Autumn Shmautumn

Today is the last official day of summer and in a few hours it will be fall. The season change can be noted by the temperature decreases at night, the shorter days and the dreadful traffic that congregates at any 5 mile radius of a school at 8 in the morning and 3pm in the afternoon. What does this have to do with jiu jitsu? Well usually this means that most of us students and those that use all their vacation days in the summer now have less time to train. There are days in the summer that I felt like training from 5 to well past sunset which would give me plenty of time to get some good work in but with the sun now going down much sooner than 8, it affects my drive to train. Instead of thinking about how many times I can roll and drill a technique, I'm thinking of the homework that's due tomorrow or the less and less amount of sleep I'm going to get before I wake up at the crack of dawn for work the next morning. This is no excuse to not train less or not as hard but it really is a change of pace. Goodbye to long summer days filled with jiu jitsu, beach then more jiu jitsu. Holler to 4 hour long classes, hours of studying, the stress of rushing to training from work and or fitting the class jiu jitsu schedule into yours. /Sigh. On a lighter note, American Nationals are this weekend at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. This will be my first IBJJF competition at blue belt and with 18 girls so far in the absolute division I am so excited. I'm semi-shitting my pants since I've never been in a division that large and I've probably been training less than most of the girls in it but I'm stoked to play my guard. ALSO, speaking of guard, I'm currently working on a zine called Pulling Guard. It's a small DIY magazine. Small meaning about 6 pages and the size of a half sheet of letter paper. It will be xeroxed at a kinkos and handed out at competitions around here with the option of donation. I'm really really excited to get into production with interviews, articles, polls, cute fonts, techniques, product reviews and important information and insight pertaining to today's sport jiu jitsu world. As a sneak peak it will include Romulo Barral (shocker) and a little piece on my friend, coach and new brown belt Benny Dariush. If interested in getting a copy please let me know!

Why didn't I think of this?

I recently read on Sherdog, Hillary's facebook page and a post about a contest based on a project started by Hillary Williams. Just to give you a little insight, when I started jiu jitsu I was posting on a music messageboard that I am a member of (don't judge me) and there is an ongoing thread for jiu jitsu pracitioners. It's a small group and everyone "knows" everyone and so when this username "hillary" started posting, it was made known that she was THEE Hillary Williams. I had no idea who she was and I looked her up. A big competitor and an up and coming female grappler who was already making waves. She had learned Portuguese while also in premed school. She had traveled to Brazil and accomplished so much even as a purple belt. Anyway, she had a lot of great advice to add in our little forum before she stopped posting. I messaged her about being nervous for my first competition back in November and she calmed me down with a cool reply telling me that she still gets nervous and I deserve to be there cause I trained my ass off. Anyway, now a black belt she has made hugeeeeeeee fuckin strides in our sport and here she is again with a great idea. Give her your gis.....so she can send them to the slums in Brazil DUH where kids don't even have gis yet the love for jiu jitsu is very much alive and well in their eyes. So here's her post and I hope it inspires you to send the starter gi you have stored away somewhere.
"On every Jiu Jitsu forum I've been on, once every other month (or so) a thread pops up with "how many gis do you have?" People (myself, unfortunately, included) boast about having 8, 10, and 12 gis. Twelve gis? Really? I train hours and hours a week, but let's be honest. I probably don't need more than four gis, much less 12.

One of the greatest experiences I had on my last Brazil trip was the seminar I taught at a projeto social (community service) gym. We didn't have great mats to roll on, some of the students didn't have gis, and we weren't even indoors--but it was probably my favorite seminar I've taught so far. The students were so enthralled that I came out there just to teach them, and I've never felt like Jiu Jitsu was appreciated as much as it was with those students. For the few hours we were on the mats, no one cared about time, money, problems at home, or anything else. We just did Jiu Jitsu until it was too dark to see.

I was talking to Finfou (Alan do Nascimento) about his projeto in Brazil, in the Cantagalo slum. I met a few students back and forth through Checkmat in Copacabana, but the majority stay in Cantagalo. He told me the students are so dedicated, so hungry to learn, but so many don't train because they don't even have gis.

That's where you come in. I'm not asking you to buy a new gi and ship it out, I'm not asking you to donate your Shoyoroll #7, I'm just asking you to reach out. We all have a "starter gi," and you know what I'm talking about. That gi you used as a white belt and developed a different fashion taste, that gi that shrunk too much in the dryer or the gi that just didn't fit you right, the gi your son grew out of when he turned eight. If you can't donate a gi (understandable), PLEASE talk to your gym, the parents of the kid's programs, or someone you know who might. To you, it means so little. To someone in the projeto, it could mean so much.

I need adult and kid (lots of kids!) gis, hand-me-downs in good condition are absolutely great. My goal is 30-50 gis, and I plan to take them to Brazil with me the next time I go down. If the deal breaker is having to pay the shipping to my gym, well, I'll pay! As well, I hope by now I've earned a reputation of not being someone who would turn around and sell your gis.

I realize this is just one of many projetos, and I realize the task is too grand to be able to get a gi to everyone who is needing them. I hope to help as many as I can and encourage others to do so. Every single person makes a difference. Every single gi will make the life of someone better.

If you'd like to donate, please send your gi to:

Westside MMA RE: Projeto Cantagalo
1021 Jessie Road, Suite N
Little Rock, AR 72202

We write daily about how much Jiu Jitsu has given to us, shouldn't we try to give back?"

"< start rant >"

The importance of training outside of class. Here is a topic that most people don't think about perhaps because they don't need to-- its always available. For some, the idea of having a mat space to work with a training partner on a move, a position, a submission, whatever. On your own time. At your own pace. With the ability to ask questions, experiment and drill is non-existent. GB Encino is no longer my gym due to Romulo leaving. I've been able to train elsewhere with him and although not as strict as the Encino gym, I don't have the freedom to train on any schedule other than what has been created for us. There was open mat, sure but it was rolling that was usually with assigned partners and there wasn't any real time for what I have experienced at other places. I believe the importance of training at your own pace sometimes is passed on so many times. When in school, say a math class, you learn the lesson for the day and you go home and do your homework. Jiu jitsu is full of lessons and techniques to memorize but you can't really do it on your own. You need two to tango, I mean roll. And so you go home and unless you have mats and a roommate who trains as well, you can't go over what you learned. Yes there is live rolling, open mat, and more classes to get that technique real sunk into your brain but how about some mat space and a training partner to drill it, try it with different resistance levels and really adding it into your game? I know I'm not the only one who likes to stop mid-roll and say "what the hell do I do here" or "did that sweep really get you" or "how deep was that choke?" so in order to stop annoying those who want to use sparring time for well, sparring, I'd enjoy a little time with someone to do what I want. We're not all the same, we don't all learn the same, we don't all roll the same, train the same, adapt the same or think the same. /end rant.

P.S. I had my birthday and my mom and sister both love baking so they made me a homemade jiu jitsu ice cream birthday cake. I thought I'd share!