Qick Hits!

In the news today House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has blocked a bipartisan bill to investigate the cause of the gulf oil spill. Now that the leak has stopped and many have focused on the clean up, congress attempted to pass a bipartisan to find the cause of the leak. Pelosi removed the authorization for an independent investigation (that was passed unanimously in committee) which effectively killed the bill.

Arizona has already filed an appeal to the U.S 9th Circuit Court on Appeals. Arizona's governor has said that she will fight this to the Supreme Court. There are rumors going around that the Supreme Court is planning to expedite the normal process so that the case will not be drawn out over 2 years.

Ford says that July was the best month for their large pick-up trucks since march of '08. Ford has been doing very well since declining to sell there company to Obama. There also seems to be a large decline in the sales for fuel efficient cars. I wonder if this will affect the sales of Obama's new electric car... I guess that's why the government shouldn't get involved in the market.

I am still doing very good on my weight. I am should make my goal of 155 pound by tomorrow with ease. Unfortunately I will have to cut my training a little short today. My son is sick and I have to be home while my wife is at work. I am heading off to the school now to get a quick run in but I wont be able to do any Jiu-Jitsu classes. At least I still have plenty of time before the next tournament so I am not too worried. I could probably use some rest anyway. I am really looking forward to meeting with the conditioning trainer tomorrow.

Still Shrinking!

Well the new changes to my diet and the new training regiment seem to be doing the trick. As of last night I was 156.5 pounds. I want to be 155 lbs by Saturday and hope to make my new BJJ fighting weight by the following Saturday. The weight class is pena which is 154 lbs with the Gi on. So I need to be about 151 in my boxers.
The new diet is a little extreme so its not what I will be doing long term but I am going to try to keep it up for at least a couple weeks. It consist mostly of Tuna out of a can and fresh watermelon. This may or may not seem that bad but when you do it all day every day it is horrible! I am eating a little carbs in the morning (Wheat Toast), a reasonable dinner (Salad and maybe some chicken or a couple eggs and some fruit) and maybe a granola bar or rice cake for a snack but it is still horrible.
I am still running and doing Jiu-Jitsu classes everyday but since my shoulder is getting a little better I decided to add some circuits this week. The circuits are still a lot of cardio but I am also doing some upper body exercises (things like pull-ups, rows & kettle bell swings).
I had to work a little late today but I am heading over to the school now. I wont be able to running tonight until after my first class since I'm running so late. I am going to try to run 3 miles then do Kate (circuit consisting of sprinting and squats) but I'm also going to add rows and presses. Should be fun!
This weekend I will be meeting with a real fitness trainer that trains professional MMA and Jiu-Jitsu fighters. Hopefully he will give me a better routine then what I have been trying figuring it out on my own. Its a lot easier to just pay someone that does it for a living then spend all day on the net trying to figure out what is best, not only to loose weight but to be at a peak fitness for fighting!

Health Care?

Free Health Care… who could be against that… On the surface I have to admit it sounds really good. I pay a lot of money every month in health care. Not only do I have a wife and two children but I also train and compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (a full contact sport). My wife or kids could get hurt or sick or I could even get hurt in a tournament. It would not be wise for me not to have insurance but every year the costs keep rising and I’m not wealthy. With that said, I do have to ask myself is it really free. At what cost is it not only to my family but to everyone? What about the ethical and legal question, “Can the government force us to buy something?”
First off everyone knows that nothing is truly free. Starting next year and for the next 4 years we will all be paying higher taxes to help pay for this with out any of the benefits. The actual health care plan will not kick in for 4 years! The health care plan will also only be free for those at the very bottom (which in a lot of cases health care is already free). Most everyone will be forced to pay for their own plan and the burden on the wealthy will be increasingly higher to pay for those at the bottom.
Recently Obama appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services. Obama did this by recess appointment so not to have a confirmation hearing. Berwick has a lot of very telling quotes on this issue. Recently when speaking in London he said he was “a romantic about the National Health Service,” and that “any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must, must, redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate.” He also said, “Excellent health care is by definition redistributional. Britain, you chose well.” You may not have a problem with robbing peter to pay pall but I believe it is a moral question and it is just wrong.
Another major issue I have with government run health care is the rationing. When it is free people use it and often. There is only so much money that can be spent so what does the government do when it can’t afford a procedure? They stop offering it! In many of these countries if they don’t offer it you cannot pay for it out of pocket. This is why many people from Canada, Great Britain and others come to the U.S. every year for medical procedures. Dr. Berwick himself said, “You can say, ‘Well, we shouldn’t even look.’ But that would be irrational. The social budget is limited - we have a limited resource pool. It makes terribly good sense to at least know the price of an added benefit, and at some point we might say nationally, regionally, or locally that we wish we could afford it, but we can’t.” He also said, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. Dr. Berwick often praises Great Britain’s health care system but this is the same system that just last year denied life saving cancer drugs to women with breast cancer.
My brother’s wife is from Quebec. She told me that because going to the doctor is free you need to make an appointment 3 months in advanced. She said most people just go to the hospital whenever they have a problem. She actually told me that if she needed a prescription she would just get an appointment at the hospital because she could get in there in about a month. I know that this is only anecdotal but I must say when my brother was explaining the political parties platforms and mentioned health care she freaked out saying, “Why the in the world would anyone want Canadian style heath care”
Should the government be able to force you to buy something? What if the government not only said that you can only by GM cars but mandated that everyone in the country own one per adult and would pay a fine every month if they did not? You would think this absurd. Last year Obama responded to critics of the healthcare bill that were saying that implementing financial penalties if we do not buy insurance is a tax. Obama said that this is absolutely not a tax. Recently the bill has been challenged in court on the bases that the government cannot force you to by product and penalize you if you don't. Now Obama and his lawyers are arguing that the penalties are a tax and that taxing is in their rights… We will see what the court says...
I do truly feel sorry for anyone that legitimately cannot afford health care. However in most of these cases the government already supplies assistance. Not to mention, that you cannot be denied treatment at a hospital and you only need to pay like $20 a month not to be turned into collections. I am also not talking about people that just chose not to work or not to buy insurance. Even at my school we have people in both these categories, which I think is completely crazy. If you choose not to work so that you can devote all of your time to a contact sport I should not have to pay for your insurance. With that said there are some people that fall into the category where they don’t get assistance but for whatever reason cannot legitimately afford insurance. It would be much cheaper to just pay for these people then implement a government health care system.

