Mr. Segura.com

It’s a nice place to be. The towncar should be here in a couple of hours to take us on our tropical adventure. Excitment. In ten days, I’ll have some pictures going over here, so be on the look out. Until then, have fun. We will be.

So here we are, a mere three days from a seven day cruise around the eastern side of the Caribbean. Having never been on such a vacation, it’s hard to tell how I should feel about it. At this moment, it’s a matter of preparing more than it is anything else. I think I’ll feel “on vacation” when the town car shows up on Friday morning and drives us to LAX’s Virgin America terminal. Of course, I’ll probably feel even more “on vacation” when we’re flying out.

In the meanwhile, I’m compiling an impressive collection of MP3’s and videos for my iPhone and iPod. True Blood and Mystery Science Theater comprise the video enjoyment. I figure that’s a pretty interesting contrast, going from vampires to… well, I think there’s vampires in one or two of the MST3K episodes. Anyway, blood and guts to wit and sarcasm. On the audio front, I’ve got a great amount of Phil Hendrie, Art Bell, and Howard Stern to turn to when boredom strikes. Of course, the Sony PSP is ready to go as well, rounding out the electronic entertainment roster.

I’m bringing one book, in the master collection of Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide…” series. I’m considering visiting Borders Books for one other book, perhaps a serious work, to have something else to turn to.

I have been off of work since December 24th and I still know what day of the week it is. Not enough time off!

Here’s the final itinerary:

1. Friday, we fly to Florida.
2. Saturday, we sail to Turks and Caicos.
3. Sunday, we’re sailing, probably getting a massage and being lethargic.
4. Monday, we wander around Cockburn (I know what that’s like), Grand Turk, and then sail to Puerto Rico.
5. Tuesday, we hit Old Town, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and later that day, we’re off to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
6. Wednesday, we are in St. Thomas, taking a tour of the island looking at Drake’s Seat and some pirate related locales. Then, off to the Bahamas.
7. Thursday, we’re sailing and repeating what we did on Sunday.
8. Friday, we’re at the Half Moon Cay looking at nature and looking for an open piece of beach. Then sailing back to Florida.
9. Saturday, we’re back at the mainland.
10. Sunday, we fly back to L.A.

You can follow our progress on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MrSegura) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/MrSegura). At some point, when we return, I’ll share our photo collection here.

Paradise… soon.

November is here and I know I’m not the only one who is surprised by that. The year has steadily progressed and without fail, I’m shocked by the speed it has done so. Anyone had a parent that said, “When you’re a kid, time travels a snail’s pace. When you’re an adult, time travels faster than you want it to.” They were right. I’ve certainly noticed that the decade between now and when I was 22-years-old, has rocketed by. It’s almost scary, but it’s a reminder that one should not sit idly by. One should have fun. One should also do some writing once in a friggin’ while…

One Challenge After Another

So I’ve been learning the martial art of no-Gi (no uniform) Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) over the past couple of months (at a pace solely my own), under the great Fabiano Iha. I’m not sure how I can properly describe the art, other than it’s incredibly practical, since most fights wind up on the ground. And if you don’t know how to fight on the ground, you’re most likely going to lose said fight. From the 20,000 foot view, BJJ is a grappling-based submission art. From the 30,000 foot view, it’s simply a game. But when you’re engaged in it, it’s entirely personal.

My first couple of weeks of training involved me being submitted several times per spar (when you “fight” a fellow student; in BJJ it’s known as “rolling”). Sparring in BJJ is slightly different than sparring in martial arts that are striking based, I think. We wear no pads and we treat each roll seriously, at least I do since I’m a rookie.

“In the first month, everyone gets their ass kicked,” is how Fabiano described the learning experience. Of course, he was right. My first month was a collection of mistakes and defeats. My first submission came in my second week while rolling with a fellow white belt, which was followed by a series of defeats. What I started to learn was how to apply an effective defense and avoid being submitted, first.

I’ve had my share of obstacles – personal issues, injuries, and work – that have stood in the way of my progressing. A combination of those obstacles kept me from training for nearly a month. Fact is, I haven’t been in the gym for weight training in over a month. All I’ve been doing is BJJ, which I missed all of last week due to work. This is why I qualified everything with a “at a pace solely my own.” To avoid feeling like a complete asshole, I don’t think about where I could be now if I hadn’t had to take time off.

