My Grappling Tournament



Post NAGA
Well here we go. Silver medal at the NAGA tournament. The divisions were small so I was upgraded from intermediate to advanced. It was a fun match but I lost by two points. It was a long day waiting (just like the karate tournaments) and I must have warmed up twenty times before my division actually started.
In my lifetime have competed in over 200 karate tournaments. Some weekends we competed in two. I remember one Saturday on Long Island (Joyce Santamaria) and then a Sunday (Butch Marino) back in Connecticut. I even competed in Europe and Australia as well as all over the USA. My last tournament was in Maui around five years ago. I won trophies in sparring, forms and weapons. I watched a grappling tournament a year ago to see how it was run and it looked like fun so I thought; let’s try something new.
I was surprised how jittery I was in anticipation. I guess watching all the UFC shows didn’t help. The match was four minutes long and I should have prepped more with that short time frame in mind. When the match started we ended up in a randori position grabbing the gi. I moved him around some because of my strength. He attempted two takedowns and I was able to counter. We moved around some and down we went. I was able to get him in my guard although watching the video I didn’t establish a closed guard. I had him in a Kimura but was unable to finish. I did manage to roll him, we scrambled and he ended up in my half guard. I again had the Kimura but did not have the opportunity/position to crank it. His position was dominant to mine and he scored points.
I should have changed positions and tried another strategy but I lost track of the time and the match was over. It was fun, I felt I was prepared and now I have a better idea on how to adapt to sport BJJ. I am ready for the next one!

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