Domitus Noctis

Tasha [narcissa_mae]
Toby [thetorturedsoul]
Vicky [stafford_fgm]

I know we haven't spoken in a while but I just wanted to say coming upto Christmas I miss you guys. If you want to get in touch email me at r.j.draper@newman.ac.uk or on facebook.

What's your sexual style? Take the sexual style quiz for yourself!

I bought:





I WANT!!!

Had a meeting with the SU about setting up an MMA club at Uni.

Trained for an hour and a half in the afternoon with a bit more sparring at the end with Rob, one of the Purple Belts (who's got two stripes), and then with Kev, who's also a Purple Belt with two stripes.

Did a private with Braulio working on Closed Guard submissions and sweeps (specifically the arm-bar and how to lock the shoulder if the arm-bar is defended to get it anyways and a sweep from the same setup) then I wanted to look at one of the hook guard transition submissions Braulio has on his DVD - but we ended up just getting a feel for the position and working on a sweep looking at the controls needed.

Hung around Acock's Green and ended up going to Costa Coffee with Aaron (blue belt), Stu (new purple belt) and Braulio (the black belt professor, he's got a diploma and everything - after we'd asserted what his diploma said in portuguese - that I had to translate or at least that's what Stu was saying, that I had a better command of portuguese than Braulio)

Did the beginners class for another hour and a half. Worked on the spider guard.

Did the normal gi class for another hour and a half. Continued on the spider guard.

Drilled a bit on my side-control control with Chico, another two stripe White Belt, who's bigger and stronger than me.

So I'm feeling a bit tired, as you can expect.

Find out what heroes character are you at LiquidGeneration.com!

Today (Monday - 01/10/2007) before the advanced Gi class after thebeginners class Braulio Estima called me up to the front and stuck twostripes on my white belt. I'm so happy!!!!!!

Give me a few months and I'll be looking for the third stripe.

Your Score: nWo

You scored a 89 ! (out of 100)

Inspired by a storyline done in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the New WorldOrder, or nWo, became the hottest concept in wrestling in the latterhalf of the 1990's, propelling WCW past the WWF in business for over ayear and a half. In 1996, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left WWF. Theyshowed up on WCW Nitro, claiming they were part of a group coming in totake over. A six man tag was set up between WCW's Randy Savage, LexLuger, and Sting vs Hall, Nash, and a mystery partner who they saidthey didn't need yet. Luger was "injured" in the match, and it appearedthat Hall and Nash were about to win. Hulk Hogan came down to the ring,stared down Hall and Nash, then turned on Savage, hitting the legdrop,allowing the nWo to win. This was the first time since the birth ofHogan's career audiences had seen him go bad guy. The crowd pelted thering with garbage, in an unforgettable moment. More and more membersjoined, as Hogan kept a stranglehold on the World Title, and TheOutsiders, Hall and Nash held the Tag Titles for even longer. Everyweek viewers would tune in, not really knowing what to expect next,such as the week the nWo literally took over the show, remodeling theset and running off the announcers on live TV. The idea ran for almost4 years in WCW, and was briefly resurrected in WWF. The original nWoT-shirt is perhaps the largest selling wrestling merchandise item ofall time.

1 - Pedro Bessa BJJ - 98pts
2 - Roger Gracie Academy - 73 pts
3 - Gracie Barra Birmingham - 38 pts

I got up at 5am to prepare for the journey ahead down to Bristol. It seemed silly after because we didn’t leave the house until around 7.30am or something like that. All of the time I spent was getting my bags packed, towels, getting my Gi ready and stuff like that. Then we set off and I was all about trying to get my head prepared for the fights ahead. We got there and there was very little parking so I went in on my own, scoped out the place and stuff, checked my weight (to make sure that I only had a little bit to do) which was the case (weighing in at 88.4 KG – the CBJJ limit was 88.3 KG but Pedro was allowing a KG) so because it was sunny enough outside that I did a couple of laps around the close vicinity of the campus, did some sit-ups, press-ups and stuff like that just to sweat a little bit.

