Nature vs Nurture

In January of 2011 Dana White made a statement acknowledging his opinion towards girls fighting. A reporter asked, “When are we ganna see women in the UFC?” Dana responded “Never… Ever”. On February 23, 2013 Ronda Rousey won the first ever women’s UFC fight This goes to show, there has obviously been a great bit of change and advancement in the MMA world for women. But exactly how much progress have we made? In the gym girls and guys are often treated different, but how imminent is it? Also, how evenly are the rules applied to men as apposed to women during competition?

I have been training MMA coming close to two years. I know that that may not seem nearly as long as some people but for me it is my life. I spend every second I can training and trying to get better. I put it all forth when I walk into the gym and I train my heart out. On a less than rare occasion a guy makes a comment about my capabilities; “I will try not to hurt you”, “I’m ganna go slow for you”, “don’t worry I will take it easy” and much more. Sometimes they immediately pass up working with me with the expression of not wanting to work with a girl. It is something that happens all too often. I do not need anyone to slow down or take it easy on me based on the fact I am a girl. If I struggle with a combination or move it is because I am human and cannot just know everything without having learned it, not because of my gender. It may be ineludible to assume a guy can treat a girl the same as a guy in a fight gym. What I am certain of, is that a guy can respect a girl as an athlete and lose the mindset that she is beneath himself.

This past weekend I became more questionable about the fairness of rules being applied to situations for men and women in MMA, and the UFC in particular. Rules are meant for our safety, therefor in my mind I do not have any problems with the rules the UFC has in place for their fighters when safety is on the line and when the fight should be called. With that being said I am all about consistency. Set your rules, but apply them consistently. There was a male fight in UFC 163 where a guy got clipped, kept his arms up (so technically protecting himself) but then two strikes later he was clearly out, arms down and 7 strikes were landed to his head before the fight was called. Two fights later is a girl fight and although in a horrible position, Sheila Gaff was still technically protecting herself and the fight was called at 2:08 of Round 1. This does not mean I think that a referee should allow anyone to stay in a situation that he feels is unsafe. It means simply that there is very large inconsistency. I can understand how it may be hard to see a girl get hit or to watch her bleed, but the women in that competition chose to be there. They are not in need of protection while in competition aside from normal application of referee action. All the fighters spent there time dedicated to whatever training camp and put a lot of heart into the preparation whether they were male or female. This means they should get equal standards in a fight. Whatever way you look at it if you think fights should be stopped immediately or if the fighters should be given a chance to recover, it should apply to ALL fighters.

I do not say any of this to upset anyone, but rather to provoke thought on how tough women really must be to achieve his or her dreams in this sport. To an extent girls may need different things than guys in the sport. But the mental aspect of a girl trying to be a champion in this sport is incredibly tough.

Keep Moving Forward

For the past two weeks, I've been packing all of my belongings into boxes, like I always do at the end of summer. The time always feels like it goes by so fast--working, training, and spending time with family-- but it's finally time to move back up to Atlanta and leave my hometown, where I've been for the past two months. 

I feel like I'm always trying to adjust to a new place once I finally get settled in, but I guess that's just how things are at my age. Due to the school year, I'm always traveling back up to Atlanta around this time. Even though I had planned to take a year off of school, I realized it might be a smarter decision to just go to school part-time. This way, I am still moving forward with my education, but I will still be able to train full-time and do everything that I had planned to do in the next year with tournaments. Dealing with all of these important aspects of my life has been pretty stressful lately, but I am ultimately really content with the decisions that I have made.    

