I'll text him a picture.

“Oh, tonight we’re gonna drum till we fuckin’ EXPLODE.”  -Helen Bond (Medusa)




132.5

I had mushroom/turkey/cheese scramble for breakfast and dinner yesterday, plus a BJJ class. Lunch was of lesser quality food, although I did keep the quantity under reasonable control.

Monday lunchtime BJJ in Kirkland. I had a little trouble getting in gear this morning, and missed the warmups.

Foe is in your closed guard, punching at your face. Do Black Crane high guard to protect head. Pick your moment to jerk foe forward with your thighs. (Make sure to move your head to the side as you do this.) I continue to have a challenge pulling my opponent forward with my legs when s/he is heavy enough that I can't move hir weight and/or large enough that I can't fully close my guard. I try to make up for it by aggressively lunging up and locking on the bicep to haul down. Get hir down on your chest and control the head. As s/he tries to posture up, pick your moment to allow hir to "slip free" and grab butterfly guard with your feet on the hips. Cindy suggests that I allow my palms to slide down the outsides of the Bad Guy's arms as I move my grips to the sleeve cuffs or wrists- less chance of losing control of hir arms.

Attacking the turtle: taking the back, clock choke.

Positional training, then one roll with Pat and one with Cindy. She continues to catch me with that leg thing; I can now see some of the setups coming and GTF out in time, but she has numerous setups and some of them I still don't recognize until I'm already tapping.


Cindy: Are you coming back tonight?

Kitsune: I should go to Bellevue....

Cindy: Oh come on...

Kitsune: I don't want Carlos to forget what I look like.

Cindy: I'll text him a picture.

 

Sunday

Teaching beginners, you have to break down a lot of conditioning.  Years and decades of being told not to be rude. Don't swear, don't spit, don't use nasty words and don't touch people inappropriately.  Almost everything that falls under the umbrella of self-defense is rude.  Injuring people is very inappropriate physical contact.  Setting boundaries is yelling at strangers.  How can you hit someone if you can't even look him in the eye? –Rory Miller




Sunday at Seattle. Rounds of KOTH positional training, which is what Peter usually has us do on the Sundays that I have attended. Besides Peter, we had (brown belt) Steven, whom I haven't seen in about 3 years; and George (!) George was just going to sit and watch, because he didn't want to put on a gi. I said, "Come on, come on, put on a gi and come play with us!" He tried to get Peter to let him roll without a gi, and I was like,  "NO, NO WAY, that sandbagger is going to kick all our asses without the added advantage of us not being able to get any grips on him." A couple of good blue belts, and one white.

Even the brown belts had a heck of a time trying to pass my half guard, which was cool. Granted, they refrained from smashing me- but they had a heck of a time trying to pass my half guard without being dicks (for which I am grateful to them).  Peter tried to use his free foot to pry me off, and then I grabbed his foot and trapped it right up under his butt. He was stuck there forever. "Frustrating."  Next round, he stuck his free leg way out. I said, "What's the matter, ya don't wanna stick that leg up there again?"  "No way!"

I am *so* getting off on these time-lapse BJJ class vids. Here's a little no-gi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e5cM2xRO_8&feature=youtu.be

Ooo- Tigers!

Their perceptions were not ready to register anything but the strictly indispensable. Always in motion. Always in a hurry. Travelling under the protection of a glass-bell transporting them from home to the office and isolating them from the surrounding sensorial world. Beauty sacrificed on the altar of efficiency. A sad waste of potential.    -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path

Today I tried to find a few non-baggy shirts to wear to work. Why are all the cool tops these days made with cap sleeves? Cap sleeves are so unkind to athletic women- it makes my muscle-bound bicep look fat.

I did not need another hoodie, but come on.... I mean srsly:

So then I had to also get this one:

When I saw the Tiger hoodie, my second thought (after OOOH!!!! OOOH!!!) was- disturbingly- "Do I still own this enough to be justified in wearing it?" I feel like this is a part of my life that I've largely lost. That makes me very sad.

Sic 'im, Ed

Run. If you have time to ask yourself, "Should I engage?" the answer is, "No." –Rory Miller

 

 

 

Friday: 133.5

1 hour of racquetball. I still suck, but fortunately colleague is patient so far. I suggested that after she finished humiliating me at racquetball, we should fight, so that I could humiliate her in turn. She didn’t take me up on it.

