Took silver white belt gi at 185

BJJ Tournament Vids

Typing from phone so this will be short but I won all three of my matches and lost a coin flip to my teammate for gold/silver. Our school won't allow us to roll against each other in competition. We will roll for it at the school.

First match was tap to an armlock from mount. Second and third were 2-0 and 3-0 after overtime. I will post them to youtube asap so you can give me hell for not finishing.

Gonna go eat a burger and drink a few beers.

 

Posted vids and my take on them on my blog (http://stevebjj.blogspot.com):

My 12 year old son was running the camera, so I apologize for the over the top Paul Greengrass effect.

Match 1, win by straight armlock from mount: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeSGILo0OzI"]BJJ match 1 - YouTube[/ame]
Match 2 win by points (in overtime) 2-0 with a sweep I got just before time was called: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3757467953616416901&hl=en-GB
Match 3 win by points (also in overtime) 3-0: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1956547825524086450&pr=goog-sl

I'd appreciate any comments you guys might have. These are the things that jump out at me:

1. I have a decent open guard game. It seemed to give my opponents some trouble. They had a lot of difficulty passing, and when they did, I was often able to get/keep a knee in to keep them from scoring points. In match two, I think it made all the difference. When he pulled guard, I was having trouble. I felt a lot more comfortable from the bottom.
2. My half guard game is still weak, but much, much better than it was even one month ago.
3. I'm very happy that I tried some new things. In match 1, the take down is one we just learned a few weeks ago. I did it in slow motion, which probably didn't help my chances of succeeding with it. But I did try it, and I'm happy about that.
4. The rolling reversal/sweep works very well for me, but I need to focus on control following the reversal. I set it up twice, but failed to get points, and more importantly, if I can do it and stay tight, I'll set up my kimura.
5. My armbar attempt from guard (in match 3) needs work. I need to concentrate on staying tight.
6. I move slow. I feel like in all three matches, I was moving in slow motion. This is neither good nor bad. It just is. I actually kind of like the sweeps where it looks like my opponent should easily be able to counter... but doesn't.
7. I really need to work on finishing. These wars of attrition are tiring! Better to finish fast, get the submission and rest.
8. I should also work on improving my cardio, just in case number 7 doesn't work out.
9. Positionally, I'm going to spend much more time working to counter a turtled up opponent.
10. And clearly, after match two, I need to spend some time working against a strong closed guard. Most of my teammates work an active, open guard game, which I'm comfortable against. In my second match, I had a terrible time cracking his guard open to set up a pass.

 

WTF? Why not compete for it legitimately, instead of messing up your record, and getting an unofficial belt at your school???

If you're gonna roll for it anyway, mighta as well do it the right way, with unbiased judges and a legitimate ranking/scoring structure.

 

That's just the way it goes. I don't think it's all that big a deal, but I know a lot of schools do it differently. I think it's that he views the local competitions as more of a way to figure out how you're doing, what you need to work on and what you're doing right. We roll against our own guys all the time at class.

 

Hey, congrats!

 

Haven't seen the vids yet, too much else to do tonight, but really well done.
It's a shame you couldn't compete with your classmate to decide in my opinion, there's something about the atmosphere sometimes that doesn't compare in class.
My view, anyway.

 

Thanks, Rhea and callsignfuzzy!

 

Not competing against team-mates is very common in BJJ.

 

Congrats dude, well done!

 

I don't know how common it is. My impression is that James is more conservative than a lot of BJJ coaches. Don't get me wrong. He's very laid back, but we line up and bow at the beginning and end of each class, and there are some other rules (like not competing against our teammates) that come up from time to time.

I can totally see both sides, but as far as I'm concerned, flipping coins with 2 of my mates for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in a 24 man bracket is a good spot to be in.

So, has anyone looked at the videos yet? Outside of my own reactions, I was hoping for some input.

And thanks, Cloudhandz. I was really nervous going in.

 

Good stuff SteveBJJ.
Sooo good to see more MAP members posting up vids of them in competition!

Vid 1:
Textbook, by the numbers BJJ. Well done!
I love the comments by your kids - 'He's winning right now?'




As for the not rolling against team mates. Interesting. We often end up having to roll against team mates in comps because of the format of the comp and the weight divisions. It's happened two comps in a row now that I've had to roll against team mates. What's a drag about that is you know who subs you in class... lol... so having to compete against them brings all that and more down on you.

There is a bit of a groan when you have to compete against a teammate as I wonder how much it does for team spirit. But luckily at the end of the day most people at our club are super layed back about it.

Since the scene here is growing by leaps and bound this shouldn't be an issue for much longer.

 

Thanks, Slip. I know exactly what you mean. I've tapped the guy who got first before. We're pretty evenly matched, but he's really strong and never gets tired. He also cut from 195, whereas I walk around at 182 or so now. I would definitely have rolled with him, but if I'm being honest, my chances weren't all that great.

Glad you checked out the videos! I was beginning to wonder if anyone would actually watch them.