I watched a couple of my other guys fight first (being Rob and Bang). Unfortunately Bang lost his first match in his weight class but didn’t stick around for the Absolute’s. When it came to my fight … I think I fought around 12ish or something like that. I knew that nerves were going to play a part in it but I didn’t know to what extent they were going to play a part. I’d seen a lot of guys in my belt category jump straight to guard and I was intent that I didn’t want to do that because these guys weren’t looking for sweeps or submissions from the guard. I think they just wanted to get it on the ground. I felt that shooting in for a double leg would be my best option.

Before I stepped onto the mat I weighed in at 87.4 KG so I was happy. Victor refereed my first match. As I thought my nerves were to play a part in the match because I didn’t want to commit and get smashed, but I think that’s what happened anyway – so I wasn’t too much bothered about it. My opponent had already scored two points for the takedown so I was thinking sweep or submission. His positional control was good and he was strong so I sort of had a bit of difficulty trying to do a couple of things. I tried feeding in for some collar chokes, attempted an arm-bar in the flurry and I think he ended up passing to side-control for two more points. My arm was stuck under his body so I tried to free it but it just wasn’t working. I was trying to get back to guard but I was risking losing the mount so I tried to make a calculated move and trick him into giving me guard at a risk of losing the mount, which I did and lost another four points.

The next few minutes felt longer with my opponent trying to feed in collar chokes, keep his base as I tried to use my Upa escape. I tried so much to pull it off that I ended up near the mat and tried to get the reset but in the end I was closing on getting the guard back as he tried to take by back for another four points. I was determined that I was going to get guard, singled out his leg and made sure I got guard. I think at some point when he was on the top he got warned for stalling. Anyways, I’m in his guard and he’s feeding a collar choke. So I used a Rorion Gracie approved space maker by grinding my forearm into his cheekbone to get him to release the collar grips, which he did. I spent the rest of the match trying to feed in for a collar choke as a Hail Mary play to submit my opponent. Unfortunately it didn’t work and he won the match on points. So at least I didn’t get submitted.

Between this fight and my next fight was Steve’s win in his Blue Belt weight division winning the complete category (and I’m sure Pedro lost a fiver for betting against Steve) and Octavio Sousa’s Brown Belt superfight that he won.

My second fight was my first fight in the Absolutes later on in the day. I’d watched a few more fights by this point so knew that the grips were more important and I’d worked with my takedowns from the clinch with Hugh, one of Braulio’s Blue Belts, and this time I tried to insist more and get the takedown. However within the first two minutes of the fight I’d done something really stupid … I’d gone down 7-0 and it looked like I was coming home with a 0-2 record. Thankfully this wasn’t the case. I can’t remember how exactly I got into guard from being on the bottom but effectively I think I got a sweep and three guard passes because my opponent tried to reset his guard and each time I just jumped and switched my hips to pass his guard getting me 2 pts per guard pass to make it 8-7 win to me. I shit you not. ;-)

From my coach, Rob, a BJJ purple belt:
“Also well done to Rowan (nogi constrictor) who managed to come back from 0 - 7 to win 8 - 7 in one of his matches.”

I tried finishing the fight, with collar chokes. I tried hard to get the mount as Rob shouted more and more advice along with Hugh. I was stuck in side control so I just consolidated my position and I was so exhausted. I tried to work on the arm but remembering the clock I knew that if I spent so much time trying to get the arm-secure for my power submission from side-control that the time would run out so I tried an Americana and nearly got it. By this time I hadn’t actually seen the score on the table or heard anything from Rob saying you’ve won it. I got my hands raised by the ref and I was like…. “no, not again, not fighting again.”