Getting Stronger...

The rehab on my shoulder is going well. Yesterday was the first day that I was able to do a regular circuit in over 2 months.
Everyone on the competition team at our school does circuit training. The circuits we do at our school are very sport specific designed to get you into fight shape. The circuits are usually not high weight but more endurance based and usually work the entire body.
I have not been able to do a regular circuit do to my shoulder injured. Even though the weight is not that heavy, until yesterday I lacked the strength to complete a circuit. I have only really been able to work my lower body (mostly running). Yesterday I was able to do a few different exercises with my shoulder including Kettle Bell swings, thrusters and pull-ups. It was a little sore but my strength is coming back. Finally…
My weight is still around 158 to 159 pounds. I am tweaking my diet a little this week and I am still running (and doing circuits now). I hope to be down a few more pounds by Saturday.
Things are looking up and I can’t wait to start competing again. I am still on pace to be ready by the middle or end of next month. There are a few Jiu-Jitsu tournaments coming up near the end of next month. My goal is to be ready by the Chicago Open on August 22nd… Whether or not I get to go will be up to my coach.

AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

It was another great weekend for team Lloyd Irving. We had a lot of guys fighting at different tournaments this weekend.
Tye Ryan Murphy (Crazy 88) and Roberto Torralbas (Third Law BJJ) flew to Brazil to fight at the Rio International Open at the end of the week. Both guys did very well. Tye choked two guys unconscious before going out in the quarterfinals to what I understand was an odd scoring situation and Roberto took 3rd. Roberto lost in the semi’s to the guy who took first by a footlock. Unfortunately Roberto’s leg was hurt and he was not able to enter into the open the next day.
Crazy 88 BJJ also sent a few guys to a tournament up in PA (Rupture grappling championship). Everyone did very well bringing home a lot of medals. One of our teammates Jon Delbrugge had his first Super Fight at this tournament. Jon outscored Chris Wing for the win. It was a great fight. Before the fight Wing made the ridiculous statement that talent trumps hard work. Jon worked very hard to get ready for this fight but I guess Wing now just thinks Jon is more talented…
Also this weakened JT Torres defeated Dan Simmler in a super fight at Grapplers quest. This is the start of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu calendar. In BJJ the world championships are in June so the new training and tournament season starts in July. We are off to a good start and plan to keep it up. The tournaments get tougher as the year goes on with the ultimate goal being the worlds.

The real reason Obama is worried about Arizona…

I love this photo…but on a serious note it seems that the Obama administration won’t rest until anyone who wants can cross our boarder with absolutely no security. Thankfully most Americans do not to agree with him.
While Arizona is fighting in court to protect their new immigration laws from Obama and his cronies others are passing new immigration laws of their own.
The town of Fremont Nebraska has passed a town ordinance that makes it illegal to hire immigrants or from renting homes to them. Similar to what Arizona did, the laws make what is already a federal crime a local crime so that the local police can legally aid the INS. Also similar to the Arizona law, Fremont is being sued to have the laws overturned.
Public sentiment has been strongly in favor of what Arizona has been doing. Recent polls not only show that Americans overwhelmingly support Arizona but have also been showing Obama’s poll numbers going way down. As you can imagine this has Obama and his supporters very worried. They do not want this to catch on. It is being reported that a lot of other states are watching the Arizona court case very closely and have plans to pass similar laws. If Obama can’t turn his poll numbers around he will need the votes from the illegal aliens if he stands any chance of reelection. So expect a strong push to stop Arizona and a push for amnesty.
I am still planning on making a trip to Arizona this year for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. I know the little bit of money I will be spending there won’t do much for their economy but every little bit helps. I strongly urge anyone who can to do the same. Show your support for Arizona. My school sends people to Arizona every year for tournaments but this will be my first time. I can’t wait! Hopefully by then the lawsuit will be over and have gone in favor of Arizona.

Stll Going... and Going...

