First impression of the event were "oh my god this is squeezed in to a very small space". The campus itself seemed enormous but the space we were jammed into was half (yes, half!) a reasonable sized sports hall. The other half of the hall was occupied by a what seemed to be a wheel chair basketball match so we were all rammed into a small half a hall with the most hilariously cramped in warm up area and 3 match pitches laid out in an L shaped occupying the largest part of the hall. All spectators and non-fighters were expected to sit in the stand which featured some of THE most uncomfortable seating I have ever had the misfortune of resting my peachy cheeks on. It was a common sight to see spectators getting up and stretching as if they were just about to get on the mats for a match. But alas, they were only trying to alleviate the immense pain prolonged contact with the seats had caused.
As for everything else, the atmosphere was brilliant. As always, what never ceases to amaze me at an event where highly athletic guys are trying to inflict pain on each other, Bjj competitions are an example of combat sports competitors who are also nice, honourable guys. If you were to get a similar set up for a boxing competition or MMA competition the amount of IPSM (idiots per square metre) would be significantly higher. Probably due to the fact that those guys always think they're better than everyone else. It's the mindset you have to have to do that sort of thing. But Bjj-ers have been beaten, tapped out, choked out and folded in half so many times by their peers that it's rare you will find a guy with a massive ego. Those guys don't last long in Bjj.
I arrived at the event toward the end of the white belt competition so didn't get to see much of the lower rank action. A short while after I arrived, the Brown Belt prize money competition started. There were only 3 competitors for this bracket and the first two were absolute monsters. 1 in particular, was referred to as Jack Black on special chicken by some of the spectators looking on. Jack Black-alike won the first match by takedown and pass to side control, that was pretty much the sum total of the match. I think the other guy managed to recover half guard at one point but was quickly passed again. Pretty boring match with JB taking the points decision.
There was a bit of a chuckle for the second match as the third competitor was pitted against the loser of the first match. This new guy was probably a middle or light weight against the Super Heavy plus, the other guy was. We all should've known better to chuckle though (we've been studying this art for long enough to know size shouldn't matter) as the small guy swept the big fella and got him quickly with a gi choke.
The final between Jack Black and the little guy was another surprise. The little guy managed a takedown and a pass and then did enough to keep busy and the opponent away from points to take the victory. He got a fairly big cheer for it too. Well done that man, for proving the whole thing that Bjj was supposed to be created for still rings true.
Our Checkmat Team we took managed to scoop a few medals with Tom Kocur and Shabba Vaithianathan both scoring Bronze in the Adult Blue Belt Lightweight catagory and Ronan Fleming grabbing a silver in the Adult Blue Belt Super Heavyweight catagory. Well done guys.
Now on to my performance. I was entered into the Masters and Seniors Blue Belt Medium Heavyweight bracket and I was massively chuffed with my weight cut for this. I've spent the last month eating carefully and working out or training every day to keep a semblance of cardio and strength at my new found slim line stature. And I felt that I'd done quite well with that and I'd even dropped a bit past the weight I needed to attain so I could eat relatively heartily on the weekend of the comp so my energy levels would be right up there.
All in all I was slim, fit and definitely game. I wasn't overly nervous. I had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do. None of this mattered in the end.
The guy I was against in the first round was a really nice guy called Tyrone Derrick. A Blue Belt from Gracie Barra Southampton (amusingly this is where Marcus' will probably be training when he moves down there) he was really approachable and and pleasant. When we got on the mat and started the match we had a very brief grip fight before I stepped in for a takedown to which he reacted with a very tasty fall back suicide trip. If it failed he would've been in the shit but as it was the gambit paid off and he had the two points. I quickly managed to attain closed guard which (and I've discussed this at length with people since) is totally weird as I can count on 1 hand, the amount of minutes I spent using closed guard in sparring in the last 3 months. But no, for some reason I had closed guard and I kept my closed guard on whilst trying for gi chokes, arm bars, a couple of flower sweep attempts and a couple of set ups for kimuras. None of this was very effective because Tyrone was very strong and basically planted his fist at my hips and postured up while trying break my guard. Every time I managed to pry one of his arms away from his and break his posture he'd lean forward for a second or two, I'd reach up for a collar choke or something and he'd plant the fists back and posture up again and continue to try to break my guard. The annoying thing is I should of just been opening my guard anyway. My open guard is pretty good. I probably would have had a lot more options to sweep him and felt more comfortable doing it. But hindsight is always 20/20 and at the time, Tyrone felt so strong that I felt to lose my closed guard was to surrender a position. So I stupidly kept the closed guard there. I got an advantage for a relatively close gi choke but other than that I did bugger all. At the end I tried a bit frantically to sweep him from closed guard and he managed to counter neatly and pass to my half guard. I was just gearing up for a half guard sweep when the time was called. Tyrone won from the two points he'd scored in the opening seconds of our fight. I was pretty gutted about this but at the end of the day I did it to myself. Well done to Tyrone, he went on to win Bronze at our weight and also in the Absolute.
I've included the video for anybody who wants to sit through five minutes of relatively little action.
As for me, it's back to the drawing board. I will need over the next couple of weeks to re-evaluate what I need for my game to progress. It's my ability to process a game plan in the heat of the moment. Mental Strength a lot of people call it and mine left me that day. I also think a bit more situation training where I work my way out of positions I am held in. I should try and up my game as well. Never take the easy option in sparing, instead always roll against the toughest, strongest and best guys in the class. Only this way will I learn how to counter strong guys who have a strong hold on me or be able to increase my skill level by rolling with the higher level guys.
I'd just like to thank my instructors, Ian and Chico, for their tuition and support and for yelling out their instruction from the side lines. Sorry I didn't do better for you guys.
I've got a couple of weeks off now as I'm on annual leave from work and I've promised my wife and children some solid family time together. I shall be back in action on the 19th August at the Checkmat Grading Seminar where I shall get the opportunity to whip some backs in the name of team spirit and camaraderie. It'll also give me a little bit of time to rest up on a growing list of aches and pains before I get back to training hard. At the moment the next competition in my sight is the Hereford Open in December unless something else pops up in the meantime. I really have got the bug after my little outing Sunday. I NEED to compete.
I'll see if anything else comes up. ¬m/
No comments:
Post a Comment