Straight from there to to…..

Friday lunchtime BJJ at Seattle. Same techniques as yesterday. Remembered to protect my fingers. Still forgot to keep hold of the damn pants.  Hedge praised my breakdance pass. I really wanted to try it on the Stupid Side and see if I could make it work today, but he had a shoulder injury on that side and asked me to not hike his arm up over his head while front mounting- so I deduced that the breakdance pass would be unwise.

Again, lots of reps, to exhaustion- good cardio, good weight loss (I hope).

Had to skip the first roll, as I was wiped out. Then, one roll with Angus and one with Ed. Played real conservative with Angus, as I have figured out by now that as soon as he gets on top, I’m hosed. I was in his closed guard for much of the 10 min, until Coach Tom started heckling him from the sidelines, telling him that he had to take some risks and open his guard. “Omoplata her!” Thanks a lot Tom. I managed to pass his guard a couple of times, but then he got a sweep and keylocked me.

Hostility Boy was there. Joy and rapture. I almost skipped the rolling at the end just because I didn’t want to risk getting stuck with him. Well, with Kirkland open, I now have another option to spin the Russian Roulette wheel and hope he will present elsewhere. I did get to watch Ed make him tap with a bow-and-arrow, which was pleasant.

 

Damn your spider guard

There is no need to travel to exotic places, load up on drugs, or drive one hundred miles an hour to feel alive. It is not necessary to look for particularly strong sensations, because when the five senses are awakened, every sensation is a strong one. The scent of the earth after a summer storm. The embrace of a lover. The vastness of the sky above. Small experiences that could travel through our consciousness without leaving any trace become the messengers of a beauty that cannot be measured. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path

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Pic: After Defensive Folding Knife class at Insights Training, you get to try your new moves on a side of meat which has been duct-taped into a pair of blue jeans.
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Friday:
133.0

Spent an hour before work playing raquetball. I was defeated in an epic fashion, but it was a nice little workout.

Wore my ankle weights all day at work. I haven't done that in a while, largely because my knees and feet already hurt and I'm anxious about making the plantar fasciitis hurt worse than it already does. I probably won't be doing this every day (like I was was a few years ago), but I'll do it once in a while and see how it goes. May have to get a new pair of ankle weights.... this was a nice set (kind of a splurge), but I have worn them enough that they are... worn. And the velcro is starting to go.
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Sat:  133.5  (grrrrr) I had 910 calories yesterday, plus somebody at work gave me an unlabelled cookie that obviously put me over 1000. I had hoped that the hour of raquetball would let me get away with that single cookie, but apparently not.

I wore the ankle weights all day at work again.

 I have separated out a bunch of my too-baggy hospital scrubs for donation. Part of the reason it's easy to let a few extra pounds creep on is that I'm wearing pajamas (scrubs) at work, pajamas (gi) at class, and pajamas (pajamas) at home. Drawstring waistbands all the way, baby. Scrubs are supposed to be baggy, and nothing ever fits me anyway- but seriously, I have scrubs that I could fit four of me inside.
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Sun: 132

Hello, normal-walking-around weight. It's been a little while since we checked in.

My Evil Twin is trying to cuisine-educate me. Back to the eggs.
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Mon: 132
Tues: 132.5 (ankle weights)
Weds: 133 (Razzafrackin....)  (ankle weights)

I lost all semblance of culinary self-control today; which I suspect had less to do with feeling defeatist about that pound gain (altho there was that) and more to do with skipping my Crystal Light. I used to swill Dr Pepper all day, now I swill Crystal Light all day. I'd like to go off artificial sweeteners, but I made a conscious decision to use the Crystal Light as a crutch to wean myself off the soda. Well, today I skipped it, and did not attempt to replace it with plain water. The result: I think I was subconsciously searching for something to put in my mouth, and probably a little dehydrated as well. Lesson learned. My assistant plied me with carrots, otherwise it would have been even worse.

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Thurs: 133.5 (I deserve that)  I redeemed myself today, though- I walked right past a New York Cupcakes Shop. I did not go inside.


Thursday evening advanced class at Bellevue.  Drills. For some reason, we were doing 43 reps of everything today. It seemed to be some kind of inside joke that I was not privy to.

Standup: one lapel grip and one elbow grip. Go to pull guard (make sure you are a:stepping on the ELBOW GRIP side, and b:turning your toe out). Foe steps that leg back. Now you let go of the lapel and ankle pick his other leg.

