R.I.P. Grand Master Helio Gracie

What Else? Once More Into The Breach...

Weight: 203.8

Had a couple of good training days getting ready for the European Championships this weekend, as well as had some that make me question myself and my game...It's been said to me a few times lately that my guard was not as threatening as it had once been. I've been forcing myself to work more on sweeping and passing as well as top side positioning so much by taking away certain arm bars and most definitely the triangle that it's become a chore getting myself back into my attack mode...Problem is, one of those who told me the things I need to work more to get to black belt level then told me a couple nights ago that I need to fire my main weapons (triangles/etc) more... i just don't feel much like myself, but if I am to reach any goals I've set for myself, I need to be me again soon...That said, I've rolled with Coach Allen a lot more lately and done pretty well for myself...I think it is the fact, that I am forced to be on my toes a lot gives me a better performance than at times when I feel i may not be in trouble against other opponents...This is something i need to change as well now...Tonight, my take downs were ON!...I probably should not have been doing them this close to a tournament, but really with thing as they were on my mind, I needed a release, and even included low single leg scoop on a VERY athletic guy amongst my judo throws ...With one exception coming on a time where I kept placing my hands backwards for a suicide throw(like three times I did it in a true brain freeze) everything was ok....That said, my arm...more specifically one vein/artery in my right arm has hurt me feeling like it is either collapsed or maybe feel like something is in it really hard and it hurts like HELL!...On top of that been having some bad heart palpitations at night...That said, my neck and back pain seems to be gone!...If there wasn't something wrong with me, then I'd be worried...That's how it is before tournaments it seems...All I know is, I am hoping to be able to block things out and not look stupid over there no matter the outcome...
Jiu-Jitsu is ok, and with enough work, I hope in a couple years I can finally reach the black belt...May take a little longer as it seems I may be forced to the sidelines for sometime..My insurance company disallowed my claim for my truck, claiming mechanical failure...So as of tomorrow I must return the rental, and by Tuesday I must have the truck towed some place at my expense or have it fixed at the auto shop...Can't afford it...Seeing as I have no sponosrs for any of the tournaments I was to go to, and have to put money away to get the truck fixed, at least everything through the Pan Ams will have to be missed including the training camp up in ATL, and most likely everything up to Mundials at least will be out as I will have to pay out of pocket for everything if I am to compete. All that is secondary to the fact that I will have no transportation for quite some time it seems...between getting to work, getting my daughter to school, getting to teach in Plano, and training, looks like I may only be able to get my daughter to school as it is in walking distance...If anyone out there has a bicycle at least i can ride one to work when it is not raining...Can someone let me borrow one?...Seriously...Other than that, training and teaching will have to take a severe back seat for a while...Gettinga little pissed right now so I will end this saying I am still going to go to Europeans (honestly decided this while writing as I was on the fence), and will do my best to update the blog often as I can...*I hope not to let folks down because of lack of concentration...I fight on...but why?



Though For The Day: Bend...Do not break.

Under The Knife Again...In More Ways Than One...

Before

Dr. Jerry And Toni (Anesthesia)

Toni Again

Going To Sleep

Dr. Jerry At Work With The Gel

Getting The Bionics Fixed

Now For The Cortisone

In Recovery

The Wake Up Nurse

Getting The I.V. Out

Weight: 202.4


Not in much of a writing mood...So This will be brief...Went in to have my neck procedure (Neck Lancette Injections - Bilateral in C4, C5, C7, and C7 and surgical gel injected into C5 and C6 disks to relieve nerve pressure...) In short, the procedure went well...Actually regained great range of motion right after leaving the operating room...Hopefully everything will be better soon...

