Category: BJJ

I got my freakin’ blue belt!

It was completely out of the ‘blue’ and almost three months later, I still can’t believe it really.

Around this time last year I hurt my back on a trip to London and wasn’t training – or very sporadically – for most of the season. I finally made a comeback about three weeks before the season ended, and we went into summer break, which was a bummer. But I kept up training at the weekly open mats and vowed to make this current season the one where I knuckled down and showed my coaches what they needed to see to award me my blue. I was actually really excited to make this re-commitment to improving my jiu jitsu. I even bought sports tape on Amazon in the car on our way to the first class of the season, to refresh my white belt stripes. I understood at the end of that class why my boyfriend was oddly, casually discouraging me from buying the tape (“€5? Oh no I’m pretty sure you can buy it cheaper at the pharmacy…”) because, surprise! Blue belt!

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt grading, couple smiling at the camera.
A very proud me with a very proud boyfriend.

I cried of course. Asked my coach if he was for real.. apparently yes he was!

So after six years of training BJJ, sometimes very committed, sometimes not, here I am. A very nooby blue belt. Stepping onto the mat for my first class as blue was really bloody weird and I was so self conscious. I still am a few months later. Of course as luck would have it, I’m currently injured again, some weird ongoing neck pain.

But I can’t wait to get back on the mat and back to my vow of knuckling down and training hard this season.. not as a white belt but as a freakin’ BLUE.

What’s the best mouthguard for BJJ?

I have had two dentist-made sports mouthguards in the six years I have been training jiu jitsu (on and off), and I rated them pretty highly. Just knowing they were a custom fit, and by someone who knew teeth gave me such peace of mind and confidence when I used them.

Alas, they were a little bulky and not cheap (not covered by my Australian health insurance). I lost the first one.. the second is hiding in my house somewhere probably, or maybe it got lost during my move from London to Strasbourg. Or maybe I left it at my old gym.. who knows! My teeth have moved since I got it done, so it didn’t fit very well anymore anyway.

I moved on to a Sisu mouthguard after seeing another girl rocking one on the mat and being amazed at how easily she was drinking water – and talking – through it. It barely looked like she was even wearing a mouthguard – no bulky mouth going on.

When I received it, I was dubious it would be that great – it looked like just this thin piece of plastic with holes in it! But once I got it moulded successfully (took more than a few tries – even following the YouTube video), I loved it. I had a few accidental mouth knocks with it in while rolling, and didn’t feel like my teeth were more vulnerable than when using a thicker mouthguard.

Once again my teeth moved though, it’s not fitting properly anymore and has disappeared behind the couch somewhere.

I think.

I plan to buy another one sometime.

On Black Friday last year I snagged an Opro mouthguard on sale, so that’s my current one. I had scored a free Opro in an online giveaway a year or so earlier, and liked – then lost – that one!

It’s back to bulky with an Opro compared to the Sisu, there are some holes in it however, so you don’t get so much of the saliva build-up that I had with the dentist-made mouthguards, and drinking through it isn’t so bad.

I do love how snug and cushioned my teeth feel in the Opro. The cradle that it comes with for fitting is a really good idea, and I got the fit right on the first try! I bought the red case separately not realising the Opro mouthguard came with one anyway, doh. But it is super nice to use.

What mouthguard brand do you use, and why do you love it? My Infini Jiu Jitsu teammates, Estelle (a dentist) and Marie put this fab blog post together – how to choose a mouthguard for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

 

How do you drag yourself out of the BJJ slump?

“You could just come to training with me tonight you know.”

I know I could. My back hasn’t hurt now for a good month, and other than paying my BJJ club fees which are due, there is technically nothing stopping me from training again.

I’m well and truly in a slump. It’s funny how the longer you’re away from the mat, the harder and more daunting it feels to return.

I’ve been really preoccupied by this work project which has once again taken over my life, despite my declarations that it wouldn’t. Early mornings, late nights… hell, I was working on it late on a SATURDAY night. Who does that?!

I’ve been so wound up about it, work stuff has invaded my dreams. Naturally not training much for the past five months has affected my weight too. I only have one gi that fits right now, which is a bit depressing.

Yannick ordered me to the gym the other night. Not to BJJ, but a cardio box class.

Boxing gloves in a gym with hand wraps and a water bottle

Just constantly sweating it out and punching bags for an hour was so refreshing. Makes me realise how much I need to get my body moving regularly for my sanity. And it makes me wonder why I’m staying away from jiu jitsu.

I know the hardest part is always getting to the gym itself. What works for you when your training motivation is lacking, or you’re coming back from injury? How have you turned the slump around?

Are you properly protecting your girls?

When Marie casts her eye over my choice of sports bra in the ladies change room after class, I know I’m in trouble.

Or I’m about to get some great advice, like where to buy sports bras with actual underwires in them in France. (She works for a lingerie company, huzzah!)

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Marie has published a super useful guide to sports bras on her blog. Give it a read, and share it with all your newbie classmates when you see them wearing lacy, impractical bras under their gis.