      Since I haven't been taking classes this summer, I've been working at my dad's Doctor's office, trying to save up money for the rest of the year. It has been nice to make some extra cash and spend my days with Dad, but working from 8am-5pm every day can really takes it toll--especially since I drive one hour to train at ZicroBJJ in Tallahassee, Florida every night after work. You could say that I've been pretty busy for the past couple of months, but I really do enjoy my job and ending my nights on the mats is just an added plus.
I've had a great summer with everybody in my small hometown, but it's time to get back to the real world, living and doing things on my own again. For now, it's just the process of getting settled back into a new place, changing my schedule, and getting adjusted to the city lifestyle again. I can't wait to spend my long days at the Alliance gym and work hard to achieving my goals. After having a couple of months off of competing, I'm more than ready to step back on to the competition mats and do what I love to do best. Next stop, Chicago Open! Ouss! 
--Morgan Beverly 

Action Speaks Priorities

Being 19 years old, most college kids are experiencing living life on their own--meeting new people and adapting to the college lifestyle where partying usually overrides schoolwork. Sometimes this time in teenagers' lives can negatively affect their future by getting caught up in drinking or doing drugs, but it is important for upcoming college students to prepare themselves to have the will power and intelligence to  be able to control themselves when faced with this environment. 

As for me, I was never really into the whole "party" scene in college, but I did get to see how it affected some of the people that I knew and lived with. Watching some of my friends go to parties and get wasted, as if they had somebody they had to impress by doing so, was so silly to me. I never was able to understand the importance of showing up to college parties, especially if somebody was just going to try to pressure me into drinking in order to "fit in." 

Eating healthy and working out has always been an important aspect of my life, because I grew up with it, and I wasn't going to let college change that part of my life. Jiu jitsu has been a great way for me to stay focused and keep my priorities straight through college. On most nights, I spend hours just training at my gym instead of going out to clubs and bars in Atlanta. I would much rather stay home and relax after a long day on the mats, drinking a cold can of coconut water-- rather than being at some random person's apartment playing beer pong. In the long run, partying will affect your life and health very negatively. Although partying may seem "fun" in the moment, college students should be mature enough to know that this could lead them down a bad road.

I would recommend any college student that is moving away from home to try jiu jitsu, especially women. The good thing about brazilian jiu jitsu is that you can locate a school almost anywhere all over the country because of the upcoming popularity of it. Jiu jitsu teaches you discipline, self-defense, patience, and it allows you to meet some of the greatest people who can ultimately help you achieve your goals. Being so far away from my family since my move to Atlanta for school, my jiu jitsu school has become like my second home and my teammates have become like my family. Rather than becoming addicted to the party scene, college students should use their time to do more productive things. If the worst thing that you are doing with your time is rolling around on mats, learning how to defend yourself and choking your best friends...I think you're doing alright. I can honestly say that finding jiu jitsu has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I'm fully addicted, and I plan on pursuing my dreams and goals for many many years to come.

--Morgan Beverly

Learning To Be Successful

It is always an extraordinary feeling to feel success. Success is not always felt through a win, but we all know that a win can make you feel victorious. I had a fight yesterday at Wild bills. I walked into this fight with a 0-1 record, as of one month ago. Since my last fight, I have been exponentially more driven than normal. In the past, I have had trouble with losing. It has taken me quite some time to understand and work on dealing with the outcome of competition. I have an extremely strong desire to win, just like most athletes. I will never be happy with a loss or being unsuccessful in something I worked for. What I have learned is that it is alright to be hungry for positive achievements. More importantly, it is NOT okay to disrespect anyone around you if you are not satisfied with the outcome--especially your opponent.

Last night on the way to the fight, my head started hurting, and I didn't

want to fight. I mean, I wanted to compete, but not at that moment with those pains in my head. I genuinely thought about asking my coach if I could sit this one out. That sounds crazy now, but at the time, I was in a lot of pain. I took some medicine and tried to tough it out. During the fight, I got hit multiple times to the back of the head, and it just made the pain so much worse.

 Unlike most of my initial reactions, I did not get mad at the opponent, and I tried to see what I could do to fix it. Referees do there best to protect us and enforce rules to protect our safety, but this does not make them perfect. If I wanted to win, I just had to do my best to get out of that position. Time went on, and after all three rounds, the fight had ended, and I was so distracted throughout the fight that I truly did not know that I had actually won. With that being said, before the decision was announced, i made my rounds around the cage with my hands up, applauded my opponent, and made my way back to the ref. When the decision was announced to the crowd, I had won by unanimous decision--meaning all judges voted in my favor. This was an incredible feeling. Surprisingly, what made me most happy about this was that I was able to cope with the feelings of not knowing if I had achieved what I had put my heart completely into, without disrespecting my opponent.

