Tournament 3

Standard Disclaimer: When I first started BJJ I didn’t even know there were BJJ tournaments. When I found out, I didn’t think I’d compete, now I’m going into my 3rd tournament.

I’m entering the Circle of Iron BJJ tournament this weekend. I decided to not cut weight, and instead, go up a class.  I walk around at about 185, so I would have had to cut about 8 pounds to get to the 181 division (it’s with the gi on) so I went up to the 195 division.  That has made this week not too bad, I’m not stressing about weight or what food I’m eating.

As with my last tournament, I’ve got a few goals for this one. The first 3 are goals that were not met last time:

1. NO losses by submission
2. Score Points
3. Get a sweep
4. Control the stand-up
5. Medal

Update – 9/14/2013

1. NO losses by submission
2. Score Points
3. Get a sweep
4. Control the stand-up
5. Medal

All 3 losses were to the same guy, all 3 by submission. The first two losses in my division were by choke from the back. The third loss was in the open division and I lost by flying arm-bar. I was up on points about 1/2 way through the match.  Tough kid. He took 1st in no-gi absolute at victory.

I did get a medal (second).

In the first match, I scored a sweep, and so got my first ever points.

I also was able to score points today. In the match I won I was able to sweep and take mount, I wound up with 8 points before I ended up choking him with an Ezekiel.

I didn’t control the stand-up, but I did do better than I expected. First match I pulled guard. Second match my opponent pulled guard. Third match I got thrown. Fourth match we danced for a while, went to the ground, stood back up and that’s when he got the flying arm bar.

I did better than I expected, and I still haven’t made it through a tournament without being tapped, but I’ll keep working and keep getting better.