The last time I was here I got my shit handed to me, but its been quite a few months since then and Im bringing more reinforcements (Brian, Dean, Matt, Big Matt, Thor). Including Andy which is a significant help.
We actually get there early and the kids comp is still going on. We check our weights and all is dandy, its FREEZING though. For some reason I confuse Kevin Cox with Ross Nichols which is odd as they look nothing alike. I congratulate Ross and without much chitter chatter call him out for a roll when we got time, friendly like mind you!. I also see one of the guys I fought at Kent as well as his brother, spent a while talking to these guys who were really cool. Check out their website at badshah.com.
Our division was small but had a few tough looking guys. Me and Matt were on opposite sides to each other thankfully as the organisers are nice like that, so we hoped to see each other in the final again.
I go through my warm up routine and have a light free roll with Andy, working transitions and escapes. Never holding on for more than a few seconds. Although demoralising I picked up some handy lil tid bits on some passes and escapes.
My gameplan for this comp was to pass guard, stay on top, get the points and force them to make an error I could capitalise on to finish them.
I had the first fight in the division and my opponent looked quite nervous. As soon as we bumped fists he was straight in there, always a pretty good indicator of nerves. I had actually written up a dramatic version of events but then upon watching the vid I realised how much I had forgotten so Ill just give you the vid.
The triangle was on very tight but I could feel him overexerting himself so I just stayed patient looking to buy myself some time. Thank god he didnt know the re counter to the catdip counter. Was very pleased with the sit up sweep, by far my best sweep. Although not the most subtle, it is very effective.
It doesnt feel like more than 5 minutes before my next fight. Fighting Mr Badshah. He is alot more relaxed and looks confident. I can tell as we size each other up looking for grips that his a guard fighter. I go into juggernaut mode again and we get to his guard, where he seems happy to keep it open. Being very wary of another triangle I try keep his feet and hips pinned. He is very mobile though and I am forced to defend from a few angles.
At some point he gets on top in my half guard, was very happy with my sweep. All that half guard work recently paid off.
2nd Vid here!
Matts first fight is up, he works the same solid game he does in training. Getting a tight triangle and finishing it there. Matts 2nd fight is identical!. Both finished in under 2 mins. Its gonna be a hard final!
We have to wait a little bit for the final but we are relaxed and having a good time. The competition nerves do get easier to deal with it seems. And its a big help that Im facing Matt in the final as its win win for the club. But I want the win.
I keep focused on specifically avoiding the triangle. I try to catch him out by going for guard when we start but he gets there before I do so I am forced to try pass. Which is fine for me.
The final!
Passing felt good but I was to compliant with stalling, I never tried to seperate and attack an arm. Or setup a sub. It all goes wrong at about 1:35 in the vid where I am ontop but am not active enough and it allows him to weasel himself onto my back. He had a mini choke on from underneath which was stopping me from carrying on moving clockwise. But for some reason I never went anti-clockwise to try for the mount or knee on belly. On my back he had a choke deep in. I didnt think much time was left so I was doing my all to survive. Made some very horrible gurgling sounds and actually burst a few blood vessels in my eyes (not that bad!). But he held fast and I had to tap, the magnificient bastard.
That brings our rivalry up to 1-1! - really do feel like we are pushing each other to get better. Vegeta/goku, Naruto/sasuke, He-man/skeletor!.
Heres myself, Matt and Scott Morgan posing with our trophies. Spoke quite abit with Scott who was a good laugh, he showed me a very nice overhook closed guard move. And I showed him the Von flue choke.
The other guys had some great fights as well, Brian had a ton of them and looked like the sole survivor of a resident evil film. Enough so that Andy made this picture!
So the aftermath:
Good:
Passed alot and stayed active in passing
Saw most subs coming and defended
Focused and clear headed
Never got tired
Met some cool people and learnt some cool stuff from them
Half guard felt good
Sweeps felt really good
Bad:
To focused on holding a good position and didnt develop it further to create submission openings
Was compliant in letting people put guard back
Not enough hip pressure
Didnt look hard enough for submissions
Didnt work enough from side control for mount
Took back control but didnt work the hooks in
Didnt have the presence of mind to change direction in the final fight
I like the control of playing a passing game so I think its something Im gonna stick with. But I also love sweeps which I think is a handy Plan B for when things go wrong.
So quite abit there to work on and develop but I feel quite positive and felt I got alot out of it. Including a 2nd place trophy (will add the pic when I get it!)
Im gonna start doing some reviews, including event reviews. But for now let me urge you to goto one of the Hereford ground fightings comps should you get the chance.
2 comments:
I only just saw this. I await a rematch my nemesis.
Definitely! - will be a blast. Hope to check your place out soon.
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