Retail therapy of a different sort.

Alternate title "Zombies beware". I bought a Kel-tec Sub 2000 9mm carbine. I was a bit skeptical, but figured it might be a good investment (along with a handful of 33 round Glock mags). This thing is a hoot! I ran it through a quick test (100 rounds or so), and was delighted at the grouping and ease of use. The one issue I had, was a fail to eject (FTE), but I think that was somewhat a fluke since the casing actually flipped around backwards and pinched between the bolt and the chamber. I don't anticipate this failure happening again, but will keep an eye out for it.

As mentioned, accuracy was good. At 25 yards I chewed a fist sized hole in the target about 4 inches right of the bullseye. I will adjust the sites eventually, but with a little adjustment to my shooting was able to move the group to the left.

In related news, I forgot how annoying indoor ranges can be once hunting season starts. Don't get me wrong, I love hunting, but setting up next to a guy shooting the latest and greatest magnum cartridge with extra porting can get fairly annoying, especially when shooting smaller calibers in the lane next to them. I realize it wasn't their fault, and talked to the RO to get my lane moved, but the fact that the RO thought it was a good idea to put them right next to me makes me wonder. There is nothing like trying to shoot small groups in paper with a .22 and feeling the concusive blast from one (or two) lanes over. Heck, I was impressed some of these guys could keep it on the paper with the flinch they were developing. Then again, at least they were getting out and shooting.

In other news, I have been keeping steady with my weight. I had a scale malfunction yesterday. When I first stepped on, it read 221. A re-weigh put me at 224. Not a huge difference I know, but when trying to get to a lower weight class 3 pounds is big. I also got my first stripe on my Blue belt, so I have that going for me. After NAGA Dallas, I think I'm going to start the tattoo on my other shoulder.

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.