This is my 1st time going into the Intermediate division, which consist of competitors with 1-3 yrs experience and from observing most of the competitors in my division, they're mostly blue belts with more experience and bigger then me. My 1st match was against a blue belt, Joseph Flores of Gracie Barra. Was I nervous?...I can honestly say a little bit, but was more excited and relaxed then anything else. I kept controlling my breathing to the best that I can and just focusing, staying relaxed because I tend to get jitters. As we both got on the mats, slapped hands and the match began. I was hopping around so I could loosen up, faking a couple of shots to throw Joseph off balance. Joseph grabbed my wrist and got low on me trying to control my posture, so I just tied up with him as well. While circling around, I just hit my switch not even thinking one bit of what the hell I just did. I attacked with a Flying Armbar! Securing his arm, squeezing and extending my legs as much as I could, I held on so tight as I could feel his arm slipping away, then he tapped. I was honestly in disbelief for a split second, thinking to myself, "holy shit, did I actually land a Flying Armbar...???" If you watch closely to the video of it, after I finish him, I get up slowly walking towards the ref. like I'm totally lost, dazed and confused. Coming into reality as I could hear my buddies screaming "Good shit!", I finished my first match. At Green Bay Jui Jitu, they never teach or taught flying armbars. I always daydreamed and visioned doing a flying armbar in my head from watching Shinya Aoki performing it on Youtube...LOL..Always thinking to myself, "Wow, that is a beautiful technique". I was pretty stoked and happy with myself, because that was 1 of my goals...to land a Flying Armbar in live competition. Now I can scratch that off my To Do List.
I made it to the finals and now I'm up against Joel Maldonado of 360 Brasa. If you know 360 Brasa, they are a legit team of BJJ fighters based out of Milwaukee, WI and I would love to train there sometime. Scott Huston is there head instructor and he is to me, the top and most technical BJJ fighter in WI. I've seen Joel around before and we've talked. He's a really cool, nice guy. It's kinda cool and funny how he told me, he had a feeling we would meet in the finals, as we did...hahaha...In the final round, we both slapped hands and it began. I was hopping around as usual trying to juke him out. I didn't wanna shoot in because he has a good guillotine and caught the previous opponents with it. Joel was tall and lanky, he grabbed me with no problem and tied me up fast. then he jumped guard and slipped a leg past my head, locking in a triangle choke. I was like, "Damn, I got caught..." but I maintained my posture, relaxed and stayed calm. It was a really deep triangle too and I was really close to tapping, but I fought hard not to tap. With 2 minutes left, I knew I was losing so I burst and broke his triangle. Now in his guard, I said to him, "Good job man"..he didn't hear me clearly the first time due to my mouthpiece, Joel responded, "What?...", I replied again, "Good job". He then stated, "Oh shit, naw man...good job defending". It's quite comical we were chatting during the finals, LOL. I was trying to pass and I was so close to passing and scoring 2 points. I got swept instead, sticking my ass too high, not controlling my posture as he controlled me and now I was on my back. I'm down 2 points now, knowing that I'm losing. I try my best to sweep him and attack with an armbar. Time expired and I knew I lost, taking 2nd place. It was OK though and it was a great learning experience. As long as I gave it my all.
My next matches were in Gi, white belt division. I'll make this one short. My first match, my opponent pulled guard, I passed, got side control, mounted him, locked in an arm triangle and choked him from full mount. 2nd match, my opponent was really really tall. He pulled guard, I almost passed, and again I got swept. Now down by 2 points, I lost in the semi finals. My 3rd match was for 3rd place. I shot in, took my opponent down, controlled him, mounted, attacked sweeps, triangles and more sweeps. I beat him by 9 points.
Overall, it was a fine fine day of Brazilian Jui Jitsu competition and I was bummed out by getting swept and losing by 2 points in the finals and semi finals. But! I was happy and surprised myself with the Flying Armbar and how well I did in this tournament under pressure with no coaching at all. I have the will and desire to fight and defend, just not the technique and skills to control my weight and keep my ass low...hahaha, but then again, I'm still and only a white belt.
Results = http://uscombatsports.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=181&id=8295&Itemid=99
I Thank my boyz for supporting me at the tournament, it's always nice to have support.
Then me and my buddies went out and got tanked! And Xai's dick went on Zombie mode that night!...Brainzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....LOL
No comments:
Post a Comment