Getting to Train with Jeff Monson

We’ve had a visiting black belt at practice this past week. Jeff Monson has been visiting to get some practice in. It’s pretty fun to watch him grapple. He’s not too tall of a guy but if you’ve never seen him, he’s pretty strong. Ok he’s really freaking strong. So anyway I normally don’t get to spar with him, because honestly, the weight difference is pretty big. But last week I got  to jump in on Monday and Wednesday. Each time was pretty intense. Robert told us to keep moving and not stop so that’s exactly what I tried to do, keep  moving keep ducking and trying to find a way around him, or a way to escape. All of that is easier said than done. Jeff is such a fluid guy. He is a 2 time Abu Dhabi champion, and a No gi World Champion. It was a lot of fun going with Jeff, Each time my goal is to last the whole time without getting submitted, and to pass, and hold side control at least long enough to score points. Surprisingly? I never got submitted! There were a few times I almost held side control, it was pretty awesome!

Returning to competition

Saturday August 11, 2012 I returned to competing. I don't know how to say it much better than that. The last time I ha competed was at pan ams in 2011, and not long after that I tore my ACL in my left knee had to have surgery, physical therapy and wait a very long time to get back into Bjj. It sucked. I had been looking at possibly competing again but honestly had been afraid and psyched myself out, what of I wasn't really ready, what if I re injured my knee, what If I had just lost it? Finally I gave in and decided to try the UGF tournament here in Washington. I got ready, found out there weren't any female purple belts competing (later I found out one had signed up after I inquired about it) so I decided to try no gi. 3 days before the tournament, I found out there was only one other person in my division, a female named Cindy Hales. Cindy is a black belt, who has competed numerous times in Bjj, and mma. To put it into perspective, she got her black belt in 2006, the year I started training Bjj. I won't lie, i panicked. I seriously debated pulling from the tournament and waiting another few months to compete. Why put myself through that as a first match back? I calmed down said eff it what do I have to lose, stressed for the remaining days leading up to the tournament and prepped the best I could.

Saturday I was again a nervous wreck, I had no clue why I was doing this and could only think about re injuring my knee. So I worked at the tournament trying to keep myself relaxed. I found out there had been another girl in my division, but she decided not to compete. When it got time to compete Cindy shook my hand, and I said thank you for the opportunity, I don't think she understood why until after the match that it wasn't just think you for letting me compete with her, but for the opportunity to learn from an outstanding grappler. The match started and all I did what I had been told to do. Circle, make contact back out, and treat until I found a way to pull guard. Robert my coach, who hates jumping guard, told me to do it. So I did, after that a lot of it is fuzzy, I remember trying to set up an armbar/ sweep, but not being able to get the angle I wanted. I also remember trying to pass her guard and thinking my hips were too high. A lot of the match is still a blur. I escaped a toe hold and guillotine, also in some awesome moment of muscle memory I pulled deep half. Going against Cindy was A new experience. I had never had an opponent move like her and move with that kind of purpose. I didn't win, in the end she got my back and I couldn't escape. She went for the short choke caught it, and that was it. I don't mind. It was a humbling experience and I'm extremely grateful I got to compete with her. I talked some to Cindy after she overheard something I said about my knee and I told her what had happened. She told me that it was her first time competing in 5 years due to a major amount of injuries (2 ACL tears, herniated discs, and fusing 2 discs in her neck). But when she rolled, at least to me, it felt like to her none of those thing mattered or were present in her mind. I again thanked her and told her I appreciated getting my butt kicked by her. Cindy let me know if I Was ever up in Seattle and wanted to roll to let her know.

For me, getting on the mat was the battle. Win or lose the anxiety I had before the tournament was intense and I'm not sure I had ever felt anything like it. But now, I'm not so worried about injury, and actually I look forward to my next competition and seeing how I do. Thank you to my teammates, my friends, and my family who have been so supportive. I love you all and hopefully I can work hard to make all of you proud.

