An insight into my past events for you... and a little bit of Motivation for me!

I thought it would be good to share with you a few of my experiences of my past competitions from the last year. so I could catch up a little bit with sharing some information on my Jiu Jitsu Journey.

Please beware, there are some really bad photos of me in the below... have a giggle on me! :)

Spartan Grappling challenge 2013.
My first No Gi Competition with no training, I turned up at the venue with my Team mates to support the guys competing as i had a free day and nothing else to do.
I ended up entering, spur of the moment, entered into the +1yr class..  I won my first fight easily and then onto the final where me and my team mate fought against each other.
I have only done a few No Gi sessions as i don't really enjoy it, prefer the Gi, so i was a little worried i wouldn't know what to do. but i enjoyed it and now im doing more No Gi training on top of my Gi training.

Hereford 15 December 2012
I enjoy competing at the Hereford Opens. the day is always well ran, good fights and losts of friendly familiar faces. i would definatly recommend competing at the event if you can, but be quick it sells out quick.

This Hereford there was only me and 1 other girl my Nemesis Mollie, who is an awesome bjjer, and we always have great fights. As there was only the 2 of us. the organiser ran a best of 3 for us which was great. i got myself my last medal of 2012 a silver medal.

 

UK Premier Bristol Championships
Silver again. rubbish fight, wasn't to happy with myself afterwards,
 then i spent the rest of the day in a huff :(

Hereford 14 -  2012
Hereford Again, i came away with a Gold in my weight division and a silver in the Absolute, this was a result i was very happy with, not very often you get a weight class and an open weight at the same comp for ladies.


Bournemouth Open 2012
After a long drive to Bournemouth from Exeter, and nearly being disqualified as i missed weigh-in's the girls in my weight category were already at the mat waiting to go. they said to let me fight which was really nice of them, i quickly weighed in and ran off to the mat, i was up first. got myself my second bronze. Maybe this is just a phase!! i don't like the bronze age! 

British Open.

This was my biggest competition to date. i was excited but nervous i had a nightmare trying to cut weight but was on track and ready to go. i spent the whole day walking round the BodyExpo getting more and more nervous  not being able to eat or drink in case i put the KG back on that i tried hard to lose the day before.

I wasn't fighting until 2.30pm and by lunchtime I'd been there since 9am and i was now pulling my hair out.

finally i weighed in and was told i hadn't made weight by something like 1kg over what i needed to be. could not believe it!! off i went got a sweat suit and sprinted laps of the open warehouse out the back for ten minutes!! literally nearly killed me off! got myself my second Bronze, again not impressed but it made my day meeting UFC Fighter Michael Bisping.

Welsh Open

I cant remember much from this competition apart from my Gi was to big and i looked awful. haha. :)

Gold Welsh Champion

Hereford 11
I do love me Hereford Competitions
Female Absolute as there wasn't enough females again. we came away with a good few medals for the club from this competition.

Hereford 8. 2011   
My first ever BJJ Competition, taking a Gold in my Weight devision and Silver in the Absolute.
this is when i became addicted to BJJ and the competition bug.

That is Mostly all of it. there are some Competitions i have purposely not included in this, as when i get time i want to do an individual post about my Trip to Sweden in November 2012 for the World Pro Trials.
.... That's another story.

Competition Training Commences Now!

Today i decided on which Competitions i am going to enter, after sitting scrolling through the BJJ event calendar and researching where has the biggest ladies gathering is, to make it worth my while, i have decided to go for 3 Big (ish) comps to start 2013 with.

So...... today i will start with my competion training with up to 6 training sessions a week in the GI, More if i can get them, as well as 2 strength & Conditioning sessions a week. with a few Cardio Gym sessions thrown in here and there.
On top of all the training i will also start my clean eating to cut a little weight to give me space either side my weight devision of under 69KG

This training, and the first 3 competitions will help me build up to the biggets comps of the year, with the British Open in May and the IBJJF London International in October. Who know i may also give the IBJJF No Gi Europeans a go!!

I will keep everyone updated with the progress over the next few weeks. :) 

From The Ground Up.: Can Women Really Handle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

I have just come across this recent blog post from Keith Owen about females training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, not just for men, people need to stop being so sexist and stop trying to push females out of this sport because they don't have the time to spend with them. Instead they should encourage females in to the sport.

A high percentage of women BJJ players don't have an ego, we are considerate of others when rolling and whilst in class, and when some beast of a male goes 110% on you during a rolling session because he wants to make a point that he has just smashed me and tapped me 100 times, it can be a little disheartening, but if that female is committed and enjoys the challenges BJJ put in front of them,  that one roll wont make them give up. 

If coaches have this problem at their Gyms then maybe they need to look at how they are running things, maybe remind the people on the matts when training with females to be a little considerate, im not saying be like a rag doll, but until at least a new begininer can get to grips with the basics.

Also Cleanliness is sometimes an issue. if guys are not smelling fresh, dirty damp Gi's etc, this is more of an off put than anyone going crazy on you during a rolling session. We really don't want to smell how hard you worked today at your day job, or smell what you had for tea, and it is nice if guys wash their Gi's after class rather than stuffing them in their gym bags for about week until they come training again. Likewise we do the same, im not saying all men are like this, but im sure some people have come accross this issue before and i know it has been brought up in other related articles before. 

I have trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu now for over 2 years, i am a blue belt and i intend to one day get my Black belt.
Ok the journey i've had so far hasn't always been rosey, sometimes i have felt like i have constantly battled with a brick wall for weeks. until just one little thing clicks. some trainings sessions can be better than others and some training sessions can be a nightmare when you have been paired with the biggest bloke in the gym. 
At the end of the day if you enjoy it and your committed and you are in good company with good coaches, it's your own determination that gets you through it.

We are as females just as capable of holding our own out on a competition mat then most men have done!

Guys have a read of the Blog below.

From The Ground Up.: Can Women Really Handle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?: Make no mistake, I WANT women students in my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program.   The problem is that they never seem to stick.  They will ...

Welcome to My Jiu Jitsu Journey Blog

Hi,
Welcome to my blog, i am still construction some pages so there is not a great deal happening at the minute.
keep checking back for updates. :)
Be back soon...