Deborah's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Arnis-Eskrima Training

So, I did 4 in a row tonight. FOUR!  Then a set of 3, then 2, then 2, then 1, then 5 reverses.  I could feel some strength building and actual muscle fibers working. yes yes yes yes. If you are working on pull-ups, here is a link to some good advice: http://stronglifts.com/10-ways-to-get-stronger-at-pull-ups-fast/ Pretty much, you need to do them all the time, and when you are so sick of them you might vomit, do a few more.  Do NOT get discouraged.  The strength WILL build as long as you stay consistent with your practice. Train well and keep your nose planted firmly to the grindstone. Dag

This is Coach Tara doing a wonderful KB workout.

Holy mother of Jehovah. I wrote a small bit on Fitocracy about the playing card work out Husband and I did last week. Get a deck of cards. SHUFFLE the cards (husband, I am looking at you). Assign an exercise to each suit. Start flipping the cards. Your reps are determined by the number on the card.  King, Queen, and Jack are 10, Aces are 11. We did it again tonight after 2nd watch.  Hearts were push-ups,  Diamonds were sit-ups, Spades were pull-ups, and Clubs were squats.  The math comes out to 95 reps of each exercise.  And now Husband is talking about going through the deck twice.  TWICE.  Because...once is too....easy?  The man is deranged.  Whatever.  I'll do it.  Tonight he teased me that one of these days he was going to plant the deck with more suit cards that were assigned to pull-ups.  He got all evil and laughing and devious..."Yeah!  I'll do that one of these days!  hahahahaha!!" Tonight the pus...

Thank the good lord!  Back on the mat!  Back on the mat.   ahhhhhh... My left calf made sure to remind that it was in fact, still fussy, but I had a good class.  Fabio showed a very cool choke that starts from the guard.  Set up your opponent for a scissor sweep.  (for the sake of description, say you are sweeping to your left) After you have moved into a position to execute the scissor, change your grip on your opponent's sleeve from your left hand to your right hand.  Use the momentum you started for the scissor and your right bent knee and  your right hand to move your opponent to their left.  Climb up slightly around your opponent's back.  Wrap your left around your opponent's neck, over their shoulder and grab their right collar deep.  Shoot your right arm through your opponent's right arm,  and behind their head.  Nighty night!  My friend BJJ Mommy is petite and absolutely loved this move, as it relies so bea...

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Well my left calf is still laid up but definitely on the mend.  No BJJ tonight.  On the upside, I did my push-ups this morning and they are finally getting easier!  I am up to 3 sets of 20 and my final reps no longer feel like utter misery, the way my last few reps felt two weeks ago, when I was only performing 10 and 12 at a time. I can feel the strength building in my arms so when I push the last ones, there is actual, honest-to-goodness, muscle fibers firing off and doing the work.  Does this make any sense?  I am still working hard, but the work is more enjoyable because I have more efficient tools to complete the task.  Adrenalin is lovely tool, but when you are building strength in weak areas, true ability to complete an action is refreshing after two weeks of relying on guts and stubbornness. Bonus, years ago I used to work out to Tamilee Webb's Buns of Steel.  There, I said it, so what.  (what?  stop laughing).  This morning...

So.  Off I went on a speed work out today at a track.  Slow, easy two lap warm up.  Stretch, recover.  Four 100 yard sprints.  Stretch, recover.  One 400 at what felt like a good clip.  Totally was not a good enough clip.  Like, there was no clip involved.  There was however, a gallon of molasses involved.  I was not fast enough.  At all.  I need to be under 85 seconds.  I was at 110 seconds.  And my heart was pounding.  WTF????? Decided to bust out some 200's instead.  On the second 200 my left calf seized up and I went tumbling to the ground.  Lovely.  Just @#$%^&ing  lovely.  Now I am here on the couch eating part of the Caesar salad I was going to take to my squad's game party, my leg is elevated with ice and it !@#$%ing hurts like a mother!@#$% to walk.  hrumph. 

I only rolled twice this week, but had good classes. On Tuesday we worked on take downs and did several short rounds, so everyone suffered a good whipping. Alex taught class on Thursday and reviewed an arm lock detail (from the guard) worth a share. If you have your opponent in your guard, place your foot on their hip (for whichever side you choose), but be sure to lock your knee behind your opponent's shoulder. If they try to posture up, close the guard again and use your legs to break it, then place your foot on their hip again and close the knee behind the shoulder. Use your other leg to "slice" your opponent's torso down, which is infinitely easier if you successfully lock the knee behind their shoulder. Squeeze your legs together to solidify this position just before inflicting the arm lock. The SWAT training is going slow, but going well. I have such a long way to go before I reach the peak condition required for the physical test. I remind myself dail...