Another practice blog

Today's practice wasn't bad. I went and got myself a blue gi for my birthday, so I wore it today.

We did some throwing practice (nage komi), mat work (newaza), and some grip fighting (kumikata). Mat work seems to be becoming my strong point right now because I'm such a chicken when it comes to randori. (I really don't like being thrown at all. I hope the refs allow me to do the mat work I know.....)

The nage komi was done with crash pads today, which made me rather happy. My ippon seonagi was amazing today! The drop seonagi was good too. Heck, every throw that I did one someone who was close to my height and weight was amazing! I felt really good about the throws!

Georgy, who's one of the senseis we have at my dojo, is a very good sensei. He's pretty patient, and I like that. I did some newaza with him and he was in my group for nage komi. He's willing to teach anyone who wants to learn.
I took this picture a while ago in practice one night. The guy in the blue gi is really good and really really tall. Georgy (not the guy in the white) wanted me to throw the blue gi guy koshi garuma (hip wheel), and I couldn't do it because he's like 6'6" and I'm 5'7". I ended up throwing him ogoshi because it was easier.

Sensei Vega had us doing the nage komi a little different today. He had us split up into two groups, lightweights and heavy weights (I was a heavywieght), and try to throw the people in our group as many times as we could in one minute. That was a little rough because we had to move quickly in order to do this.

I have some of my normal bruises back, so I'm pretty pleased. I, for some reason, enjoy those bruises. I think they make me feel like I accomplished something at practice.

Last night's practice

I was going to blog something about practice last night, but that didn't happen. I was so tired afterwards. I took a shower and went to bed (after listening to David Letterman rip John McCain a new one. LOL)

Practice was good last night. I've been really bad about practicing the past couple weeks because of my school course load, but things are starting to click and they seem to be working out very well. Newaza was good last night because I was able to get a few chokes and arm bars in on a couple of people that I normally wouldn't be able to get them on.

I should have gone to uchi komi tonight, but I got out of work late. UGH! Oh, well. Right now it's the only thing making sure that my bills get paid until I can start working at the gym. I guess I will take tonight off from doing any form of exercise and go work out tomorrow after work or school. Either way, I need to work on my conditioning.

Speaking of conditioning, I probably should have done that today with a friend of mine. I guess me not not wanting to work out this morning was my body's way of telling me to take it easy.

The dog

This is an older picture of my dog. He's on the couch when he shouldn't be...

Yeah, so.....

I thought I was going to go to uchi komi tonight. I think my foot problem is a strain and gout. So I'm trying for Saturday, and I'm dragging my boyfriend with me.

New shoes

New shoes and vitamins really help! I'm so pleased. I ran a half mile non-stop! I should have ran more, but I really needed to hit the weights. Tomorrow more running!

Tonight I have uchi komi practice tonight with my Cuban senseis (who have the most beautiful eyes and personalities). I'm going to try to work really, really hard tonight. I have to. I want to be as good as I can be for my very first tournament.

I think I'm going to take my camera so my boyfriend can take some pictures of me actually practicing to post here. I have pictures from everyone else practicing, but none of me. :(

Foot update

Well, the foot seems to be better today. I stayed home from practice to work on homework. I bought a new pair of running shoes from a shop that specializes in runners. At least they know what they're talking about better than someone at Sports Authority. Tomorrow I may have to run for class, so we will see......

I think I have another injury

So what else is new with me? My foot is bothering me something fierce today. It's so bad I can hardly walk on it after some time. WTF, man? I'm trying to get ready for a tournament, and I keep getting hurt somehow........

UGH!

Judo

Well, as I mentioned in my first post, I play judo. Lately, for what ever reason, I have been slacking off. Maybe it's because I've been out due to injury, but I have a tournament in 3 weeks and I really feel like I haven't been doing much at all. I sustained some crazy injuries, I think. Somehow, I managed to fracture my knee, a fracture so small that I needed to get an MRI to diagnose it. I was told to take it easy, so I did for a few weeks. I went back to my judo class one Saturday morning because it was a relatively easy work out. Well, I ended up falling square on my left shoulder while practicing a technique that I had learned that morning. That set me back another two weeks.

Now, there's an additional two practices a week because the tournament is so close. I've only gone to one of those practices. In fact in the past two weeks since those practices have started, I've only been to 3 practices TOTAL. I really need to step it up, man. I also have the excuse of school, but I can't keep relying on that all the time. (It's so true though.)

I have stepped up my activity in the gym to help me get ready for tournaments, both now and in the future. I really find it a lot easier to work out with a friend. I discovered that on Thursday after my 8am class. My friend and I went to the campus wellness center after walking/running for our class. It felt really good, so I'm going to have to talk to him tomorrow afternoon when I see him.

I just realized what time it was, so I really need to get going.

A little introduction needed

I think that I need to do a little intro on myself to let people know a little bit about me.

My name is Melissa. I'm almost 25 years old, and I live near Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I'm an Exercise Science and Health Promotion major at Florida Atlantic University. Currently I'm working as a massage therapist in 2 different chiropractic office close to my house.

My parents are divorced and I still live at home with my dad. My mom and I no longer speak because of things that she did to me about 5 years ago. I know that life is too short to hold a grudge, but the things that she did to me I would NEVER in a million years expect from my own mother.

I was a competitive swimmer up until 8 years ago. Bursitis ended that for me after an injury my freshman year in high school. I still swim to help get me back into shape. Now, I play judo. Unfortunately, judo is not very well known here in the US. It's an absolutely wonderful form of martial arts. My dad just recently got into hapikdo after an incident that happened at his work. (I think martial arts are becoming a family thing.)

When I'm not studying:

• I like to play games on myspace
• I watch TV
• I blog on my other blog
• I like to read the "Twilight Saga" - I'm starting it for the 3rd time and I can't wait for the movie to come out.
• I like to eat
• I am starting to like working out again.

My favorite TV shows:

• Heroes
• House
• Deadliest Catch
• Passport to Great Weekends (even though I don't really like Samantha Brown)

Hobbies:

• Judo
• Photography
• Amtgard
• Sleeping
• Reading
• Listening to music

I think that's it right now. I might blog again later once I get my thoughts in order.