Saturday, October 2, 2010

Tournament fail

Well, I didn't get subbed in the first fifteen seconds. That was my worst fear, and I dodged it, so I'll survive.

The Seattle Open tournament didn't go too well for me. There were a total of THREE (!!!) women signed up.... one white belt and two blues. Sabrina was the white. Good for her- props for guts. I wish I had been able to talk JM and JB into signing up. Either of them would have pulped Sabrina with both arms and one leg tied behind their backs, and then would have given us all a great show of BJJ technique while they duked it out for the gold. But Sabrina was the one to step up, so a round of virtual applause for her. I saw Bianca, Sonia and Bree there, all in street clothes, so I knew none of them were in. Wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed- the devil you know, and all.

My competition intimidated me right off the bat by having three stripes on her belt as well as a big patch on the back of her gi jacket that said "COACH". It was obvious that she had a lot more experience than me. I was pretty nervous. There were a lot of people watching, and Rodrigo, Carlos and Cindy were all ringside.... I felt like a squab in a pressure cooker. The worst part was the dinking around waiting to get started once we were called up.... waiting for the ref to get in place, tying the red belt on, etc. I thought I was going to wet myself. She was studiously avoiding looking at me, so it was kind of awkward. I was trying to not look at the crowd, because that was just making me more nervous. So there was noplace left to look except at the mat. It looked the same as it always does. Blue.

I'm afraid I didn't give the crowd a very good show for the only women's match of the day. I stepped in and grabbed her hard, meaning to try for an aggressive takedown and overwhem her right off the bat, and she pulled guard immediately. I hate that. I'd much rather fight for the takedown, unless it's somebody I know I can't take down. So then I was stuck in her guard for a while. She was trying to break my posture down with mixed success. She had better technique than JB/JM, but did not feel as muscularly strong. I pressed her hips down, broke the guard and tried to get my knee in, but she was ready for me- and fast. I was prepared for her to be fast, but DAMN she was really fast- and the next second, I was in a triangle. Razzafrackin..... I stacked her, and that's where we stayed for a while. She had the triangle on good and tight, but with suboptimal positioning and angle; it wasn't choking me, but it was restricting my breathing capacity to about 30%. She was hurting too, though- I could tell by her face and her breathing, and I think she actually whimpered at one point. I should have been meaner and placed my forearm on her throat and leaned on it. It occurred to me, but I just didn't want to be a jerk... besides, I could tell she was already uncomfortable, and I thought my stacking was going to get her to let go. I shifted around a bit to see if I could get my foot in, or over, and suddenly she did the lightning-move thing again, and transitioned to an armbar. It was so fast and good that I could barely follow what was happening. I tried to roll out of it, we rolled twice and then my elbow was screaming and I had to tap. This all sounds like it took forever, but I think it had to be around 1 min (maybe even less). I'm embarrassed, but it coulda been worse. She was good, she deserved the win.

If I have to fight that girl again at the Revolution, I will be ready for the guard-pulling, the ethereal speed, the triangle, and I may just go ahead with that forearm in the throat (or maybe a good crossface would have served as well) if I come to that crossroads of choice again. I hope I will also be less nervous, but I dunno... all those people watching...

I need to get me one of those big "COACH" patches for my gi. That was just scary.

I saw Connor and Ron lose (both good, long, hard fights, though), Hostility Boy win against Benny (fudge), Ben win two, white-belt-Kevin go into overtime, Frank lose, Pat lose, Brandon win. Kaungren was just stepping onto the mat when I got called over to be "on deck", so I missed his fight even though there was plenty of time and I could have still watched (they were hollering at me to get over there). After my match, I hauled ass out of there.... probably would have been educational to stay and watch some more, but I didn't want the sympathy.

Black-belt-Kevin had come over while I was "on deck" and asked, "You all right?" I said, "Yeah" and he looked closely at me and said, "Are you sure?" So I must have been really pale, or something. He grabbed me as soon as I came off the mat and told me that I had jumped the gun too much with that pass attempt, which I knew. After spending all that time in her guard, I was impatient to get out and do something- and also expecting her to move really fast once we started moving. Kevin said that she had had that triangle- and the armbar transition as well- all set up and waiting for me like a trap to be sprung. I think I was stronger than she was, so I should have tried to stay calm and patient and looked for ways to use that against her. While she had me in guard and kept trying to sit up.... maybe I should have let her keep messing around there for a while and get tired, because I did not feel in danger of being swept, and it wasn't really tiring to me. Hopefully Cindy took some mental notes that she will remember for next time I see her... I should have gone for her feedback right after, but I didn't want to face her right then.

