Saturday tournament

Saturday is the Utah Champion Submission challenge! I am starting to get really nervous. If anyone is interested in coming you can find the information for the event at http://utahchampion.com/site/view/60082_Tournaments.pml;jsessionid=k45ovkj0s3gb. It costs $10 per adult for spectators, it will be a lot of fun to watch. I will be competing in the Gi division, not sure how large a division it will be. I am excited to finally test myself and see what I have learned. I have only been studying for about 5 months and it has been pretty casual at that, only training for 6 hours a week at the most, where as some people training for 6 hours a day. Hopefully this will just be the start of many such tournaments.

Tournament Date set!

The tournament is set! Novemeber 14th, not sure about the time yet but I am pretty sure it will start sometime early morning and run for most of the day. I am officially registered for the Gi division and am excited to compete. Now I just need to train so that I don't get my butt kicked all over the mats.

Martial Arts Tournament

Hey all (those one or two people who follow my blog), I am planning on competing in a martial arts tournament in November (no date yet sorry) and just wanted to let everyone know so they can come and support me! I'm not sure if it will be the 13th or the weekend prior to thanksgiving. Anyway if anyone wants to come and see some cool jiu jitsu, judo, or other grappling arts just let me know and I will get you information on it.

My arms fell off...

So I have been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for almost 2 months now and absolutely love it. Coach Pease my BJJ teacher is awesome and really good at teaching in a way a slow person like me can understand. However I think I may have been pushing myself too hard cause my arms fell off yesterday. Well, at least they felt like it. They are still burning pretty hard today. But I think after a few days of rest I should be fine. For anyone who wants to learn to defend thesmelves while getting an amazing workout, come to the BJJ club or take the class. You can find info on the club at byubjj.blogspot.com. If anybody would like to come and see some awesome BJJ come to the Utah Chamion Submission Challenge this saturday at Throwdown Etc. (located on state street just south of University Parkway in Orem.

utahchampion.com

So I have been taking a brazilian jiu jitsu class for the past month or so and am considering entering a tournament. I realize I will probably get my butt kicked considering most people will have more experience than me. However, I think it will be good experience and a lot of fun just to be there. We'll see, it's 50 bucks just to register!

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I just started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at BYU. Though it is exactly what I imagined it to be (rolling on the ground grappling) it is far more difficult than I ever imagined it to be. A day after my first lesson I am completely, from head to toe, sore. Despite not being my first choice for martial arts it was a lot of fun and very educational. I hope to someday follow this up with training in one of the chinese martial arts.

Got the camera!

Well we finally got the camera, no not the one we ordered online, that turned out to be a scam of sorts (but that is another story). Instead we bought one at best buy for the sam's club price since the local sam's club didn't have one in stock. Instead of the 18-135mm lens we got the kit lens 18-55mm with VR. We have only taken a few pictures with it so far but they look amazing. I will hopefully post a few of the fist pictures here soon.

New Camera!!

So we finally shelled out for a new DSLR. Yes, Lauren and I will now be joining the ranks of the wanna-be photographers. While I say we "shelled out" we actually got a really good deal; and we bought one of the introductory DSLR's so we really didn't go all out. We decided on the Nikon D60 for a few reasons. First, it's a good introductory camera. Second, it was super cheap at the place we got it from (soniccameras.com-it was brand new).

This is the lens we bought to go with the D60 body. It is 18-135mm nikkor lens with autofocus and a few extra goodies. This lens normally comes with the D80 kit. We passed on the 18-55mm that comes with the D60 kit in favor of the extra focal length, although the VR on the 18-55 was tempting. We plan to eventually purchase a 18-200 with VR sometime in the future, perhaps after we have had some practice with our first lens. I always saw myself going with a Canon instead of a Nikon as I know a few people who use them (my mother included) and they are very popular. However, a friend of mine persuaded me against the neat features on the body of the Canons in favor of the higher quality lenses on the Nikon's. I have since that time learned that there really is not that much difference between the Nikon, Sony, Canon, Pentax, etc. As long as they are name brand and multi-billion dollar companies then they make good lenses (see http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/nikon-vs-canon.htm). But I have no reservations whatsoever about the choice we made to go with Nikon. My mom uses a Canon Rebel xti and Lauren and I have both played with them but I honestly prefer the feel and functionality of the Nikon's. Who knows perhaps I may switch in the future but for now I am excited to use my new Nikon (which could be here as early as Monday!).

