The most fascinating thing about the incredible show that was the WNO Championships this past weekend was the way that the victorious competitors were able to leverage specialization instead of being limited by it.
On one hand, you had the predictable-but-unstoppable head and arm (okay, d'arce) chokes of the Ruotolo brothers and the wisdom and strategic intelligence of a non leg locker like Tim Spriggs to make the still-common vulnerability of most no-gi grapplers a major part of his, 3-day-a-week training in preparation for the event.
On the other hand, we have the inability of veteran leg lockers like Tex Johnson and Elizabeth Clay to lure their opponents into their game - to say nothing of Michael Musumeci's inability to defend himself effectively once his notoriously tough-to-pass guard was, in fact, passed.
So many great performances! And many takeaways, as always. If you haven't watched the event, then browse on over to FloGrappling and treat yourself to some very entertaining jiu-jitsu.
Honorable mention to both Amanda Leve and Kendall Reusing who were also especially impressive.
