Roxanne Modafferi's Blog, page 18

Japan trip 2016 pt 3: Sat & Sun (Goto & Daishi, training, Lauren, Skytree)

On Saturday I woke up and didn’t go to training. I was pretty sore and tired. Goto-san had suggested we train, but suggested taking a bus like 20 minutes to some city sports center. Um, no. I hate Japanese busses and I was exhausted.

We met at the clock tower in Kawasaki station and went for Soba! It’s been ages since I’ve eaten it. So after soba, we and I went to Kawasaki Daishi. I took a periscope. I also made a wish, got souvenirs, and talked to my favorite people at the sembei shop and bought sembei!

I met Kunioku-san in Yokohama for yaki niku dinner!

Japan trip pt 2: Thurs and Fri (Groundslam MMA, friends)

On Thursday morning, I woke up almost normal time, like at 5 AM, because I’d gone to bed so late. THANK GOODNESS. I often can’t sleep in even after having stayed up late. I ate breakfast and went to Ground Slam’s morning pro practice, which is supposed to start at 9:30 but always starts after 10 AM. Not a huge crowd, but Seiichiro, Uno, Tokoro, and a few others were there. I enjoyed going with those three. I sparred another guy who I tapped out twice and I started to feel bad…I think he probably didn’t go so hard on me. I don’t mind not winning, or taking turns tapping out, if he’s really that much better than me. :/ It’s hard for people in general to adjust their power. And I don’t want special treatment based on gender, but based on size. I would hope if a person, guy or girl, outweighs me by 30 pounds, he or she is not going to hit me as hard as they can.

It’s not easy. Anyway, awesome sparring. I was tired. My back hurt so badly. lol So nice to see Katsumura-san again. He was just getting over a broken ankle but was doing pro wrestling anyway.



After training, I went to Kawasaki to meet Karla! Our tradition two years running is Sweets Paradise, a dessert buffet! We used to both be the same position English Teacher at Berlitz, but she has since become a manager. She told me that I always have a place if I ever want to come back. That’s nice to know, but with my back pain, I think I could never live away from my masseuse Teri in Las Vegas. LOL



I had left my evening schedule open just in case one of my Japanese friends suddenly invited me out (that happened before but I had no free time and I got scolded LOL) but that ended up not happening. I went shopping in Lazona for stuff I wanted to take back, like tea, furikake, T shirts, etc. I also got a FOOT MASSAGE at Queensway, the best place in the world!! Then I rested and went to bed early. I read “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

Woke up super early. at like 2 AM, ate, took a walk, took a nap, and then went to beginner’s MMA class, run by Seiichiro. Only one other boxer guy showed up, and we did a lot of shadow boxing and bag work, which annoyed me, because I can do that alone. I always warm up and stretch out before practice starts, so I did not need 40 minutes of warm up. Oh well, it was a beginner’s class, and I did not go to Japan to do MMA. I was training to keep in shape, meet people, and so I could eat more. LOL so it was fine. It was SO HUMID. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in training in my entire life. I could barely breathe. Like 99% humidity.

Then we did light sparring, which was fun. Seiichiro was impressed with my switch stance and shuffle step that John has been teaching me, and asked me to show him, so I did.

Japan Trip 2016: Tues and Wed (arrival adventure, BJJ)

I left for Japan on Monday and arrived Tuesday evening. The directions on the hotel website when I signed up said to call if you can’t make it by 6PM.

Really? By 6 PM? Why call? But hey, it’s Japan, and you’re supposed to follow the rules to a T. However, I would have an American phone and wouldn’t be able to call, so I asked my friend Goto if I could let him know when leaving Narita airport (since I’d have wireless to text) and he call the hotel for me.

That’s what happened. So funny enough, I asked Goto to call and he called, and then tried to call me on Line phone, which is an app. It was ringing just as it was my turn to see the Japanese immigration officer, and then elderly security guard yelled at me in English, “WHY!?!? WHY!?!” and pointed at the “no phone” sign. I KNOW THAT, this is an emergency lol. But I had to hang up on Goto and did my thing with the immigration officer, and then called him back. It turns out my hotel closes it’s front desk at 6!! WHAT?! “But,” Goto-san explained, “You have to enter a code into the autolock door to get in and then call the night staff on the phone to check in.”