Losses are never easy but like Morgan has talked about, they are necessary! Like my wise coaches have told me and my teammates, "Wins feel good but they rarely ever teach you as much as losses teach you". This is not to say that a true athletes goal should not always be to win. It means that a true athlete does not break down from a loss; instead, they get stronger.

Success is becoming a stronger, more intelligent, and more understanding athlete. Success is being able

to respect all others in the sport, even when things don't go your way. Win or lose, success is being able to hold your head up and prepare for the next battle. If these things were easy, there would be no world champions! Everyone would be at the same place in their athleteic career. I have learned that the only one to blame for an outcome is myself. My coaches, my teammates, and my training parters are all incredible. They always give me everything they can, but I am the only one who can put it into action and control the fight. I have learned to never stop working on my attitude, along with my skill level and training. Attitude is just as, if not, more important.

Thank you so much to everyone who has given me knowledge and time to work towards being my best!

-Jen

Once You Master Your Weaknesses, You'll Become Unbeatable

It's really hard to write about losing sometimes. I hate to accept the fact that I have failed at anything, just because I want it so badly--to succeed. I want to be the best, but no matter how many times I may lose a match due to a mistake I have made, I will never stay down. Losing is part of the game, and that is just something that every athlete must face throughout their career. Through competition, we are able to see something that we can't see through training. It's the smallest details that our eyes miss, but once that small mistake costs us the match, it's hard to ever overlook that detail again. 

After my match, I know exactly why I lost. It's always something that I know I could have prevented, such as a simple distribution of my weight. It's times like this, when you're really able to evaluate your game--especially after watching yourself on video. You see your jiu jitsu game in a totally different manner. I find myself watching my matches and thinking, "why is my hand there? why didn't I switch my hips in that position?"..and so on. However, in reality, this is the best way to fix your flaws. 

No matter how big or small the competition may be, I am always in awe at how much I learn when I compete. There is a unique atmosphere and mindset that you create when you walk onto the competition floor--something that you can't practice in training. I am starting to realize that this atmosphere is something that I am slowly starting to adapt to. I have only competed at about 8 tournaments, and I finally am starting to become completely comfortable with it all--the environment when everybody is staring at you and the pressure you feel as the clock counts down to 0:00. 

It's a stressful situation for a lot of athletes, but ultimately, there is one single emotion that i feel the strongest after my match is over. It's motivation. There is nothing more motivating than a loss. Whenever I compete and the outcome isn't what I had hoped for, it only makes me want to get back to training as soon as possible and work on everything that I need to prepare myself for my next competition. This attitude is what helps me get through all of the struggles of this art. Having a positive mindset is crucial in order to keep improving, and at every competition, no matter the outcome, I can feel myself performing better than the last time. It's a long, slow process to improve and see that improvement in competition, but this is just something that I have to keep reminding myself. Hard work really does pay off, and I will always believe that. The harder you work towards you goal, the more you will be rewarded. 

Now that I am back in Atlanta, it's time to hit the mats with my teammates and work on all of the weaknesses in my game. Even though the biggest tournaments of 2013 have already taken place, there are still many IBJJF tournaments that I am more than ready to tackle in the next 6 months. Next stop...Chicago Open! Ouss!

--Morgan Beverly

Six Minutes In Paradise

Six minutes....six minutes is all that i get. Once I step out onto the mat, nothing else matters. That right there, is six minutes in paradise. All of the training, drilling, strength and conditioning, and long hours that I have spent at the gym on a daily basis are over. There is nothing else left that I can do to prepare myself. Yet, I feel as prepared as I ever have for a competition. 

The Worlds Championships in Long Beach, California is one of the biggest tournaments in the jiu jitsu community and is spread out over a four day period in order to fit in all of the divisions. Just competing alone is a great experience, but to see all the other talented athletes going at it for the title of becoming a World Champion is incredible to watch.