Yes there is video, Cindy's team put them up, and here are the two they posted. I'm in the purple rash guard and braids of course.

from above

 

from normal eye level

Night at the Fights: CageQuest II

Saturday July 7th was CageQuests’ second MMA fight production. The night consisted of 13 fights, with four of the fights being title fights. This was the first CageQuest I had ever been to and I really enjoyed the fights. They took place at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, WA. There was plenty of seating and space for the fights, a beer garden for the adults, multiple vendors for people to check out. The fights went smoothly and the only time there was a break in action was the intermission, and a small break when the EMT needed to escort another MMA fighter out. The fights went off without a hitch and it was an awesomely put together card.

Fight #1 Terran Mace (Eatonville MMA) vs. Woo Johnson (Evolution MMA) 150lbs Woo started out controlling the first round. Woo got the first hit and didn’t stop. He took Terran down, to mount ground and pounded until Terran could escape, proceeded to take him down again and keep control until the end of the round. In the second round Woo came out strong again and Terran fell to the ground. When Woo pounced Terran tried to triangle woo, and then attempted an armbar. Woo escaped go mount and kept hitting until  the referee stopped the match. Woo Johnson won by TKO 1:24 into round 2.

Fight #2 Daniel Luthala JR (Pinnacle Martial Arts) vs. Drew McKellips (Northwest Elite) 170 lbs Daniel started out with a couple of misplaced punches but recovered by taking Drew down. Drew swept to mount but lost it to Daniel. Daniel looked for a submission but Drew covered and defended well. Daniel got up out of frustration and Drew followed. Daniel caught Drew against the cage and took him down again as round one ended. During round 2 Daniel got in a few good hits before taking Drew down. Daniel mounted Drew, and when Drew bellied down, Daniel took the opportunity and got a rear naked choke. Daniel Luthala won 1:56 seconds into the second round.

Fight #3 Clinton Jenkins (AKA) vs. Tony Gonzales (Damage MMA) 125 lbs. Tony got the first kick in to start the fight but Clinton took control of the fight and kept it. Clinton took down Tony twice. The second time Tony reversed to the top of guard but Clinton secured an armbar. Clinton Jenkins won by armbar 2:55 into round 1.

Fight #4 James Pollard (House of Stone) vs. Bobby Grady (GUMMA) 145 lbs. James tried a few kicks that missed to start but Bobby took his time picked out a few good punches before he took James down. James tried to guillotine but Bobby avoided it and got back mount. Bobby caught a Rear Naked Choke 1:32 min into round 1. 

Fight #5 Gary Winslow (American Combat Academy) vs. Aaron Goedhart (Damage MMA) 155 lbs. Gary and Aaron had the first fight to go all three rounds. Round one was close with Gary taking down Aaron, but Aaron attempting to triangle Gary. Gary escaped and controlled the position until round one ended. Again in rounds two and three Gary took down Aaron  slowly picked apart Aaron and kept control. Gary moved from position to position, looking for smart strikes, or submissions, and Aaron wasn’t ever able to play his game or escape. After all three rounds Gary Winslow won by unanimous decision.

Fight #6 Antonio Fuentes (House of Stone) vs. Adam Loredo (Bad Company) 185 lbs. Antonio and Adam had the fastest fight of the night. Both guys came out trying their hardest. Adam took down Antonio but Antonio grabbed the guillotine. Antonio kept ahold of the guillotine and Adam went unconscious. Antonio won by TKO due to Guillotine :36 into Round 1.

Fight #7 Zack Conn (American Combat Academy) vs. Taki Uluilakepa (MABJJ) 170 lbs. Although Zack got the first hit, Taki controlled round one.Taki took down Zack and looked for the submission. Zack escaped, stood back up, but Taki took him down again after landing a solid right to Zacks head. Zack came out stronger in the second round. He landed a good punch and Taki went down. Taki regained his composure and caught Zack in a guillotine. Taki won by guillotine 1:52 into round 2.