The new school is one big room with four different mat spaces. It was warm in there, but there were a lot of people... hopefully it won't be that warm under normal class conditions. I don't know what it's going to be like with multiple classes going on simultaneously- it may be distracting and difficult to hear. There is a nice big women's changing area, to my relief. Only two bathrooms- there was a long line- but that's an improvement on the one bathroom we had before. I'd like to see three or four bathrooms, but this is progress.

10 comments:

  1. Couple-a thoughts :) Take with a grain of salt as I'm just an overranked 3 str blue myself!

    1. WTF-- a 3 stripe blue shouldn't be coaching jiu jitsu :) We know (generally speaking-- of course I don't know this girl from Eve) only enough to get us in trouble. I wouldn't worry about the coach patch in the future nor would I wear one with a straight face.

    2. More importantly, welcome to womens' jiu jitsu-- by and large, excepting some upper belts and some Mundials-level competitors, women virtually always pull guard and go for triangles and armbars. It gets old, it gets boring, but damn, women with longer legs than mine make it work.

    3. I watched easily 650+ matches from start to finish by working as a scorer at the 2010 Pans and 2010 Mundials, white through black belts, and while my full reflections are on my blog, the short version is this: you want to get the takedown but you must have a credible guard pass and a good guard game (either sweeps or subs.)

    4. Sounds like you did exactly the right things, just were taken by surprise. Next time you will know what's coming (from, like I said, virtually all female BJJ fighters) and you'll be ready to fight back. NEXT TIME, do not hesitate especially once you hear the breathing, see the facial expressions, and savor the whimper. No mercy :)

    Footage? :)

    Congrats girl :)

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  2. Thanks for the feedback, Georgette.

    I didn't get footage; if anyone got any and offers it to me, I'd definitely study it for my errors but I'm not sure if I'd want to post it! Gaah!

    She didn't surprise me too much; she didn't do anything that I wasn't expecting. But her BJJ was definitely better (more experienced) than mine. She was a worthy opponent. I'm not ashamed to have lost against her; woulda been nice if I'd lasted a bit longer and maybe got a decent move or two in first.

    I don't pull guard, usually; I'd rather work for the takedown. I work mostly with men, and the two white belt girls I taught are comfy enough with takedowns that they don't usually pull guard either. I was ready to try to jump that knee over her thigh as she went down, and it was a short scramble for that, but she succeeded in getting the closed guard.

    Yes, next time I will be a bit meaner. She looked like a little blonde cheerleader, and I already felt a little bad for stacking her- but now I know she's a badass and can surely take a little forearm to the throat!

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  3. And again- same MO:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1XUZy5fDOE

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  4. She also took 2nd at the 2010 Mundials.

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  5. And first at the PanAms. Okay, not feeling quite so bad now. DEFINITELY shoulda done forearm-to-throat.

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  6. Way to go Kitsune! That is awesome you competed. It takes guts to get on the mats in tournaments so be proud of yourself. Now you won't be as nervous for Revolution.

    @Georgette. None of the women pulled guard on me during my fights. They all went for takedowns. I haven't competed that much so maybe I'll have a lot more guard pullers later.

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  7. Tournament learning curve...not fail...by getting yourself on the mat you gave yourself an opportunity (that others didn't) and only by creating opportunities can we create anything.
    Throat blading...my favourite!!

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  8. thanks for posting. it takes a LOT of courage and strength to post the good, bad and ugly. I love finding all these blogs (such great women in this sport) I've competed in several(other)sports and I know what's like being nervous and hard on yourself for not doing as well as you had hoped. But you are my hero - putting yourself out there on the mat and on the internet - that's no small feat. very inspiring! thank you!

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  9. I just started reading your blog, so I'm not sure about this but it sounds like this was your first tournament? I used to get major competition jitters, and when I lost my first couple of fights I was devistated. I made it my goal to compete a lot this year, and I now find it hilarious how much pressure I put myself under. No one likes to loose, but it's not a big deal at all. Competition in BJJ doesn't mean much until you're a brown/black belt really. So just use it as a learning experience and next time, pressure the throat!

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  10. Way cool Kitsune! She has a very classic girl jitsuka game... see also Tracey Goodell (Lloyd Irvin) for reference.... she looks very very tough.

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