Panic, Loss, & Growth

For those who do not recognize it, This is the face of panic... MY panic.

I remember this exact moment of being trapped under this large man, whom quickly dismantled my game and left me no room. All my jiu jitsu technique was gone from my mind, and I squirmed and bench pressed my way for tiny openings to breathe. I was being systematically crushed. Panic washed over me because "nothing was working". I desperately wanted to escape, not to try and win, but just to get away from the pressure. I was exhausted, I was mentally broken, I wanted out.

20 seconds later, he gave me my wish with a looping lapel choke.

I laid there for a few seconds looking up at the gym ceiling's lights. What happened? Why had my Jiu Jitsu failed me?  Shame overcame me as I made eye contact with my beautiful wife. I had let her down. I walked off the mat towards my team with my head hung low and after a few sympathetic back slaps I retreated to the bleachers to be alone.

I was unsure of what to take away from this experience. I had let my team, my wife,and myself down. I had endured a few weeks of stress preparing for this event and had dreaded it since signing up for it. Overall I had not enjoyed anything about this experience...

That was then...(May 2012).

Here is a little of what I have learned...

I look back on that experience as the catalyst for significantly improving my game. That thought of being trapped and immobilized became the motivating factor for working on escapes, controlling the hips with my open guard, for losing weight, and ultimately pushing me to a new level in my BJJ. Without that "reality assessment" of my game, I would not have the much more rounded game I have today.

I also re-watched the competition footage again, and focused solely on the people in the background. I was so worried I had every eye on me, and felt like each mistake I made was loudly discussed by the viewing public. Each of the people in attendance watching, judging, commenting. I came to the quick realization that NOBODY cared whether I won or lost (I mean people not directly in my life). Some people in the video are causally watching the matches, or focusing on warming up, or conversing with the people around them. I laugh at how egotistical I was in thinking everyone would drop whatever they were doing to watch/comment on my match, and how nervous I was that that might happen.

Finally, since this competition I have met and befriended the person I competed against. Before the competition, I googled all of my potential opponents names to learn about them. I became stuck on him because he seemingly had the most experience and outweighed me by 30 or so pounds. I built him up in my head so much that I feared facing him. When we were slated to meet in that tournament, I was already nervous before stepping on the mat. Fast forward from that competition to a month ago when I changed to Dan Hale's school and I was shocked to find out he trained there. During our first class together I introduced myself, and we partnered together for drills. He was pleasant and laid back; not the person I had built up in my head... We casually rolled during regular training and I found that I was much more effective this time around.

I guess what I learned is that in competition, I am my own worst enemy. I build things up in my head so much that I have a huge adrenaline dump afterwards. In the end I have to accept loss as a possibility, and understand that working myself up too much was my own undoing.  

/Mike

Perfection

I have always felt that with each technique I am shown, I will not use it until it is somehow "perfect" or I have perfected it. That it won't work on anyone until I have refined it to some sort of level I set for myself.

Each technique that I am shown somehow goes into this "magical queue"in my mind where it is waiting to be worked on...Kind of like that waiting room in Beetlejuice, stuck there for all eternity.

I am caught in this vicious cycle. I don't use a technique because it isn't perfect, but I never work on them so they don't get any better...

I feel my ego creeping in again. If I try for the triangle and it fails, who cares?

At least I learned something...what not to do!!

/Mike

Handmade Custom BJJ Belt: Update

Since my post "Handmade BJJ Belt: Reviewing My Eosin Panther" has been so popular, I decided to do a follow up.

I got this belt in July of 2012 (11 months ago at the time of this writing) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It "feels" like a proper belt, worthy of being around my waist. Each time I reach down and collect it after a hard roll, I can feel how it was handcrafted with care. Time and effort went into this belt.

I have come to love the "waxy" feel of the quality cotton it is made from. Even though the stitching has been put through numerous machine washes, none of the stitches have let go. It is wearing nicely around the edges, and the inner core is beginning to peak through. It is showing wear that only hard fought battles can produce.

It is a source of pride, and is immensely satisfying...