Here is the schedule for the week(California Time):
THURSDAY MAY 30

9:00 AM	Blue Adult Male - Rooster and Light Feather
10:20 AM	Blue Adult Male - Feather
11:40 AM	Blue Adult Male - Light
	White Adult Male - Rooster
	White Adult Female - Light Feather and Feather
1:15 PM	Blue Adult Male - Middle
	White Adult Male - Light Feather
2:45 PM	Blue Adult Male - Medium Heavy
	White Adult Male - Feather
4:00 PM	Blue Adult Male - Heavy and Super Heavy
	White Adult Male - Light and Middle
5:20 PM	Blue Adult Male - Ultra Heavy
	White Adult Male - Medium Heavy to Ultra Heavy
	White Adult Female - Light to Heavy
6:40 PM	White Master
	White Senior

FRIDAY MAY 31

9:00 AM	Purple Adult Male - Rooster and Light Feather
	Blue Adult Female - Light Feather
	Purple Adult Female - Light Feather
10:30 AM	Blue Adult Female - Feather and Light
	Purple Adult Female - Feather and Light
11:45 AM	Purple Adult Male - Feather
	Blue Adult Female - Middle to Heavy
	Purple Adult Female - Middle
1:15 PM	Purple Adult Male - Light
	Purple Adult Female - Medium Heavy and Heavy
	Brown Adult Male - Rooster and Light Feather
	Black Adult Male and Female - Open Class Registration
3:00 PM	Purple Adult Male - Middle and Medium Heavy
	Black Adult Male and Female - End ofOpen Class Registration
4:45 PM	Purple Adult Male - Heavy to Ultra Heavy
	Blue Adult Male - Open Class
6:20 PM	Brown Adult Male - Feather and Light
	Blue Adult Female - Open Class

SATURDAY, JUNE 1

9:00 AM	Brown Adult Male - Middle to Heavy
10:45 AM	Black Adult Male - Open Class
	Black Adult Female - Open Class
	Brown Adult Male - Super Heavy and Ultra Heavy
	Brown Adult Female - Light Feather and Feather
12:30 PM	Brown Adult Female - Light to Heavy
	White Juvenile 1 Male
	White Juvenile 2 Male
	White Juvenile 1 Female
	White Juvenile 2 Female
	Blue Juvenile 1 Male
1:10 PM	Blue Juvenile 2 Male
	Blue Juvenile 1 Female
	Blue Juvenile 2 Female
1:50 PM	Black Adult Male - Rooster and Light Feather
	Black Adult Female - Light Feather to Heavy
2:50 PM	Black Adult Male - Feather and Light
	Purple Adult Male - Open Class
	Purple Adult Female - Open Class
4:45 PM	Black Adult Male - Middle and Medium Heavy
	Brown Adult Male - Open Class
	Brown Adult Female - Open Class
6:45 PM	Black Adult Male - Heavy to Ultra Heavy
	Blue Juvenile 1 Male - Open Class
	Blue Juvenile 2 Male - Open Class
	Blue Juvenile 1 Female - Open Class
	Blue Juvenile 2 Female - Open Class

SUNDAY, JUNE 2

10:00 AM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Rooster and Light Feather - Quarter Finals
10:40 AM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Feather and Light - Quarter Finals
11:30 AM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Rooster and Light Feather - Semi Finals Black Belt Male - Adult - Feather and Light - Semi Finals
12:20 PM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Middle and Medium Heavy - Quarter Finals
1:00 PM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Heavy, Super Heavy and Ultra Heavy - Quarter Finals
2:10 PM	Black Belt Male - Adult - Middle, Medium Heavy, Heavy, Super Heavy and Ultra Heavy - Semi Finals
3:00 PM	Black Belt Female - All weight divisions - Finals
4:40 PM	Black Belt Male Finals - All weight divisions and open class Black Belt Female - Open class final

Good Luck to everybody competing throughout the week. It's time to make my way back to California for the third time this year. I will be competing at 10:30 am on Friday in the adult women blue belt featherweight division. Keep an eye out for me! Ouss! 
If you want to watch the live feed in your home, go here --> http://www.ibjjftv.com/
--Morgan Beverly

Skip The Diet. Just Eat Healthy.

