beginner. That would be a waste of money and valuable time. I just need to see what Roberto says about all of this. He sees that I'm very committed in this art because I love it so much. Hopefully, we can solve this problem. I know when they start training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll be really inching and wishing that I could be there training too. That's why I became upset when Dad told me no. I'm OK now. However, I might start crying with I talk to Roberto tomorrow. It wouldn't surprise me.

Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. Well, I have really good new and lots to think about. Last night, I fell asleep around three thirty because Sarah was talking to Rebecka and I about some problems that she's having in my room. I thought listening to her and Rebecka was more important than sleep. So, this morning I skipped lecture because I knew I needed more sleep for the test. After I took a shower and got ready, I worked on the practice test for a little more than an hour, but didn't finish it. Of course, I was all nervous about it because of last test. I was a little nervous that I had enough time to take it because I only have myself two hours. The TA's said that this test would be longer and harder than last test. I wanted to give myself two and a half hours because the last test took me two hours.

When I was taking the test, I became really comfortable with it. When I walked down the stairs and looked at the TV that tells the students their test scores, I saw that I got an 88 percent!!!!!! I'm totally stoked because that's the kind of grades I got in Spokane. It's probably going to get higher because of the written portion. I'm totally happy. This is my second highest grade that I have received at BYU. The highest grade that I received here was for my first test in Neuroscience. Then, all of my tests went downhill from there.

Well, I talked to Roberto about Gold's Gym. They are going to start having classes there every Tuesday and Thursday. I totally want to do it; however, I need to talk to dad first. It will cost 50 dollars to sign up and then thirty dollars a month. So, if I start doing that it will cost me 80 dollars a month. However, I'd be getting such a great deal because Roberto would be training and teaching me there along with the other guys. He said that personal trainers there charge at least 100 dollars an hour. I really want to do this because I've been wanting to train everyday since I started. Sarah says that Gold's Gym lock you into a two year contract though. She said I might get overwhelmed during the fall. I don't think I could cook anymore because I wouldn't have time. I already don't have time to cook that much. I really hope that Dad will agree with this. I going to call him tomorrow and talk with him about it.

I really need to go to bed because I have my first tournament tomorrow. I really hope I'll do well in it. The website says that it will last all day. I'm going to call them to make sure they have a woman's division and see when that will start. I'm sad it's all way in Salt Lake. I wish I was car pooling with someone because of gas money. Gerr. I wish money and time wasn't an issue. I'm just really into BJJ right now. I'm pretty sure I will keep with it a year from now because of how obsessed I am with it. Hopefully, everything will turn out for the best.

My Appearance

The only thing that I didn't get done today was the practice test. I'll do it tomorrow after class and before I take the real test. I'm really hoping and praying that I'll do well on it because I've put so much time into this one like the last one. It sort of got hairy at the end because I'm pressed for time. However, I did go swimming today for forty minutes because I wasn't concentrating on my homework. I studies for so long where my body was really getting antsy. I missed two points on the homework because Sarah came into my room to talk to me. I got really annoyed even though it's two points. Plus, it doesn't really matter because I have those extra credit points. I was really getting down on myself because Sarah is taking nine credits and surviving. I'm only taking three and doing pretty well. I hope anyways. I'm nervous for this test because I don't want to do bad. I just really hope that I'll get through the practice test.

Anyways, I was getting depressed because I was getting on my case about not being as successful with school like Sarah. I talked to Rebecka about it. By talking to her, I got out of that mode and felt better. I love to compare myself with others. I do that in BJJ too. Actually, I do that in almost everything I do. I get frustrated at myself because I'm not doing this and this like this person. I'm not going as fast or getting the good grades as some other people. Then, I get depressed. Roberto said that I cannot do that because when I get frustrated, I don't learn. I need to learn to be patient with myself. It's sort of funny when I look at my heart and how hard I'm trying, I see myself a success like school and my mini-mission. However when I compare to myself to others, I feel like a failure because of other people's performance who surround me. However, not a lot of people haven't came where I came from. As long as I try my hardest, I'll be OK.

