Milestones along the way...

Greetings my fellow hapgraps!

There is a lot going on my head right now, I don't know if this is the most appropriate forum for it, but I will refer to some, but not all of it.

Milestones... Markers to let us know where we are in both training and life.

When Angie and I were in church on Sunday, the pastor spoke that "When Jordan is behind you, Jericho is ahead of you." Meaning, that almost always after times of prosperity and blessing, there will almost always be times of challenge ahead. Tonight was one of those nights for me personally. Training was great, but what happened after was the big shocker. I know that I don't have a big following on this blog, and some of you may not share the same beliefs as I do, but if you are so inclined, I would certainly appreciate the random prayer, well-wish, meditative vibe, positive affirmation or whatever. Even though the milemarkers are ahead of us, it doesn't necessarily tell us what to do. Even training wise, tremendous growth (for me it has been very small incremental improvements lately for about the past year) is always followed by intense challenge. One day I am escaping everybody, the next day I get choked out by Joe Firstday White Belt. It is all a part of growth.

Speaking of growth, one of my long time training partners, Greg, turned 50 today! Greg has been practicing brazilian jiujitsu since 1994 and has been awarded his blue and purple belts by Royce. He has had a major influence on my game. He is a martial ARTIST, an amazing athlete and a good friend. We are blessed to train with him at GBS!

Training wise, tonight was a grab bag. Rolling with Sabrina, Grip sparring with Paul to test out my new russian grips- he is so much lower base and stronger than I am, it is good training for me, drilling with a new whitebelt on armbar from the mount, and a particularly vexing session with Bill the wristlock king, as he is getting so good, I am having to pull out the kitchen sink to deal with all of his threats. Class was a tripod sweep and a tricky armbar from the mount.

Also in the blogiverse, Liam the part-time grappler has an excellent post on recovery methods for grapplers. As an aging athlete, recovery is 80 percent of the battle. Check it out!

Hope you are well.

Oss.

And train happy!