Learning From My Mistakes: Pan Ams 2014

Competition isn't for everybody. Competition is something you have to really want to do in order to enjoy it. Because if you don't enjoy competition and you lose, then you become discouraged with yourself and your jiu jitsu. However, if you enjoy competition and you lose, it ignites something inside you that makes you want to work harder, push harder, and become a better you. This is exactly what I experienced this weekend at the Pan Ams. 

For the past year, I've been trying so many different things for competition ever since I got promoted to blue belt-- moving to different weight classes and having new tactics to adjust my competition game. This year in California, even though I lost my fight in the last ten seconds, I learned more from my performance than I ever have on the mats. Win or lose, you have to just push forward and use the experience to help better your next performance, which is exactly what I plan to do.

Thank you to all of my teammates, coach Felipe Neto, DoorDie Hyperfly, WantVSNeed, and my boyfriend Kyle Huang for all of the support. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system with me. 

With Boca Raton Open (April 26th) and Worlds (May 28-June 1) just around the corner, there's no time for breaks or downtime. Now that I'm safely back home, it is time to get back to training hard and getting ready for the next competition. Ouss! 

Here are some photos from this past week Irvine, California:

Photo Cred: Al Lagura (WantVsNeed)

Check it out---> www.doordie.com

www.wantvsneed.com

MMAC Grappling Tournament

Last weekend, my teammates and I from Zicro BJJ had our first tournament of the year in Tampa, Florida. The MMAC Grappling tournament was an all-day event held in the Tampa Sundome on Saturday, January 18th. Even though this was a smaller tournament, It was a great way to kick off the competition season.

After weighs in on Friday night, we were able to sign up for the divisions that we wanted to compete in. Since this was a smaller, less stressful tournament, my teammates and I decided to sign up for six divisions to compete in on Saturday. The men signing us up looked at us like we were crazy, but we just thought, "why not?" 

Due to my work and school schedule, I didn't feel as prepared for this tournament like I would have liked to be. However, I was still happy with how I performed, and I was extremely proud of all of my teammates for their performances. All together, Jasmine, Rachel, and I brought home eleven medals for the women, and the guys of Zicro BJJ all medaled and dominated their divisions.

 It was a great experience competing again after what seemed like such a long break. Competing always seems to bring our team just a little bit closer. 

 Now that Pan Ams is just two months away, Its time to really step up the pace and work harder to be in the gym more. Now I just need to work on my mistakes and keep pushing myself to improve my game. I am really excited for the big IBJJF competitions this year, and I'm looking forward to making it to the podium in March. 

Perfect Start to a New Year

Happy 2014! I am officially back home in South Georgia from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where I was visiting my boyfriend, Kyle Huang, and I can honestly say that I already miss it and want to go back. Stepping into the Philadelphia airport is always really hard for me, and I don't think I will ever get used to it, but it is just part of the whole relationship. Some people think that having a long distance relationship is pointless and a waste of time, but to me, it is worth it in every way possible. 

I spent about a week and a half up North, ending and starting the New Year in the perfect way. We always manage to stay really busy doing so many things while I am in Philly, which makes the week seem like it goes by so quickly. Even though this was a pretty laid back vacation for me, my boyfriend still continues to push me at training every day at Maxercise Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu and make sure that I am getting prepared for the upcoming tournaments. 

He really is the perfect training partner for me. He is obviously way better than me ;-) However, Kyle is a purple belt, so he has the knowledge to train me and teach me new things in order to advance my game. Rolling with him can be just silly and kind of playful at times, but when it comes down to it, he is not afraid to push me until I am completely dead on the mats. 

Even though I had the best time up North, like always, it is time to get back to the real world. I started school this week, so now it's time to buckle down. Unfortunately, school and work have seemed to clash this week and next week to where I can't make driving an hour to Tallahassee, FL to train at Zicro BJJ as much as I'd like to. Hopefully once this week and next week start to settle down, I will be able to make more time to train and get back on a regular schedule. I guess it is a good thing that I work at a 24/7 hour gym, where I can immediately start my workout once I clock out. I am still doing everything I can, mentally and physically, to be prepared for the MMAC Grappling tournament next weekend in Tampa, FL. Stepping back onto the competition mats is something i've missed since I left the NY Abu Dhabi trials in October. Until next weekend, I will just be staying prioritized with school, work, and training for the tournament. 

Hope everybody has a great start to the New Year! Ouss! 

Keep the Jiu Jitsu Community Respectful

Through social media, people have an easier time staying connected with each other and every day news that goes on throughout the world. For the jiu jitsu community, there are many Facebook associations and pages that help us all to stay connected, some more well-known than others. However, I recently discovered that a lot of my tournament photos, as well as some other women competitors i know, were being posted by a sketchy, unknown jiu jitsu Facebook page called Jiu Jitsu Girls. 

At first I thought it was kind of cool that my pictures were being shared by other jiu jitsu pages, but then I started to feel uncomfortable when I looked deeper into the site. This Facebook page consists strictly of pictures of women training jiu jitsu or sporting jiu jitsu gear. I started to see more provocative photos of women wearing gis or sports bras, along with men leaving comments like "thats hot" or "she can triangle me any day." I thought to myself, "I don't want my photos being posted on this page next to all of these other pictures." 