Its been about 3 weeks since I started cutting weight and rehabbing my shoulder. The training has been going well. I am loosing weight and my shoulder is getting stronger.
Over the last few weeks I have lost about 8 lbs. I am about 158 lbs now. I would like to loose at least 6 more pounds to get down to pena (Feather Weight) which is 154 lbs in the Gi. Which means that I need to be about 151 lbs the day of the tournament. So if I'm walking around at 152 to 153 that should be good. My goal was to get the weight down by the middle of next month (for the next round of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments) so I still have a few weeks to get there. It may be close but I am pretty confident that I will make it. I also want to fight at the No-Gi Pan-Ams this year which means I will need to be 149 lbs in shorts and T-shirt but I have a little more time for that.
Yesterday when I got off of work I went straight to the school to teach the 5 o'clock class. Then I ran 3 miles, did the No-Gi Class and then did the advanced class. After that I taught the 10 o'clock class got some food and went home for an Ice bath. Its a very long day but I love it.
I did another Ice Bath last night. I'm trying to do about two a week. It is miserable but it really helps me to train hard every day, and I need to keep up this pace to get my weight down in time. Right now I am only going in up to my waist. I need to try to get my shoulder under but it is very hard to get that low. I tried last night and it didn't go well...
The only thing that concerns me about being ready for next month is my shoulder. I separated the AC joint 2 weeks before worlds this year. It has really hurt my ability to train over the last couple months but it is finally starting to get better. It is still week and sore if I roll on it. I am hoping that it is also ready by next month.

Can we please just clean it up…

Despite the federal governments involvement in the gulf BP seems to have put a stop to the oil spill. The cap PB has placed over the well seems to be holding with a few minor leaks. BP says that the leak should be permanently stopped once the relief well is finished in about 2 weeks. We can only hope that this is the case. However even with the leak stopped we are still looking at a very long clean up.
No one can argue that this disaster was handled well by anyone involved. I also fully understand that there needs to be some regulation and oversight by the government when dealing with oil spills. With that said the damage that this oil spill caused could have been significantly smaller if it was not for the gross incompetence of federal government. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill the federal government took complete oversight over all future oil spills. The company involved would still be responsible for coming up with a solution, cost and execution. However everything that is done must be signed off on by the Feds and coordinated with Coast Guard. For example, if the company wants to use a skimmer ship to suck up the oil they must first wait for the administration to approve the use of the skimmer ship and then wait for the coast guard to oversee the use of the skimmer ship. Everyone knows that the government is vastly inefficient and does not do anything quickly. One only needs to take a trip to the MVA to realize this.
I don’t want to diminish BP’s responsibility in all this (after all it was BP’s oilrig, well, and crew working it). When this is all over I am certain that there will be a full investigation into BP and their responsibility however I fear that it will be a sham and that nothing will ever come of it. Giving that BP was a large supporter of Obama’s presidential campaign and given that Obama will be running for office again in a couple years, I doubt that he would want to give BP a reason not to support him again. Although one thing is for certain the Feds will be trying to duck all responsibility.
When this all started the Obama administration was a thorn in the side of the clean up effort. They stopped BP from using dispersing chemicals (which months later the EPA said where safe and would not have had an environmental impact), prevented BP from doing a burn-off (until it was too late to do one), stopped the construction on sand berms (that would have helped prevented the oil from going into the marshes) and refused the aid of 13 different countries. They did not even let BP use more then a few skimmer ships when a fleet was on hand. At one point the coast guard stopped all of the ships from skimming oil for 24 hours with no explanation. Later they said that they needed to check the ships to make sure they had enough life jackets on board. On top of all this every time BP came up with a new plan they had to wait for the administration to sign off on it. Days and weeks went by in-between each new plan (such as the failed backfill idea, relief wells, many different caps, etc.).
My Jiu-Jitsu instructor was saying just the other day that when you take time off you do not stay the same. You actually get worse. If you are not going forward you are going backward. Nowhere is that more true then here. I think the worst thing in all of this has been the lack of action and letting the oil just keep pumping out while waiting for the administration to make a decision. If nothing else, they should have immediately sent skimmer ships to suck up the oil and built the sand berms while they figured out what to do. Then there would not have to be as large of a clean up afterwards and the marshes would have been protected. While we were waiting for the administration to make decisions things were getting worse.
Another thing that is driving me crazy is the blaming of bush for this and/or the oil industry as a whole. It would seem that no matter what the situation they will find a way to blame bush. This is ridiculous! Forget for a second that BP supported Obama in the last election. Forget that the Obama administration gave BP an award for excellence in safety on the very rig that had the problem. The bottom line is that it was the environmentalist that kept pushing the drilling into deeper and deeper water. If the oil well was in shallower water it may have been a very minimal problem. Most of the problems with stopping the oil have been from the great depth that only can be reached by unmanned druids. Not only could oil be drilled in shallow water but also there are many places on land such as ANWR where oil could easily be extracted.
If there is one thing that I have learned since starting at Crazy 88 it is personal-responsibility. You must be accountable for your own actions. It’s about time this administration stop pointing figures and to help to fix the problem. If I were to cry and blame the ref at a tournament my coach would probably tell me to stop acting like a child. Obama needs to suck it up and do what needs to be done. If getting out of the way and letting BP solve the problem is the answer the so be it. If Obama has a better solution then lets do that. Bottom line is that we can’t just keep holding everything up while the situation is getting worse.
I just found out today that another oil spill has started off the coast of China. I wonder what the clean up will look like there. Will they have the same problems with their government… oil company… or very little problems cleaning it up…

Big Brother is at it again!

