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Showing posts with label martial arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label martial arts. Show all posts
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Finals.
So the second day of the fight was cool for Kaden and me because Daddy got to sit with us and watch. As usual, Kaden was a perfect angel. He had more VIP water and enjoyed watching the fights.
There were LOTS of winners from the UAE overall, so all the coaches and participants were in a good mood. Afterward, the guys got a week off of training, so we got even more Daddy time!
Group photo of the competitors going into Finals.
Jarrett after winning his match.
There were LOTS of winners from the UAE overall, so all the coaches and participants were in a good mood. Afterward, the guys got a week off of training, so we got even more Daddy time!
Kaden enjoying his "royalty" chair with his VIP treatment.
Stu and Ahmad talking before Ahmad had to get ready for his match.
VIP Stu. :)
Just had to share our table... notice the three different selections of water... and the nuts and dates... and flower arrangement, lol.
Group photo of the competitors going into Finals. 
I just liked this picture of one of the matches... we don't know either of these guys... one is from Jordan, the other from Bahrain.
Carlos presenting some sort of award (they announced it in Arabic but never translated it for us... so I have no idea what it was for)
Ahmad after winning his match.
Jarrett after winning his match.
Friday, May 9, 2008
VIP
So the first day of the fight was upon us! Dun dun dunnnn…
Kaden and I got to sit in VIP seating with the Sheiks and other higher-up people. That was pretty cool. We sat in large decorative cushy chairs and were served a selection of water (in case we prefer Dasani to Perriere), nuts, and dates (sort of like prunes… yuck). Kaden really just liked crawling around bothering people.
I was really excited for Stu to be doing this. I was very proud that he decided to go ahead with it even though he was so worried about how green his skills were in Jiu-Jitsu. This is him warming up before his match.
One of Stu's Emirate teammates, Ahmad, after winning his preliminary fight.
Kaden and I got to sit in VIP seating with the Sheiks and other higher-up people. That was pretty cool. We sat in large decorative cushy chairs and were served a selection of water (in case we prefer Dasani to Perriere), nuts, and dates (sort of like prunes… yuck). Kaden really just liked crawling around bothering people.
I was really excited for Stu to be doing this. I was very proud that he decided to go ahead with it even though he was so worried about how green his skills were in Jiu-Jitsu. This is him warming up before his match.
A group photo of all of the fighters on the first day of fights.
Stu talking to Carlos and Olavo right before his fight.
Stu’s fight came up pretty quickly it seems and he was obviously very nervous. But he went out there and did it anyway. He ended up losing by an armbar submission hold, but he put up a good fight.
Stu and his opponent bowing before the fight.
After the fight.
One of Stu's Emirate teammates, Ahmad, after winning his preliminary fight.
Another teammate, Jarrett, winning by an armbar submission.
Kaden after the fights, supporting the UAE with his wristband that Ahmad gave him.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
pre-fight
Since I can’t really post blogs I will just write them in order then post them and it will just be like you haven’t checked my blog in a week or so! Hehe
Last night Stu had his last practice before the fight this weekend. Stu has had prior knee issues from the Air Force and last night he took a blow to the side of his knee and it really messed it up. He could hardly walk last night but he says it feels about 80% today after work so we will see how tomorrow goes. I worry with him fighting with an injury because I don’t want him to get hurt more, but with the physicality of this sport, injuries are pretty much inevitable and sometimes you just have to “play though it”. I took some pictures last night at practice of some of the team and coaches.
There was an article about the fight in the paper (see below) with the Lieutenant General Mohammed Hilal Al Kaabi and Carlos Santos, Stu’s coach. The article says there are going to be about 150 competitors there from 30 countries! There are a lot of fighters from the UAE (duh) and other large contingents are said to be the United States, Jordan, and Bahrain. Stu will most likely be wrestling in the “under 77 kgs” category (under 170 lbs.) since I don’t think there is any way he can make the under 72 kgs at weigh-in tonight (He’d have to weigh under 158 tonight and last night he weighed 165… not going to happen, lol).
In light of the fight, we are going to stay in tonight and relax and then get Stu to bed early. I made crepes for dinner with bacon and eggs too and I made the bacon and crepes beforehand which turned out to be really mean since the house smells of bacon (remember, we don’t get to enjoy pork a lot here anyway) and the poor kid hasn’t eaten since noon and can’t until after 6 when he gets weighed. To make matters worse, I sent him off to the grocery store alone since Kaden was napping and we need groceries BADLY since we didn’t go last week. So he gets no food, but gets to look at all the food!
