I am sorry that I have not posted in a long while!  The second day of class most of the guys were sick.  That then took me out of work and class for a week and a half.  When I was finally better and ready to go back to class it felt like I was starting all over again, but I still love going and have loads of fun.  I am now taking Jiu Jitsu classes on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and if there is an open mat on Sundays I will go to that too.

My first class was on January 20th, but since I got so sick and missed the rest of January I really count February as my first month of training.  Since then, I am starting to be able to keep up on warm-ups better. I can run with the class and not need a break. I can do hip escapes but anything requiring upper body strength is very hard for me to complete.  I also still have issues rolling from sitting along the back of my neck to back to sitting. I have practiced that but still find it so difficult.  While the scale is not changing my waist line has dropped about 6 inches.  I am hoping that my weight starts to follow, because my weight class sucks since there is no one else!

I have also made a bunch of new friends and found a whole world of other girls that train with Yamasaki.  The class that I started on Friday nights is in Gainesville VA, it is a bit of a drive for me but worth it.  It is a girls class instructed by Sal and Addie.  The class has about 7 girls that come and they are really nice and also really strong!  When practicing spider guard it was definitely difficult to break, and most of the girls are new and have only done this for 3 classes.  They are definitely good and I am glad I get to roll with them.

Now that I have met a lot of the Yamasaki instructors, my respect is even greater for the school.  They each have their own styles but they are all there to help us and make sure we do the best we can.  I definitely hope that one day I will be good enough to join their team!
Also, I did not know this (mainly because I do not watch UFC, I watch YouTube for female MMA fights) Mario Yamasaki is an amazing referee for the UFC.  I saw him and Fernando Yamasaki refereeing a UWC MMA event and they were by far the best refs I have seen.  They get down and know exactly what is going on and when a fighter is in danger.

For the last month or two… I really cannot remember exactly when I started to do this every morning; I have been weight lifting with our bowflex.  I read through the book and found that it was too confusing and took a few exercises and made them my own.  There are 4 exercises I took from the book, and modified a bit, and then there are 3 I just kind of made up.  I started with 10 lbs on each side and have added 5 lbs on each side this weekend.

Since joining the Jiu Jitsu class, I know it has only been a week…. I have worked on the punching bag daily.  Last night was the best night, I landed each knee, elbow and punch perfectly and did not scrape my elbow up!  I was not focusing so much on how hard I was hitting but how I was hitting.  Once I got to the point where I was happy with landing, I just automatically began hitting harder.  I created my own drills consisting of punches and elbows then some kicks.  The only issue I have is that the punching bag moves too much, but I added that as part of my drills, fighters don’t really stand still.

I also have recently added the exercise ball to my routine; I have the 55 and 75 sized balls.  Having the two sizes really helps as different work outs are impossible on the small one.  I just use the DVD’s they came with and they are pretty good.

I was beginning to get really frustrated and thought that this was all for nothing.  The scale hasn’t changed at all but I did notice my pants are much looser.  I figured that was because the dryer killed the elastic; however, Friday a coworker commented on how great I looked and to keep up the good work on losing weight.  Today another coworker, who is or was a personal trainer, commented on the definition in my arms!!!

I should explain a little on why it is so very hard for me to lose weight.  I have tried everything including South Beach.  When I was younger I was always very very skinny and it did not take that much to stay that way.  I did do a lot of dancing and track, but it was never very difficult to me.  When I was 20 I started to get light headed and would crave sugar.  I went to the doctor to make sure I was not diabetic. I was not; however, I did have Hashimoto’s Disease, which is basically an underactive thyroid.  They year I got married, 2005, I gained 60 lbs in just one year.  I was devastated and still am.  It is not easy going from really skinny to feeling awful about the changes in my body.  I have not been able to lose any of that weight; the closest I got was on South Beach where I lost 2 lbs.  After a month of that I just got frustrated and went to see my doctor again.  She upped my medicine but that did not help. I recently went back and she said that I will never be able to lose the weight and would not change my medicine.  It is time for a new doctor and time for me to prove them all wrong.  I am determined and if all I accomplish is just toning and no change in the scale I will be happy.  It is hard and frustrating but I will just have to live and push myself harder.

My first day in Jiu Jitsu was so much fun that I decided that I wanted to get all the gear I will ever need. Joe mentioned that for anyone interested in learning MMA to bring in the protective gear and they will start learning. I really want to learn MMA so I have been researching equipment and trying to figure out what I need. First, though, I needed to find a Gi for Jiu Jitsu and there aren’t that many selections made specifically for women. I have listed the ones that I found and seriously considered buying.

