Chicken Dinner!

Yeah! My good buddy, Dave Komarov, just won his fight at the Gladiator Challenge in Wendover last Saturday. He managed an armbar in the middle of the first round. He was landing some hard hits the whole round. I'm so surprised that he didn't get a KO.

The weekend prior to the fight we went to the zoo together and it was the best time that I've ever had there. Probably because he is a totally nerd and would get so excited about what he learned of the various animals. The best was how he would point our the size of the animals testicles in relation to their body size. Every single time. Toward the end, I would automatically look there and be amazed before he would make his comment.

Have you ever seen anyone come this close before? His reach is unreal, and he uses it well.

So precious.

Edward also fought in The Gladiator Challenge and won by referee stoppage due to strikes in the second round. It feels good to have some more wins for Team Absolute.
The main event was Jake "The Snake" Paul vs. Lee Doss and it ended quick! This show was called "Retaliate" because JTS and Lee Doss faced off against each other a while ago (JTS won) and it was said from Lee Doss' camp that the fight was called by the ref early. They had another go at it and JTS threw one punch after touching gloves and Lee Doss was rocked. This was seriously seconds after the bell. JTS followed it up with one or two more strikes once Lee was on the ground. That's it, the fight was called. What an ending to the hype that was generated.

I really love coming to these events and the caliber of local fighting is pretty good. You're usually guaranteed a couple of really good fights at these shows. Come next time.

Hmmm....I Think That I Will Go To This

Dear Will,

I'm sorry that I elbowed you in the face and made your nose bleed today. Apparently it is a goal of mine to see how many noses I can make bleed in the gym this year. Who's next?

Cedar City Fights

Two of my good friends were fighting down in Cedar City this weekend and a group of us from Absolute decided to go down and support them. Camrann was also supposed to be in this show but his opponent supposedly got into a car accident, which he couldn't prove, and consequently Cam's fight was cancelled. What was fun about this is that it reminded me of the first show that I ever went to. It was exactly 2 years ago when ODB had his first fight at the Weber County fairgrounds and this venue was identical to it. The cage was right in the middle of a rodeo arena and smelled like horse poop. There were rows of metal folding chairs in the dirt around the cage and bleachers that were too far away to really see anything well. The part of it all was that the fighters came out of a horse pen! What the...?!
Riley lost his fight in the first round by TKO. That was really disappointing and I feel that if Riley were to fight that guy 10 more times, he would win all of them. I hope he takes another fight soon and will finally see what he really can do. I'm so amazed at how hard I feel it when one of my teammates is defeated. My little heart physically aches. I hate it.
Kyle totally dominated. He barely got hit at all. He won in the second round with a TKO. His opponent had a wicked reach but Kyle worked with it really well. I just can't see Kyle ever losing. His focus and determination is unmatched.
All the guys were teasing me about when I'm going to get in the cage. I was joking around and said that when Denver (who hasn't had a fight yet) racks up five wins and when Kyle wins the All ARMY MMA competition, I'll get in the cage. Kyle steps up and he wants to shake on it. I refuse because I know that he really is capable of winning the All ARMY and Denver could quite possibly rack up 5 wins as soon as he starts getting fights. It was quite comical though. I really couldn't see myself in the cage at this time. It's just not what I want at the moment.

The group of us that went down to Cedar City Kyle and I after his fight

Riley and I after his fight. Poor guy, he just looks so unhappy and I just bound in and hug him and shove a camera in his face. What a champ.
The high class venue

Some of the high class people that we saw there. This girl's necklace was my favorite observation of the night...a rhinestone studded brass knuckle pendant.Me, Jessi (Ben's girl) and Ben. She became an instant BFF. I love those kind of women.

The ride down was awesome because I heard a ton more of those Man Stories that I love to hear. Ben is the KING of adolescent male stupidity. I'm surprised that he's lived as long as he has. Denver had some awesomely funny stories as well. One of my favorites was a game they played called "Cardboard Cat". Him and his friends would fashion a cat out of cardboard and other household crap and put tinfoil (or some other reflective material) on it as the eyes and then put it out in the middle of the road. Cars would just stop and wait there for the "cat" to pass and then get out of their vehicle only to find out that it was a fake. Hilarious.

