FIGHTING FACTSFirst and foremost, Team McV competed ridiculously well. We brought home a pile of medals and were the second place team in the white belt competition. Second, I personally did ridiculously well, taking gold in a 5-person division. Third, the weekend was also really fun off the mat. Here's the story.
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, my guard suddenly stopped working so well. In retrospect, it was probably because everyone else started training harder. But at the time, I was worried: guard used to be what I was good at! I started thinking maybe I should switch and try to play the top at the tournament instead.
I was still mulling this over as my first match started. I hesitated, and the other girl jumped guard. It wasn't a great jump - I got her feet open reasonably quickly and started to pass. But she had me in a gogoplata for a little while, which was surprising and very uncomfortable. I'd never seen it before, and it took me a while to figure out what was going on and how to get out of it. I passed and took mount, she actually slipped out backwards, and I mounted her again. I was pretty tired at this point (still coughing from the choke), but I looked over at the guys on my team and they were all motioning for me to hold still because time was short. I probably would have done something stupid if not for them.
After that first match I realized I would really rather play from the bottom, so in my second match I jumped guard right away. Take that! She tried to pass, but instead set herself up to get triangled. I was still tired from getting choked by the first girl, coughing whenever I breathed too hard, so I was glad to have the match finish early.
I think my third match was really weird. I jumped guard and got my hands in for a cross-collar choke right away. My grip was ok - she could defend it, but if she didn't defend it I'd choke her. She defended it but couldn't make me let go, and I held on to that cross-collar for a really long time. At one point her face turned kind of purple and she waved her arms weakly - I was sure she was going to tap - but then she suddenly recovered. Damn! At that point I let go because I wanted to sweep her, but as soon as I did she opened up her neck again. I replaced the choke. I had gotten an advantage from something or other, and my guys were all on the side telling me to wait it out. I wasn't so sure (what if she passes and gets two points?) but I was also very tired, so I did what they said. It turned out ok - she pretty much couldn't move with the choke on anyway. That was the first time I have ever won by advantage. After the match was over, Adrienne said I held that same choke for something like three minutes. My hands were pretty tired.
Speaking of, Adrienne did really well herself in the blue belt division, and she said flattering things about me in her blog.
Competition feels different from practice. In practice everybody's got their individual goals, so you're working and you are together but you're not really working together. In competition, for 5 minutes everybody concentrates on winning one match at a time. Teammates keep time for you, encourage you, help you with strategy, and tell you the score. It's great to be on the mat with a bunch of guys backing you up, and it's also really fun to support your teammates when they're competing. Tournaments make the school seem more like a team.
OFF THE MAT STUFF
But when we weren't at the tournament watching or doing BJJ, we had some adventures. Everyone squeezed into Jimmy's car and we hit the Cheesecake Factory for some snacks, since nobody was trying to make weight anymore. There was also plenty of tequila and other drinks to go around. Feanil required that we take a trip to the beach, so that came right afterward. Somehow, when I got back everyone knew that I fell down while we were running to the ocean, but nobody knew it was because I was catching up to Jimmy and stepped on his foot. That is what happens when someone else tells the story first. But Jimmy is a cool guy, and probably singlehandedly responsible for everyone having such a good time Saturday. I hope he comes around sometime so we can order him some cookies - he was mesmerized by the idea that you can get them delivered.
I wanted to go BJJ shopping while we were there - I need to get some fight shorts - but it didn't happen. Maybe I'll just buy some online, but I am concerned that they'll fit weirdly, because they all say things like "new design to better accommodate you when you are wearing a cup!" Uh, thanks but no thanks, guys.
No comments:
Post a Comment