The guy I fought next in the Absolutes I think came third in the Absolutes overall or at least he got beat by the guy who came second or something. Rob told me after that he was another of Braulio’s guys from another club who’s verging on blue belt from the Super Heavyweight division. So I didn’t take too much impact when I lost the match on points. He tried choking me out a few times silly bugger. I didn’t tap, showed a lot of heart to keep myself in there and fought on.

So at the end of the day – after 8 months of training, 5 months of dieting and a month of training with Gracie Barra - 2 losses on points and 1 victory on points – good day out overall I think. Apparently this beats my current instructor’s BJJ record. J

But generally I’m happy with the results…

Wednesday 1st August 2007
It seemed like weeks away now the Summer Leg of the Bristol Open is only four days away. I feel like I could have done more to train for this tournament like more cardio workouts, more technique drills, more rolling and more strength and explosiveness training. I could have done more cardio outside of my normal routine of training, more plyometrics and a lot of other stuff however I’m happy with my overall level of fitness. I’m never going to be at that perfect level of fitness before a competition if I don’t just throw myself in there.

It begins as a first tournament on the road to the first step of getting my BJJ Black Belt. I want to perform well and finish admirably. As long as I have that then I will be content with my performance. It’s not like it’s a rugby game where I’ve got all my tensions out before, or am comfortable in the setting, there’s only one persons performance going to make sure that I win and it’s mine. There are no draws and if I want to stake a good claim at being ready for my blue belt, which I feel is still a long road off at the moment; then I’ll need to consistently perform well at competitions, regularly attend classes at Gracie Barra and continue with my own knowledge progression and refining my techniques.

However I think it’s a saving grace that at least I am not going in at a level where I’m going to be completely wiped out – but this may be the case anyway if I’m matched up with some strong white belts in either my own weight division or absolute category. I believe my conditioning for the tournament is where it should be for the amount of effort I have been able to put in. I’d hoped for more resisting opponents to be able to roll with over the time to make my techniques that much more sharper and on form. As I say - it is only the first step on my journey of competition Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so I’ve got to be content with where I am. I am setting up now to be mentally prepared to fight in the two weight-classes that I’ll be fighting in at the white belt division.

I’ve only been training since January with Chris and Adrian at PFS Stafford and only been training with Gracie Barra for about a month, once a week unfortunately, so I’m not expecting miracles or flashy moves to end my fights. I’m going to try and stick to a simple game plan. It’s going to revolve around getting the takedown and attacking for an arm-bar from side-control, if I’m on my back then it’s going to be arm-bars. My weakest area I think is my guard but hopefully I’ll get some competitors that don’t heavily challenge me until the final or last couple of matches in either the Medium Heavy or Open weight categories.

However that may not happen so I’ve got to go ready to dominate my game plan on my opponent. I must not get on my back or if I do sweep from there and gain dominant position. If I win by points on the way to submission then fair enough but I’ll try and finish all of my fights.

We had some really influential guys down at Gracie Barra last night Braulio Estima (Black Belt), Victor Estima (Black Belt) and Octavio Souza (Brown Belt) and they stayed for the first hour and a half of the three-hour sessions. We did a cardio warm-up that lasted for around twenty minutes to half an hour or so including jogging, abdominal stretches and leg stretches. Then we got to do positional drills rather than technique drills but we worked from positions either trying to keep the position I.E: keeping mount, attacking from the back and passing the guard and then obviously switching and doing the reverse escaping the mount, escaping the back-mount and holding or submitting from the guard.

After that was the beginners session where we worked a little on take-downs, transitions from the guard for both sweeps and being a little more experienced and training with an experienced partner (who tells me he was at Black Belt level in Judo) we looked at the Omaplata submission from the position also. However there’s not a lot of rolling in this session because it’s for absolute beginners – and you don’t want to scare off potential students by having guys who are ready for the advanced class before hand trying to take new guys apart. This doesn’t heavily bother me because I’m content to just drill techniques whether I know them already or not because I’m not going to get my blue belt at all if I don’t do the basics well - consistently.

