1st Match Win and 1st Medal As Brown Belt
Getting The Body Ready
Even If I Can't Go Compete At Mundials Or Masters/Seniors Worlds
I Will ALWAYS Be Ready
What Some Folks Need To DoGot to the tournament a little late but it was ok as it started a tad bit behind schedule though not much...There were about 600 competitors there so things picked up pretty nicely...thanks to Kip Kollar and Joe Cuff (http://www.nagafighter.com) for selecting me to be a NAGA referee...Was good to see and talk to tyler (my official equipment sponsor... http://WWW.GOMGI.COM ...be sure to go check em out..the BEST GIs and No-Gi equipment ANYWHERE and at the best prices!)...I felt pretty decent as Doc Zuber worked out the scalene muscles for me and got rid of a headache I'd had for some time the week before...Had a tad bit of stress from my personal life and work, but all in all I felt ok...I was very conflicted though b/c so many of the guys, girls and kids from my gym whom I've worked with to get ready were going to be competing...some of which on the mat I was refereeing (Mat 8)...and I would not be able to coach or really pay attention to their matches, both because I had to pay attention to my own mat, and because as a referee we can't look partial...this became a little stressful during the day as I'd often look over at folks and give them a quiet nod or wink or head jerk to try to help them along...
anyways, I had a great day refereeing, only had one controversy (had a kid get a takedown in the overtime of his match only to realize after conferring with the table official that it occurred after the time was up...had to "confer" a bit with his coach and parents but it went ok in the end)...and had one guy choked all the way out...(he stood with a guy who had him in guard and the guy slapped on a gi choke..he said he was OK until he fell to the floor...lol)...but NO injuries nor arguments about points, calls, etc other than that...Had a few kids cry, but I worked hard to get them to laugh and feel good about themselves, and seemed to be able to do so each time..We at my mat decided to give two third places in a lot of cases, which also made the kids happy...
My team looked pretty good even though a few people we thought would win for certain, placed second or third and I am pretty sure we won the team title in No-gi, though I am not sure about the Gi...
All day, I thought about doing the match in the Gi and had more than a little self doubt...1. because it was my first at Brown Belt. 2. I'd been on my feet all day, concentrating on refereeing, and not making mistakes, as well as worrying about all sorts of things in life, and hadn't eaten much nor taken my meds all day (I forgot em at home like a dumbass) 3. because I knew the guys in my division would all outweigh me substantially, in addition to having some of them be Black Belts as well, and I wasn't going to have much of a chance to warm up properly, prior to competing...Ah well..hell with it...they call me up and I get dressed...no chance to stretch or anything...I'm up against a pretty good Brown belt who weighs two twenty something...Well One of the 100 things to do before you get your black belt (from Gracie Magazine) is to compete when you aren't "ready"...So I go in, and because I am a tad nervous I think it helped as I pulled guard VERY authoritatively...I work a set up Marcus showed me and it worked perfectly...Popped the triangle on him...Dude tried to muscle out (seems like that escape is popular and he seemed as if he was confident in it...), but...I wrapped the leg...tightened up as he tried turning and cradled him and got the three lil taps! FIRST WIN AS A BROWN BELT!!!!! so my next match is against Rodrigo Pinheiro...A Black Belt under Saulo Ribeiro...he is a couple time World champ...three time Pan Am champ...five time Brasileiro champ among many other tournament victories and placements...I go in with the intent of not making a mistake and getting to my strong points...He seemed to be coached on me from Leonardo Xavier and he beat me to the punch and pulled De La Riva Guard immediately...He was strong as hell...He got the reversal as I tried sitting back (instead of grabbing the off leg and defending to the pass as I should have) which let him control my far leg so I could not move and got put into a bad position...He went straight to north/south...as he did he reached for Kimura...I've been working on something for this as a lot of people in my school like this submission and set up for it...I am very proud of myself (he told me I did well with it after! :-D ) for keeping my arms in, and I shot for my move I've been working of shooting my arms straight in for the collar choke...It's risky but I've worked a lot on being able to defend the arms being taken out and for it to work to that point against him, I knwo it works...Well I get the hands in pretty deep as my arms are long and he is shorter than me,,,,but even with my knees against his shoulders and my hands in his collar I could NOT pull him back for the choke to tighten...we stayed in this position about 1:45 as he could not move to side control without tightening the choke and I could not move my arms for fear of him taking one and finishing me as he was extremely strong...Something in my head is telling me..."just be patient...do NOT move your hands..you have a submission..just wait..." but I heard someone say he was hunting for the Kimura again and felt him tug on an elbow again... so my hand went...on it's own..damned dumb trained hand!...to try to grab my hand in defense, and he switched from the opposite arm he was attacking, and grabbed it and wrist locked me hard as hell!...I tapped...:(...Though I am not happy with any loss, this one, given circumstances, how I felt, and who I lost to and knowing I had a chance to win...I felt good and learned a lot...If I make another major championship, I know that I am good enough to place or win. I will work to close a couple more holes, and be ready always.
Afterward, I had dinner, and after dinner stayed to talk with someone I really admire...Don't think he understands what that talk did for me. It allowed me to drop some really major demons I've carried with me probably since 1st grade!!! Thank you is not enough for me to say Kirk! You are truly good people, and it shows in you and your son as well!
Well, got paid for the reffing the tournament (which was an unexpected surprise), got a damned headache again, which is killing me as I write this, and learned a lot...There's lot's more in here, but That's enough for this one...I fight on...
Thought For Today: BE SINGLE-MINDED IN PURPOSE.
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