Competed in my first BJJ tournament

nicoG35 · 08-04-2009, 10:53 AM

I just competed in my first BJJ tournament this past Saturday and did surprisingly well. I weighed in at 166.4 (when I first started I was 185lbs) and fell in the 160-179.9 bracket Masters Division Beginner. I have had about 2 months training and was nervous as hell. My first match up was in No-Gi and I had lost my first match to a RNC in 2+ min into the match. My next match I went the full 5 mins. winning on points as I swept and went to full mount. I then got swept again and the opponent was in my half guard and tried to RNC me but his arm was against my right jaw line instead of my corroded area. So i just held on for the last 30 secs. with him thinking he got the choke, but he didn't have it locked correctly.

All in all I captured 2nd place in No-Gi. My Gi Division was basically crappy, cause I went up against the same guy I had lost to in the No-Gi division. So technically I didn't even place in that division at all.

Either way I was happy to compete, and receive a silver medal for the No-Gi. I still have a lot to learn and I am completely happy with my coaches and team mates.

Mike Wazowski · 08-04-2009, 04:23 PM

congrats man, you will get him next time I am sure.

Someguy350 · 08-04-2009, 10:20 PM

way to go!! keep it up, and train hard.

Word Sux · 08-05-2009, 06:31 PM

I was supposed to compete in my first tourney the 11th but my new GI came in too late and it was GI only. sigh

Megatron · 08-05-2009, 06:50 PM

Was this the Good Fight? If it was I was going to do it, but didn't feel like driving down to VA then back to jersey. I believe the Good fight comes to philly in Sept and North Jersey in Oct. Good job

GodZilla · 08-05-2009, 08:36 PM

Megatron- funny I was just looking at photos of Sho nuff (your avatar) my wife has the same hair style lol..

nicoG35- Just keep it up, it just takes time and practice.

nicoG35 · 08-07-2009, 10:52 AM

Thanks for the support, I have only been training 2+ months, and my instructors have been top notch with their coaching abilities and their instructions are phenomenal yet simple to understand. I will probably compete in another local tournament(2-3 more months from now) however I will decide if my game has kicked up a notch to test myself in the intermediate or advanced this go around. Most of the people I train with are higher whites and mostly experienced blues who outweigh me by 15+ pounds. I am actually probably the smallest dude in my class (haha) standing at a short 5'5" and weighing in at 165 (hoping to drop another 10 more pounds in the next couple of months). So training with bigger guys has helped me get stronger and faster and definitely more technical. I may not be able to tap some of my classmates as the level of training is pretty high at my school but it definitely makes me more confident in my abilities when rolling with another person not from my affiliate school.

Megatron-the tournament I was at was the Cop Nova BJJ tournament in Ashburn VA

nicoG35 · 08-07-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Word Sux

I was supposed to compete in my first tourney the 11th but my new GI came in too late and it was GI only. sigh

Why didn't you just use the Gi that you use for class?

rxkevin · 08-08-2009, 02:04 PM

Where do you train if you don't mind me asking?

I think there is a Tournament in VA the first or second week of September. I was looking to fight in that one but am not 100% sure yet. I have to see how I do in my next tournament as I went up 1 weight class.

If you are at 165 and 5'5, I would try to lose about 15 pounds as most No Gi tournaments run in increments of 10, and Gi would be 154 with the Gi on. The next weight class would be 167. My advice would be to go down in weight as you are fairly short and stocky for that weight class. I am about 5'8 and 160 and have noticed that many of those who I have fought are taller than me. While it is good to be short as you can more easily get hooks and just to get under someone, I have found it to be harder than when fighting someone of my size or smaller.

I don't think you should jump into the intermediate / advanced classes as soon as you want, unless you are phenomenal. Intermediate is 6+ months so you would be on the lower spectrum as far as mat time. Advanced shouldn't even be considered for a while as you will be fighting purple belts and above at that point.

nicoG35 · 08-10-2009, 12:37 PM

rxkevin - I train at 50/50 BJJ with Ryan Hall and Seph Smith.

