BJJ 5/16 Tournament - my first match (also a Facebook note)

I met so many great people including a lot of the girls that train in Truckee (Mary thank you so much for working on my back). I really need to make a point to get up there once or twice a month. It's great to meet other people that just enjoy the Jiu-Jitsu for the sake of BJJ. Mr. Gracie (Charles) was there, but I was just a little too nervous to meet him. In addition, I'm sure he is a busy man with a lot of people he needed to talk to. Watching the matches was great fun. Some of them look so calm (Bobby?) and make it look effortless; that is where the BJJ is - in the calm, technique realm. The kids were more serious than I thought. When I see their classes they seem hard to settle down, but their matches were focused. They were like little highly trained grappling machines. That was fun to watch.

As for my match, I need to start out with the fact that I outweighed my opponent by probably 30 lbs. I won my match at about 4 minutes with a guillotine, but the weight is really significant, so, many props to her. It makes me nervous about my real weight class. It was a good learning experience in terms of actually seeing how I would feel and act and react as well as identify my weak points in order to make sure to train.

Some of my weaknesses identified during the match:
1. No good takedowns
2. very vulnerable to sweeps.
Takedowns - I didn't feel good about the single leg takedown that I learned. It felt really inconsistent and since I wasn't feeling it I tried something different that I learned the day before. Of course when that didn't work I'm not really sure what happened except that I think I had to sprawl on her. I'm not even sure what happened from there, but I do know that she swept me a few times and she tried to sweep me a few times. At one point I had mount and at one point I had side control. There was a half guard time where I was trying really hard to get my leg out; I was pushing down with my other foot and I was pulling on that leg but it was a no go. I lost confidence in that move. Clearly I'll need to ask Kelly about the particulars of that move.

Some things I was happy about:
I managed to stay pretty calm.
Some things came naturally without having to think about it.
I didn't get tired.
Submission - When I got side control I was trying to work to a Kimura, frankly, because it was the only thing I could think of. She was sweaty and slipped right out of my hand a few times before I got hold. I had just gotten my right and was just about to throw my leg over her head (another Rener Gracie video) when she rolled up into me which wasn't my plan but I just kept working the Kimura. The Kimura wasn't working (she was flexible and I don't think I had guard) but she was now close to my guard and I was close to her head so I grabbed her neck and pulled my leg through for guard. I did try to get the guillotine, but my arm wasn't deep enough. I really needed to reposition my hands and I remembered that Rener Gracie video about posting on the elbow and the opposite foot to readjust so I did. I was really scared to let my guard go, but I knew I would never get the guillotine without it and I thought she was ahead on points because of the sweeps so I adjusted. After I adjusted I got my guard back and I did everything I know about the guillotine and she tapped. I have to say I was probably too rough with it, but after my unsuccessful first Kimura try and my unsuccessful first guillotine try, I didn't want to take any chances. I was feeling pretty desperate and pretty doubtful that it would work so I pulled out of desperation.

Coaching - I heard Kelly tell me once to get underhooks which was brilliant and made things alot better. I never think of them because I didn't personally understand the total value of having those underhooks. Right after Kelly said that I immediately did it and I felt way, way better instantly. The other time I heard Kelly she was saying to take her back. I think I had sorta gotten out to the side and when Kelly said take the back I remembered the drill we did with ear on hip and from your butt up onto your knee. I tried it, but it didn't work out (pretty sure she turned into me), but at least I remembered it. All told, it was incredibly helpful that Kelly coached me. She's brilliant and I think she says just enough. I think she waited until she knew that I didn't know what to do before she would say something.

Once, I believe while we were in half guard I felt her arm on my head like she was trying to get it around for a guillotine and I pressed into her harder to keep that arm from coming through, but preventing that consumed my thought process. It was the closest that I came to panicking. I need to work more defenses and escapes in order to feel less panic at the thought of getting caught up in something. I need to exercise the "relax and escape" part of my brain. Currently, I think I will not remain calm. Good to know.

Prep - For this tournament I made a few goals which were:
1. Don't Freak Out (Keep breathing, keep thinking)
2. Keep working the whole time (5 minutes)
3. Work for better position
I'm happy to say that I feel like I achieved those goals. I can't believe how fast the time went. The 4 minute mark felt like 90 seconds. Crazy. I can see now how tournaments are about the clock and points, etc. 5 minutes sounded like a ridiculously long time to me when I was worried about tiring out. Now it seems about 5 minutes too short. Because BJJ is really physical chess, it seems odd that there is a time constraint. I mean, understandable for tournaments, but odd. In chess you keep working until checkmate; it's a long game. In BJJ I can see how you could give up points working toward your end game the same way you might sacrifice your pawns or a bishop. Odd that it is timed.

I relaxed and watched Rener Gracie videos the night before. I packed my bag and laid out my clothes and I went to bed about 10. In the morning I had a protein shake, some oatmeal, and a caffeine shot. I left pretty early and got there around 9am. Everyone was way more laid back and relaxed than I expected at any sort of competition. I'm glad I went and I'm glad to have the nerves of the first one over with.

From here, I keep up with the BJJ techniques and I'll be going back to CrossFit to improve strength and endurance. I can't get any slow roll in my life right now and that is a pretty serious concern. I keep going to classes where we learn a technique and then we try it. I would really like someone who just wants to roll 50% for an hour. The one time I got to roll with Kelly I learned about 9 things in 3 minutes where I thought, "I can feel her going over there" or "She's giving me a second to figure out what to do here" or "Where do I go from here?". It's all experiential and I'm not getting the experience time. Gotta figure this out.