Raphael Lovato Jr Debut MMA Fight: Congratulations!

This past weekend Ribeiro black belt and Metamoris 5 competitor Raphael Lovato Jr. had his debut MMA fight and won via arm triangle!

Hooray! Congratulations!

UFC Fighter Tim Kennedy’s Raw Deal on Saturday Night

I don’t know if you guys watched this past weekend’s UFC, but personally I feel bad for UFC fighter Tim Kennedy.

Just a quick, poorly worded recap: Kennedy pretty much knocked out his opponent, Yoel Romero right as round ended. Romero sat down on a stool and actually refused to get up for an additional 30 seconds. If you were Kennedy, wouldn’t that give you the impression that you had it in the bag, the fight was pretty much yours?

Wrong, my friend. Romero finally got of the stool (after the ref basically threw his corner man out) and ended up beating Kennedy.

Dude, that sucks.

Apparently Kennedy and Romero also had an (verbal) altercation after the match, but really what can you do? The damage had already been done.

Still, I feel bad for Kennedy: that was a complete surprise that just sucked for him in the end.

Anyone else watch the fights this weekend? What did you think of the match? There were some other pretty interesting matches; let me know what you thought about them-otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Happy Friday: Cold and Flu Prevention…Edition

Happy Friday everyone!

We’re getting to that time of year when it seems like everyone and their mom comes down with a cold, flu, some sort of hacking, sneezing, stuffy nose, sinus headache ailment that makes them feel like something that’s stuck to the bottom of one’s shoe for about a week or so.

Personally, I try to stay away from the actively infected, wash my hands as much as I can, and I try to take my vitamin C on a regular basis- what do you all do in your efforts to stay healthy during this time of year? Let me know- otherwise, have a great weekend everyone!

Metamoris 5: Now with 100% More Sakuraba(!!)

Metamoris just put out the lineup for its November 22nd event- and the headlining event includes none other than the “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba, and Renzo Gracie.

Personally, I can’t wait for this fight…I just hope Sakuraba’s knees can hold up until the event. Check out the Metamoris site for more information on the matches, and how to order the event.

Are there any other matches you are excited for? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day everyone!

BJJ and Injuries: Picking and Choosing Your Battles

Let’s be honest- as much as you try to be careful, as gentle (for the most part) jiu jitsu can be on the joints, sometimes you sustain little injuries. A jammed finger here, a tweaked knee there. Nothing too serious, but if not taken care of properly, or ignored, they can amount to bigger problems down the road. For an example, please refer to my perpetually dislocated left pinky toe.

We all know that you should take care of you injuries, however jiu jitsu players are a pretty hardheaded, stubborn breed. On the one hand, it’s tremendously useful when working on getting out of tight spots and digging deep to get that sweep, submission, etc. On the other hand it also makes us all very prone to “working through the pain” and end up making the situation worse.

This is when you need to take a step back and weigh your options: is this training session/tournament/whatever important enough to exacerbate an existing injury? Sometimes that answer is yes, other times as much as we don’t like to admit it, that answer can be no. When you are injured, there are times when you really have to pick and choose your battles, so you can get up and fight another day.

Have any of you been in that situation recently? Have you had to step back from a training session or tournament because you realize you had an injury, and as much as you didn’t like it, you decided to not participate? Let me know- otherwise, have a great day everyone!

Happy Fall Everyone!

It’s Fall, hooray!

Sorry for the short post, I’m short on time and a bit long on the to-do list: hopefully everyone’s feeling good, training hard, and learning lots in class.

Have a great day everyone!

Great Video from Saulo Ribeiro

While I don’t quite imagine Saulo as my imaginary boyfriend like SharkGirlBJJ does, I can see the appeal. Many of the positive points she mentions in her post are the same reasons I am happy to be a part of the Ribeiro Association- Saulo promotes honor and respect among the jiu jitsu community, perseverance and seeing your true colors on the mat.

Anyways, check out the video on SharkGirl’s page and let me know what you think- otherwise, have a great day everyone!

 

 

Happy Friday: Shiny and New Edition

Happy Friday everyone!

Fair warning, this is a bit of a rant. The new iphone is supposed to come out today, which usually wouldn’t even register as an event for me, but my work recently moved across town to the same block as an Apple retail store, and I had to dodge and weave my way into work this morning. And frankly, it was pretty annoying, and I find the thing a bit silly. It’s just a phone.

Sure, having the shiny, new thing out there is fun and all, but I feel like people lose focus when it comes to new phones or, coming back to jiu jitsu and the fancy expensive gi’s or other gear out there. I buy gi’s to do jiu jitsu, I don’t do jiu jitsu to buy gi’s.

Ok, my rant is over. Have a great weekend everyone!

Jiu Jitsu: Where the Mundane Can Seem Magical

So as you know I really avoid talking about how my training sessions go with my partners, but last night I was rolling with a white belt girl- I let her set up a submission, and then got out of it just as a muscle memory, in hindsight I really should have just let her finish it to get the feeling for the successful completion of the technique. My bad.

Anyway, it was a thing that I’ve practiced a million times, and got out of the set up: it wasn’t a particularly fancy or graceful move, but my partner looked at me like I had just pulled a rabbit out of my gi top.

“How did you do that?” she asked me, her eyes wide in wonderment.

I just told her years of practice- partially because it was one of those things I do so naturally now that I would have to take a minute to think about how to explain it, and we just didn’t have time for that, and also because it’s the truth. After enough practice, and some training, and even more practice the techniques you learn will become second nature: you’ll become more attune to timing, openings and opportunities to use them. What at first seems slow, grinding and simple can over time become a much more fluid technique that you can perform with confidence. And hopefully what seems routine and mundane to you will appear skillful, almost magical to someone else (most likely a lower rank).

That’s all I’ve got for today- have a great day everyone!

Science! Scientists Reveal How Our Circadian Clocks are Reset

Well this is pretty cool: scientists believe they’ve discovered just how our circadian clocks are reset- which is useful to know when it comes to developing drugs, and let’s be honest, it’s just pretty awesome to better understand how the body works.

Check out the article, and have a great day everyone!