My first two months in Strasbourg

Wow, my first two months in Strasbourg have FLOWN! It’s amazing how settled you can become in eight weeks… London? Where? Did I actually live there for three years? Really??

Although, when I headed back there recently for a few days, it felt like I was just returning from a regular visit to see the man; the only difference being that I was staying at a hotel and not my cosy old East London share flat.

But back to my new hood! Here’s a little highlight reel.

I had the warmest welcome courtesy of my boyfriend’s mum, and I may have cried a bit when she gave me a big hug and welcomed me to my “new home in Alsace” with this amazing brunch spread.

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French welcome brunch – dat cheese!

 

I’m taking French classes at the Universite Populaire, and unlike the classes I took in London, this course is virtually solely in French (duh) and the students don’t share a common language. Though when we’re REALLY stuck, most of us understand if the teacher switches to English to explain.

 

While my reading and comprehension is definitely improving – thanks also to reading children’s books – I’m not feeling overly confident trying to use French day-to-day, and know I need to be braver. However it’s tricky when my understanding is still so limited. If I throw out a sentence in French I usually don’t comprehend the reply (unless I’m in a store and can kind of guess). I feel like it’s a bit of a waste of everyone’s time so right now there’s lots of “Bonjour” and “Merci” .. and I don’t get much further before needing to sheepishly ask “en anglais s’il vous plaît?” Baby steps.

I joined a new BJJ club which is the same one that I have been visiting for the past two years. Everyone is really friendly, and learning jiu jitsu in French is easy in some ways, challenging in others. Of course it’s so visual which makes it easy, but while I now recognise the words for knee and foot for example I often miss if the instructor is saying like, “never do x this way.”

 

Infini Jiu Jitsu team 2016
Photo: Art of BJJ

I’m so grateful for training partners with the patience to explain things again to me in English.

I rode my first upside-down rollercoaster

 

Holy HECK, I was frantically thinking about how to get off Europa Park’s Blue Fire Megacoaster even as we were strapped in and making our way out of the loading bay. It was seriously OUT of my theme park ride comfort zone!

Europa Park is pretty amazing (in saying that I’ve never been to Disneyland), and if you’re ever in this part of the world it’s totally worth a visit (I found this article after our day there, which sums the place up nicely).

 

The park was decked out for Halloween when we went (with a crazy-huge number of pumpkins lining the walkways). I’ve never been one for the super thrillseeker rides but this time decided to push myself … I won’t lie, the recent tragedy at Dreamworld was playing on my mind a bit that day.

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Because it was still #Halloween at Europa-Park 👻

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I’m not working in my pajamas… every day

I knew when I first moved to Strasbourg that I couldn’t be working five days a week from our small apartment – I’d go a bit mad – so I joined a co-working office and for about €10 a day I can work in a really fun, open plan environment with a great bunch of people, and they have frequent four-legged visitors! Much cute!

 

I’m making new friends because again, I’d go a bit mad without my own circle here, so I joined Girl Gone International and went to my first catch up with them in my second week in town; a brunch and spa day, such bliss! As the name suggests, they’re (mostly) international gals who have found their way to Strasbourg for various reasons. A truly lovely, supportive group I’m so happy to be part of.

I’m getting Christmassy because how can I NOT when I’m living in the Capitale de Noël? Tree’s up, presents are mostly bought and Christmas markets visited, multiple times. It’s really a great time of year to be in Strasbourg.

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#Christmastree is up! 🎄

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It’s grading season once again

You know it’s the season for pretty coloured belts and shiny new stripes when your social feeds blow up with photos of said belts and stripes, and heartfelt posts about the BJJ ‘journey’, amazing coaches, teams, God and next chapters etc.

My own version of the above happened two months ago (early, since I was moving countries before the next Fight Zone grading). And while I mentioned it on Instagram and Twitter at the time I neglected to post about it on this frequently-neglected blog so, here tis:

Carlie Bonavia, Bruno Ferreira, Fightzone London

My third stripe!

Four years in the making, and my second stripe from Bruno Ferreira and Marco Canha. I was super chuffed and a tad emotional, obvs.

Carlie Bonavia and Bruno Ferreira, Fightzone London

I’ve posted before about my progression hang ups, and finally feeling like I could push them aside and just enjoy training without being all angsty. This stripe was such a surprise, and reinforced to me that I WILL get better, slowly but surely, one class at a time, and while having fun.

It was also a really nice way to say goodbye to a club that has been my home and family for three years. I’ll be visiting Fight Zone relatively often I’m sure but, I’m still sad to have left the morning crew and such great coaches.

Sending a big congrats to everyone receiving new belts and stripes this grading season!

How I met my boyfriend

I’ve never written a post about it, but when Aftab put the call out for stories of “finding love whilst travelling” I thought why not tell the tale – nice and succinctly.  🙂  

Handsome much?

It’s at the below link if you’d like to read it, along with the lurve stories of a few other travel bloggers. Enjoy!

http://www.freshandfearless.co.uk/finding-love-travel

30 days of fitness – part 3

Home stretch! 11 days until Malta!

