...and I wrote all about it over at my new home, http://grapplingvet.wordpress.com/. Update your bookmarks or follow the new blog via e-mail, because this one will be collecting dust soon enough.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
New post
There's a new post over at the new blog! Go check it out at http://grapplingvet.wordpress.com/
Sunday, March 11, 2012
MOVING! (online, that is)
I've had enough with Blogger. For months, I haven't been able to get to individual post pages and the comments have been screwy. I'm finally fed up enough to move to Wordpress. My new home is http://grapplingvet.wordpress.com . There's nothing up yet, but I'll get some pages going soon. In the meantime, if anyone knows how to migrate posts, help/suggestions would be much appreciated!
Monday, March 5, 2012
BJJ in Omaha
I finally got to train in Omaha! One of my roommates went out of town this weekend and let me use her car, so I drove over to train with Team Rodrigo Vaghi Omaha-North. I called in advance to make sure they would be there and it was ok if I came, and the ensuing conversation was rather interesting. Trying to explain where I'm from (New York? Tennessee?), how long I've been training (8 years, but really more like 3-4), where I'm staying (at the zoo...), it seemed like I couldn't give him a straightforward answer to anything. In any case, he told me that Saturdays were just open mat, but I was welcome to come on over.
I didn't have any trouble finding the place, although I drove right by it the first time, and let's just say the streets of Omaha aren't the friendliest to out-of-towners. There weren't any signs indicating there was a BJJ school, as it was a youth center or something like that. I walked in and found three guys in a wrestling room, and figured I was in the right place. They invited me in, and the head teacher, Dana Taylor, gave me a fun lesson on takedowns--mostly arm drags and two on one. He had to leave soon though, so the other two who were working together took me in and one of them, Greg, continued the lesson. We did a little bit from the knees as well, and then it was time to go. Unfortunately, we didn't really have a chance to get any rolling in, although given the size difference between us I'm not quite sure I'm unhappy about that. It was just nice to get moving again after a month without BJJ.
In zoo news, we've been working on some fun stuff, like tigers, aye-ayes, tapirs (I pulled blood on one!) and stingrays.
Also, I finally got offered a job!!! It's in Las Vegas (technically it's Henderson, but who cares??), doing exactly what I want to do--mostly small animal private practice, with some zoo animals thrown in (they see a lot of the show animals from the strip). I probably won't start until late June or July, but I'm already looking into BJJ schools there. So far I've heard Mica Cipili's school and Drysdale's school are the places to go, but they're kind of far and there are a TON of options. I was really looking for something closer to where I work, and Epic Training Center is less than a mile away. As far as I can tell, it started out affiliated with Drysdale, but it appears that those instructors are no longer there and Fredson Paixao now runs the BJJ program. That would be ideal, and honestly at my current level I don't need THE absolute best instruction--I think as long as I can feel at home, and I will be able to get there with some regularity, it will be just fine.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm open to it!!
I didn't have any trouble finding the place, although I drove right by it the first time, and let's just say the streets of Omaha aren't the friendliest to out-of-towners. There weren't any signs indicating there was a BJJ school, as it was a youth center or something like that. I walked in and found three guys in a wrestling room, and figured I was in the right place. They invited me in, and the head teacher, Dana Taylor, gave me a fun lesson on takedowns--mostly arm drags and two on one. He had to leave soon though, so the other two who were working together took me in and one of them, Greg, continued the lesson. We did a little bit from the knees as well, and then it was time to go. Unfortunately, we didn't really have a chance to get any rolling in, although given the size difference between us I'm not quite sure I'm unhappy about that. It was just nice to get moving again after a month without BJJ.
In zoo news, we've been working on some fun stuff, like tigers, aye-ayes, tapirs (I pulled blood on one!) and stingrays.
Also, I finally got offered a job!!! It's in Las Vegas (technically it's Henderson, but who cares??), doing exactly what I want to do--mostly small animal private practice, with some zoo animals thrown in (they see a lot of the show animals from the strip). I probably won't start until late June or July, but I'm already looking into BJJ schools there. So far I've heard Mica Cipili's school and Drysdale's school are the places to go, but they're kind of far and there are a TON of options. I was really looking for something closer to where I work, and Epic Training Center is less than a mile away. As far as I can tell, it started out affiliated with Drysdale, but it appears that those instructors are no longer there and Fredson Paixao now runs the BJJ program. That would be ideal, and honestly at my current level I don't need THE absolute best instruction--I think as long as I can feel at home, and I will be able to get there with some regularity, it will be just fine.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm open to it!!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Not quite bjj...
