I have to thank Dmitry for inspiring this post. In the middle of last year, we had a conversation about goals and he told me that he had written his goals down as they are more likely to be accomplished if they are written and can be referred back to. I have put my personal goals down, but I wanted to share some jiu jitsu goals that I think are worthwhile and have been my goals throughout the years. Some of these are in concert with things I have seen written in Gracie Magazine.
1. Compete at every level. Start with white belt and compete often. It just gets easier. Every time I have trained for competition I have watched my jiu jitsu get better regardless of the outcome in the competition. It is a great way to progress.
2. Learn Portuguese or another language.
3. Learn to Teach.
4. Encourage a friend, family member, child to start jiu jitsu. Think of what it means to you and what it would mean to you and another if you could start them down the same path.
5. Try acai, guarana antarctica, churasco, feijoada, or corazon de galinha. (See me if you don't know what any of these words mean)
6. Know the history of your art. Pick up the book The Gracie Way by Kid Peligro. Watch UFC 1-20. Go back and watch Mundial videos for the last 10 years.
7. Supplement your training. Judo, Yoga, Crossfit, Muay Thai, Gi Jiu Jitsu for all you mma guys reading this. It will only make you better, more flexible, stronger, etc.
8. Take an unforgettable trip to train, compete or watch something jiu jitsu related. UFC, Pan Ams, Mundials, Brazil...
9. Reflect on your mistakes. After growing from them, shed them from your shoulders. (taken from graciemag.com)
10. Let go of the submission and keep the flow going - literally and figuratively.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Vegas Wrap Up
So needless to say WE HAD AN AWESOME TIME IN VEGAS! It was the perfect amount of time as Joel can attest to my disposition on the last morning.
Sharon and I can't stop looking for more deals to go back. No we didn't get manicures and the most "foodie" thing that we did was on Thursday night at the Social House, but I also didn't expect the Margaritas to be so good either. We pretty much threw the schedule out the window. (Bittersweet Symphony is playing right now on accuradio.com so appropriate!) It was great to have an event to plan it around (TUF) and we are looking to do another trip within 9 months.
I want to thank everyone for coming and helping out with this especially Joel and to thank you to Rachel Byrne who us undoubtedly the coolest mom ever. (Ika and Rob, my mom took me on 18 hour car rides to Florida to visit Grandma, not Vegas) I promise not to corrupt Ika and Rob when they turn 21 but I can't say the same about Joel.
My last word (yeah right): I had the coolest crew around for the weekend and wouldn't ask for any less, but my hope is that more people come next time and enjoy it too.
See you at O'Hara's tonight,
Owenz out
Sharon and I can't stop looking for more deals to go back. No we didn't get manicures and the most "foodie" thing that we did was on Thursday night at the Social House, but I also didn't expect the Margaritas to be so good either. We pretty much threw the schedule out the window. (Bittersweet Symphony is playing right now on accuradio.com so appropriate!) It was great to have an event to plan it around (TUF) and we are looking to do another trip within 9 months.
I want to thank everyone for coming and helping out with this especially Joel and to thank you to Rachel Byrne who us undoubtedly the coolest mom ever. (Ika and Rob, my mom took me on 18 hour car rides to Florida to visit Grandma, not Vegas) I promise not to corrupt Ika and Rob when they turn 21 but I can't say the same about Joel.
My last word (yeah right): I had the coolest crew around for the weekend and wouldn't ask for any less, but my hope is that more people come next time and enjoy it too.
See you at O'Hara's tonight,
Owenz out
Vegas Day Three
So my Saturday starts by smuggling Krispy Kreme donuts from the newstand into the coffee shop. I am eating them from under the table while waiting for my coffee. What is wrong with me? Which of the seven deadly sins is gluttony again? 4th or 5th? And then I pile on a bananas foster waffle on top. My insulin levels are dangerously high. Still.
"So that's what I would look like if I was a girl?" Oh leave it alone John. John then proceeded to teach me how to play craps which is really fun when the table is going and you don't have to lose that much to play for a long time, but John does anyway. But then gets it back. But then loses it later.
The following was sent via text at 11:14 am to Demon, Savold, Pete and R.M. Of course, Tyler was already with me.