The trip home was a little less lively. We were all up for quite a while the night before. After the fights we got a bite to eat and then headed out to a club for a while. We got back to the hotel and I went right to sleep whereas others continued the insanity.

We made it back safe and sound and all are excited in anticipation for our next trip, which is in 2 weeks, where we are going to Wendover to the Gladiator Challenge because Dave "Komi" is fighting in it.

Ben, leaning in all sexily. Grrr.

Denver and Sean (not to be confused with Sideshow Bob)

I think Denver had a bit of a rough night.

Kickin' it in the minivan.

R.I.P. Super

You've been a good buddy these past 7 years. I think I might cry all night. But I may rejoice in the fact that I no longer have to clean your tank or find someone to feed you when I go on vacation. Oh Super, you will always be in my heart and you will never be replaced. Ever.

Man Stories

I love man stories. It seems that they always have the funniest, most entertaining adventures to tell. Yesterday I was incredibly tired at work. I really could hardly concentrate on what I had to do. Two of my friends, Mark and Ben, came into my office and started telling me stories to help perk me up.

Ben had a surgery a few years ago because he broke either his tibula or fibula, while he attempted for the first time to drop into a halfpipe on his skateboard. As entertainment during his recovery, one of his buddies dropped into the halfpipe while strapped to a chair on wheels - like an office chair. It wasn't going too well, so they sent him in backwards and out of courtesy put a helmet on him. What the...?!

Mark was telling me about the time one of his buddies was riding his pedal bike as fast as he could away from his brother who was chasing him on his motorcycle. He was riding fast through some gravel and ended up wiping out. His brother then went ahead and ran him over on his motorbike, thereby breaking his femur! The guy had a cast on that went from his upper thigh all the way down to nearly his ankle. After about a week, the cast started itching real bad. So instead of grabbing a metal coat hanger or something, he finds the longest steak knife that he could find and proceeds to ease the itch by sticking it down in his cast. He not only injures himself while scratching the itch, but manages to lose the steak knife in the cast. He then had to go back to the doctor's office for the cast to be removed to find the knife and have a new one put on.

Most of the other tales included damage to the guys' "Willis and Doodle-Berries" if ya know what I mean. Those situations always make me explode with laughter. Like the story Ben told about how he and his buddy went somewhere on thier bikes and when they went to go home they saw that the seat was stolen off of his friends bike. He had to ride the whole way home standing up. Ben was messing with him and he slipped off his pedal and damaged his goods. So awful, yet SO hilarious.

I seriously love those kind of stories! I hope that when I have children that I have a few of those crazy boys. I can totally handle boys.

Nothing Injured Except My Pride

The other night I went for a late night run in the Cardio Theater at Gold's Gym. The movie that was playing was Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. I've never seen it before and was quite entertained by it. I was nearing the end of my 6 miles so I was kinda tired and my feet started dragging a bit and the part came where Nicole Kidman's character, experiencing her first day in The Outback, was admiring the hopping kangaroo that were running along side the car that she was riding in. She's in love with the spectacle when suddenly you hear a gunshot and the kangaroo crumples while Nicole's face distorts with horror. It scared me so bad that I went flying off the back of the treadmill and ended up in a heap on the floor. I cannot remember the last time that I've been that embarrassed. There was only 2 other people in the room and once they saw I was ok, they started laughing so hard. Then I started laughing uncontrollably and we all had to pause our workouts and regroup. They said that they were startled too and probably would have had the same fate as me if they were on one of the treadmills and not the elliptical machines. We laughed some more and got back on our machines. I set out to finish my last mile and not 2 minutes later there was Hugh Jackman with his shirt off, pouring a bucket of water sexily over his perfecty tan and chiseled body. I bit my knuckles and then slipped in a puddle of my own drool, which once again sent me flying off the back off the machine. Fine, what really happened is that I athletically hopped onto the runners on the side of the treadmill and intently watched the scene so as to avoid any incident, which very well could have included saliva induced slippage. Oh man, Hugh Jackman is one incredibly hot specimen. I FINALLY saw Wolverine and was blown away. I love that kind of action adventure and amazing hotness that the movie displayed. The only thing that could've made it better would have been more of Ryan Reynold's character, Deadpool, in the movie. Yes, he did it for me.