That and I go there for three hours to keep my conditioning and weight trim especially considering the competition is in four days or so.

Weight at the start of the day (without the Gi): 13.9 stone / 190.96lbs / 86.8 KG
Target weight: 88.30 KG / 194.5lbs with the Gi

Thursday 2nd August 2007

At the end of last night I got a couple of training sessions sorted out for today. One with Gary who’s a lot better than me with the Gi and Russ, who I’d like to think as good as me with the Gi (given our weight difference) but then again he may just have been being nice. Gary’s a lot more technical and made me look at more of the basics that I’ll need to pull together for my escapes, sweeps and submissions to have a better chance of not looking like a complete newbie.

It was a bit of a strain because we got up for around 8.30am to train, and I was all woken up by the time we kicked off, and we rolled for a little bit to begin with so I could just show him all of my weaknesses rather than think where they were. I know that there are places that I could tighten up but for actual weaknesses, if you show someone and they exploit it - they can get you to work on it. So we worked on tightening up submissions, falling, rolling and other such basics.

I’ve been thinking that I want to try and finish all of my fights rather than only win on points – if I’m looking for a submission and time runs out then I’ll not be too disappointed but if I can submit all of my opponents then I’ll be happy. I’ve seen a couple of techniques on the Gracie Instructional DVD set I downloaded with Royce Gracie performing an arm-bar from standing. Basically he takes normal grips, steps with his left foot diagonally, comes to his back and swings round a little bit to set up the arm-bar remembering to lock the opponent in with the calf muscles on the legs tightening up around the back.

I think that I’ll be better prepared for my Blue Belt when I can take (or submit and/or control through position) the guys that I train with on the local MMA scene such as my current instructor Adey and the other guys like Andy, Gary, Martin, Russ and Liam that I interact with using a Gi.

With Russ we trained a little bit later because of his family concerns but it was good. We trained for around an hour and three quarters. We mainly rolled and then picked out things to look at like leg-locks, triangles and stuff like that. I caught Russ with a triangle from the top and rolled it over which was good. I’ve not been shown how to do this but I’ve been on the suffering end of a couple of them and it’s good to think that my body and my brain are taking the information in as they are being done so that if I come to do them that I can execute them.

Weight at the start of the day (without the Gi): 13.10 stone / 190.96lbs / 87.0 KG
Target weight: 88.30 KG / 194.5lbs with the Gi


Friday 3rd August 2007

Today was a little bit lighter than the past couple of days – and hopefully it’ll leave my nice and rested for Sunday. I should’ve gone for a run today but I just didn’t manage it. I had a bit of fruit, a jacket potato with Bolognese sauce in town earlier on and for dinner I had one pork and lamb chop, mashed potato and vegetables and tomato. Concentratin more on keeping the weight down to weigh in right. I didn’t have much water today but I’ll work it out tomorrow.

I’ll go for a run or two, and put some layers on, and drink plenty of water earlier in the day and maybe relax and get my mind off of the impending submissions by going to watch the Simpson’s movie or something like that.

“Spider pig, Spider pig.
Does whatever a spider pig does
Can he spin a web?
Yes, because he’s a spider pig”

Weight at the start of the day (without the Gi): 13.9 stone / 190.96lbs / 86.8 KG

Song: "Killing me softly" by the Fugees
Home Life

Well further to my post on the 11th of July re: Outstanding Arrears (http://theother1k0n.livejournal.com/42149.html) basically it's becoming a bit more black and white, to use a turn of phrase. Basically because Potter has not paid over six months of his own rent totalling £990.00 I am unable to continue living there. I am also unable to move in with Rob and Mouse, under the same company, due to the outstanding debt because of the Dual Liability contract that we both signed - thinking that as friends we wouldn't fuck ourselves like that - boy, what a chump I am! The last few days of surmised with me talking to the agents, reading my contract, pondering on my future and trying to act on it to get a decent life plan for the next few years. This is really unforunate for Mouse and Rob because they've only just moved out but is more unfortunate for me based on legality because I am quite literally screwed thanks to someone who used to call himself my best friend.

