www.floridabjj.org
I plan to compete. I am starting to take a mental checklist of things I want to accomplish this competition.
Last NAGA, I made a list and was able to check everything off the list. Woohoo! I would love to be able to do that again.
I wanted to attempt a take down. - FAILED miserably, but I at least attempted one. I am happy with the small victories.
I wanted to win at least one match by submission. - I ended up wining both my no gi fights by submission. Yay!
And I wanted to place. - I took home a gold and silver.
This time I want to:
Not get locked up in closed guard like I ALWAYS do.
Make lightweight - 141 in my gi. (I know I said I would never cut again, but I am too close not to do it.)
I would also like to stay calm... AND stay focused.
Last time around, I was very calm, but I did not get in the zone at all. One of my grapples we broke apart, and instead of scrambling to get on top, I sat there and let her come to me. Idiot. I need to remain calm, and also focus on the task at hand.... kicking butt.
And as far as take downs go... The more and more I drill them, the more and more I think take downs are not my jam. I can jump guard until I am blue in the face... go go gadget legs, but I feel like jumping guard is a cop out for some reason. ... but at the same time, my only other option is to take the girl down, and I just FAIL miserably at take downs. I took MYSELF down for crying out loud. Oi!
We shall see what happens.
I have three weeks to prepare.
I have three weeks to prepare.
Good for you! You're going to do awesome.
ReplyDelete1) cutting weight. start NOW. I don't know what your normal diet is, but if you cut a little bit now, it won't suck at the end. drop your daily calories (rough guess) by about 10% and step up your cardio some. Cut out completely straight sugar and as much salt as you can stand. Try to avoid carbs almost entirely for the next three weeks (bread, pasta, etc). Fruits are okay but keep it limited. Meats and raw vegetables are your friends. What you'll find is you'll feel like you're out of energy for a week or so, you'll probably be a little grumpy, BUT if you can consciously keep the exertion levels high, you'll drop some weight pretty easily. And because you're not cutting back TOO much on calories, you shouldn't feel TOO hungry.
2) Jumping/pulling guard is not a cop out. I think I'm a pretty aggressive fighter, but I pull guard a lot. Why? Because I am decently confident in my sweeps. It's not because I'm lazy or anything. (Well, sometimes, anyway :) ) Anyway, really take some time to analyze whether you have better takedowns or sweeps. If your takedowns are better, then do them. If your sweeps are better, then set yourself up to do them. If they're about even, well, you have options. :)
3) Not to scare you, but blue belt is a different level than white belt (duh, thanks for the info, Dev). Roll smart, and don't get psyched out by that fact. Your game WORKS, which is why your instructor thought you earned the belt. Play YOUR game.
4) And have fun. :)
You're going to do great! Good luck!
Thanks Dev! Your number two makes me happy. Sweeps are my strong point. Not awesome by any stretch, but I feel like my sweeps are good and my guard is decent for my level.. and my go to submission also happens to be from the guard. Maybe I just feel like it is a cop out because it's easy to do. *shrug* I'm not going to give up on take downs completely. There are two I've been working on that I seem to do fairly well, but it's really hard to judge how well it will work live when you are drilling on a stagnant body vs some who is waiting for you to shoot, and prepared to. sprawl.
ReplyDeleteTo make weight I will probably have to drop about 5-6 pounds. I think I can do that pretty easily in 3 weeks. I have until the 19th... the sign up cut off is then, and if I am not close enough to make weight with out killing myself, I will just fight middle weight. This is an IBJJF comp, so I weigh in, and fight right after. I'm not willing to fight dehydrated.
And I am not quite a blue belt yet, so I don't have to worry about number 3. That will be Allie's problem this time around. =) Though, when my first competition as a blue belt will be pressure free. I plan to get the mat cleaned with my face the first time I step out there as a baby blue belt. =)
I did get a little taste of what it might be like though. I had to fight a girl at the last NAGA who competed in the 2-5 year bracket in no gi, however she was still a white belt. Her reaction time was MUCH faster then any of hte girls I had competed with in the past, and I assume that was just flat out due to mat time.. white belt or not she had at least a year and a half of grappling under her belt more then I do... and that does count for something. I would expect a lot of my competition to be more like that girl then who I have fought in the past.