Its Football Time...

Football season is here again and it has got me thinking a lot about training. I always thought of professional football and other professional sports as seasonal. The football season is only 4 months, with an additional month and a half of training camp and preseason. Then there is another month in the post season for the teams that make it. So do football players really only train for 6 months out of the year… I really doubt it.
Ever since I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I have had a new prospective. The Jiu-Jitsu season goes mostly all year long but has its grand finale or “Super Bowl” in early June. In order to be ready for the BJJ Worlds (Mundials) in June you literally need to train all year long. You do things in stages to build yourself up and peak at the end of the year but you are still training. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitu School in Maryland where I train is very competitive. We train very hard all year long and do the smaller BJJ tournaments through out the year to refine our skill. We do this because we know that if we are not someone else is.
I would imagine it is the same way in profession football. Everyone knows that every year new guys are coming into the league to try and take their jobs. You better believe most guys will do everything in there power to prevent that. I am sure there are some guys that just get by on talent but I would bet that those are the guys that don’t last long!

Another Awesome Proformance!

Team Lloyd Irvin has been on fire this year and strikes again winning the team title at the Chicago Open!
Not too bad considering there is not even a Lloyd Irvin affiliate in Chicago. Also the team did not send guys from many of its academies including the main academy. A few schools each sent a handful of guys and just about everyone did very well. Our Jiu-Jitsu school in Maryland probably sent the largest group. We sent 15 guys and brought back 16 medals. Most of which were gold (I believe it was about 10), including the blue belt & purple belt open weight division titles.
We sent a pretty wide verity of competitors to this Jiu-Jitsu tournament. The more experienced guys were there to practice their "B-Game", or stuff that is not in their normal Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game plan. For some of the others this tournament was to help them get more experience competing and used to competing in an IBJJF style tournament. For one of our competitor this was her first tournament (Barlow). She has only been training for a couple months but she did very well taking Silver.

A Day Filled With Training!

Yesterday I got up an went in to work 2 hours early so that I could leave for a couple hours around 9:30 to make the 10:00 strength and conditioning training session at my martial arts school in Maryland. D'Angelo Kinard from Advanced Sports Performance (a professional Mixed Martial Arts Trainer) was up to install our new conditioning routine. It was brutal!
D'Angelo had us doing a lot of exercises similar to the last time he came up for the seminar except he added in weights. We did a lot of different exercises, some for time and some were a number of reps. I think we used every muscle in our bodies. It was like doing a circuit for an hour. Everyone who was there looked like they were going to die afterward... A sign of a good work out!
After the conditioning session I went back to work until 4:30 then it was back to the gym. I taught a couple of basic Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes and then trained in the advanced Jiu-Jitsu class.
By the time the advanced class started I was a little run down but I made it through. It was a good class. We did a lot of drilling and situational sparring. We also focused on getting the guys ready for the Chicago Open this weekend.
I am a little sore today but mostly i am just wiped out. I really liked training mid-day. When I got back to work I was pump up and got a lot done. Its a shame I can't do this that often (the boss would not go for me leaving ever day) but I might try to do it once in a while. I might start doing my conditioning early in the morning. I'm not sure how that will affect me during the day but I need to fit in at least 3 conditioning sessions a week in addition to the classes I am currently attending.

Stolen Valor Act Overruled

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the Stolen Valor Act today. The Stolen Valor Act was passed by congress to make it illegal to falsely claim to have received military medals.
In 2007 Xavier Alvarez (a California public official) was found guilty of falsely claiming to have received the Medal of Honor after being wounded many times in combat. Unfortunately for him he made this statement at a public meeting and was then charged. Alvarez then appealed the case stating that it is his first amendment right to free speech to lie about whatever he wants. It is currently unclear if this case will go to the Supreme Court and even if it does no one is sure how they will rule. In the past Supreme Court has ruled on both sides of this issue.
The First Amendment was designed to protect political speech but over time has protected everything from art to pornography. At the same time there are things you cannot do such as yelling fire in a theater. In recent times congress has even passed laws restricting what kind of advertising can be done close to an election (political speech) and even more recently made it a crime to lie to a federal agent (like the FBI). So I guess sometimes you can lie and sometimes you cant.
I admit there is a part of me that wishes there were tougher laws on lying about awards. I train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and have seen people lie about their credentials, what belt they are, what Jiu-Jitsu tournaments they have won or what their Mixed Martial Arts record is. However the thing is all of these things can easily be checked and so can military medals (especially the Medal of Honor).
As crappy as it is that someone would be so stupid to lie about something like that, should they really go to jail? Wouldn’t loosing your job be enough punishment? In the case of Xavier Alvarez once he was called out they should have just voted him out of office. Usually once the person is called out they look ridiculous enough.
It definitely is not often that I side with the 9th Circuit court (most overturned court in the country) however I always try to stay on the side of the constitution and I think that they got it right. I guess I can see why the Supreme Court is usually split on these kinds of issues.