 

Well done steve

 

My take from watching the vids, and keep in mind the coments are coming from someone significantly smaller with a different gane:

A) you're correct about needing to tighten up your sweeps. Until you do, you're gonna keep ending up in half guard. Which isn't bad, but...
B) Spend more time working on your half-guard escapes. If you sweep and end up there, getting out and to the mount is worth hella points.
C) Work on the cardio, power and movement. There were a few places in all three where I thought you would have done better if you had just moved a bit quicker.

It's not that the skills aren't there, obviously they are. This is just some stuff that coes with time. On the plus side, you know you earned all your wins

 

All true. The one thing that really struck me is how plodding I move. There are those who roll like tornadoes, but I'm more of a glacier... slow, but inevitable. To be honest, I'm not sure that will ever change, but I'm definitely going to try and work on being more dynamic. And you're right. If I am going to be successful AND slow, I need to also be very, very tight. Tight technique and sound strategy will compensate for a methodical pace.

On the flip side of this, though, is that I was able to dictate pace in all my matches. The young guys were frustrated that they couldn't speed the pace up, and it helped me.

 

exactly.

It may be that movement won't be your strength. Not too big a deal if you tighten up your sweeps and techniques. After all, movement isn't worth a damn if you're trapped underneath a 185 guy and can't get out.

Do you do any top control drills? We do one where we lay in side control and work various top positions. It's a basic and good one found in like every book on BJJ imaginable. And there are a few nasty chokes from turtle, but I'm not gonna give away *everything* lol.

You have a healthy attitude about this, and that's what counts.

Oh, and ban the twelve-year old from filming. I almost lost my breakfast on the third video. Oy!

 

Well, tight technique comes with time. There's a reason I'm not a blue belt yet, although I'd like to earn it before the Summer's over.

I've been drilling chokes the last few days. Brabo, d'arce and anaconda, depending upon how exactly I end up. I was really able to set up that gator roll reversal well in match 2, but if I'm not going to get points for it I need to capitalize on the position. I also worked a little with one of our bigger purple belts on keeping an underhook so I can step over, sit on his head and get the kimura.

I was close on the clock choke. It was relatively deep, but not deep enough.

Regarding top control drills, we do those. I've never had anyone grab my head like the guy in the third match from side control. That was a weird position for me to find myself in. I wasn't in any danger, but because he kept rolling, I didn't get points for side control. During the break before overtime, one of my teammates actually reminded me that I could step over and take the arm. In overtime, I did that and he let go immediately... worked like a charm. Had he not let go, I would've gone for an armbar.

Regarding my videographer, he's my boy. What can I say? He'll get better, but I'm definitely going to get him some sticks to help keep things stable.

 

Just watched the vids. I like your guard game, it's very smooth and controlled. Good balance, like the sweeps and loved that roll reversal.

helpful advice: drill half guard passes

your vids have encouraged me to get out there and compete more. Thanks.

 

Nice vids

The guard pull - I would work on tomenage and sumi gaeshi if your goal is to pull guard, you can easily pull closed guard if they go wrong.

Half guard in the 1st match - try really driving your shoulder into his face - he looked quite comfortable and you can sometimes force out a tap - especially a guy of your size and strength. From here, I would switch my head to the nearside of his, put your nearside arm to his knee to block any shrimps. Now hips to the ceiling to free your leg and pass.

Clock choke - your hips need to be on his neck, not the floor.

Like the roll counter a lot.

Don't worry about speed, anyone near heavyweight is never going to be fast.

And never fight anyone from your school - it just causes problems, in my experience. Its better to leave it.

Glyn
BJJ Brown Belt
http://www.JudoBJJ.com

 

LOL... actually, it's not passing guard that I have a problem with in general. I have 3 guard pass techniques that work for me reliably once I'm in open guard. What I need to drill, drill, drill is cracking the guard open. I just don't regularly spar against someone who works a determined closed guard. It's funny, but I'm actually much more confident against a strong spider guard than I am in someone's closed guard. I'll work on it, though.

I'll look those takedowns up. I actually didn't go into the matches looking to pull guard, but didn't want to give up the points in the second and third matches. When it came down to the competition, I was struck by how much more comfortable I was working from guard than from the top.

On the clock choke, it was close. My coach said the same thing as you, basically. Hips on his shoulder and driving my head to the mat, not my hips. It was frustrating because I knew it was deep, and that I was just forgetting some simple detail.

The roll counter is going to be good for me once I figure out how to roll it into either a kimura or some kind of anaconda/brabo.

Thanks for looking, guys! I appreciate your comments. Ultimately, it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it. I've never been involved in competitive sports, and the stress of waiting to compete, standing around and then controlling your nerves was huge.

EDIT: Great advice on the takedowns! Those look like ones I can work.

Question on the sumi gaeshi. It looks like most of the videos I saw of it worked it from an arm drag. What are the keys to that throw? What kind of grips am I working for?