Deborah's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Arnis-Eskrima Training

Well, today is Saturday, which is my rest day.  The last few weekends I have made trips to LA to help my sister who just gave birth to an absolutely gorgeous baby girl, and today I thought about heading up to LB to watch the Pans, but I decided to rest. I miss everyone though.  BJJ has been back-burner lately, which I don't regret at all, but I do really miss seeing my BJJ friends on a regular basis. On the other hand, the sacrifice is worth it.  My fitness and strength levels are improving.  I can do 5 pull-ups!  And I incredibly happy.  My focus on SWAT tryouts is razor sharp and I am glad I made the decision to funnel my energies to this goal.  It's necessary.  This is such an undertaking, and I knew back when I made the decision, I would need to jump in with all my might. I feel so strange; melancholy and exuberant at the same time. Train hard, Dag

I just did two sets of 5 pull-ups in a row. Then a third set of 4. That is all.

I did my first timed push-up sets today.  I discovered something ever so strange.  When you really work on something, you (shock) improve. As I started down this SWAT road a couple of months ago, the goals were honestly looking far far far away.  I put my head down and decided, okay I am just going to do a little more and a little more each day and hammer away at this.  My body started improving, I know it did, I mean I have been logging everything, but my brain was stuck in "okay let's see if I can do this" land.  Many sets of push-ups have been preceded by that statement.  Stupid me for not recognizing that, uh, yeah, I can, I am doing this.     Today, I dropped on the floor for my second set of push ups, and lo and behold, the million years I thought it would take me was in reality, 37 SECONDS!!!  I was astonished.  My husband laughed at me and said, "Well, of course you can!  Duh!  You have been working so hard!  ...

I always love a good sweep and we worked on a good one yesterday. From the guard, well, your opponent is in your guard:  Grab their left sleeve with your right hand and pull them forward off balance toward your right side.  Use your legs to assist with breaking their posture.  Now that you created some space, hook your left arm under your opponent's right leg.  Swing your right leg over your opponent's head, as you lift their right leg and sweep them to toward their left.  Use the momentum you create by swinging your leg to help with the sweep.  And voila!  Arm lock!  Basic.  Clever.  Cool. If you have not visited the Fitocracy site yet, I urge you to do so.  If you are looking for a simple way to log your workouts and enjoy a bit of competition, you might enjoy it.  Fitocracy has a "Track" tab that allows you to add or delete sets, and allows you to document the number of pounds you are lifting, or using for assistance (li...

I spent many moments researching the options for pull-up bars over the last few weeks, and I decided to share them. The following are excellent choices, each with their own pros and cons, depending on your living situation and what/how you plan to use the bar. www.trapezerigging .com Trapeze Rigging makes trapeze equipment.  They manufacture a light-weight, portable pull-up bar made of aluminum.  This bar costs between $200 and $350 depending on the model you choose.  The major complaint for this bar is that it's slightly rickety. On the other hand, you can easily transport this bar to the park or beach for your workouts.  www. studbar pullup.com The Stud bar is extremely popular.  It's fairly inexpensive, about $150, and installs in your ceiling studs.  Fans of this bar praise the space conscious design, the excellent stability, and the good quality.   http://tacticalathlete.com Known as the T.A.P.S bar, this is the fancy Cadillac bar. ...

This is my new pull-up bar. I thought about naming it. Darth Vader?  Lex Luther? No. Ellie.  After my niece who is due at the end of March.  Because I think of her every time I workout.  Because I want to inspire her the way other women have inspired me. Dag

Evil in a wonderful way! I want to publicly thank my awesome husband for being the absolute greatest cheerleader.  Since I made the decision to go out for SWAT, he has been a source of inspiration, reassurance, and physical assistance (literally, for pull-ups). Over the last few weeks, I've had a bout or two of workout fatigue tears and frustration due to slower than I would like progress in some areas.  No worries, husband is right there with pom poms bolstering my crestfallen soul, telling me I will push through the plateaus.  And when I injured my calf, he was the person who stood by and listened to me whine and panic and bitch and snark about being injured; then he offered soothing, calm words that I was going to be just fine.  When I get an injury I've not had before, I tend to sink into a pit of worry that it will spiral into a doomsday scenario.  This man, this wonderful man, he listens, and then tells me the score.  "Dag, you are going to be 100...