California Über Alles

All over the country there seems to be a trend towards conservative candidates for this upcoming election. This may be normal cyclical trends, the public fed up with over taxation (tea parties) or a backlash against Obama and his policies but it is clear that the country is going more conservative. Liberal Republicans are loosing primaries and even some Democrats are running as conservatives. All over the county polls are showing conservatives leading over liberals even in some of the most liberal states. And yes, this even holds true in California.
Those of us that remember 80's punk rock remember the name Jerry Brown from the popular punk song "California Über Alles" (by the Dead Kennedys). Well good old fascist Jerry Brown is running for Governor again but this time against a small government conservative named Meg Whitman. Meg is currently holding a narrow 1 point lead in the polls which in its self is a huge feat considering that political make up of California.
Another high profile political race in California is between Carly Fiorina and Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer. Fiorina is leading Boxer by 5 points (47 to 42) and her support has not changed over the last month. Boxer has also been around a long time. She is known to many as the senator who mussel swept a crowed of people at an anti-gun rally she was holding. She has been anti-gun for a very long time even though she has a concealed weapon permit. I guess she believes we should do as she says and not as she does.
Because I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu going to California is not an option. All of the major Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in this country are in California (Nationals, U.S. Open, Pan-Americans, Worlds). My school in Maryland will be sending a squad out to Nationals next month. It will be the first tournament I have done since worlds. It will be interesting be out there and see if there are a lot of Republican signs and such.

Sunshine State

Florida’s attorney general announced yesterday that they were introducing new legislation with regards to immigration. The proposed legislation for the most part mirrors the Arizona immigration law. It allows the police to inquire about the immigration status of individuals that are all ready detained if the police have reasonable suspicion. In other words if the police pull someone over for speeding after witnessing them cross the boarder and the suspect does not have a license or any form of identification and does not speak English, the police officer can then inquire about there immigration status.
The Florida law does differ in a few ways, it is actually even tougher on illegal aliens. For one this law makes it a misdemeanor for an alien (legal or not) to not have proper immigration documentation. This law also imposes tougher penalties for illegal-aliens if they commit certain crimes (like armed robbery & drug charges). Another difference is the Florida law would require businesses to verify the immigration status of new employees through a national database.
This law has not passed yet but kudos to Florida. If this passes it will help the Arizona’s and the nation’s situation significantly. For one this will help build momentum for more and more states to pass similar laws. Also the Arizona law is being fought in the 9th circuit court of appeals. The 9th circuit court of appeals is a very left wing court and is actually the most overturned court of appeals in the country. In all likelihood this court will attempt to drag the case out, since currently the Arizona law was been mostly overturned, and when they finally rule on it they will probably rule against Arizona causing it to go to the Supreme Court for a final ruling. If the Florida law passes and the Obama administration sues them it will likely end up in a more conservative court of appeals. If the court were to side with Florida it would put pressure on the 9th circus court to make a ruling. With multiple courts ruling differently it would push the Supreme Court to hear the case faster.
Ultimately, if all goes well this should force the federal government to enforce there own laws and finally do something about the boarders. If the Feds will not enforce there own laws then the states should have the right to protect themselves.
My Jiu-Jitsu school in Maryland flies us all over the county and the world to compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournaments. In the past year I have been to Florida twice (Miami & Tamp Bay). Over all Florida seemed like a decent place and was nice place to visit. I also like a lot of the laws in Florida and only wish my state would adopt some of them (Like the gun laws). There is absolutely no way for me to know what the illegal population is from visiting. However according to the Department of Homeland Security in 2009 Florida had an estimated 720,000 illegal aliens, which is the 3rd highest in the country (Only Texas and California is Higher).
I am planning on doing some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trips coming up soon. One of the ones I was already planning on was going back to Florida in October for the Miami Open. I am also planning on going to Arizona but I not sure yet when that is going to be. It would be great if I could go and support all of the states that are helping to secure our boarders.

Comming Down the Stretch...

Well I'm in the final stretch of my weight cutting. My goal was to be about 152 lbs by the second or third week of August. I am right on pace. I should be able to make 152 or 153 by the end of this week and then be there comfortably by the end of next week. I need to be 151 pounds for international Gi Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and 149 lbs for international No-Gi Submission Grappling tournaments. I figure if I am walking around at about 152 or so it should be an easy cut when the tournaments come up.
I cant say that it has been easy. I have been training very hard. Not only training in multiple classes everyday but running and doing circuits. The worst thing however has been the dieting.
I love to eat! Dieting has definitely been hard. Fortunately I love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu even more. Still, it is so tempting to just break diet. It is a constant struggle every time I see junk food. Not that I have been perfect but overall I have been doing very well. At the end of last month I met with a trainer. One of the things he said was that it is ok to break once in a while (Once a week or less) as long as you do it all in one day. Its better to eat really bad one day then to snack and cheat a little every other day. I have been trying very hard to stick to that and for the most part have been doing well.
Tonight I will be heading to my school in Maryland right after I get off work. I will be teaching a class, then running and a circuit. If I get done in time I will do another class before the advanced class at 8:30.