10% less of me

I'm still me, but there is 10% less then there was 6 weeks ago. Slowly but surely I have been watching what I eat and excercising more (running and kettlebells). This has allowed me to cut roughly 24 pounds.

I'm still not "slim" by any stretch of the imagination, but if everything goes right, I should break 260 this week. Not bad overall. The main reason I did this, is my quest for my BJJ Blue Belt.

What I found, is that my coach teaches a faster style of BJJ, while my style is more methodical and crushing. To continue to improve, I try to take myself out of a comfort zone, and try and play a smaller man's BJJ game. This includes fighting off my back more (which most big guys are loathe to do), and trying to play a faster attacking style (like Marcelo Garcia). While I will never be as good as Marcelo, I do like to use some of his techniques to finish. To that end, the easiest way to get faster, is for there to be less of me overall. Interestingly enough, this has allowed me to make significant progress in the dojo, and I finally feel comfortable wearing a 4 stripe white belt. I'm giving the blue belts in our class trouble, and even surprised Dave (our Brown belt teacher) with a back roll sweep.

While I'm thinking about it, I should probably put a link up for Dave Thomas' new website BJJ Tech. He has both pictures and videos, as well as a fairly significant youtube selection of techniques. I like to read and watch these while on conference calls at work.

I want to make one thing clear, i'm not fixated on receiving a colored belt. I am fixated on improving, and receiving the blue belt will be proof that I have achieved that goal.