What about my appearance though?? Everyone is so concerned about impressing others. I mean it would be nice for guys to notice me. I just haven't been that concerned about my appearance my whole life pretty much because I didn't care about what others thought of me. However, since now I'm older, I should start caring because I want to date and get married. I just thought that the right guy would come along regardless of what I look like. Sarah says the guys that will be attracted to me wouldn't care. However, if I do put time into myself, I really hope that my future boyfriend would notice. Andrey certainly didn't because he never complemented me when I looked pretty on Sunday. I really try to look pretty on Sundays. I haven't really been doing that since I moved here.

I just wish this was easier because I care what I look like; however, I don't enjoy the process of making myself look pretty. I mean I've always haven't liked doing my hair. However, I know I need to do something with it because it's always fizzy and stringy. It doesn't look that good. I could straighten it too. That's always looks good. It's just I don't go to bed on time. I've always tried to work on that; however I get distracted. Like tonight, I should have gone to bed a half an hour ago. However, I got distracted writing about this. This has been on my mind for a long time now. It was really nice on my mini-mission because we had to go to bed on time no matter what. Sister Vergara was really strict about it. I knew there would have been so many times where I wouldn't have gone to bed on time if she wasn't there. Those were good times, hard but good. It seems like life is hard because it's hard to balance things. I need to do something more about my appearance though because so many people say I need to look pretty. Life is hard. :( Night.

My Yellow Belt

Now, I'm officially a yellow belt. Yay. It really needs to be softened because my belt looks like a helicopter. I'm one of the lowest belts now because Tazz received a green belt, Nick and Zack received orange. I knew that already though because I always get beaten. Well, I'm practicing and trying my best to learn. It's going to take awhile. I asked Roberto if a blue belt in BJJ is equivalent a black belt in any other martial art. He said yes. However, I think getting to a blue belt doesn't take four to five years. I have to ask him though. However, the classes were only an hour and a half in my old dojo. One could still go three days a week. One can go more if they go in the mornings and do sparring too.

I was just looking through a photo album that was taken at my old dojo. It was during that Gasshuku that was happening when I cam up to Spokane for Evan's graduation. It was really nice seeing pictures of everyone. I was thinking that my training is 10 times better now than what it was. I work very hard and have lots of fun there. I know that I suck; but I've only just begun. I love three hour long classes. They are wonderful because we can do so much in them. The hour and a half wasn't that much because we spent 20 minutes stretching and warming up. We did so many drills and kata; however, I didn't know to to apply it in a real situation. I mean I know how to punch and kick. I know all the basics and stances. However, I really suck at sparring. With BJJ, it's the real thing where your partner is resisting 100 percent.

Since we received our belts, at the end of class we lined up by rank. However, Roberto had the highest on the left side instead of the right. He does things backwards. I'm so used to the highest belts being lined up on the right that it's really weird. I'm getting better at sezia. For the past week, it hasn't been hurting when I sit in it. I'm so glad because I hate sitting and enduring the pain. That means that my ankles are getting more flexible. Yay!!! I did 475 crunches today. I'm so glad that my abs are getting stronger. I can really notice now because my real push-ups are better. I noticed that if I support my lower back when doing leg lifts, I don't move at all. However, I still move backwards if I don't support it. I'm so happy that I'm getting into better shape. I just need to keep it up.

I found out there's a tournament on Saturday. It will cost 20 dollars. So, I'm going to return those weights 10 pound weights that I bought and use the money for the tournament. I'm excited for the tournament because I haven't been in one yet. So, hopefully I'll be successful. However, that does put a dent into my Saturday because I need to catch up on my lectures. I'm a lesson behind right now. It's hard to do lessons on the weekends because I'm so busy. That's how I'm a little behind. I planning on finishing Monday's lecture, go through today's lecture, finish my homework, and take the practice test tomorrow. I need to take that test on Friday before BJJ. I just really hope that do that and get everything done. I'm torn what to do Friday night because there's a bond fire at nine. BJJ ends at nine. I guess I could always leave early. However, I know that I will not want too. Maybe, I could just meet them there where they are having the bonfire.