The law for video taping people has always been if it is in public its fair game. The founder of “Girls Gone Wild” has made millions off of this and those in the media use this everyday. So why was a Maryland man arrested and facing 16years in prison for video taping a traffic stop?
In modern times everyone with a cell phone has a camera. And with YouTube, everyone has the ability to broadcast videos across the world. More and more people catch a lot of stuff on tape both good and bad. Now often police officers have to be a little more careful about abusing their power. How could this be a bad thing? The combination of cell phone cameras and YouTube in a small way has if anything helped to put some checks and balances on the government.
Well big brother doesn’t like to be put in check. Recently a Marylander named Anthony Graber (a staff sergeant for the Maryland Air National Guard) was pulled over for speeding and driving recklessly on his motorcycle. Unknown to the officer Graber had a helmet camera. After the stop Graber posted a video of the traffic stop on YouTube. The video showed the officer cutting him off and them pulling his firearm on him. After posting the video Graber was arrested and his parents home was raided. The police confiscated his camera, computers and external hard drives. The reason given for his arrest was that he violating Maryland’s new state wiretap laws. The irony is that Maryland police cars have on board cameras and are allowed to video tape you. Also the media often ride along with police officers and videotape arrest and stops.
When used in a productive way, cameras can be a very useful tool. At my Jiu-Jitsu school we have many cameras. The cameras are used for many reasons. They are used to make sure instructors and employee are doing what they are supposed to in their classes, prevent theft and generally make sure no one is doing things that they are not supposed too. Also our school has a very large kids program and the cameras are there to not only make sure nothing inappropriate happens but also to prevent any false accusations. The police officers onboard camera is used in a similar way and I have no problem with that. So why the double standard when it comes to taping a police officer?
Apparently this is not the first time that this has happened. This problem has been spreading across the country. According to Carlos Miller (Miami journalist) he has personally documented about 10 arrests since 2007. Miller has himself been arrested twice for photographing police. He won one of the cases against him and the other was thrown out because the officer failed to appear.
So the answer to the question “why would the government not let you video police officers?” is the same reason why big brother impose all of its regulations… Power & Control! David Rocah from the ACLU made the following statement “The message is clearly, 'Don't criticize the police.' With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged.” Now Democratic Congressman Edolphus Towns of New York introduced a resolution calling for the protection of citizens who videotape cops in public from getting arrested on state wiretapping charges. We can only hope that he gets the support needed to pass such a resolution.

Wait you're going to pay me not to work?

It is no wonder the unemployment rate has been so high in the US under the Obama administration. Obama keeps paying people not to work. Since Obama took office the unemployment benefits was extended to 26 possible weeks. Now Obama and Senate Democrats have created a plan to extend unemployment benefits to up to 99 weeks. That is almost quadruple! Not only would this increase the budget by about 34 billion this year but also could be much higher over the next few years.
Man it is getting really tempting to get myself fired. I could train at Crazy 88 all day long. I wonder how good I would be at BJJ if I didn’t have to work and all I did was train all day. That would be great. Not only would I get really good at Jiu-Jitsu really fast but I could spend a lot more time with my wife and kids. We could take vacations whenever we want. If you needed more money you can always find someone to pay you under the table. Then I could take the family with me to tournaments. After 2 years you just get another job for two years and then do it again. Wow this would be like hitting the lottery… Now image everyone thought like that....
I guess after 16 months into their trillion-dollar stimulus plan they realized it didn’t help the economy. So they decided to add another 34 billion to this year's $1.4 trillion budget deficit and who knows how much in the future. Real smart…
This money could have been used to create more jobs. With more jobs you would have more people paying taxes. Instead we have less people paying taxes and the people that are working paying more and more money for those that are not working. At what point do we say enough? How much wasteful spending and over taxation will it take before we stop electing these types of politicians?

Getting in Shape!

Finally my weight has started moving again and I have broken the 160 pond wall that I had hit. Last night I weighed myself at 158 lbs. Hopefully it keeps moving a little more before I hit another wall. Tonight I will be up to more of the same. I will be going to the school right after work to train. I will be running about 4 1/2 miles and training in a few Jiu-Jitsu classes. I will probably be cutting it close but right now my weight is on schedule to be ready for the BJJ tournament at the end of August.
I still have rehab to be done for my shoulder so hopefully that will be ready as well. It is still very sore but my strength and flexibility is slowly coming back.
I will be doing my third ice bath tonight. As horrible as it is I truly feel it is worth it. My legs feel completely refreshed and ready to train again th next day. Tonight I am going to attempt to get deep enough to cover my shoulder. That is not going to be fun...

Napolitano Secures The Boarder...