Awesome belt, enough that I ordered a purple belt.. review coming soon :)

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Like this Review?? Please Comment Below, And Click Here For My Other BJJ Product Reviews
 This review represents my own opinions. I am not an expert by any means in cotton, garment construction, or fabric stress. I am just a regular BJJ student who loves Jiu Jitsu. I consider myself as independent and impartial as one can get. I am not sponsored by Eosin, and I paid for this belt out of my own hard earned money If you have any questions about this review, please comment below or email me at lifevsjiujitsu@gmail(dot)com.  I hope you enjoyed the large detailed photos I included; it is something I think many reviews are lacking. Thanks for reading. 

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/Mike

Operation:Assertiveness...The First Day

ASSERTIVENESS

Last night, I went for it...

I started in a neutral position, I fought for the submission. It was an interesting change of pace and felt "right" for lack of a better word.

Old habits die hard, and I must remain conscious of staying offensive.. but last night was a good start..

CUPS

I took one to the groin last night from someone trying to recover guard... I instantly felt nauseous, and was doubled over in pain

I have not been bagged like that in my adult life. Perhaps I should try wearing an athletic cup again...

Fuck that sucked

/Mike

New Road...Diet...Exercise...Flexibility...And BJJ

Since I have changed direction in my BJJ journey, I want to outline a new set of goals and strategies. I should start with Diet

DIET

I have always thought of slipping into laziness as one big slide. Something that has large clear signs to watch out for. In reality, I find that my fitness progress slides to a standstill much more deceptively. Laziness becomes a warm blanket I wrap myself in. It becomes easily acceptable to take the easy way out and NOT do any kettlebell swings, or run, or sweat. It is only after realizing that it has been a few weeks since I wrapped my hand around a bell, or did a decent push-up that I recoil in horror..

Did....did I...just completely fall off the wagon (or "on"... I can never remember which one it is)?

What happened? When did I accept my old diet back into my life?.. Gooey, cheesy, pizza three times this month? WTF?

No more......... NO MORE.... I WILL get back to my diet "winning ways".. this has only been a small hiccup in an otherwise great weight loss process.

Salads for lunch, portion control, Home cooked food, controlled fasting, all easily obtainable and repeatable goals... I feel better emotionally, spiritually, and mentally when I control my diet.

EXERCISE

Exercise has definitely been lacking in my life. When I have a hard rolling session, I wake up the next day weak and tired... definitely not where I was 6 months ago. To fix that, I will do:

• 10 min Kettlebells after class Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
• 20 min Kettlebells at home Monday, Wednesday and Friday
• Sunday is rest day.
• I will take the stairs at every opportunity 
• I will walk around the block after lunch each workday
• Protein shake each night 30 mins before bed

STRETCHING

I have also not met my flexability goals.. I heard somewhere that being flexible takes just as much effort as building large muscles..

• Morning stretches before getting in the shower to loosen tight areas.
• Use the back roller to stretch out my back
• Occasional Bikram yoga
• Use the stability ball

BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU

My game is lacking in several area's and I have allowed the dexterity in my legs to become my sole focus on skill improvement. This needs to change, as it is providing diminishing returns

• I will focus on a more offensive game and stop "flopping" on my back. This is my ego in disguise. If I start in that position and I get tapped,  I can mentally say "Well you started in a bad position so it doesn't really count.
• Flopping on my back, also sets the tone of "I am going to defend instead of attack".
• I will write down the lessons and key points I like... too often I think I will remember and do not..
• I will be a better student. I will listen better, and stop being "defensive" in my learning. I will follow "Learning to Learn's" advice.
• I will loosen up... Jiu jitsu is fun. 

Operation: Assertiveness...fighting lazy Jiu Jitsu

I read JoshJitsu's great post on assertiveness as a part of your BJJ game. I suggest you read it first.

http://www.joshjitsu.info/2013/05/operation-be-more-assertive-is-go.html

I agree wholeheartedly that this is a major problem in my BJJ development, I will wait for my opponent to make a mistake, instead of actively working to improve my situation and finish my opponent.  This approach assumes:

• Your opponent will make a mistake
• You will know how to capitalize on that mistake...

This is what I call "Lazy Man Jiu Jitsu".

Just chillin'

This style of game IS effective...assuming your opponent has almost no grappling skill. My mindset has always been that as long as I defend, my opponent will inevitably "wear out" after trying countless times and become tired and helpless.

I was recently tapped out repeatedly to two different white belts at the new academy I am training at. 