I'm a week into my month-long stint in Omaha at the Henry Doorly Zoo, and so far it's been fun. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to do much, since I was out for two days last week for a job interview (in VEGAS!) and yesterday we were "off" for President's Day. I say "off" because the other extern and I showed up at 8 AM for rounds, and only one other vet was there and she told us there wasn't anything going on, so we might as well go back. It wasn't a big deal, since we were staying in the dorm they have just upstairs, but it was kind of a bummer for me because I wanted to do stuff.
So far I have either helped or observed: a sable antelope necropsy, examine an injured springhaas tail, ultrasound a spider monkey (it was preggers!!), necropsy a wolf eel, scratch down a tapir for blood pressure (literally--you can rub them with brushes and they just...go down lol), examine a tiger shark wound, do a gastric wash and colon biopsy on an agile gibbon, draw blood on a saki monkey, attempt to dart a spider monkey, necropsy (a very decayed) mossy leaf-tailed gecko, and drain the remains of a pelican's eye (the eye had been removed, but fluid was building up in the orbit). Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post pictures of the stuff we do behind-the-scenes.
Anyways, one of the interns who lives here goes to a kickboxing class every day. I figured it would be easier to just go with him to his class than convince him to try out a BJJ class so I could have a ride (not having a car in Omaha kind of blows), so yesterday I finally went.
Of course, he didn't tell me until we were on our way that they do 10-week programs, and the next one starts in three weeks--when I leave. Of course. But I wanted to try it out anyways, and I'm glad I did.
I was expecting a class a lot more like what I saw at my school, with people working in pairs holding pads, and some crazy conditioning. Yeah, notsomuch. It was intense--I will give it that. This place was pretty packed, so we pretty much stayed in our little square and did everything in-place. The warm-up was of light to moderate intensity, with some shadowboxing/kicking and other stuff thrown in. Then we threw on the gloves and rolled out the Wavemasters. We paired up and alternated between doing 5-10 minutes of kicking/punching combos and other conditioning stuff--push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. We ended with some stretching.
Overall, it was pretty fun and I got a decent workout--much better than if I was just trying to work out on my own in my room. I know nothing about kickboxing, so they kept coming over to correct my form so I wouldn't hurt myself. Sadly, my knuckles were still kind of sore afterwords, and I'm sure the push-ups (with gloves) didn't help at all. I was a little surprised at how well I could keep up with most of the class, given a) my complete ignorance of it, and b) my almost complete lack of exercise for the past few weeks. I was also mildly disappointed at the lack of contact, but I suppose that's not what cardio kickboxing is for. Honestly, I think I just miss BJJ. I meant to talk to them about possibly signing up for just three weeks, but I was so exhausted and hungry at the end I just stumbled out.
In all of this, I think the most fun part is watching my roommate knock down the Wavemaster every time he punched it. I guess that happens when you're 6'7" and 270 pounds.
So far I have either helped or observed: a sable antelope necropsy, examine an injured springhaas tail, ultrasound a spider monkey (it was preggers!!), necropsy a wolf eel, scratch down a tapir for blood pressure (literally--you can rub them with brushes and they just...go down lol), examine a tiger shark wound, do a gastric wash and colon biopsy on an agile gibbon, draw blood on a saki monkey, attempt to dart a spider monkey, necropsy (a very decayed) mossy leaf-tailed gecko, and drain the remains of a pelican's eye (the eye had been removed, but fluid was building up in the orbit). Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post pictures of the stuff we do behind-the-scenes.
 |
| Not ours, but this is a springhaas! |
Anyways, one of the interns who lives here goes to a kickboxing class every day. I figured it would be easier to just go with him to his class than convince him to try out a BJJ class so I could have a ride (not having a car in Omaha kind of blows), so yesterday I finally went.
Of course, he didn't tell me until we were on our way that they do 10-week programs, and the next one starts in three weeks--when I leave. Of course. But I wanted to try it out anyways, and I'm glad I did.