Wait, how is that going to work with me getting a key?! GAH. So my Narita express was supposed to pull into Muzashi Kosugi at 5:45PM, and it takes like 12 minutes to get to Kawasaki, so if I really hurried, I might make it a few minutes after 6. In America, people would probably still be there, but I had no doubt that the second the clock struck 6, those metal doors would come down and the staff would be gonzo. ;_;

Still, I hustled my bustle, dragging my suitcase and heavy bookbag, made it to Kawaski, and thankfully found the hotel with no problem since I had printed out a map ahead of time because my planning skillz are top notch.

UFC Fan Expo and lots of UFCs

Friday started the insanity here in Vegas. I woke up and instead of doing yoga as I usually do, I went to no-gi class. Sarah Kaufman happened to be in town for the Expo and dropped by! I’ve always been friendly acquaintances with her before and after we fought in 2010 in Strikeforce. It was fun rolling with her in training. I’m glad it was a friendly, training, not super competitive roll because I was working to suppress competitive feelings. We’re not in the same weight divisions anymore, and despite me losing that fight, I really don’t have a burning desire to fight her again. I would love it if she came down and trained more often, actually!

Bri-chan’s visit, B-day party as Rey, BICYCLE shirt, Teammates fighting, the mental game

My friend from Japan Brittany is visiting!

Tuff-N-Uff “Pack the Mack”

Last weekend was Tuff-N-Uff’s “Pack the Mack, the largest and best amateur MMA promotion and show in the world. It’s truly an honor to be able to attend (even though this time I didn’t go out into the arena once because I was in the back), and so cool my friends and teammates get to fight there. Last year, or was it two years ago? Jamie won her belt there in front of like 18,000 people. That many come because it’s free. LOL I’m not sure how many come to a regular show, but quite a lot! This one is even more ridiculous. Thank you sponsors for enabling Tuff-N-Uff to do this.

Three of my teammates fought- Natan, Enzo, and Serena. I’m so glad Natan finally got to fight. He visits from Israel as long as his visa will let him stay. He’s a karate black belt, and the past like three times he got a fight set, people backed out or it fell through. This time he went out there, threw some awesome kicks and a standing foot sweep, defended a take-down, and guillotined the sh*t out of the guy for the tap in the first round. go Natan! Amateur debut.

Enzo went out there and battled! Such a great fight. He had such good technique but lost the decision. Sad for him, but it’s a fight he should be proud of.

Serena unfortunately got caught with a straight early on and the ref stopped the fight. My heart hurts so much for my friend. She didn’t get to show off her skill that night. But she did everything she was supposed to do. For months, well all the time, she showed up at the gym every day, twice a day, unless she was dying and I had to tell her to stop.



Worked MMA, striking, grappling even though it’s not her favorite thing but she forced herself, private mitt sessions, cardio, diet, weight cutting. She worked so hard. She suffered through the hard times. She improved a lot. She got stronger. Nothing that happened in that fight can take that away. Nothing that happened can be thought of as “a step backwards.” She took a step forwards. Many steps forward.

That’s why, even when I don’t have a fight set, I run myself ragged in practice. Sometimes I cry in the bathroom out of pain or frustration. Fight set or not. That’s because I know it will add up and make me stronger, so when the time comes, I’ll be better for it. That kind of energy and effort doesn’t just evaporate into thin air and become nothing.

We fighters know horrible things can happen in fights but we risk it anyway because the winning can illuminate our lives like a supernova. We know we can get knocked out, or maimed, or permanently damaged so we can’t fight or even function normally on a daily basis, or even die. But we do it anyway because we love MMA. Haha crazy, right?



There’s nothing else I want more than to get up, eat, and go to practice every day, and then fight. I want to learn and show in the cage that I can do it. I want to be the best. I’m so fortunate to have a wonderful team and friends and coaches who understand that and who’s hearts align with mine.

I’m so proud of Serena and all my teammates who fought. I’m honored to have fans, friends, sponsors, and family who support me. I’m happy barely anyone trash talks us. When I lost fights a while ago, people didn’t say stuff like, “Oh Roxy, you suck! Get out of the cage!” Everyone around me, online, and the majority on forums! were supportive in some way.

yeah. So Friday was weigh-ins, Saturday was Tuff-N-Uff, and I spent Sunday trying to recover emotionally since I feel so connected to her. I’m still bummed but I’m so proud of everything she’s done, and can’t wait to train with her again. We have stuff to work on. Both of us.

