I posted about my experience at the Submission Series in Vancouver last July. You can find it here. I now have a video of my first match which I have posted below. This was in the 200 lbs and under intermediate no gi division. I was about 187 and this was my first sub grappling event. I am the guy in the white t-shirt.
Showing posts with label Submission Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Submission Series. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Submission Series results
So I competed in my first BJJ tournament today. Submission Series was a submission only event meaning that no points were given for position only advantages for sub attempts. I competed in both the Gi and no-gi events. I had some weight issues though. Because of how I understood the tournament to be run, I chose weights I knew I would have no problem making. I fought 194 gi and 200 no-gi. They ran the no-gi event first and I weighed in at 187, 13 pounds below the limit. I fought a guy considerablly larger then me. I stepped on the mat and prepared to work my wrestling to my advantage. I did get a chance though because the dude sat down on his ass and refused to stand up. I made my disgust of his buttscoot strategy known by stepping back, shaking my head and then jump right into a cartwheel guard pass. It didn't really work. I worked in his guard for a bit then he attacked with a triangle which I defended. He switched to a omaplata and I spun out of it to side control. We wrestled around abit, with me trying to pass his guard and sometimes ending up standing with him sliding around on his butt. He locked in another triangle, which was tighter. I picked him up until he let it go. Shortly after that I passed to half guard then took mount. I worked a few ezikal choke attempts which were unsuccessful then tried to set up a kimura variant from the mount I like but time ran out. Here is where it is weird. In a regular match I would have score 3 points for side mount x 2 and 5 points for mount giving me 11 points and a win but due to the nature of the tounament he scored 2 submission advantages for the trianlges to my nothing. He won on those advantages. As I said before, I lost due to the nature of the event because of my style, so be it. Because there were only 2 of us, I got a silver out of the deal. I don't really care but it worked for team points.
I had a bit of a wait for the gi event which was nice because I was tired. I fought 194 for gi so I was still light but not as much. The first guy I fought, bent over and pushed hard so I threw him with a tomoe nage and rolled to mount. I played around in mount for a bit but got rolled. The rest of the fight, I attempted collar chokes (and came close to finishing a couple of times) as well as attempting a few armbars which didn't come close at all. He kept trying a sliding choke from inside my guard so his arm was there a lot just not enough for me to get it. I won't lie by the end I was tired and my grip was shot so I sneeked a peek at the clock and rode out the last 20 seconds. I won 3 advantages to none. My grip was so shot by the end I could barely hold my water bottle.
The next guy I fought was way bigger. I think he was one of the guys that came in a few pounds over (they were pretty lenient). I attempted a few foot sweeps but nothing came of them. He was bent over alot as well but since I had just thrown his team mate with tomoe nage, I didn't want to chance it again. He was stiff arming me, so I figured flying armbar? Why not, I have never practiced it before but who cares. I didn't catch it but I did turn it in to a sweep as we came down. I got mount for a bit but got rolled again ( I got to work on that). He used that same choke from inside my guard that his teammate used but this guy was bigger so it was a little more effective and I had to open my guard. We scrambled and I ended up turtling. He grabbed a a body lock and I used a sit out into an omaplata/kimura type lock. He rolled, we scrambled and I ended up turtled again. He attempted an anaconda but nothing came of it. We stayed there for a while because I was gassed to be honest and he got back mount for a while before I regained guard. I attempted an armbar and that pretty much finished it. I lost 0-0 with a ref decision. I had a shot at fighting for 3rd but I forfeited to a teammate for reasons I will get into later.
The major problem I had with this type of tournament was that some of the score seemed very arbitrary. Even worse was the "decision" if it finished 0-0. For example in my first match, he had two triangles and one could argue an omaplata but scored 2 not three points. I had 2 ezkial chokes but scored 0. Another example is why I forfeit my 3rd place match. The fight before mine, a teammate of mine dominated this guy from start to finish. The only offense the other guy offered was a weak attempt at a triangle that just got his guard passed. The match ended 0-0 and the other guy was awarded the win. My coaches were pretty furious. The ref came over and explained that position meant nothing only submission attempts. So up comes my fight where I had 3 attempts to his 1 but he wins. Why? I think position. Now, I don't feel I won my fight so that is cool but according to the instruction the ref gave I should have. So either I or my teammate got screwed. Because I felt it was him (and I was really tired to boot) I forfeited the match to him. This is actually pretty common in BJJ.
