Mine was among the first matches of the day on Saturday, one of the small graces of competing as a brown belt. It will take a bit of getting used to, but I love not having to wait around and being able to get my match(es) out of the way as soon as possible.
I competed twice against the same guy, due to the three-man division with Sauleh getting a bye as the number one seed. My opponent from Univesal JJ won on points both times 0-2 and 0-6 - though he may or may not have gotten the mount points in our second match. I can't remember if I was able to poke my knee through in time or not.
A few things to analyze. I'm looking forward to talking with Jesse next week. Jesse reffed both my matches and had some incisive comments on my Flat Pass, which I attacked with in my second match only to stall after getting to half guard. I'd like to pick his brain a bit on the matches overall, as well as his specific observations about what was (and wasn't) going on my with pass game. As I told him this morning when he was initially explaining what he saw, I'm having a lot of trouble with the knee cross pass, as well. And I wouldn't be surprised if any tips to correct the former will assist my struggles with the latter, as well.
I felt a little tentative (which Jesse also seemed to notice). Truth told, I was trying more than a few new things with the footsweep attack from standing and the deliberate choice of the deep half over the regular half when I ended up on the bottom. And though I've been drilling those techniques for the past few weeks, they are clearly not yet "hard-wired." Of course, that will be the goal over the next couple of months heading into the next Revolution in early March.
BTW, I made weight with about three or four pounds to spare. Figures.
A great day of watching fights. Dex was especially exciting to watch later in the day, as he battled four tough guys on route to gold in his division. Lance and Sauleh were typically masterful in their matches. And both Benny (purple) and Bianca had some great finishes by choke.
As for me, I'm down on the corner, to steal a line from Lou Reed. There are some technical things to work through, in the takedowns, in the deep half, in the @#$@@# standing guard pass. But conditioning wise, I need to make an oft-considered switch to a focus on explosive speed. Too often, I'm inches away from where I need to be. Improving my explosive speed (8-15 second max intervals with 3-5 minute active rest periods) could go a long way toward closing that gap.