I think I speak for all girls who train jiu jitsu when I say that we do everything we can to be taken seriously in this sport. I work so hard every day to be a high level competitor at tournaments and to be seen as a role model, but when my tournament pictures are being displayed on a website where photos present women as sex symbols rather than hard working, that is not okay with me. 

Blue belt, Jess Papi, of Scranton MMA comments on the situation by saying, "i think it is unfair to not ask for somebodys permission to use their photos. A lot of these pages are places for men to gawk at women, and a lot of women don't want that." 

Small Facebook organizations looking to repost and share photos should ask permission from the competitor(s) in the picture, as well as the photographer who takes credit. Ju jitsu facebook pages should be used to promote the sport and the competitors in a positive, mature manner. If this is too much to ask from these unreliable Facebook pages, then they should be banned. All of the jiu jitsu women, who put all of the time and effort into the sport, should be respected in every way, and not taken advantage of in situations like this. 

Christmas Surprises!

This week has been amazing as everybody is getting into the Holiday spirits with such positive vibes. One day this week, my teammates and I at Zicro BJJ were completely surprised when our teammate, Rachel Nelson, showed up unexpectedly after being deployed overseas for months. I am extremely happy that she finally made it back home safely, just in time for Christmas, after being gone for what seemed like forever. Rachel has always been such an amazing training partner for me, and she still gives me the same trouble, maybe even more, than she did from the day she left. Even though she was deployed for many months, by rolling with her in No Gi this morning, I can see that her jiu jitsu game hasn't changed a bit. I am so excited to finally have my teammate back on the mats in Tallahassee, safe and sound.

After a long day of training today, I was also surprised by an awesome package from the DoOrDie Hyperfly family at my doorstep. I am always so satisfied and in love with the products that they send. The new competition jacket is perfect for the cold weather, as well as the competition floor before matches. From the gis to their clothing lines, Hyperfly never disappoints through their products and service.

If you're still looking for a Christmas gift for your special someone, click the link below and check out their products! ---> www.doordie.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! OUSS!

Real Women Train Jiu Jitsu

A lot of people don't view jiu jitsu as a sport that was made for women, as it is for men. Although the sport has an evident, growing number of women every year, it is still hard to attract women to the gym to try out a class. At my jiu jitsu school, Zicro BJJ, we have about seven women that train jiu jitsu compared to the numerous amount of guys that train with us. My teammate Jasmine and I are always talking about how we want more experience training with other women with different styles of jiu jitsu in order to prepare us for competition. We decided, along with another group of girls, to start a women's open mat where we could get together about once every two months and train. 

Today, Jasmine and I made a three hour trip down to Jacksonville, Florida for our second women's open mat at Luiz Palhare's jiu jitsu school. As soon as we walked into the school, everybody was so kind and welcoming. We had a great turnout of about 15 girls from all over Florida. Rolling and training with people of all different ranks and sizes was definitely an amazing experience. Because we were all from different schools with different teachers, everybody had their own unique game. Some girls were guard players, while others were mainly trying to pass and play top the whole time. I feel like I learned so much today just from sparring with different women. It wasn't as much of, "I'm going to see how many people I can beat today," but instead, we all just shared techniques and different ideas to benefit each other. 

After we trained for about two and a half hours, we all made our way next door to the Brazilian Cafe to get some lunch after a long training session. We were able to socialize even more over some delicious Brazilian food and, of course, some acai bowls. Even though I just came to Jacksonville to train jiu jitsu, I met some great people today that I hope to continue to see at every women's open mat that we organize. 

If any women are interested in coming to a potential women's open mat, please feel free to email me for more information!

 Email: BeverlyBJJ@gmail.com

Flashback of an Eventful Year: 2013

Now that the year 2013 is finally coming to an end, I think I can honestly say that my perspective on jiu jitsu has drastically changed this year in a positive way. Instead of just a hobby or a workout, jiu jitsu has become a passion of mine that has allowed me to travel the world, meet the most genuine people, and achieve goals for myself on a daily basis. 

At the beginning of this year, I was promoted to blue belt. I had a rocky start competing for the first couple of months, but I am slowly learning how to advance my game to the next level in order to be successful. Overall, I was able to end the year with 5 IBJJF medals and 2 Abu Dhabi medals. 

Although I feel like most of my wins and losses are results from my own personal actions, I feel blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing support group: my coach, Felipe Neto, my ZicroBJJ teammates, my family, and my boyfriend, Kyle Huang. They have all helped me so much throughout the year and have always pushed me towards my dreams and goals. I can't thank them enough for all that they have done and still do for me on a daily basis. 

I've only been training jiu jitsu for two and a half years, but the passion I have for training, competing, and helping others is so grand. This is something that I want to do for the rest of my life, to constantly pursue this dream I have. As soon as the new year rolls around, I am going to start training and hitting it hard to get ready for PanAms and Worlds in the Spring. I am hoping to medal and make more of a name for myself at the bigger, well-known tournaments with all of the much-appreciated support that I have. It's been a great year, but I'm more than ready to take on the year 2014 and all it has to offer.

Here's a short clip of some of my matches at the Abu Dhabi trials in October!

Special Thanks to:

Zicro Academy/Alliance Tallahassee: http://www.zicrobjj.com/

Mike Calimbas Photography: http://www.mikecalimbas.com/

Hyperfly Do or Die: http://www.doordie.com