The current administration has been very open about its unwillingness to secure the American boarders. They not only have chose not to do anything to protect the boarders themselves but have taken it a step further and are suing the state of Arizona because they want to secure there section of the boarder.
That’s why I find it very interesting that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is offering her support to help stop illegal aliens from crossing the boarder into Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently having a problem keeping out Iranian-backed Shi'ite insurgency from Yemen. Napolitano said, "It is a very rough border, very difficult to protect from illegal crossings." She met with Saudi leaders to discuss a range of security programs, including training, joint exercises, intelligence and arms sales. I guess protecting the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia is a higher priority then protecting our own boarders.
I’m not saying that we should or shouldn’t help Saudi Arabia. I just think that it’s ironic to say the least that this administration refuses to protect our country but will offer support to another country in protecting theirs. I cannot wait to go out to Arizona for the Arizona Open BJJ Tournament. Not only am I anxious to start competing again, but I want to do whatever I can to support Arizona against this onslaught of attacks from the left. Finally a state stands up and tries to help do something about all of the crime on the boarder and the Obama administration does everything in its power to stop them. I only hope that the courts side with Arizona and other states start passing similar legislation.
This kind of stuff really makes my blood boil. Thank goodness I am able to go to Crazy 88 to train tonight. There is no other stress reliever in the world then Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Anyway the judge hearing the case against the Arizona law said last week that there would likely not be a ruling on this law until after July 29, which is when the law will go into affect. I will we can only hope for the best…

In-House Tournament

On Saturday we had another white belt in-house tournament at my school. We do in-house tournaments a couple times a year to give our students that have never competed or competed very little a chance to get there feet wet and get experience in a friendly environment. All of the competitors are from schools within the affiliation so the coaches get together and match everyone up the best we can by both skill level and size to make sure everyone gets good fights. As usual, we had a very nice turn out and will continue to do these as often as we can.
If you want to get good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu it is good to compete as often as you can. For one you learn to stay calm. When you first start competing your nerves will wipe you out. You will feel very tired and not know why. Also you can learn more in one competition then in a month of training. If you make a mistake in a competition it is magnified. It is obvious when the instructor sees the mistake and you never want to do it again so you work hard to correct it. Sometimes you may see something that was working well on you and maybe you pick it up and bring it back. Other time you might realize something you are doing really well and it reinforces that. Anyway you look at it competing is a good thing.
These BJJ tournaments are not only good for getting experience but are also a good chance to meet teammates from the other schools in the affiliation. If you plan on competing in the future at the large international tournaments or even just locally the chances are that you will see a lot of teammates from other schools. The in house tournaments are very laid back compared to a real tournament since everyone knows that we are all teammates. It never hurts to meet new people, especially teammates.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago when I did my first white belt in-house tournament. It actually didn’t go that well for me and at the time I was a little upset. In hindsight I learned a lot from that tournament, not to mention that no one cares what happened at an in house tournament when you were a white belt. Actually once you reach the next belt no one cares what happened at the previous belt even if it was a real tournament. Everything is a learning experience and ultimately the goal is to be a black belt.

Training Update

Well I still have not made it to six miles. I ran out of time before class started. I decided to attempt it on Saturday since I will have more time. Training was still very good last night. I am training very hard and I am still hopeful about being ready for August BJJ tournaments. I am still around 160 lbs. I can’t seem to crack that barrier. I am going to continue my current jiu-jitsu training regiment and diet until Sunday and assess where I am. If I still have not gone below 160 I may change my diet again. We will see.
I took my second Ice bath last night. It wasn’t any easier then the last one. That first 2 to 5 minutes is murder. I did bring a laptop in and watched video to help pass the time. I am not sure if it helped that much. Its hard to focus on anything when you are freezing but I think it helped a little for the second half when I was more adjusted. I can feel a noticeable difference in my recovery after an Ice Bath. Shin Splints are a thing of the past and many of my other injuries have also seemed to heal much faster. I don’t think I could do it every night but I am going to try to do it every couple of days or so.
I also got to talk the Doc at the school last night. He said he would meet me there tonight to go over a new regiment for rehabbing my shoulder. Hopefully he can speed up my shoulder recover. That would make training a lot easier.

NRA Is Not A Bad Word!

I hate when liberals use the “NRA” as a pejorative. Often I hear things like, “Where did you get your information the NRA?” as if that would be a bad thing.
One of the problems is that the people arguing against firearms often don’t know much about it. This is like arguing with someone that does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu about training safety (when you have never trained at all) and saying “where do you get your information a BJJ school?” Of course you wouldn’t say that and who would know more about firearms safety and laws then the NRA. Of course I understand that there would some bias in NRA material but there are bias in everything you read and that doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have good and creditable information. Especially when you have people just waiting to discredit you (like the NRA does), you will be very diligent in making sure your information is correct.
Another problem is the stigma that the left has managed to place on the NRA. As if the NRA is some large corporation that buys off politicians and no one likes or agrees with. There are many lobby groups, for all kinds of reasons, like the NRA that never get used in this way. Every day thousands of corporations lobby hundreds of thousands of dollars to get anti-fire arm legislation passed. The NRA is merely a very large group of citizens each chipping in small amounts of money so that together they can counter the corporate lobbies. Rooting for the NRA is actually like rooting for the average working man who united found a way to fight the corporate machine. What could be wrong with that?
The Fact of the matter is I’m not even a member of the NRA and have read many books (not published by the NRA) that support my beliefs. So why does this bother me so much…? It is because the reason that they use the “NRA” as a pejorative is to dismiss your argument. Rather to change or divert the argument to the sources rather then argue the facts head on. This is infuriating! If you don’t want to talk about it, fine believe what you want but don’t degrade people just because you have no argument. I am not one of those in your face people that love to argue but there are a few things that I am passionate about (Firearms, Jiu-Jitsu and a few others) that I wont shy away from if it is brought up.
I once had a co-worker that found out I was pro-firearm from a mutual friend. I don’t like to have these kinds of arguments at work but she repeatedly pressed the issue until I caved in and decided to discuss it. As soon as I started bringing up different fact and statistics she immediately used the “Where did you get your information the NRA?”. I told her no, and I would be more then happy to bring her in some books as long as I got them back. Well long story short she kept them all for a month and never read a single one. I told her it was fine but don’t challenge someone on their facts unless you are prepared to read them for yourself.
When I was younger I loved to start fights and argue all night. I think ever since I joined Crazy 88 I have become mellower. I don’t know if that is because I’m getting older or if it is because I get all of my aggression out. It’s probably because after all the training I’m just too tiered. Whatever the reason one thing that still gets me hot is when people are dismissive…Hmmm maybe I will sign up for the NRA.

