My Michigan BJJ Open matches/knee injury

[Wrestleben]

I competed in the Caique run Michigan BJJ Open today in metro Detroit.

I won my first match on points. I thought I won 7-0, but I was told after I won by 1 point. If you can figure that one out, please let me know. I think my hips were too high, and could have been more agressive. I hit my favorite deep half guard sweep though, so it was all good. Any feedback or criticism would be appreciated.

I'm the blonder guy with the multi colored belt.



My 2nd match was the semifinals (there were like 10 guys in my group, and they ran rat-tails to get to the main 8 main draw). I knew this guy was a good wrestler, because I saw him at the ADCC Regional a couple weeks before. He took me down with a single but left a hand on the ground, which I oma plata'd. I'm kind of flexible but no one is going to mistake me for Eddie Bravo. The main mistake i make is grabbing my foot, which basically inside heel hooked myself. I heard my knee pop twice right as I started screaming. I've been icing it and taking ibuprofen, but will probably half to see a doctor in the next day or two. I'm still limping.

 

[Balto]

Yeah I'd avoid doing the omoplata that way in the future for obvious reasons.

Still you got out there and competed which is good. Stuff happens sometimes, and I'm sure you learned from it.

Definitely see a doctor about that if you are still limping around. It's better to be safe on things like that.

 

[Michael Davis]

looks like you tried to force the knee to much and your knee did not want it

 

[Lookyoung]

The first match you won 7-0 although towards the end the guy flipped you from side control and landed on top of you for a few seconds. I don't know what the rules are but worst case scenario you won 7-3. Judging at these tournaments is shoddy at times. The guy appeared to have good grips and you did a good job of defending the other leg(triangle) It looked like he was looking for that.

In the second match I am no expert at omoplatas and it looked like you forced it a little but looked to me like a freak accident. I hope your knee is alright and get an Mri for it. I hope you didn't tear an ACL or anything like that.

 

[Wrestleben]

Lookyoung: it was regular IBJJF rules. A sweep has to start from a guard, and in this case didn't. He didn't sweep, and didn't pass the guard...it was just an escape and maybe she be awarded an advantage. I think he got 2 points for a sweep though. The ref was Angelo Popofski, who is a BJJ black belt and pro mma fighter, so I wasn't going to argue with him.

Thanks for the concerns on my knee. It's still swollen and hurts. I've been icing it and taking 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours. I will probably go to the doctor on Monday if I don't get miracle healed in the meantime.

 

[Kforcer]

I thought you looked great, man. I would say, as you probably know, stay off of both knees while driving with the double-leg. I don't know, maybe the gi mechanics are a little different, still, I'd say stay off of two knees...it can reduce the drive to finish a shot into a crawl.

Anyway, you're looking good. Godspeed with the knee; it looked like you had him pretty good before that.

 

[Kforcer]

How'd Kiely and the other Gurgel fellows do?

 

[Cash Bill 52]

Knee injuries suck. I know.

I was just wondering if this is the way you were taught to do an omoplata? I was taught to scoot away to create a better angle. I try to move my hips away by using my hands and legs to push his head. Forcing anything usually creates a negative effect.

Thanks for sharing. We can all learn from this. Good luck on your recovery.

 

[Wrestleben]

How'd Kiely and the other Gurgel fellows do?

Thanks Kforcer. Only 3 of us made the trip...me, Ryan Stutz, and Mark Van Tongeren (all blue belts). Stutz got 2nd (see other thread of him getting judo thrown though lol), and Mark lost two matches in OT.

 

[Wrestleben]

Knee injuries suck. I know.

I was just wondering if this is the way you were taught to do an omoplata? I was taught to scoot away to create a better angle. I try to move my hips away by using my hands and legs to push his head. Forcing anything usually creates a negative effect.

Thanks for sharing. We can all learn from this. Good luck on your recovery.

No, this is NOT how I was taught. It was stupid. I was pushing his head away, but I didn't have a good angle and he was posturing up into me, which didn't let me slide my hips out. I tried to force the position and it ended up costing me.

