TEAM * HONOUR * LOYALTY

Lots going on at the club these days. The recent promotion incentive saw 25 new signups on the 19th of July. I want to personally wish them all a big welcome to the team! We`ll all get to know your names soon enough, so until then, by all means, introduce yourselves when its time to partner up to work some techniques. To the regulars, please make an effort to introduce yourselves to the new faces as many times as it takes for the names to stick. At Sudbury BJJ, we`re not only a team, we`re a family.

www.sudburybjj.com

What`s in your gear bag?

Maybe I`m a weirdo (ok, this has already been established), but I`m pretty anal about keeping my gear clean and fresh. (feel free to scroll down and review my blog on my lovely bout with Ringworm)

Anyways, I`ve gotten my prep down to a science so that I`m always ready to head to the club when I`ve got time to train. Having more than one GI is essential if you`re going to be rolling more than once or twice a week.

Myself, I`ve got 4 gi`s and 4 rashguards in the rotation to be sure I`m always good to go. The minute I get home, my gear is immediately thrown into the washing machine (no exceptions) and then left to dry on this trusty old rack system that Roxanne baught when we had our first apartment in London 10 years ago.



While today`s gear is drying, I prep my bag for the next time. So what`s in my bag? Well, I`m glad you asked. (just play along)

1. a clean towel (for the shower at the club)
2. clean Mizuno knee pads (because I`m getting old and my knees appreciate them
3. a Shock Doctor jockstrap (size XL because...well, nevermind)
4. a big ziplock bag with shower supplies (body wash, qtips, anti-perspirant...everything a man needs)
5. Athletic Body Care antimicrobal foam (to kill anything you might pick up from a training partner who might not wash his GI as religiously as I do)
6. large bandaids
7. a clean GI
8. a clean rashguard
9. a clean pair of boxers
10. gatorage g2 & a protein bar





Ok, I admit this is a rather pointless blog entry. I just see some guys come in prepared while other just seem to pile their gear into a bag and head for the door. At the end of the day, getting into a routine outside of the club is an important part of keeping your gear clean and organized. This will help you be ready for the next day and trust me, your training partners will appreciate the other part.

Fabricio Werdum breaks down his win over Fedor

Joe Rogan speaks...

I love this guy. The best MMA commentator in the business. Check it out!

Jessie Cronier - Sudbury BJJ and Muay Thai Academy`s first WORLD CHAMPION!

Huge congrats to Jessie "The Kid" Cronier who won his division at the Thai Boxing Association`s World Championships in Des Moines Iowa, USA! The uncomfortable 16 hour drive from Sudbury to the mid-western state was well worth it.

Be sure to give the kid a high five when you see him at the club. This comes after years of commitment and hard training. But this is only the beginning for recent high school graduate. The sky`s the limit!

Here are a few pictures from the event.








Also on the card where Corey Black and Mike Houle. I`m told Corey faught an incredible fight and completely dominated his opponent for three solid rounds. Sometimes I wonder if the judges at some of these events won a radio contest for their appointment. Although these judges awarded the fight to the wrong fighter, this experience (and knowing he actually won the fight) should prove good experience for Corey. You`ll get them next time dude! (Corey in white)



Mike lost his fight in the second round after a corner stoppage. In a spin of bad luck, Mike ended up fighting in a division with much larger opponents which proved the old addage when all things are equal, size will make the difference. Check out the size difference on day of the weigh-ins.



Congrats to all 3 fighters! Look forward to seeing your new belt Jessie!

Ring Worm and BJJ

If you look under my ear in this picture, you`ll see what is known as "Ring Worm". I first noticed it earlier this week but felt as though I`d been bitten by a deer fly or some other insect (larger than a mosquito) After a few days, it became itchier and I woke up yesterday (Friday) with the circular worm like rash.

Below is a copy and paste from an article I found online at www.grapplearts.com

If you suspect you might have a rash which develops into Ring Worm or worse...Staph infection, please...please...please stay off the mats. Also, this is another reason it`s VERY important to wash your gi after EVERY WORKOUT! I`ve always taken every precaution, but apparently my efforts can only go so far.

