Book progress

I am really into "The Laws of the Ring" by Urijah Faber. The boook doesn't relatively have a base of chronological order, in the sense that he jumps around his life from his years in highschool to his pro fighting career. The book provides "laws" or his views in what made him be what he is. Most of the advice he gives is very insperational, also he provides really good examples from his life. The one chapter that really stuck out to me was working harder but also work smarter. For his eample he used how he ran from his house to school and how it would be great to add another workout to his schedule, but he did not work smarter. Urijah arrived at school at 6 a.m. and no one was there. Urijah could've even ran back home, taken a shower, and still had time to catch the bus. The lesson in this chapter is to work smarter and harder in the sense of planning ahead of what you want to do. I am really getting into this book because it really gives me some really good advice not just for a person who is into MMA but for life in general.

Senior Project Update

So far I have gotten about 7 hours done of MMA training; that's not including the time spent weightlifting and exercising in yet. Training is going great, it sort of feels like I am learning a new technique every time I train and also improving the skills I already learned. Every training day we either do full on stand up(boxing, kick-boxing, and Muay Thai) or Brazilian jiu-jitsu. My stand up is alright; way better than my jiu-jitsu. I still struggle with some of the techniques of jiu-jitsu but I am learning quickly and catching up to some of the people who have been there for a while. I'm building my MMA diet routing and plan to actually go through it very soon. I want to experience how a weight cut feels. The closets weight I can make and not put a lot of stress on my body is 150 lbs. I have to cut around 10 to 8 pounds which is moderate to an MMA fighter, some fighters though cut around 30 lbs. before the fight to make it into the weight division they want to fight in. Also I want to add a short video to my presentation about me training inside my classes and my daily exercise plan for a week.

Update on my Book

I am currently reading the autobiography "The Laws of the Ring" by Urijah Faber. For the background story, the book is about a fighters life. Urijah faber is an MMA fighter that is currently a top contender in the Bantamweight division in the UFC. In the intro of the book he talks about his very first MMA fight against an already professional fighter. Urijah used a very good use of imagery, he went in depth on how the atmosphere was for his first fight. Urijah had everything alligned for a bright future after he graduated out of UC Davis, but he decided to follow his dreams and participate in what seemed to be a sport referred as "human cockfighting". In this book the chapters Urijah talks about his own take on life, or the laws of the ring. The laws don't relatively apply to a person that wants to be successful in cage fighting but can also be applied to the average person. He really motivates me and I am really hooked on the book, I really enjoy reading the background of a fighter and what he went through personally. This book also shows that MMA fighters are not just cavemen that are uneducated and just knock each other out but actual intellectual people.

 

Senior Project progress report

My senior project is going well. I already started my MMA training about a week ago since I had to wait to learn to go back into sports by my doctor. Training consists of some warm ups, hitting the heavy bag, mitt work with a partner, and at the end some grappling. I felt really good up to the kicking part. I really need to work on the technique because I feel awkward kicking with my right leg. One thing that I found out was that I am an orthodox (left hand is the lead one) but I'm more comfortable with my kicks when I am in my southpaw stance. Besides the all the training; I have been researching more on nutritional plans that MMA fighters do. I want to build my own though; I want to get some guidance from both my trainer and some books I can get. I'm planning to start typing my senior paper over the break. I have the outline and sources to do it. In the future I plan to have passed the 20 hour mark because I really like training in MMA and I also plan to have my diet plan up ready to go through.

"Change of Heart About Animals" response

Dear Jeremy Rifkin,

            In your article, “A Change of Heart About Animals", you state that we are finding out that animals are very much like humans and that we should change the way we treat them. I have to completely agree with you on this; it's very inhumane to treat animals like they are inferior to us even though they are showing many human like qualities. Many people are looking through the abilities that animals have, like Koko the gorilla that was taught 1,000 words in sign language and understands several English words. These characteristics can not be overlooked and should be brought to the people's attention.
             We should stop right in our tracks and try to work out some sort of a solution. Animals are like humans; we both show emotions towards our lives. We should all show animals respect for the skills and abilities they obtain. For me it’s very interesting all these things that animals can do. I’ve had many pets the one that sticks out the most were two birds that were together. I remembered that when they were together one would always chirp so much, but one time a cat went into the room where we kept them and ate one of the birds. From then on the bird never chirped and wasn’t as active as she use to be. This just showed me that animals have emotions just like us.

