Tag Archives: schedule

Long Road Back to Worlds

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This is a tough one to write. I’m disappointed; just spent a few minutes looking through the screen lost in thought about life, the absurdity of pursuing goals, setting new goals, etc. I guess you can call these the dark moments after a tournament. I performed worse than I wanted, losing my last match by 2 points. I won’t say anything more about the matches except that I earned a total of 6 advantage points throughout the tournament for almost passing. That says it all to me.

The IBJJF put up a picture of my loss. I made it my computer’s desktop background to remind myself of what I was missing today.

The main reason for my disappointment is that I wanted to win gold as a confidence boost for Worlds in 5 weeks, and the reason I didn’t win is because my heart wasn’t in the match. That’s a crushing realization, and calls for a few changes in my training. It’s time to get serious. I have to build confidence in my technique and my cardio. I know exactly the things that need to be done. Given how much responsibilities I have at work, the things I know I need will be that much harder to get into my schedule. But I’ll do my best.

Thanks for everyone’s support, and congrats to the many new and old jiu jitsu friends that I ran into today. Everyone who I saw compete fought their asses off.

Jiu Jitsu Calendar

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I came across a jiu jitsu calendar that’s pretty much what I’ve been looking for for quite some time. There are many calendars out there, but this is the only one that gives semantic value to the location of the tournament. That is, you can look for upcoming tournaments within 50, 100, etc miles of where you live.

I keep my own list of upcoming judo and jiu jitsu tournaments but it’s mostly for me and a couple people I train with. It’s nice to see someone put together a quality site aimed at the whole jiu jitsu community in the United States. It still lacks a few key features I’d love to see, as well as basic elements of good design. Plus, the ads are a bit too in your face.

iCompete.org is another good site I look to. But I feel like there is still no central standard place for jiu jitsu events. Part of the reason is probably due to the fact that there is still not international BJJ governing body (like IJF for judo). Of course, IJF only cares about major Olympic-level events, and doesn’t care about most local, regional, and even national tournaments, so I’m not sure an international BJJ organization would help organize (or at least sanction) local tournaments.

Training Every Day Keeps the Doctor Away

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I remember hearing this on some Fightworks Podcast interview that training every day (or several times a day) is actually the best way to avoid injury.

I’m not going to try to defend the logic of that with some statement like “your body gets used to it”, except that I am, because it’s true, despite whatever common sense you may have about the matter.

I changed my training program to include a BJJ training session every day 12-1:30pm, no exceptions. I run (fast pace) to training (from work) and back. The running adds up to about 2.5 miles total for the day is a nice little addition to the training. The key difference has been the no exceptions part. Before I used to take off a day here and there, but that actually makes everything more difficult.

That training regimen is my core. Everything else is extra (a very important extra, but extra). Why have a core? I don’t know if my brain works different than others (it probably doesn’t), but if I do something everyday (especially at the same time every day), I get used to it much easier. It starts requiring a lot less motivation and mental energy. It’s just what I do at noon, I run and train BJJ. Stayed up all night programming? Doesn’t matter, BJJ at noon. Shoulder, finger, ankle, back hurt? Doesn’t matter, BJJ at noon. Egyptian people revolting against their government? Doesn’t matter, BJJ at noon.

I relax more, I learn more, I enjoy it more, and I’m never really sore. I mean the kind of sore where you’re mentally drained and just don’t want to move.

My shoulder is still in pain constantly during training but it’s getting better through physical therapy, ice, heat, and advil. Despite the unpleasantness of training with an injury, I still go, I still train hard, and I still love it. Except of course for the fact that I can’t do judo, wrestling, or any stand up yet. That part I hate.