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.

I think I may have found a sport suitable as a snowboarding substitute for the off-season. That doesn’t carry risk of sharkbite, that is.

Above: It only took me a minute to learn, but it will take me a lifetime to…wait, that’s something else. Skimboarding at Long Beach.

Stay cool and well hydrated out there!

Well, weather’s getting warmer, individuals with Seasonal Affective Disorder are coming out of their winter funks, and me?

I’m glad that my body can start healing up a bit. I’ve had enough of injuries already. I didn’t even achieve a 540 this season (my initial goal). Well, there’s always next season, where I can train harder, be better prepared, better rested.

Then again, the BJJ purple belts will probably be ripping me to shreds at that time.

Above: It’s moments like these that make temporary paralysis worth it. Box gap to 50-50.

Why?

Because I want to show my Olympic spirit and solidarity.

Because I’m delighted Hannah Teter and Shaun White won gold.

Because it’s wonderful to be alive.

Because it snowed 27 inches in NYC last weekend.

Because I don’t have any good pipe shots yet this season.

But mostly, because I love snowboarding, and I wished to share a little slice of that with you.

Above: It sure feels a lot higher than it looks.

(Instructions described from Goofy-foot stance. Reverse for Normal)

1.) Begin taking off towards your intended hit/jump. Ride flat-based to pick up some speed.

2.) Initiate a set-up carve: for frontside spins, edge ever so slightly towards your toe-edge so that you begin to carve toe-side. You want to have the smallest deviation from straight possible.

3.) Initiate the pre-spin: begin to wind up opposite the direction you wish to spin, i.e., slightly twist your upper body away from your intended spinning direction.

4.) Spot the end of the jump/hit. It won’t be long now.

5.) Using the momentum from the set-up carve, begin to carve ever so slightly heelside. This should cause your board to begin turning frontside.

6.) Launch off the edge of the jump, unwinding your upper body. You should already be spinning frontside.

7.) Turn your head in the direction you wish to spin (in this case, frontside), looking down slightly.

8.) At about 270 degrees, spot your landing by looking at the point you wish to land.

9.) Finish unwinding your lower body so that your board is pointing straight down the mountain.

10.) Land flat-based, bending your knees slightly to absorb the shock of landing, and “ride away stoked.”

Two comments here:

- Frontside 3s are blind tricks, meaning that you land with your head facing backwards (or away from the direction you’ll be traveling). This must be done in order to prevent over-rotation (your board’s tendency to keep spinning after making contact with the snow. It will happen if you try to keep your head forwards on a frontside 3 – just take my word for it). So it’s a little trickier than backside 3s. So don’t turn your head until you feel solid after the landing.

- When unwinding into the spin, let the board initiate the turn, following through with your shoulders and torso afterwards. It’s only a 360, after all – not like we’re throwing down 1080s or anything.

Have fun. And try to land on your feet. I know I did.

Above: It looks worse than it really is. The bandage is the best part.

Just in case you were curious as to how I spent my weekend, I went snowboarding. Killington stayed true to its cause to be the first North American ski resort open each season by opening its doors yesterday, October 30th. Once I saw the announcement on Killington’s website, there wasn’t really any question in our heads, you know?

Apparently Hurricane Wilma’s left flank contributed to an unusual weather front that resulted in a nor’easter. It dumped 29 inches of snow on Killington, which makes for a nice base during early season riding. The conditions were actually quite good, aside from the “spring condition” areas that were popping up all over the place (and make for some extremely fun gaps), it was pretty much packed powder (East-style) all the way around – I wouldn’t have hesistated to bring a newbie there with us, as the snow was more than soft enough for a first time. Unfortunately, conditioning is activity-specific, so we were more than just a little tired after our first outing of the season – legs don’t quite have the pop just yet, you know? Here’s looking forward to some DOMS during the coming week.