- Margaritaville roofdeck-
- I just did my first shot -
Of course things would degenerate from there. Kind of a cloudy day in Vegas about 50 degrees or so and they had the heaters cranking on the roofdeck of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (the next trip will be sponsored by them btw). A little Dave Matthews, a little Jimmy Buffett... I never listen to this stuff. It sounded pretty good then.
Last nights events were reviewed and laughed at. Some of the guys were given like $120 by a cab driver to get them in to one of the places and they didn't have to pay him back or something and he said that he trusted them and they went in and... None of this story makes sense, but the hoodie story ties in from yesterday. Ask the guys about it. Maybe it was the liquid lunch.
So we met over at the Palms for the show. Joel placed a little wager for me on Paul. He was getting good odds. We had to get over there early because Paul was fighting first (3pm). The Pearl at the Palms is the place to see a show. It maybe seats 3k people? We had last row tickets and we were still looking directly into the octagon. Tyler was buying beer and shots so...(my preface? excuse for being an ass?)
Paul came out first and stood with Goulet. His stand up looked much improved. He clinched with Goulet and got taken down but managed to pull half guard and then get up. He then rocked Goulet with a straight punch and followed up for the kill but kind of fell into a double that put Paul down while Goulet was recovering. Goulet then passed and mounted. Paul gave up his back to avoid the mount but was choked in the process. He didn't tap and went out. It was a good effort and Paul can say he never tapped out in the Octagon if he is, in fact, done with the UFC. I may or may not have yelled "You're going no where Goulet!" at the end of the fight as loud as I could which was classless and mean spirited even though it is probably true. Maybe he can get on TUF Canada or something like that... but that hair? C'mon.
The rest of the fights were awesome. When War Machine bump swept J-Rock, the entire place went nuts. What a fight! The final fight was all fury as well. I thought Guida had it but technique and heart paid off for Huerta. We were about 5 rows back for that fight. We moved. The place was kind of empty.
Afterwards, it was chow time. We hit the buffet and they had all you can eat crab legs so I ate all I could - crablegs and thats it, well maybe some dessert. Ex-Boston BJJ student and UFC hopeful (I guess they told him he has the look at the the Xtreme Couture training center), Adam Schneider, joined us for dinner. He left after dinner to go home and let the dog out!? (Whatever. I have heard it called weirder things.) We all had a mean case of the giggles and I was offering obscene amounts of money for cheap shots but... you'll have to ask someone about that.
We met Paul at the food court after dinner and made our way up to the Playboy club where we may or may not have drank War Machine's vodka. Ahh the Playboy Club. I think Ferris Bueller said best: It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend...
Okay we did drink War Machine's booze, which is messed up because he fought his ass off, but so did Rude Boy and Hightower and a bunch of the other guys. I left early because I was tired from the 12 hour festivities and I had to meet the girls over at the Wynn. Lame, but I did see some middle eastern kids younger than me playing 1000$ hands at black jack table. Yowza!
Back at TI I teach Sharon's friend how to play blackjack at about 1:30am or so. She sits down at an empty table, starts to play, no lie, in five minutes the table is full of guys and she is winning. Or at least not losing enough to have to get up so I leave her there. The temptation is too much. I have to play so I sit down at the next table and win 40$ so I leave on a winning streak. Cool. She is still playing and making all sorts of friends. So Sharon and I leave her there.
We find out the next day she played until like 4am only losing about 60$. When she is done, two of the guys that stayed are like - what are we going to do next? Let's go to the fountains at Bellagio! She says I am going to go up to my room and go to the bathroom. She goes up and never comes down. I wonder if those dudes are still waiting for her.
We crash. Am I getting to old for this? NEVER!
Tomorrow. Check out.
"So that's what I would look like if I was a girl?" Oh leave it alone John. John then proceeded to teach me how to play craps which is really fun when the table is going and you don't have to lose that much to play for a long time, but John does anyway. But then gets it back. But then loses it later.
The following was sent via text at 11:14 am to Demon, Savold, Pete and R.M. Of course, Tyler was already with me.
- Margaritaville roofdeck-
- I just did my first shot -
Of course things would degenerate from there. Kind of a cloudy day in Vegas about 50 degrees or so and they had the heaters cranking on the roofdeck of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville (the next trip will be sponsored by them btw). A little Dave Matthews, a little Jimmy Buffett... I never listen to this stuff. It sounded pretty good then.
