Oregon Open

9/7/13 - Oregon Open

Where to start? Perhaps with the inauspicious beginning of the trip, when a rock pummeled my windshield while we were going over a bridge. An odd place for a rock, or whatever it was. The damage is going to require a complete replacement, so that'll be a fun start to my Monday while I try to wrangle money from the insurance company.

On to the stuff that people actually care about. My bracket was scheduled to be called at 9am, along with purple belt men. We got to the site in plenty of time, and one of my teammates that was competing later was nice enough to roll with me for a bit. Warm-ups make a huge difference when competing, and being able to roll is the best way for me to prep for a match. However, I don't think we were called onto the mat until 10am or so. Trying to be in the right place mentally and physically for a tournament that isn't running on time is very challenging.

I found that I was being paired with a white belt in the > 163lb division instead of the blue belt in the < 163lb. Not my preferred choice, but c'est la vie. The white belt in this instance turned out to be a very fit and seasoned grappler. I pulled guard and she immediately started with a knee slide pass that was very well executed. I can't remember if I conceded side-control or not then, but I'm sure I did at some point. Her top pressure and hip control were very, very good. I asked her later if she wrestled and she said no, which surprised me. I tried for quite some time to regain guard, and eventually did. I tried to set up sweeps and subs, but she was diligent about repeatedly breaking grips. Again, not something you see often from white belts or even blue belts. I finally got her loaded up enough for a modified pendulum sweep into mount. From there, I was able to maintain position enough to set up and execute a bow and arrow for the submission.

Next match went similarly, except that I didn't get the sweep and she racked up points by passing my guard and getting to side-control and I think KOB once or twice. Both my coach and I could tell that she was really efforting, and the plan  in the 3rd match was to not let her pass (ha!) and to outlast her cardio. I don't remember much from the 3rd match except that somehow I got to mount which put me up on points. She escaped and then I kept her in my guard for the remainder of the match for the win. I had finally realized at this point that my feeble attempts at DLR were not working.

I eked a 2-out-of-3 win for gold.

I was lucky in that James was able to coach me for all three matches. We had a lot of competitors, but no else happened to be competing at the same time.

I had around 3-4hrs before absolute, so I went outside in the sun for a bit while I took in food and water and tried to mellow out. Came back in and cheered on teammates, and half-wished that I wasn't competing again so that I could relax and really take in the experience of my team.

In absolute I had an opponent that seemed like she wasn't too far below me in size. I'm guessing around 152lb. Once again, winner would have to do 2-out-of-3. First match I pull guard and it turns out that she was also very adept at the knee cut through pass. She got to side-control quickly, and I did a poor job in defending my neck, which resulted in some sort of quick and very tight choke (a d'arce maybe?). Next match I again pull guard and did a better job of keeping her in it. I can't remember the bulk of the match, except at one point she postured but left her arm in, so I decided to go for an arm-bar and sunk it in tight and fast. She tapped immediately and starting shaking her arm out after I let go. I realized I probably put it on too fast. I apologized, but she said she wasn't hurt and she was ok to do the final match. Last match went the same as the first. I can't remember if she won by submission or points, but either way I couldn't keep her in my guard or sweep.

Silver for absolute.

We had a big contingent travel for this tournament, and I really did not want to lose to a white belt in front of the entire team. As much as I'm a proponent for taking ego out of jiu jitsu, I simply can't help myself in this regard. Especially when my team tries to hype me up beforehand by reminding me that I won gold at Pans. That is pressure.

I learned that my DLR is godawful. My side-control escapes are decent, and my patience and survival in bad positions is relatively good. With the exception of maybe one match out of the six, I was in bottom side-control. Not ok. If I'm going to pull guard, I must get better at retaining it and executing sweeps. I made an effort not to concede bad positions, but not enough. I also didn't scramble enough. I never, ever get arm-bars from guard in class, but I they seem to work for me in tournaments.

My cardio was ok. I don't think I had a big adrenaline dump in my matches, but I did have a nervous stomach all day. I must be more diligent about warming-up when I'm standing by the mat waiting to compete. I think double-dipping on classes on the Wednesday prior was a bad plan. I also probably shouldn't have rolled for a full hour on Friday. I know my cardio is good, but I don't take into account the energy drain of travel, sleeping in a hotel with a bunch of dudes, not getting a full night's sleep, poor nutrition and hydration, etc.

I am frustrated again by the lack competition at local tournaments. The competition I had was very good, but of the three regional tournaments I've done this year, I've had exactly one opponent for each division. The medals seem somewhat hollow when you are guaranteed a silver just for stepping on the mat. One of our white belts had 18 guys in his division and had 5 or 6 matches to get gold. He also had long waits between his matches, whereas I had no more than 10min between rolls, which was enough to catch my breath but still be warm. It is what it is...

Speaking of teammates, I loved watching them compete. Even the guys who weren't able to get a win were really fighting and giving it their best. We had three guys travel with us just to watch, which was very selfless.

Overall it was an excellent learning experience. It really opened my eyes to the fact that I'm not as good as I think I am. If I want to compete at Worlds next year as a blue I'm really going to have to fix some major holes in my game. If I got my purple before Pans I was considering doing the master's division, but now I'm not so sure. I need more confidence in my game before dropping that kind of $$ to compete again.

Too Much of a Good Thing

9/4 - Downtown (Morning & Evening Class)

Looks like someone signed up in the weight class below me, so I'm guessing that we'll be paired up for a best two out of three match scenario. Very happy if this is the case, as I'll have someone roughly my experience level and size.

Thought that doing two classes today leading up to the tournament would be a good idea. Help get me in groove, pumped full of BJJ knowledge... The morning class went fine. Rolled against upper belts and even though I was getting crushed I fended off most if not all submissions. Our technique was basic half guard sweeps, nothing fancy.

The evening class was 2min of alternating drills between partners, with you choosing whatever you wanted to work on for the 2min. I liked this format as a change-up, and decided to go with an arm-bar from KOB and scisscor sweep. Basic stuff that I know but is good to brush up on before a tournament.

The rolls were another matter entirely. I went with a couple of white belts and a couple of purple belts. The white belts gave me fits, although I had a nice arm-bar locked up on one of them. The should have had a dominant position with the other one but I couldn't get there. The purple belts mauled me, although I was able to fend off many sub attempts (but not all). I rolled with one other blue belt, but he rolls very light with no strength and very little explosion (even though he is jacked and could mop up the floor with me if he wanted to). He let me get an arm-bar and work on positioning.

Overall I didn't feel like I had an opponent that was anywhere near comparable to the size/skill level I'll see at the tournament. This is a common frustration I have and I need to trust that if I have an opportunity to use my top game or guard game that it will be good enough.

Open Mat

9/2 - Downtown

Open mat for 2hrs. Awesome. I was being careful as hell with Julio b/c he likes to go full speed, especially when I have a tournament coming up. I was terrified that my knee was going to get ripped into four or five different pieces. Rolls with everyone else went really well. Dominated Zack, which is unusual. Surprised that he was conceding guard. Competitive with Manny. He got an arm-bar or two, but we had some excellent scrambles. Also did very well with Keith, and had back control on him multiple times. Tried but could not finish bow and arrow. One roll with Dennis and he crushed and passed my guard easily. A roll with Kyle, who haven't seen in awhile. He would go for kimuras or arm-bars fast, but I was able to counter successfully. I can tell he's been out for awhile.

Overall, a great start to the week. Very happy to get this much rolling at the beginning of the week.