Hi Everyone,

You may be wondering why I haven’t been on the mats kicking butt as usual.  Well, I’ve been sick. For an ordinary person, this is just one of those things that happen occasionally.  For me, it’s a lot different.

It sucks being sick or injured when you train at The Dojo. I don’t advise it to anyone for the following reasons:

1. You miss out on all of the awesome techniques, so when you get back, chances are that you’re going to get your butt kicked with something you’ve missed out on. Not cool.
2. Since we stretch our muscles every lesson, you start to feel tightness in the neck and shoulders which will not help you on the mats once you’ve recovered.
3. You don’t get to be at The Dojo, with all the smiling faces and energetic atmosphere. This is a great loss, at least to me.

I’m itching to get back onto the mats as soon as possible. I’m hoping for a speedy recovery. And when I get back, I will be training again, harder and better than before.

I think I had one of the best training sessions I had in weeks, really. I managed to master a takedown, learn an alternative way to get out of half-guard and I had a couple of really good rolls.

Another thing that I neglected to mention is that....I hurt my dad, okay? But it was his fault! It serves him right for attempting to attack my knee with his nose.

Dave and Louis’ fights are on Friday night. Be there with your “The Dojo” T-Shirt and support the boys in what I’m sure will be an awesome victory.

I’ve also learned a takedown that Gaz officially declared as “Sam’s Takedown”. I won’t note what it is for the moment, in case anyone is planning to steal it.

The no-gi competition comes ever closer and I’m feeling a lot more confident than I was when I signed up for it. Now that I know the basics of fighting without a gi, I think I’m ready to learn some cool techniques that will have me kicking butt and blowing everyone away.

A huge thank you to all my regular readers. Nothing more needs to be said, except for the fact that these people are truly awesome!

I keep forgetting to acknowledge Dan, Dave and Laura who have stood behind me ever since I started participating in the adult classes and for helping me to be the best that I can be.

Another big thank you to Sonia, Kanitta and Tim who are always patient with me when I can’t get something right. I’ve learned so much from all three of them.

And finally, thank you to Gui, who has always been a friendly face at The Dojo. Ever since I started sparring with him, I’ve learned so much. Everyone at the gym wishes him a speedy recovery, as do I, because I so enjoy his trademark move of picking me up and carrying me around the mats like a sack of potatoes.

Until next time.

I’ll see you on the mats.

Tuesday was a great training. At first it seemed like it would be an ordinary day but it turned out to be more than just your average training session.

Firstly, I didn’t dominate the mats like I resolved, but I did beat Joe a couple of times in King of Kings and I re-enforced a take-down that will be very useful to me in the future.

Our new shirts have finally got their new slogan – one that I think totally appropriate. “Way of Life” definitely sums up the way we roll at The Dojo.

Louis’ and Dave’s fights are coming up very soon. We have been watching them train harder than ever before. Good luck to both of them; I hope that I’ll be there to support them.

Just yesterday I found out that I have over three hundred readers – that’s awesome! Thanks to all my regulars, for believing in me; especially to Ed, who never fails to compliment the latest post.

I’ll be back this Saturday with more news.

It has come to my attention that a lot of people at The Dojo are reading my blog. I feel very good about ‘Project Awesome’ as I have now taken to calling it, when someone at the gym comes up to me and tells me what a good job I’m doing. I thank everyone for their support.

Now to business - yesterday was a great day to train. We learned a very simple submission if someone underhooks your leg. It was quick and effective. I look forward to trying it out on Saturday.

It took me a while longer to get the sweep that we learned afterwards from the same position, but in the end, with some encouragement and advice, I ended up doing it well.

I also feel like I’m improving in King of Kings. The end result is still a loss, but it takes a while for people to beat me now, so I feel like I’m getting better at the defence element of Jiu Jitsu. Now I just need to focus on the offence element.

I tried one of the techniques of breaking guard that Dave showed me, and I got taken down via a tripod (just FYI, that’s my move! I was outraged when someone had the cheek to steal it). He told me that I need to ‘find Jesus’ to get it right, so I will keep practicing until its right.

I have neglected to mention that I have twenty hours of community service to do for my school - when Dan suggested that I do them here, it seemed too good a possibility to be true. But after getting permission, I have been told that I will be doing volunteer work during my school holidays. Look out for me then! I’m very excited to start volunteering at The Dojo and I can’t wait to see what kind of work I’ll be doing.

As well as this, I need to mention that there is a competition for a new T-Shirt slogan at The Dojo. They must be three words that show what Jiu Jitsu means to you. I’ve thought of a very good one and I’m sure you can too. Pop by The Dojo and put your would-be slogan in a box. Finalists are drawn tomorrow.

That’s all from me!

Train hard and I look forward to seeing you all on the mats.