Fight #8 Kevin Butler (AKA) vs. Jacob Solis (Damage MMA) 155lbs. Kevin and Jacob went all three rounds. Jacob controlled the first round with a good stand up and clinch game. He even took Kevin down and attempted a guillotine from the top of half guard. During round two Kevin rebounded and came out to win. He took Jacob down, worked hard on the ground looking for submissions and openings to strike. Round three opened with both guys trying hard to finish the round.Jacob took down Kevin but Kevin swept Jacob and stayed in control. Jacob couldn’t shake Kevin off and Kevin worked hard to keep his position. At the end of three rounds Kevin Butler won by Unanimous Decision.

Fight #9 Chelsie Bailey (Yakima MMA) vs. Amy Cadwell (Charlie’s Cobat Club) Women’s 115 lbs. The ladies by far had the fight of the night. Both put all of their heart into their three rounds. Every second of each round had something going on and both ladies gave a very impressive show of both standing and ground technique. Round one started with Chelsie and Amy trading a few punches before Chelsie took Amy down. Chelsie kept control for a while before Amy succeeded in getting a sweep. Both ladies stood and Chelsie got another takedown as the round ended. Round two was a trade of techniques and fighting Chelsie again got the takedown but Amy attempted a good triangle. Chelsie escaped ended in mount where she tried to armbar Amy. Amy escaped and the second round ended. Round three and both came out for more. Chelsie took down Amy but Amy got back mount. Chelsie escaped to guard, and when Amy tried to sweep Chelsie ended up in mount. Chelsie again looked for a submission but wasn’t able to find one. After three rounds Chelsie Bailey won by Unanimous Decision.

Fight #10 Nick Coughran (Battleground MMA) vs. Omar Petty (Northwest Elite) Title Fight 170 lbs. Both Nick and Omar started by feeling each other out. Omar took down Nick to guard where Nick tried to triangle Omar. Omar picked up Nick and slammed him back on the mat. After a quick scramble on the ground Nick pulls an armbar on Omar. Nick won via submission 2:14 into round .  

Fight #11 Jordan Stern (AKA) vs. Jordan Harrington (Bad Company MMA) Title Fight 155lbs. This title fight only went into the third of 5 rounds. In the first two rounds Jordan H. repeatedly took down Jordan S. Jordan S. kept Jordan H.  away, and although Jordan H was able to get in some good hits, he wasn’t able to get past Jordan S.’s guard. During round three Jordan H. again got the takedown, as he tried to pass to side control Jordan S. turtled and Jordan H. got back mount. Jordan H. then succeeded in sinking a Rear Naked Choke. Jordan Harrington won by RNC 1:44 into round three.

Fight#12 Grady Duncan (Battleground MMA) vs. Alfonso Gonzales (GUMMA) Title fight 185 lbs. Grady immediately set the pace for the fight. He started with superman punch and did not stop looking for openings. Grady caught Alfonso with a good series and Alfonso went out. Grady won via knockout 1:18 into round one.

Fight#13 David Ahto (White Swan Warriors) vs. Kamm Freudensten (Evolution MMA) Title fight 125 lbs. David and Kamm had the longest fight of the night. They went all five rounds for the CageQuest title. David tried to get the first strike every round but Kamm was good at judging how close he was and blocking the strikes that came his way. Kamm consistently took down David every round and controlled the ground. Kamm was set on looking for submissions and took his time picking apart David. David looked lost on the ground and by round four David was just covering and not actively trying to defend. During round 5 Kamm again took down David and looked to finish the fight.  After five rounds Kamm won by unanimous decision.

Thank you to Alphight.com for giving me the opportunity to write and review another local MMA fight. I had a blast and can’t wait until the next opportunity to write comes around!

NW Fight Challenge XIV “Night of Champions”

After a few years off of writing up reviews of the local MMA fights, I’m going to try and get back into it. In Indiana at any  given week there was probably a fight company trying to put on a local fight. Some legitimate productions, others not so much. In  my area of Washington one of the larger productions that has really made a name for itself is the Northwest Fight Challenge. From the past few fights I have gotten to see the promoter, Brian Johnson works very hard to put on a good show with good matches. Local UFC fighter Demetrius Johnson was there to judge and sign autographs/ take pictures during the intermission. There were 12 amateur fights for  the night,1 kickboxing match , 11 MMA fights, with 6of them being title fights.