After the roll, I assumed the reason for this was they were due for a promotion, or that they were younger/stronger/faster... or it was their "day".

Perhaps some of that was true, but after reflecting on it for a week or so, I have come to the conclusion that I was not actively fighting back. I was defending against their attacks, but not really attacking. If I am never really threatening them with attacks, then they are free to just chip away at my defense till they find a hole... 

What my defense looked like after 10 min rounds of attacks

Not a good scenario.

I think somewhere along the way(perhaps because of my lack of tournaments), I deemed it was OK to wait out the clock during a roll. Now I am in an academy where they are constantly attacking and I fins I am running for my life. I always seem to be under attack.

NEW ROAD: Attack.. Try.. make mistakes.. focus on offense instead of defense...

Update: I found this great article on how modern BJJ players DO NOT get tired like they did in the old days

http://www.innerbjj.com/2013/05/evolution-of-bjj.html Great read.

Changes...New BJJ Club

Life is funny... Change is funny

I quit the dojo I was a part of for the last three years, and went on a search to find a new home. I wanted to take my jiu jitsu more seriously, and needed something different. There were politics involved (when aren't there?), but at the core, I wanted to learn a more modern style of jiu jitsu. De La Riva, Berimbolo, 50/50 etc...

Leaving my old dojo was an emotional process. It feels very much like turning your back on the brothers (and sisters). You sweat, bleed, laugh, cry, share, win and lose together, and now effectively I am telling them they are no good, and (selfishly) pursuing a different path. I can see this hurting friendships.
BJJ is such a small subgroup that it would be great if we didn't have team/dojo alliances, or were able to avoid "us vs them" mentality. It would be great to bond together under a common love, but that is not reality...

I am afraid that possibly the next time I get to roll with some of my old teammates.. it will be under tournament conditions... that makes me sad.

 Before leaving, I spread myself out far and wide. I wanted to try out a few other clubs around the Toronto area. I had a list of criteria  (in rough order of importance)

• distance from home, 
• skill set, 
• class size, 
• instructor lineage, 
• less "formal" or "traditional"
• price

I tried a few different places, some good, some bad. Some where I was instantly the most experienced, others where I was smashed and hurt by the end of the night... It was an eye opening experience. Overall I never felt like I was "drowning" at my belt level.. but most places I had to swim pretty fast(In retrospect, I probably couldn't keep that pace for long)

I finally settled on Dan Hale at Breaking Point Martial Arts.

Dan is a purple belt under Cobrinha. He is extremely technical, runs a great place, and fields an active competitive team. After a couple of class it became apparent that Dan's students are friendly, welcoming, and most importantly to me.. extremely skilled and technical. I can not get away with any mistakes or "lazy jiu jitsu" all of the blue belts WILL capitalize on my mistake. There are skilled people here and "iron forges iron" I think I have made the right choice.

I like Dan's approach to rolling as well, he mandates 10 minute rounds in his classes.. this quickly separates the strong from the technical. Very few strong guys can keep up that pace for ten minutes.. it forces you to address energy conservation.

Great instructor, great place, great choice

/Mike

Jean Jacques Machado vs Roy Harris Classic Match

Old....School....Cool

Jean Jacques Machado vs Roy Harris at Joe Moreira's Black Belt Challenge in 1998...

A BJJ legend vs a member of the BJJ Dirty Dozen



I think it is Rigan that is yelling instructions to his brother during this video... definitely a cool piece of history.

Kyra Gracie Interview 2013

Kyra Gracie hosted a seminar at our school (a first for the Toronto area!) At the Seminar, the guys from JITS magazine stopped in to interview her.

I found this through DSTRYRsg blog post HERE

Cool Interview...We need more Role models in modern society

Some quick Seminar Photos

Jesslyn brought Mackenzie along to the seminar, and we snapped this pic...

Mack's Shirts Says "Jiu Jitsu Black Belt From Birth"..:)

Cool Seminar, filled with tons of small details and little "fixes" to help make certain situations more manageable. One of the more technical seminars I have been to, I definitely recommend her.

Mike.

Refining Your Warm-Up Technique

I have come under a new appreciation for the warm ups we are doing in class. I had an epiphany style moment when one of our instructors mentioned to me that my technique was slightly off during the warm up.