I relaxed more today. I fought really well against Chuck. He only won against me because he somehow prevented me to breathe by placing my arm between his chest and my chest. He said it was a pretty cheap way to win. When we sparred, we rolled for quite awhile because I relaxed and didn't flip out. That was really cool because I got out of a couple arm bars. I think with one of them he let me. I really researched on the internet yesterday about not tensing and relaxing. They said it's better to relax so one doesn't get tired so quickly. I noticed a difference which is a good thing.

I noticed that when I didn't flip out or use muscle, I saw things a little more clearly. I tried fighting that way with Dan and Cory; however, they are just too good. Cory, Tazz, Dan, and I were all sparring the person who won. Dan was keeping winning. Roberto says that we should jump on him the second the other guys taps out. When I saw that Tazz tapped out, I was across the dojo. It was suppose to be Cory's turn, but Roberto sent me back because they were talking to each other. So, I ran to attack him. However, Dan made me lose my balance and land on my knee hard. That really hurt!!! So, I'm icing it right now. One submission that Dan did was really cheap because he locked my fingers. I don't know if that's allowed or not. I don't know how to beat him because he's so heavy. I can't move if he lays on me. However, he's a blue belt too. I'm learning, it's just taking awhile.

Test 1 in Stats

Well, I'm still pressed for time. I've done my homework that was due tonight. I still have to go through Monday's lecture in StatsTutor and in the book. However, I did go through my test that I took last week. I found out that I got a 78% instead of a little higher than a 72%. I know that I'm still below average, which was an 85%; but that's OK because last term I got below a 66%. I wasn't liking the 72%, but I got over it. Now, my score went up six points which means I got a C plus instead of a C.

I still don't like any C's; however, the test was tricky. I'm hoping that my homework and extra credit will help. I'm want to shoot for a B-. If I get a C in this class, that's alright too because I know in my heart that I tried my best. I'm really hoping that I'll do better on this next test than last test. I think it's a little weird that people call tests exams here. I don't like the word exam. It's the same thing when Rebecka and Sarah calls my hope chest a trunk. I don't like that word either.

Well, someone gave my I-Clicker back to me on Monday. For the first part of lecture, I slept throughout the whole thing. In the middle of it, someone gave it back to me by placing it near my bag and seat because I was sleeping. I was sitting on the end of the row. That's a relief because I didn't want to lose any points. Plus, I didn't want have to buy Rebecka another I-Clicker.

I still have to do laundry and make those Birthday Cards. Since I failed both of my classes last term, I'm on academic warning. I have to fill out some paperwork, talk to my advisor for my major about it, and then turn in the paperwork to the Academic Support Office by next Wednesday to get off this registration block. Why, does the due date have to be right after a test? At least it isn't during one. I'm just so busy and pressed for time. I shouldn't have written this much because I want go through a little of Monday's lecture. I just don't want to get behind because of this stupid test.

I didn't go swimming either today because I was so busy. I seriously didn't have time during the afternoon or evening. At least, I can work on my push-ups and sit-ups tonight. I'm glad that both are getting better. I really like working with Roberto on them after class amid with other exercises. It's really nice because I push myself harder if he's there encouraging and watching me. Last night was really good because my heart rate went up. Afterwards, I was tired and thought it was a really good workout. I just love receiving attention from Roberto.

Testing Part 2 and UFC 100

I hate feeling overwhelmed because I automatically stress. I'm stressed because I have to go through two lectures and a homework by Tuesday. I need to cook something for my dinners for the week. I need to do laundry tomorrow too. I need to do talk to Drew about my I-clicker. I really need to print off Birthday Cards off for my calling. I'm part of the Compassionate Service Committee. My job is to make and put birthday cards on the doors of singles. I was suppose to do a few last week, but became too busy. Then, I have a visiting teaching appointment at four thirty on Tuesday. That gets in the way of my studying for stats. :( I hate getting stressed like this. School is my first priority. I think that if I took away school, I wouldn't be so stressed. It just that I'm not ahead anymore. I'm flipping out because I don't want to get behind. Then, all of this stuff is popping up taking away from my study time. It just doesn't help that I have Sarah who likes to distract me from things I need to do. She mainly likes to watch movies. When she does that, I get drawn to them and want to watch them too. I remember feeling stressed like this in high school. Well, hopefully I can go to bed somewhat on time so in the morning, I won't be stressed.