Typically I take a buttload of pictures each outing (thanks to the advent of digital photography), but we’ve actually gotten a new toy, the Samsung SC-X 105L Sports Digital Camcorder, so I spent the day testing that out (alas, our backup photographer, Sairalyn left the digital camera in the car, so no action shots). I’ll post up some stills once I get the files transferred to my computer.

And you’ll be happy to discover, neither I nor Roald have forgotten how to spin.

So begins the leg conditioning…

Above: My lovely, long-suffering wife comtemplates what it would be like being married to a man who wrote poetry for a living.

This past Labor Day weekend my wife and I were able to escape to Vermont to get away from the city, breathe some fresh mountain air, tease ourselves about snowboarding season, and have a generally romantic weekend away from home and responsibility.

Being purveyors of an active lifestyle, our Romantic Weekend Getaway somehow involved trail hiking and downhill mountain biking. I’m not sure this is what Don Juan or Rudolph Valentino would have done, but we had a great time. And we got to have a sneak peek at snowboarding season – fun on the mountain, dinner at Sirloin Saloon, and other sundry details my gentlemanly side prevents me from describing here.

Moral of the story, dear reader? It is good to live an active lifestyle.

Incidentally, progress on my ankle injury is generally good: the swelling is almost completely gone, I feel no pain when ambulating normally, and I can bear weight on it pretty well (as evidenced by my Leg Press performance of 500 lbs yesterday). Things I still can’t do without pain are: jump, land, and plantar flex more than about 75-80 degrees. I haven’t tried pushing it on inversion, but I’m fairly certain that it wouldn’t be a great idea. I’m slowly working on building stability and increasing ROM, but I admit I’m a pretty bad patient.

I know. A hike up a rocky mountainside in sandals. Do as I say, not as I do…

Above: No injured Jiu-Jitsu practitioner hike is complete without an adjustable ACE bandage holding one’s ankle together. Just remember: Your mileage may vary.

Above: I’m speeding towards the Evil Russian in the foreground, hoping to scare the bejeezus out of him as I zoom by and snap a picture (Note the digital camera in waterproof case in my right hand. Bear and I are very tech savvy).

…only three more months. That 12′ trampoline should be arriving any day now. We’ll post some shots of us doing our “sports-specific” training on the tramp. And off the tramp, of course – gotta have the spill shots.

With regards to my pre-season conditioning, the only alteration I’ve currently made to my normal routine is the addition of more exercises for the lower body (Hip Ab and Adduction, calf work) and a short routine of jumps off of a small trampoline (180s and 360s, no board, both frontside and backside spins, as clean of a landing as possible). I figure since I’m too busy to engage in Jiujitsu practice, my recovery ability will not be overly taxed with the additional work.

In other news, I think it’s supposed to reach 95 degrees outside tomorrow…

…only three more months. Well, at least the pre-season training is going as planned – My 360s are still crisp, but then again, I haven’t strapped a snowboard on just yet. Time to break out the trampoline!

Above: FAUS.

Above: My long-suffering wife learns the joys of mountain biking and the virtues of waterproof camera cases.

Only five months to go until snowboarding season, sigh…

Well, there’s still fit fun to be had. One popular mode of crosstraining happens to be mountain biking, which my wife and her family members tried for the first time during our mini-vacation in New Hampshire last weekend.

As you can see, she took to it quite well.

There’s very little carryover from one form of training to another, except for strength training and to a smaller extent, cardiovascular training (where you get the physiological benefits, i.e., increased capillary density, improved oxygen transport, etc., but not the performance aspects – those are too sport-specific). So, I guess the whole idea of crosstraining is flawed at its base concept – oh well. Let’s look at it this way: It’s better than sitting around allowing the body to decondition in the off-season. It’s certainly better than letting those hard-won physiological changes to disappear, after you’d worked to hard to get them.

That being said, let’s all go out and enjoy some “recreation” this summer, call it “crosstraining”, and wait out those long months till the snow arrives again…