Please read the article below...

What is Ringworm?

Ringworm is actually a fungus, not a worm. The first symptom of ringworm is severe localized itchiness. Basically it starts out as a little, red, itchy pimple. Soon this grows to solid pink circles on the skin, usually between the size of a pimple and a quarter. The border of these circles will eventually develop scaly red skin and the center become paler. Related forms of ringworm can also occur on the scalp (causing hair loss), the crotch ('jock itch') and the foot ('athlete's foot').

If you want to see what serious cases of ringworm look like go to http://images.google.ca/images?q=ringworm&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search and shudder! Just remember that all ringworm starts small – be suspicious of an itchy or scratchy area, especially when it associated with a small red area.

Take ringworm seriously. It's ugly, itchy and very contagious. Once someone in a team gets infected with ringworm it spreads like wildfire and stays around for a very long time unless strict measures are taken quickly. A ringworm infection at a club can cause people to quit: do you really want less people to train with?

With ringworm there is usually a 1 to 2 week incubation period between exposure and visible infection. The fungal spores that spread ringworm can survive on a variety of surfaces for a long time, so eradicating this sucker is really difficult. To make matters worse, some people are asymptomatic carriers meaning that they carry the infection and can infect others but don't have the characteristic skin markings.

If being infected with ringworm doesn’t bother you too much then think about your training partners, ESPECIALLY those training partners who have children. Children are very susceptible to ringworm and if it gets in their scalps it can cause permanent scarring and baldness. The standard treatment for ringworm of the scalp in children is 6 weeks of prescription oral medication that has potentially serious side effects, so PLEASE be considerate.

If you have ringworm:
Stay off the mat. This is the most difficult part of the treatment for many grapplers, who just want to keep on training. Stay off the mats until your ringworm is under control or you’ll turn your infection into a club-wide epidemic. After the red circles have cleared up the grappler is no longer infectious and can return to training. It usually takes about a week to treat if you catch it early; delay treatment and it could take a lot longer.

Simply covering up the infected sites is NOT sufficient! Many times people will just put some tape over the itchiest ringworm sores and go train anyhow - this is not cool. For one thing the offenders in question might not have noticed every single sore, and also they ave certainly been scratching those sores all day, spreading fungal spores to their hands and any other bodypart they touch with their hands. Stay off the mats.

Treat the infection with an antifungal cream. There are many antifungal creams and gels available. ‘Lamisil’ is one of the best creams, but usually requires a doctor’s prescription.

There are also over-the-counter medications like tolnaftate ('FungiCure', and others). I haven’t found the clotrimazole products as effective - sometimes all they do is suppress the fungus. Most products are applied twice daily. Some creams also contain hydrocortizone or cortate, but this just reduces the inflammation and doesn't actually kill the fungus. As a rule of thumb, if your ringworm isn’t a lot better after one or two weeks of using over the counter anti-fungal creams go to a doctor or walk-in clinic and ask for a Lamisil prescription.

You can also take prescription oral medications (like an oral form of lamisil or ketoconazole) for severe and/or stubborn cases. These may be hard on your liver and you should take them with care.

Keep on applying the topical medication for one week after your infection clears up! Often it appears that the infection is gone, but the ringworm is actually only dormant and will soon come back. Apply the cream or gel for at least one additional week. If you are taking orals take the full course of prescribed anti-fungal medications.

Change your bedding every couple of days and don’t share towels - your training partners may be pissed if you infect them, but that is nothing compared to how upset your spouse or 'special friend' is going to be if he/she catches it. Besides, if you are treating your ringworm but sleeping in the same old bedding or using the same towel every day you are basically re-infecting yourself. Use your bath towels and wash cloths only once, and then wash them.

If there is ringworm going around your club:
Wash the mats before or after every practice. Any cleaning supplies store will stock something to disinfect floors and mats, just make sure it is anti-fungal as well as anti-bacterial and anti-viral. You can also use a dilute bleach solution, but the commercial cleaning solutions are not very expensive.