Last nights events were reviewed and laughed at. Some of the guys were given like $120 by a cab driver to get them in to one of the places and they didn't have to pay him back or something and he said that he trusted them and they went in and... None of this story makes sense, but the hoodie story ties in from yesterday. Ask the guys about it. Maybe it was the liquid lunch.
So we met over at the Palms for the show. Joel placed a little wager for me on Paul. He was getting good odds. We had to get over there early because Paul was fighting first (3pm). The Pearl at the Palms is the place to see a show. It maybe seats 3k people? We had last row tickets and we were still looking directly into the octagon. Tyler was buying beer and shots so...(my preface? excuse for being an ass?)
Paul came out first and stood with Goulet. His stand up looked much improved. He clinched with Goulet and got taken down but managed to pull half guard and then get up. He then rocked Goulet with a straight punch and followed up for the kill but kind of fell into a double that put Paul down while Goulet was recovering. Goulet then passed and mounted. Paul gave up his back to avoid the mount but was choked in the process. He didn't tap and went out. It was a good effort and Paul can say he never tapped out in the Octagon if he is, in fact, done with the UFC. I may or may not have yelled "You're going no where Goulet!" at the end of the fight as loud as I could which was classless and mean spirited even though it is probably true. Maybe he can get on TUF Canada or something like that... but that hair? C'mon.
The rest of the fights were awesome. When War Machine bump swept J-Rock, the entire place went nuts. What a fight! The final fight was all fury as well. I thought Guida had it but technique and heart paid off for Huerta. We were about 5 rows back for that fight. We moved. The place was kind of empty.
Afterwards, it was chow time. We hit the buffet and they had all you can eat crab legs so I ate all I could - crablegs and thats it, well maybe some dessert. Ex-Boston BJJ student and UFC hopeful (I guess they told him he has the look at the the Xtreme Couture training center), Adam Schneider, joined us for dinner. He left after dinner to go home and let the dog out!? (Whatever. I have heard it called weirder things.) We all had a mean case of the giggles and I was offering obscene amounts of money for cheap shots but... you'll have to ask someone about that.
We met Paul at the food court after dinner and made our way up to the Playboy club where we may or may not have drank War Machine's vodka. Ahh the Playboy Club. I think Ferris Bueller said best: It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend...
Okay we did drink War Machine's booze, which is messed up because he fought his ass off, but so did Rude Boy and Hightower and a bunch of the other guys. I left early because I was tired from the 12 hour festivities and I had to meet the girls over at the Wynn. Lame, but I did see some middle eastern kids younger than me playing 1000$ hands at black jack table. Yowza!
Back at TI I teach Sharon's friend how to play blackjack at about 1:30am or so. She sits down at an empty table, starts to play, no lie, in five minutes the table is full of guys and she is winning. Or at least not losing enough to have to get up so I leave her there. The temptation is too much. I have to play so I sit down at the next table and win 40$ so I leave on a winning streak. Cool. She is still playing and making all sorts of friends. So Sharon and I leave her there.
We find out the next day she played until like 4am only losing about 60$. When she is done, two of the guys that stayed are like - what are we going to do next? Let's go to the fountains at Bellagio! She says I am going to go up to my room and go to the bathroom. She goes up and never comes down. I wonder if those dudes are still waiting for her.
We crash. Am I getting to old for this? NEVER!
Tomorrow. Check out.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Vegas Day Two
Friday started out well, coffee and a long walk to Bellagio to see the flowers in the lobby. That was way too long of a walk and the stairs? Come on, they need those power ramps everywhere. Caesar's Palace is like as big as Newton. On the way back, I needed a little refreshment so Sharon and I stopped at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Who cares if it was 10:30 am, I'm on vacation.
Little did I know this would be the outpost for much of the weekend. Sharon went shopping and I returned to... well. Margaritaville with Ty. Demon and Savold would meet up with us... and we spent way to long there. Good margaritas.
There was a big rodeo in town for the weekend. Everywhere we looked there were cowboys. Boots, hats, huge belt buckles. And their shirts - they looked like big Kev's gi - all patched up with sponsors and what not. And they were popular guys too. At Margaritaville, there were some wasted chicks doing push ups for the cowboys during lunch falling out of their clothes. These cowboys were about 50 and pessadissimo and the girls well they were... uh... I might have seem at the high school I work at. Oh boy Vegas.
