On Friday I started my day off working on my striking and evading with some friends, putting it on camera so we could see what we were doing wrong and what looked good even if it felt weird. We also put together a little combo to work on our reactions, which was a lot of fun. I went to the lunchtime BJJ class at 4 Points, where we worked on technique and then got in 3 rolls, which left me dead. This is a good thing, although it is counter-intuitive, because it means that I am trying harder. I was less dead after rolls before because I would give up…

My first experience as a bridesmaid was an absolute success. Most of the day was spent getting ready in a hotel room with all the other bridesmaids and the mother of the bride (after a little family breakfast), then we headed to the chapel for the ceremony. I didn’t wear waterproof mascara and was pretty sure I would be fine, but there were some moments, especially when the poem at the bottom of this post was read, where it was a very near miss. It was definitely an incredibly emotional day. After some pictures, we walked across town for the reception, which was a really great party with new friends,…

While in Montreal a little over a week ago, my “All the Things Encourager” decided (or was convinced) that she was going to go to the Jiu-Jitsu World Tournament in California on June 1st, so on the Tuesday we got back, we spent the 12 o’clock class helping her build up her cardio for rolls. I was maybe a little hurt to be referred to as active recovery (although considering what we do for active recovery in the boxing bootcamp, it’s no walk in the park), but this was also the beginning of many conversations about me needing to step it up jiu-jitsu wise, because I don’t give 100% and…

I can’t believe this workshop happened just over a month ago, because it feels like so much has happened since then. I guess that will teach me to wait a month before posting about something… For starters, if you don’t know who John Stead is, he is awesome. He is a director, stunt performer, stunt coordinator and fight coordinator on a bajillion things, most recently on Dark Matter, Designated Survivor and Mary Kills People. The workshop started at 9am on the Saturday, and we were asked to be warmed up and ready to go by then. I secretly haven’t entirely figured out what we are supposed to do to warm…

This week has been kind of busy, extremely interesting, and has definitely helped me focus my career and what I am looking for right now. Last Wednesday, 4 Points BJJ launched an awesome workshop that I initially wasn’t going to go to, mainly because I was working, but also because I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. I mean, I absolutely loved John Stead’s workshop, but I think that even with the little training I have gotten in the past couple of weeks, I would have been able to do so much better if I were to do it again. When every single one of the stunt people…

After a couple of days of MMIs and turning 28, I flew to Punta Cana with my mom and grandparents. I had planned on being much more athletic, as my suitcase could attest, stuffed with workout clothes and running shoes, but instead, I spent a week just walking the beach, relaxing and hanging out with my family. Less than 12 hours after we landed in Montreal, I drove to Toronto for the TAWC meeting, where we found out who the recipient of the Nell Shipman Award will be. If you don’t know who Nell Shipman is (I definitely didn’t) look her up, because she was an all-around badass. She wrote,…