Kaden has been a good boy recently. We FINALLY got his noise maker (my Mom sent a package and it took over 3 weeks to get here, while Marcia and Mimi both sent packages that I got in a week or two). We set up the white noise for him and he slept all by himself in his own bed ALL NIGHT two nights in a row! (Last night he woke up twice however… hot sure what that was about) And he has been taking all of his naps in his own bed! Yay big boy! We were worried because he couldn’t sleep but in his carseat (and half the time only if we “bounced” him to sleep…ugh) and we were worried about travelling back to the States in a couple months and him not being able to sleep on the floor of the airplane (international airlines won’t let you buckle a carseat in to a seat… which sucks and is stupid… but I digress). So now hopefully he’ll be better equipped to deal with flight sleep!
Mimi sent him the cutest hat ever and he actually let me put it on him and he kept it on! Too much fun. I was laughing at him which made him laugh at me, so I laughed harder and we crawled over and attacked me… it was great. Funny baby.
Speaking of which, he is really developing a personality more and more every day. He gets so animated when he “talks” to me, and when he is frustrated he tries to “test” me to see if he can throw himself on the floor and get a good reaction from Mom. If I ignore him he usually gives up and will just be good, but he’s taken to arching his back and flinging himself nearly off the bed mid-diaper change, so I tell him to stop and he growls at me… sigh. I told him he won’t make any friends if he is a brat because nobody likes to play with bratty kids and he just laughed! MY son! Lol. He gave me this “give me a break, Mom!” look. He definitely can be a little shit, but one look with those giant blue eyes and I can’t help but laugh too!
Kaden can stand up by himself now! If I stand him up and then let go, he just stands there until he wants to sit down and then he’s off to whatever toy (or appliance cord) he’s interested in. I’m not ready for him to walk!
It also turns out that he will answer to Katie… sigh. He was wearing this little light green jumper that was SORT OF girly looking and Stu told him he looked like a girl and said, “Isn’t that right, Katie?” Kaden thought it was hilarious.
Well, I think that is about it from me for now. I will definitely write about tomorrow and let you all know how it goes.
I just had to post this one because he looks exactly like ALL of my siblings with that blank stare, haha. I laughed.
Last night Stu had his last practice before the fight this weekend. Stu has had prior knee issues from the Air Force and last night he took a blow to the side of his knee and it really messed it up. He could hardly walk last night but he says it feels about 80% today after work so we will see how tomorrow goes. I worry with him fighting with an injury because I don’t want him to get hurt more, but with the physicality of this sport, injuries are pretty much inevitable and sometimes you just have to “play though it”. I took some pictures last night at practice of some of the team and coaches.
Giant inflatable horse! haha... No idea why this is the mascot.
Kaden watching intently... soon he'll be in baby Jiu-Jitsu... under 10 kilos.
Stu shaking hands with his practice partner.
Sid, one of the coaches and some royals who came to watch practice.
Carlos helping Stu perfect an armbar.
Injured Stu with ice.
The coaches at the front, Sid Jacintho, Ricardo Brandao, Carlos Santos, Olavo Abreu, and Marcelo Motta addressing the class at the end of practice.
There was an article about the fight in the paper (see below) with the Lieutenant General Mohammed Hilal Al Kaabi and Carlos Santos, Stu’s coach. The article says there are going to be about 150 competitors there from 30 countries! There are a lot of fighters from the UAE (duh) and other large contingents are said to be the United States, Jordan, and Bahrain. Stu will most likely be wrestling in the “under 77 kgs” category (under 170 lbs.) since I don’t think there is any way he can make the under 72 kgs at weigh-in tonight (He’d have to weigh under 158 tonight and last night he weighed 165… not going to happen, lol).
In light of the fight, we are going to stay in tonight and relax and then get Stu to bed early. I made crepes for dinner with bacon and eggs too and I made the bacon and crepes beforehand which turned out to be really mean since the house smells of bacon (remember, we don’t get to enjoy pork a lot here anyway) and the poor kid hasn’t eaten since noon and can’t until after 6 when he gets weighed. To make matters worse, I sent him off to the grocery store alone since Kaden was napping and we need groceries BADLY since we didn’t go last week. So he gets no food, but gets to look at all the food!