Fight #1 Brandon Wall (Strong Center MMA) vs. Zack Stanley (Brian Johnson Fight Team) 185lbs Zack started out controlling the fight and did not let up. He took down Brandon and the fight remained on the ground. Brandon did have an attempt at a choke but Zack escaped, and ended up on top of Brandon’s turtle. Zack succeeded in getting back mount and finished the fight with a Rear naked choke, at 2:26.

Fight #2 Kyle Fromm (Strong Center MMA) vs. Steve Nguyen (Brian Johnson Fight Team) Heavy Weight This fight was the only kickboxing match of the night. It was a Class A Heavy weight match. Kyle started out strong landing the first couple of punches. Steven retaliated immediately, and put Kyle into the side of the cage. Kyle dropped due to Steve’s punches. Kyle failed to respond to the Referee. Steve won the match due to knockout,  51 seconds into the first round.

Fight #3 Trevor Severn (Martial Sports) vs. Talon Hammons (Elite Martial Arts) 145 lbs.  Both Trevor and Talon put on a good fight. It went all three rounds and was a close match. Talon controlled the first round by taking down Trevor and trading a few punches.  Trevor did have a few guillotine attempts but didn’t have the technique right, and talon was able to escape. In round two Trevor controlled the round. He got the takedown and did a landed a few punches before they were stood back up. Round three Talon again controlled the round. He took down Trevor, controlled him on the ground he attempted a choke, and americana and an arm bar. Trevor defended well but in the end the split decision went to Talon Hammons.

Fight #4 Sefo Nansen (Clan Jacobs System) vs. Ian Jarman (N.W. Elite)185 lbs. This fight was another that went all three rounds. Round one stayed mostly on the ground Ian took Sefo down and maintained control the entire round. Sefo was unable to escape and Ian continued to advance position and land good shots to the body and head. Sefo came out in the second round with the first hit. He stuffed Ians first takedown attempt but wasn’t able to keep him off. Ian got the take down and continued to control the fight. Ian attempted a choke from back mount but it gave Sefo the chance to escape. In round three Ian kept control and dominated the fight Sefo pulled guard to avoid the take down but Ian passed got mount and kept mount the rest of the fight. Ian won by unanimous decision.

Fight #5 Blake Casey (Premier MA) vs. A.J. Edmison (Lenderman’s Academy) 150 lbs. A.J. got the first hit of the round, and started off with a quick attack against Blake. Blake fought back but got  pushed up against the side of the cage by A.J. Blake tried a standing guillotine but A.J. took him down and controlled Blake on the ground for most of the first round. Blake escaped to standing but wasn’t able to gain control of the round. Blake started off the second round with a kick to A.J. After the first strike A.J. held control of the rest of the fight with 2 takedowns, and control on the ground. Round three started with both coming out strong. Both Blake and A.J. traded in their stand up until A.J. took Blake down. Blake did get cut but kept fighting hard, and both end up standing A.J. got the final take down, while Blake tried to defend from the bottom of mount. Blake almost swept but time ran out. Both fighters put on a great fight and showed they both had outstanding conditioning. A.J. Edmison won by unanimous decision.

Fight #6 David Alexander (Cell Jitsu) vs. JD Cullins (Brian Johnsons Fight Team) Heavy Weight. David got the first strike but JD clinched and retaliated quickly landing a few good knees and trying a takedown. David stopped the take down and attempted an awkward standing armlock. JD escaped and both started to trade punches. JD caught David and the referee stopped the match. JD won by Knockout 1:48 into round one.

