About last weekend

The weekend has passed and for those faithful 8 who have read this blog that means that my first jiu-jitsu competition has come and gone. The results? Well?

I felt prepared coming into the competition and had a good night’s sleep leading into the event. It was weird, because I woke up in the middle of the night with a cough that wouldn’t shake. Then I got kind of hot. One of the very few conditions under which I can’t sleep is if I’m hot; that plus the cough made me panic that I might be getting sick. NOPE. No time for that. I went downstairs and took some Airborne, dropped some black elderberry syrup (get some, that ish works) in the Airborne mixture, and then took some probiotics with the Airborne/black elderberry mixture. I was not messing around. I could literally feel the cough stifle itself about 15-20 minutes later.

I had been intermittent fasting about 2 weeks leading up to the event but needed to put something on my stomach the morning of the event. I chose protein and oats for some long lasting energy. The event was about 40 minutes away. I assumed it would take an hour and wanted an hour cushion between when I came into to weigh in and when I’d have to compete. I was worried about if I would get hungry before the meet so I brought snacks. Heck, now that I think of it, I had a plan for the day after the competition (light rolling to keep my muscles from getting tight/locked up) and the day after (a light massage). It’s funny, typing this up I hadn’t even realized that I’d planned so much for this thing; I think it’s funny but unsurprising.

I was very glad that I had a peer there who had competed before to give me all sorts of advice: Phil. He let me know about 30 minutes before I compete that I should get a light sweat going so we went over a few drills. This is when I could tell I was getting nervous: I couldn’t remember how to do a simple armbar from guard at that point. Ugh J I did get through it and warmed up. 

I had to calm myself down because I could feel the nerves kicking in. I prayed, y’all. Really, I talked to myself about what my purpose was for being there. I was honestly grateful that I was there and had made it to that point. I made the decision then and there that while winning is great, if I go out there and give it my best I would be happy with that result. That gave me peace. That calmed me down. My name was called to report to the assigned mat. It was almost time.

I walked to the table where the mat was and was told to sit. I’ve been to competitions before where I’ve seen people sit and wait for minutes and minutes before getting called to the mat. It could not have taken more than 30 seconds from when I sat to when the referee called me onto the mat. This is the first time I even saw my opponent, Bryan. As a check, I had to give the referee my name, Bryan his. After a handshake, the first match was off to a start.

I’m most proud that I had a plan in place and did my best to execute it: pull the opponent into my guard. Sweep my opponent. Finish the match with either an armbar from side control or mount. In the first match, I pulled guard but my attempt to land a sweep failed and Bryan ended up in side control, then mount. I fell behind quickly on points. Try as I could, I could not find a good angle to get on top or out of the side control until the last 30 seconds of the match, where I went from side control to mount. I tried for a dirty Ezekiel choke but time was up. I lost the first match on points. 

True to my word, I wasn’t very sad or upset about losing. I felt that I needed to execute my game plan better and I began my physical assessment: my arms weren’t too tired from gripping and my cardio was mostly ok. Phil came over with encouragement about losing (gotta get that first one out of the way!) and my main worry was keeping my muscles warm. It wasn’t a long wait until the second match began:

This match started like the first. We stalemated from the start. I pulled guard and attempted to sweep. I was partial successful but Bryan recovered and began to pass into half guard but this time I moved a lot better from the bottom, never allowing him to settle in, initiating a scramble and winding up in side control and as time expired transitioning to mount. Somehow, I wasn’t awarded points for any of this but the referee determined that I was the one who controlled the match the most and thus, I won.

Ok, NOW my arms were a little fatigued and I was a little more tired. After congratulating me, Phil offered a change in strategy: keep Bryan standing up. Phil reasoned that he was tired and also that he couldn’t take me down so keep him standing and when he fatigues, take him down. I was skeptical, I’ll admit, but what did I have to lose, the match and the round robin? That’s it? Pshaw.

Third round starts and I keep my opponent standing. He attempts to take my back but I’m onto him and don’t allow him to do so. I LEAN on him when he’s in front of me. He tries to aggressively yank me forward to take me off balance but is not successful in his attempts to the degree that I no longer worry about it. I keep him in front of me. I LEAN on him. 

Why am I stressing “LEAN”? My opponent weighed less than me. Not by much, but he was less. I was taller than he was by a good 5-6 inches. Me leaning on a guy who was already tired couldn’t have been comfortable and certainly was tiring. As I leaned into him, his breathing was heavy. I certainly was tired, but my breathing was mostly under control.

I found my moment: Bryan dipped his head juuust a bit too low and I attempted to guillotine choke him. He began to fight that grip but in doing so did not concentrate on keeping his standing balance…so I took him down to his knees, transitioned it to a side control, and ended in mount for the win of the round at the match!

I was proud, exhausted, happy, tired…you name it. My wife got to watch me compete most of the second match and all of the third. It’s really hard for her to watch stuff like this and I appreciate that she went outside of her comfort zone to do so. Phil came in super clutch to help me out with great advice. I was overall just encouraged and happy on the day. It really feels like I validated the training that I’ve been going to for 4 times a week for quite some time….

…but there is still work to be done. There were many mistakes that I made and I’m looking forward to correcting those mistakes and getting even better for my next competition. Yes, I said next competition. That will be happening soon, don’t know when but I’m already looking forward to it. Onward!