I had Damen contact Joe too see if he had a requirements for Gi’s and he did not. Then through looking at so many websites I learned that they are called Kimono’s.

Bethany had a really cute pink Atama Kimono that I was originally looking at getting. The Atama website has it for sale at $175 USD. I did not end up choosing this one.

The Kimono that I really wanted to get is this pink Ouano with wings on the back. An instructor from BJJNow reviewed Ouano’s and basically had nothing bad to say. I figured hey this is cute and a good one! Turns out the website that sold this was sold out They list it at 16,800 Yen. Sadly, this is not the one I ended up getting, I am hoping that they stock this again soon and will purchase it for competitions, if I ever get that far.

This next Kimono by Keiko Raca is cute, but not in your face pink. It received a really good review from GringaBJJ website. In the link she reviews a few Kimono’s she has worn with pros and cons. This one seems to be her favorite. This one sells for $134.95. I did not choose this one because I really wanted the Ouano above this one.

This pink and white Kimono is sold by Casca-Grossa for $200. This is a cute looking Kimono but I did not end up choosing. I was unable to find any reviews on this Kimono and cost a little more than the Kimono’s that had good reviews. I seriously thought about this one but ended up getting the next one below.

I ended up buying the white and pink Atama Kimono for $131.00. This shipped the same day I ordered and is coming from California with 2 day shipping. I choose this one because it is cute and since Bethany was wearing an Atama then it should be good, plus a few websites stated that Atama’s are comfortable and last while.

As far as I can remember I have always wanted to be a fighter, but I was always busy with dance and music lessons. Three years after high school I kinda stopped all that and just never got off my oshiri (cute Japanese word for butt) and did anything I wanted, using the excuse of work and WoW taking up all my time!

Whenever I watch MMA or Muay Thai fights I have the feeling that I am missing out and that I would enjoy competing and kicking some oshiri! Damen somehow got in touch with a Jiu Jitsu instructor (Joe, from Yamasaki Woodbridge), who teaches up the street from our house. He reviewed the class and told me that I would love the class and should try it out. I wasn’t too sure that I would like it so I procrastinated until recently. I finally decided what the heck I should just go and give it a try.

My first night taking Jiu Jitsu was sooooo much fun. The instructors name is Joe and he went out of his way to make sure that I was comfortable in his class. He let me borrow a Gi and his girlfriend, Bethany, was there. The first thing that I learned was that you need to wear shorts under Gi pants. I did not know this so just wore the gym pants and Gi top. I later learned that the Gi is called a Kimono; I prefer to call them the latter.

We started the class off with a few words from Joe and then bowed in respect. The warm-ups included a lot of running with a variation of strength exercises between. I have been lazy the last few years so I am very out of shape. Only within the last month I have started weight lifting and some cardio. I did not want to stop and pushed myself through all that I could, I eventually had to stop for a drink. I felt so disappointed in myself, but Joe told me it was ok and just do what I could. He is a great instructor and very genuine so I felt much better and got back in. I could not keep up with everything but I did not feel left out or that I needed to be at the same level as everyone else. The first martial art I tried made me feel awful and that I did not fit in with the class because I was so far behind, I never felt that way in Joe’s class. Bethany was also a great help and definitely made me more comfortable to be there.

The class consists of mainly guys, but I have been told there are more girls. Even though it is a majority of guys I did not feel that they looked down on me or thought I was slow, they were all very nice. Two of them were preparing for a competition so their drills were harder and I am sure their sparring was pretty intense. When the class started sparring Joe had Bethany, a father and son duo, and me go to one end of the room where we learned basic forms. We went over side lock and mounting. Bethany and I were paired together and she helped a lot and taught me the importance of tapping! Bethany and I then sparred a little and it was a lot of fun! I tried to spar with Joe but I was so incredibly tired and he does have 10 years of training on me.

The end of class, Joe recapped events that will happen the next few weeks and then we bowed in respect. He had us shake hands and bow to each person in class. I messed up the first few people and kinda bowed and shook hands at the same fumbled time. Everyone was so nice and supportive it was amazing! To recap, I just wanted to say that Joe and Bethany were amazing and the rest of class was great. I had a lot of fun and did not feel like I did not belong and that I did not need to be at the same level. Also, I was so sore for three days I could barely move, but it felt great and I have not felt this good in a few years. The only icky part was attending a formal party for work in heels when my thighs hurt like heck, but it was worth it. I do plan to attend as many classes as I can and look forward to the next class!