It's OK when friends fight, argue, fall out and then make up over the small stuff like taking each other for granted or stuff like that but forcing a friend to be in debt because of you is just sick. Real big issues can't just be laid aside. Having fcuked me over with Rob and Mouse it's very interesting to know that I'm expected to sort out his bills. Waking me up in the morning whilst he's moving out to make me talk to a debt collector of his. Do you think that's on? Having not spoken to me for months because he doesn't want to speak or associate with liars? I'm continuously hearing this and those I've spoken to are saying the same thing "we don't want be involved, but we want to be friends with both of you."

It's interesting for a few reasons. The big one is that having made a big stance over his innocence regarding Rie, and then to be turned on by his (as he says) so called friends Neil and Rob, because they didn't believe that he didn't do what she alleged that he'd done. I stayed with him on this, and supported him. Did I want thanks? No, because I can understand how sex is turned into rape when you fall out because women get easy street in society so ... I can understand. Around four months before he moved out he started getting in touch and making up with Rob (who he'd really fallen out with) and Neil (who I don't think he ever fell out with, really). My question is .... how do you make friends with someone who agrees you could rape someone? But that's all of no matter because it's done and dusted now. Honour has been served and now he's tagging on to whatever friends he can. I mean it's understandable, he's fallen out with me because "I'm a liar and a thief" ... so he'll go and make friends with a guy who didn't leap to your defense when you're accused of rape .... they deserve each other. They were both my friends at one point. He even had the gall to bring him over to my house. Not his house, since he was paying less than a dime to live there, but my house when he was staying with us and forced me out of the way. That's what good friends they are. Rob attempts to destroy one of my hobbies and ruin my reputation among new people and current friends and succeeds because no-one wants to talk to me about it.

Song: "King Nothing" by Metallica
I think it's really disgusting what the pair of them have done. The only person who from the original group of friends I am still on good terms with is Neil. I never know who was further members of the group that the four of us were initially a part of. It's a shame because I never get to see Neil often now. Is that because of Potter and Rob? Possibly. Is it more to do with conflicting schedules? More probably but I don't think that Potter spreading these lies about me is helping my reputation or 'name' especially after what Rob did a year ago.

Do I think either situation will be resolved?
No. Potter is too much of a coward to face responsibility for his actions. He's got to realise that one day that he'll say something or he'll have emo-stormed-off for the thousandth time and people will just stop caring and will do something about. I'm not going to chase him up for what he's done. He's already in enough debt. I hope he really enjoys his TV and laptop until the baliffs come. What would be the point? However; if you ask Rob and Mouse they'll tell you exactly the same version of events of the situation. They'll tell you that he has avoided it repeatedly.

This is where I get a little pissed off ... they moved in to help us and this is the thanks they get for trying to help a friend. This could have been Toby. Do you know what I mean? It wouldn't matter to him as long as he gets his vodka and his sonic games. I mean he's got all the time in the world to play them now, so I hope he enjoys the pit of despair he's created for himself. I needed help to, do you see me manipulating the situation to my advantage? No, because all influence is temporal. There is little point in manipulating friends because it will always bite you on the ass - and you've got to look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day.

Honesty, Courage, Compassion, Courtesy, Sincerity, Duty and Honour are some of the ethics that we live our lives by - right? Was it just me who was brought up with these ethics. We consider ourselves to be honest in all dealings with people regardless of who they are, we stand by the courage of our convictions if we have something tosay and are honest about, we show compassion to those who need it whether it befriends when they need a shoulder to cry on or the beggar in the street that you give a pound. This is who we are. This is who we need to be. In this decaying society that is riddled by an abyss of politics, an inability to police the country and a failing justice system … what else do we have but the honour of our name?

