Rumble on Robson Tournament

My first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament... what a blast! I lost all three of my matches, but was proud of my performance nonetheless given my amount of hesitation to even enter in the first place. It's not that I didn't want to compete, but there were several concerns I had about entering. the first of which being the very short notice. I had only heard about it through Geoff's post on Facebook a week in advance. This doubt was quelled rather quickly however, as I've been training hard the past few months, and eating clean for the most part, so my conditioning wasn't an issue. The second factor was that it was run by a Wrestling club that had modified the IBJJF rules. I wasn't all that familiar with the rules in the first place, so I didn't like reading about any modifiactions being made to them. The greatest of my concerns stems from the fall of 2013 when I sustained several injuries while training, and competing.

[Back Story]

This was my second time competing in Judo, the first being a few years prior, and I was NOT prepared for what came. It's not that I wasn't training well, or making it to class on a regular basis, but my nutrition was shit, and I was drinking almost every weekend. I had been training with Mike Sampson in St. John's, Newfoundland at the time at his club "St. John's BJJ & Judo". I loved training there. It was a great atmosphere, everyone was great to train with, and I liked the mix of BJJ and Judo. I would have liked to of trained more Judo though, especially with a competition coming up. For some reason I was the only person in the club able to enter the tournament that fall. Seeing how I missed out on the last tournament due to Military obligations, I was determined to make it to this one as it was my last school semester in Newfoundland.

About 4-5 weeks prior to the tournament I was training with Jared during a Saturday class. We were rolling, and he accidentally hit me in the face with an elbow... HARD. All I could see for a few moments was black, and the pain was unreal. I was all right though. Or so I thought... The next day I realized that I couldn't feel the left side of my nose, and part of my cheek area. It was more annoying than painful so I decided to keep training. The base Doctor said it was probably a nerve that was hit and that he couldn't do anything about it. Give it time, and it will heal, which it eventually did about 4 months later.

Roughly three weeks before the tournament however, I injured my ribs. I was rolling with Jamie at the time, and I'm not even sure how it happened, but it hurt like hell. I took a few minutes to rest and thought I was good to go, so I got back on the mats for some throwing practice. I couldn't turn in for a throw without wincing in pain. I knew at that point something was wrong. I got home that night, took some ibuprophen, and layed down with an ice pack on my chest hoping it wasn't something persistent... it was. I couldn't turn in for a throw, or do any kind of rolling without being in pain. How the hell was I going to compete in a tournament like this?! I decided come hell or high water I was GOING to compete in that tournament, even if it killed me. I continued training, carefully, but didn't roll with anyone or do any randori for a couple of weeks. I was taking ibuprohen, and advil like clockwork to dull the pain. Eventually I was able to turn in for a throw, although it still hurt like hell, it was bearable. Mike began teaching me "drop Seio-Nage", a technique I had tried to learn years ago while still training in Cape Breton, but couldn't quite master. He taught it in a such a way that it immediately clicked with me... and I loved it! We went over different entries for it, and practiced it a couple classes in a row prior to the tournament. This throw would be my new main weapon against my opponents, along with my age old favorite Tai-Otoshi!

Finally, the day of the tournament had come. I was both excited, and nervous as hell, but couldn't wait to get out there and see what I could do. My first opponent was about the same weight as me, and same belt color; orange. I managed to get him down onto the mat, but ran out of time and we were stood back up. In my excitement however, I jumped up carelessly and rolled my right ankle... an injury that would take me out of training for months to come. I quickly got back up and limped back over to my side of the mats. Again, I managed to get my opponent down with a drop Seio-Nage attemtp, but it wasn't an ippon. I had him held down in the scarf hold pin with all my might, but he managed to reverse it. Once his weight was on my ribs, I was done. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, and the pain from my injury was intense. I lost the match.

My second oppoenent was a green belt who was much larger than me. The match went the same way the first one did: I nearly won with a drop Seio-Nage throw, began the scarf hold pin, and my opponent reversed it. With a much larger opponent crushing down my ribs, there was absolutely no chance of escape, and I lost my second match as well. There isn't much to say about my third match. My opponent was much younger, stronger, and bigger than me. He absolutely mopped the floor with me using sweep techniques and won by points before I even knew what happened.

After my last match I walked off the mats holding my ribs. Mike knew I was hurting bad and brought me over the medic. He checked everything out and said it sounds like I have a torn diaphragm, or seperated ribs. I knew it was bad, and competing had only made it worse. After being checked out I went back over to sit with my coach, and put ice on my ankle. It was only at that time I realized I had yet another injury, a pulled calf muscle on my left leg. It was more of a mild annoyance than anything so I didn't think much of it, and started stretching it out while icing my ankle. It was at that time that Mike came over to me and said "That took balls man" as he extended his arm to shake my hand. That moment alone made the entire competition worth while, even though I lost every match. It was a moment of well earned respect that I'll always remember.