So after a month of being throttled, I started to “see” some of what I had been taught the month prior. I started working on my flexibility, since I was struggling to get some of the leg-based locks (triangle choke) to work. It turns out, I’m as flexible as granite and as a result, I was limited in BJJ. So just about every day, I’d attempt to get into Yoga’s lotus position or get my feet above my head, while watching television or even in my office (which if I had been caught, would have been funny).

Last week, Fabiano held an intra-class tournament and despite a mountain of doubt and anxiety, I competed in. It’s tough enough to compete in a full-speed, scored martial arts tournament with only a month or so experience under your white belt, but to fight inner demons just made it worse. I’m telling you, the battle I had with myself was as monumental as the fight I had with two of my fellow classmates.

Just so that I don’t overtell the story, I’ll keep it brief – the tournament began with a lottery of sorts. I believe the lottery was for fight order, which had me fighting last in the first round. This was a blessing and a curse – as I looked down the wake of destruction, only one other guy in my weight class was left to fight and it happened to be the most fit, most experienced, and according to many, the best technical guy in the class. In my mind, I couldn’t help but laugh at my luck.

I’m going to sum up the opening moments leading up to our match-up as me becoming one with the situation: “All that’s left is to fight.”

I found myself losing the initial stand-up and winding up on the ground (I am not a very good stand-up grappler – I just don’t know what to do). When we got to the floor, by either luck or raw determination, I wound up in the mount (the most dominant position), which equates to four quick points. That’s huge, since no other occurrence in a competition scores higher (I think).

A parade was going on in my head because I couldn’t believe what I had done, this was my undoing because my competitor wisely escaped. Then we rolled around and I got him into my guard (standard defense) and let him do some work. Without a doubt, my guard had never been that good. When someone asks me, “What’s BJJ like?,” I tell them it’s a series of moments of quiet desperation. A calm fight for your life. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done.

My competitor tried to get out of my guard several times and I’d just squeeze more. He wedged his elbows into my legs, but I wouldn’t give. He then did something I didn’t expect… lifted the both of us off the ground and drove my head into the mat. I saw stars. He did it again and I didn’t give. The first slam was something else.

I stretched him out using my guard and attempted an arm and neck choke, which he blocked. Then, I forgot my training and ran out of ideas. The match went to “decision,” or simply a score. Fabiano said, “You lost by one point,” which I, at the time, I wasn’t sure who he was referring to. In my mind, to lose by one point to the best was like winning!

Fabiano grabbed our wrists and my hand was put up in the air as the winner. Shocker. In the second round, I fought again to a decision and lost based on points. I was quietly proud of myself, given what I had to contend with going in.

This week, it’s back on the diet and training schedule again. I’m certain I will be a physical wreck by week’s end, but that’s how it is if I want to someday compete.

I learned a lot about myself last week – I’m tougher than I give myself credit for. I also vowed never to impose artificial deadlines on myself.

54 Days

It’s amazing to me how quickly our Caribbean vacation is approaching. I remember when it was 120 days and we hadn’t paid for a damn thing. Now, everything except the limo service that is picking us up and taking us to the airport and back and some clothing items have been paid for. Lupe is extremely excited about the trip, as she should be.

We’re headed to St. Thomas, USVI, the Bahamas, San Juan, P.R., and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. Blue waters and clean air, with nothing to worry about.

Right now, we’ve got to determine what we want to do at each port… that’s a fun chore. I’ve got to find some nice iPod speakers, new PSP games, and a couple of books before we go. More fun.

What About?

• I’ve been geeking it up a bit with my PC – I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the interior, installing a newer DVD-R; all in anticipation of a new video card. eBay supplied me with a new GeForce 9800 GX2 for $200. Exciting! I was hoping it would have arrived this weekend, but it didn’t. Well, I’ll have something to do next weekend, won’t I?
• And, of course, I’m a part of the Modern Warfare 2 craze that has taken over this past week.
  It’s been a while since I commented on politics, but truth be told, I’ve ignored 99% of it all. There’s nothing in it, right now, that I find particularly interesting. Perhaps this is a survival instinct…
• Lupe and I have been watching The Office and Lost a great deal. We’re up to date on Lost and approach the end of season five of The Office. Netflix on the Xbox360 is so handy.