2021-08-10 13:00
Well, this is about BJJ and osteoarthritis, if we want to get specific.
To provide some context, let’s start back at (sort of) the beginning:
My right hip has been bothering me… Read More
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A Skirt On The Mat | One Gal's Take On Brazilian Jiu Jitsu And Everything In It Blog
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One Gal's take on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and everything in it
2021-07-14 12:25
I would write something about how I’m shocked and appalled that I haven’t posted anything here since March, but admittedly my posting has been pretty sporadic for a while now. I… Read More
2021-03-19 12:05
I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but there are a bunch of fighters who claim they are retiring, and then…. well, don’t. I could have sworn Gordon Ryan mention… Read More
2021-03-04 13:14
I’ve heard this a couple of times by now, and I imagine you have as well: someone will bring up jiu jitsu’s violent, sometimes thuggish past, along with some variation of ”… Read More
2021-03-02 13:40
So for a while now I have been making an effort to lift weights around 5am. And for the most part I’m successful in this endeavor…. and occasionally I’m not. While I usual… Read More
2021-02-16 12:00
Growth and an evolving mindset do happen though: it’s part of what makes us human. You don’t believe the exact same things you did say 8 to 10 years ago: you’ve been presen… Read More
2021-01-29 13:21
Happy Friday everyone!
If you follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that a lot of my stories have revolved around dogs- and one dog in particular, our adopted mutt that we named J… Read More
2021-01-27 13:43
I was talking with a former teammate about bjj gyms, and we touched on the topic of aesthetic in gyms and how it can potentially appeal to different students/audiences.
Just like the in… Read More
2021-01-12 13:24
A few weeks ago John Danaher posted a long, but interesting take on instagram regarding rolling or sparring when you’re tired: “Tell yourself – I’m exhausted –… Read More
2021-01-05 12:50
I know, I know- it’s that time of year that consistent gym goers hate: when all of the “resolutioners” come in and do…. whatever it is that they are doing, in hopes… Read More
2021-01-04 13:31
Vaccines are starting to be distributed, hooray! I know some people are concerned about exactly what is in the vaccine, but frankly I think about some of the places where yI’ve trained… Read More
2020-12-31 13:58
Here’s hoping that all the things that need to happen in 2021, do so quickly so we can back to training and a somewhat normal existence.
I hope you all have happy and safe New Year… Read More
2020-12-30 12:52
So, you may have heard that Diego Sanchez set up and is currently promoting his Only Fans account… If you are not sure what Only Fans is, it’s like an alternative to Patreon- co… Read More
2020-12-24 13:13
Is anyone else totally unprepared like I am? Yes? Oh good.
This year has certainly went sideways for all of us in one way or another: while I still think things are going to be sort of&h&hell…Read More
2020-12-22 12:00
Again, I was looking around at questions people were asking on the internet, and this is one that happened to pop up. It’s a totally valid question: just starting out you may not feel… Read More
2020-12-17 13:28
I logically understood the courage it took to get back to jiu jitsu after taking some time off, but when we were able to train, I fully appreciated the guts it takes for someone to get back… Read More
2020-12-15 13:56
Recently on social media someone made a comment that they had yet to find a gym where they truly felt welcome. That’s absolutely unfortunate, but it does bring to light something that… Read More
2020-12-14 14:20
It’s a valid question: we’ve seen or heard about a lot of schools shutting down due to Covid restrictions, so it’s a concern and fear for a lot of people. Some may see this… Read More
2020-12-11 15:13
Happy Friday everyone!
So I learned something interesting recently that I would like to pass along: I signed up Ancestry.com a few years ago, and even took one of the DNA tests. It&rsquo&hell…Read More
2020-12-10 13:55
I know, I’m a little late to the party in delivering the news, but Israel Adesanya just received his purple belt form Andre Galvao. Congratulations! Honestly I really haven’t wat… Read More
2020-12-09 14:20
I was recently looking at a tool that tells you what people are asking about on the internet, and this is one of the questions that came up.
Well, in short yes, but it depends on a coupl… Read More
2020-12-08 13:23
I think I have talked about this a couple of times now, but I would argue that if you put two people in front of me: one that was naturally athletic and one that was not, I would say the non… Read More
2020-11-17 14:39
Well, here in Philadelphia we had a good run of relaxed restrictions when it came to gatherings, going to the gym, etc. Unfortunately due to a stark climb in cases over the past few weeks, s… Read More
2020-09-08 11:28
So, I’m not sure what it’s like at the moment in your city, state or country, but for some of us particularly on the East Coast, restrictions are slowly starting to lift and we a… Read More
2020-07-09 12:15
So in our little corner of the world (by that meaning Philadelphia County), gyms are still not allowed to open. More western parts of the state have begun to reopen, including allowing jiu j… Read More
2020-05-21 12:25
Well, it’s been a wild couple of weeks, I can tell you that much. Everyday there still seems to be something new we’re learning about this virus, cities are opening early, only t… Read More
2020-04-01 13:49
It’s been kind of a wild ride the past couple of weeks- everything has been shut down, people trying to figure out how to keep drilling with themselves or with their partner.