Cutting weight can be one of the most dreadful times for a jiu jitsu athlete. Before every competition, I have to make sure that my weight is in a certain range--all while trying to keep my body as healthy and energized as possible. I always used to procrastinate and wait until about two weeks out to try to start losing the weight, which was always a bad idea. It's really hard, and sometimes very frustrating, to balance not eating too much, but eating enough to fuel my muscles. Eating a well-balanced diet is an important part of being an athlete that most people, including me, sometimes overlook.

A week before Pan Ams 2013, I decided that I couldn't make the cut to feather weight. I weighed about 135 lbs, without the gi, and I just knew that it would be too dangerous for me to try to lose that much weight in just one week. I decided that I was just going to suck it up and compete at light weight, which is 141 lbs with the gi. I was in the middle of the weight class, weighing in at 137 lbs, but I just jumped on the mat and fought the best that I could--ultimately losing my first fight against a tough competitor. Although competing is always a learning experience, I knew that I wanted to change my eating habits in order to get down into the feather weight division.

I decided that I needed to clean up my diet and start to eat better all of the time--instead of just a couple of weeks before competition when I needed to cut out the weight. I started to write down everything that I would eat throughout the day and sort of "monitor" how much I was putting into my body on a daily basis. It's incredible how many vegetables and fruit you can eat that could compare to just one bowl of pasta or a hamburger. I actually started to enjoy eating so healthy. Cooking and experimenting with different flavors makes eating healthy a lot more fun.  I started to feel a change in my jiu jitsu game as my body adjusted to my new diet. Overall, I just felt better all of the time. I have more energy, and my muscles rarely get tired now. 

The first picture on the left was one week before Pan Ams 2013. Now, the second picture on the right is about one week away from Worlds 2013, and I am weighing in at 126 lbs. I look at this picture, and I can't believe the difference that I can see.  I honestly don't know why I neglected this lifestyle for so long. I guess I had imagined eating so clean as being a miserable way to live, but it really is far from that. I started to substitute carbs for healthier alternatives like quinoa or whole grain oats, added more greens and berries into my everyday meals that are full of essential nutrients, started to cook more with fish rather than chicken and steak, and started to drink a lot more water--eliminating all of the unneeded, sugar-filled drinks that I was drinking. After a couple of weeks of eating more naturally, my body has started to feel like it was on a whole new level.
If there was any one piece of advice that I could give to jiu jitsu competitors, it would be to just try to eat healthier foods year-round, instead of just during competition season. You can't get the full affects of healthy eating through just two weeks of dieting to make the weight cut. Once you taste the benefits that you can get from this, you won't want to go back. Of course it's okay to eat a bad meal every once in a while, but once you change your diet to eating more fruits, veggies, fish, and other natural foods, your body will thank you--and then you can thank me. 
Good luck at Worlds everybody! :-)
--Morgan Beverly

No Obstacles..Just Strength Training

The past few weeks have brought many lessons. I don’t know any easy way to handle certain things life hands us. About a week ago I got back from training and looked at my phone and opened it to a text that said sorry about your loss. I knew right then what the reference was, but told myself it wasn’t true. I knew for sure someone sent the wrong person the wrong text. To confirm I logged onto Facebook and saw nothing but posts about my incredible boxing coach, Coach Nate. He had left Tuesday morning to be with our heavenly Father. I was heart broken. I completely broke down and had to figure out what this meant. It is very easy for people to say things with the intention to comfort, example: He is in a better place… it is better this way… He doesn’t feel pain anymore. The problem is it hurts for so many more reasons. I found out a few months ago my first MMA fight was going to be may 11. Coach Nate taught me my boxing. I have been blessed with many coaches but Coach Nate taught me my fundamentals for standup. When he was sick and I went to visit him, he talked to me about my fight. He told me how he wanted it to go. He also promised me he would be there. I wanted so badly to have him in my corner for my first fight to see how much he taught me. That was not going to happen anymore. As a fighter you learn early on that you have to be able to cope with things thrown at you and to be able to make adjustments according to what the situation brings. Losing Coach Nate is not a comfortable feeling no matter how anyone words it. I was close to not going through with my fight.

