Training notes - Pt 4

Back in the UK after an action packed weekend in Stockholm; travelled across with my sponsors Lee Jones and Gareth Dummer from TatamiFightWear.com and encountered breathtaking rudeness and over zealous Hitlers at Stansted airport, who refused to let me take on board a suspsicious looking and highly dangerous bottle of Polcadine cough medicine. After a tough final week's training for the competition, I picked up a very irritating throat infection, a dry tickly cough that kept me company throughout the trip and was at its worst first thing in the morning and last thing at night and made me sound like I was a 60 a day smoker throughout the day.

Infections aside, I didn't let this minor irritation get me down or lose focus on the competition; over the whole trip I didn't drink any alcohol and had early nights every night (yes early nights) which saw me lying in my bed 2130GMT on a Friday and Saturday thinking, this isn't right, not on a weekend!

Hydration was the name of the game throughout the trip, having suffered air con at the airport and on the plane, plus I was infected and coughing and spluttering every five minutes, the last thing I needed to be was dehyadrated before the competition.

We arrived Thursday dinner time after an 0615H flight from Stansted and a 230 mile drive down to Port Talbot to meet the Tatami guys and another 200 mile drive to Stansted airport and an hour's drive from Skavsta airport to the hotel, so by the time we got to the hotel, we all would have happily slept where we stood as we checked into the hotel.

With Thursday written off, we spent Friday chilling out and went sightseeing in the centre of Stockholm and it was nice to be back in the city again after being there back in 2003. An afternoon of culture and intellectual conversation in a number of bars and cafes was just what the doctor ordered, as I sat with the lads drinking water and soft drinks, leaving the hard stuff for the rest of the guys.

Saturday came round far too quick and it was the first day of the comp and I was due to fight in the -94K Senior 1 division at purple belt; we arrived at the event at dinner time as my bracket wasn't due to start until 1630H so plenty of time to chill and watch the action. I went over to where all the brackets were on display and to my horror I saw that I was the only one in my weight group and thus would not be fighting that day. Gold by default. I was really gutted that this had happened but wasn't alone, there were quite a number of guys in the Senior divisions that had no one to fight and I am sure I wasn't the only person in Europe or Scandinavia at this weight and belt colour. At an event as large as this, I was sure I was going to fight some one, but it wasn't to be so rather than get angry, I watched the fights, took pictures, met old friends and took comfort in the fact that I could register for the Open weight on the Sunday.

Another early night and much coughing and cursing brought me round to the second day of the event and I was not to be disappointed in the open weight, there were three of us, so I would fight today! This was it, the time to test myself on the mats and try and put into practice all I had been training over the last 10 weeks.

My first fight was against Peter Granqvist and I took the inititative and went to grip up so I could pull off my open guard sweep, but he spoiled my plans by gripping me on the opposite side to what I was expecting, which put me off for a second and then out of the blue I sat down, pulled open guard and swept the guy on the opposite side! I'd been drilling this technique from the left side, putting my left foot in the hip and doing the sweep and here I am pulling it from the other side, I couldn't believe it!

I got the sweep and takedown and we came off the mats and started again and he jumped guard and I was there for a while trying to break his grip and then went to pass guard again and we were both going for it, when I made a slight mistake and he had my back. I didn't panic and started to defend and move out of position and almost made it, but he managed to keep a tight grip with his last hook and managed to pull me back round. Still defending and not feeling in immediate danger, he began to attack my neck and got his hand inside my lapel and attacked with Katahajime and with my throat already goosed, I tapped out.

I had 10 minute's rest and was on the mats again, facing Danish player Rune Brinckmeyer; again I took the fight to Rune and attacked again with the open guard, where he defended and I carried on with a De La Riva hook and tried for the sweep, getting an advantage. This guy was very tight and strong and gave away no space and we had a good old battle on the ground where he had me in side control and I managed a reversal and passed his guard. Nothing was coming from the pass so I stood up and we engaged once again.

I used the open guard again and give him some problems and once again we hit the mats and he tried to pass guard and I defended and retrieved guard and he tried again to pass, this time successfully and the next thing he was in mount! Trying not to panic I went to retrieve guard and he managed to stay on top and rested up on my lungs and then all my energy left me in a flash. Sensing my loss, Rune started to attack my neck and and managed to get an Ezekiel choke on and his arm went right across my windpipe and once again I tapped out before any serious damage happened.

And so my time on the mats came to an end and I collected the bronze medal for the Open weight; after that I took some more photos and enjoyed the rest of the competition and watched the finals of the black belts, taking in some great jiu jitsu.

After a competition comes the self analysis, time to reflect on my performance; although I didn't win my matches I managed to pull off just about everything I had been training over the last 10 weeks, especially the opening attack and sweep and even managed to pull it off from the opposite side. I was calm and focussed when I stepped onto the mats and when in bad positions I was able to defend myself without panicking. I passed guard and defended guard passes made against me and retrieved guard position and managed a few reversals, so overall I had plenty to be happy about.

Cardio was a key factor in my second match, I just clean ran out of gas when the guy mounted me, soon as he landed on my lungs that was it, game over, so I will be addressing this issue and go back to the drawing board and into the laboratory and crank up my cardio in my training. Technically, I felt there were no major issues, just keep on drilling the open guard and guard passes and the transitions from one position to the next, but most of all, start building up the gas tanks.

When you compete in jiu jitsu and step onto the mats, you are on your own out there; however to get you into shape and ready to fight takes a team effort and there were many people who helped me prepare for the competition, both technically and motivationally and I would like to thank the following people for all their help, in no particular order:-

Chris Arrigonie
Lee Jones
Gareth Dummer
Steve Campbell
Simon Hayes
Dicke Martin
Eddie Kone
My students at Caged Steel

Training for the competition has given me a deeper understanding of jiu jitsu and of course with more training comes improved technique; competitions can give you so many benefits and insights into the art and more importantly into yourself and this is one of the reasons I love jiu jitsu. It has given me something to aim for these last few months and helped me to give my ego a good bashing in the process, always a good thing!

To quote my good friend Roy Dean, training jiu jitsu in its many guises gives you a real chance to 'Discover who you are'. Not bad for men in pyjamas!!

I now have picked up the competition bug once again and hope to be competing again in the not too distant future and will of course keep you all posted; I hope that these posts have been of interest to seasoned players and beginners alike and an insight into jiu jitsu for the non practising people out there.

Ooooooooooooooooos!!