BJJ Tour of Texas-Texas Pride

You'd never guess it but Hawaiians and Texans have a lot more in common than people think. Both states at some point in time were their own countries and perhaps that's the reason that Texans and Hawaiians are so openly proud to represent where they are from. No other states that I've been to seem to have the same level of pride. Texas is also the biggest state in the US. and said to be the same size of entire countries like France. Even though San Antonio is only an hour and a half from Austin, San Antonio is a very different place. It's strange to me how something can seem so familiar, but yet feel like worlds away. I am talking about the jiu-jitsu of course. How different can jiu-jitsu be if we all stem from the same source?

Day Two: August 7, 2011-Sunday afternoon was filled with an impromptu open mat with Lana Hunter and a few of her teammates at Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu of Castle Hill. On short notice, five of us were able to make it out and spend the "holy" day choking and arm baring each other. Having the mats to ourselves was great! Lana and I reviewed some of the material from the seminar the day before. Which is something that I strongly recommend doing after a seminar so that what you learned doesn't just fall to the wayside. It also helps to have a great training partner like Lana to work with who can remember the details I quickly forgot. I can't thank Lana enough for setting up a last minute open mat session so we didn't feel deprived of jiu-jitsu for the day that usually has no classes.

After training, Lana and Will (her boyfriend) and I headed out to indulge in Texas's Best BBQ at Texas Pride BBQ which is owned and operated by my friend and fellow jiu-jitsu badass Tara Talanco. I'd been wanting to check the place out since we'd missed going out there last time we had Girls in Gis in San Antonio. It was a quick 25 min from Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to Texas Prides BBQ in Adkins Texas and well worth the drive. To be honest, I don't know what was better, the training session at Carlson Gracie jiu-jitsu or the BBQ at Texas Pride BBQ after. My taste buds were in heaven. The ribs were so tender they just fell off the bone. It was finger-licking good!

Texas Pride is not like your usual BBQ restaurant. It's an experience of it's own. I jokingly call it the Texas Pride Compound since it is equipped with a playground for the kids, a motorcycle shop, Tara's Market, a full stage and the newest edition, a Tattoo shop! I was lucky to have come out for the Grand Opening weekend of the Texas Pride Tattoo shop which has been running strong every day since it's launch on the 4th of August. If you are in the San Antonio area, you don't want to miss Texas Pride which will leave you full of great food, entertainment and maybe even a tattoo while you're there!

I ended the day in a food coma- Fat, dumb and happy! Training, BBQ and good friends-I couldn't of asked for a more perfect day!