I do real… Read More
2020-03-23 13:19
It’s a strange time to be alive, to be sure. As the number of confirmed cases continue to climb, many jiu jitsu academies have closed their doors in the past few weeks in order to… Read More
2020-03-16 15:55
A lot of academies are shutting down for a couple of weeks as covid-19, or the coronavirus makes its way through the states. If you aren’t sure about the benefits of social distancing… Read More
2020-03-11 13:49
It’s been a wild couple of weeks, to be sure- the coronavirus COVID-19 has sent a lot of people in a tizzy. It’s understandably a tricky situation: it’s a flu-like virus th… Read More
2020-02-26 15:57
It’s something I’ve noticed when teaching classes, but also when I taught a seminar. Granted, I’ve said before that my moves were not very flashy: I went over guard breakin… Read More
2020-02-19 17:06
My teammates and I were recently wondering about this in outside of class: what leads to the emotional closeness that you experience with teammates?
I know I mentioned previously that having… Read More
2020-02-17 15:22
Yes, I know technically the 13th is actually Galentine’s Day, but we decided to commandeer the following weekend to invite some ladies around the city to stop by our academy, learn a l… Read More
2020-02-14 15:10
Happy Friday, and Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
May you get all the snuggles- both struggle snuggles and the regular, non-struggle kind- that you deserve.
And even if you’re no… Read More
2020-02-13 16:00
We talk all the time about how teammates are crucial to our development in jiu jitsu- while maybe not considered as important, friendships also pretty important when it comes to jiu jitsu.
T… Read More
2020-02-11 15:12
While preferably we would like everyone to follow along and do the things we tell them to in class, students sometimes are just physically unable. They are injured, sick, or have some other… Read More
2020-02-04 15:22
We’ve talked before about drilling to hone your skills, and being intentional with your movement- there’s a fun side effect of drilling that we haven’t really talked about… Read More
2020-01-27 16:06
Life and particularly jiu jitsu, are really all about showing up.
It sounds silly though, right? Just physically taking your body from one space into another, and (preferably) remaining ment… Read More
2020-01-22 15:18
I’ve been reading some business/leadership books recently, and a number of them have been talking about culture. The interesting thing is the emphasis that sometimes culture is somethi… Read More
2020-01-20 16:26
It’s been a struggle since the dawn of time- how much time to drill vs how much time for sparring aka rolling.
Ask a newer belt and they will tell you roll, roll, roll: less time drill… Read More
2020-01-17 15:03
Happy Friday everyone!
You know those weeks where each day feels like a lifetime? That’s been the last week or so for me: all good stuff, but just…. a lot. of stuff.
How&rsquo&hell…Read More
2020-01-09 15:26
So, a few years ago I wrote a post about doing jiu jitsu after getting a tattoo– I used other people’s experiences and recommendations to write that post because I did not have o… Read More
2020-01-07 17:25
Pretty sure this is one of those things we know, but don’t really talk about. There are really different levels of success when it comes to certain techniques.
Some are our black belt… Read More
2020-01-02 15:32
Whether you think they are silly or not, resolutions for the year are still a thing: although if the attendance at the gym this morning is any indication, I think people are waiting to start… Read More
2019-12-30 15:06
Hello everyone! I’m back from the mountains, getting stuff and things together for 2020. Unfortunately, while I was out my cardio went from pretty great, to pretty terrible.
It happens… Read More
2019-12-24 15:04
Merry Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Happy Hanukkah, and for any other holidays that may be going on that I am possibly forgetting, may you all have a happy and wonderful holiday with your f… Read More
2019-12-23 15:07
So, as I mentioned on Friday, I’m up in the mountains with family for the holidays. For a couple of days we have been snowmobiling, which got me thinking about jiu jitsu.
There is a si… Read More
2019-12-20 13:30
Happy Friday everyone!
I’m up in the Rockies in the holidays, spending time with family:
Hopefully you all also have some great plans to spend time with your loved ones.
That’s… Read More
2019-12-18 17:50
There have been a lot belt promotions to close out the end of the year, which means there have been a number of belt gauntlets. I know there have been a number of articles and posts in the p… Read More
2019-12-16 15:47
It used to be Sensei Youtube, now there’s a new guy in town….Sensei Instagram.
