kids’ jiu-jitsu, UFC 193 opinion

Last week was pretty good. Nagging injuries were bothering me and preventing from going all out in sparring, but I learned a lot of great technique on mitts from John and in the gi from Casey, so that’s good. Plus I was productive on the kid’s jiu-jitsu front. I’m in charge of the little kid’s program, so I’m working together with Rick Davis (big kids) and Chris Robbins (teaches both) to structure a new “curriculum.”
rick's classroom
We met last Thursday at Rick’s school – he teaches middle school – and brainstormed. It was so funny and cool to see his classroom. I really felt like I went back in time! And in the middle of our discussions he said, “Wait, I just gotta show you this!” He ran into his room and came out with a mat. What 5th grade teacher has a MAT in his classroom? Haha
chris and rick in the hall

So we did jiu-jitsu technique in the middle of the hallway. XD So amusing.
roxy and rick in hallway

We decided a few things and are still planning a few things.
I watched the UFC this weekend with a bunch of friends. I didn’t go early enough to get a table, so we got a standing space and rotated turns on two stools we acquired.

ufc 193 friends2
I was REALLY impressed with Valerie. No offense intended towards her, but I fought her and I took her down and choked her out. She stood and banged with Joanna all five rounds, and I actually thought she could have won. She improved so much! And Joanna was awesome. She broke some records for most UFC punches and kicks landed.

Ronda vs Holly was amazing. I think Holly is one of the only people who has that one skill needed to beat Ronda, and that is: do not get grabbed by Ronda. She has that movement to not get pressed back into the cage, and the ability to keep distance, and the physical strength to do it. She fought the necessary game plan perfectly. So impressive. Ronda is really amazing, too, but Holly won that fight.

That’s what it is – two amazing fighters, with strengths and weaknesses in their games, clashing. One got the better of the other. Some fan reactions have been bugging me lately. Some people are REALLY NASTY. A few people suggested that Ronda took a dive. Ridiculous. She has her pride. Others say that she sucked anyway. She just got beaten in this fight, but she is very skilled. So is Holly. Others post memes of Ronda’s face as she’s getting knocked out and nasty text. That upsets me. Have you ever been knocked out in front of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people? No? I have. TWICE. If you watched The Ultimate Fighter Season 18, you saw one of those times. The other was Strikeforce 2010.

ko kaufman 1

ko kaufman 2

worst.thing. EVER.

Okay, so everybody is entitled to their own opinions. I have mine – I naturally feel bad for anyone who gets knocked out because I’m a fighter and I had those experiences. Some people think Ronda is disrespectful and cocky. If that’s your opinion, then that’s fine. Actually, I’m NOT trying to defend her actions and personality. I like her, but I actually wasn’t rooting for neither Holly nor Ronda. I just wanted to see a fight that went out of the first round.

What is bugging me is people who show NO RESPECT and say REALLY NASTY things. Just because someone spits in my face doesn’t mean I will spit back. Because that is my policy, my way of life, my “bushido.” I show respect to people even if I don’t really feel it inside and dislike them. I had to work with someone I despised to my core. He was a bad person. But if he said hello, I would say hello back. That’s not me being “fake.” That’s me being civil and operating within society.

I wish people would tone it down just a little. Just in the same way that it’s okay to shout in public but not scream shrilly at the top of your lungs. It’s fine to rejoice or lament or whatever. I’m really happy that people have feelings about and care about the fighters! That makes me happy. But do some of you really have to be so nasty sometimes? I mean, if you’re a nasty person, then okay, you’re being true to yourself. Lol :/ I would say this about any knock-out-rejoicing meme I see, btw, not just Ronda. Someone accused me of not caring about the Anderson Silva KO memes floating around. Yeah, those made me sad, too.…

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