            No decisions were made at that time. I walked forward, ran, went to the gym, and trained the best I could. There was no logical reason I should not go through with my fight. I love this and that is why Coach Nate took so much time with me and shared so much knowledge to be successful. It would be a slap in the face to give up.

After training for months it is two days before weigh ins. I have spent the last few weeks cleaning up my diet to lose weight but it is now time for the final stretch of the cut. Thursday morning I had 7 pounds to cut and weigh ins were Friday night. The weigh ins were actually in Savannah Georgia and I was in Canton, therefor I needed to be on weight Friday morning so we could drive down there. I was completely dry Friday morning and still not on weight. I was getting sick. We left early and not long after we left I was throwing up and again and again at weigh ins. What ended up being like 10 minutes before we weighed in, it was time to decide if I needed to just leave and go to the hospital. My body had nothing left and we didn’t know if there would be a fatal outcome. I had spent so much time training and cutting and did not want to lose it all in a matter of minutes so with much support and help of my training partner/ boyfriend, Nick Beal, I got to step on the scale and made weight to fight my fight. Even after hydrating I was not getting better. My body was rejecting what I was trying to take in. Friday night we spent hours trying to get my body to its normal function for my fight Saturday.

Saturday comes and it is time for me to get my hands wrapped for the fight. I am fight number three. I was so excited and ready to walkout to the words of a song chosen to represent the fight for my coach. I got in the cage and got my zone and fought. I fought all three rounds the best I could. When the fight was over I was told I had the first and third round and to get my hands up. Then the ref called us over and grabs me and my opponents hand and my opponents get raised. She had won by split decision. I was at a loss for words. I felt heart broken. All the thoughts going through my head about the training I put in, the surrounding circumstances, and the situations of the fight. With amazing coaches and incredible support from Nick I was able to hold my head up and get through the night in attempt to take steps forward and accept what happened.

      The situations that were presented in the past few weeks all had their place. Nothing that is worth achieving is easy, but that does not change its worth for fighting for. When being realistic giving up is the easiest solution we can find. If we give up we don’t have to face any hard obstacles. We get to walk away and the upcoming obstacles will disappear. Where will this get anybody? There are things to be achieved and accomplished. No one person has a monopoly on pain or loss. Everyone is given a share of problems and obstacle to deal with. The things we overcome define us. I love fighting. I am disappointed at the outcome and as much as I wish I could change all these things that have happened, but it is not possible. I have learned more and more with each day given to me and that is something I would not want to lose. I am a stronger person and I want to train and fight now more than ever. With many situations presenting themselves I know I still have a dream to fight for.

Jen

teamNATE

Life Is A Matter Of Balance

I have recently diagnosed myself with insomnia. No matter how tired I am at the end of the day from training, I just can't convince myself into falling asleep at a decent hour. I have been training three time a day lately, so by the end of my final training session, my body is so worn out. I try to lay down in bed to relax and let my muscles rest up, but my mind just goes crazy. I think it's an accumulation of the adrenaline rush that I get from training and the preworkout that I took earlier in the day that just hasn't quite worn off yet. It doesn't help me much that night training ends around 10 pm and morning training begins at 7am. Did I mention that I live about 40 minutes from the Alliance school? Hopefully my body will start to realize that sleep is a good thing. Who needs sleep when you're already living your dream though, right?

Sleep isn't the only thing you have to sacrifice when you're training this much. Whenever you have dreams, you sometimes have to be selfish, sacrificing time with friends and family in order to devote long hours into training. It’s hard to balance a life like that, while trying to become the best that you can be, but it is, without a doubt, very important.

               My mom has always told me, “Money doesn’t buy happiness. Do what you love to do.” In the long run, I want my life to have meaning. I don’t care to be rich. I truly just want to enjoy what I dedicate my life to, whatever that may be. Seeing my mom and how much she loves her job and being able to spend time with us really inspires me. She is off on holidays, summers, and after school so she is able to be with us a lot—which some kids nowadays don’t have. We aren’t rich, but I think being happy with not as much, rather than being rich with a lot, is a much better way to live. However, if you find something in life that you enjoy doing ,but it also brings you a high level of success, then it's a win-win situation.