My Senior Project

My senior project is on MMA. My research paper is on how MMA has become a mainstream sport in the world and what it takes to become an MMA fighter. For my field work I'm training in MMA classes and having some sort of a program like an actual fighter. My program will consist of a calender containing what I will be training like: Upper body morning and stand up training (boxing,kickboxing,ect..) one day and the others will vary. Another part will be my nutritional program, nutrition and what you put in your body is vital to a fighter's performance. For that program I will take from professional nutritionists that help MMA fighters, ask my coaches, and my friend who just won his first amateur fight. I am returning to my training because I had an injury requiring surgery about 6 months ago and I have been wanting to MMA for a very long time, so why not do it for my senior project. So far I have not started my hours because I start this Tuesday. I'm starting late because I tore my meniscus and got surgery to fix it, now I'm cleared to play any sport. Being cleared doesn't mean I'm 100% though, I feel 100% mentally but there is some muscle building I need to do so it can be back where I was. I want to also cover what goes into MMA, not just what people see on T.V. I want to write about how long it took MMA to become what it is today and some of the backgrounds of fighters to show that they're not just dumb people knocking each others heads off. Well I can not wait to start training like a fighter and see what they actually go through in training sessions and they're grueling diets.  

Into the Wild Disscussion

After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer our class had a final class discussion on several topics of the book. First of all I would completely recommend this book to anybody and I really enjoyed reading this book. One of the questions that were brought of was that who were the guilty parties, if anyone, in this tale? I had to go with Chris’ parents. I believe that they should have some sort of guilt from the death of Chris. Throughout the story Chris never actually opened up about his family. In my opinion his parents were not really there for him to raise him or have some sort of guide in his early stages of life. Sure they shouldn’t feel all the guilt towards them because they did provide the best they could. Chris’ parents would work endless hours to give their kids the best and that shouldn’t be overlooked. The problem of Chris leaving, in my opinion, originated in his childhood from lack of parenting. This also connects to another question, was it justified for Chris to leave without saying a word to his parents? 

It was justified that Chris left without saying anything. His parents would have try and pressure him not to follow through on his journey to Alaska. Even though Chris was the type of person that once he selected his path, his parents could somehow talk him out of it. Many readers can point fingers at Chris’ parents, but it’s also Chris’ fault for his own death. One major mistake Chris made was being unprepared. I’m no boy scout nor do I know anything about surviving in the wilderness, but anyone can figure out that if you are planning on taking a very long trip.

 One question I really want to discuss is why Chris wanted to leave such a good future for a trip to Alaska? In my understanding Chris left for an adventure, he wanted to experience this, and he wanted to go against his dad’s outline of his future. Chris was the kind of person that really was into the wildlife and seeing the different side of life. He wanted to experience something new, see what new challenges it brings. In my opinion the biggest reason for Chris departing on his own was his dad. After finding out his dad’s second life (family), Chris descended even more from his family. Also, his dad put high standards over Chris’ head like doing great in school and following the career path his dad chose for him. 

One thing that Krakauer did not discuss was his own take about Chris. In a couple of sections Krauker opens up about his own past. Many can draw a conclusion that Krakauer had the same experiences and back round as Chris; Krakauer also went on an adventure like Chris. This story really opened my eyes, in the sense that a person who has a bright future ahead of them doesn’t mean the person is happy with their life. This means that a person is not totally happy with their life even if it seems like it to others, but happiness lays under what the person truly believes in and follows it until the end.

Bad News for the UFC

Lately the UFC has faced nothing but bad news. First, the UFC 151 cancellation, the first ever time they’ve ever canceled since the company was founded. Also to top it off the fighters that dropped out their bouts for UFC 153, Jose Aldo and Quinton Jackson. Everyone including myself was looking forward to the main event of UFC 151 the fight card was stack and the fighters looked ready, but then a week before the fight Dan Henderson was sidelined for a partial rapture in his MCL and could not fight. Dana White (the president of UFC), worked restlessly to find the light heavyweight champion Jon Jones an opponent that would: first, be able to fight in a weeks’ notice, second would bring back fan attention. The fighters that he called were ex light heavyweight champions Mauricio Rua and Lyoto Machida. Rua declined the offer saying he was not ready(about a couple of months back he lost the championship to Jon Jones via TKO) and Machida still needed time to tweak his gameplan( Lost to Jon Jones via submission). All hope was lost but someone stepped up to the plate, Chael Sonnen, to face Jon Jones. Chael wanted the fight badly calling out Jones on being a fraud and an unworthy champion. Also odds were against Chael too. He was unprepared and had not been training for a good two months. Also Chael had to go up a weight class from middleweight (185 lbs.) to light heavyweight (205 lbs.). Many things change when a weight class is changed from lasting all the fight to punching power. The UFC started making promotional videos, posters, etc.. just to spread the word very fast. It seemed like the UFC was back on track and could pull this off, but then the champion Jon Jones declined to fight Chael Sonnen in a weeks’ notice. Dana White had no other choice but to completely cancel UFC 151.