As for everything else, I have no idea how things will work out...I have gotten lot's of nice ideas from folks about trying to get sponsorship and/or to raise $ to make tournaments etc...I thank you all kindly for the thought and efforts on your parts, and though nothing has quite panned out, it is nice to see people cared enough to take time to think of things on my behalf...All that said, life is a bitch....And a cruel one at that...It seems not only did the collapse of my front axle on the truck happen but now it seems the USAA insurance agency is trying not to have to pay fr anything by saying they did not see any proof of impact and thus the adjuster THINKS it is a mechanical failure! What does that mean? It means I would be on the hook for everything caused by that "failure". At the very least $2600 bucks, plus whatever they choose to charge me for the rental car coverage which I'd guess they'd hit me up for since if they aren't saying it is worthy of being covered, then rental car wouldn't be either....Anyways, that means Pan Am Training camp, out, Pan Ams, out, Abu Dhabi Pro Gi trials, out, Brasileiro, out, more than likely Mundials would be out as well as all of those would have been coming out of pocket due to lack of sponsorship anyway. So, last but more importantly, it would mean I'd have to come up with towing $ and $ for storage to the repair place and not have a car to drive for quite some time, and thus, no way to work, no way to teach and no way to get to train. Well, at least I'd finally get rest I assume. That said, I finally got some really good work in recently and felt as if I was getting back into form...Little technical errors were being corrected, and in the last training sessions against some good brown belts my size, I was really becoming dominant in my performances...Perhaps this is something telling me to pursue my training the way i know I need to to get where I wish to be? I dunno. I know I have not worked half as hard as I should. I really can't expect the kind of performances I wish to have, when I do not put in the effort required...Putting in these latest good practices and working not only smarter but harder shows me I can do it if I put my mind to it, but that I need to have much more time in the gym if I want to keep improving....I really would hate to stop being able to do anything as I feel like I finally broke through a plateau...We will see how things go...I fight on....for how long, I do not know.

Thought For Today: "It Is A Beautiful Day To Die." - Every day the samurai repeats this thought upon awakening. He will do his best to see that it does not happen. But, if you're always prepared for the worst, life is made easier.

In The Storm....

Weight: 200.0

Yesterday, I started off doing some conditioning work, a few grip and leg endurance workouts from Martin Rooney, and feels like I injured my left foot again...You know, the one minus a good ligament across the top of my foot? Well it hurts like I dunno what, even sitting here typing...That said, I am driving to teach class, and something loud and metallic hits the underside of the truck OR breaks under there and I notice the truck pulling and making noise...I make it to the gym, and as I am pulling in, it is hard to even turn the wheel to park....I get out to smoke and notice the wheel on the passenger side is tilted in like it is broken and the brakes there are on fire! Literally in flames!...that put a damper on my mood and I had to struggle not to be harsh to the students (I already make this a pretty hard class as it is.) ...Was a good lesson in focus...I got through the first part of class and luckily Kelly walked in and he helped me by showing the pass I was to teach today...One good thing is that something one of the students asked for extra help on, helped to clear my mind for a few and while showing him side mount escape techniques, a tiny detail kind of clicked in my head, and I have made a little bit of progress there as it can be used for a better transition and makes things a lot easier...It was good to have Ron asking questions showing the new guys that the upper belts(he is a purple) still must learn...That said, had a few other issues as my neck pain reminded me I still need to have the procedure this week, and a few regular ole money issues...all told, it put together the makings of a lot of stress and me not being able to roll and work on the things I am already too short of time to get done...:( All that said, now because of deductible which needs to be paid as well as the $ for a rental car for however long, combined with the fact that none of the sponsors I thought would come through, managed to actually do so, registration money, money for babysitting my daughter while gone, spending money, and money for a private lesson I was to take before I leave is all gone...Read about a guy receiving $2500/mo on top of all expenses paid to travel/register for tournaments...A brown belt like myself...and I can't come across a sponsor for a couple hundred...Kinda depressing...Stressful...To alleviate that, I have decided to severely scale back the tournaments I will go to this year to the one or two I can afford to save up for totally on my own as it is just too frustrating to be chasing sponsors that really aren't there it seems...
Speaking of sponsors, I have a great one in GOMGI...They believed in me when no one else did, and have kept me able to compete in top flight GIs and no-gi equipment for the last year and a half or so, pretty much asking for nothing in return other than me going out and trying my best...Well, that super Fight at the Animal Fightwear championships, is out...Loyalty is a big thing to me and in jiu-jitsu definitely...I had to pull out of the super fight as I would have had to take pictures to be used for advertisements as well as would have had to compete in their GI in the super fight...The opportunity to be invited was an honor, but the feeling that someone believed in me enough to stick with me even though I am not all that worthy of it is much greater. I wish I had been able to work something out where they would have let me just wear a patch or something but I see where they are coming from, and more than wanting to have ceratin competitors put on a great show of Jiu-Jitsu, they wanted in addition to launch and advertise their new product...Ahh well, I guess there will be a next time...I think I have secured a spot in a Super Fight at the Texas International Grappling Festival in April..We shall see...
Well last night, I get the makings of a pain episode and really wasn't ready for it. The medicine really didn't work so I laid there all night unable to sleep, not in bad pain but very uncomfortable....I really ain't worth much today...and I don't really have much more to write jiu-jitsu-wise so for now...I fight on...