Anyway, about a half hour after I finished my workout I found out that some friends were registered to do the Sandy City Midnight Moon 5K Run. I decided to join them and had a blast running 3 more miles in the crisp night air while donning glowstick bracelets and necklaces. The first mile was entirely uphill and I was sure that I was it was going to kill me, since I had just ran 6 miles and biked 12 miles in the hour previous to this race, but it didn't and the rest of the run was a very moderate course. I feel so lucky to have so many fun friends and a ton of opportunities to involve myself in plenty of different activities. I'm determined to stay active my entire existence and retain my fascination for life and learning.

My BFF

My niece is my little pal. She's three and I'm thirty, but we hang out like we're a couple of teenagers. I haven't been at Absolute training this week because of my wrist and have been filling my nights with fun things. I had no plans after work today, so I called Liesl and asked if she wanted to go to the movies.

Me: "Hey pal, I'm off of work a little early and want to know if you want to go and see a movie with me?"
Liesl: "Oh my gosh, sure! Are you coming to pick me up?"
Me: "Yeah, of course. I'll be there in about ten minutes. Is that cool?"
Liesl: Yeah, I just got some chocolate on my dress so I have to get changed, but then I'll be ready."
Me: "Alright, I'll see you in a little bit."
Liesl: "Oh my goodness, this is going to be so much fun!"
Me: "I know, right?"
Liesl: "I know, right!"

Seriously, she's only three and is that articulate!

Look at how teenagerish we are...self portraits at every outing. She's even getting good at taking them herself.

Eating popsicles on a bench outside the movie theater.

In the car before heading to the zoo.
Hanging out at home and playing Bingo.

FAKEOUT!

Due to an unfortunate injury while training last night, I won't be competing tomorrow. Too bad, so sad. But there's always next the next tournament to focus my efforts on.

In Case You Wanted to Come...

I'm competing in a grappling tournament at the Throwdown ETC this Saturday, 01 August 2009. Fun, huh?! It starts at 9am and the women's division is usually first. The address is 1640 South State Street, Orem UT. Chris Kennedy and Ben Garner from Absolute MMA are also competing. There may be a few others from our team that I don't know about. In any case it should be awesome!

Could I Possibly Be Any Girlier?

Look at what I just stumbled upon.......

I love it. I want it. I must have it.

Tournament Time

So the story goes, I was leisurely having lunch with my teammate, Ben, last Wednesday when he brought up the fact that there would be a tournament the coming Saturday. I perked at the chance to see how I would fair with just a few days notice. I ended up doing well. I'm improving steadily was able to test my progression. There was only one other woman registered, who just happened to be very comparative in size and strength. It was a really fun match. I got a really sweet single leg takedown right away and maintained dominant position while working for a submission. She was turtling up well and it was hard to force her to give up a limb or something no matter what position I transitioned into. I was in mount and they stood us back up (what?!). I got her against the wall and dragged her down with a double leg and worked dominant position. the reason that I'm telling you guys this is because takedowns were my trouble spot in the last tournament and I've been working on them since. It was paying off. I attribute my takedowns against the wall to Kyle's lesson last Thursday before class. He offered to meet with me early and teach me some of his go-to moves. And I actually retained them and used them! Thanks, Kyle! I finally submitted with a sloppy armbar at the end of the round. After that match the officials approached me and asked me if I wanted to compete in the men's division. Why not, right? So I ended up going against a guy named Tyson and submitted him with a kimura. Sweet! My next match was with Jared from Fusion. He submitted me with an Americana pretty quickly. But I felt good about what I was able to do against him and had alot of fun. Ben was against him his first match and won on points. It was such a great match! Really fun to watch. My last round was with the same girl that I grappled at the beginning. They wanted to give her another match and she requested that it be against me, again. I took my aggression down a few notches and was just wanted to maintain dominant position because I knew that my experience level was a little bit higher than hers. She still couldn't do anything against me. It felt really great. She ended up getting a bloody nose in the second minute and they called the match. I won on points.

