A Little Bit of Everything...

So much to catch up on. I hate school. It always seems to distract me from writing.

Personal update. Second day out of the sling. Gonna go attempt to set up my physio for next year but I have a feeling I won’t be able to even do that until next year... doctor’ s receptionists need to learn to pick up the phone and/or respond to messages left multiple times on their phone. However, I finally got the requisition. It says I can start jogging now but I don’t really want to do anything until I talk to someone about it... that won’t be until January. I have put on SO MUCH weight ‘cause I haven’t gotten off my fat ass. Kind of sucky and I’m not feeling too great about. Soon enough, soon enough; that’s all I can say.

Team updates. A lot. Lol. The team went to the Ontario Provincials (OJA26/27NOV2011) BJJ tourney. We came back with, if I counted correctly, 66 medals. The girls cleaned up their respective divs. My Kanata home girl Steph Typhair walked out with 3 gold and 1 silver (the three gold from div and 1 absolute, the silver from the other absolute). Shout out to Mateo, Jack, Cole and Stan for their performance too. Gotta love my Kanata family J Derek, even though he was competing a weight class up due to his MMA bout he still managed to come out on top along with Joel.  Biggest shout-out out goes to my little buddy Amari. He’s one of the kiddies that trains at OAMA and has been doing privates with both Nick and Hammer and is really dedicated despite his age. He brought home gold in his division too. It’s such a huge accomplishment I couldn’t let it go without mentioning it; so proud. Also, Throwdown Gatineau (RECPromotions02DEC2011) just passed we went 4-1. Everyone fought well, or so I heard I didn’t get to go because my bus never showed up, it was too late to find a ride and I didn’t have the money to grab a cab. Blah! I will not miss the next one though so I will have a better update for you. Finally, BJJ promotions were last night. Seventeen blue belts, 1 purple and 1 brown! So exciting. So much hard work goes into each of those belts, again I ended up missing this too this time due to final exams... grr! I’m not going to go through everyone but shout out to Anne for her purple and Fred for his Brown. And I’d also like to give a shout-out to my Kanata crew (not that everyone else doesn’t count :P but I helped them achieve this so I feel a little closer to it) Cole, Jack, Dave, Jeff, Jordan, Greg and Tristan!

Not sure if there is really anything else to say. I should be back doing Thai by middle of February, or so I hope. Once physio starts I’ll update you guys on that but until then...

Train Safe. Train Smart. Train Hard.

Jerrica

I'm Sure I'm Missing Something...

Okay so an academy update...

So much has happened! But I know I’m going to miss stuff so I’m going to start my update at the Ottawa Open BJJ (RECPromotions15OCT2011).  Assuming I counted right our total medal count was 86: 17 gold in gi; 20 silver in gi; 18 bronze in gi; 9 gold in no-gi; 8 silver in no-gi; and, 14 bronze in no-gi. I unfortunately didn’t get to watch too many of the matches because I was score keeping but what I did see we were out there strong. Also, the day before I was certified as a ref with Andrew Correa.

After this I think the next big thing is Kru Kay from Sasiprapa Gym in Thailand is teaching at OAMA until the end of November. I obviously haven’t had the chance to train with him but just watching his classes is amazing. He is so talented and I am so jealous of everyone training with him!

We recently also had Wreck MMA Unfinished Business (RECPromotions28OCT2011). Five of OAMA’s guys were on the card as well as Rolles Gracie.

My buddy Derek Boase was up first (first of the night as well as it being his debut). I almost missed the fight due to some difficulty with the ride situation but I got there just in time for his 27s long fight. He clipped the guy then finished him with a RNC. So proud! J lol.

Kru Jeff Harrison was up next and it was a great fight. Kru Jeff won by unanimous decision!

Next up for OAMA was Chris St. Jean (Batman)who fought well and into the second round but got caught in a tight triangle by his opponent at 2m06s in.

Randy Turner was the next one up from the academy. He went the distance and came out on top with a split decision win.

Remi  “bam bam” Morvan is our last OAMA fighter on the card. He fought hard and ended up on the ground with a sick heel hook at 2m37s in the first. About a week later my dad saw his opponent walking around on crutches; hope you heel fast Mike Reilly J I enjoy watching you fight.

The big man Rolles Gracie is last but certainly not least in this recap. As usual jiu- jitsu came out on top and Rolles finished at 1m15s in the first with an arm triangle... I’ve always wanted to finish with an arm triangle...  :P

There were also two seminars one with Igor and Gregor Gracie and the other with Renzo. Again I obviously didn’t get to train but my dad says they were awesome J

I have my appt with the surgeon tomorrow so I shall update with that stuff tomorrow or t some point this week at least.

train safe. train smart. train hard.
Jerrica

I suck at this...