This is why I dislike being called a liar behind my back by someone who once considered himself my friend and attempting to undermine my relationships with others (i.e: Toby, Nigel, Egg, etc..).

I dislike it for a few reasons:
1) It shows nothing but cowardice on his part – that he is not willing or able to make these bold statements to my face and only behind my back.
2) Repeated attempts have been made to discuss any issues that we personally have had that he either instigates or makes an issue of without discussing the issue
3) He has repeatedly mentioned that he has never seen me lose my cool and after all the stimulation he has provided he has wondered why I stay so calm (as if he is trying to provoke me into a reaction).
4) When he was accused of raping / forcing an ex-girlfriend to have sex withhim – who stuck by his side? His friends that he has just recently made up with? No.
5) When he was looking for a new housemate after Neil had mentioned his intent to leave after a short time, who stepped in?
6) If you believe this why don’t you keep it to yourself, because yourobviously not willing to stand by your comments ....

What frustrates and angers me more in this situation is that I am told that he is making such a point of disliking liars that he does not want to talk to or associate with me. I find this a very curious point. If he is making such a point over people who lie to him then what should be his punishment for lying to others, what should be his punishment for becoming friends with people who supported a scandal of rape against him. For the last two months we have avoided each other because I have not known what it what that had angered him so much, and because of everythingI had done for him I didn’t think that such an issue should be broached by me. Why couldn’t he be a man for once and discuss the problem?

Here is why I find this very rich coming from him:
Before Kez moved in he was toying with the idea of moving out and moving in with Kat (Rob's current GF) because she was trying to find someone to live with. He allowed himself to be wooed by the idea and did not even think to mention anythinguntil his mind was decided. This could have gone very badly if he hadn’tdecided that he couldn’t live with Kat however this shows a deceptive side. I was not informed of any of this information until the end after his decision was made. If we were such good friends then surely I deserved a little bit of honesty that someone was trying to influence him into kicking me out onto the streets or leaving me stranded without notice attempting to get new people in - fortunately I won without doing anything and got to continue living in the house.

Potter has on several occasions used his LiveJournal to throw his “Bomb Rants” into the ether and allowed many people toread his comments. He is not willing to discuss them with you as adults because he does not like confrontation. This is evident again recently when he went behind my back to manipulate and deceive our house-mates, Rob and Mouse, rather than stand toe to toe in my face and call me a liar. He took the easy option and just retires to his room. What a good friend, eh? When I supported him through a lot of other things but Rob and Neil accusing (or at least acknowledging) the claim of rape … when I’ve worked my ass of trying to keep the house safe from the Lettings Agents because if we both stop paying – that’s it – no matter what.

When they first moved in we (the four of us) decided that £200 should come to me, and he demanded £50 to live on. I don’t know where he was getting this odd number from because he was choosing to live on bread and cola until they started feeding him … so where is this £50 coming from? I asked him what we should do with it. I made mention that the Council Tax was of higher importance than the NTL, which provide our internet and cable TV. He told me to pay the NTL off because he could cover the Council Tax with his housing benefit that he has still not received because I know that he is still receiving letters re: Council Tax and non-payment. I paid as much of the NTL bill as I could with the money I had. I spent a little on myself, the rest was for bills and food for the rest of the month. We got cut off because it wasn’t enough.When he demanded to know what was going on at 2 o’clock in the morning when I was in bed … he had already began manipulating the other side explaining thatthe reason it had gone off because it hadn’t been paid. I was asked why it had happened, when it was coming back and I told them flat out. That's when he made this decision to be an outright wanker.

