I lost my first tournament match: submission by armbar.
There were only two of us in the 159-171 division. I weighted in at 163 and the guy from Marcelo Alonso weighed in at 163.4. He had a few inches on me, as I suspect most of the 159-171ers will.
Ultimately, I know I'll be at 155 or 150. In fact, that's a minimum goal for me before the November Copa.
In the meanwhile, I need to get in better shape (stronger and more cardio) in order to do as much sparring as I can in class. I can't increase the number of days a week, so I've got maximize my time while I'm there.
In a perfect world, I'd spend one five-minute round fighting from the guard, one five-minute round trying to pass the guard, and one five-minute round fighting to escape side mount/side control every class.
A recap of the fight: We square off. I don't really have an offensive move for him and he doesn't really have one for me. My base is solid, so he decides to pull guard rather than try for some takedown that might result in a scramble.
He pulls guard and gets a good grip on my left sleeve. I'm paralyzed: his gi is wide open, so the most recent pass Rodrigo taught us won't work. He transitions to a thrusting choke that I negate pretty well just by tucking my chin. The problem is that I'm 100% defensive and giving him nothing to react to.
He transitions to a triangle which--as usual--becomes an armbar. I try and yank my arm out. But he is rolling it over almost immediately. I'm done. Just as we are falling out of bounds, I slap the mat.
A review. At this point, a scramble is probably to my benefit. So I should force the engagement in the standup. I'll look around and see if I can find a takedown or two to focus on. One assumption is that I need to be either too far away or too close, preferably the latter, to negate the length advantage in my opponents.
If somebody pulls guard and grabs a sleeve, try and jerk your arm free--maybe while reaching over with the opposite arm and grabbing the sleeve of his grip arm. Also use the arm he's trying to grab to grab the underside of the opposite pant leg and try and work that pass away from his grip. That's also probably the side he wants to attack, so passing in that direction can be especially worthwhile.
It might be possible just to tug the arm back, keeping your elbow in tight, and taking your hand under that near leg. That way, you lose one arm, but he loses the arm and the leg.
The biggest takeaway is that Marc Laimon is right: you've got to get out of the guard. Don't fight in the guard. Pass the guard.
A note on the tournament experience: a lot of fun! My match was over pretty quickly and it wasn't fun watching Joe lose at about the same clip. But watching all that fighting was both fun and a great learning experience.
My right arm is still pretty sore from that armbar, and my right shoulder is a little tweaked also. But that tournament really fired me up to intensify my training--both at Tully's and at home with cardio in the mornings (MTRF).
I also want to work that 100+ pushup routine into my morning cardio--probably before I jump on the treadmill. I ought to make a 100+ crunch routine and a 100+ squat routine along the same parameters.