It was nice to see some of my friends who traveled to support Serena.

I found out I’m not fighting in July. I was super bummed out for a few days because I thought I was and I’d been preparing hard-core for it, but now I’m back mentally. I’m still enjoying every day and learning so when I get in the cage again whenever, I’ll one step closer to being the best in the world. I still feel like I lost time and I have no time to waste!

contemplating my fighting career…….

I started martial arts when I was about 13 because I saw heroes on TV, like the Power Rangers and Dragon Ball Z fighters, and thought they were so cool and bad-@$$. They were strong and protected people. I wanted to be strong and protect people.

So I did Tae Kwon Do and LOVED it. Ended up I switching to Kempo Karate and loved it more. The combinations we did were real life self defense things, like what if someone attacked you from behind? I also had my first taste of kickboxing sparring.

I started lifting weights in my living room when nobody was looking. I was shy and embarrassed and had no idea what I was doing at 14 yrs old with no instruction, but I liked to listen to my Mortal Kombat movie sound track CD and lift my 5 pound dumbbells hoping I’d get stronger.

Then we moved to Massachusetts and I tried a TKD school in Massachusetts, but I got bored and fed up with striking arts. I decided that hitting people was morally wrong and I needed to be peaceful and non-violent. Everyone should love everyone and talk out their problems.

level up in training, kids BJJ, thoughts on Ariel Helwani’s predicament, RIP Ali & Kimbo

These past few week’s training content has been stupendous. In my private sessions with Coach John, I’m working on a few themes and REALLY being successful with them in live sparring. THAT’S SO COOL and exciting! I REALLY had fun in yesterday’s kickboxing….like legitimate fun. hat’s notable because I don’t like kickboxing and I do it because I have to. The only enjoyment I get is just being successful at something.

about training last week, anime& TV, MMA nightmare , good coaches

(I didn’t feel super inspired to write about anything at the moment, but then I started and stuff appeared on the page.)

I had a super week. Training was painful due to shoulder muscle pain, and I think I sprained my left forearm/elbow overusing it with gi and mitts AND team practice on Monday. But I really get a lot out of training with Casey, and then John’s padwork is the best, and then team was fun.

Over the course of the week I just bore with it and it feels somewhat better now. Then my hip flexor on my right side tightened up so much I was limping but I got a massage by Magical Masseuse Teri yesterday and it’s completely gone. Wow.

I feel really really motivated to work on my gi jiu-jitsu game, as I’ve been talking about lately, but actually, as an MMA fighter, it makes me develop bad habits. But I’m kind of allowing myself to get back into it at the moment. In addition to doing more gi classes, I’m getting Casey to teach me gi chokes little by little, increasing my repertoire.

And Vinny is making an effort to watch me roll and correct my technique. I’m so happy!

On Wednesday, John and I were supposed to do padwork but he ended up answering a question about wrestling and various things off the cage, and that became a whole 30 minute lesson. However, it was just what I needed and eliminated a major problem I’ve been having. I succeeded in doing it some on Thursday and some on Saturday.

Jiu-jitsu stuff, big kids class, Herbal Papaya, training stuff, Anime!

Last week I tried to get back on my normal schedule after the craziness of moving and fights.

But my body was wrecked- arms, lower back, legs, etc, so many places. It makes me so mad my cardio got worse due to lack of stairs and cardio training, despite doing MMA training every day and physical labor of lifting heavy boxes and carrying them up and down stairs. So I made sure I did stairs every other day, which made my legs cramp up and knees start hurting. I wish I had my 20 year old body back. LOL But yeah, there’s no backing down for a pro fighter, but one also can’t overdo it to the point of injury. I got back to doing yoga twice a week and I saw Teri twice a week again instead of once (my magical masseuse) so my lower back has been a little better the past few days.

Then my frustration at lack of jiu-jitsu training pushed me to take a private lesson with Casey (Milliken), an instructor besides Vinny. I really love the way he communicates techniques. So he taught me 4 chokes, and I’ve been trying to spar more to practice. ppl should hit him up for private lessons.