Inspect your partners carefully and refuse to wrestle someone with 'the worm'. Instructors and senior students have an extra responsibility to educate club members and, if necessary, to bar infected people from training. Unfortunately some people can carry and spread ringworm without exhibiting

Don’t let people walk on the mats in their street shoes. Ringworm lives in the soil outside and can be transmitted to the mat by shoes. The fungus enters into the skin through scratches and abrasions (common in grappling) and then the trouble begins. Once the epidemic has begun, the main mode of transmission is probably person-to-person.

Shower thoroughly as soon as possible after every practice. There may be some advantage to using an anti-dandruff shampoo as a body wash to ensure that the ringworm is gone. ‘Selsum Blue’ is a good choice.

Once a week use ‘Nizoral’ shampoo - Nizoral a very strong anti-fungal/anti-dandruff shampoo containing ketoconazole. A dermatologist suggested this to me to make sure that I was killing off any potential new infections picked up from the mats. Lather up your hair and your entire body, leave the lather on your body for a full 5 minutes, and then rinse very thoroughly. Dry your body and apply a cream moisturizer – this shampoo can really dry out your skin. For this reason I do NOT recommend using Nizoral more than once a week.

Wash your gi, rashguards, kneepads, towels, etc. after every practice. The fungal spores can live in these items.

James "Lights Out" Toney

Allow me to skip past UFC 117 for a moment. James "Lights Out" Toney will be fighting Randy Couture in Boston at UFC 118. Toney is a boxer who is making his MMA debut at 41 years of age vs the Natural.

Dana White has admitted that this bout is a freakshow, but is not using it as a main-event. Here is an interesting interview which occured over the weekend with Ariel Helwani from AOL Fanhouse. Toney is a nut.

UFC 116...great night of fights!

I ended up watching tonights`card on my own tonight. I`d planned to heading over to Kevin Kroft`s housewarming, but with Roxanne not feeling great, I figured it best to stay home.

The UFC rarely fails to deliver and UFC 11 was no exception. The Leben vs Akiyama fight was awesome. I like both these guys. Leben taking the fight on less than 2 weeks notice after having faught at the Ultimate Fighter Finaled on the 19th of June, he was impressive. If you missed it, search it online...it`s a great fight.

The main event (for those of you who`ve been living under a rock) was between Shane Carwin (unbeaten in his 12 fight career) vs Brock Lesnar for the undisputed heavyweight title. Carwin looked great through round 1. I was surprised that the referee, Jake Rosenthal, didn`t stop the fight with all the unanswered shots. Kudos to him for noticing that Brock was still of sound mind and putting up some defense to weather the storm. Round two was much different. Brock landed the takedown, got the mount and secured a head and arm choke for the win.

Say what you want about Lesnar, but this guy is the read deal. He`s the only one who was able to absorb Carwin`s bombs and make it out of round 1. He owned round 2 and made Carwin quit. I`m already looking forward to Lesnars` next fight vs Cain Velasquez. The UFC`s heavyweight division is finally exciting again. Lesnar is a beast.

In other news, the competition team did very well at last weekends` Renzo Gracie invitational tournement in the big apple. (NYC) Congrats to those who made it onto the podium at this high level tournement.

Kyle Fletcher & Nicole Whissel...gold
Jenn Ricker...silver
Thomas Lum, Ryan Sarazin & Curtis Prosser...bronze

Congrats to everyone who competed, you did the club proud and you will only get better. I really wish I could have been there. Not only for the tournement, but for the Gregor Gracie class on Sunday afternoon at Renzo`s academy in Manhattan.

On a related note, today`s class at Sudbury BJJ was great. With Steve away for a martial arts convention in Vegas, Guy Poulin ran the class and we worked on armbars and omoplatas. It felt great to be back on the mat after having been away for over a week. I can`t wait to do it all over again this week.

Stay healthy my friends! See you on the mat!