vanguard_anon
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Some of you may have seen my thread looking for advice: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?t=293173 . Well, yesterday was the day so here's how it went.
Making weight
I've been waking up in the morning at about 176.5lbs and I needed to be 175. This is a pretty small cut but since I've never cut any water weight at all before it was foreign to me. I ate cereal for dinner knowing that it would go right through my system before weigh-ins. After dinner was 178. Anyway, I did a little excersize with my wife (so to speak) and slept with a sweat suit on. I woke up 3 lbs lighter but didn't have the extra wiggle room for breakfast or a drink.
Having seen a few UFC weigh-ins I knew what to expect. (Yeah right ) I hopped on the cheesy bathroom scale and weighed 176. I told the guy I was looking for 175 and he said, "Close enough." That was fine by me. I could have easily made weight by taking off my t-shirt and going to the bathroom.
Masters white belt gi welterweight
This was my first competition and there were only two of us in the category. The guy I went with was a few pounds lighter (maybe 6) and he had about the same amount of experience as I did (7 months). He was kind of tough to take down. I think we spent the first minute on our feet and my attempts at a inside reap were foiled by a solid base. I eventually shot for the single leg and got it. I hugged it tight to my chest, spun him around with my head, and grabbed the other leg. I ended up in side control but my head was inside his gi. That sucked. It was hard to breathe and I couldn't see anything. While I was in there he nearly changed my side control to half guard. I stayed tight, pulled his gi off my head, and got full side control for the points.
I have an easy time going from side control to full mount so I figured I'd pick up some more points. From full mount I tried to get the kimura but something must be wrong because I rarely get that unless I'm a lot stronger than the other guy (or if he's very new). In the transistion of getting reversed from full mount to having him in my guard I spotted the guillotine. The guillotine is by far my best move. I get can usually get it deep and it's one of the few moves that I can spot and apply in an instant. This time was no different and he tapped a few seconds later. One gold medal for me.
Adult white belt gi welterweight
Because there was only one other guy in my class I decided to roll with the young guys. The guy I went with was pretty tough. Again I won the takedown with but this time my inner reap worked. I landed in his guard and passed it for side control. I took the mount and was nicely up on points. Again I get reversed and he was in my guard. I have a pretty tough guard but my offense from the bottom sucks. He spent nearly 2 1/2 minutes trying to pass my guard and I was sort of relaxing with my lockdown. I eventually see an armbar opportunity and go for it. (Momentarily fogetting that my guard offense sucks) Well, the arm bar failed, and I got passed. He took my back and got a gi choke. I tapped. This guy ended up getting second in the division and it left me wondering what I could have done if I was smarter.
Masters beginner no-gi welterweight
I went up against a guy that was much better than me. He wrestled in college and just had a grapplers way about him that left me sure that he had *lots* of mat time behind him. Knowing that he was a wrestler I was hoping for the guillotine (my best move) but he shot in real low by my ankles. In an instant I was being side controlled. Crap. We spent the next minute or so with me trying to get my knee in for the guard and him working the illegal neck cranks. He benefitted a lot from his coaches on the side and I found myself wishing my insructor was there too. The ref warned him twice about the neck cranks but I guess he didn't see fit to disqualify him. It wasn't until the next day (today) that I remember they are only disqualified if you tap. I should have tapped and sent that asshole home, I still can't turn my head without pain. He went on to win both the beginner and intermediate no-gi categories. I got third place because there were three people in the category and the other loser had a bye to lose in the finals against Captain Neck Crank. Some stranger came up to me later and said not to feel bad about losing because he was a medal hunter entering the beginner competitions. If I he had been disqualfied I would have beated the other guy for the gold like I did in the morning. Oh well, it's just a medal.
Adult no-gi welterweight
My first match went well. I won the takedown. Got side control then full mount. I held the mount for a while trying to get up high on him. My goal was to get a knee under his arm, get his elbow way off the mat, and get the armbar from the mount. He was in a total defensive lockdown and that wasn't going to happen. Given that this was no-gi, my kimura wasn't working, and my arm bar wasn't working I was kind of out of ideas but way up on points. He managed to reverse me and get from full mount to my guard. I sat up and hit the guillotine. It was deep enough but he somehow rolled from in my guard to getting fully mounted. No problem, I cranked the mounted guillotine for about 2 seconds and the time ran out.
Next match. This guy was big. Everybody was questioning whether or not he really made weight and of course all these guys were 22 compared to my 32. He won the takedown and I had guard. His coach was yelling, "You're ahead on points. Make him work for it." Good advice considering that my guard offense sucks. He was on defensive lockdown and I was trying to make something happen. I go for the armbar and it doesn't work but I still have the arm. I have no idea what the next position would be called but it took about 45 seconds for him to get the arm free and take side control. Now I'm down by 5 and I'm side controlled. It took a lot of time but I got him from side control to inside my guard. That's better but I'm way behind and I know that I'm not going to win from my guard. I try to sit up for a guillotine but that's not working, he's too big/strong and seems to be able to control me. I try to take the back from my guard but never full get there. Time runs out and I lost on points. The guy that knocked me out eventually lost in the finals to a controversal phantom tap that only the ref saw and he denied. The audiance didn't think he tapped either but he was in a bad spot.
Final Thoughts
All in all it was a good day. I learned where I stand amoung white belts and what I need to work on. I also learned a little about competition and making weight. The medals I took home (gold and bronze) were from small fields but I feel ok about that too. The reason the field is small is that most guys over 30 are golfing, playing men's softball with a beer in their hand, or just watching TV. If I pull a last place in no-gi for a bronze metal I'll just pat myself on the back for still being in the game.