I decided to take some time off training and let all of my foolish injuries heal, the worst of which, to me anyway, being my right ankle. It was an absolute mess. It had swelled to the size of a baseball the next day and looked that way for at least a week. Eventually I was able to walk normally again, and started running , very slowly, and with a brace on at all times. Perhaps I was ready to get back on the mats at this point, but having all of these injuries made me seriously question the future of my martial arts training. Doubt started rushing into my head like an overflowing river. I couldn't help but think "Maybe I'm too old for this?". "Maybe I haven't training well enough?". The worst doubt of all however, was thinking that maybe I just wasn't any good. Throughout the beginning of 2014 my injuries were almost 100% healed, and I was getting back to the gym on a regular basis. My confidence was back on the rise, but slowly. It wasn't until March that I began training again, and I took every precaution this time not to injury myself again.

[End Back Story]

Reflecting back on these injuries was the biggest reason for my hesitation about competing again. I was mostly worried about hurting my ankle again, but it had been holding up really well the past few months. I looked back at all of my training for the past few months as well, which was going exceptionally well. Since getting here in Victoria back in much I've grown faster, stronger, 15lbs. leaner, and was completely alcohol free since April. My confidence was completely rebuilt and I decided to enter the tournament. Once I had confirmation from my unit that I could leave the area for the weekend, I signed up!

My initial concern about the rules came back to haunt me however. They had changed upon our arrival. It would now be a round robin tournament, instead of double submission, and white belts were allowed to use knee bars, and ankle locks. That part worried me the most; there was no way in hell I wanted my ankle to get messed up again, and I had only learned a handful of knee bars from Kaiser's leg lock class. It only bothered me for a few minutes though. If I was caught in any kind of ankle lock on my right ankle I would need to tap early, no questions asked.

My first opponent was roughly the same size as me, and I held my own against him. I tried to take my time with the fight, and not over exert myself and lose due to exhaustion. I was doing really well against him, but he was definitely stronger than I was. The match went into over time, and I lost by decision because he was more aggressive than I was. I didn't like that rule, but what could I do, I was there to compete; win or lose!

My second opponent was a little taller than me, and looked like I might have a bit of a weight advantage against him. He was quick though. REALLY quick, and even more aggressive. Again, I held my own against him, but was getting tired at this point and he was dominating the fight. This match went into over time as well, and he won by being more aggressive.

I thought I was done at this point, due to the "double elimation" rule that was listed in the tournament's facebook page. I wasn't expecting a third opponent, and had removed my gi top and began cooling down. They called my name for another match however, which surprised me, but I got up and got ready to go a third round. My third opponent was 20lbs. heavier, was younger, and super athletic. He got me down on the mats, and I was doing well for awhile, then he caught me in a nasty bow and arrow choke. The way he performed the choke really hurt my back, and I had to tap out, violently. I thought my jiu jitsu training was over at that point, and could barely move. I remember looking up at the ceiling with the medic, and Ari in my peripheral vision wondering if I'd ever be able to train again, and on the verge of tears. Luckily it wasn't anything serious and I was able to get up after a few minutes. That moment was one of the scariest of my entire life. I went over to lay down on a bag of ice afterward, and quickly recovered.

On the way back to Victoria I couldn't help but reflect on factors that may have contributed to my losses. I was proud as hell of myself for competing the way I did, but couldn't help analyzing everything. The day before was a very long, very humid trip, and I had gotten very little sleep. The other contributing factors I thought about were my poor choice of breakfast, and having taken a potent pre-workout supplment before warming up. A power bar and a banana probably werent't the best choice as a breakfast, but we were on a very tight schedule. I was also training really hard two days before hand on the tread mill, doing uphill springs. Maybe I had worm myself out? One thing I knew for sure though is that my losses were NOT from a lack of training. Since March I've been busting my balls to get better, and Geoff's competition classes have definitely improved both my game, and my conditioning.

Even though I had lost all of my matches, there was never any doubt in mind that I would be competing again. I went to Geoff's competition class the day after the tournament with a fire in my eyes. I knew that if I wanted to win the next tournament my aggression level would have to sky rocket. I went to class that day driven like a mad man to succeed no matter what, and had an amazing workout. If I can keep this up, and make some adjustments to my diet and training routine, there's no doubt I can win next time.