I was expecting a class a lot more like what I saw at my school, with people working in pairs holding pads, and some crazy conditioning. Yeah, notsomuch. It was intense--I will give it that. This place was pretty packed, so we pretty much stayed in our little square and did everything in-place. The warm-up was of light to moderate intensity, with some shadowboxing/kicking and other stuff thrown in. Then we threw on the gloves and rolled out the Wavemasters. We paired up and alternated between doing 5-10 minutes of kicking/punching combos and other conditioning stuff--push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. We ended with some stretching.
Overall, it was pretty fun and I got a decent workout--much better than if I was just trying to work out on my own in my room. I know nothing about kickboxing, so they kept coming over to correct my form so I wouldn't hurt myself. Sadly, my knuckles were still kind of sore afterwords, and I'm sure the push-ups (with gloves) didn't help at all. I was a little surprised at how well I could keep up with most of the class, given a) my complete ignorance of it, and b) my almost complete lack of exercise for the past few weeks. I was also mildly disappointed at the lack of contact, but I suppose that's not what cardio kickboxing is for. Honestly, I think I just miss BJJ. I meant to talk to them about possibly signing up for just three weeks, but I was so exhausted and hungry at the end I just stumbled out.
In all of this, I think the most fun part is watching my roommate knock down the Wavemaster every time he punched it. I guess that happens when you're 6'7" and 270 pounds.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Yay for free time!
Which I finally get on Field Services. I have to say, it's actually kind of nice to have weekends off. Plus, I was able to go to class on Saturday AND last night! AND I went to the gym today! I think my body might rebel tomorrow morning though.
Saturday women's class:
Michelle (who needed knee surgery a few months ago) was finally back in class for the first time, which was nice--it meant that women's class was more than just me and Jess! I started us on a super-careful warm-up, and then Jess taught us the foot-in-hip guard pull, followed by a takedown from that position. There was a lot of adjusting to make sure Michelle would be able to do it, since her leg was still pretty weak.
Regular class:
We started with some quick takedowns, and then did a sweep series. It starts from getting stacked while attempting an armbar from guard, and moved on from there. We finished with some open rolling, which resulted in playing the avoid-the-n00b game.
Monday night class:
There were only six of us there, four blue belts and two white belts who were really new. After the warm-up, we started with the knee-through pass and some new details, and then moved on to the "windshield-wiper" pass (knee-through but it's the same-side knee). Finished with 3-minute rounds of open rolling, with everyone in the class, so I didn't really get to avoid the new guys. Luckily, they were fairly tame, although one guy (after multiple sweeps and triangle/armbar attempts) told me at the end, "good job." In that tone. That condescending tone, like I'm a child who he was just playing with. Eh. We'll see who plays with who next time.
On another note, I've been attempting to somewhat fix my diet as well. It's been pretty terrible lately, and consists of either me not eating real meals and making up for it with pre-packaged snacks, or the Indian version of Ramen noodles. I've decided to start packing a salad every day for lunch, which should a)get me eating vegetables again, which sort of disappeared from my diet, and b)actually get me eating lunch and not granola bars or peanut butter sandwich crackers washed down with soda.
Saturday women's class:
Michelle (who needed knee surgery a few months ago) was finally back in class for the first time, which was nice--it meant that women's class was more than just me and Jess! I started us on a super-careful warm-up, and then Jess taught us the foot-in-hip guard pull, followed by a takedown from that position. There was a lot of adjusting to make sure Michelle would be able to do it, since her leg was still pretty weak.
Regular class:
We started with some quick takedowns, and then did a sweep series. It starts from getting stacked while attempting an armbar from guard, and moved on from there. We finished with some open rolling, which resulted in playing the avoid-the-n00b game.
Monday night class:
There were only six of us there, four blue belts and two white belts who were really new. After the warm-up, we started with the knee-through pass and some new details, and then moved on to the "windshield-wiper" pass (knee-through but it's the same-side knee). Finished with 3-minute rounds of open rolling, with everyone in the class, so I didn't really get to avoid the new guys. Luckily, they were fairly tame, although one guy (after multiple sweeps and triangle/armbar attempts) told me at the end, "good job." In that tone. That condescending tone, like I'm a child who he was just playing with. Eh. We'll see who plays with who next time.
