Blogsphere Report, July 2011
I would like to take this time to acknowledge the people and events that have inspired, entertained, and moved me is some way this past month.
- I would like to offer my condolences to Shakia for the loss of her dear friend Garic Salmonowicz.
- I would also like to congratulate Shakia on her beautiful new blue belt!
- I have a get well wish to Georgette Oden. You’ll be back on them mats giving ’em Hell soon!
- Fueled By Fear is back online! Dev has changed roles this time around. He’s now teaching BJJ in Caracas, Venezuela. Best of luck in your new endeavors, I always thought that you would be the best teacher!
- Liam of The Part Time Grappler fame posted some nice videos on grips.
- Meg Smitley of Megjitsu analyzes families in BJJ for BJJ Style magazine, and starts a Jiu Jitsu Hair photo album.
- Julia Johansen got a sexy new hair style, a new job, and a new home. Check out her Jiu Jitsu hair.
- Stephanie McClish also got a sexy new do.
- There is a new BJJ blogger in town. His name is Daniel and he is a friend of Stephanie and Allie.
- I would like to wish much luck to Christopher of Rolling up Hill. He is studying for the Bar Exam.
- Dragonladybjj has a new home!
- Jason of Heavytraining analyzes life after thirty.
If you’ve got blogshere news, please share by leaving a comment! I would love to hear from you.
Where Did Jodi Go?
I’ve got the new website up and running! I’m posting exclusively on it now. Check it out at http://www.combatsportsreview.com . Can’t wait to see you over there!
What A Bender…
It was a Friday night. I was on my way home from the gym, when I remembered my son’s grocery wish list. It was late so I stopped by (please don’t hold it against me) the 24 hour Wal-Mart. You know, the one with the grocery department. I don’t know if it was the post workout craving, the allergic reaction, the allergy medicine, or PMS… What ever it was, I wanted comfort food. My idea of comfort food… Well, it went something like this…
There was the peach a ate as I walked out of the store. I ate a honey bun in the car. I had a can of Chef Boyardee mini ravioli before my Aveno oatmeal bath. Then there was the Wavy Lays potato chips with bean dip after my bath. The next twenty-four hours included more honey buns, cherries, trail mix, Chef Boyardee Spaghetti and meat balls, peanut M&Ms, Chinese food and a whole two liter Coke. Hmm, my tummy’s so full, that I don’t care if I’m an itchy leaper! Oh, dear me. What a bender…
Me Swears It’s Not Contagious
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I try to be an efficient person. I’ll combine activities and such so that I can make the most of my time. Yeah, that doesn’t always work… Recently, I wanted to have coffee with a friend but I had to do laundry. I decided that I would just do laundry at her house. Kill two birds with one stone, right? It worked out great. We had a wonderful visit and my laundry got done. No harm, right? Wrong! I forgot how sensitive to laundry soap I am. I’ve used Gain laundry soap for over twenty years. On the few occasions that I tried a different laundry soap, I’ve broken out in hives! Yeah, I’m allergic to my friend’s laundry soap.
A few days later I started breaking out in a rash. At first I thought it was a heat rash from the climate. But no, it ended up being a full-fledged allergic reaction. My silly self, I thought I would just rewash all my cloths and that would be the end of it. No, my body is now in full allergic reaction protection mode. Even though allergen has been removed, my immune system response won’t stop reacting. I’m now taking three different medications and taking daily Aveno Oatmeal baths. If I’m so much as an hour late taking one of the medications, I start itching again.
I missed training Wednesday because of it. I didn’t want to miss the Women’s class on Friday. So, I talked to my instructor about it. He asked it I was contagious. I said no it’s just allergies, and I just want to watch. He said that since it was allergies and not a contagious rash, that I could train if I felt up to it. I told myself and him that I probably shouldn’t, that it might cause my skin to react again. However, it’s hard to just watch a BJJ class. About half way in I was participating. The amazing thing is, I didn’t break out because of it. I actually think the endorphins released during exercise helped. After class, my skin felt better than it had in a week. However tonight, I lost track of time and forgot to take my medicine. I started feeling that itch again… One time, this lasted for a whole month! While I’m waiting for my body to figure out that it is over-reacting, I may look like a leaper, but me swears I’m not contagious!
Reaching New Heights
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I decided to do something different. Break up the monotony of life and challenge myself. There is no better way to do that than to climb. I’ve always loved climbing. Maybe it’s because I was born in the year of the monkey or maybe its just the tomboy in me. I just like to climb. You feel the power surging through your body as you rise up above the world. You look down and see how far you’ve come. It’s an amazing experience and a great confidence builder.