Getting in fight shape...

I have a big night of training at Crazy 88 ahead of me. I am still around 160 pounds. I seem to have hit a wall and I am having trouble getting under 160. My goal was to break 160 by the end of this week so it looks like I’m going to have to up the training a little. I am going to up the running tonight by attempting a 6-mile run. It will not only be the farthest I have run so far but this may be the longest I have every run. My legs feel pretty good right now so I think I can make it. I’m going to get off work a little earlier then normal to give myself a little more time to finish the run before class. After that I am going to train in every class. Judging by my weight after tonight I may have to adjust my diet some more but we will see. I only have a few more weeks to loose weight if I want to make the August Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.
On another note my shoulder rehab is going pretty good. My arm hurts less and less everyday. I am still having a little trouble rolling on it and it is a little weak but it feels far better then this time last week. I am probably going to have my orthopedic doctor look at it tonight just make sure everything is going to plan. Luckily for me my doc trains Muay Thai at our school so I don’t need to go anywhere to have him look at it.

Arizona Defending Our Nation!

About a week ago I posted a quick little blurb referencing the Arizona immigration situation. In view of the recent CBS News Poll I thought I might examine this a little further.
Here in Maryland far removed from either boarder we often don’t pay attention to the problems involved in keeping our country secure. For me training at Crazy 88, over the last couple years I have viewed Arizona as just a place were we send guys to do a BJJ tournament (Arizona Open) as a warm up for the big tournaments. But in fact there is a little war going on at our boarders.
It is necessary to have secure boarders to have sovereignty. Without boarders there is no nation. You cannot enforce laws on people if they can come and go as they please. If the boarders are not secure anything and anyone can come across. Terrorist, murderers, weapons, bombs or military could come across the boarder. Who knows… What we do know is that every day criminals are trafficking everything from drugs to the human slave trade (mostly young women forced into prostitution).
I’m not saying everyone who comes across the boarder illegally is a bad person, but it is illegal entry and regardless of the Arizona law that does make them criminals. The federal law makes it illegal to sneak across the boarder not the Arizona law. The Arizona law only helps to enforce the federal statute.
When I first heard about the AZ law there was a huge backlash from many groups and politicians, including the current administration. They were saying that this law would cause racial profiling and was unconstitutional. It was funny to hear politicians bad mouthing the law and then when asked if they even read the bill admitted that they had not. In fact the bill almost mirrors the federal law. The only way that it is different is in the fact that it specifically forbids racial profiling (unlike the federal law). AZ law enforcement would only be able to ask for immigration status of those already stopped or detained for another reason, and even then would need reasonable suspicion that the person was here illegally (Something other then race). If the person is found to be illegal the police call INS.
So why all of the stink? Well it depends on from whom. Of coarse groups like La Raza (which means "the race") do not like this law. La Raza has stated one of their purposes as to take back land (such as Texas) for Mexico. Also of coarse some politicians would be against the law. Many of them take money from groups like La Raza and many of them are trying to win a huge emerging voting block.
If you were to listen to most mainstream media outlets you would think that most American agree with Obama but ever since the law was passed the polls have been in Arizona’s favor. Now even a CBS poll (which usually leans left) is showing 74% of Americans support the Arizona law (including the 17% that actually thinks Arizona should do more). Hopefully this will help to pull more of the politicians to Arizona’s side, and just maybe finally do something to secure the boarders.
Since all this started many groups have been calling for boycotts of Arizona. I know for sure I will be going AZ this year. Not only will I be going for BJJ and to try to win the AZ Open, but I will be making it a point to spend money and help their economy. I urge everyone not only to do the same (if possible) but also to write their congressmen and loco legislators and push for them to pass similar laws.

Free Speech…not in the UK!