Two other Absolute guys were there competing - Chris K and Ben G. They both did so awesomely! Chris' first round was against Bird Dog from Elite. Chris got him in a tight triangle and held onto his arm for the arm lock. The arm lock was really ON and the guy would not tap! Everyone could hear the popping sounds that his arm was making repeatedly and Bird Dog still didn't tap! Finally he tapped. Phew! I thought his arm was going to snap given another second.

Ben ended up being the tournament champion! The guy doesn't lose! He even beat Noah J again (arm lock). Sorry Noah - maybe you'll get him next time! Maybe. Hee hee. The last match was between Chris and Ben for tournament champ. I think that it's awesome that it was between two Absolute guys. Ben won on points. After the tournament Ben told me how surprised he was in his match with Chris. And I quote, "The guy has another gear that I have not experienced in practice before. That was so tough!" That last match between them was the best of the day. It was fast paced and technical. They both are amazing grapplers.

I had alot of fun today and it helped me to see a little bit as to where I'm at in my grappling endeavors and prepared me for the Throwdown Submission challenge which is on August 1st, and coincidentally my birthday. I'd love it if my friends came and watched me in this one. That would make for a really cool birthday!

So sloppy. My left leg should have been over her head.

Chris against Bird Dog. They guys arm is BOWED and he took FOREVER to suck it up and tap out!

The competitors, Chris, me, Ben and our awesome supportive teammate, Bret.

Some Good Old Fighting

My Jedi powers will be helping Frank Mir, Georges St-Pierre and Dan Henderson. Oh yeah!

Congratulations Camrann and Tseitel!

I just came back from Camrann and Tse's wedding reception and it was a wicked party! Everything was done to the 9's. Tseitel looked gorgeous and Cam pulled off the suit with Converse All-Stars awesomely.

Check out the engagement pics of the stunning couple that Miyo took.

Cam and Tse, I love you both and hope for all the goodness in the whole world to come your way.

Holy Hot Dang - Kyle Edition

So this is my kick ass friend, Kyle (Absolute teammate).
The above picture was taken at the Ironman competition in Japan that he recently finished. Is that not the coolest thing?! This was the 2nd Ironman that he's done this year. What a rock star. I'm convinced that he's superhuman. He did 14 hours of exercise! Gah! I'm so proud of him and am inspired by his discipline and dedication to his endeavors. He talked to me for a while last night after jujitsu and he got the wheels turning in my head about maybe doing Ironman South Africa with him which would be 2 years away. Hmmm.

Seriously, I train with the coolest people and the most exceptional athletes. And they all work so well with me. I've been going to MMA team training and most of them have had MMA fights and could most likely take me out instantly if they wanted to. But they don't. Kyle, for instance, always pairs up with me first when we're there together, and will stay at a level where I'm learning and being challenged without ever making me feel bad that I'm not at the level that everyone else is at. I trained some with Superbody (Greg C.) last week and afterwards he said that training with me was good because he got to work out some technical aspects of his fighting rather than try it when some of the others who have lightning quick hands and the strength of the Hulk are facing him. Camrann always makes me feel like an important part of the team. And Rob seems really invested in my success and really pushes me. He's been killing me in jujitsu lately. Killing me! Cannot move or breathe or cry out for help or anything. It's awesome! He knows just how to prepare me for the tournaments. I just love my team. All of them.

Read about Kyle's Ironman here at his training blog, and feel free to offer congratulations if you feel so inclined.

Master Flavio Behring Jujitsu Seminar

We have had the pleasure of having Master Flavio Behring in our gym all last week. It has been incredible learning from him. He topped the week off with a long seminar on Saturday. It was hot and muggy, but we kept at it and came away better jujitsu fighters. I love that our coach, Rob Handley, invests in us and finds ways to constantly contribute to us learning the very best techniques.

