Let's go to the video!

Aaaaaaand here's the video from my loss at the 2010 Pan Am Jiu-Jitsu Championships. I'd post a video of a victory if I had one. But I don't. I'm 0 for 2.

Go here for the full-size version: http://www.vimeo.com/11060126

Pan Am jiu-jitsu competition video - novice level (white belt) from Case on Vimeo.

Score was tied so they went to the tiebreaker

I participated in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships yesterday. What is that? It's a big tournament for competitive jiu-jitsu. People come from all over. There were 2700 competitors in total this year but only 17 guys in my age/weight division.

I competed at Novice level (white belt) , Senior 1 (36-40), 181 lb weight limit (weight includes gi).

Short tournament for me: I lost my first and only match. Score was 0-0 after 5 minutes, so they went to the tiebreaker and my opponent was leading 1-0 in advantage (an advantage is when you try something but it doesn't work - you get credit for the effort). It was very close. I am disappointed with the outcome (I could have won!) but not my effort.

Going into the tournament I was concerned about fighting a short, stocky guy. A guy with that body type would be stronger than me, so I would have to wear him down or use superior technique. Easier said than done.

As it happens, I got the guy where I wanted (closed guard) but couldn't/didn't execute any of the techniques I like from that position. No sweeps, no chokes, no armlocks. If you had told me before the match that my opponent would spend four minutes (of a 5 minute fight) inside my closed guard I would have felt very confident about it. As it was I lost by the narrowest of margins. Frustrating.

In the end it was a great experience, learned a lot. I hope to be back next year.