I had a bit of a wait for the gi event which was nice because I was tired. I fought 194 for gi so I was still light but not as much. The first guy I fought, bent over and pushed hard so I threw him with a tomoe nage and rolled to mount. I played around in mount for a bit but got rolled. The rest of the fight, I attempted collar chokes (and came close to finishing a couple of times) as well as attempting a few armbars which didn't come close at all. He kept trying a sliding choke from inside my guard so his arm was there a lot just not enough for me to get it. I won't lie by the end I was tired and my grip was shot so I sneeked a peek at the clock and rode out the last 20 seconds. I won 3 advantages to none. My grip was so shot by the end I could barely hold my water bottle.
The next guy I fought was way bigger. I think he was one of the guys that came in a few pounds over (they were pretty lenient). I attempted a few foot sweeps but nothing came of them. He was bent over alot as well but since I had just thrown his team mate with tomoe nage, I didn't want to chance it again. He was stiff arming me, so I figured flying armbar? Why not, I have never practiced it before but who cares. I didn't catch it but I did turn it in to a sweep as we came down. I got mount for a bit but got rolled again ( I got to work on that). He used that same choke from inside my guard that his teammate used but this guy was bigger so it was a little more effective and I had to open my guard. We scrambled and I ended up turtling. He grabbed a a body lock and I used a sit out into an omaplata/kimura type lock. He rolled, we scrambled and I ended up turtled again. He attempted an anaconda but nothing came of it. We stayed there for a while because I was gassed to be honest and he got back mount for a while before I regained guard. I attempted an armbar and that pretty much finished it. I lost 0-0 with a ref decision. I had a shot at fighting for 3rd but I forfeited to a teammate for reasons I will get into later.
The major problem I had with this type of tournament was that some of the score seemed very arbitrary. Even worse was the "decision" if it finished 0-0. For example in my first match, he had two triangles and one could argue an omaplata but scored 2 not three points. I had 2 ezkial chokes but scored 0. Another example is why I forfeit my 3rd place match. The fight before mine, a teammate of mine dominated this guy from start to finish. The only offense the other guy offered was a weak attempt at a triangle that just got his guard passed. The match ended 0-0 and the other guy was awarded the win. My coaches were pretty furious. The ref came over and explained that position meant nothing only submission attempts. So up comes my fight where I had 3 attempts to his 1 but he wins. Why? I think position. Now, I don't feel I won my fight so that is cool but according to the instruction the ref gave I should have. So either I or my teammate got screwed. Because I felt it was him (and I was really tired to boot) I forfeited the match to him. This is actually pretty common in BJJ.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Daily Submission
So I am heading to my first BJJ tournament tomorrow. I will be competing in the -194 White belt division and the under 200 intermediate no-gi division. I weigh about 190 so I will be fighting a little overweight. One thing that bugs me is the lack of parity between the two divisions. If I cut down to the next closed no-gi division (-184) I would still be 3 pounds over the next lowest GI division. Combine that with the fact that weigh-ins will happen immediately prior to stepping on the mat, I decided against trying to cut weight. Testing myself against bigger guys will be better for my jiu-jitsu anyway.
As I have written before, this concept of submissions being the only thing that counts will be difficult for me but I have made my decision not to alter my style at all and let the chips fall where they may. I am comfortable with that decision.
To help make sure I am focused for the event I caught the lunch and evening BJJ classes on Wednesday. We focused on a number of variations of the baseball choke. Adam taught three variations with the gi and I think I found a way to make it work no-gi as well. During the evening class, I finally tapped someone with an omaplata. I typically use it as a sweep but mainly because it is hard to finish. My omaplata is really coming along. I even "swept" Adam with it. Yes, I know he was going easy on me and yes I ended up in a worse spot then before after I swept him but I will take anything I can get against Adam. Any time I manage to take advantage of the openings he leaves for me, I take it as improvement.