Master Flavio Behring Seminar - 13 June 2009
Chris, Me, William and Dave

My awesome drilling partner, Ben Garner. It's always a huge pleasure working with him and learning from him.

Goofing off with one of my favorite friends, Camrann.

I get to train with some very talented AND handsome men!

Matt and Riley. Riley was just promoted to a blue belt. Huge congratulations!

Chris also was promoted to his blue belt and as tradition has it, you have to go through a whipping gauntlet of those that are your ranking or above. Chris has more than his blue belt to go home and show his mom!

I can't get enough of this sport. It's so interesting and challenging. I'm really starting to see some of my progress. There's nothing like grappling with a new person to see how far you've come and there's nothing like grappling with someone that out-ranks you to see how far you still can go. I love having an opportunity to participate in something like this.

Stefan's Birthday BBQ

Okay, I know you're probably sick and tired of hearing it, but I just need everyone to know that my brothers are the greatest guys on the planet! Period. Or exclamation point, rather.

Why Hello There, Ginormous Snail

I just got home from training and this HUGE snail was on my storm door to greet me. I tried to pry him off and put him on the lawn, but he really wanted to stay there and if I would have pulled any harder than I was I probably would have popped his shell right off. Nobody likes a naked snail. Naked snails don't make very many friends. He actually did a very nice job of cleaning a half inch wide and 4' long portion of the window.

Air Force Week

I meant to inform you all earlier about Air Force Week taking place right now. Check out the list of events and exhibits here. I've really been enjoying the fly-bys and and the will be attending the air show this weekend up at Hill Air Force Base. The Thunderbirds are going to be in it! Man, I've loved the Thunderbirds and The Blue Angels since I was a kid. I think I even had a Blue Angels calendar one year. I really wish that I would've taken an afternoon off of work and participated in the paper airplane contest at the Downtown Library. I think that I could've done well. I became quite the expert at paper airplane making during church on Sundays. My older brother was seriously a paper airplane engineer. He taught me all he knows. I really should have entered. Regrets suck.

Object of the Day

Everyone that knows me probably had been a victim participant in one of my homemade games. I love making up games. It's most likely because I have the attention span of a toddler on crack. When I'm at work and a bit bored, the guy that I share an office with and I throw magnets at metal cabinets to see who can get closest to the top without going over. Or we'll put targets on the cabinets and try to hit it. I work with all men in our LAL testing department and we are constantly challenging each other with impossible shots into the garbage can with the lids off of the sterile water containers. There are many others that games that I initiate to squelch the intermittent boredom in the lab, but I'll spare you the details.

The latest game and the one that has attracted the most participants has been "Object of the Day". This is a VTS trademark game so don't even think about taking it and selling it. Do we have an agreement? Alright, I will proceed. A couple months ago I was wearing an enormous earring that, by the end of the day, felt like it was going to rip right through my lobe. I was curious to see how much it weighed, so I put it on one of the balances in the lab. It ended up weighing almost 11 grams! I started going around asking people how much they thought my earring weighed and we all had alot of fun guessing. And that's how OOTD was born. I pick an object each day and go around taking everyone's guesses. The person that comes the closest without going over (Price Is Right rules) wins for the day. I've become quite famous for my culinary talents so the person that has the most wins accumulated throughout the month gets to request their favorite treat and I will make it for them. It has gained quite the following. It started with just a few people in my department and then spread to the entire section and now people in other sections are playing. I'm sure that soon it will receive national recognition. Last month, emotions were high because six or seven people were tied with two wins each by last week in May. The guessing started getting very serious.

I just had my annual review and the high scores were given to me on teamwork/fun category. There was special mention of OOTD as being an excellent team building tool. And this is another reason as to why I am indeed the Professor of Awesome. Thankyouverymuch!

Below is a calendar keeping record of the object, how much it weighed and who won for that day. Paul (my office-mate) likes to highlight his achievement. It's kinda cute, how excited he gets when he wins.