Commitment

So after over a year of no posts, i've decided to have another crack at the whole blogging thing. I think i was a bit overwhelmed at the start, trying to relay every thing that was happening with my training.
So i'm making a commitment now to post something at least every month. I may talk about what is happening on the mat in my gym or i may just throw up some cool stuff i find inspiring to share.

My training has been going well, i've competed in two grappling comps now and all though i was not happy with how i performed, i did improve. I feel when i next compete i'll step up and compete at my best.
Comps are a great way to see how your game is progressing. You have to use all your techniques combined with cardio and your ability to control nerves. My first comp i had very little technique and suffered because of that. My second comp i feel i had technique there but i was almost too calm and got out muscled in a couple of matches. I was taking it like i was in the gym just having a roll but comps are a big step up from that and i will implement a whole different game plan in in the future. All though i was not happy with my self in the second comp i did win 2 of my 4 matches and came in 3rd in the Gi and NoGi.

I'm now a 4 stripe white belt. And i still travel the 2 hour round trip to my gym in caloundra 2-3 times a week. Apart from some time off when i had some floating cartlidge removed from my old bung knee, i've been very consistent.
My game has really stated to develop in the last 2-3 months. I try to play a flowing game on top rather than use my weight and smash. I'm on average about 20-30kg heavier than my training partners, so squishing them into the mat is not going to help my game at all. I play alot with sitting guard and half guard. I find i have alot of options from there for sweeps and taking the back. My submission game from bottom is not great, i think it is the biggest whole in my game right now, oh and my cardio. I can roll for a long time nowadays but not at the pace i want to keep.
So i'm starting to implement a plan to help me fill those two gaps in my game. Firstly i'm going to get my weight down.

When i first started BJJ in late January 2009 i was 122kg fat.

Check out my fat arse in these pics above, taken after my first training run late January 2009 at AdvanceSC Caloundra.

I've got my weight down to around 109kg at the moment but i think i need to get down under the 100kg mark. In my next post or two i'll go into more detail my weightloss plan and my progress on submissions from the bottom.

I'll leave todays blog with some words from Saulo Ribeiro. His Philosophy on Jiu Jitsu has been an inspiration to me and is very similar to my coach Ryans out look on jits. One of my bjj goals is to get to train with him and his brother in San Diego.