Nov 2009
MAGICal Promotions
11/20/09 20:21
Congratulations to both Randy and Amy who both were promoted to Blue Belt today by Ryan Fiorenzi of East West Martial Arts. Randy and Amy are now among 7 ranked blue belts at MAGIC BJJ. Great job you two!
BJJ Seminar - Epic Win!
11/09/09 10:04
I wanted to take the time to thank each and every one of my students, as well as those from East West Martial Arts, that were able to attend the BJJ seminar with Tyrone Gooden this past Saturday. We had a wide variety of age groups as well as skill levels. Everyone had a great time.
I will be posting some tidbits of technique from the seminar over the coming months, so make sure you stay tuned. If you want more, get in contact with us.
I will be posting some tidbits of technique from the seminar over the coming months, so make sure you stay tuned. If you want more, get in contact with us.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun ... With Armbars
11/06/09 16:45
I wanted to share this very insightful post by one of my students
- Matt
Hold My Medals While I Triangle Your Boyfriend.
by Megan O.
I am a walking bruise.
My boss worries about me, what with this "jiu-jitsu thing" and all. She keeps telling me I need a "gentler" hobby.
"A more...feminine hobby," she sighs, gesturing at the blooming bruise covering my tricep. "I'm worried about you!"
I try to explain that jiu-jitsu *is* a feminine hobby, but I can't even convince myself of that. The look of disbelief and concern tells me I have some work to do on that front.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not a gentle art, no matter what the translations say. It is rough and tumble. It is gracefully explosive, if you can believe such a thing exists. It is the least feminine thing I have ever done in my life.
And yet, it makes me feel like a fierce dame.
I'll be the first to admit, nothing about jiu-jitsu appealed to me when it was first introduced as something I should try. My Muay Thai instructor suggested it as a second class and dropped the key phrase that is designed to send the value of the class to women through the roof: "Self-defense".
I could feel my face fall. Self-defense? No, thank you. Not today. Nice try, though.
By the time I had been forced into the class by both my husband and my instructor, I was even more skeptical than before. The class was almost entirely men, ninety-nine percent of the class knew what they were doing and I had no idea why I was there. I was completely lost when it came to drilling technique and when it came to rolling, I was terrified. How was I going to use techniques I wasn't sure of on guys more skilled and stronger than me?
My first roll was a bust. I was dominated by a very friendly, very personable young man who was both willing to help me out and willing to show me exactly how much he knew about jiu-jitsu. Two armbars and a ridiculous amount of time on my back later, I decided to sit out for a round and just watch. A young woman in class changed my mind for me.
"Wanna roll?" It was a simple question, followed by a handshake and a grin around a mouthpiece. Her gi was disheveled, her belt twisted around and it was obvious she was enjoying herself.
We rolled for a few minutes with her guiding me along the way, but also showing me just what she knew, much like the young man I had rolled with the round prior. When the buzzer sounded after three minutes, she shook my hand and quickly headed down the mat to find a new partner.
Nothing had changed with my rolling partners aside from their gender. Both were skilled in what they were doing. Both were willing to help a newcomer in their class. Both were dominant in position. But I didn't walk away from rolling with the young guy feeling like this is something I wanted to do. When I finished rolling with the woman, I felt eager to learn more.
This was so much more than just a self-defense class. It was a challenging sport, physically and mentally. I had to think about countering what my opponent was going to do before they even did it. I had to work my way into dominant positions and work for submissions. I had to dominate and the end result was tangible, physical proof that I had skills and abilities that certified me as awesome.
I was sold.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu does not care what gender you are. It demands the same from everyone and I found that to be the driving force behind my learning. Yes, there were girls in the class, but most of the time I found myself getting more gratification out of grappling men over the women. I felt like I had to work harder against them than I did with the women. Not that the women were gentle, mind you, but I wanted to prove that I could hang with the boys.
And I find that to be common among many of the women I train with in the area. One of my fellow training partners has said on numerous occasions that she doesn't want to be thought of differently or treated differently because she is a woman. She wants the men to roll just as hard as they do with the other guys and that it can only make her better in the long run.
The guys listened.
She and I have male training partners that bring it, every time they roll with us. They don't let us glide through rolling or give us any slack. [They do, however, apologize for the accidental brush of the chest or behind, but it doesn't concern us at all. It happens. You hear us, fellas? Apologizing for accidentally copping a feel makes us lose our groove. Shut up and roll already.] They make us work and in turn, make us better.
She and I often compare injuries sustained at jiu-jitsu, ranging anywhere from broken toes to oddly placed bruises (gi burn, anyone?). We also discuss what moves worked well while rolling, how to modify moves to accommodate anatomy issues and what sweet new gis we saw online. We talk about our significant others and what they've been doing at training in Detroit. We discuss what detergent works best on getting blood and sweat out of gis. It's like gossiping over coffee, but with more discussion on armbars and sweet tricks from side-control.
