Vaghi Blue Belt = Me

Today's test was literally one of the hardest things I've ever faced. Consider that I went through basic training and numerous other para-military schools....and never once was I ever as tired as I was today.

I'm not going to spill the details, because it's an unwritten rule that you remain silent about the experience, but a small taste won't hurt.

Phase 1: Utter exhaustion. That's enough about that. I mean really, if I think back to the most tired I've ever been....nothing.

Phase 2: Sparring in the condition created by Phase 1. Fresh people coming at you the entire time, no rest, no quarter. All you have left is technique and heart....and it's still not enough.

Simply put, I was taken to a very dark place today and found the fight inside of me that most people never get to meet. We made friends and I know, no matter how difficult of a match I face in the future, I'll have a reserve that they have never had to tap into before.

My feet are tore up and I popped a rib a bit. The only reason that bothers me is that I'm so ready to get back on the mat, get back on my dieting and start preparing for the Pan Ams.

Almost ready!

Ok. From what I hear about the test for blue belt, I won't be ready. No one is truly ready. It's not designed to be passed, but rather, endured.

I'll do my best and encourage those testing with me, as I can.

Sled dogs! We'll keep our heads down, our eyes to the front and we'll just keep on going.

My diet is going very well. I'm down to 225 from 270. I'm very excited about how well I'm moving and how much my endurance has improved. I'm also working out a lot more, which is increasing my strength. I'm stronger now than when I started my diet, no doubt.

In fact, I did 100 sit ups straight for the first time in my life. I couldn't even accomplish that when I was in the military, 19 and 174 lbs, doing sit ups every day. I was lucky to break 80 on the PT test.

Anyway, I've decided to get my weight down to around 220 in the gi. I want to see if I like going against the big guys (222 and over) now that I'm lighter and then I want to compete in the 208 to 221 group, to see if their speed bothers me as much as I think it might.

If I like the lower weight class though, then I'm not going to level out my diet until I see abs (good luck with that, huh). If I can stand 208 to 221, then I'll probably like 195 to 207.5 even better, if I can manage to keep the strength that I presently have (which has been more than enough for the 220 and over group). Who knows. Maybe I can make it all the back down to 181.5 to 194.5 group.

The lightest I've been as an adult is 174, but I was a stick. At my height, I think it'd be unwise to go that light again. I'd almost certainly have to lose muscle then and I've been practicing BJJ in a certain fashion, a smashing style, for three years now.

I think, if I ever went at medium heavy or Meio Pasado (181.5 to 194.5), I'd be at the heaviest end of it and just barely making that weight. We'll see. That's another 30 lbs from now and I'm not going to keep losing weight as easily as I have been. I'm going to slow down at some point and that's where I'll spend some time competing as a blue belt to see how it feels.

The name of the game for BJJ training this week was "reps." Nothing like getting about 150 Arm bars, triangles and kimuras in. My stomach is hurting and my body is building that hurt into memory. I'm going to try, next week, throwing each of those submissions up as often as I can.