So hopefully everything goes well at this tournament. As long as I don't get hurt and I perform up to my personal best, I will be happy. I am bringing the video camera so I hope to post some video of the event.
As I have written before, this concept of submissions being the only thing that counts will be difficult for me but I have made my decision not to alter my style at all and let the chips fall where they may. I am comfortable with that decision.
To help make sure I am focused for the event I caught the lunch and evening BJJ classes on Wednesday. We focused on a number of variations of the baseball choke. Adam taught three variations with the gi and I think I found a way to make it work no-gi as well. During the evening class, I finally tapped someone with an omaplata. I typically use it as a sweep but mainly because it is hard to finish. My omaplata is really coming along. I even "swept" Adam with it. Yes, I know he was going easy on me and yes I ended up in a worse spot then before after I swept him but I will take anything I can get against Adam. Any time I manage to take advantage of the openings he leaves for me, I take it as improvement.
So hopefully everything goes well at this tournament. As long as I don't get hurt and I perform up to my personal best, I will be happy. I am bringing the video camera so I hope to post some video of the event.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Daily Submission
Signed up for me first BJJ tournament today. It is part of the "Submission series" which are a group of tournaments which do not give points for position like a regular BJJ competition. I am a little leary of this format. The idea is to win by submission but we all know that not every fight can end in a sub so there has to be a manner of deciding a winner in the even it goes the distance. In this event they will award "Advantages" for submission attempts. I am not a guy who throws out a lot of sub attempts. I am a position before submission type of guy. I secure position and work from there. I am worried that I will dominate position and lose to a bunch of subs that were never any real danger.
The other thing is that I will be fighting at my heaviest weight ever. I will fight at 194 in gi and 200 no gi. I am sitting about 190-193 and the next lowest weight classes are 181/gi and 184 no-gi. There are two reason's I am not cutting. The first is that they are weighing in just prior to your first match. That means standard dehydration methods are out and I am still nursing a knee injury that hasn't allowed me to do much cardio so cutting that way over the last few weeks was out as well.
There was another aspect to this tourney that was an issue for me. I am going to fight in the white belt division for gi because I am a bjj white belt but the no-gi is a little different. The beginner division states no previous grappling experience. I have wrestled, done judo and fought MMA so I have previous grappling experience but I have trained in about 4 years and never in a BJJ type event. I was thinking of fighting in that division but I think it would have been unfair of me. The only reason I would have entered would have been to make it easier on myself and to stroke my ego if I won. So I entered the immediate division. The point is to get better not to win a medal. If I win, great but I don't need to win to be successful. I will get to see how my BJJ hold up in competition. I am not even going to change my game to suit the rules of the event. If I dominate positionally and lose on bullshit advantages, so be it. I will pissed at the time because I am a competitive person but over the long run I will be better for it.
The other thing is that I will be fighting at my heaviest weight ever. I will fight at 194 in gi and 200 no gi. I am sitting about 190-193 and the next lowest weight classes are 181/gi and 184 no-gi. There are two reason's I am not cutting. The first is that they are weighing in just prior to your first match. That means standard dehydration methods are out and I am still nursing a knee injury that hasn't allowed me to do much cardio so cutting that way over the last few weeks was out as well.
There was another aspect to this tourney that was an issue for me. I am going to fight in the white belt division for gi because I am a bjj white belt but the no-gi is a little different. The beginner division states no previous grappling experience. I have wrestled, done judo and fought MMA so I have previous grappling experience but I have trained in about 4 years and never in a BJJ type event. I was thinking of fighting in that division but I think it would have been unfair of me. The only reason I would have entered would have been to make it easier on myself and to stroke my ego if I won. So I entered the immediate division. The point is to get better not to win a medal. If I win, great but I don't need to win to be successful. I will get to see how my BJJ hold up in competition. I am not even going to change my game to suit the rules of the event. If I dominate positionally and lose on bullshit advantages, so be it. I will pissed at the time because I am a competitive person but over the long run I will be better for it.
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