I am by no means a phenom at this but I do intend on putting more mat time before my next tournament. I am looking to train another 3-4 months before competing again as I am working on the holes of my game, so by then I would already have had about 6+months of experience. I really don't want to come off as a sandbagger in my comps. Plus i have no quarrels about my record on the mat as regardless what happens it is a lesson learned for me.

As far as weight I am definitely trying to work myself down to 150-155 lbs. I don't think I will have a problem getting down there in the next couple of months. I have lost a total of 20 pounds and hoping for that next 10-15.

rxkevin · 08-10-2009, 01:59 PM

Cool. Ryan Hall is an amazing Bjj player. I saw him competing at the Diamond State games. He basically walked through the other brown belt as if the guy wasn't even there.

I also saw him at last years Grappler's Quest against Lucas Lepri. Both amazing players as well.

From what I have noticed, the pounds will fall off fast, but eatting right and training is really the best way to go about it.

Do you know if there is a mat fee at 50/50? I am thinking about going down to VA for the competition in september. Wouldn't mind dropping in to check the place out.

Sandbagging is something that happens all the time. I completely agree with you but keep in mind that while some people may have less than 6 months of bjj training, they may have had years of other grappling. Regardless, good luck with everything.

Best advice I could give you is to never stop training. I stopped for a short period of time and all my grips, hooks etc were all messed up. I couldn't move my hips as well as I did before after a short break.

Alberto · 08-11-2009, 07:33 AM

Very cool!

My first BJJ tourny was in dirty Jersey, it sucked I waited 6 hours before my first match....didnt even stay for Gi after waiting all day in a gym that was 110 degrees.

nicoG35 · 08-13-2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxkevin

Cool. Ryan Hall is an amazing Bjj player. I saw him competing at the Diamond State games. He basically walked through the other brown belt as if the guy wasn't even there.

I also saw him at last years Grappler's Quest against Lucas Lepri. Both amazing players as well.

From what I have noticed, the pounds will fall off fast, but eatting right and training is really the best way to go about it.

Do you know if there is a mat fee at 50/50? I am thinking about going down to VA for the competition in september. Wouldn't mind dropping in to check the place out.

Sandbagging is something that happens all the time. I completely agree with you but keep in mind that while some people may have less than 6 months of bjj training, they may have had years of other grappling. Regardless, good luck with everything.

Best advice I could give you is to never stop training. I stopped for a short period of time and all my grips, hooks etc were all messed up. I couldn't move my hips as well as I did before after a short break.

Yes there is a mat fee and I will ask Seph or Ryan tomorrow what that fee is. We just had 2 Robert Drysdale team mates train with us not to long ago and helped represent 50/50 at a recent tournament. But definitely come on down we are always welcoming outside people and the instructions from Ryan and Seph are top notch, they really do make it simple to understand the concepts of each move. There are day time classes as well as evening classes. Ryan usually teaches the evening and pokes in sometimes during the day classes which is mostly taught by Seph. It gets rather packed in the evening classes from what i heard. For the most part I go in the day time as this fits my schedule better.

nicoG35 · 08-13-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alberto

Very cool!

My first BJJ tourny was in dirty Jersey, it sucked I waited 6 hours before my first match....didnt even stay for Gi after waiting all day in a gym that was 110 degrees.

I also waited 6 hours for my No-Gi match, and then it was another hour till my Gi match. So i pretty much went and got something to eat in the mean time.

NGZ · 08-13-2009, 12:51 PM

Congrats on getting a silver medal with only 2 months of training!

nicoG35 · 08-14-2009, 08:19 AM

Thanks NGZ, ever since I switched to 50/50 my learning curve definitely shot up. my previous 2 months at my first school couldn't add up to two days worth at 50/50.

I remember when I first got to 5050 I got wrecked so bad by their white belts because the caliber of which they trained in was in competitive/technical style training. Yet the instructions were so simple and easy to understand. It is very how, what, why, when , and where that is explained so that someone who may be intimidated by the sport could understand and utilize. I guess I learned to adapt the training style and just grew into it.