Pan Jiu Jitsu Championship Update

Hey People!  Ok, I haven't updated my blog in forever, I've been kinda busy since I got back from Cali for Pans.  Well, I took 3rd place in the Open Weight division.... Not so great.  Of course, everyone I've talked to says how awesome it is to medal, and 3rd place is still good.... Sorry, but no.  I lost. Period.  I'm not the champ. Period.  So, it's back to the drawing board for Mundials!  The mistakes I made at Pans must be corrected.  I have exactly 48 days until Worlds, so I'll be training even harder!
There is good news tho!  First the first time EVER, Team Lloyd Irvin took first place in an IBJJF Adult division.  The Female team held it down with 3 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze to win the Female Team 1st place trophy.  My fellow teammate, Tracey Goodell won 2 golds, finishing the Leve and open weight classes.  Kim from 3rd Law BJJ took the Pena division Gold.  Nyjah Easton, a brown belt, won 2nd place in the female Brown/Black pena division.  Dominkye, a young blue belt, took silver in the pena.  And of course, I took 3rd.
Keep checkin in on me guys.  I'll be updating my blog from now until Worlds!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Bunnies!  I hope everyone is having a super fantastic Easter.  I think I'm one of the million people who only go to church on Easter! :-/   But, I went to a very nice church with my father, stepmother and younger brother and sister.  It was a good sermon, and it may sound odd to you, but it really helped with my jiu jitsu mental preparation.  I felt like any type of postitive energy is energy I need and can use for the Pans on Friday.
I will be flying out to L.A. for Pans on Wednesday morning!  I'm really excited.  I'm over my jitters, right now, and I'm super relaxed, super confident and SUPER READY!  We have 19 Team Lloyd Irvin soldiers  to Cali, along with many many from our affiliate schools.  Thursday, is white belts and Blue belts, so we will begin our dominance early.  I'm up on Friday for both the medio and absoluto divisions.  Saturday and Sunday will see our Brown and Black belt competitors.
Thank you very much to ALL of my family, friends, and teammates, who have been EXTREMELY helpful and supportive!

Super Fantastic!

In the words of my teammate, Black Belt Mike Fowler, I'm feeling "Super Fantastic!"  Today wrapped up the final FULL week of training for the Pan Jiu Jitsu Championships.  Last night, Friday, I went to wrestling practice.  Wrestling has been incredibly helpful for my takedowns.  With coach Jim Kelly pushing me every Friday, I know I will have the tenacity, drive, and aggression I need for those first 2 points for the takedown.  Wrestling is giving me the skills I need to see openings for foot sweeps, knee taps, single and double leg takedowns.  Friday night wrestling is also a great conditioning and mental workout.  The ability to push yourself when your body wants to quit is something that is imperative to competition and something that we really focus on at Team Lloyd Irvin.
After a super good Friday wrestling, Saturday morning welcomed BJJ practice.  Saturday morning practice is always a good time!  Usually lots of HARD drilling.  We drill stand up, positions, submissions, and live rolling.  This morning, we worked some grip fighting and live feet, and I had to honor to work with Mike Easton.  For those of you who do not know Mike Easton, he is a Lloyd Irvin Black Belt and current UWC Bantamweight Champion.  He's also one of my best friends and someone I consider a big brother.  I really look up to Mike and I'm always open to his advice, in life, fighting, and Jiu Jitsu.  Anyways!  Mike gave me some serious work on my grip fighting and foot sweeps.  It's actually VERY encouraging when he's gripping me up and throwing me around, because I'm learning!  Sweeps and knee taps that are CLOSE on Mike, are sure to be definate scores in competition.  And when it takes Mike 3 or 4 tries to sweep me, I know there's NO woman in my bracket that can take me down!
We went on to work arm bar drills, guard passing drills, situation drills and more!  What a tough practice!  We really came together as a team, pushed and encouraged each other, and I really felt the positivity.  There's nothing more comforting than knowing I am training on the best, hardest working team in America.  Everyday, I'm training side-by-side with guys like Mike Fowler, Mike Easton, JT Torres, Nakapan Phungephorn, DJ Jackson, Willie Leonard, Jim Kelly, Tracey Goodell, and on and on!
I am truly blessed.  I look forward to standing atop the medal stand, having that gold put around my neck.  Then joining my teammates as we take the Team First Place! AAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!