Kaden has been a good boy recently. We FINALLY got his noise maker (my Mom sent a package and it took over 3 weeks to get here, while Marcia and Mimi both sent packages that I got in a week or two). We set up the white noise for him and he slept all by himself in his own bed ALL NIGHT two nights in a row! (Last night he woke up twice however… hot sure what that was about) And he has been taking all of his naps in his own bed! Yay big boy! We were worried because he couldn’t sleep but in his carseat (and half the time only if we “bounced” him to sleep…ugh) and we were worried about travelling back to the States in a couple months and him not being able to sleep on the floor of the airplane (international airlines won’t let you buckle a carseat in to a seat… which sucks and is stupid… but I digress). So now hopefully he’ll be better equipped to deal with flight sleep!
Mimi sent him the cutest hat ever and he actually let me put it on him and he kept it on! Too much fun. I was laughing at him which made him laugh at me, so I laughed harder and we crawled over and attacked me… it was great. Funny baby.
Speaking of which, he is really developing a personality more and more every day. He gets so animated when he “talks” to me, and when he is frustrated he tries to “test” me to see if he can throw himself on the floor and get a good reaction from Mom. If I ignore him he usually gives up and will just be good, but he’s taken to arching his back and flinging himself nearly off the bed mid-diaper change, so I tell him to stop and he growls at me… sigh. I told him he won’t make any friends if he is a brat because nobody likes to play with bratty kids and he just laughed! MY son! Lol. He gave me this “give me a break, Mom!” look. He definitely can be a little shit, but one look with those giant blue eyes and I can’t help but laugh too!
Kaden can stand up by himself now! If I stand him up and then let go, he just stands there until he wants to sit down and then he’s off to whatever toy (or appliance cord) he’s interested in. I’m not ready for him to walk!
It also turns out that he will answer to Katie… sigh. He was wearing this little light green jumper that was SORT OF girly looking and Stu told him he looked like a girl and said, “Isn’t that right, Katie?” Kaden thought it was hilarious.
Happiest baby ever!
Well, I think that is about it from me for now. I will definitely write about tomorrow and let you all know how it goes.
I just had to post this one because he looks exactly like ALL of my siblings with that blank stare, haha. I laughed.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Stock.
Cars jammies!
Kaden has been getting braver every single day with his “cruising” around on the furniture. He has taken to hanging from the entertainment center… safe, huh? I keep feeling like he is bound to walk soon, I guess we will see.
So, try as I might, I cannot seem to find chicken stock here. We shop at a store called LuLu’s Hypermarket (don’t let the “hyper” part fool, it is just a grocery store). I like it because it is right across the street from our house, so we don’t have to go far. With the traffic here, that is always a plus. The problem is, they don’t have a lot of “American” items. Most of it I have gotten over and have just learned to alter my preferred tastes or just eat new or different things. But I keep running into recipes that call for chicken broth or stock. Sooo, I decided to apply my domestic genius and make it myself! Below is a picture of my fabulous stock, ready to be cooked. It turned out so much better than I would have hoped! Even though it takes hours to make, with the wonderful smell making you feel starving the whole time, it was definitely worth it. I got about 2 quarts worth of stock.
So last night, using the cooked veggies (I cut them up) from the stock and some chicken pieces, and of course, a few cups of the stock, I made a chicken and dumplings soup-ish-stew thing! Haha It was supposed to be soup with dumplings in it, but then it got pretty thick and chowder-like. It tasted like my Mom’s “chicken pastry” that I ate so much as a kid, just with pieces of carrots, onion, and celery in it. It was fabulous!
As I mentioned in my last post, Stu started Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. Here is my handsome man with his gi. Isn’t he a stud muffin??? Kaden and I went to practice with him again last night and he is actually a lot better than I would have guessed against these guys who have been doing this a LOT longer. We had learned a lot in Boise it turns out. It is a blast for me to watch them fight though. I am way more into the research and observation end of the sport, and then it is something we can talk about technically and both understand in different ways. So yay.
Stu in his gi.
Here is a closer shot so you can see the patches.
Anywho, that’s about it for me today. I just did 175 jumping jacks and I feel like I’m going to pass out! I think Kaden and I will go have lunch now.
Kaden helping Mommy sing "Baa baa black sheep".
