I’ll Take the Physical Challenge, Fitocracy

Kind of.

So when I read this Penny Arcade Comic regarding Fitocracy, of course I found it funny, but I was clueless regarding the reference.

Slideyfoot then offered an invite to Fitocracy on Facebook, for anyone that was interested in that sort of thing. I expressed my interest, by this point forgetting about the Penny Arcade reference, and he was kind enough to oblige.

It’s an interesting concept: to track your fitness like a video game, including achievements to unlock, points to earn through difference activities and of course challenges to accept. And conquer.

I can see this much like how I play video games: I’ll end up going out of my way to earn achievements- for example there are achievements to unlock for doing barbell presses-something I have no desire to do, but if  I want to unlock that achievement…Probably not. Nevermind.

What I am going to do however is at least try for the entire month of November to keep up with this. I am usually pretty terrible at keeping track of anything I do, eat, drink, etc. I want to give this site a fair shot, so I am going to work on keeping it updated for the entire month of November.

Let the physical challenge begin! 😉

Happy Halloween!

Every year I’m sort of tempted to put my gi on and be something related to jiu jitsu. And every year I decide on something different. It’s tempting though, no? We’re in gi’s all the time, and so different from our everyday garb that it’s almost begging for an embellishment.

So, if you decided to use your gi as a part of your costume, what would you dress as?

Zombie judoka?

Werewolf jiu jitsu player?

Ooh, paint a “4” on a t-shirt to wear underneath and be Mr. Fantastic, and try to put everyone into a rubber guard?

Rip the sleeves off a particularly old gi and be a Street Fighter character?

Any other ideas?

Congrats to Our New Blue Belts!

Congratulations to our new blue belts, Jeanne, Vedeem and Claudia! You guys worked hard for them, and I can’t wait to see how you guys progress 🙂

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 10.26.11

So, this is more just for giggles. Some letters fell off my rashguard sleeve last might while training, leaving a startling message for anyone I compete against.

Just Chill Out

In case anyone was wondering, the tournament in Atlantic City this weekend went pretty well: it was kind of small, but ran pretty effectively, which was nice: we even had an advanced no-gi division that some guys fought in. We did have a (very small) kids division, which prompts me to post this, which was pointed out to my by BJJWeekly.com:

Not that any of the parents were like this at the tournament, they were all supportive of their kids, but it does happen, and there are parents who put pressure on their children, in any sport.

Just chill out, guys. Really. The speaker in the video really makes a good point that rarely do these parents partake in the sports themselves, and yet still puts a lot of pressure on the child to perform. The focus should be more on what the child learned, both when they lose, how to improve on their mistakes, and when they win, how to do it gracefully and act with sportsman-like conduct towards their opponent. No one likes a sore loser, or an obnoxious winner.

 

Where I Try To Be Helpful…

I have been getting a lot of hits on my blog recently, specifically on an unexpected post.

Superheros? No

Carmen Sandiego? Sadly, No

I have been getting a lot of visitors due to MMA fighter Alistair Overeem, when I referenced he will be up against Brock Lesnar in a match in December.

Maybe people aren’t sure just who this fellow is? Here is a quick run down, just to be helpful…I think…

 

From his page on Wikipedia, Overeem, “is a British born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer, signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Interim Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and made history by being the only fighter in combat sports to hold a world title in both MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time.”

Here’s a little fact sheet, just to make it easier for everyone:

1. Born on May 17th of 1980, which makes him 31, and a Taurus

2. Has fought in different fight promotions such as RINGS, Pride, K-1, Dream and Strikeforce

3.  Will be fighting Brock Lesnar on December 31st in UFC 141

4. His fight record is 35 wins, 11 losses and 1 no contest. The majority of his wins (19 of them) were by submission.

5. Overeem is 6’5″ and 260lbs., compared to Lesnar who is 6’3″ and 265 lbs.

6. Has trained with Bas Rutten (El Guapo!)

7. Has trained in submission wrestling, which is I guess how people end up on my blog?

 

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what people are looking for, so if that did not satisfy your curiosity, he does have a website

http://www.thereem.com/

And good luck on…whatever the heck you’re looking for.

Nothin’ Beats a Good Guard Break

So I watched jiu jitsu class night, so I could be up to speed by Friday and the second class involved a different way of opening the closed guard that was taught during the Saulo Ribeiro seminar on the 15th.

Frankly, as much as the stand up guard break is my go-to move, it’s not always the best course of action, for one reason or another.

The class went over a variation that I am eager to practice and try out in class. While a teammate mentioned it didn’t work so well in no-gi, I might give it a go there as well, because, well, the stand-up guard break doesn’t work so well in no-gi.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 10.19.2011

How are you all doing? Good? Lovely.

I love the acquisition of knowledge, which I am sure explains why I enjoy jiu jitsu so much, but sometimes a question nags at my brain-and soul-and this burning question must be answered at all costs.

Today’s question was, as I am sure all my jiu jitsu practicing readers have asked themselves,

“What the hell is a Rener Gracie’s “Renergy” Sandwich?”

Rener Gracie, for anyone who is not sure, is an instructor at the Gracie Academy in Southern California and according to his bio, “The eldest living grandson to [one of the founding fathers of jiu jitsu] Helio Gracie.”

Well, here is a video to answer that question.

Sadly, I will never be able to experience one of these delicacies, because I am allergic to avocado.

But please, if someone can make a bread and avocado-free alternative to the “Renergy” Sandwich, I would certainly be willing to try.

 

On the Bench For Today

As I mentioned earlier, I have a cold, and to avoid being what we call “patient zero” or my personal favorite, “the Outbreak monkey” I am staying home and keeping my germs to myself. From what I understand, and what I have read when I declared “what sort of evolutionary function does the common cold even have?!” the afflicted tend to be the most contagious up to the first three days of symptoms. The symptoms started in full effect Sunday, so I think I should be all right to stop in the gym tomorrow.

Speaking of recovery, keep Meg in  your thoughts as she goes through ACL surgery rehab for the next 9 months.

Pretty Awesome Weekend

This weekend, I have to say, was pretty awesome. And by weekend, I really mean Saturday and Saturday night, because at the tail end of Saturday night I realized I had caught a teammate’s cold, and so spent Sunday laying around doing nothing.

As I had mentioned previously, Saulo came and held a seminar, actually one seminar that was broken into separate 2 hour sessions, one for the white belts and one for the higher level belts. That was pretty awesome in itself. What happened in between was especially sweet.

Maggie got her belt and our instructor/coach/go-to-guy, John got his black belt! Hooray!

Back to the seminar(s) for a quick second, I was only there for a tail end of it, since it had been decided for space issues that the day should be broken into two sessions. I was able to see the last bit though; and Saulo not only went over some of the basics moves essential for our white belts to focus on, but also what it means to be a part of the Ribeiro Association. Each blade of the star on the Ribeiro patch means something, and he explained what each blade represented.

The second part of the seminar we went over more essential moves we need to know, or trademarks of the association, if you will. They were also pretty cool, and he actually gave some great pointers on passing the half guard on both the top and the bottom which I will definitely be trying later.

Later on we went and celebrated John and Maggie’s promotions with drinks, food along with some pool and teaching Saulo how to play darts.

It was a great night, and I was really happy for them, and happy that so many people came out and celebrated, as I am sure John and Maggie were happy about as well.

Congratulations guys, and a thank you to Saulo for a great seminar!