If I directed a documentary of Gracie Barra Seattle since Mamazinho and Rodrigo opened shop in the Tully's warehouse, it would probably start with ten minutes of nothing but that flight of red wooden stairs from the truck landing to "the room."
I could hear the muffled voices of the people already watching the competition. I actually felt my heart race a little when I got to the top of the stairs. That would be as loud as the voices would get until I would know exactly what attacks, what escapes, what submissions they were cheering about.
It couldn't have been any more intense than to make my way through the crowd toward the edge of the nearest mat and see Lindsey locked up with the guy who would eventually win the blue belt division. I've said it before that I think Lindsey is one of the most interesting of those who got their blue belts in my cohort (Griff and Jason are the other two). And the fact that he is also only a weight division above me makes it easy for me to relate to the challenges his opponents present. So, at the culmination of a week that had me preparing anxiously for and then forsaking entirely my first tournament as a blue belt, I have to admit that seeing Lindsey competing on the mat was a little like seeing myself.
The tournament was typically exciting and well-done. All gi this time, which suits me just fine. I missed Mike's fight, which sounded worth watching, and also the fights of the other white belt who for awhile was the only other regularly training white belt that was older than me. I also think I missed Dave's fight, which doesn't make sense for some reason. I ended up catching the second half of Lindsey's, and some great battles in the purple belt division between Yuki (?), Casey and a tough guy from New Breed Jiu Jitsu (I think that's the name). Good, good stuff. I could have watched them compete all day.
There were also a bunch of black belt fights--and I'm going on record right now as saying that it is a beautiful thing when all gi tournaments feature black belt matches. Props to Bartinho of BJJ Spokane for taking on all three of the black belts there. I've had mixed feelings toward him in the past; he seemed to be always after me for stalling when he was an opposing coach or referee. But today he showed me something about the spirit of competition that I hope to never forget.
The fight of the day, in my opinion, was Casey and Yuki, though I might give Yuki submission of the day for the armbar he stuck with and won with in the elimination round. That said, Brian's baseball choke win in the black belt division was especially nice, in part because I could see him setting it up when he was griping the back of the collar. I love that choke--though I think I've only gotten it once. And seeing Brian move toward it was like knowing from the sound of the ball off the bat that a home run was coming.
A great day. A lot of us weren't competing. Jeff blew up his knee, I learned. Angela didn't compete nor did Griff. Jesse was taking pictures. I'm guessing there weren't any 180+ purple belts. Andrew told me that there weren't any brown belts, at all, which had him sidelined taking videos and pictures.
I won't be back until Wednesday at the earliest. I'll put the breakdown of my latest eye injury into a different post. But the good news is that it might be a situation that I can completely control. I see Dr. Cheung on Wednesday and if she gives me a clean bill of health that the current damage has healed, then I'll be on the mat Wednesday night.
I've been pretty good about being on the treadmill, giving myself a decent workout Wednesday and Saturday mornings. I want to hit the dumbbells, also, because I think that one of the first ways that adrenaline works against you is by making you feel greater muscular fatigue than you really have. I felt tense, almost paralyzed, the first few minutes of watching Lindsey's fight--that's how hard the anxiety can hit you.
Besides, it won't do me much good to be able to roll for 45 minutes straight if I can't outperform in the first five. That, and passing the half guard were probably the two lessons for me in Copa NW 9.