Monday, April 28, 2008
Them There's Fightin' Words...
So last night Stu started taking Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. We both went there on Saturday to look into joining, and as with everything else in this god-forsaken country, discrimination prevails: They will not train women.
The guy actually laughed in my face and said, “den da men would fight woah-men” and looked at me like I was an idiot for not thinking of such an obvious inherent problem. I thought to myself, “Yeah, they’re just worried about getting their asses handed to them by a girl.” Whatever. I’m used to it by now, but it is still spirit crushing. Back at our old dojo, our sensei told us the first day we started training with him that, “All of my women should be able to take a punch in the face from a 250 pound man, then shake it off and put him on the ground.” And he meant it. And we could do it. And now it’s beyond frustrating.
Aside from that, the club its self is actually very cool and world-renowned. On Saturday, one of the fighters we talked to (who just happened to be there, they do not have class on weekends) said that last month Carlos Gracie, Jr. came in to train them and that they have a lot of “guest trainers”. That sounded cool enough and then last night I am reading my book after Stu fell asleep and I had to wake him up to read a passage to him that talked about Abu Dhabi being synonymous with the biggest “purse” (winnings, money) in Jiu-Jitsu fighting. And talked about how some of the best fighters in this particular art have trained with ADCC.
The club was created by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nayanson of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, former president of the United Arab Emirates, who became a fan of grappling and now holds this Cup every year that is basically a “who’s who” of ground fighting. (the likes of Tito Ortiz, Marcelo Garcia, and Roger Gracie have fought in this tournament) Come to find out that there are two members of the royal family that train with ADCC. Pretty interesting stuff. And the coach apparently trained in Brazil under the Gracie’s.
So basically it is learning from the best. I think it is a great opportunity for Stu and I am really excited for him. I told him (as a consolation prize of losing-by-not-having-a-penis) that I just want a bag at home so I can work on the Muay Thai and Kickboxing end of things that I enjoy more anyway as opposed to grappling (As a form of exercise since I am NOT going outside here after June begins… I heard people here actually get Seasonal Affective Disorder [SAD] from not going outside during the SUMMER).
In other news, I found a picture of the infamous “hole in the ground” potties I keep battling with here. See what I mean??? (You’ve got to love the “traction” on the sides. Sigh.)
The guy actually laughed in my face and said, “den da men would fight woah-men” and looked at me like I was an idiot for not thinking of such an obvious inherent problem. I thought to myself, “Yeah, they’re just worried about getting their asses handed to them by a girl.” Whatever. I’m used to it by now, but it is still spirit crushing. Back at our old dojo, our sensei told us the first day we started training with him that, “All of my women should be able to take a punch in the face from a 250 pound man, then shake it off and put him on the ground.” And he meant it. And we could do it. And now it’s beyond frustrating.
Aside from that, the club its self is actually very cool and world-renowned. On Saturday, one of the fighters we talked to (who just happened to be there, they do not have class on weekends) said that last month Carlos Gracie, Jr. came in to train them and that they have a lot of “guest trainers”. That sounded cool enough and then last night I am reading my book after Stu fell asleep and I had to wake him up to read a passage to him that talked about Abu Dhabi being synonymous with the biggest “purse” (winnings, money) in Jiu-Jitsu fighting. And talked about how some of the best fighters in this particular art have trained with ADCC.
The club was created by Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nayanson of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, former president of the United Arab Emirates, who became a fan of grappling and now holds this Cup every year that is basically a “who’s who” of ground fighting. (the likes of Tito Ortiz, Marcelo Garcia, and Roger Gracie have fought in this tournament) Come to find out that there are two members of the royal family that train with ADCC. Pretty interesting stuff. And the coach apparently trained in Brazil under the Gracie’s.
So basically it is learning from the best. I think it is a great opportunity for Stu and I am really excited for him. I told him (as a consolation prize of losing-by-not-having-a-penis) that I just want a bag at home so I can work on the Muay Thai and Kickboxing end of things that I enjoy more anyway as opposed to grappling (As a form of exercise since I am NOT going outside here after June begins… I heard people here actually get Seasonal Affective Disorder [SAD] from not going outside during the SUMMER).
In other news, I found a picture of the infamous “hole in the ground” potties I keep battling with here. See what I mean??? (You’ve got to love the “traction” on the sides. Sigh.)
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