BJJ Tournament Record: 1-2
Next tournament: Copa 7 Northwest March 2006
Copa 6 Northwest: December 2005
149-158
Won 2-0 (takedown)
Lost in second minute by triangle choke
Copa 5 Northwest: September 2005
159-171
Lost in second minute by armbar
*
Felt very nice to fight at the 155.8 I weighed in at. Under 160 is definitely my weight, and I'm super glad I got down there. I still give up height at this weight, but I tend to have the strength advantage. If I can get the rest of my game up to speed, then 149-158 might work just fine going forward.
The week leading up to the tournament wasn't a walk in the park. But the diet cutting and sauna suit treadmill work weren't too strenuous. I went from 167 on my scale on Monday morning to 155.8 on their scale on Saturday morning. In the future, I'd rather do that over two weeks, maybe going from 165 to 160 in one week, then from 160 to 155 in the next week.
Great scene at the tournament. A lot of Southside Mamazinho guys were there--including some of the capoeira folks. Eliot, Arnell and Mario were there to watch and provide support. Tom, Jesse the White Belt and Jesse the Blue Belt, and Big Griff competed from the southside, as did Big Mike. Add me and you had six southside regulars competing.
I won my first match and lost my second to fall out of medal contention. The first guy was very aggressive, grapping my sleeves and jerking me back and forth. I was desperate to win a fight with Rebecca there watching, and couldn't figure out if there was a method to this guy's madness or not. I decided to just hang on and keep my balance, essentially waiting him out.
At some point in the stand-up we got body-to-body and I managed to take him down near the edge of the mat. It was a high hip throw of some sort. The guy landed hard and the throw drew a lot of gasps from people watching. I landed on top and managed to turn him into a sort of "scarf hold" by the edge of the mat.
One mistake I made was that I expected the referee to stop us because he was almost half off the mat. The guy I was fighting kept going, and I risked getting reversed. The ref dragged us back to the center, and we re-started.
Eventually the guy was able to get me back into his full guard. But time was running out. Thanks especially to the review I did the night before about maintaining good posture and using the collar to post and control the guy's upper body. Cindy was yelling for me to keep my posture, which echoed what Cesar Gracie had been saying in the previous night's homework. So I rode that one out to a win: 2-0.
My second fight was a little disappointing, in some ways a lot like my fight in Copa 5 Northwest. We circled a lot--too much. I was cautious--and more than a little arm sore. Also this guy was the complete opposite of the first guy I fought. He wasn't especially aggressive and tried to move toward his left (my right).
Eventually we clenched up and I tried a similar throw. This time we were too far off the edge of the mat and I didn't get credit for the takedown. Again we were restarted in the middle and the guy got me into his closed guard. I started out fine enough, but eventually got sloppy and got caught in a triangle.
It wasn't the tightest triangle in the world, to be honest. And it drove me crazy that I couldn't remember the counter to the triangle that Rodrigo had shown us just two days ago! I did remember enough not to stand. But I got confused trying to remember which knee to bring up (reminder: same side as the trapped arm), and what to do with the hands (reminder: one across the throat/upper chest and the other grabbing the pants). I also forgot the direction of the counter: grinding the up knee down into the abdomen and stacking the guy tightly upside down.
But I was tired and thinking too much about how exhausted I would be in the fight after this one if I won. In other words, I wasn't thinking straight about the fight. After a few minutes, I tapped out and lost the match.
I'd love a rematch with both guys in March. In both fights I got in that scarf hold position and didn't have a follow-up move. The obvious follow-up is side control. But I should consider going to north-south first--which should probably be easier from the scarf hold--then slip into side control.
I think there is am armbar from the scarf hold position, and a choke. I should look those up. The choke I think I can figure out. But I'm going to have to look in Rigan Machado's Encyclopedia to find that armbar ...
I figure that my next win has to be by submission and that in the second round the worst I can do is lose by points. That's my benchmark, at least, for steady progress.
All in all a great experience. Rebecca had a blast also, which was great. I can't say enough how wonderful it was to win my first fight in front of the minx.
I'm taking a week off from my cardio routine, though I'll go to class Tuesday and Thursday. Then I'll have a week and two days back on the routine before heading out to Tucson. I'll be back on Tuesday the 27th--I'm not sure if I'll go in to class or not. I took the 28th off for a little post-vacation holiday of my own. At the time, I thought it might be a badly needed preparation day for our move to Southern California. Now it will just be a day for further R&R chez moi.