After the UFC got hit hard from the cancellation of UFC 151 it had to make things better. They gave the fans 2 title fights in one event. Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort for the light heavyweight championship and for the first ever Flyweight(125lbs.) championship bout Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson. The card, in my opinion had great potential, from Vitor having a great upset on Jon by winning the fight and the first ever Flyweight champion will be crowned. Leading up to the fight everyone had given the fight to Jones but there was still hope for the chanlenger Vitor Belfort. There was a 10 to 1 chance that Jon Jones was going to win. The card went great overall and finally the main event was up. Both of the fighters looked ready for the fight. Jon Jones main tool is his really long reach, 84.5 inches to be exact, most all his opponents have fallen victims because of being scared of his reach. Vitor was a very great opponent for Jon, he has champion experience and lightning fast punches. Everyone expected Jon to use his reach and beat Vitor up for 25 minutes or if the vintage Vitor came into this fight, Vitor would knockout Jon. All the talk was over when they both stepped into the octagon and the referee asked,"fighters are you ready?!?!.... Let's get it on!!" Both fighters came out, Jon started first by throwing front kicks that hyperextended the knee, Vitor responded with his own kicks, and eventually Jon took Vitor down with a takedown. Everyone knew what was in store, Jon using his reach to throw numerous of elbows and punches. They were both very close to the cage, Vitor's legs were on the cage and suddenly he pushed off and got an armbar. An armbar hyperextends the elbow and could break an arm. The answer was here to end the reign of Jon Jones, victory seemed so close for Vitor. Eventually Jon slipped out and continued the fight. In the same round, the 1st, after Jon slipped out he landed shots that cut Vitor. The second and third round was controlled by Jon with either his long punches standing up or with his elbows on the ground. The fourth round opened with Vitor charging at Jon violently, but Jon took him down and submitted Vitor in the first minute. Everything worked out for the UFC even after the cancellation of UFC 151 but not for the champion Jon Jones, to this day he still receives hate from some fans.

    Nothing but injuries fill up on the UFC main events. Two fighters dropped out of the UFC 153 card, the defending champion Jose Aldo and Quinton Jackson. Jose dropped out because of a foot injury caused by a motorcycle accident and Quinton dropped out because of an injury. Everyone was looking up to see the super fight Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar. Edgar was a fill in be cause the prior opponent dropped out because of an injury. Now fill ins were brought in and none other to headline this event in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The very popular and arguably the best fighter in the world, Brazil's very own, Anderson Silva is set to fight Stephan Bonnar. For the co-main-event Antonio Nogueira vs. Dave Herman. Even though the great UFC 153 card was switched around it will be a great one. 

Fast food essay link

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ewxJM2kRGyF77Q4Z_MxybGrgsZLSbSrs86hxZlYlPN8/edit

The Problem of Obesity in America

I went through two very interesting articles. The first one I took from my classmate's blog that really goes into the statistics of obesity.  The numbers have gone through the roof. As much as 100 million dollars are wasted yearly to treat children’s diabetes. Much has changed in America, in the past kids would always be outside playing or catching up with friends in person, but now they’re always home hooked on to videogames or indulged in the many social networks we have today. The numbers are horrifying, not just economical wise, but showing the high percentage of kids being overweight and eventually developing type 2 diabetes from poor decisions.

In the second article it shows to what extreme New York City went to make a change. A New York City school wanted to cut calories to help children fight against obesity, which is a pretty good idea, but this school went against certain rules on this idea. The school was feeding children under the calorie limit. The school board should really look into this, in the sense that healthier foods do tend to have fewer calories than unhealthy ones. Also, the idea is great in my opinion; it sheds some sort of light on schools remaking the food menu.

