Took 2nd Place at NABJJF World Championships

First of all I didn't write for a couple of weeks because we have been just swamped at work.  

Second I'm writing this at 2 AM because my neck is so sore I can't sleep.  

I thought I would be going against a Judo Black Belt but he moved to The Blue Belt Division so I had a choice to take the Gold or drop age groups and compete.  I chose to compete.  

My first match was against Carlos Reza.  I was hoping to avoid the grips but all that was thrown out the window when I found out he was blind.  What an inspiration to compete as a blind man.  The referee gave him the choice of starting standing or kneeling.  He chose kneeling so that is how we started.  I was able to get side control on him and his defense was very good.  Very mobile and strong bursts of energy.  He defended all of my submission attempts and the match ended 5-0 in my favor.  He was an excellent player and I had the utmost respect for him.  The match could have gone either way. 

Then came the finals match. I went against a gentleman named Jaun Avena. I thought I had the take down as I was deep on a double leg but he guillotined me.  It was very tight and actually cut my ear but I was able to fight out of it.  He was very strong and spent most of the match controlling me with a head lock.  I thought I had his back but somehow he rolled through got me in an armbar and I tapped. I think if I could have just created some space I would gave been okay but he was able to control me and keep my posture broken with his string headlock.  I was ahead on points with when I tapped. 

I am thinking I should buy stock in Motrin because that is what I'm going to need to take to get to sleep. 

We had 6 people from Higher Ground BJJ compete it was great comraderie and I'm looking forward to competing again.  

To cut weight or not to cut weight.

Not sure if I mentioned this before but in my upcoming tournament I was supposed to face a Judo Black Belt who is also an instructor at one of the Dojo's downtown.  I really hate being thrown and I am not very good at break-falls so I was a little worried about it.  I just checked the registration and the guy has moved out of my weight class to an heavier weight class.  I assume he signed up thinking he was going to lose some weight and then in the end decided it was not worth it so he just jumped back to his regular weight.

I am currently about 6 lbs under weight so my dilemma is should I try to drop another 6 lbs and drop a weight class or should I just go at my regular weight.  I have decided to stay at my regular weight.  I am 53 and cutting weight (especially water weight) really does things to my system.  Also being underweight gives me the advantage or eating regular meals leading up the tournament.  I might catch a beast at the tournament because I have had to drop an age group to find competition but I mostly think that there are not that many 46-50 year old white  belts who are taking this so serious as to cut weight and kill themselves before the competition.  Really how many white belts over 40 think they are going to make a living doing Jiu Jitsu.  We all have jobs and other responsibilities and Jiu Jitsu is just a hobby to help us deal with the stress or maybe we are going through a midlife crisis.  I have a good friend who sent me this yesterday.  I know it is a quote from a book she is reading "Brene Brown's Gift of Imperfection" but I think it really sums up what a midlife crisis is about.

"People may call what happens at midlife a crisis, but it's not. It's an unraveling - a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you're supposed to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are."

I think we get to a spot where we just want to do what we want and don't really care to follow the way we have up to that point living for what others wanted or expected of us.  I think for those of us that start BJJ in our late 40's early 50's we are trying to get back something we always wanted to do but were not able to until this time.

What do you think?

How do you train when you travel.

Usually I try to train while I travel.  This week I was at the SEMA show.  The problem at the show is it is hard to control your time.  You have to be there working the booth for a set amount of time and then you have to entertain customers after the show so finding time to train takes a back seat to making a living so you can afford to train.  I will be back at it today to get the rust off two weeks before my competition.

I did have a good time at the show.  Here are a couple of good ole boys I ran into.  They told me they could use the grappling hook to get some of those gators that got away.  They were very genuine and really nice guys.  They even told me they would put a www.ninjasupply.net sticker on their truck if I gave them one.  Maybe I need to get some made up.  #swamppeople #sema