Last year under the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Labour Party) Great Britain banned popular talk show host Dr. Michael Savage from entering the county. They added him to a terror watch list that included many terrorist and neo-nazis such as Hamas terrorist leader Yunis Al-Astal and many others. The reason sited for this was that they believed his views might provoke violence.
Dr. Savage was hopeful that under the new conservative leadership of Prime Minister David Cameron that the ban would be lifted. However things are still not going well for Dr. Savage. The new prime minister told him that he would first have to repudiate his statements, unfortunately Dr. Savage has never been told what those statements were. Dr. Savage has tried to sue for his reentry. This has been an uphill fight considering that in GB you have no right to free speech. As a matter of fact you do not really have any rights at all unless granted by parliament.
This really makes you appreciate living in a country that has a constitution. In previous years I have talked to many of my British friends about privacy issues and gun rights. They have the same major issue. There is no right to privacy, there is no right to bare arms, there is no right to free speech, there are no rights at all. The government pretty much does what it wants. The bill of rights in our constitution was written because our 4-fathers feared the country turning into a GB and now we can see why.
I travel a lot for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Last January I had a chance to visit GB. I flew to Europe with a few of my teammates from Crazy 88 to compete at the European Open. The European Open is the premier BJJ tournament in Europe held in Lisbon Portugal. On the way there and on the way back we stopped in London to sight see. Although overall it was a very nice city you got a little bit of a feeling of George Orwell’s 1984. They literally have cameras everywhere. Every street corner in the city “Big Brother Is Watching”. London was a very nice place to visit but I don’t think I would want to live there!
I’m not the biggest Savage fan. I listen when nothing else is on. However I think adding him to a terror watch list is a little extreme. They might not like that he is a conservative but I personally have never heard him say anything that would incite violence. Usually if he attacks anyone the target is politicians or the government. Maybe that’s what they are afraid of. Dr. Savage has now said that he plans to take his case before the European Court of Human Rights saying, "The European Union seems to be very forgiving of those who have actually murdered people in terror acts, Let's see if they will defend my right to free speech." Haha

My First Ice Bath

Over the last couple of weeks I have been running and Training everyday at Crazy 88 to try to get ready for the up coming BJJ tournaments next month. I have a good amount of weight to loose so I have been training very hard. my muscles are wrecked and its getting harder and harder to train. As I said before a close friend of mine says if you want to train like a pro you need to do the ice bath. The ice bath is supposed to completely rejuvenate your muscles to keep you training, so says my friend. Well I did the ice bath... For starters if you have children I suggest doing this before they go to bed. I filled the tub with four bags of ice and cold water. When I tried to get in I found myself shrieking and waking up the kids. All I remember is my wife saying hold still so I can take your picture and I was thinking @#!% $&*. The first 2 minutes were excruciating. I did not think I was going to make it. After the first 2 minutes I spent the next five shivering but it was getting better. After 10 minutes you are numb so its not to bad. Around 13 minutes my legs actually started to get warm as if the water was getting warmer. When I moved around I realized that the water was still insanely cold! At 17 minutes in my skin started to feel like it was burning but I new I was almost done. Finally 20 minutes I quickly got out and dried off. My legs were cold for the next couple of hours and it was hard to get to sleep. Over all it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be but those first few minutes are murder. I was little bit of a wuss though. I was told to sink down to my chest but I only soaked from my waist down. Maybe next time...
When I woke up this morning I must say I do feel incredibly better. My legs are still a little sore (especially my calves and shins) but compared to the last couple days I feel great. I might even do it again tonight or tomorrow depending on how I feel. The things I do for BJJ...ha

A Common Goal...

Over the past year or so “Tea Parties” have been springing up everywhere. The Tea Parties have brought people together from all walks of life. Republicans, Libertarians, even Democrats have all joined together with the stated goals of smaller government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility. It would seem that there is a growing resentment for all of the major political parties when it comes to the unchecked and out of control spending. Although the majority of the criticism has been aimed at the Democrat party, the Tea Party has targeted all big spenders even a lot of Republicans.
Understandably so, this has the current administration very worried about upcoming elections. This has caused an assault from the big government types. They tried just about everything to dismiss and discredit the Tea Party movement. They even resorted to childish name calling referring to the Tea Party goers as “Tea Baggers” (A disgusting sexual act). Now they charge that the only reason so many people could possibly be for smaller government and low taxes is that they are racist. Ignoring that a large portion of the 20 million attendees have been black themselves, the statement in it of itself is ridiculous.
When Barack Obama was running for office many of my friends were saying that with Obama in office there would be less racial tension but it would seem that this administration tries to interject race into everything and anything that they don’t agree with or who doesn’t agree with them. Everyone knows that once the Race Card is thrown there is not much you can say to defend yourself.
In my personal life I train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At my school we literally have people from all walks of life. We have everything from doctors and lawyers to police and military to retail and food industry workers at our school. We have many different races, men & women. We have Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, Green Party and Independents. We don’t all agree on everything but we all get along and enjoy being around each other because we all have common goals. At the gym our goals are to get better at BJJ, Thai Boxing and MMA. The Tea Party is the same in this manner. There are many people that don’t necessarily agree on everything but they are all concerned citizens that all agree that something needs to be done to curb the out of control spending and reduce the over taxation.

Great Training Yesterday!

I got to the school yesterday for the 5:00 class, then ran 4 1/2 miles, then did the no-gi submission grappling class, then did the advanced Jiu-Jitu class and then taught the 10 pm class. I'm Training very hard right now. My body is very sore but it will all be worth it when I'm at pena (about 151 lbs) and my shoulder is completely rehabbed. My weight is still about 160 pounds. My goal is to be ready for the BJJ tournaments in the middle of August. Its going to be tough but I think I can make it. Hopefully I will loose a little more this week. Tonight Im going to run another 4 1/2 miles and do a few classes. After I get home I am going to attempt my first "Ice Bath". A close friend of mine says if you want to train like a pro you need to do the ice bath. Its the only way to recharge for the next training session. I say attempt... I may need to have my wife hold me in there. I will be filling the bathtub with ice water and submerging myself up to my neck. I need to stay there for 10 minutes. This sounds crazy to me but if it works it works. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow. Wish me luck...