In our school, we try and focus on technique based warm up drills that approximately mimic certain fundamental BJJ movements. Warm up motions like "shrimping", the "step-thru from turtle", and "phantom triangles" are common and no doubt your school does some of the same.

At the time I was following the class across the mat; butt scooting forward, then shooting my legs up for the triangle. He mentioned I wasn't really raising my hips far enough off the ground, and that the "bite" with my leg behind the imaginary neck was coming from too far outside of the imaginary body. He mentioned that the path my leg should take should be tighter and follow closer the contour of the body.

It was then that I had the eureka moment. If your technique is sloppy during the warm up drills, then you will have helped ingrain crappy technique into your muscle memory. I think it is safe to say that some of that will be carried over into your "fast response" technique in rolling

Lets say you review triangles once a week (which would be a lot). What carries over more in how you perform a technique? Drilling it properly 15-30 times during the "teaching phase" of that one class, or the hundred times you could possibly mimic it over a typical week's worth of warm ups?

In that instant when you need to call on a technique and not think about it, you brain and muscles quickly recall what they have done the most.

Now... I am not saying that your warm up should be as technically sound as the proper drilling of the class. It is a warm-up after all. But I think by adding a little more thought into how you perform the techniques during the warm up, you can do a lot to improve your reactionary time for certain techniques.

 I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, 
but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.~ Bruce Lee

While I was doing a little bit of research into this, I found this post from The Jiu Jitsu Labratory. If you have time, give it a quick read. I think it's fantastic!

Mike.

Review: Gorilla Fight Gear 2012 "Apeman" Gi

 It seems I had done a thorough enough job when I reviewed the Gorilla“Hitman“ cotton rip-stop gi, to warrant Mike over at Gorilla to give me a closer look at his new 2012 “Apeman” crystal weave gi.

This time around, I got the opportunity to learn a little more about Mike and Gorilla Fight Gear.

 Mike started Gorilla fight gear back in 2005 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. At that time a back injury forced Mike to have a long and hard look at his career in law enforcement. To hedge his bets, he started a fight gear company: Gorilla Fight Gear.

 Gorilla Fight Gear BJJ gi’s are some of the more cutting edge designs on the market and I think it all stems from Mike’s willingness to try and innovate. Not every style choice is a home run in my opinion, but I respect the mindset of trying to keep things fresh and on the edge..

 In Mike’s own words “What sets us apart I would say it's our customer service, if you have an issue with a product I’ll do everything in my power to make it right. Other then that, I’m always crazy about making a better product, so I’m constantly on the look out for new materials or concepts that would make Gorilla Fight Gear unique, I just don't like being the same as everyone else.”

 When I asked about what new products he is thinking about designing, “All our new BJJ gear we have planned for the future all revolves around fabric like bamboo, hemp and even some synthetic fabrics… Make sure we have more gi models in our slim and big sizes. As for other bjj related items we plan on bring in some BJJ accessories and t-shirts. We have to see about that as the main priority (right now) is to remain stocked up at all times.

 I had asked him about his training and he explained that it has been sporadic due to a bunch of different injuries. If you’re interested, Mike keeps a training blog at www.fatninjas.com

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The APEMAN from the Gorilla website

I ordered the 2012 “Apeman” in blue from Gorilla Fight Gear's website. I ordered it in an A5 size. I generally order an A5 and then super hot wash and nuclear dry it to shrink fit down to a roomy A4.
 I now own ultra-light gi’s (which are great for hot weather) and heavy durable gi’s (that help keep my opponents grips off). This gi would be a welcome “middle ground” between the two. The most interesting part of this gi for me was the “crystal weave”. Promisiing to be a little different than the regular sea of "pearl" weaves, light "gold" weaves and the like.

The “Apeman” sells for $149.00 off the website with a Canada Post Flat Shipping Rate of $9.95 to Ontario. Throw in roughly 20 bucks for Ontario taxes and it tops out at just a couple bucks south of $180... gi in hand (or dojo)

The gi came neatly wrapped a few days after ordering it. I ripped into the packaging and found three large zip-lock bags, each containing a different article. The package contained 1) a “crystal weave” top 2) a pair of regular Gorilla twill pants and 3) a premium white belt.

 
My initial impression of the crystal weave as I unfolded it was “this thing is soft!” It is by far the softest gi I have felt. The weave could only be described as a cross between a gold weave and a old school single weave. It is light feeling and seems to breathe well.