I did not receive all of the money for the last two months of Kez’s stay at the house. That amounts to around £250 (£125 each month) … I was down that much of my own cash because of a prank we played on him (but even still I've been lead to believe that he would've moved anyways). I never received money for the NTL also in this time, which would’ve been something like £20 odd quid each month. That’s nearly £300 that I was shortwhilst Potter was swanning around having people buy him drinks in Chicago’s, Playing DND at Dave’s and stuff like that without putting in some hard work and elbow grease into getting a job. So ignoring Kez’s money problems left for me there were also problems on Potter’s side not being able to contribute to the NTL bill too. So I’ll say a minimum of around £300 + I was short. That’s why the NTL was turned off.

Is this good enough? No.
Why? Hey, Potter had been out of work for around two - three months (8-12 weeks) by this point so was contributing nothing. Surely you can't have a go at someone if they're struggling to pay everything when you they're financial partner in crime aren't contributing? Must just be Potter that lets him comment on stuff even when he's wrong.

When I got the money, as in my next payday, thebill was finished off and we got our services back. However he doesn’t want totalk to a liar, because he has proof of me lying to them? Surely he has some way to back up his scandalous statements? Of course not it’s Potter. He’ll shout his mouth off and if you try and answer him he’ll run away off to his room. I think it’s also rich coming from him because he’s not paying for the NTL yet he feels he can comment on whether it’s on or not. This could be the case in the return for other services his name is on the bill for … but he never tells me about them until the last minute. I sorted all of the community bills out, getting a water-card sent out, and other shit like that and they continued to pile up without them being mentioned.

It annoys me that he will make these LJ entriesand then not talk to you about the points contained in these journal entries …when you question why he has done it … you are in the wrong because it’s his Live Journal. He’s allowed, don’t you know! It’s this action that made meproceed to threaten him with legal action because of his libellous comments when he accused me of consistently attempt to voyeur over him and the girlfriend who went on to accuse him of rape. I can’t remember what the other thing was but it was equally as scandalous and untrue, and both posts were removed.

Another issue: whilst Kez was living with us; he had to pay his rent and thought nothing of it when he gave the money to Potter, who somehow then went to Cannock with Martin and spent the majority of it on beer and other random shit. Surely that would be worth mentioning if your going to say that someone else has taken rent money and spent it on themselves? I recently found out why he did this, apparently, because I owed him money from when I switched jobs (that's right - left mine and got a new one in two weeks time) and thought it was OK to take it because I owed it him rather than ask first because all of that money was going to go on feeding myself for the rest of the month or on bills.

For 4-6 months he did not go to work claiming tobe ill. That was a lie. He stayed in his room playing on his computer consolesor writing up RP scenes for his Sonic characters. When he eventually got backin touch with them to explain why he was off he lied to them. How do I knowthis? Because we all go through shit in life and as usual he was playing uplike the drama queen that he likes to be seen as. This was while Kez and me were living with him. He was brining in no money and any money he did bring inwas due to heavily increasing loans and was usually spent on beer, Ebay andother useless shit rather than the majority going towards household stuff. I can’t complain about this because I was the same when I first moved in.However, that was when I first moved in and I am willing to present that information as part of my case in advance so people can properly understand the situation. Constructively omitting information is the sameas lying, especially when it is used to manipulate other people because that information was omitted.

Why does Potter not face up to confrontation? Heis a coward. I’m not saying that I deal with confrontation any better than himor like it but he just doesn’t click that you can’t say shit about someone else without getting a reaction especially when it’s bollocks. It leads people tobecome very angry and irate. It’s not something you generally tend to do topeople you’re supposed to be friends with, yet he manages it all the timebecause he’s allowed. He’s Potter, you know, and that gives him special license to be an asshole to everyone.

No more, he'll emo himself out of friends soon enough. Perhaps before he hits bankruptcy?


Song: "The Darkest Side" by the Undertaker (WWE Theme Music)
Work Life

I want to change jobs but I'm likely to go to University in September if I can get through clearing instead of getting a new job so I can go and get my Blue Belt in BJJ...

Which divisions will you be entering for this competition?

