So I started last year with a commitment to run to help myself get through Blaxican's first year on the BJJ competitive team. Let me tell you it was quite the year!
To the title: she finished her Point Muay Thai season as the number 3 fighter in the girls' division behind 2 California girls. She's number 3 out of PMT girls in both California and Texas. It is incredible
In BJJ, she became an AGF tri-state champion by winning at Oklahoma State in March, Texas State in October, and Louisiana State back in Dec of 2022. She also brought home a few golds from a few other competitions. Probably her hardest-fought medal was a bronze she won at JJWL in Feb of last year.
All of this while dealing with pain levels of 3 or higher since the end of March. She is a fighter in every sense of the word. At Texas State just before her challenger round, she was outside doubled over in pain. She was at about a 6. She went in and rolled a very good orange belt and while she lost, she barely lost.
She also had her first super fight! She lost to a very strong and lovely competitor. We really enjoy it when she gets to roll against someone better than her because that is when we see her growing the most.
We are still trying to learn the ropes of raising a fighter. The bills are beginning to outstrip our income and so we really need to find some sponsors for her but it is a challenge. We don't want to make fighting her life at this point. We want her to enjoy it before it becomes the thing she has to do.
To the pain: we have been in and out of doctors' offices. We thought we had a cause that required surgery. Had the surgery and we found out that the cause was less clear than we thought. She does seem to be in less pain and she already has a full February so she is trying to quickly recover and get back out there. She won't be cleared for contact for another week but then she'll have to hit the mat because IKF is Feb 10 then JJWL the next weekend.
As much as I want to run a few races, it seems all of Blaxicanmma's events are on race weekends. Obviously, I'm not going to pull her out of an event for me to run. I'm never going to go pro as a runner but she really and truly can go pro in these combat sports she loves. It is scary to watch her fight. I hate seeing her take hits but she loves it and she's good at it so I just run and keep trying to raise money to pay the bills. If you know of a business that would like to sponsor Blaxicanmma send them my way!
Blaxican's year:
Feb - JJWL - 3rd place
Feb - IKF - Lost an exhibition fight
April - JJWL - 1st place
May - Chick-Jitsu superfight - lost
June - AGF Bossier City - 2 golds
July - Hard Spar exhibition
September - AGF Houston - 2nd place
October - IFK 3 fights: 2 wins, 1 loss
October - Texas State - 1 Gold, 1 Silver
November - IKF 2 wins
December - Earned her Grey/Black belt
