Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.
I'm going to start this blog out by apologizing for my lack of blogging this past week. Our hotel room had horrible internet service and and the phone service at the tournament wasn't much better. So I will try to do my best to sum up the whole week at Pan Ams now :)
First off, I have several people I want to thank for support, training, coaching and being part of my life. Most important, my amazing boyfriend and coach Andrew! He has pushed me to train harder, teaching me new things, helping me fix the areas I get stuck, helping me warm up and stay calm and for being a great support system and boyfriend. Your the BEST Babe!! Andrew also competed this weekend taking Bronze in the Brown Belt division, This is a huge accomplishment! If you haven't seen Andrew compete, he is awesome to watch! He finished his 1st match by arm bar in 1:10 secs and his second match also by arm bar in 3 mins. Sooo Proud of him!
First off, I have several people I want to thank for support, training, coaching and being part of my life. Most important, my amazing boyfriend and coach Andrew! He has pushed me to train harder, teaching me new things, helping me fix the areas I get stuck, helping me warm up and stay calm and for being a great support system and boyfriend. Your the BEST Babe!! Andrew also competed this weekend taking Bronze in the Brown Belt division, This is a huge accomplishment! If you haven't seen Andrew compete, he is awesome to watch! He finished his 1st match by arm bar in 1:10 secs and his second match also by arm bar in 3 mins. Sooo Proud of him!
My other Coach Jesus Jose also competed and did great in a very tough match! I also want to thank Jesus for all of his help (I take Jesus's class's most often) and for being there for support! We also had a lot of fun together the past 5 days :) I'm very lucky to have such great coaches and teammates! I want to say Thank you to Andrew Britten as well who I have learned many parts of my game from and for the extra guard passing help he gave me before Pans. Also Giva Santana for being my sideline coach and for hanging out with me in the bull pen! (Giva took Double Gold this weekend!) Big Thanks to Scotty from Chatsworth Street Sports too! Scotty also helped on the side line and gave me several pointers after watching my competitors.
My teammates and my son Tyson also play a huge roll in my training. Pushing me and making me work hard when sometimes I just wanted to lay down on the mats and sleep after a long day of work! Thanks to ALL of my Siege MMA Family!
Of coarse it is an amazing surreal feeling to have won Pan Ams (a feeling that hasn't quite sunk in yet) but, it also was a lot of fun, a huge accomplishment and I met some new friends and got to know some of our extended Lotus Club family better. BTW...All of the Lotus Ladies made the Podium this weekend Tatiana Nascimento took Bronze, Shantel Hose, Carla Esparza and Erica Santana all won silver medals, Lin Nguyen and I took Gold! The Lotus Club Ladies kicked some butt!
Of coarse it is an amazing surreal feeling to have won Pan Ams (a feeling that hasn't quite sunk in yet) but, it also was a lot of fun, a huge accomplishment and I met some new friends and got to know some of our extended Lotus Club family better. BTW...All of the Lotus Ladies made the Podium this weekend Tatiana Nascimento took Bronze, Shantel Hose, Carla Esparza and Erica Santana all won silver medals, Lin Nguyen and I took Gold! The Lotus Club Ladies kicked some butt!
And... what a feeling to compete on the same mats as Andre Galvao, Gabi Garcia, Cobrinha, Caio Terra, Tanquinho, Bruno Malfacine, the Mendez Brothers and the list goes on.....
Siege MMA brought 10 competitors to Pan Ams and brought home 5 medals! Not bad ;) We have a great program allowing us to learn from 3 different instructors with 3 very different games. And the results show it!! Congrats to Robert Maloney and Kelland Brookover taking Gold, Claudio Rios taking Silver and again Andrew Gardineer on Bronze! Proud to be part of the Siege MMA/Lotus Club Team!
Siege MMA brought 10 competitors to Pan Ams and brought home 5 medals! Not bad ;) We have a great program allowing us to learn from 3 different instructors with 3 very different games. And the results show it!! Congrats to Robert Maloney and Kelland Brookover taking Gold, Claudio Rios taking Silver and again Andrew Gardineer on Bronze! Proud to be part of the Siege MMA/Lotus Club Team!