The top also has some fairly loud styling to it, with a large embroidered star on the from crest of the jacket, and white contrasting “trim” around the jacket and pant side vents. It is much more pronounced than I had thought based on the pictures on the website. Also along some of the major seams, the stitching is white to contrast the blue fabric. It seems as a conscious style choice, not all of the seams are stitched with the white thread.

The jacket and pants ....in all their glory

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The Top

I carefully went over the top stitch-by-stitch. It is well constructed with no "problem area's" I think since Gorilla has been making BJJ gi's since 2005, they have long since worked out any issues with their gi's. As I have come to expect, everything is well stitched, well re-enforced, and (mostly) well thought out.

The "artistic depth-of-field collar shot"

Right off the bat, you notice the large embroidered star on the front lapel. I believe this is a "love it" or "hate it" styling cue, and is not for the faint of heart.
Being over thirty, I think my days of rocking the explosive-in-your-face clothing is well behind me. I have never owned a piece of clothing with an energy drink logo on it, and I dont intend to start. In complete fairness though, the star may appeal to a younger demographic, and certainly will help you to stand apart from your peers...if that's your thing.

Embroidering the proverbial target on you?

 From a quality standpoint, the star is well embroidered, and is small enough that a team lapel patch will fit over it and cover it completely... but just barely.

View from inside the jacket...if you put a patch over the front.. this will stay to haunt you

Finally, there is perhaps a demographic that might be heavily attracted to this star: The Dallas Cowboy fans.

Since Professor Carlos Machado is based in Texas, and this is a heavily Machado based blog, perhaps some people attending his school, are also Cowboys fans.... hey... you never know.

Anyways...enough about the star.

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The gi top has a few more labels on it, a small gorilla patch at the bottom of the left collar, a stylized "G" black-belt logo on the right sleeve, and an maker/sizing tag inside the back of the jacket.

Collar Tag

Maker/Sizing Tag

For some reason I didn't take a pic of the arm embroidery....Hmmm... I thought I did... oh well.. I ripped this one from Gorilla's website so you get the idea...

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 The sleeves on this gi are more tailored than the Hitman gi I reviewed. They are more like a Gameness style sleeve (if you know what I am referring to) I never liked the wide sleeves that resemble a judo gi, or the sleeves that are so tight they restrict movement. These ones are a perfect balance between the two.

Sleeve Stitching Close Up

Sleeve Cuff Re-enforcement (folded inside out for clarity)

Like I had said earlier, the side vents are trimmed in white. It certainly looks more pronounced in real life than the pictures show, though not to the point of being "too much"

Side vent in an action shot!!....just look at that venting performance!!!

Side vent plus the inside re-enforced area

Something that Gorilla does wonderfully is "tape" the inner seams of the jacket with re-enforcing strips. I believe this is an old technique carried over from judo gi's. I especially appreciate the "taping" that helps attach the collar to the jacket body. This alone will help to increase the life of the jacket by at least a factor of three.

If you think about it... the biggest "rip-zone" when some savage is yanking you around, is from top to midway along the jackets collar...Exactly the place Gorilla has re-enforced.

A final touch on the jacket body is a small inside pocket on the jacket. A couple of years ago, this was all the rage to have on your tournament gi, so you could put a Visa or an MP3 player in there while waiting to be called up. In theroy it seems like a great idea, though I have never used this pocket on any of my gi's for anything. I have in fact, started to dislike the thought of them, as they are perfect "toe catchers" when playing spider guard. I also could easily see that during a competition, you would be fired up enough to forget that you've put your Visa in there before stepping on the mat...

If you dislike it, it looks easy to remove it with a stitch ripper

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The Pants

The pants are fairly straight forward medium-weight cotton twill...except for the crotch re-enforcement which is the same "crystal weave" as the jacket.. Same as the jacket, it is trimmed with white fabric, and has some contrast stitching in white at various seams. The pants have six loops to weave your drawstring through, make sure you can cinch your pants tight without any bunching in the front. A nice touch. They fit on the baggy side, and are plenty roomy for movement...

Loops-o-plenty

As mentioned the crotch fabric is the same as the top...and is generously cut for all the guard players out there. It also seems to breath a lot better than the regular twill the rest of the pants are made from. So it helps to create an sort of "air-conditioning" effect... Who couldn't use that?

