The tournament looked well organized and seemed to run smoothly. There were very little lulls in action. This was also the first tournament I've noticed a winners podium with a photogenic backdrop. That was a nice touch. Winners were recognized and teams were able to cram onto the podium for pictures.
I got to the tournament a little late and missed the purple belts and some of the blue belts. Bummer. The first match I saw was Chester, a two-stripe blue belt that trains at GB, good guy. He dominated his opponent on points with very good top-control. The ref awarded points after points as Chester continually passed his opponent's guard and moved into knee-on-belly. FYI, knee-on-belly is a position that...well it's exactly what it sounds like...it's one of my favorite positions to play from. When the match was over there was no question that Chester was the winner.
The next blue belt I watched was Evan. I just recently met this guy, haven't really trained with him much but hear he's got good skills. And I heard correctly. Evan pulled guard at the beginning of the match and immediately began working his spider guard. FYI spider guard is a type of open guard where, generally, you control your opponent's wrists and push against their biceps with your feet thereby controlling their arms and upper body. It's an effective technique which I like to use but need to get better at. Anyway, Evan's opponent had difficulty negotiating his guard but at some point they wound up in a position where Evan looked at risk of getting caught in an ankle lock. But Evan diligently worked his way out, regained spider guard, and eventually swept his opponent to earn some points. At the end of the match Evan won by points.
Another Evan from GB rolled in the tournament. This Evan is a white belt. He's been at GB for several months and I've rolled with him a few times. He's got good technique and he's really compact, which makes it difficult to catch his limbs for a submission. Evan did well in his first match. Once the action hit the mat he worked his top-game well, passing guard, holding side-control, and working into the mount position. Once in mount he rode his way to victory by points. In his second match, Evan fell short on points but put up a good fight.
One of the slickest submission I saw today, unfortunately, came at the defeat of one of my teammates who is a 4-stripe white belt. They started the match on their feet and worked to get their grips on each others gi. His opponent got a grip on my teammate's sleeve and took advantage of a moment my teammate was off balance. He yanked my teammate toward him while at the same time side-stepping around to his back. The two fell to the mat but before they hit the opponent had both his hooks in and was attacking with a rear naked choke. FYI having your hooks in means you're on your opponent's back with your legs wrapped around their torso and your hells tucked inside their hips and thighs; it's a very dominant position which gives you great control over your opponent. My teammate did all he could to escape the choke but he was caught and forced to tap. The match took no more than 30 seconds. The other guy was really fast, pounced on his back like a monkey and didn't let go.
I've been training with Randy for a long time now. He's a 4-stripe white belt, has good technique, and he's fast as hell. I like watching him roll and was excited to see his first match. His speed and technique kept his opponent on the defensive the entire match so much so that Randy was able to go for at least four submission attempts during the match. Too bad he wasn't able to finish any of them but his opponent did well to defend against them. There was a slight moment of concern in the final 30 seconds when the opponent went to take Randy's back and Randy was forced into the turtle position. FYI, turtle is when you're curled up with your knees and elbows on the mat. You want to keep tight so your opponent can't get a hold of you and control you. It's kinda like being in the fetal position on your knees. Randy turtled up well and his opponent wasn't able to do anything. By a wide margin, Randy won on points.
Randy made it to the final match of his division and it was a crazy, face-paced fight. They went back and forth. Randy would sweep his opponent, then get swept back, and this repeated over and over. It was non-stop action. They kept even on points until the opponent swept Randy and was able to quickly pass his guard. That put the opponent up by 5 points (2 for the sweep, 3 for the pass) and time was running out. Randy kept fighting and was able to reverse position and end up on top in his opponent's guard. My guess is that Randy knew time was running out and went for some crazy jumping, somersault guard pass. It didn't work and the way he fell and rolled left an arm exposed and his opponent didn't miss the opportunity. He locked up an armbar. Too bad Randy lost, but it was a good match. He took chances, pushed the pace, even tried something crazy, and when it was over he was still smiling and walked away with a silver medal. Nice job man!
I was really bummed that I missed the purple belts because I really like watching Clinton, one of my instructors, roll and this was his first competition as a purple belt. However, the open-weight purple belt competition was last so I was able to watch Clinton roll. I was nervous for the guy since he was likely the newest purple belt in the competition but also excited to see how he'd do. His first match began and he pulled guard, I've learned he prefers to fight off his back. FYI, pulling guard is when you start on the feet and simultaneously pull your opponent into you while you jump to wrap your legs around them, bringing them down to the mat in your guard as you fall back. Clinton did this and started to move from full guard into spider guard. His opponent worked aggressively to pass the guard but Clinton adjusted and moved well to prevent the pass. Eventually Clinton swept his opponent and controlled the top-position. I couldn't see too well from where I was watching but I guess Clinton's opponent left his neck exposed because it looked like Clinton locked up a guillotine choke from the top. He won his first match by submission. Nice!
Clinton did well in his second match. He worked his spider guard well but his opponent was able to pass it a couple times for some points. Clinton got a very nice tripod sweep. FYI a tripod sweep is...well it's a little complicated to explain here so check out a video...anyway he earned some points for it. But overall, the opponent was able to control the tempo of the fight although Clinton did go for a few chokes that kept his opponent honest. In the end, Clinton came up short on points but for his first time competing as a purple belt I think he did pretty damn good.
Watching the tournament got me itchy to train. I've been slacking for a while now...well, since Thanksgiving...and I've gotten rusty. Really rusty. I don't really have the itch to compete but I'd like to get more fluid and learn more techniques so I can be on par with the guys – and girls – at GB. I gotta get back to training more consistently, but I digress...Anyway, much props to everybody who competed today. The commitment to train, make weight, and have the spotlight on you while rolling isn't easy. It takes a level of dedication and nerve to do so my hat's off to everybody who competed. Can't wait for the next one!
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