Fight #7 Ryan Johns (Olympia BJJ) vs. Damion Martindale (503 West Coast BJJ) Heavy Weight Title fight. Surprisingly even though both of these men come from BJJ schools the fight stayed standing for almost the whole fight. The fight was almost ended  early twice by Ryan. During round one near the middle of the round Ryan caught Damion with a good jab and Damion dropped, but recovered before the referee stopped the fight. Somewhere between the second and third round the referee had the doctor check out Damion. Damion was pronounced ok to continue and the fight went all five rounds. Ryan continuously picked apart Damion with his stand up and continuous kicks to Damion’s legs. Damion did get in a few good strikes, succeeded in a takedown, and tried to rally in the final round but it wasn’t enough. Ryan won by unanimous decision.

Fight #8 Ricky Satterwhite (West Coast Fight Team) vs. John Keay (Cody Houston Fight Team) Super Fight Title, 155lbs. Unfortunately I did not see this fight. My teammate Ryan had just won his match and I got lost in getting pictures and high fives. Ricky Satterwhite won the fight and gained the belt.

Fight #9 Nick Coughrin (Battleground MMA) vs. Aaron Martin (MABJJ & Brian Johnsons) Super Fight Title 160lbs. Nick and Aaron started of trading a few punches. Nick shot in for the takedown but Aaron caught a standing guillotine. Aaron won by standing guillotine 1:20 into Round one.

Fight #10 Nathan Stolen (Twin Dragons) vs. Zack Mukai (AMC) Title Fight 145. Nathan and Zack came into the fight wanting to win. Nathan and Zack traded their fair share of strikes. Zack did get a few takedowns and worked to keep control of Nathan. In the third round Nathan did have a good Rear Naked Choke attempt, but Zack was saved by the bell. The fight was cut short unfortunately in the fourth round. Although both fighters put their all into the fight, Nathan broke Zack’s jaw and the doctor would not allow Zack to finish the fight. Nathan won the fight due to doctor’s stoppage.

Fight #11 Cody Kidder (Battleground MMA) vs. John Daigneault (MABJJ) Super Fight 155lbs. John quickly took control of the fight. He landed the first hit and even when Cody came back trying to trade, John clearly had the upper hand. Cody dropped to the mat and when John hit again the referee jumped in and stopped the match. John won by knockout 1:28 into round one.

Fight#12 Robert Burgess (Team Un-Tamed) vs. Grady Duncan (Battleground MMA) Title fight 185 lbs.  Grady immediately tried to take down Robert but Robert reversed it and took him down. Robert got 3 takedowns in the first round but as Robert was in Grady’s guard the final time Grady caught an arm and pulled off a solid arm bar. Robert was unable to defend and tapped. Grady won via arm bar 2:13 into round one.

All in all the fights were really well put together. The fighters put their all into their fights, and worked hard to show off their skills. One other bright point in the night was meeting the team from Alphight. They are a new website that will be launching July 21. Their goal is to give local fights, fighters, tournaments etc, the boost they need.  They were at the show taking pictures, and let me borrow a few, thank you by the way Alphight! Maybe I can get an interview with the owner so I can give a better explanation of what they do, how they do it, and why.

Something to Brighten your day.

So I have been looking on Youtube WAY too much recently, and found a hilarious channel called Enter the Dojo. It is probably one of the funniest shows I’ve seen online. It’s like The Office meets a McDojo. The best part of it is there is one student who is slowly realizing how much BS it is but keeps going just to see what crazy things happen next. Master Ken owns a Dojo and trains Ameri- do – te. He is the founder and the ONLY Black belt. Here are a few of the different videos. There are 10 total episodes so far, I’d definitely suggest going and checking it out!

The first Episode

Stop ninjitsu

Why MMA is BS

 

Sadly some people may actually agree with this guy… That being said thank God its fake!!