Thought For The Day: "Do not think...Feeeeeel"

.....and so it begins...

Weight: 197.6

The shoulder seems a bit better...It doesn't hurt constantly anymore, though I can feel it being a significant amount weaker than the other...Doing cardio and PT today and doing drills tonight during class I have been able to mask it by creating even more flow and movement than normal, and it's really opened up my game, so this may be a pretty good thing...We shall see....
At class tonight I got to teach some details on the triangle and then got to teach chain submissions from there as well...It felt kind of good to be able to pass on a few things I've worked on myself...Also did some competition roll training afterward....Was a small class but felt good being asked to instruct a technique while coach Allen was still in the room...Really made me feel like my skill or knowledge was...I guess....certified a tad bit...
Anyways, when I got home, I got a call from the owner of Animal Fightwear and was offered to fight in one of the 3 super fights(2 male super fights and one female) at his tournament in February...I am kind of nervous as my opponent is VERY good, and just for the fact that no matter how many tournaments I have been in, this is my first official super fight! i am sure though that it will help me get ready for the rest of my goals this year and will most certainly put my best foot forward in it! Anyways, i have to still work towards getting ready for the European Championships at the end of this month and knowing that I have to deal with my neck surgical procedure sometime next week...I sure hope I can shake that off and get some work in before i have to scale back to get ready for tournament shape...I need to work smarter as I do need some level of work refining a couple guard passes, as well as some top transitions and one particular top submission on making it more automatic and getting the correct details for when I have to force it and change it to another...Not being able to go as hard as I would without having had neck surgery, I will have to really get the most out of the least amount of training....I feel like even though I have a headache and am in pain pretty much constantly, the level of fitness and readiness has peaked a bit too soon, so I have t work on it....Plus my weight is low...All that aside, I honestly feel pretty good inside for some reason....so....I fight on.....

Thought For The Day: Work is not splitting stones. Use the least force to the greatest effect.

Tools Of The Shoulder Work

Right After The Injections

Before Teaching Class

Ditto

Pic By Shane Kislack For My Site
Visit www.shanekislack.com

One Mo Gin
By Shane

Sponsorship Flyer

Weight: 200.8

Not too talkative today...Just been mulling over some positional issues I've been having, mainly passing on top through half guard and defending butterfly sweeps...Also, have been having really screwy mental issues...Tiny breakdowns that I thought I had eliminated, but are happening at really critical times...Such as wrong hand placement on the over under crush pass that could allow a triangle or breaking posture at the precise wrong time in guard...Misplacing my weight when on top during the knee through pass or just sitting to prevent my opponent of being able to regain their leg use once I have them...Mental breaks are much worse than errors of incorrect form at times to me...Got to figure out how to keep my mind right...And definitely have to get to work on those issues...Problem is, I have to have time to play a tad bit more than i have time for as European Championships are 17 days away...i need to be focusing in on aggressive finishing style rolling while removing things from my game that I don't feel I have assimilated totally....I have to find a way to do that as well as eliminate the mental breaks and/or the reasons that cause me not to have focus in the first place somehow...Speaking of which....

Went in to the doctor today to have my shoulder worked on...Instead of the normal anesthesia, I just got a does of Versed or sumn to that effect...I may be saying it wrong...And got cortisone into four points in my shoulder to treat the "severe" tendinitis...One deep in the front, one on top under the little bone where the tendon inserts and two in back deep near the rotator cuff...It sucked ASS...Stung a little when the needle first went through the skin even though I was high as giraffe ass, but i could feel where it moved around when Doc felt around to get the medicine to the right place...:( I'd forgotten what it felt like to have that done since I was in college running track...:(:(:( Anyway, it was a weird feeling as the tendons affected most were giving me problems with the nerves that ran close to them, so the shoulder was numb, but I still had use of my hand fully...Ehh...Anyway, found out fromt he Doc as well that it needs to be another procedure as the Epidural procedure cleared up half the problem, but the problem in the disks will have to be worked on again...Perhaps this Friday if my insurance gets the pre-cert done in time...I sure hope so because I may not be able to get in next week, and he is gone the week after, so the grating feeling, and head/neck pain, along with the nerve issues associated with the C5 and C6 vertebrae will be there still...SO I figure if I get good work in tomorrow, and Thursday, and get the work done on Friday, I can let it rest for a couple days and perhaps get a few more days of good work in before I have to scale back....We will see...I'd thought i was done, but if this next procedure gets it done and the gel and meds help, then I will be good...We will see...