After the match the ref, Angelo Popofski (Caique black belt who knows my instructor), said that he knew my instructor didn't teach me to do a oma plata that way. He was right. I like to post my matches for feedback, but I think this specifically can help people avoid injury. Learn my my stupid mistake.

 

[Kforcer]

I've actually seen Mark compete a few times; he's a good competitor. IIRC, he's submitted some good guys in MMA and sub-grappling. I actually remember him hitting a nice leglock on a guy in an MMA cage match, which I appreciate very much. I guess close losses just happen when you compete regularly.

BTW, loved that compression you pulled off at the Gurgel in-house tournament.

 

[Jagcorps_esq]

There was a time when you were in his guard and he got up, keeping a hold of you, and ended up in your half guard.

He might have called that a sweep...meh.

The second one, the reversal from side, he definitely called a sweep though it was not.

So....4 for him in magical bad scoring land.

It didn't look like he gave you the take down and he also looked iffy or your half guard sweep. I'm assuming that he gave you at least one of those two (should have been both),plus your guard pass for a total of 5.

I can see how he got to your score....I just totally disagree.

 

[InvertedBJJ]

Hope your knee heals quickly and 100%

nothing worse than bein off the mats bc of an injury.

btw good job on the matches, you looked really good.

 

[akdms]

My friend and I were at the competition and watching your second match--we both turned to each other and said "this guy's going to break his knee" right before you did... That sucks man--hopefully you didn't do any permanent damage. Definitely go see a doctor.

There were a TON of injuries at that competition. I've gone to quite a few tournaments and have never seen so many injuries. The paramedics were on the mat at least six times, and it wasn't that big of a tournament... It was a really aggressive tournament, and I saw the Caique guys using rubber guard a lot (dunno if they're actually being taught RB or not), which might have contributed to all the injuries.

 

[BR22]

Haha I saw myself in that video!!
You looked real good!
I hope you recover fast.

 

[Kforcer]

My friend and I were at the competition and watching your second match--we both turned to each other and said "this guy's going to break his knee" right before you did... That sucks man--hopefully you didn't do any permanent damage. Definitely go see a doctor.

There were a TON of injuries at that competition. I've gone to quite a few tournaments and have never seen so many injuries. The paramedics were on the mat at least six times, and it wasn't that big of a tournament... It was a really aggressive tournament, and I saw the Caique guys using rubber guard a lot (dunno if they're actually being taught RB or not), which might have contributed to all the injuries.

Which gym are you with, if I may ask? Just curious, you know.

 

[akdms]

Which gym are you with, if I may ask? Just curious, you know.

I train under Blanke in Detroit & Toledo.

Where do you train at in EL? I graduated there a couple years ago and couldn't find any BJJ schools in the area.

 

[Jim J]

Are you ever supposed to omoplata from half guard? I'm not much of an omoplata guy, but that just looked like a bad idea the whole time.

I hope you didn't tear any ligaments. Good luck. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Wrestleben]

Are you ever supposed to omoplata from half guard? I'm not much of an omoplata guy, but that just looked like a bad idea the whole time.

I hope you didn't tear any ligaments. Good luck. Thanks for posting it.

It is not a standard oma plata, but it can be done. I made some key mistakes obviously. The main one was I was pulling my own leg with my foot. This basically inside heel hooked myself. The second main problem was not scooting out and giving myself space and a good angle. This caused me to force the move, which is what resulted in the injury.

 

[Kforcer]

I train under Blanke in Detroit & Toledo.

Where do you train at in EL? I graduated there a couple years ago and couldn't find any BJJ schools in the area.

You went to East Lansing high school? Or MSU?

Anyway, I trained at Powerhouse Gym, with MIICA, while Powerhouse had wrestling mats, and also trained with my brother and whoever wanted to train back there whenever the mats were free during gym hours. Other than that, I just do my own thing with friends, wherever I can find the mat space, or wherever I can create some makeshift mat space.