I should be doing some other writing that doesn’t have anything to do with jiu jitsu. Hell, my puts on Starbucks are actually making some nice money and my calls on Comcast haven’t collapsed!
But my mind is all about the jiu jitsu right now. I’m eager to get back on the mat and show (who? Myself?) that there’s more to me than what I showed last Saturday at Copa 7 NW.
A basic breakdown of what ails me is pretty easy to do. On top, I’m too immobile, too unwilling to risk control or position for a submission. Consequently, I pin guys (“smash” them, to be charitable), but don’t finish them.
On bottom, I don’t commit to passing the guard. I wrestle around a little, and half-assedly try a ground pass. But I rarely stand up and, if I do and it doesn’t work, I usually won’t try to stand and pass for the duration of that match.
If I can fix these two things, then I’ll be pretty much at the top of where I need to be after one year of training. The good news is that both of these problems are fixable. I know exactly what I need to do. The question is whether or not I will implement the fixes, and work them until they are second nature in advance of the September tournament—which should be huge.
It looks like the next tournament is September 30, 2006. The second Pacific Northwest Jiu Jitsu Championships sponsored by Machado Spokane—Bartinho’s guys. It will be at Yesler Community College again. Two of my three losses have come to Bartinho’s guys—including my loss last week. This tournament is also the one where I got my first place back in April.
I’m guessing that the next Copa will be in December, since this tournament is so late in September. Maybe Marcelo Alonso or somebody will try to slip in a late October tournament or something. But right now I’m betting on late September and early December for the next two events. I need to go out and win first place in my division in both of them.