My neck is all sore from yesterday. It was killing me this morning. I iced it for 20 minutes today. I'll ask Roberto about it tomorrow because it may be sore because everything is out of place when everything popped. I don't know. All I know it's sore. We had a fire alarm at church today. So, I left ten minutes early. Sarah and Rebecka stayed behind because they needed to talk to Bishop.

Pablo, Dan, and Chuck sparred with the army guys after everyone else spar. They won against the army guys. It took Chuck two tries to win though. Pink and Tazz got to spar with them too. I wanted to too; however, Roberto didn't call on me to. I was disappointed. I could tell everyone who was watching was getting bored at this time because they were getting noisy. Sarah said afterwards she got bored too.

After everyone sparred, we lined up and the testing ended. Roberto said that everyone earned their belts what they were testing for. I thought that the testing was going to be harder and longer. I thought I was going to show some takedowns and sweeps like Nick did. Probably, that would have taken way too long for everyone to do it. The parents were getting bored anyways.

Afterwards, we took pictures as a group. Then, Sarah took a picture of me and Roberto. Sarah left and I stayed to talk more. I found out when Dan teaches the UVU club, he whacks them with a stick on their arms and sides. He said that not many people last that long because of that. I'll ask Roberto is that's necessary for BJJ. I know that in the quite a few years ago, Karateka did that too to toughen themselves especially doing Sanchin. Dan said that a blue belt in BJJ is equivalent to a black belt in other martial art systems. I have to ask Roberto about that one too. Dan said I need to relax more when I spar. He demonstrated that by having Tazz in my guard and then pressing on my stomach really hard. It was really uncomfortable and a little painful. He said that I need to look at him and relax my face because my eyes were closed and my face was scrunched up. In other words, he said to ignore the pain so I can focus on my technique.

I was the last one to leave like always. After eight, I went to Chuck's house to watch UFC 100. It was alright. Probably, I won't do that again because I thought it was a waste of my time and wasn't that much fun. I'm not into watching guys fight each other. However, I liked the match between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Since WWE was my obsession for a year, I knew that Brock used to be in WWE. I was surprised that Brock beat Mir. His commentary was very vulgar after the fight. He even flipped everyone off. It was pretty bad. Mir's commentary was much better. Watching UFC is a guy's thing. Pease always talked about when it first started. Colman watches and keeps up with it. I remember on my mini-mission, the family who owned Time Out Pizza watched it too. My companion and I had to eat by ourselves because we couldn't watch TV.

Testing

Well, I passed my test. I'm going to get my yellow belt on Monday. I'm so happy. Today was really good. For the testing, I bought eight dollars worth of soda pop. I bought Mountain Dew and Root Beer because it's I really like the more expensive kind of pop even though I had one of each. If the world was perfect, I wouldn't have bought them at all because they are so unhealthy. I helped Roberto set up the food and drinks. I saw his kids and met his wife. His son is so cute!!!! They only want to have two kids. I was sort of surprised because Mormons usually have lots of kids. However, Roberto's wife said that the babies head's are really big. She said it takes 30 to 40 days to recover from giving birth to a baby.

Dan was getting a nervous about fighting the army guys because they have experience in fighting. Dan was testing for his blue belt. Chuck was much better about it. Lots of people came, watched, and supported us which was cool. Sarah even came to watch. First, we did twenty five jumping jacks and real push-ups. Afterwards, we ran around the dojo. While running around, we did push-ups in between. I did real push-ups with almost all of them. We did some army crawling and shrimping for a short while in a circle too.