Consistency has been lacking, but I head back to London from Strasbourg tonight, and I WILL smash the next week and a bit with some solid exercisy, I swear. My day summaries continue, starting with when I eventually arrived in Strasbourg..

Day 19: Plane. Delayed. Ugh. But it’s better than cancelled. It did mean that by the time I landed in Basel, got my luggage, and we drove the hour-and-a-bit to Strasbourg it was pushing 2am. Needless to say this Friday was an exercise write-off. Got my work day done and crashed.

Day 20: Special cuddle time has to count for something right? The boy and I did trek through Strasbourg Ikea and some other stores today so, I got moving if nothing else.

Day 21: To the lake! Oh my, how nice is a Summer sun with actual warmth behind it?! We spent a solid few hours at a lake near his house, did some swimming, got sunburnt – oops. I’m now rockin’ the lobster look.

Day 22: Evening BJJ! It was tough actually, I’m so used to training in the morning so I find it hard to fire up at night. But my face turned a gorgeous, sweaty shade of red, it blended with my sunburn nicely.

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Photo: art-of-bjj.com
It was super great to catch up with Marie-Laure again (now a purple belt!), she had her camera handy and took some candid photos. If you’re not following already, get over to her website and Instagram.

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Photo: art-of-bjj.com
Day 23: I ventured into downtown Strasbourg on my own, actually the first time I have done so since my first visit, which seems mad but I guess not so much when every trip here is to see my boyfriend/go places with him.

So anyway, walking counts? And can you believe… ANOTHER delayed flight  – this time back to London. Cue tears. There are always tears.

Day 24: Tired. Lacking sleep. Do not give two effs about exercise. Bed time.

Day 25: Feeling human! It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do. Up early and to Muay Thai class, really it’s 1.5 hours of cardio/circuit training with pad work, which I love. 

I got a shitty partner who kept rolling his eyes and giving me half-arsed pad holding. It was like he resented being paired with me. I got jack of the attitude and when I had the opportunity, asked the coach to change partners. Immediately new guy and I were in sync; pushing each other, shouting encouragement and holding the bloody pads correctly – it immediately made the session more enjoyable.

Day 26: Had to be at an offsite meeting bright and early today so morning gym didn’t happen, nor did anything in the evening. Hmmph. 

Day 27: No exercise, unless you count lugging three bottles of champagne to Ascot?? Had a fabulous day, won some pocket change and finally saw this iconic place. 

winning ticket at Ascot, King George weekend

Second stripe happened!

It’s been a long time coming, a LONG time going by the “usual” white belt journey depending on how you look at it.. but I’ve finally earned myself a second stripe!!

It’s a big deal – huge – because it’s the first one from my coaches here in London, Marco Canha and Bruno Ferreira, and a whole 2+ years since my last one.

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Bruno’s morning classes at Fightzone have provided me with some much-needed motivation and consistency over the last few months. Work and other competing evening commitments mean night classes are regularly pushed aside, but 7am twice a week? Perfect for this early bird!

In these classes I have found a really wonderful, encouraging crew and an attentive coach who couldn’t be more supportive and positive.

At every grading Marco talks about attitude and how important it is to not compare yourself to others on the mat. And it has taken me a long time to truly find my happy place in this sport, and accept my life and body’s limitations:

  • I can’t train five days a week and that’s ok!
  • Other white belts will start after me and progress faster than me, and that’s ok too!
  • I’m going to have lower back issues every so often, and I need to listen to and rest my body.
  • I’m not super flexible, but it doesn’t mean a move can’t still work for me in SOME way.

2015 has been a turning point year on a few fronts, all of them good. I think this second little stripe turned up at the time it was meant to, and I’m now really excited to work towards the third!

So, Have You Ever Tried BJJ?

What led you to take your first BJJ class? I stumbled into mine accidentally.

I rocked up to my gym in Melbourne for my usual kickboxing session, but I had read the timetable wrong.

“There’s no kickboxing on tonight, but Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is about to start – go jump in with the guys!”

I remember feeling so awkward, paired with a dude who was telling me to sit on him, grip his arm between my legs, press my chest into his back and try moving around whaaaat? SO many giggle moments for both of us and the poor guy may have copped a stray knee to the groin a few times too, oops.

I knew nothing about BJJ or grappling/wrestling or judo, but something about that class (other than the God-awful BO smell) stuck, and by my second class I had given BJJ a good google, and even bought a gi.

I’m a weird advocate for the sport. I kinda suck, struggle to make class consistently, don’t follow ‘the scene’ obsessively.. but I know how much I get out of training on a physical and mental level and am always keen to spread the love.

BJJ inevitably comes up in conversation when I’m meeting someone new. In this case that someone was a random Aussie girl I had followed for years on Twitter and vice versa.

She was in London, we caught up (met for the first time! Oooher) I mentioned BJJ and two days later she was wearing one of my gis and rashies, and attending Fightzone’s first Women’s Open Mat. Boom!

She had a blast, and seriously I couldn’t think of a better first jiu jitsu experience than with a mat full of friendly, uber supportive women.  I have a feeling I’ll be spying some BJJ tweets in her feed in the future.

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