Deborah's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Arnis-Eskrima Training

To cut or not to cut, that is the question. Here is my thought on cutting weight for a tournament:  if you can achieve your goal weight via reasonable meal preparation and modest calorie restriction, then go forth and conquer.  If a cut requires you to strip down to the skivvies of celery, canned tuna, water, a minimal at best personality, and no breakfast before stepping on the scale on game day, you may want to rethink your weight class. Game day requires your best, mentally and physically, not your lightest for the sake of being in a certain weight class.  If losing pounds means you are losing necessary muscle mass just to make the scale happy, you're walking up the downward moving escalator and getting in your own way.  Muscles keep you strong.  Muscles carry oxygen.  Love them.  Feed them and keep them happy. Game day has enough obstacles between staying healthy, the drive there, and remaining calm.  Adding yourself to that cauldron of challenges will give you a flat sou

Tiny phrases move mountains. What If....I tried?  And failed.  Good! (to borrow a phrase from Jocko Willink).   What If, I tried again, and trained for it?  And did it again?  And made it?  To the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  To the top of Mount Whitney.  To the finish line.  To the 6th pull-up.  To the mat.  To the promotion. Want to change your life?  Take up the advice of short words and phrases.  Pretty consonants dotted with delicate vowels lead you down paths of delight and wonder. And thus I dive in once again to training for competition.  I've done enough prep for various events in my life to know better than to throw my efforts at a project half-hearted.  My last big project, the sergeant's exam, took a little mental prodding until I finally had a moment of clarity, asked "but....what if?", put my head down, and did what I knew I could do. Now I ask twice for my arts.  The Battle of the Bayani on March 2, and the Pans on March 20?  What if.... I am