It’s understandable: people want to share their knowledge or just share what they are workin… Read More
2019-12-13 15:41
Happy Friday everyone!
The No-Gi Worlds are happening this weekend, which reminded me that Pans registration is also open- I think it opened a couple of weeks ago actually…
There&rsqu&hell…Read More
2019-12-12 15:16
Last night we had some end-of year promotions for some teammates, and now we have a whole sea of brown belts (including a whole bunch of brown belt ladies) and two new black belts!
It&rsquo&hell…Read More
2019-12-10 17:45
The term certainly catches your attention, right?
Author Andrew Pulrang wrote an article in Forbes about “inspiration porn”- a term used to identify articles, memes and other for… Read More
2019-12-03 14:57
It seems to be a thing now, right? Everywhere you turn it feels like someone is promoting CBD oils/tinctures/salves/ointments/you name it to people in the jiu jitsu community. CBD is in the… Read More
2019-11-28 18:27
For those in the US, have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!
And for those outside of the US, or just not celebrating, have a wonderful Thursday! Read More
2019-11-27 18:07
Sure did!
There are some local black belts in my area that are creating and selling candles locally- not that I’m really about promoting the sale of products on this blog, I do enjoy s… Read More
2019-11-25 15:24
Happy Monday!
Friday night was a bit special for our academy- we had a couple of students earn some stripes, and another one of our students became a black belt! our teammate Jeanne also hap… Read More
2019-11-20 17:04
So, fun entry in the Chronicles of Katie Losing Things, I couldn’t find the band to my Whoop fitness tracker (you can take the band off and slip the actual tracking part into an arm ba… Read More
2019-11-18 15:37
Just a thought I was having this morning: I was thinking mainly about movies, if we’re being totally honest. Something can look good, but not necessarily be good in other regards.
When… Read More
2019-11-15 15:25
Happy Friday everyone!
It’s been one of those silly weeks where a bunch of little things go wrong (amazon package mix ups, getting to work late, pen exploding in my hands and ink getti… Read More
2019-11-13 16:50
It’s difficult, time consuming, but ultimately rewarding when you really dive deep and learn the fine lines that exist in jiu jitsu.
We all start off with the broad strokes- place hand… Read More
2019-11-11 15:15
2019-11-06 15:39
This is one of those things I think a lot of us know logically, but we don’t know “heart and soul”: it’s not something we understand and utilize on a consistent basis… Read More
2019-11-04 15:54
I know this is one of those “well, duh” kind of statements, but man it’s hard getting out of your comfort zone sometimes.
But man, is it also rewarding- fortunately more of… Read More
2019-11-01 15:13
Happy Friday everyone!
Recently I decided that I’ve been been a little too loosey-goosey when it comes to dropping some f-bombs, and so in an effort to curtail that habit, I’m do… Read More
2019-10-30 14:11
Lately I’ve been experiencing pain in and around the base of my thumb, which according to a nurse that trains with us (and the internet, or course), it seems that I have tendonitis in… Read More
2019-10-28 15:02
Whether you intend to or not, you’ll start to make changes in your life for jiu jitsu: and the thing is, they won’t happen all at once.
Maybe you’ll stop going to that happ… Read More
2019-10-23 11:22
So a few months ago I mentioned that I was using a Fitbit to track my sleep and heart rate. A couple of weeks ago a teammate suggested that I try a different fitness/heart rate tracker… Read More
2019-10-21 14:38
We’ve all heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder”- which totally makes sense. But I have a confession to make: it’s not a phrase that I like all the much, but I&r&hell…Read More
2019-10-18 15:58
Happy Friday everyone! I took this off of facebook, and I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but remember:
Have a great weekend everyone! Read More
2019-10-16 11:57
It seems really easy at first: you sign up for a class, you begin rolling (flailing) around as you try to find your rhythm, and slowly you begin to fall in love with jiu jitsu. And so you sp… Read More
2019-10-14 13:56
I’m sure by now you’ve heard the term “everyday porrada” or the two words switched around- and if you haven’t, or if you have and weren’t sure what… Read More
2019-10-11 15:02
Happy Friday!
Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and Halloween my favorite holiday- it’s the fun of all the other holidays without the familial pressure of sitting down for dinner or… Read More
2019-10-10 14:15
It’s a hard lesson that we learn over time on the mats: activity does not equal productivity on the mats. If that were true, white belts would be beating everyone, all the time. We all… Read More
2019-10-09 14:03
When we are training, whether we realize it or not, we typically make some assumptions in our training: which is fine, half of the human race’s survival has depended on assumptions and… Read More
2019-10-07 15:09
So during our competition team training yesterday, we went through kind of an interesting exercise: we put eye masks on (like the kind some people sleep with) and trained our preferred taked… Read More
2019-10-04 14:13
Happy Friday everyone!
