South Bay Open 2010

Yesterday I competed in the South Bay Open. I've been so broke lately I wasn't going to sign up but I decided to do one of those "screw it, I'll add it to my credit card debt" moments and commit. I contemplated losing some weight in order to compete at super feather (I know that sounds like the weight of paper, it's great) and then I realized I might even have to watch that I don't go above 141! I weighed in at 137, always less than I think I will. Go figure. I attended the tournament on Saturday to support my Ralph Gracie and GB Encino teammates so I got a glimpse of how it was being run. Definitely just a small tourney that was probably going to be a lot of competitor's first competition. I wasn't stressed at all considering I had been working on my spider guard and was getting pretty comfortable with sweeps. I'm comfortable enough on top to submit and maintain my control. I had my training partner Mik help me warm up on the available mats that most people walked on with their shoes when waiting in line for weigh ins. Yeah, I notice these things. I warmed up with my headphones in blasting Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA and some Cartel and The Fray. I definitely annoyed people including Mik who asked me to get rid of my headphones. Nope. I basically light rolled with him and drilled some spider guard and sweeps and control. I became more sweaty during the warm-up than I did in my matches! I made my mom stay home for this one since I didn't want too many people there for me causing me to believe it was a bigger deal than it was. Sizing the whole tournament up to mean almost nothing helps my nerves. Mik coached me and Benny from Ralph Gracie stepped in even though I told him I had someone which is a good feeling. I may not be an official member of their gym anymore but I still have a family there. Took a little to get my first match but I stretched and kept warm on the side while waiting. Finally I was up.....first girl I got my grips and pulled guard immediately like planned. I can't stand when girls just dance around for five minutes waiting for who knows what. The more anticipation during the stand up, the more worked up I get during the match; I'd assume it's similar in others' experiences as well. She was floppin' around trying to apply pressure but I was able to control somewhat. Went for a triangle but she kept driving forward and her other arm was still kind of inside my legs. Swept her, went for an arm bar. Felt it pop but she wouldn't tap and rolled so I went with her a couple times and lifted my hips a foot off the ground for the win. Cool. Second girl was bigger, I think the ref said they merged weight classes. Anyway, I pulled guard went for a sweep but was sloppy and didn't get mount so went to side control. I moved around her from north south to the other side and as she went to turn to her knees I took the back and choked her with one of her lapels. Third girl was a little tougher. She had an idea of how to pass but I swept her. Messed it up again and got into half guard. She held onto my leg/foot for dear life which is what I would have done as well. I got it free then she got it again. Got into mount went for ezekiel. She defended so I thought about americana but ended up sticking my left hand deep in her collar and using my forearm to create room for my other hand and got the cross choke. My first gold. It felt good but I know that I could have done way better. It just proves that competition bjj is so much different than most training. At white belt level at least, girls tend to treat it like a race. They scramble a lot, when they get a position they hug for dear life and they do stupid shit like stall instead of passing and attempt americanas while in someone's guard. At least I know that no points were scored on me and none of my positions were from getting lucky. I'm going to go ahead and complain that some pictures were taken of me and I look really stupid and embarrassing. Here's a not so embarrassing one:

Sometimes we need harsh words

I've only been around/in the jiu jitsu world for about a year but it doesn't take this long nor long at all to realize that it's a long-term commitment that will push you, reward you, test you and make you feel things you have never felt before-- and we all know that's not just sore muscles. How many times have you been so frustrated that you feel like a total failure after a day of training? Or how about feeling like you've plateaued and have become bored with the routine of training? What about an injury putting you out of training all together for an extended amount of time and being forced to break up the consistency of your game and learning process? There are so many things that come between a student and a good day of training, a win in a competition, the next stripe...a black belt. A few months ago I jotted down some frustrations that weren't even regarding bjj but after coming across it again I think it can easily be applied. It comes off harsh but it's my reality and a great deal of where I come from and believe others should institute it as well. Too often we settle for less and avoid taking our training and even losses into our own hands. Take responsibility and give credit where/when its due.
"I don't understand people who become passive when shit happens in their lives. Whatever happened to being a go-getter? When one thing doesn't go your way do you give up and say it wasn't meant to be? Do you choose a different path because there's an obstacle? Do you live with a safety net so that when shit gets real you can take yourself out by saying it was out of your hands? No. There's no destined path for why or how events happen in our lives. Most of the time it's your fault, you just can't own up to it. You weren't paying attention, you didn't run fast enough, you didn't wake up early enough. You blame it on something else because you didn't go that extra ounce, inch or mile to get what you wanted so you settle and allow your life to be put into hands other than your own. Life is not about destinies and "meant to be"'s. Life is about choices and sticking to goals, no matter how big or small, through whatever hardship there might be. And I'm not talking about long shots, I'm talking about any situation that would give someone an opportunity to say "Everything happens for a reason." It doesn't. Shit happens and then we settle and make up excuses to relieve ourselves of all responsibility. No, one thing doesn't happen so that someone or something better can come along. Grow up. Yes coincidences occur, but the second you rely on causes that are above you, you're removing your responsibilities and surrendering your own freedoms. So the next time you run into a mishap, try searching for the true problem and continue on rather than taking a detour."

Apparently you can blog from your phone now.

11 months in

So I got my 4th stripe. I've wanted to touch on some subjects but haven't wanted it to be controversial or talk about something I don't have enough knowledge about. Like "that guy" who chimes in on political debates between coworkers and sounds like a total idiot because he really has no sources or research on his positions. You know what I'm talking about. But promotions is a whole 'nother level. I'll go ahead and expand since, like Little Larry said to me, "opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one!" Stripes are just taboo to talk about it seems. Belts are cool to mention but only after you've gotten yours. I understand it's at your Professor's discretion as to whether you're ready and have earned a promotion especially one that grants a new color belt. I've talked about stripes. I've joked about getting my blue belt and I guess it's just not that funny. I don't want to be part of an academy that hands out belts based on attendance and I don't want to be a sandbagger either. By saying that I FEEL I'm ready for a stripe after having my third for nearly 6 months, I am by no means undermining Romulo's ability to determine my rank and progress. To be frank, I believe it had to do with my leaving the academy for the near two months that I was at Ralph Gracie and having to build up my respect from my teammates and instructors again. I was told I finally received my fourth stripe not only because my technique has showed improvement but also my attitude. It's the whole package, the whole image I present to others and the atmosphere I create for myself. I'll clear up some fallacies here by saying that whenever I've talked about getting stripes I don't feel that I should just get them, it's not that I just really want to have a lot of stripes on my belt and it's not like I want to race through the training in order to look better to others. I want the stripes and I want to earn them, I want to be deserving of them. Yeah, I want my blue belt. Hell, I want my black! I want to be AT the blue belt level with the knowledge, not just a pretty color to match my gi. I'll admit I've probably focused too much on the belt and what's on it in the past but feeling singled out, feeling like I'm being put to a test is the frustrating part. "You never know when you're gonna get it." I have a feeling, it was just when I proved that I deserved it. I'm still going to talk about it. I'm still going to express when I feel like I'm not being judged the same way but now I know that 4 stripe white belt is where I'm supposed to be. No complaints. Just appreciation.