So what prompted us to get the DSLR? Well Lauren and I have been thinking about it for about a year and came pretty close to getting one a few months ago but decided to pass on it. A few days ago, however, Lauren and I went on vacation, she went to Miami and I went to Oregon. I brought a couple of friends of mine along on the trip, one of them brought his Sony cybershot and an HD camera. While hiking on the trip I had an opportunity to use his awesome camera to take some cool nature shots and absolutely fell in the love with the clarity for the shots and the zoom. That was the straw that broke the camels back. I came home Sunday and bought our first DSLR yesterday (after much persuasion on my part toward Lauren, which included going to a store so she could hold one in her hands and play with it). I will have to follow up with pictures for the D60 as soon as I learn to use it.

Mission Reunion

Yesterday I was able to go to my 6th (so Lauren tells me) mission reunion. It was great to see some of the missionaries that I served with, though I was dissapointed by the low number of people who were actually there. However, most of all, it was awesome to see President and Sister Blake. As is his custom he gave an amazing talk on remaining faithful to the gospel and keeping ourselves focused on returning to our Father in-heaven. He reminded us of our mission motto: The Kingdom of God or nothing! Hearing him speak as he did as I served as a missionary 4 years ago, and being able to speak with him about the changes in our lives, served to inspire me and remind me of what I learned in the two years I served in the MJM. I am very grateful for the opportunity to meet with my missionary brothers each year and to be reminded of the many lessons I learned with them.

Day 6

Today was Kenpo x day. It was really fun and I was able to do everything that the people on the video did. It didn't feel like I did as much as when I first started the program. However, I was sweating like crazy throughout the 58 minute routine. I have already noticed that my range of motion is improving and I am able to work longer and harder without breathing too hard. Tomorrow is the x stretch day. I am already looking forward to my second week.

Elder Perry

Elder Perry came to our stake conference and spoke this weekend. It was awesome to see him in person (at a distance that I can actually make out his facial features). He definitely is tall. He had a lot of wonderful things to say to us. One of the things that I found most applicable to me was what he had to say concerning the view that the world has of the church. What I took away was this: We (members of the church) have allowed the media to dictate, to the majority of the world, what the church is and who we, as members of the church, are. We have allowed this simply by not opening our mouths to our neighbours, friends, and family. This does not mean that we should protest when things like big love or protests against the church concerning gay marriage come along; we should instead reach out and teach people correct principles and help them to understand the restoration and the plan of salvation. If we will speak out to our brother's and sister's throughout the world then they will have a correct image of the church and better be able to recognize false information among members of the media. Anyway, it was a great conference and one which I was able to take a lot of good stuff with me.

Day 5

Today was the legs and back day, which means I get to do my favorite thing: Pull-ups. Oh yes I love them so much. Seriously though, today was tiring but I can tell that the workouts are already getting easier. I was actually able to do almost all of the ab ripperx reps (25 for each thing). I feel really good and I can feel the fat being burned throughout my body. I have also noticed that I have a lot more energy and am becoming more and more flexible. Tomorrow will be kenpo x, followed by a day of rest or a xstretch (I am leaning toward the latter). After day seven I will most likely not comment again on my p90x workouts until my 30th day. I am already looking forward to taking my 30 day measurements and pics and I cannot wait for my 60 and 90 days measurements and pics, it's going to be awesome.

Day 3 and 4

Yesterday, was the arm and shoulder day which I forgot to blog about yesterday. My triceps have never hurt like this before. Despite the pain I have not felt this good in a long time, which is saying a lot since it has only been four days. Something funny that I have noticed, I sweat like crazy now any time I do any physical activity, which is gross and awesome at the same time. Today was yoga day. May I say that I had no idea just how impossibley difficult that yoga is. I was deffinately sweating and burning like crazy for the whole 1 hour and 38 minute workout. The ending was really nice and relaxing and left me feeling great!

Wow (aka Day 2)

No not world of warcraf, i mean wow, as in astonishment. I thought yesterday was bad, I had no idea. The p90x guy says that plyometrics is the x in p90x and I believe him. Considering that plyo is the most difficult then I feel a little better about the next 4 days of my first week (however, I am already dreaded next thursday...).