So everyone still seems to be posting clips, photos and reactions to last weekend’s ADCC results. And that’s understandable, it’s a big event that ha… Read More
2019-10-02 14:00
Saw this on Facebook this morning, and thought I would share it with anyone who needs it this morning:
Now go out there and be bad at something! And hey, being happily bad at something is b… Read More
2019-09-30 15:54
Well, that was unexpected.
This past weekend a group of some of the top grapplers in the sport came together for the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, or ADCC championships. There were names that most… Read More
2019-09-27 11:49
Happy Friday everyone!
In the past while sparring I have a tendency to whistle or hum while training- I like to think it keeps my conscious mind occupied and allows the adaptive unconscious… Read More
2019-09-25 10:16
We just had an in house tournament this past weekend at our gym: it was a good time, a couple of other local schools were invited so people were able to get in a couple of matches with some… Read More
2019-09-11 15:38
So I’m reading the book “The One Thing” right now-
It’s more or less about hyper prioritization and how you can’t do all the things at once, and so you should… Read More
2019-09-10 15:21
I was at a more traditional idea of a gym this morning- you know, the one with the dumbbells, and the mirrors and the people who seem to drape their belongings over multiple pieces of equipm… Read More
2019-09-06 10:52
Happy Friday everyone!
This week was a little weird: I would start to write a blog post and then get caught up in another activity/emergency, and would leave a thought half finished in my dr… Read More
2019-09-03 10:29
Every so often someone will mention something about jiu jitsu- about training or some other secondary element, something that will imply that they are feeling self conscious and are worried… Read More
2019-08-30 13:47
Happy Friday everyone!
This week was a bit of a doozy- I had a head cold that just knocked all the will and energy out of me…. but I’m slowly but surely coming back around to th… Read More
2019-08-26 10:59
It’s about a month away, but the Girls in Gis organization is coming to Philly, with Valerie Worthington and Angela Vogel. Our gym is doing a team outing that day so I don’t thin… Read More
2019-08-23 15:00
Happy Friday everyone!
Things are looking pretty exciting over in Las Vegas for the Master Worlds! Flograppling has been recording the matches and posting updates on Instagram- you should d… Read More
2019-08-21 10:40
Admittedly over the past couple of months I have been mainly teaching classes with more advanced students: we separate our gi classes into people who are super beginner and those who are mor… Read More
2019-08-16 15:49
Happy Friday everyone!
Well, just when you thought UFC was getting relatively more tame….
For anyone who didn’t catch it, this is UFC fighter Nate Diaz. Nate and his brother Ni… Read More
2019-08-15 13:49
It was an interesting question posed on social media- they expressed frustration regarding their impression that in order to compete against more women, they had to sign up for an IBJJF tour… Read More
2019-08-13 10:41
Preferably no one is crying on the mats- we’re all drilling, training, and overall (hopefully) having a good time. But unfortunately that’s not always guaranteed. As much as we t… Read More
2019-08-09 13:35
Happy Friday everyone!
So while there is plenty of stuff to do on the water around Lake Tahoe, there’s also a good deal of activities on land as well, including mountain biking:
You&r&hell…Read More
2019-08-08 14:38
And really in general, but especially make sure to keep them short for the sport. Just mentioning this because while training with someone I received approximately 2 inch cut from someone&rs&hell…Read More
2019-08-07 15:04
While there are a number of people who read this blog and don’t do jiu jitsu, there are some, and maybe a few of them have thought about competing in the near future. This is by no mea… Read More
2019-08-06 14:11
here’s a little motivation for anyone who may need it today:
Now go out there and attack the day! Read More
2019-08-05 14:22
I heard about this recently and I think it fits perfectly with the perceived competency in jiu jitsu. The Dunning-Kruger effect, according to our good friend Wikipedia, “is a cog… Read More
2019-08-02 14:23
Happy Friday everyone!
Figured I would go through the collection of gifs I have saved and share them with you all… and relate them to jiu jitsu (because, duh). Anyway, here we go!
So… Read More
2019-08-01 11:00
It happens to all of us at some point: in the puzzle/human chess game that we call jiu jitsu, we sometimes find ourselves trying to execute on something that either just isn’t there, o… Read More
2019-07-29 14:12
While on vacation I started to read the book Blink, about the adaptive unconscious and basically what every jiu jitsu person works on mastering: the ability to think and make decisions witho… Read More
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