That's feminine enough, right?
Okay, okay, jiu-jitsu is not a feminine hobby, but it's mine. And as for the self-defense part? Yeah, okay, I picked up some of that, too. I feel confident in my ability to defend myself if needed as well as x-guard sweep my husband to the ground.
I can still be graceful while driving my shoulder into your face before floating over into mount.
And I won't even care if I break a nail while doing it.
- Matt
Hold My Medals While I Triangle Your Boyfriend.
by Megan O.
I am a walking bruise.
My boss worries about me, what with this "jiu-jitsu thing" and all. She keeps telling me I need a "gentler" hobby.
"A more...feminine hobby," she sighs, gesturing at the blooming bruise covering my tricep. "I'm worried about you!"
I try to explain that jiu-jitsu *is* a feminine hobby, but I can't even convince myself of that. The look of disbelief and concern tells me I have some work to do on that front.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is not a gentle art, no matter what the translations say. It is rough and tumble. It is gracefully explosive, if you can believe such a thing exists. It is the least feminine thing I have ever done in my life.
And yet, it makes me feel like a fierce dame.
I'll be the first to admit, nothing about jiu-jitsu appealed to me when it was first introduced as something I should try. My Muay Thai instructor suggested it as a second class and dropped the key phrase that is designed to send the value of the class to women through the roof: "Self-defense".
I could feel my face fall. Self-defense? No, thank you. Not today. Nice try, though.
By the time I had been forced into the class by both my husband and my instructor, I was even more skeptical than before. The class was almost entirely men, ninety-nine percent of the class knew what they were doing and I had no idea why I was there. I was completely lost when it came to drilling technique and when it came to rolling, I was terrified. How was I going to use techniques I wasn't sure of on guys more skilled and stronger than me?
My first roll was a bust. I was dominated by a very friendly, very personable young man who was both willing to help me out and willing to show me exactly how much he knew about jiu-jitsu. Two armbars and a ridiculous amount of time on my back later, I decided to sit out for a round and just watch. A young woman in class changed my mind for me.
"Wanna roll?" It was a simple question, followed by a handshake and a grin around a mouthpiece. Her gi was disheveled, her belt twisted around and it was obvious she was enjoying herself.
We rolled for a few minutes with her guiding me along the way, but also showing me just what she knew, much like the young man I had rolled with the round prior. When the buzzer sounded after three minutes, she shook my hand and quickly headed down the mat to find a new partner.
Nothing had changed with my rolling partners aside from their gender. Both were skilled in what they were doing. Both were willing to help a newcomer in their class. Both were dominant in position. But I didn't walk away from rolling with the young guy feeling like this is something I wanted to do. When I finished rolling with the woman, I felt eager to learn more.
This was so much more than just a self-defense class. It was a challenging sport, physically and mentally. I had to think about countering what my opponent was going to do before they even did it. I had to work my way into dominant positions and work for submissions. I had to dominate and the end result was tangible, physical proof that I had skills and abilities that certified me as awesome.
I was sold.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu does not care what gender you are. It demands the same from everyone and I found that to be the driving force behind my learning. Yes, there were girls in the class, but most of the time I found myself getting more gratification out of grappling men over the women. I felt like I had to work harder against them than I did with the women. Not that the women were gentle, mind you, but I wanted to prove that I could hang with the boys.
And I find that to be common among many of the women I train with in the area. One of my fellow training partners has said on numerous occasions that she doesn't want to be thought of differently or treated differently because she is a woman. She wants the men to roll just as hard as they do with the other guys and that it can only make her better in the long run.
The guys listened.
She and I have male training partners that bring it, every time they roll with us. They don't let us glide through rolling or give us any slack. [They do, however, apologize for the accidental brush of the chest or behind, but it doesn't concern us at all. It happens. You hear us, fellas? Apologizing for accidentally copping a feel makes us lose our groove. Shut up and roll already.] They make us work and in turn, make us better.
She and I often compare injuries sustained at jiu-jitsu, ranging anywhere from broken toes to oddly placed bruises (gi burn, anyone?). We also discuss what moves worked well while rolling, how to modify moves to accommodate anatomy issues and what sweet new gis we saw online. We talk about our significant others and what they've been doing at training in Detroit. We discuss what detergent works best on getting blood and sweat out of gis. It's like gossiping over coffee, but with more discussion on armbars and sweet tricks from side-control.
That's feminine enough, right?
Okay, okay, jiu-jitsu is not a feminine hobby, but it's mine. And as for the self-defense part? Yeah, okay, I picked up some of that, too. I feel confident in my ability to defend myself if needed as well as x-guard sweep my husband to the ground.
I can still be graceful while driving my shoulder into your face before floating over into mount.
And I won't even care if I break a nail while doing it.