We have decided to start trying to have a baby right away, and since this is what I want the most in life, and I don’t want to do anything that may jeopardize a pregnancy, I will be taking a break from jiu-jitsu until after we have a baby.  It has been a lot of fun, and I really hope to return to it at a later time.  If you read this blog, thanks so much.  I am not the best blogger and I know I should have updated more often.  Anyway, if you are interested in seeing what is going on in my life, take a look at my other blog at http://www.insertclevertitlehere.com Thanks!  Talk to you later!

Not a lot has changed.  I have lost about 15 lbs since I started training, bringing me to a total of approx. 50 lbs lost since I started my mission to health.  My stamina has also increased tremendously.  When I first started, I could not do the warm up.  Now, I can do it, and usually without feeling too taxed afterward.  I still feel like I suck daily.  I also am having a really hard time rolling with new people, as in people I haven’t rolled with before.  I am 100% comfortable rolling with Vlad, and if I only ever had to roll with him I would be a happy camper.  However, I realize that this is not beneficial to Vlad or myself.  So far, I have only rolled with him, and the 3 other females at the club, who are all substantially smaller than me (shorter and lighter).

I don’t know if other people have this problem, but the fear I have, this phobia of rolling with the guys at the club is over-powering.  I have a daily struggle of whether to go to class that day, because I fear the words “find another partner”.  I am usually the last one standing, all by myself.

I really enjoy doing this.  I really want to stick with it, so I push myself to go.  I just wish it would get easier.

Helio Gracie was the inventor of the modern martial art of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

I have been having pretty good classes as of late.  I have been trying to roll with different people, though I tend to stick with the couple of girls in the class.  I am still pretty intimidated by the guys.  Except for Vlad of course.  I am finally remembering things to try when rolling.  The panic that was there before is slowly subsiding and allowing my body and brain to work together and somehow I am able to try new things.  They don’t work most of the time, but that is expected.  However, I did manage to pull off a timber sweep the other day.  That made my day.

Yesterday we did MMA in class for the second time since I started.  The first time I was not feeling well and missed the class.  This time, I did not have MMA gloves.  I tried to buy some, but they did not have my size in stock.  So I ordered some, but was unable to participate in that part of the class.  I was pretty pissed, but what can you do.  After class, during open mat, nobody wanted to roll with me.  I felt like the unathletic kid in gym class.  The combination of me being too shy to ask the guys to roll, and them not wanting to roll with me, is making it kind of difficult to get some time on the mats.    I am hoping that as time goes by this will change.

Anyway,  I am down about 8 lbs since starting Jiu-jitsu.  This is good, as I had hit a plateau before I started.  I work out on the elliptical at home 4 days a week, but I hate doing it.  Soooo boring.  I am glad that I have found something that I really enjoy doing, and is an awesome workout as well.

Yesterday was the first time that the warm up did not kick my butt.  I was able to do the entire thing, without stopping once.  This made me very happy.  Finally making progress with my cardio.  I also increased my regular workouts from 45 minutes to an hour.  I think this will help as well.

I need to leave the proverbial nest so to speak.  I have rolled with a couple of the girls at the club, but mostly stick to rolling with Vlad, because this is in my comfort zone.  I need to break this habit and start to go with other people, so that I get over this fear of rolling with other guys, and so that poor Vlad is not stuck rolling with me all the time.

I went to train today.  It was stand up day.  Vlad and I worked together at first.  We worked on some different combinations.  Then everyone started to spar.  However, I do not have the proper equipment to really go at it, so I had to sit out.  I did order headgear and shin guards today.  This is what I got:

I should have them by next week, so I can spar for real.  I have officially spent a lot of money now.  LOL.

I went to an open mat class on Monday, and it ended up being a pretty bad class.  We had the choice of gi or no gi, so I chose gi.  It started out OK.  Vlad showed me 4 submissions; Rear-Naked choke, Cross-Collar choke, Americana and Kimora.  Then he went to roll with someone else.  I was just sitting there, and our instructor asked me to roll with him.  I literally forgot everything I know and could not do anything.  I got too nervous.   I felt like an idiot for the rest of the class, and now I feel like I really suck.  I feel like I do better when I roll with Vlad, and he says that I don’t suck, but I still feel like I am not doing very well.  I hear this is part of the cycle that people go through.

Vlad and I are trying to get some mats for at home.  We started bidding on some on ebay, but did not win.  We will keep trying though, because I think it would be awesome to have mats at home.  I would love to be able to practice.

Not much to report on the training front.  Last class was a stand up class, so more kick boxing.  I feel so out of my element doing it.  But it is great cardio, which is awesome as I am trying to improve my stamina.

I am going to try to practice some of my jiu-jitsu tomorrow, and Vlad says that he is going to teach me 4 or 5 submissions, since I really only know one right now.

Let me just say, I pretty much sucked.  This is what I expected.  I am still too scared that I am going to hurt someone, and found myself appologizing constantly.  I’ve got to get over it.  Also, I had a really hard time remembering what I had learned, and what I can do.  I felt like a retard.  After class, Vlad and I worked together a bit, which is always fun!  The good thing is that even though I sucked hard, I am not discouraged.  And I still love it!

Today was stand-up day, which is really fun.  I really enjoy the bag work.  I am still not allowed to spar yet, but Vlad and I kind played aroung a little bit so he could show me some blocks.   Anyway…had fun today…great workout!