Then, we did sit-ups first for two minutes. When I was doing my usual crunches, the kid named Jackson who was right next to me say, "Hey, those aren't sit-ups!" I said, "Shut up". :) Probably, I shouldn't have said that, but I was concentrated on doing my crunches. I did 125. Afterwards, Sarah said that everyone was really cheating on the sit-ups because they were using their arms and butt. She said the adults where doing crunches like me. I didn't cheat and did them the way Sarah taught me how to do crunches. Once, I caught myself cheating by using my arms and quit right away. Afterwards, we did push-ups for two minutes. I was going to start on my knees. However, the army guys said I should start with real ones. So, I did. I didn't last that long. The army guys said it's easier to do push-ups while looking up. I noticed a difference at first. I have to try that again on Monday.

Then, all of us sparred. The kids went first. I sparred against Pink. I did really well against him. It was really nice that Roberto was coaching me through the fight too. He tied up my arms when we first started, so I tried shooting instead. I tried that because we worked on shooting last night. I knew that I wasn't going to do anything on top. I didn't work so well because he ended up on top. So, he was in side control. I listened to Roberto and rested. Whenever he tried something with his legs, I tried to shoot my hips in to get into guard. When he was in mount or half mount, I swept him. He almost got me with a choke. However, Roberto stopped us because we were right next to the wall. I got into his guard and continues. Then, we ended up standing again. He tied up the top my covering my head with my gi. I didn't like that. So, I shot again and this time it worked. Everyone started clapping. It was really cool. Somehow, he got into side control again. One moment, I couldn't breathe because he was on my chest. That subsided though. I hate that feeling because one doesn't want to tap out for not getting enough air. He finally got me with an armbar. I tried to hard to fight it.

My second match went was pretty short because I went against Tazz. He caught me in a triangle choke. I tried to get out of it my standing up while Tazz pulled down on my head. While he did that, I felt and heard all the bones in my neck pop. Now, my neck is all sore. I would write a little more about testing. However, I need to go to bed because it's four in the morning. I'll probably write about it tomorrow.

My Fight

I haven't gone to bed yet. I waited for Roberto to put my fight on the web. Actually, this is my second fight that's on the web. This fight is so much better than my first because of my training. My first one, I didn't have any martial art training. I'm still turning my head when I fight. That's how Pink clocked me. I remember Sensei Levi telling me to never turn my head because I can't see what's going on. Enjoy. :)

Testing Tomorrow

I need to go to bed. I have a headache. I need to be well rested for my testing tomorrow. I'm totally excited!!! Probably, I'll have my yellow belt by this time tomorrow. I'm sort of nervous too because there's going to be lots of people watching. I need to get used to that if I go to tournaments. I know a yellow belt isn't that big because I'm still a beginner. Oh well. That's life. So, I fought today with some gear on. It was fun. I felt like I sucked; however Chuck said that I looked pretty good. I have a video me fighting probably tomorrow. I don't know if I will that that great because I lost and got clocked in the face a couple times. I thought that watching the little kids fight with the big mitts on and the head gear was pretty cute. A new guy is going to join us that was training at Throwdown. He thought that our classes were wonderful. He's 19 years old and in the National Guard.

I really like human chess. It gives me time to think and test if moves will work or not. It's pretty cool. When Roberto watched Tazz and I play, he moved me along by saying that I have so many seconds and counted to five seconds. That moved me along. However, I liked just laying there and thinking how to get out of my bad position. I won against Tazz twice. Which was pretty cool because he always wins against me when we spar. I got out some pretty bad positions too. I love it because it makes me see that my training partner control of my arm and isolated. Or I can see where his weight compared to mine, thus I can sweep him much easier.

I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple open house today. I like the Draper Temple better because of the Mahogany. I loved liked the murals on the walls there too. However, I did like the chandeliers at the Oquirrh Temple. Walking though it made me excited for when I go through the temple one day to get my endowments. The trouble about going to the open house is that I didn't have any time to do any stats homework. I'm pretty sure that I won't have time tomorrow either. I need to do finish a homework assignment and go through the book and Stats Tutor for the lecture this morning. I lost my I-clicker!!! I took it out to do our first quiz. Then, when it came time to do our second quiz, I couldn't find it. I'm assuming that someone else picked it up assuming it was theirs. I didn't like that because that I missed a question for extra credit. So, I have to go to the TA on Monday if my I-Clicker was picked up for the last quiz. If it did, I'll know someone has it. What sucks even more is that it isn't even mine. It's Rebecka's.

