Thursday, November 15, 2012

Slideyfoot is coming to visit!

I'm pretty excited-- Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we'll be hosting Slideyfoot for a week!  (I'm sure you're familiar with his very nicely-thought-out blog about training and learning jiu jitsu, no?  He's a purple belt at Gracie Barra Bristol... go check it out if you haven't already..) 

He's coming to Texas to get his jiu jitsu on, check out the art scene, and generally explore this very-different culture.  He's also stopping in Houston and Dallas, but *I* get him for Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to that especially. 

We should have somewhere between 16-20 people here for dinner.  I am going to wait and see how I feel-- I might actually train with him or I might not.  Seems a shame for Slidey to come all the way from the UK and me not get to roll with him.  But I'm doing all these shots again to grow lots and lots of eggs, so it just depends how explosive my ovaries feel.

Miss training.  Miss working out.


Friday, November 02, 2012

Review: the Submission Fight Co "Mini Gi Hanger"

There are a lot of nifty things you can do with the mini gi hanger from Submission Fight Co.  It retails for $14.99. 

First, it comes in this nice little pouch with a snap.  This pouch is a good size to tuck your wallet or cell phone into, if you're going to be out in the rain and want to keep things dry.


It makes a nice decoration.  Here I have it hanging from a plant in my kitchen window.  You could look at it and conduct some virtual grip practice, while washing up from supper.  And thanks to my buddy Parabellum, who noted it makes a LOVELY Christmas tree decoration.  (In fact, you could get two, and wire them to look like they're grappling, and put it on your wreath on the front door!)


It appears to be well made, but I couldn't actually put it to any testing, as it was just too small for actual grip work.  And since it feels like the bottom of the gi jacket is glued shut, I didn't wash and dry it, so no shrinkage data.


But it's clearly got a black belt wrapped around it, so it would also be nice to hang from the rearview of your car... no one will break in or mess with your vehicle now!  Or you could let it dangle in the basket on the front of your bike-- no guarantees though, if you leave your lock off...


I did conduct some aerodynamics testing.  If you're looking for something to toss around with, or even throw at, the kids or a pet, a rolled-up pair of socks has a much truer trajectory and does appear to go faster.  It reaches enough airspeed to land with a satisfying "thunk" too-- whereas the mini gi hanger is more like a ... well, a developmentally-disabled paper airplane.  It peters out pretty quickly.  And when stuffed with catnip, its retention is quite poor.  With the socks, you can just put the 'nip in the toe and ball them up for many minutes of entertainment and far less sprinklage.

If you're still not ready to hit the keyboard and order your own, check out this video review by Stormland Fights...