A Jiu-jitsu Log Filled With Shenanigans

So, today was the first day of the rest of my life right?  If so, that’s okay with me because today was awesome.  Awesome, probably only by my own definition.  I slept late, almost til noon.  I mean, I’ve been getting up at 5a.m. for the past six months, feels good to snooze for awhile.  I woke up and ate some cereal and watched 30 Days of Night.  After the movie, it was back to bed for a nap.  I woke up just shy of 5p.m. and reheated some shells-n-cheese from last night.

After the shells I grabbed my gi and headed down to Nashville MMA for my first workout in almost two weeks.  And it sucked.  Or I sucked so I should say.  I was completely out of gas, even during the warm-up I was struggling.  My triceps are so sore from that ass-whoopin’ I took from Officer Willis earlier in the week.  We drilled some technique then I proceeded to get cardio-dominated for the next forty-five minutes.  It was sad to just be so lazy and so tired that I got cardio-mauled by almost everyone.

Somewhere in there, towards the end, I hit a clock choke.  Niiice (a la Frank Mir).

I guess the real story here today is that I feel good.  I woke up and all the sadness and dead emptyness I felt yesterday was gone.  I spent a little time researching possible job opportunities.  I know I still want to be a police officer, I just don’t think I want to stay around here to do it.  There are plenty of opportunties at other departments in this area, but I’m really thinking a fresh start might not be a bad idea.  I made a list of states I would consider moving too, from there it was down to finding good police departments in the major cities.

Could a possible cross-country move be in store for me in the upcoming months?  Maybe so.

I resigned from the police academy today.  I’m not going to go in depth about the whole situation tonight, but I will later on.

I’ve taken the whole situation pretty hard.  I know it’s business and it wasn’t personal, but it was everything to me. The recovery process has already begun and honestly, I have been suprised by the showing of support.  The thing that gets me the most is the number of people who stepped up to bat for me.  I’ve always seen myself as a guy who doesn’t need anyone but himself.  For the people in the academy who stood behind me, it’s a feeling I’ve never felt before.  I can’t thank you guys enough.  I know you will all make fine police officers and I couldn’t be more proud to have been associated with Session 58.

Outside of the academy, Michael and my brother have done a lot for me.  Just talking to you guys on the phone has really helped me calm down and get a handle on things.  I took it hard no doubt, but when I got off the phone with you I felt much better about everything.

In the end, I know I’ll find my way in life.  I still want to be a police officer, and still have every option to be one.  It’s pretty hard to imagine where I’ll be in the next year.  I know I won’t be with Metro even if I was given the option to return.  To work for twenty-two weeks and not get to graduate is pretty lousy in my book.  I’m not a drug dealer, I’m not a drinker, I’m just a loud mouth kid that sees the world in a different way.  My intentions were always good.  I feel good that I stood up and fought for myself.  I took the thrashings without ever saying a word, and in the end maybe that’s what cost me the most.  I wouldn’t break and I’ll always remember that.  I took the thrashings, I fought for my job, I argued and I had more than a few fine [soon to be] police officers stand behind me.  The cards were stacked against me but I have no problem going down the way I did.

And for all those who weren’t in support of me, I hold no grudges.  Honesty is the highest quality in my book.  I have no problem looking an honest man in the eyes and shaking his hand.  I know I messed up a lot, but I was really shocked to see how many people did not believe in me.  I would like to know where I failed to instil your faith in me, although I have a pretty good idea where I came up short.

Tomorrow I start down a new path.

I need a miracle tomorrow.

I am loyal to the following brands/products;

1. LG Phones - These are the best phones out there in my opinion.  I have owned two LG phones and both have lasted two years no problem.  They’re durable and well designed.  They are my top choice.
2. Bank of America - I had my debit card information stolen and the thief went on a little shopping spree to the tune of $800 on my dime.  Bank of America alerted me to the suspicious activity, gave me temporary funds, and took care of the whole situation no questions asked.  Also, I love their online banking, high limit credit card they gave me, and ATM availability.
3. Redbox - Renting DVDs for $1 is genius.  I’ll never rent from a store again.

I voted today because I am an American.

I’ve always tried to make a buck where a buck didn’t exist. I’m the kind of guy that will dive into a dumpster just because I think there might be something worth $10 inside. I believe everything has a value, and most people would rather discard something than to take the time to try to find it a new home. That’s why I’ve made money by selling broken washing machines, bar stools, briefcases, dinning room chairs, and mini refridgerators that never belonged to me in the first place. People throw away anything.

I got a new washer and dryer about two months ago. The older washer stopped draining water and the dryer took two cycles to completely dry a load. To me, these items are useless since I have no idea how to repair them or desire to. It was suggested to me that I just take them to the dumpster and leave them be. I wouldn’t do that, I knew they had value to someone. So, they sat in my dinning room of my not-so-large apartment taking up space for close to two months. Then, on Monday I sold them to a repair guy (who may or may not have been retarded) for $25. That’s like twenty-five volcano tacos baby! It’s all about turning a profit, where profit doesn’t exist. It gives me hope for my army of Elmos.

I also got a new kitty cat this weekend. I named her Darci in honor of the darce choke in jiu-jitsu. I wanted to name her something related to MMA or jiu-jitsu. It was Darci or Gracie (in honor of the Gracie family). I have to give props to Michael for coming up with the darce choke. I always heard that pets can improve your quality of life and help you live longer. And since I plan on being very rich when I’m old, I’d like to be around to spend some that money.