My First BBJ Dream

I feel better now. I think that I was just really tired. I slept for nine hours today. I had lots of dreams this morning. I just hate that they like to escape from my memory so quickly. I did have a dream grappling with Chris Charnos, a trucker from Food Services of America that I loved to talk to in Spokane. Chris is really into MMA and Filipino martial arts. He said that he trains other people. I'm pretty sure he knows how to grapple too. So, I had on this slippery clothing when I sparred with him in the dream. This was my first BJJ dream that I can remember. A few times, I've had dreams where I used ASL.

Ack!! I don't like this mat burn. It taking forever to heal. Right now, it's itchy. I want to itch it, but I know I can't. If it didn't itch, I would be fine with it.

Oh, good news!!! Sarah will be able to go to my testing on Saturday!! She's going to embarrass by making a sign like they do in WWE. I hoping that Rebecka can come and watch too. I need to call Joel and Bryton to tell them when they what time I test and where it is. I can't wait until tomorrow night. I want to do BJJ right now. I talked with Sarah about swimming. She said that I could do the backstroke because it pretty much the same thing. She says that I should still run too. I'll ask Roberto about the backstroke because it's easier than the crawl.

Fireworks

Man, I don't feel good. I have this stupid headache that has been bothering me for quite a few hours now. It hasn't gotten to a point where it really bothered me that I had to lie down. However, I did lie down for probably a half an hour because I was tired. Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!! The fireworks sucked. It was short and split into two segments. It was for people who were seeing a concert in a stadium, but still, so many people watched outside of the stadium like us. Rebecka even said last year was better. Today, Sarah invited people from the ward to come celebrate with us. After the sucky firework show, we lighted the fireworks that Sarah bought. Everyone of them where those shower kinds because the ones that explode in the sky are illegal here. That sucks. :( Goodnight.

Back Choke Videos

I'm so happy. Why??? Because Roberto filmed some videos and put them on Youtube. I'm the only girl and adult in the class at that time. This was filmed on Wednesday. This is some of the things we were drilling on. I'm so glad that he filmed this and we got to practice it because he said these are blue belt chokes. Oh ya... Today, we did chokes from turtle. I always wait until I feel the choke. One of the chokes that Pink "Alonzo" gave to me, I waited a little too long. I didn't pass out or anything like that. When I got up, I felt dizzy, lightheaded, and tingly. It was a little different from just getting up too fast. That hasn't happened to me before.

During class, I asked Roberto how long it took him to get a black belt. He said it took him 12 years. He said that people who start older don't get black belts because their bodies don't respond like they'd used too. He said that I'm young enough to get it. I think that if one tries their hardest and their best of their ability when they are older, they should get a black bet. He said that it's easier to get a black belt in Karate or anything else because that's when it one really starts to learn about their art. I heard that before on the internet and through my training. I know at Gene Villa's dojo, it takes about five years. It seems like when one is a black belt in BJJ they have to know everything. During testing, they have to beat another black belt twice their size or 100 pounds heavier. Sarah says that I shouldn't say BJJ on Facebook because BJ stands for Blow Job. Anyways, it seems like that I need to do something to my hair because it looks terrible in the videos. I already knew that though because it always gets really messy during class. Ya, my hair looks really terrible. Hmmm. Maybe, I should try some pig-tails because a normal ponytail doesn't work.

This is a Back Arm-bar from Back Choke:



This is a Back Peruvian Choke:



I really liked this choke because it was really easy compared to the others.

This is a Back Choke Triangle:



At the end of the video, I wasn't sure what we were doing. I'm not used to the ending like that. I want to put my fists in front of me first with my feet in a normal stance, then put my hands flat on my sides with my feet together, and then bow. That's how I did it in my previous dojo. Now, it seems like it's backwards which doesn't make sense. Sorry that these videos are a little boring. I would get bored watching them if I wasn't in them.