My Fun Attempt at Acting and MMA

A few months ago my friend Joe Riley who was a personal trainer at my gym approached me about helping him shoot a music video for his friends band. The idea was an underground girls mma tournament…. Basically a bunch of females kicking butt iron man style, whoever wins stays. Of course I said yes, it seemed like something fun and hey why not? I got to help teach a bunch of females how to do some basic stuff and hopefully drum up some interest in what I do.. So only one other female out of the group of girls had any form of experience. She was an amateur mma fighter and had stand up but not much ground work. The other ladies had no idea,  what they were getting into. So it was a full day shoot of just the females fighting. It was really interesting to try and create the fight scenes, decide how to ‘finish’ each fight, and then what else went in to each fight. I’ve never had someone shout at me to stop what I was doing and lose for a minute, or stop that choke and go for something else. I’ve always just gone into a match as ok this is what I’m going to do and this is how I am going to finish it. We did multiple takes of every fight from different angles, different moves etc. By far the most fun I had was getting picked up by my neck and then being thrown. Bet you cant tell I was standing on a chair the whole time… or that I got to do a flying cartwheel off of it! Anyway here is the video. It was a blast and I’m pretty sure all of the other ladies will agree it was definitely something new.

*Disclaimer, I have never done an MMA fight, I know some of the techniques aren’t perfect, and lord knows my standup probably looks hilarious, but everything is a little more exaggerated on a music video.

Here’s the video, enjoy!!

Promotion

Practices have been steadily getting better since going back into training. I’m able to go through pretty much a full practice without too much difficulty. I’m still working on things like sitting on my  feet in guard, but other than small things that will get better with stretching I’m getting closer and closer.

I’ve had a few really good practices recently, I’m hitting more and more moves that I haven’t done since last June before I got injured. This morning I pulled off a few good submissions and even an X guard sweep that I have been avoiding since it is a weird spot for my knee. It feels really nice that I am getting closer and closer to good movement again.

I got a little bit of a surprise at the end of class today. My coach Robert asked me to grab the tape he had torn into stripes at the end of class because he needed to promote a few people. After he got through the people he wanted to promote he grabbed the remaining two and promoted me. I was honestly really shocked. I had been hoping that I was improving but wasn’t confident that I was getting back to what I had been before. Granted I wasn’t in the best state when I came to Roberts school, so it was a huge surprise.

This past year and a half has been by far one of the hardest for me. I moved across country for a job, leaving behind pretty much everything. I was training at a school 45 mins. away, teaching kids’ classes, and trying to balance 50+ hours a week. When things started changing at the place I was training at and I realized it wasn’t a good environment for me. I changed schools, about a month before Pan Am’s. It wasn’t the best situation leaving that close to a big tournament, but Robert and BJJ Olympia took me in, worked to help me get ready however they could, and even sent me to the tournament with a card and food, hey food is a big deal for after a tournament. After getting injured in June, my teammates have been awesome. One of the guys, Chris, tore his ACL in soccer and we have gotten to pretty much go through rehab and getting back into BJJ together. Thank you Chris my fellow gimp! To the rest of my team, Irene, Ehren, Turbo, both Ryans, Joel, Bobby, Charlie, George,  and the many others who have had to train with me and work around my knee, thank you. Thank you so much for taking it easy on me while I worked my way back into practice. Thank you for letting me run techniques on you when that was all I could do. Thank you for helping when I started to have melt downs because I was so frustrated with my own limitations, and wanting to push myself too far. Finally, thank you all for pushing me when I was afraid or unsure to push myself. I can think of a few times with Ryan, Ehren, Turbo, George, and Bobby, where they decided I needed to work harder than I was and pushed me to do more. I may have been sore the next day, but it was the good sore, not the oh crap I cant use my knee, sore.

And to my Coach Robert. Thank you so much for everything this past year. I am forever grateful for all of the help and insight you have given me.

So what’s next? Well Saturday I will be refereeing at the Revolution. I am very excited to get the chance to be on the mats at a tournament, even though this time it will be as a referee. Robert asked me when I was going to compete again. At this point the only thing that is really stopping me is my knee, I need a little more flexibility in it before I am comfortable on competition. It’s definitely catching up on strength and my technique has gone way up, I just need to find #1 a tournament to train for, and #2 have that confidence in my knee. So we will see how it goes, as I’m constantly working to make my knee better!