The little re-enforcing triangle is still sewn inside where all the seams come together... picture is curiously unavailable... maybe I'm slipping?

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There is no new ground broken on the pant cuffs or the belt loops or drawstrings. All areas are well built and re-enforced. The only real thing of note here is the flat style drawstring. I prefer a rope style, so in my mind a flat drawstring will always be inferior. Your opinion may differ.

Pant cuff flipped inside out to show the re-enforcement

Again... the pant cuff close up

The "flat" style drawstring

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As I said in my review of the Gorilla "Hitman" ripstop gi, Gorilla makes sure to double up the knee-pad well. It covers almost the entire leg of the pants and is heavily stitched. I hate knee-pads that cover as much of the knee as a drink coaster would. Rarely do they stay in place long enough to keep the doubled up fabric "where the rubber meets the road"....so to speak. How many Lucky gi's have a hole just outside the knee-pad area?...I don't know...but I'll bet a few..

The start of the knee pad

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The side vents on the pants help to showcase a beautiful little feature of this gi. The rear waist is slightly offset higher than the front. Untold amounts of people have been spared views of their opponents plumbers crack while in turtle simply because of this small design feature... If you have ever felt traditional pants "slip" down while doing forward rolls, then these are the pants for you.

I probably could have straightened out the fabric a little more to really highlight the offset...

Side vent with the full view of the re-enforced area around it. NOTE: the area ti the right that looks like a rip... is just where the belt loop is stitched

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And finally, something I have only seen on Gorilla Fight Gear pants: A re-enforced seat area. I don't really know why there needs to be double fabric along you butt crack... and I probably don't want to know why... but.. I am somehow glad it is there...

I messed with the contrast on this photo to try and highlight the re-enforcing patch along the butt crack

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The Belt 

The belt is identical to the one that came inside the "Hitman" gi. If you want to see the photos zip over to that review by using this link 

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The Measurements

I had the pants professionally hemmed. The * is present on the measurements directly affected by the hemming.

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The Verdict

As Mike at Gorilla said, I’m constantly on the look out for new materials or concepts that would make Gorilla Fight Gear unique". I think with all things "on the edge" your bound to occasionally be hit-or-miss. The star on the lapel is a "miss" for me. It is too big and flashy. I prefer a more subtle styling. Perhaps if it was a patch, and not embroidery, I could have simply removed it.

I instead ended up putting a school lapel patch over it...problem solved.

With styling aside, it is still a bad-ass gi that is well constructed, rolls light and fluid, and is the rival of any gi in the $200+ market. Gorilla listens to their customers and tweaks their gear to give the public what they want. It fits well around the shoulders, has no seam on the back, and slims the arms down to give it that "true BJJ cut" feeling. This is no modified Judo gi.

I like the "crystal weave" fabric and find that it breathes really well. Sometimes with other companies "pearl weaves", I find they start to feel like wet paper-towel against your skin when soaked with sweat-which is gross. This Apeman feels soft and breathable when soaked...and still weighs in the same range as a "pearl weave"... Gorilla is really on to something with this fabric.

The fabric that re-enforces the crotch provides a nice breathable area for all your bits. It is such a small thing, and yet really helps to cool you down when you back-to-back-to-back roll.

Overall, it is a great second or third gi.. It is kind of expensive for a first gi. It is especially nice as a milestone present to yourself (like getting your blue belt) It is well put together, refined, and has tons of cutting edge features. 

We are both wearing this gi before shrinking it down in the wash... so it is huge on both of us...lol

I will let you guys know how it ages and what changes (if anything) through use.

Mike

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Like this Review?? Please Comment Below, And Click Here For My Other BJJ Product Reviews

This review represents my own opinions. I am not an expert by any means in cotton, garment construction, or fabric stress. I am just a regular BJJ student who loves Jiu Jitsu. I consider myself as independent and impartial as one can get. I am not sponsored by Gorilla, though I did receive this gi free of charge for the purposes of reviewing it.. If you have any questions about this review, please comment below or email me at lifevsjiujitsu@gmail(dot)com.  I hope you enjoyed the large detailed photos I included; it is something I think many reviews are lacking. Thanks for reading. 

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