I will be entering the Medium Heavy and Open Weight (or Absolute) weight-classes of the White Belt division.
I have been studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since the middle of January of this year (7 months) under PFS Stafford without a Gi and for less than a month with Braulio Estima at Gracie Barra Birmingham.

What do you expect from this competition?
I expect to have a fun time competing still learning about the art. I expect to watch some good matches after my part in the competition is over from the Blue and Purple Belt divisions.
I expect to win at least a couple of matches depending on who I'm matched up with to fight. If I draw a strong white belt, my expectations may be ended a little earlier but hopefully I expect to have two or
three fights in both open and weight restricted classes.

How do you think you will do?
Honestly it will really depend on my luck. If I draw a strong white belt as my opponent in either the Medium Heavy or Absolute weight classes then I might be sitting out a little earlier than I'd like - unless that is that I'm in top form and dominate from the takedown till either a submission or the end of the fight. I don't think I can fight conservatively unless of course I get to the final and then, well, my gameplan may well go out of the window because I'll have done better than I expected. If I draw some really weak or inexperienced fighters I may get on well in the competition but it really does depend. If I come out with a medal from either 1st, 2nd or 3rd place I'll be happy but it's just the start of competing so if I lose it won't be that big a deal. I'll come back knowing what I need to work on especially if one of my moves that I consider to be good doesn't really work.

Where do you consider to be your strengths?
Realistically I think I'm good from side-control and the transitions from passing the guard so if I end up with the back or side-control I'll be happy. That'll be why the takedown will be so important. I think my arm locks from side-control are decent and I think if I get an opportunity for a choke I should be able to finish it.

Where do you consider to be your flaws?
I think my game off my back is a little under where I'd like it to be. I need really to drill my arm-bar from the guard, kimura and triangle to make sure that my guard game is better. I think I've got a good affinity with the butterfly guard so I won't be too worried if I can get my butterfly hooks in but if it's just a normal guard I think I'll be in a very tentative position.

What will be your gameplan?
Still working on it.

:-)

Gracie Barra
Last night I went over for my third session with Gracie Barra. It was good. Got some good techniques, some good drilling even if it did glaringly show me how crap a certain part of my game was. Some good rolling towards the end of the first session. I arm-barred one guy 7 times from different positions (maybe 6 from side-control, 1 from the back) but regardless ... it means that they can work against new opposition.

The beginners session was good for technique drills and such. I've worked on my arm-bar from guard and hopefully I can remember some of this stuff come August 5th, or next week when I roll again ... that's the painful part ... it's in your memory for a couple days and because you don't use it - it goes fuzzy in your brain, or at least it does with me. Hopefully now though I'll be able to perform arm-bars from the guard.

Bristol Open
I'm sitting at 13 st 10 lbs / 87.1 KG I think now. I weighed myself before training last night with and without the Gi and I was on weight by their scales.

The advice from a three stripe Blue Belt for preparing for this tournament in August.

Do sprints up hills until you DIE.
Rest a full 2-3 days before the tournament. No exercise! You can take a walk, thats it.
Work your takedowns like crazy, and be sure to win the takedown!
Bring lots of gatorade and granola bars. Snack on them constantly. IT will be hard to eat because you are so nervous. Big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.
Suck down the gatorade like crazy after every match.

What I'll also do is grab rolling partners towards the end of my sessions and get them three minutes hard, one minute soft, three minutes hard, one minute soft that sort of thing do?

I'll also need to prepare to fight tougher or more experienced opponents, is there anything I can do apart from rolling?

Good idea, but make it 6 minute rounds. Tell each partner to fight hard, use lots of strength, but controlled so you dont get injured. Then 30 second break, and rotate partners to go with someone fresh.

You should be able to do at least 5 rounds like this, 7 would be better. Its brutal.

So I need people local to Stafford who are willing to do this? I can teach you some stuff at the same time. I'll have to try and get some people who do Gi Jiu-Jitsu locally too.