On another note, I've been attempting to somewhat fix my diet as well. It's been pretty terrible lately, and consists of either me not eating real meals and making up for it with pre-packaged snacks, or the Indian version of Ramen noodles. I've decided to start packing a salad every day for lunch, which should a)get me eating vegetables again, which sort of disappeared from my diet, and b)actually get me eating lunch and not granola bars or peanut butter sandwich crackers washed down with soda.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Starting 2012 off the right way!
And by that, of course I mean with some good ol' BJJ.
No, I haven't vanished or died or suffered from amnesia. I just haven't been able train lately, due in large part to school/slave labor hours (80 hours a week of overnight shifts is NOT fun, no matter what someone else may try to tell you). Today was the first time in over a month that I was able to hit the mats, and of course I felt like ass. Honestly though, I was just glad that our coach decided to have open mat today.
My first roll was with a very strong, solid blue belt. I spent the entire time feeling like I was slowly getting rolled over by a boulder. And once I got smushed enough to tap, it started all over again. At least it was nice and slow, so I had a chance to warm up and stretch out some. My next roll was with another very strong, but very shiny-new-blue belt who I could play with a little more. Not that I could do anything, but just that it was a little quicker. I was glad to finally see him and congratulate him on the belt, as our last belt testing was in early December, the same day I had to take the NAVLE (aka 7-hour-long national veterinarian board exam aka the "let's-make-you-feel-stupid" test). After that, I had a few more rolls, which were a little quicker, but with the lack of recent rollage (and bare minimum of exercise), not to mention sleep deprivation, I was pooped pretty quick. Plus, I didn't want to feel like complete garbage tomorrow. I know how hard it is on my body to take weeks off of BJJ and then jump right back in, and I didn't want to deal with that.
BJJ goals for 2012:
1) Train.
2) No really...just train. That's it.
Life goals for 2012:
1) Find a job that fits my professional goals and will let me train BJJ.
Which leads to my New Year's resolution for 2012:
1) Spend at least half an hour a day, and an hour on weekends, looking for a job or working on my job application skills/materials. Speaking of which, does anyone know any vets who are hiring?
2) Work out at least three times a week, even if it's just some tabatas at home. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work up the motivation for this after a long day at work? I often find myself unwilling to hit the gym on days I finish at 7 because it's already so late, and on days when I finish closer to 5, I can't bear the thought of the crowds (which will be even worse with all the new year's resolutions). I tell myself I'll just do something when I get home, and of course I just sit at my computer messing around, maybe being productive 25% of the time.
No, I haven't vanished or died or suffered from amnesia. I just haven't been able train lately, due in large part to school/slave labor hours (80 hours a week of overnight shifts is NOT fun, no matter what someone else may try to tell you). Today was the first time in over a month that I was able to hit the mats, and of course I felt like ass. Honestly though, I was just glad that our coach decided to have open mat today.
My first roll was with a very strong, solid blue belt. I spent the entire time feeling like I was slowly getting rolled over by a boulder. And once I got smushed enough to tap, it started all over again. At least it was nice and slow, so I had a chance to warm up and stretch out some. My next roll was with another very strong, but very shiny-new-blue belt who I could play with a little more. Not that I could do anything, but just that it was a little quicker. I was glad to finally see him and congratulate him on the belt, as our last belt testing was in early December, the same day I had to take the NAVLE (aka 7-hour-long national veterinarian board exam aka the "let's-make-you-feel-stupid" test). After that, I had a few more rolls, which were a little quicker, but with the lack of recent rollage (and bare minimum of exercise), not to mention sleep deprivation, I was pooped pretty quick. Plus, I didn't want to feel like complete garbage tomorrow. I know how hard it is on my body to take weeks off of BJJ and then jump right back in, and I didn't want to deal with that.
BJJ goals for 2012:
1) Train.
2) No really...just train. That's it.
Life goals for 2012:
1) Find a job that fits my professional goals and will let me train BJJ.
Which leads to my New Year's resolution for 2012:
1) Spend at least half an hour a day, and an hour on weekends, looking for a job or working on my job application skills/materials. Speaking of which, does anyone know any vets who are hiring?
2) Work out at least three times a week, even if it's just some tabatas at home. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work up the motivation for this after a long day at work? I often find myself unwilling to hit the gym on days I finish at 7 because it's already so late, and on days when I finish closer to 5, I can't bear the thought of the crowds (which will be even worse with all the new year's resolutions). I tell myself I'll just do something when I get home, and of course I just sit at my computer messing around, maybe being productive 25% of the time.
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