Catching Up

Well, it's been almost a year since I've consistently posted on here, so I guess me and the internet world have some catching up to do. A lot has changed, I've been working harder than ever, getting more recognition, and coming to some realizations.

First off, training has been completely changed up. Morning classes are running about an hour longer than scheduled and we're drilling harder and more than ever. Drilling has consisted of long, repetitive blocks of time doing the high percentage moves of world class black belts over and over. A combination of this and cutting weight tends to make me pretty crabby. But, all of this hard work has paid off.

The gi World Championships have long since come and passed, leaving me with a disapointing yet solid performance. Went all the way to the third round and lost a close match to a tough competitior in Dominic Damian. The time before Worlds was basically my transitional period into a smarter, more well rounded Jiu-Jitsu player. My game changed, I'm more aware of the system; all in all, everything improved. Which is probably why I was promoted to brown belt soon after the World Championships.

  I first tested out my new belt at the Las Vegas Open, back in August, where I came close, but fell short, losing in the finals to Israel Ceron of Ralph Gracie. It was disappointing, but I learned and when it was all said and done, not a bad performance for my first outing at brown belt. Next came the American Nationals where I had the best performance of my Jiu-Jitsu career. I won't bore you with the details, but I brought home gold in the gi and no gi. If you really want to know how it went down, check out this article on GracieMag: http://www.graciemag.com/en/2011/10/ryan-heilman-wins-double-gold-at-featherweight-at-american-nationals/.

This time in my life has also brought me to a realization. I'm with the big boys now. I mean, Abu Dhabi trials, I'm competing with the cream of the crop: WORLD CLASS black belts. Getting promoted and winning a big tournament at this new rank has really made me think about how lucky I am and how close I am to reaching my goals. I've still got a long road ahead of me, but I can see my efforts paying me back. It's kind of nice and motivating.

So, hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things and my writings will be more about things actually going on in BJJ like they used to be and I won't be boring you by writing about myself like this post. Hope you guys enjoy. As always feel free to comment and let me know what you think!