We finally exited our tall stools and met up for the weigh-in and headed over to the Palms which is off the main strip. The Palms is the home to the only official Playboy club in the whole world but more on that later. The weigh-ins were cool. Paul told me they took like 4 hours but in actuality only took like 20 minutes. We saw Matt Hughes and Joe Rogan and many of the other fighters. Kenny Florian came over and said hello and was super cool taking pictures with many of our crew. We saw Jeff Goldberg, the announcer, who is jacked by the way. Medina would be jealous and probably still talking about him.
We had some time to kill before dinner so we hit the tables. Despite playing for a very charitable cause, Tyler and I both lost forty bucks. Sorry Joel, the poker gods were not smiling down upon you. Pete K on the other hand was killing. Every other hand I was yelling "Yeah Pete!" But then Min(g?) came back and we all got up. We were tired of being yelled at.
We had dinner with Paul at a place called Arivia, or something like that, at the Gold Coast casino across from the Palm's. Not bad, but not good either. Think Olive Garden without all the bacon flavoredness. Ariviria - sounds like a drug for people who can't get where they are going or something.
Anyway my night stops here. Nature was calling and I needed to head back to TI for a nap. I fully was intending to go out again but wrestling was on and I crashed. The other guys may or may not have gone to about three clubs (hey-zeus! pick one already), some of the others may or may not have had their Cirque Du Soleil dreams shattered (watch out - Phil will pull your man cards if he finds out), still others may or may not have spent one dollar at the Spearmint Rhino to check their hoodie and yet still others may or may not have spent a whole lot more there...
...but this is all hearsay and not admissable in a court of law.
More on the greatest TUF finale ever tomorrow.
Little did I know this would be the outpost for much of the weekend. Sharon went shopping and I returned to... well. Margaritaville with Ty. Demon and Savold would meet up with us... and we spent way to long there. Good margaritas.
There was a big rodeo in town for the weekend. Everywhere we looked there were cowboys. Boots, hats, huge belt buckles. And their shirts - they looked like big Kev's gi - all patched up with sponsors and what not. And they were popular guys too. At Margaritaville, there were some wasted chicks doing push ups for the cowboys during lunch falling out of their clothes. These cowboys were about 50 and pessadissimo and the girls well they were... uh... I might have seem at the high school I work at. Oh boy Vegas.
We finally exited our tall stools and met up for the weigh-in and headed over to the Palms which is off the main strip. The Palms is the home to the only official Playboy club in the whole world but more on that later. The weigh-ins were cool. Paul told me they took like 4 hours but in actuality only took like 20 minutes. We saw Matt Hughes and Joe Rogan and many of the other fighters. Kenny Florian came over and said hello and was super cool taking pictures with many of our crew. We saw Jeff Goldberg, the announcer, who is jacked by the way. Medina would be jealous and probably still talking about him.
We had some time to kill before dinner so we hit the tables. Despite playing for a very charitable cause, Tyler and I both lost forty bucks. Sorry Joel, the poker gods were not smiling down upon you. Pete K on the other hand was killing. Every other hand I was yelling "Yeah Pete!" But then Min(g?) came back and we all got up. We were tired of being yelled at.
We had dinner with Paul at a place called Arivia, or something like that, at the Gold Coast casino across from the Palm's. Not bad, but not good either. Think Olive Garden without all the bacon flavoredness. Ariviria - sounds like a drug for people who can't get where they are going or something.
Anyway my night stops here. Nature was calling and I needed to head back to TI for a nap. I fully was intending to go out again but wrestling was on and I crashed. The other guys may or may not have gone to about three clubs (hey-zeus! pick one already), some of the others may or may not have had their Cirque Du Soleil dreams shattered (watch out - Phil will pull your man cards if he finds out), still others may or may not have spent one dollar at the Spearmint Rhino to check their hoodie and yet still others may or may not have spent a whole lot more there...
...but this is all hearsay and not admissable in a court of law.
More on the greatest TUF finale ever tomorrow.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Vegas Day One
"Hey man, I can't go to Vegas." That's how my Friday started as I was doing about 50lbs of laundry. So I think to myself, who can go to Vegas on 5 hours notice? My brother. Nope. He is at Jay Peak. "It's epic up here man and I can't get to Logan in 4 hours." The demon. "I'll call you back in half an hour." Phone rings five minutes later. The demon is in. Lesson: Dmitry can to go Vegas on 3 hours notice for a weekend. Aaah, the life of a hitman.
