I might have mentioned that I was planning to compete in NAGA, which is one of the largest submission grappling tournaments in the States. Well, I ended up taking second in my division (flyweight beginner), which wasn’t so bad for my first tournament. To tell the truth, I was so nervous about it that I fully expected to lose my first match.

Luckily, fortune would reveal itself to be a kinder mistress.

In retrospect, I was not prepared for the toll my nerves would take on my endurance and stamina. That coupled with 5 matches (4 in no-gi, 1 in gi), of course. But as John Danaher (one of Renzo’s black belts and a teacher at the Academy) told me, “it only gets easier each time” in competition. I sure hope so.

I’m already in the midst of training for the next one (Abu Dhabi Amateur Division), set for late October. And I’m feeling the takedown training (am I ever…ouch).

Enjoy the pics.

Above: Final moments of my first no-gi match. Won via submission: ude gatame (pressing armlock).

Above: Controlling my opponent in open guard. Won via submission: spinning armbar (ju ji gatame).

Above: About to take a trip over my third opponent’s head. His takedowns were superb and he ended up throwing me 3 times in the match. Won via submission: ju ji gatame (armbar).

Above: The finals. Here I am down on points 0-1 and desperately need to get and sustain this side control to lead. Unfortunately, I ran out of gas. Loss via points.

Above: A failed sweep; I wasn’t able to flip him completely over my head. Can one have “negative” energy left in the tank? Loss via points.

Being that August is drawing to a close, naturally Sairalyn and I start thinking about snowboarding - what else?

That we received our ‘06-’07 season passes in the mail last week may have played no small role in that.

Although she bought a new board last season (the K2 Luna 146), my lovely wife is pining for the brand-spanking new, never-before released K2 Dutchess 144. The Dutchess is K2’s newest high-end board (previously their Mix line, of which Sairalyn has an ‘02-’03 148 model).

The special feature of the Dutchess is the S-Class technology it is imbued with. You can read about it here:

In brief, the snowboard vibrates when you ride fast over rough terrain. The S-Class technology cuts down on these vibrations, reducing leg fatigue and letting you ride longer.

When Sairalyn told me about it, I immediately thought, “Egads! I’ve been riding a Whole Body Vibration machine for the last 6 years!”

Of course, if I hadn’t been feeding my legs a steady diet of squats, deadlifts, and Superslow leg presses and leg curls, I might have felt the obligation to retract my earlier inflammatory statements about whole body vibration.

Whew…good thing I like to squat.

Let’s preface the vitriol with some valuable information on the link between saturated fats and heart disease.

Simply put, there isn’t any. Well, no, that’s a lie. The whole truth would be to say: There isn’t much.

One of the strongest arguments against a low-carb diet (especially the status quo concept of a low-carb diet a la Atkins: bacon, bacon, and pork rinds) is the high concentration of fats (especially saturated fats) and cholesterol. The stake in the heart of Atkins, it was said - the saturated fat and cholesterol contributed to his eventual death via heart attack. Or did it?

The Cholesterol Myths.

I’d been a fan of Dr. Ravnskov even before I’d conceded that a low-carb diet was probably (evolutionary-wise) the diet of choice. His well-reasoned, scientific arguments appealed to the skeptic in me that said there had to be something wrong with the standards for cholesterol continually getting lower and lower and…

When you have most of America taking statins to lower blood cholesterol, there must be something amiss.

At any rate, his book (and, by extension, his site) is a good read. My favorite part is his dissection of the seminal studies that indicate a correlation between blood cholesterol and heart disease. Finding out that they omitted the data points that would’ve shot the lipid theory to hell was quite a shock (most people I show this to undergo similar states of disbelief). When a chart goes from line-of-best-fit to a “shotgun pattern“, the correlation between two variables is essentially gone - any connection is tenuous, at best.

Anyway, give his site a once-over. It can be a little hairy reading at times, but hey, this is your health we’re talking about here.

So, in one corner we have a new perspective that fat may not be the health-wrecker it’s portrayed to be. Let’s take that idea completely out of context and to it’s illogical conclusion.

I have had my share of clients express reservations about working with me for many different reasons over the years:

• I’m too strict/not strict enough
• I put too much/too little emphasis on proper nutrition and diet
• I’m too mean/not mean enough
• I’m Asian
• I look like I’m 16
• I’m too “Zen” for a real, hardcore workout
• I use the wrong protocol(s) - too few/many sets/reps/exercises/instructions
• I don’t watch baseball/football/basketball/futbol/golf

…and so forth. Usually I am able to overcome whatever initial reservations they might have through my level of expertise. But in the years I have been a personal trainer, I have never been rejected on the grounds that I “wasn’t big enough.”

Although, in retrospect, I admit it is a tad unusual for that never to have happened. Read on.

One fine afternoon I found myself working with an older lady, who looked me up and down, and said,

“You don’t have a showy chest. I notice that you don’t have a particularly large chest. Now, I thought that trainers are supposed to have big chest muscles.”

She launched into a diatribe on what trainers should look like, which particular muscle groups she felt should be developed and the details as to what she meant by “developed.”

Now I’m all for trainers to “walk the walk”, and not just “talk the talk.” How can you teach the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle if you don’t engage in one yourself? There’s an apocryphal anecdote about Gandhi that I’m reminded of…

…but back to the subject. So I am very critical of trainers who don’t work out.

But what of the subset of trainers I belong to, those who do work out (intensely, even) but don’t look like they do?

Here is the closest thing I have to a “physique shot.”

Above: Ironically, I currently look “bigger” even though I am at a lower bodyweight. Amazing what that strength training stuff will do for you.

In this shot I am approximately 130 lbs at 7.6% bodyfat (I’m weighing in a little less nowadays since I’ll be fighting in NAGA this weekend - woohoo!). As my potential trainee noted, not a particularly showy physique. I certainly won’t be giving Jay Cutler or Ronnie Coleman nightmares anytime soon. But building tremendous size has never been my focus - performance, that’s my thing.

Back to the story, and the point. I was eventually able to win over this woman over using my utter lack of charm and charisma, and by demonstrating my knowledge. But I was not able to overcome her perceived notion of what “a personal trainer should look like.” But at least I was able to meet “what a personal trainer should know”, and “how a personal trainer should be.”

This should serve as a cautionary tale - personal trainers of the world, your clients are watching. Be prepared.