Link to childhood obesity in America

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19661085

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=STND&userGroupName=sant29651&tabID=T004&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=32&contentSet=GALE%7CA301883933&&docId=GALE|A301883933&docType=GALE&role=

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=STND&userGroupName=sant29651&tabID=T004&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=21&contentSet=GALE%7CA302613311&&docId=GALE|A302613311&docType=GALE&role=

Personal choice blog: The world of UFC

People watch different sports from soccer to football, but in my case the only sport I follow and really entertains me is MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). UFC is a company that is now into the mainstream in very little time. The UFC was built on a simple question, which fighting style is the best? Well a group of people set their minds and decided to make a tournament, no rules, no time limits, the only way to win was by knockout or submission. This was very poorly thought of because it got the governments attention fairly quickly. Soon only about 5 states in the U.S. sanctioned UFC events. The company was slowly going into bankruptcy, when a man named Dana White decided to make a very risky decision, buying the UFC. Dana acted quickly setting rules and eventually the UFC was sanctioned in most states. Thats the history of it, fighters wise the UFC has elite athletes. Fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Jon Jones have attacked many new fans but many have seen veteran fighters in the media like Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture. To this date the UFC is doing great but has faced many set backs. The cancellation of UFC 151 due to many problems from Dan Henderson having an injury and able to fight, to the champion Jon Jones not wanting to accept a fight with a new opponent on an 8 day notice. In my opinion it was a bad decision on Jones' part, sure fighting a completely different opponent in a short notice, but canceling a whole event that included fighters that were ready to fight and in some cases the fighter depended on the pay out since its their full time job.

Going for the look essay

This is my going for the look essay, but still need to finish it https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v8CN2mgUaccio8ZYKIdSSEzNNdVw_ESzUA1auNtBsHo/edit

Going for the Look

After reading the article,"Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination", I was in shock on how big clothing line companies are known to pick and choose who they hire based on how they look. Hiring managers are told to hire people who fit that "look". I currently work in the retail field for Banana Republic and let me tell you this I DO NOT fit their look they portray outside of work. I still do my job and make sales for them regardless of the way I look. Stores should take into consideration fitting the "look" but not mainly focus on it. Fitting the "look" doesn't mean the person is going to do the job any better than the person who doesn't. I actually have been overlooked because of my "look". About two months ago I applied for a job at PacSun and I got an interview based on my work experience. The person who interviewed me told me I did great and there was another person getting interviewed with me. The other person did fit the PacSun "look" but had no work experience and was younger, on the other hand, I've worked in retail for a year. I did not get the job but the other guy did because he fit the "look" but I did not because I did not. Stores should not overlook a potenial employee because they do not fit the look.

About Me

Hi, my name is Julio Gracia and I am currently a senior at Napa highschool. I am 17 years old, I live in Napa, I like to chill with friends, I work at Banana Republic (for a year I think), and my main focus right now is doing my best at my school work. Outside of my work and school life, I like to hangout with friends, play soccer, basketball, and I can't wait to start training MMA again for my senior project. If I don't know you im pretty quite around strangers, but if I know you I'll be all around a good person. My MMA training took a huge break for numerous reasons the biggest one was that I tore my lateral meniscus last summer and I didn't want to go to the doctors. (moral of this story: Go to the doctors when you're hurt!!!) I kept holding it off for a couple months especially through christmas season, because my job was giving me more hours. Eventually I got MRIs done and when I got a phone call back my heart dropped, the doctor said I had a torn meniscus and a partial tear in my ACL. I went through surgery and a week after surgery they said it was a minor tear. I  felt very useless for he days I was on crutches and the pain a day after was way too painful to handle. In all the time I was in recovery and not working I learned a couple of things: First don't get lazy because I did, second is be patient the time will come and it will be all worth the wait. Two main things helped me get through this my family because they would always visit and care for me. Second is the athlete I look up to Georges St. Pierre. I look up to him for numerous reasons but the two main ones are that he's, in my opinion, the best fighter in the world and he is very humble. Besides always following MMA I listen to a lot of music my favorite artist at the time is Trey Songz. I like his songs because I can relate to most of them and the rest I like. Many of my friends that I hangout with a lot are in college, I really don't know why but I tend to hangout with them more. They always tell me im really mature for my age. I don't have anything to say about that except that I follow my dads advice all the time because in the end im wrong and he's always right. After high school I plan to go to college but I don't know what I'm going to study, all I know is that a higher educations is vital to me for my future. Thats about it for me, I've said all that has came through my mind if you have any questions I'm here.