Next time I'm going to beat all the young guys.
Making weight
I've been waking up in the morning at about 176.5lbs and I needed to be 175. This is a pretty small cut but since I've never cut any water weight at all before it was foreign to me. I ate cereal for dinner knowing that it would go right through my system before weigh-ins. After dinner was 178. Anyway, I did a little excersize with my wife (so to speak) and slept with a sweat suit on. I woke up 3 lbs lighter but didn't have the extra wiggle room for breakfast or a drink.
Having seen a few UFC weigh-ins I knew what to expect. (Yeah right ) I hopped on the cheesy bathroom scale and weighed 176. I told the guy I was looking for 175 and he said, "Close enough." That was fine by me. I could have easily made weight by taking off my t-shirt and going to the bathroom.
Masters white belt gi welterweight
This was my first competition and there were only two of us in the category. The guy I went with was a few pounds lighter (maybe 6) and he had about the same amount of experience as I did (7 months). He was kind of tough to take down. I think we spent the first minute on our feet and my attempts at a inside reap were foiled by a solid base. I eventually shot for the single leg and got it. I hugged it tight to my chest, spun him around with my head, and grabbed the other leg. I ended up in side control but my head was inside his gi. That sucked. It was hard to breathe and I couldn't see anything. While I was in there he nearly changed my side control to half guard. I stayed tight, pulled his gi off my head, and got full side control for the points.
I have an easy time going from side control to full mount so I figured I'd pick up some more points. From full mount I tried to get the kimura but something must be wrong because I rarely get that unless I'm a lot stronger than the other guy (or if he's very new). In the transistion of getting reversed from full mount to having him in my guard I spotted the guillotine. The guillotine is by far my best move. I get can usually get it deep and it's one of the few moves that I can spot and apply in an instant. This time was no different and he tapped a few seconds later. One gold medal for me.
Adult white belt gi welterweight
Because there was only one other guy in my class I decided to roll with the young guys. The guy I went with was pretty tough. Again I won the takedown with but this time my inner reap worked. I landed in his guard and passed it for side control. I took the mount and was nicely up on points. Again I get reversed and he was in my guard. I have a pretty tough guard but my offense from the bottom sucks. He spent nearly 2 1/2 minutes trying to pass my guard and I was sort of relaxing with my lockdown. I eventually see an armbar opportunity and go for it. (Momentarily fogetting that my guard offense sucks) Well, the arm bar failed, and I got passed. He took my back and got a gi choke. I tapped. This guy ended up getting second in the division and it left me wondering what I could have done if I was smarter.
Masters beginner no-gi welterweight
I went up against a guy that was much better than me. He wrestled in college and just had a grapplers way about him that left me sure that he had *lots* of mat time behind him. Knowing that he was a wrestler I was hoping for the guillotine (my best move) but he shot in real low by my ankles. In an instant I was being side controlled. Crap. We spent the next minute or so with me trying to get my knee in for the guard and him working the illegal neck cranks. He benefitted a lot from his coaches on the side and I found myself wishing my insructor was there too. The ref warned him twice about the neck cranks but I guess he didn't see fit to disqualify him. It wasn't until the next day (today) that I remember they are only disqualified if you tap. I should have tapped and sent that asshole home, I still can't turn my head without pain. He went on to win both the beginner and intermediate no-gi categories. I got third place because there were three people in the category and the other loser had a bye to lose in the finals against Captain Neck Crank. Some stranger came up to me later and said not to feel bad about losing because he was a medal hunter entering the beginner competitions. If I he had been disqualfied I would have beated the other guy for the gold like I did in the morning. Oh well, it's just a medal.
Adult no-gi welterweight
My first match went well. I won the takedown. Got side control then full mount. I held the mount for a while trying to get up high on him. My goal was to get a knee under his arm, get his elbow way off the mat, and get the armbar from the mount. He was in a total defensive lockdown and that wasn't going to happen. Given that this was no-gi, my kimura wasn't working, and my arm bar wasn't working I was kind of out of ideas but way up on points. He managed to reverse me and get from full mount to my guard. I sat up and hit the guillotine. It was deep enough but he somehow rolled from in my guard to getting fully mounted. No problem, I cranked the mounted guillotine for about 2 seconds and the time ran out.
Next match. This guy was big. Everybody was questioning whether or not he really made weight and of course all these guys were 22 compared to my 32. He won the takedown and I had guard. His coach was yelling, "You're ahead on points. Make him work for it." Good advice considering that my guard offense sucks. He was on defensive lockdown and I was trying to make something happen. I go for the armbar and it doesn't work but I still have the arm. I have no idea what the next position would be called but it took about 45 seconds for him to get the arm free and take side control. Now I'm down by 5 and I'm side controlled. It took a lot of time but I got him from side control to inside my guard. That's better but I'm way behind and I know that I'm not going to win from my guard. I try to sit up for a guillotine but that's not working, he's too big/strong and seems to be able to control me. I try to take the back from my guard but never full get there. Time runs out and I lost on points. The guy that knocked me out eventually lost in the finals to a controversal phantom tap that only the ref saw and he denied. The audiance didn't think he tapped either but he was in a bad spot.
Final Thoughts
All in all it was a good day. I learned where I stand amoung white belts and what I need to work on. I also learned a little about competition and making weight. The medals I took home (gold and bronze) were from small fields but I feel ok about that too. The reason the field is small is that most guys over 30 are golfing, playing men's softball with a beer in their hand, or just watching TV. If I pull a last place in no-gi for a bronze metal I'll just pat myself on the back for still being in the game.
Next time I'm going to beat all the young guys.