Bullfight guard pass to front mount. Hang onto that far pantleg until you can use it to move the legs into place for your mount.

Opponent standing, you sitting before hir. Scoot forward and turn the corner, hug the leg. Place front palm on the mat. Technical lift, using heel to lift opponent's foot. Stand up and scoop opponent's leg up, hold it against your chest. (I was corrected on hand position here- do not allow fingers to splay out, you are asking for a broken finger.) Stand very close to opponent- hip to hip.

Bullfight guard pass, but foe turns toward you as you run around. You place your elbow on hir belt, then continue the turn so that your shoulder blades are on opponent and your belly to the ceiling. Now turn BACK the way you came, while scuttling around toward the head. Somehow the opponent's arm usually magically appears to be scooped up, and you finish in side control. Then front mount.

When I saw this last one, I was like, "No way." But it actually turned out to be really smooth- altho only on one side. Every time I tried to do it on the Stupid Side, I messed it up.

Ron: Errrk....Oooh!

Kitsune: Are you okay?

Ron: Yeah.

Kitsune: Seriously- am I being too heavy?

Ron: Good shoulder pressure.

I had mentioned to him earlier that I could tell he was being nice- thank you- but his top pressure was still really, really, good.

“Damn your spider guard…..”   I’m pretty sure that was a compliment from a biggish blue belt to me……

Fast forward

The threat does a mix of savagery and niceness, making the victim think her only hope is in being nice and keeping the threat nice...and so the victim doesn't fight.

Her hope keeps her from fighting.

And it makes me wonder how many people over the millennia died without fighting when they desperately needed to fight. How many waited for rescue or prayed for intervention, and let themselves die? And how many prevailed when they realized there was no hope and fought with everything they had? -Rory Miller




This is cool and amusing: a BJJ class at my school, in time-lapse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDsCgP_ZZYA

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Kirkland

…Their minds are always hyperactive, too caught up in the unstoppable flow of thoughts to pay any attention to the ecstasy dancing in front of their noses. They don’t know what it means to live in a body that doesn’t just serve as a machine carrying the mind from one place to another. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path



134.0

In my week of experimentation with calorie counting, the sad fact has emerged that I have to stay below 1000 cals per day just to avoid gaining. If I want to lose, I have to be well under 1000 *and* go to at least one class.

Bring on the zombocalypse! I will be able to survive (and fight) on one kernel of corn per day.



Evening BJJ at KIRKLAND! First night of class. This pod is close to my place and I think the commute traffic on the streets between should not be awful. It's a nice space. 2 big, nicely remodeled bathrooms (1 with a shower), a roomy women's changing room, garage door at the far end of the mat
to open when it's hot, high ceilings.

The only thing I *don't* like about it is that it's right next door to the ferret rescue- which opens up the horrid possibility of running into SK at some point. Hopefully he is too busy to be volunteering. Hopefully he has moved very far away. Hopefully he has been abducted by aliens.

I sneaked up behind Will and choked him, leading into a warm-up roll.

Standup: Pummelling. Then: pummeling to ankle pick.

Then: One partner stands, the other lies on hir back. "Down" person sits up, scoots in and turns the corner to end hugging the leg and pressing back of shin with shoulder. Side to side.

Finally: Standup, one sleeve cuff grap and one lapel grip. Step on opponent's hip on the same side that you have the sleeve cuff grip. Drop onto back, swing free leg out wide, square up and place both feet on opponent's hips. Let go of lapel and grab behind foe's ankle. On CUFF GRIP side, take foot off hip and spider guard. Pretend you're going to push opponent over backward.... but suddenly jerk hir arm across your own body and pull the ankle to make hir face plant instead. Get up, KEEP ANKLE and push it ahead of you as you get up to avoid the closed guard.

Picture time- I declined to be in the photo, so they had me be the photographer.

Three rolls with that good blue belt guy from Edmonds- he dominated me utterly and tapped me three times.

Then I rested a bit and cuddled Pat's dog- who tried to french-kiss me as usual. You really need to keep your face well out of Mochi's reach. After he licked both of my arms from wrist to shoulder, he settled down and gave me his back. I called Pat's attention over, and pretended to RNC his dog.

A little rolling with Lindsey, who was on top most of the time, and tapped me with a keylock. Then they were shooing us out.