To Lauren: I probably will still play but I am going to definitely be sore and probably not playing very hard. I hope you decide to start the program soon.

To Dahlia: Well it's fun and not fun, if that makes sense. It's difficult. It really pushes those who want to be pushed, if you want to dog it you can or you can just kind of workout; there is no one there to make you do anything. If you think Brendan is willing to workout for an hour almost non-stop and push himself, I believe it would help him a lot. The think about this program is that it really is just workouts that people who know what the are doing have been doing for years. Both you and Brendan should do it together, it's good to have someone doing it with you to keep you motivated and honest.

One mistake that I made today, I ate within an hour of doing the workout....BIG MISTAKE! My stomach was killing me throughout the session and right now I feel like my stomach is trying to get outside my body.

Overall this has been a fun couple of days and I am alreay starting to feel a lot better (15 minutes after the workout). My whole body is dead though and I can tell my muscles are torn to shreads.

Ouch

I thought I would follow up yesterdays exercise with a short post. I am in pain. Holy crap my whole upper body hurts. Yep that's it.

Day 1

I learned today that p90x is as intense as they advertise it to be. It really is a solid workout, something which you could do yourself but with the added motivation of a program. As I sit here typing I admit that I can barely raise my arms after the chest and back exersice. The ab ripper x was also equally intense and, while I usually do not feel much after ab workouts, right now my abs are killing me. I think I will keep a log of my first week, then summarize my first month, and follow a summarization of each thirty until I hit my first 90 days. My measurements are as follows (yeah not too gratifying but that it just one of the many reasons why I decided to do this program).

Chest: 42.5 in.
Waist: 40.5 in.
Hips: 38 in.
R. Thigh: 24.5 in.
L. Thigh: 25.5 in.
R. Arm: 14.5 in.
L. Arm 14.25 in.

I will not include my weight because I know it drives Lauren crazy that I won't tell her ; ). I love you!

Are you ready?!

So yeah I couldn't think of a better title. In an effort to get into shape, build confidence, and to feel better overall, I will be starting the p90x program. I am very hesitant to fall into any gimmicks such as dieting fads, or so called miracle exercise programs. That having been said, Lauren and I both have friends who have used the program to satisfactory results. If I everything works out I will start my first 90 days tomorrow. I have watched a few of the videos already and have seen that they are pretty intense and long. I hope that I can maintain my resolve and work hard. I will not be posting before and after photos, though I will take them for myself, but I will supply measurements for a before and after comparison. I decided to include this in my blog as an effort to keep myself honest (for lack of a better word). I will make a post when I officially begin the program.

Funny story

So apparently there are a lot of funny things that I do when I am sleeping at night. For example, the other night I was acting the blanket hog. Everytime Lauren would try and pull blankets back, I would yank them out of her hands and cackle! It is important to note that during this whole time I was asleep! Anyway, it was a funny story that I thought I should share.

9:45

So the other day Lauren and I were going shopping and decided to stop by circuit city for their going out of business sale. When we go to circuit city their doors were still wide open and people were walking in and out, it was at that time just after 9:40. As soon as we walked into the store someone walked up to us and said they were "closing in 5 minutes." I thought this was really strange and asked jokingly if they closed at 9:50, thinking for sure that they would be closing at 10 (which would still give us just under 20 minutes to look around). His response was, to me, really surprising. "We close at 9:45." What store closes at 9:45!? I don't remember ever shopping at a place that closes at 9:45. Why not just close at 9:23, that's much more random. So, I chalk this up as one other reason why it's obvious that circuit city has gone out of business. Thank goodness there are stores like Best Buy that have reasonable closing times.

Golf

So Lauren and I are going to start golfing together this year. She bought me a nice set of Wilson clubs for Christmas and I just recently purchased her a set of Dunlop (not the best brand, but good for beginners). I am excited, I grew up around golf courses and have been golfing for as long as I can remember, though I am not good by any standard. To supplement our efforts to learn to play this great game, Lauren and I have also signed up for a class at BYU both spring and summer. Hopefully I will unlearn my bad swing. I really can't wait to break my clubs in on the driving ranges as soon as this cursed snow has died. If anyone would like to go golfing with us this summer let us know, there are quite a few affordable golf courses in the area.