When will Barack Obama accept blame for the condition of this economy? He has spent Trillions of dollars rewarding the major banks, unions, the largest of the big businesses, and others of his close supporters such as ACORN (so called Stimulus) while raising taxes on everyone else. Since taking office our labor force has lost over 7.9 million jobs and all I hear is how he claims to have saved jobs and how it could have been worse...Really?! All I hear from his supporters is that this is Bush's fault. Under the bush administration the unemployment rate was about 4 percent. The unemployment rate climbed to 10.6 this year. I'm no Bush supporter but 4 sounds a lot better then 10. I can't stand it when people refuse to accept any responsibility. This is one of the reasons I love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so much. BJJ is a very honest sport. When you go to a BJJ tounament it is just you and your opponent. You either win or you loose. If you loose there is no one to blame but yourself... I like that...

PSKey...

So last night I sit down to watch a movie with my wife. We put a DVD in the PlayStation3 and it starts making a loud noise. Then it said it can't read the disk. When I eject the disk it is now extremely scratched. All I could think was thank goodness it wasn't one of my BJJ videos. I picked up the PlayStation and it sounded like something was moving around in it. When I tilted it forward a key fell out. Apparently my son got a hold of an old house key and inserted it into the PlayStation. The funny thing is we were using it for a couple hours before with no problem. There is no telling how long the key was in there. Apparently the key moved into a bad spot on the last movie. At least everything still seems to be working correctly... Afterward we watch an old early MMA video. It was fun to watch. MMA has come along way. I got more running to do today and back to training at Crazy 88 tomorrow!

Congrats!

The Crazy 88 kids did very well at the BJJ tournament on Saturday. The kids brought back a lot of gold medals. Not that this is very surprising but I was especially proud of one of our juniors who fought up a skill level and took gold in his no-gi division and silver in his Gi division. He truly believes in the process and didn't even question it when we told him to fight up. Great job Chris!

Substitute Teaching

Saturday morning I got up early and went to Crazy 88. There was no kids classes since most of the children and instructors went to a tournament. I cleaned up a little and got to substitute teach a class. Sometimes its a lot of fun to teach a class that you don't normally teach. In BJJ I think it good to sometimes get another persons perspective and I felt I had a lot to offer. After the classes were over for the day I went out to eat with our head instructor and another classmate. Of course I ate salad since I'm still trying to cut weight.

Cutting Weight...

Just getting off work and on my way to the school. Im walking around at 160lbs still. It seems I've hit a little plateau with the weight cutting. I guess I will need to run a little further every day. Im Trying to get down to pena which is 154 lbs with the GI on. So I need to be walking around at about 152 or so. Unlike in MMA matches, the big BJJ tournaments do not allow you to weigh in the night before so you do not want to cut a lot of water weight. You actually weigh in right before you fight. Anyway I will be tracking my weight and posting my progress over the next few weeks. My goal is to be walking around at 152 lbs by the second week in August.

I'm Lovin' it

Finally McDonalds stands up for itself!
Everyone knows that McDonalds is not the healthiest food you can buy. I personally rarely eat there and now that I have been cutting weight for BJJ tournaments I don’t eat there at all. However with that said last month the CSPI (The Center for Science in the Public Interest) threatened to sue McDonalds if they did not remove the toys from Happy Meals. Seriously…? Come on… In our modern society it would seem that we are very quick to give up our freedom to choose for our selves so not to have any responsibility for our own actions. The “Nanny State” mentality is a very dangerous and slippery path!
Subsequent to this story breaking there has been a backlash against the Nanny State. Huge public support started coming out for keeping the toys in the happy meal. In it off its self this may seem silly but with the repeated assault on our liberties from everything from political correctness, smoking to what foods you can eat (trans-fats, salt, etc.) I think the public is saying I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! I don’t support doing things that are bad for you but it should be up to you to decide. I don’t know what I would do if someone told me I couldn’t train at Crazy 88 because I could get hurt… Well I would do it anyway but hopefully you get the point.
In view of all the public support McDonalds’ CEO Jim Skinner sent a letter to the CSPI basically telling them to stick it… and that the toys would be staying in the happy meal! Good for you McDonalds! I might just have to break my BJJ diet to help celebrate or maybe I will just take my kids!

AZ On Thier Own!

In order to stop thousands of criminals from crossing the boarder and flooding into Arizona, the Arizona government has passed a law to help enforce the federal immigration laws.
Seeing the dire straights that Arizona is in does the Obama administration send troops to the boarder… Does he send more INS agents to aid… of course not. The Obama administration has chose in stead to sue Arizona. Great job Obama…
You know if it wasn’t for being able to let off a lot of steam in my BJJ class I would probably be a very angry person.
Speaking of which, my wife is helping take the kids from Crazy 88 to the Aquarium today. Lucky! Actually I don’t envy her, that seems like a lot of work. I will be working all day but I still get to train at the school tonight. I am down to 160lbs. I only have about 8 to go before my next tournament.

A Happy 4th!

Back to work today after a nice 3 day 4th of July weekend. My wife and I took the kids to a heritage festival. We all had a lot of fun. It was really hot but every since training at Crazy 88 the heat doesn't seem to bother me as much and the kids could care less. They were too busy jumping on the moon bounce and getting on rides. Yesterday I got to spend the day training which was great since I need to loose 10 more pounds by next month (I'm competing in BJJ at a lower weight). Also summer camp started at our school yesterday so the kids got to play all day.