You can hear Roberto's voice in the background. During class, Roberto said that we should swim 4,000 meters each week. I asked him if I could do the Breast Stroke. He said no because it only uses the legs and arms. The crawl is much better because it uses the whole body. I need to have Sarah look at my crawl because it sucks. I never do it because I love the Breast Stroke. Roberto said that I should to 2,000 meters one day and the other 2,000 the next day. I want to be on the team because Roberto wants to train us in the gym, like Gold's Gym. He hasn't done that yet because he needs to find a gym first. The more and more I'm going to this dojo, the more I'm falling in love with it. I'm trusting Roberto more and more too. I talked to him about the Tournament on August 1 at Throwdown to see how he feels about it. I wanted to go, but I didn't want it to be a waste of money and time if I lost my two matches. He said that I can go if I want to, but he feels that I'm not ready yet. He said that I may be ready for the next one.

My First Jog

Ya, no reads or visits this blog except me. Oh well. I write this blog for me anyways. I ran for thirty five minutes and did my nightly workout. I like my workout better than jogging. I was getting annoyed with my breathing and my glasses were keeping sliding down my nose. After that, I wanted to go swimming, but couldn't because I haven't gotten a new ID yet. When I got home, I was thankful that I didn't because my body was tired. I two to three push-ups in each set. My arms are tired and not that strong. My abs were complaining because of last night when I did crunches. I just really hope that I'll continue doing this especially running. Right now, I'm motivated because I don't want to lose any hours of training. I love BJJ. That love is making me do things I don't like. I hate running. It's boring because all one does is run around in a big circle.

Planning My Workouts

So, I'm really nervous about my yellow belt test on the 11th now. I thought I was on the team. However, I found out that I have to win two sparring matches. If I do that, I'll be invited on the team. I really thought I was on the team. I guess I'm not. I'm just nervous because I want to continue to go to class for three hours. He's going to split the times into a white to green belt class, then there's going to be a blue belt class too. I know that the team members will be able to go to blue belt class even if they are white belts. I asked Roberto if I can do anything extra to prepare me. He he said that I'm already doing extra things because I'm having nine hours of practice a week. I just want to continue my training just how it is. I just want those nine hours. I asked him who will I spar against. He said that he doesn't tell anyone that. I'm just really nervous because I almost always lose. The guys which I spar against are guys and just as big as me. Thus, they have more experience and are stronger than me. It takes me awhile for get to get a technique down.

Maybe, I'm just freaking out to much because I'm doing the best I can. I'm just wondering what I should do on my off days. I need to start counting calories again so I can lose more weight. I've been staying at 190. I need to get stronger. However, being technical is more important. I need to work on my heart rate because it sucks. What should I do??? Go swimming and work on push-ups and sit-ups?? Will I be disciplined enough to do that on my off days??? I think I will have enough time. I just need to not spend much time on the internet playing around like I did today. Sometimes, my e-mail doesn't help either because on some days, I receive like 15 e-mails.

So, I just talked to Sarah. She said that I need to start running for thirty minutes on my days off at least three days a week. I need to do four sets of 10 push-ups, the real ones. If I get tired, I need to rest up in the air. Between sets, I can only rest for a minute. I need to do four sets of 50 sit-ups too. I really want to get better because I feel really crappy. I know that my cardio, abs, and arms suck. I really need to be self disciplined with this. I have to make time to cook because lately, I've been more lenient. I've been eating crappy food more and more. I haven't been counting my calories either. That's why I've been more lenient.

Well if I start running, I need to fix my I-Pod and get some headphones because that really helps when running. When something upbeat is playing, I'm work myself harder because I push myself to keep up with the beat. Tomorrow, I'm going to run a six P.M. no matter what. I really hope that my love for BJJ can get me through this because I hate running. I remember in sixth grade, I started running a half a mile with my dad for basketball. At first, I sucked but I remember getting better and better. I just talked to dad. He said that the running that we did was erratic like all of his workouts.

