White Belt / Adult Male / Gi / 145-149 lbs. / Bracket
Month 6 – Recalling my first competition where I traveled 3 hours to get to by myself to a city where I had a friend who came to watch but he couldn’t make it on time because he had work.
I got to see a couple kids fight on the mat as well as some killer gal from Singapore dominating her opponents in Gi and No Gi without breaks in between.
Had some good BBQ but I think I overate as I ordered too much food.
Then before competition I put my Gi on and did the warm-up drills and stretching that I learnt from class.
Waited around sizing up my opponents who were all 19-year-olds. It did feel odd to be honest.
Asked a random bystander to help me film my match and then stayed back to watched who won my bracket.
What Happened: My Offense
- My Guard pull was slow and I didn’t square in.
- My takedown was ineffective since his hips were already far away.
- X-choke on top position was not effective.
- Arm-bar attempt was called out by his coach.
What Happened: My Defense
- Weak base and lost my dominant positions easily.
- My hands were too free and didn’t use any grip breaks.
- Did not use back escape.
- Upaing from bottom without success.
- Did not use any framing with my hands when on bottom.
What to Work on
- Guard pull
- Takedown game
- Back escapes
- Side control escapes
- Quick submissions
What I Learnt
- Got frustrated because he kept taking my back and I couldn’t get him off.
- Underestimated my opponent and his size. I think it’s a lot easier for the smaller guy to back take because I do the same in the academy with majority being taller than myself.
- Need to be quicker like my opponent.
- That there was coaching involved during a fight and how advantageous that could be.
- Could make friends and ask someone to coach me (if Coach isn’t around).
- Could restart in standing and not have to keep on rolling.
- Points vs Submission
- Asking for feedback and learning from an invaluable overall competition experience.
Now that I know my strengths and weaknesses I’ll train with the above notes in mind. Then I will be back better then ever from now knowing what to work on for the next competition!
Next Competitions: Dec 4, 2021 / Jan 22, 2021 (Canceled due to 2 injuries)