I went to the Texas Rock Climbing Gym with a friend. Their web site says, “Texas Rock Gym is the biggest climbing facility in the state of Texas! We have over 40 top-rope stations, an expansive lead climbing area with an arch, and a separate bouldering cave – over 14,000 square feet of climbable surface, and hundreds of constantly changing routes.” They have the sweetest indoor climbing setup. Just watch this video and see for yourself.
The safety equipment is efficient and easy to master. Everybody has to go through an instruction and safety course on their first visit. It only takes a few minutes and then your able to start your adventure. It had been a long time since I had climbed anything, so the first few times I only went up half way. However, it wasn’t long before I was climbing all the way to the top.
I can’t say that this was a complete non-martial arts activity. I really wanted to test my martial arts training in a non-martial arts activity. First and foremost, the grip training from BJJ and Judo came in handy. I think it even helped to improve my grips. And of course, strength, agility, and balance all came into play. This is definitely a great activity that you can do with your non-jits friends. And, you won’t feel too guilty about missing a training session.
We all have periods in time where we get so wrapped up in our daily lives that we forget to live. I think it’s important to step outside of the little boxes called life, that we have created for ourselves. When you step outside of your box, you open yourself up to new experiences and enrich your life in so many ways. It’s called living not existing…
Dying to Dye
My first BJJ gi is still in good shape, it’s just boring. I find that I don’t want to wear it because it’s so boring. I guess I’m having a girl moment. I’ve looked at a lot of different gis. There is a beautiful Vulcan women’s gi in lavender and Gameness has a similar model in lavender. I like both, but they cost a lot. Almost twice as much as a plain white gi. Considering that I’m not a pink girl, the dark pink of the Kyra Gracie gi is growing on me. But it costs a lot too. Then I remembered a post by Georgette about dying gis.
I’ve looked at the Dharma Trading Company site that she recommends. The web site is very informative and the price is very reasonable when compared to the price of a new gi. They have an excellent collection of colors. I find that I like the Orchid color. It’s a bit darker than lavender, but not too dark. They have detailed instructions and an easy ordering form to make sure that you get everything you need.
I think that this would be a fun way to revive a boring gi. It might also hide the red wine stain on the pant leg… Then I could get it embroidered with a design of my choice… Yeah, this might be a good option for me.
Rock Paper Scissors
Sometimes, treating pain can be like playing a game of Rock Paper Scissors. A single injury may have many components that cause pain. There can be the pain from swelling, which would require an anti-inflamitory agent. Then there is the pain from the initial insult such as a tissue tear, which may respond to opioids or a damaged nerve that may require a completely different approach to treatment. Add to that, pain is subjective. It’s an personal experience. No body can ever feel your pain as you do. Also, you can never feel some one elses pain. You can try to read their body language, to gauge their level of pain. But everybody responds to pain differently. If there is a visible injury causing the pain, you can look at it and say that must hurt. But you will never know exactly how much pain they are experiencing.
The medical community tries to classify pain, in an attempt to better understand pain. However, current classification methods are numerous. Some are vague and they don’t follow a logical pattern. I suppose the lack of consistency would indicate a confusion about pain and its treatment in the medical community itself. To complicate things even more, different people respond to pain medication in different ways. Some may have allergic reactions to some medications. Others may have an insensitivity to certain pain medications. People with ADHD and Ehlers Danlos typically have an insensitivity to Lidocaine. People with low levels of natural dopamine may be more sensitive to pain itself. Some pain disorders such as Fibromyalgia show no specific cause of pain. This leads to the assumption that the complaint of pain is not real and “in someone’s head”.
Another even more disturbing finding, is that women are significantly under treated for pain. Recent studies have discovered that women experience pain differently than men and respond to pain medications differently as well.
Diane E. Hoffmann and Anita J. Tarzian wrote “The Girl Who Cried Pain: A Bias Against Women in the Treatment of Pain”, for The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. It is an in-depth survey of recent findings in the study of pain and pain treatment as it pertains to the different ways men and women are treated for pain and why.
Chelsea of the blog Hypermobility Hope wrote a must read post titled “Gender and Pain”. In this post she breaks the topic down into plain English. She explains why women experience pain differently than men. She also explains why women aren’t taken seriously by the medical community when they complain of pain. Chelsea’s bio states, “I had many doctors tell me that I was crazy, and that I would just have to live with the pain,” From her personal experience she has outlined specific steps that anyone can take, in order to receive adequate pain treatment.
The Courage to Speak
Sometimes, the most difficult challenge one faces is the courage to speak. I found Kristen to be a very inspirational person. People like her are the reason I train. When a restrained voice sees what I’m able to accomplish through martial arts, it helps them to find the courage to speak as Kristen did. Below is an excerpt from her post, “Falling Through The Cracks”.
By Kristen of Wanderlust blog, on Monday, March 28, 2011
Combat Sports Review Blog 