First Tourny- Budweiser Jiu-Jitsu World Cup 2010

So, last saturday I competed in my first Jiu Jitsu tournament. It was called the Bud Cup, and it was hosted at the Cabarrus Arena. Although I really only ended up competing for 25 minutes total, it took all day and was a long time in the making.

I have been doing Jiu Jitsu now for about 7 months. If you dont know what it is...look it up on wikipedia. The important thing to know is that it is similar to wrestling with submission involved. A submission is when you have someone in a position that will result in extensive bodily damage or unconsciousness unless they "tap out," which is the universal sign for "please dont keep doing that...it really hurts and/or its making me sleepy/ my brain needs that blood." tons of fun.

So, last monday, I started the week by weighing myself. I was planning on competing at featherweight (under 145 lbs), so i had to eat less food that week to make weight by Friday. I love to eat, so eating less while still training was a slow, annoying misery. Come friday though, I had lost about 6 lbs and weighed in at 144 (weigh ins were at this hotel, where they had registration in a conference room and the actual weigh-in was in a room, in a bathroom, with this older guy...yeah, insert joke here). After weigh-ins, i ate a turkey melt, french fries, and ice cream. so good.

So, come saturday morning, it was time to compete. I had registered for two divisions at featherweight (gi and no-gi beginner) and one division at lightweight (145-155). At the NAGA tourny I watched, gi was last, so that is what I was hoping for. On this day though, gi was done first. The thing is, I dont even own a Gi! A gi is a jacket and pants used for jiu jitsu...its actually a weapon you wear, since you can choke people with it. Its as if someone said, "hey, jiu jitsu would be more fun if instead of being strenuous it almost killed you! Let do this while wearing a coat and pants, to help us sweat more!" I only train in no-gi, but the tourny was one price for as many divisions as possible. So, i borrowed a gi from a friend and training partner (mma great Kurtis Cloward) and went to ONE CLASS to learn the basics. So, as of saturday, i was putting on my gi for the SECOND time ever. Luckily, my training friends helped me tighten my pants and tie my belt (which I had to find in the lost and found, since Kurtis' belt was blue, the next level up in skill) right before I was to compete. In my first match, I got taken down and pulled guard at the same time (i am going to bold words to google for pictures of). Nonetheless, I lost 2 points. I had a few triangle choke attempts, fended off some collar chokes from my opponent, but then the 5 minutes ran out. I lost 2-0. Lame

Then I proceeded to wait a small eternity for the gi divisions to finish. There are something like 5 skill levels and 6 weight classes in each Men's, Women's, teens, and Master's division. The combinations are extensive....so it took FOREVER.

Finally, it was time to go again. I checked in for no-gi featherweight, and then was called to check in at no-gi lightweight also. They at first balked at this, since both divisions would be going at the same time. Me and the other guy (who actually had beat me in no-gi) suggested they just schedule us for both divisions, and if there was overlap we would forfeit. turns out, we were first in lightweight, so off we went. Now I was going against the same guy I lost to in no-gi. Lame. Guess what happened. I pulled guard, but they called it a take down. I escaped, and got taken down again. Time ran out with him in my guard. I lost 4-0. He never even attempted a guard pass or a submission. as mentioned...lame. (on the sorta bright side, i accidentally elbowed the guy in the mouth. he wasnt wearing a mouthguard so i busted his lip. he then bled on me. the referee reminded me to shower later, since i had blood in my shirt. would i have forgotten to shower if he had not told me? who knows.)

So, at this point i had competed in two levels that werent really mine, and had lost both. i was getting annoyed. finally, it was time to compete in no-gi at my weight class. So, the match started, and I did a better job defending the takedown. I managed to get under the guy's shoulder for a body lock on his side. I was about to dump him hard, when we got close to the crowd, so we had to stop. then we worked in the clinch some more and he was about to get a single-leg when I ended up in the crowd. Another restart. Finally, with about a minute to go, I got a takedown. I held on and stayed in his guard and won 2-0. It was no submission, but it felt good.

Next, I faced the guy who had beaten the guy who had beat me twice. All the guys were super quick, strong wrestlers. So, he got the takedown. Then, he passed to side control. I managed to get back to half-guard. In the process though, he started working on a submission. He had my arm trapped over my head, so it was not good for me. I got a lockdown on one of his legs, but that didnt alleviate as much of the punch-choke that I would have liked. I relaxed, and eventually I surged up and got my arm free, back to regular half-guard, minus the choke attempt. Then, time ran out. Another loss on points...maybe 4-0, but nonetheless I survived a pretty mean choke and submission attempt. I count it as a morale victory.

I thought I was done, but apparently, the winner that match went on to go for 1st and 2nd. This meant that I would get to compete for 3rd. As I sat in the chair exhausted, the ref asked how much time I wanted to recover. I asked for 2 days. He told me I could have 10 minutes. So, I waited. One of the guys I train with came over and asked if I really wanted to go again. I told him "yes and no." I wanted to get third, but I would have preferred not to move from my seat for a long time. He understood.

Last match time. I remembered watching this guy before. He was super fast. I felt like I was in trouble. I wanted to sit down at the start to avoid the takedown. (ala Eddie Bravo) I stood though, and he flew in like M. Bison for the double leg takedown/ slam-my-head-into-the-mat move. The crowd flinched and made noise to reinforce my pain (i did the same actually, in unison). We were near the edge though, so i had to then crawl back to the middle to start again. On the bright side, I had full-guard. So, like other wrestlers, he did nothing from my guard. He put his head low in my chest a couple time, head butting me on the way down. Finally, I sat up, noticed he was sitting up too, and then hip bumped to get the sweep, ending up in mount. He went from strong and flexed to relaxed and weak. Its amazing how much he changed when I was sitting on his chest. It felt real comfortable. I tried some submissions, but nothing really came through. Then, I think he escaped, and in the scramble, we ended up like we started, in my full guard. Then, he sat up too much again, so I did sweep number 2. Man that felt good. Back on top, he decided to roll, so I took the back (back mount). From there, I sunk in a pretty tight body triangle. He didn't like that and I could hear him grunting from the compression of his torso. He tried to roll a couple time, but with a body triangle there is nowhere to go. I proceeded to attempt a rear naked choke a bunch, but he held my hands and tucked his chin, so I wasn't able to get it. I won 12-4. No submissions, but man did it feel good to get third and to win my last match.

This week has been an off week. I am enjoying the down time, working on school, and each day I find a new injury to let heal (the head butts to my face caused bruising under my eyebrows...weird). What an awesome experience. The most fun I have ever had in such a short time (25 minutes of total mat time). BJJ record lifetime: 0-1, 0-1, 2-1