So I apparently really suck at this blog thing...

I guess its mostly because I haven’t really done anything because of my pesky shoulder. But on that note, some good/bad news...

Got the surgery done!!!!

Got it done on Wednesday (02NOV2011).

I think this will give me a reason to write... I can complain to cyber world about my pain! Lol. But in truth I can talk about my physio and progress and such. J

Thought I’d give a quick update about this and then attempt to catch everyone up on the Academy’s endeavours and a bit about my school shiznit...

So, shoulder isn’t nearly as painful as I thought. Wednesday I was in and out of the hospital in about 5 hours I think...

It was a laparoscopy procedure (fairly non-invasive), general anaesthetic (my first time out ever!), and they gave me this weird “optional” nerve blocker shot in my neck...

The nerve blocker basically made my arm from collar bone down completely numb. I don’t really recommend it but I guess I don’t really have anything to compare it to (I still think I would prefer pain to no feeling, its creepy...) this nasty feeling lasted about 18 hours...

I’ve been taking 2 doses of reg Tylenol during the day and Percocet at night more to help me sleep than anything else. First day I woke up pretty much pain free. Friday I woke up in some pain and that hasn’t really changed. Yesterday seems to be a little worse but it might be a bit psychological/ anxiety related. It was my first day back on campus and I was really nervous, with good reason, about being bumped into. I found I was really tense while out of my room... this will, hopefully, fix itself over the next few days. I have a follow up appt on Monday so that’s prob when ill write again, an update on my physio and when it starts etc.

I think the worst part of this is not being able to shower and not having anything to wear that has pockets except a VERY warm sweater... I apologize to anyone who gets to close...

Last night was the worst! It took me forever to get to sleep. I was in a lot more pain than I had been and when I finally got relaxed people started yelling out in the hall... thank you floor mates! I think the Percocet finally kicked in and that’s why I fell asleep... I hate drugs but in this case I’m happy :P

I’m actually in pain today... L Tylenol doesn’t seem to be cutting it but I refuse to use anything stronger during the day. That which doesnt kill you makes you stronger!

So, a lot has happened around the academy so I think i'll save it for the next post cause i have this pesky thing called school work to do...

until then,
train safe. train smart. train hard.
Jerrica

Hey! Hey! I'm Back!

Hey! So I’ve decided to start up my blog again. For those of you who know me, either from training or from reading my blog before (although I’m pretty sure nobody was, and I’m being optimistic that someone is reading this now) you are going to be bored by this next bit but I feel the need to introduce myself and my background.

I started training Martial Arts in September of ’99 at Total Fitness in Carleton Place with Sensei Peter Trembley and Tanya Vlahac. At this time they taught very traditional including katas. Their practice used the traditions and terms from Japanese culture. As the club progressed they dropped the traditional karate and picked up more of a kickboxing style but kept the very traditional jiu-jitsu. About four years ago Tanya passed away from cancer and Total Fitness was hit hard because she was very involved in all aspects of the business, not just Martial Arts but the fitness gym and aerobics as well. Peter Trembley closed Total Fitness down and opened a strictly  Martial Arts academy, which he still owns today, called Alpha MMA still located in Carleton Place. About three years ago my father and I decided to leave the academy (for reasons I don’t feel obligated to tell the whole world) and moved on to a new academy in Ottawa, the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts; owned by Pat Cooligan and affiliated with Renzo Gracie. I have been training here ever since.  I train in both BJJ and Muay Thai and love both (don’t ask me which I like better because everyone that asks me gets the same answer, I like them both equally but in a different way)

At Alpha I reached the rank of brown belt in traditional jiu-jitsu and I currently hold a blue belt rank in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at OAMA. As for competition, I have earned:

Silver (Gi)- Renzo Gracie invitational 2009 (White belt)

Silver (No-Gi)- Renzo Gracie Invitational 2009 (White belt)

Gold (Gi)- Arnold’s Classic 2010 (White belt)

Silver (Gi) Renzo Gracie Invitational 2010 (White belt)

Not sure what else to say about myself but I’d like to start this blog off with a shout out to all my current instructors at OAMA (Check out www.oama.ca for more details on the academy and its instructors):

Head Instructor: Pat Cooligan

Matt “Hammer” Hache

Nick Castiglia

Kru Mark “Boots” Holst

Peter Fazekas

Kru Jeff Harrison

Garry Gilchrist

It feels good to be back blogging, but unfortunately I don’t have much to say due to an injury that has caused me to take some time off. I will be back hitting the bag in Thai soon. Once I get settled into my dorm room and campus life. I’m hoping that I will be at the academy on Wednesday J