I haven’t been to the gym at all this week. My schedule is starting to get crazy now that the academy is in its final two weeks (thank God). I should be able to get back in there tomorrow. My first shift after graduating the academy is going to second shift, so hopefully I’ll be able to train during the days and work at nights. We’ll see how that goes.

The in-house Nemesis Smoker was today. A few local schools from the area were invited (Nashville MMA, Guardian, SSF, and Nemesis) for a jiu-jitsu tournament and thai boxing smoker. All the guys from Nashville MMA were supposed to meet up at the gym at 9:00a.m. and then begin the carpool to Nemesis in Murfreesboro. I got to the gym about ten till 9:00 and there’s just a few guys there and no coaches. We wait, and wait, and wait some more but still no coaches. Finally at about 9:15 the coaches showed up and we made the trek to Murfreesboro. We got there just shy of 10:00 a.m.

First they did all the kid’s jiu-jitsu, then they started running all the thai boxing fights (one at a time since there was only one ring) and then they began with the lighter classes in the jiu-jitsu tournament. So needless to say I sat on the sidelines for close to four hours before I was finally called to compete. It was pretty boring waiting around all that time, but the thai fights I watched were insane. Those guys in there were swinging to take heads off. We had some real hardcore fighters in there.

I spent the rest of my free time pysching myself up. I realized I probably came out flat last weekend and that cost me my one and only match. So today I decided I was going to come out strong and work hard. I spent a lot of time reassuring myself with positive self-talk. When my name was called I came out ready. This tournament went really well for me as a whole. I came out strong and competed strong all the way through. I hit a lot of nice submissions and stayed out of dangerous places. I even listened to my cornerman Kenny, who told me what to do and when to do it. If it wasn’t for him I probably wouldn’t have won my no-gi division.

I ran my no-gi division undefeated and won all three of my matches by submission. The first one went really quick. My opponent came out strong with a clinch and tried to toss me, but I easily countered with my favorite takedown. From there it was right into mount and then into an arm triangle for the tap. He fought it well and my arms were dead afterwards. In my second match, it was more of the same. This time I stuffed a takedown, passed into mount and began looking for finishes. Kenny was talking me through set-ups and when the arm bar was presented to me, I took it for the tap.

My third match was for first place. It was against a strong wrestler. He came out and we clinched up for awhile, I stuffed a takedown or two, and then back into the clinch. Then I didn’t stuff a takedown and I wound up on bottom. I really don’t remember how we got back on our feet, I think I may have just scrambled back up when he didn’t keep enough pressure on me. We got back on our feet and I heard Kenny telling me to take the double leg shot. In my mind I was thinking no way that will work because my shots suck. But I knew I was down on points and running out of time so I went for it. It worked and it worked well. I took the guy down and he immediately flipped to his stomach to escape and I simultaneously sunk in my hooks and the rear naked choke. I couldn’t finish the choke with the traditional grip so I had to do with the gangster gable grip for the tap, and my first 1st place finish.

I thought I was done for the day then I was asked to do the absolute gi. I said sure, because any chance to compete is worth it for me. My first match, I was lazy, pure and simple. My guy locked up on me and I couldn’t really get any worthwhile grips. He pulled guard and tried to sweep but I just used my fatness to keep that from happening. After a bit of a struggle I passed guard and took mount to keep him down. We spent the rest of the match going from back to mount to back to mount. I didn’t do shit but lay on him. So it was a crappy performance but I won on points.

My next opponent was a guy from my school. He pulled guard on me too. He was working a triangle before I was able to posture up and pass his guard. I took north-south position and put in a kimura for the tap.

My final match was against a guy I thought I was going to meet in the no-gi finals. A stud wrestler, blue belt, and just all around game opponent. We both came out hot fighting for grips. He definitely got superior grips on me and I couldn’t do anything about it. He pulled guard on me. We then spent the entire match in that position doing nothing but me defending his collar choke attempts. Again, I didn’t do anything but sit there and be fat. When time ran out we were in a 0-0 tie. So we moved to a sudden death two minute overtime. The referee said that if after two minutes no one scored any points then he would crown a winner based on aggression. Well based on the fact I hadn’t done anything in my last ten minutes of grappling, I was pretty sure I would lose on aggression. So I took a shot on a phenominal wrestler and he stuffed the ever living crap out of it, scored the takedown points and won the match.

I would have liked to have done more those last two matches, but in the end I can’t be upset with my performances. I was pretty exhausted but still did well. And that final match was against a great competitor. I knew I was going to lose unless I did something, so I took a shot and went down swinging. I know if I hadn’t shot for the takedown then it would have bothered me to lose by not being aggressive. Obviously, I need to work on my takedowns and grip fighting, as well as my cardio. But overall this was a huge moral boost to me. I felt like I finally came out strong and competed very well. 5-1 with four finishes is a good days work to me. I would have liked to walked away with two 1st place finishes, but I’m content with my 1st in no-gi and my 2nd in absolute gi.

Another thing I did well was I was aware of points. I knew what scored points and how many I was racking up along the way. It’s a good feeling to know you get two for the takedown, three for the guardpass, four for the mount and then four more for the back. At that point you know that as long as you don’t get submitted you’ll win the match. I also listened really well to instructions being given to me by Kenny. He talked me through a few matches and definitely helped me win them. And it always feels good to get four different submissions; arm triangle, arm bar, rear naked choke, & kimura.

Back to the gym, there is much to work on.