Oh

Tonight at class, it seems like I got a new student...That will be GREAT! My guys worked hard tonight and hopefully I am doing well by them...Need to figure out more ways to get them to ask questions and a way to have them more easily assimilate what i am teaching but, things are going well it seems...

Lot's of other things going on in life, but, it is what it is...I fight on....


Thought For The Day: Pain Is Only Temporary....No Matter How Long It Lasts.

Feeling Good Feeling Great How Are You?

Weight: 199.2

Back from my procedure....Feeling sluggish as I dunno what...But...i don't know if it is the medicine the put into my neck and epidural spaces, the gel inserted into the disks, or the anesthesia has not worn off, but the relief was pretty much immediate...And as to my last times having something similar done, it gets better as time goes on...

Thanks to Dr. Jerry Holubec, Tina -CRNA, and all the wonderful nurses and staff at the Holubec Regional Pain Care Center...If not for them (as well as Scott Colling, Marc Zuber, and James Brown with my chiropratic needs) I wouldnt be able to walk straight or function correctly...Anyone around who needs help from neck/back/arm/shoulder/foot/knee pain or anything else shouls see these guys!

This upcoming Tuesday I am to go in to get knocked out again and have my shoulder tendons and rotator cuff worked on...I hope to be much better and able to show my best at the European Championships at the end of the month!

Thanks and God Bless....I fight on...


Thought For The Day: We can rebuild him....Bigger, Better, Stronger....Faster!

Oh...and...Drugz (Versed, Propofol, and Fentanil) are grrreat! Sometimes! lol

LIVE...From The Operating Room...

COMING SOON!

Weight:199.6

Went to teach last night, and had a bit of a bad day, was tired, and a lil aggravated when I went in, but my students gave me a pick me up...I am REALLY proud of the way they are coming along. They are progressing slowly, but I can see it.(They can't I don't think...) Went through some drills and taught the cross choke from guard, the loop choke from guard, and the ankle pick take down...I need to figure out a way to get a bit more drill time in without compromising their cardio work as I am really emphasizing cardio, perseverance, and the absolute flat out basics....There is a LOT that I want to teach but I want to ensure they eliminate a lot of the tiny problems that creep into the foundation of the six basic positions and basic techniques so they don't have to later...That said, we did what I call the don't quit drill....This is where you start on your back with the person on top already flattening you out in side control and you have to survive for a period of time (There's was 2min per partner), and the only way you can get done early is to reverse AND submit your partner...No matter whether you do so or you go the whole distance, a new and fresh partner immediately jumps on you and this repeats for a set number of partners...The partner on top, his job is to maintain position, and submit you. The biggest thing about this, is it forces you (as you start out tired already having done class and cardio) to do things technically correct, not panic, and definitely to see how far you will go before you mentally quit...None of them did...They made me very proud last night...That isn't to say they did everything correct...But they got the gist, they tried hard, and they actually showed that they can attempt to work the things they learned...Even when I would be the last person in their set they still kept moving, and working...The guys I have, will definitely be able to go far if they stick with it...I just need to work to get them more mat time, and work to get some more students...3-4 per class ain't gonna cut it to help them get better...

As to the title of this post, you should have noticed by now, that you can see the lil video box at the top of this page...Well, using new technology, from different locations and events, I will be able to stream live video of what I am doing...Today, I go to get my neck surgery again...So, in addition to the pictures I normally get, I will be broadcasting live, hopefully showing things like when I get my IV in, and as much as I can do prior to me going into the operating room and going under as I can...I will ask if they'd leave the camera on while I am in surgery but I doubt it...We shall see...So if you are on between 1:15 and maybe 2:15 it will be a live stream...The program automatically archives it so if you miss it live, you will be able to see later...Wish me luck...They are doing a bit different in that it's my C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae along with my Brachial Plexus nerve bundle...So in addition to the epidural spaces and the actual disk being injected, the nerves will be worked on too...After that, on next Tuesday I have to go in and have some work done on my shoulder (Severe Tendinitis and a problem with my rotator cuff)...I know I Know...I'm falling apart...But....I fight on...


Thought For The Day: Let Go, and Let GOD!