My mother has always been one of those people who puts others before herself, and I love that about her. No matter what I am going through, she always makes sure that I have everything that I need. Even though Worlds is only three weeks away, I knew that it would mean a lot to her if I came home from Atlanta to see her for Mother’s Day. I live four hours away from my hometown, so it’s quite the drive, but she is definitely worth it. She does so much for me every day, and even though I have an intense training schedule right now, I have to put my family first sometimes.

Some people will try to tell you that you have to sacrifice all of this in order to be successful, but I don't think that's true. In everything you do, there should be balance. I don't want to just be successful. I want to be successful and truly happy. I don't want to lose everything that I have now in order to be considered "the best." My close family and friends are always supporting me, and I want to keep that part of my life as I go through this journey.

However, coming home during Worlds preparations is a sacrifice in some ways. My family isn’t exactly the “health-nut” type of family, which doesn’t do me any good when I’m cutting weight. My family always has to accommodate our dinner plans and grocery lists, so that I can have some food to cook for myself. Since it is Mother's Day weekend, we decided to go out and celebrate at Longhorn's on Saturday night. So as I'm sitting at the table eating my plain grilled chicken and steamed vegetables with nothing on them, my family taunts me with juicy steaks, chips and lobster dip, and all of the other tempting foods that I can’t have. I am just constantly reminding myself of the delicious meal that I get to eat after I win Worlds. Then, I can have all of the acai bowls and overpriced, overrated Korean BBQ all day long at the venue. I’m glad that I am a very disciplined person, or else I would be moving up to Light weight for Worlds.

I actually started to do jiu jitsu here, in Tallahassee, Florida with Felipe Neto. His teacher was Jacare Calvacanti, whom I now train with up in Alliance Atlanta with Lucas Lepri. Felipe has a school under Alliance, as well, so even though I am home for the weekend, I am still able to train every day. It was a lot of fun to train with some of my friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. I even emailed Felipe beforehand to tell him that I needed him to push me hard in training, so that I could stay on track for Worlds. He definitely gave me that extra push that I asked for. I was dripping in sweat and out of breath by the end of every session. I love that feeling though. I like being pushed to the edge and feeling myself improving on a daily basis.

 Felipe is such a good teacher and always makes sure that his students understand how to efficiently execute the moves he teaches. He even spent an extra thirty minutes with me after class on Saturday to help me out with some of the moves that I had questions about. I really appreciate having a teacher that, not only takes the time to teach and critique moves individually during training, but also devotes extra time into his athletes to make sure they fully understand how to perform these moves. Even though I haven’t been home in quite a while, it’s nice to always feel at home when I step back onto the mats where I actually started my whole jiu jitsu journey.

My dad also got to come watch me do jiu jitsu for the first time. It was a cool experience for us both because he has always heard me talk about my training, but he has never seen me do it first hand. All of the time, I am trying to explain to him exactly what jiu jitsu is, but it's kind of hard to tell people. I always refer to it as a "technical wrestling," but even that doesn't seem to give it justice. In order for people to really appreciate it, you just have to show them. I feel like he has a much better understanding for the sport now. After class, he just looked at me and said, "that was awesome!" It's such a great feeling to have him appreciate what I am doing with so much of my time. Now, my dad can actually visualize what I do every day, three times a day, and understand what's going on better when I send him my competition videos. 

Being home for the weekend was much needed. I was able to catch up on some much needed rest, keep my training at a steady pace, and I got to spend some time with my wonderful family. This Monday starts the Worlds Camp at Alliance Atlanta, so now it’s time to get very serious and focused. All I will be doing this week is training, sleeping, and eating….literally. I will be training at the school three times a day, all while trying to squeeze in a couple of naps in between each session. I guess I can just call Alliance Atlanta my home for the next two weeks until I fly out to Long Beach!

--Morgan Beverly