Get to the airport on the good old T. Only 2$. There's Savold outside security eating a donut with Dmitry. Not only can he go to Vegas on short notice, he beats me to the airport. Nice start Savold. A donut? Really? "They won't let me past security with it." Sharon has to throw out her Bliss spa cream. She is pissed. The storm only lasts a ten minutes or so and we are at the bar with my main man Tyler. I guess I can learn to like UFO, way better than bud.
Direct 5 hour flight. What is this movie? Unaccompanied Minors (sounds like a porno). Pete has the best line here: "They should show nothing but the Ocean's 11 movies and Casino Royale" on the way to Vegas. We arrive on time. A few of us meet up for sushi at the Social House at the hotel. Unbelievable yellow tail-jalapeno and kobi mini-burgers. The dessert too. Oh man. Ice cream with fried corn that tastes like Corn Pops...anyway you had to be there.
Treasure Island is a decent hotel. The beds were super comfortable but the check-in procedure sucks. You reserve a room, but you get the last rooms if you check in at the end of the night. So our rooms were smoking and we had two beds instead of one for my wife and I. Not ideal and probably the last time at TI. The place overall is a little seedy and the free pirate show was dark. I gotta lot of votes for Caesar's Palace, Mandalay Bay and other hotels for next year, but they had Krispy Kremes so I was relatively happy.
Friday coming soon...
Get to the airport on the good old T. Only 2$. There's Savold outside security eating a donut with Dmitry. Not only can he go to Vegas on short notice, he beats me to the airport. Nice start Savold. A donut? Really? "They won't let me past security with it." Sharon has to throw out her Bliss spa cream. She is pissed. The storm only lasts a ten minutes or so and we are at the bar with my main man Tyler. I guess I can learn to like UFO, way better than bud.
Direct 5 hour flight. What is this movie? Unaccompanied Minors (sounds like a porno). Pete has the best line here: "They should show nothing but the Ocean's 11 movies and Casino Royale" on the way to Vegas. We arrive on time. A few of us meet up for sushi at the Social House at the hotel. Unbelievable yellow tail-jalapeno and kobi mini-burgers. The dessert too. Oh man. Ice cream with fried corn that tastes like Corn Pops...anyway you had to be there.
Treasure Island is a decent hotel. The beds were super comfortable but the check-in procedure sucks. You reserve a room, but you get the last rooms if you check in at the end of the night. So our rooms were smoking and we had two beds instead of one for my wife and I. Not ideal and probably the last time at TI. The place overall is a little seedy and the free pirate show was dark. I gotta lot of votes for Caesar's Palace, Mandalay Bay and other hotels for next year, but they had Krispy Kremes so I was relatively happy.
Friday coming soon...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Vegas Adventures
Here is a schedule of activities we have put together. Totally optional. We will meet at the places at the times.
Thursday
- Sushi Social House in
- Texas Hold’em Tournament at
- Lunch with TUF Fighter Paul Georgieff- place TBA – 1 pm
- Dinner Samba Brazilian Steakhouse – the Mirage – 8 pm
- Weigh – In?
- Cirque du Soleil
- Mermaid Lounge - Silverton Hotel, 3333 Blue Diamond Rd
- Lunch at Bouchon – 1 pm
- TUF – Doors at 3:00
- After Party - TBA
- Celine Dion Concert (psyche! if you got excited seeing this, you are on the wrong trip)
- Brunch
- Tigers at Mirage with Joel 10 am
Monday, December 3, 2007
Vegas Trip Taking Shape
The itineraries for the TUF Finale Las Vegas trip have been delivered. Since we are such a large group, Sharon and I have been putting together an itinerary with some meet up points for people and you can hang with us at those meet ups or do your own thing. On the list so far:
- Sushi - late Thursday night at the Social House in TI
- TUF Finale on Saturday - doors are at 3:00pm
- Dinner at Samba Brazilian in the Mirage
- Dinner at Bouchon in the Venetian
- TI poker tournament (I am definitely down for this, $65 buy in, starts at six times daily, all that has to be determined is the time)
- Drinks at the Mermaid Lounge
- Freemont Street experience with manicures and drinks together downtown at the Beauty Bar - Sharon is leading this one, but lets see how manly you guys really are!)
- Sharon will be leading a trip to the Wet Spa for massages
- Joel is leading trips to the gun range and a Cirque du Soleil show on Friday night
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