I just finished my evening workout. I'm going to record everyday that I did this. I have to work on my push-ups because Sarah said that I cheated. The first ten, I put my butt to the ground pretty lightly. She says when I do that, I use my legs to go up because the weight is off my arms. My third and fourth set, I had to put a knee down because my arms were really burning. She said that I may have to four sets of five. In the last push-up, one must think that they are not going to make it but does. I can't even do a full sit-up without cheating. So, I have to do these crunches with my arms and feet flat on the floor. My arms just slides across the floor. My abs are really weak. Then, I did four sets of 50 with hip thrusts on my back for flipping people on my mount. I want to include that because I know that will help too.

One more thing, last night I bought some really tough band-aids and some medical tape. I bought the medical tape for my magnet because the tape it has one now is pretty dirty. I bought the wrong type of tape because it's too skinny. It was uncomfortable. I bought the band-aids because I have a mat-burn on my foot from last Saturday. I didn't cover it up on Monday, so it got worse and bled. Today, I put only the band-aid on because my sandal bothers it. Then, I replaced the band-aid and rapped the medical tape so it will hold in place. I wasn't sure if it will hold. During training, a little part came off, so I rapped another piece around my foot to make sure it will hold. It did!! I was proud of my handiwork. During training, I hurt both Cory's and Chuck groins. I didn't know what I was doing, but I was trying to defend from an armbar with Cory. I just sat on Chuck in a weird way when we were doing takedowns. Oh well.

The Manti Pageant

Well, now I have time to write about the Manti Pageant. Manti is two hours away from Provo. We went last Saturday night, which was the last night it was showing. I drove because Sarah isn't good with big crowds when driving. She paid for gas and food which was really nice. I acquired the address from the internet. She put it in her GPS system. When we arrived where the GPS system said where it was at. We were in a town over called Sterling. We drove around in circles trying to figure out where to go. I just ended up just driving to Manti which was seven miles away. Then, we parked the car and followed the throngs of people.

The Manti Temple is so pretty. It's pretty cool because one can see it from a distance. It's on a hill. So, while I was trying to find Sterling's name on Google map, I ran across some Anti-Mormon Youtube videos. The first video I watched has some actual footage of the pageant. I didn't mind that video because he wasn't really attacking the church. Then, I watched some videos of the protesters at the Manti pageant of past years. Those were bad. One even mocked us. He was mocking that our spirit children is going to worship us like we do to God. Then, I watched this hour and half video for 15 minutes why Mormons leave the church. This lady was saying they leave because of the problems inside the church, mostly historically. This lady reminded me of Grandma in someways. While I was watching these videos, a bad and uncomfortable feeling came over me.

These type of people make me upset because they don't understand the church. I know the church is the only true church. I know that most of these people don't know what they are talking about. I don't like the other churches because they don't make sense. Through reading studying the BOM and reading the Work and the Glory Series, I know that Joseph Smith did not make that up. I mean it's impossible!! I've had countless times where the Holy Ghost has told me something was true or not. I know that I have to the power to know what's right or wrong. Anti-Mormons teach intolerance. They don't do this to other religions like Muslims. It's just retarded.

Anyways, the players were up on a hill. So, we can only see people who were far away. That made it uninteresting when they didn't move at all. The actors had to over emphasize their movements which made it look really funny. It made me laugh because it reminded me of learning about Melodrama in my Theater class at SCC. All of the dialog and music was recorded in the 1970's. In the beginning, it was really cheesy. Then when it told some stories about the BOM, it became much better. I really liked how it showed Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in the first vision. There was a really bright light and a pillar of light shining in the sky. I knew that was just a spotlight but it didn't look like one. The Angel Moroni and Jesus Christ look really white and bright which was really cool. The fire was really cool during the destruction when Jesus died. I just don't know how they made Angel Moroni shimmer and be a white that was on top of the temple. That was pretty cool.

After the pageant, it took us forever to find the car because we ended up following the wrong people. Thus, we went the wrong way from the start and went way too far in one direction. We we had to backtrack and start from the beginning. It was really nice to drive because it reminded me of Montana. When I was in Spokane, I didn't travel that much. So, I've been pretty much in the city these last four years. So, it's really nice to be out in the country.