Year is coming to a close people, it's time to let you guys in on some of my favorite BJJ moments of 2010. This year was pretty exciting and it was hard to chose my top few, but here it goes in no particular order:
Abmar Barbosa and Kayron Gracie's March to Pan Ams (Yes, I still call it Pan Ams) Final
This year's intallment of the Pan Ams really showed us who the two newest contenders are in the most stacked division in the sport. Watching these two this year left me with a feeling of, "Holy Crap! These guy's are for real!" Barbosa had a tough road, taking out both of last year's finalist, dismantling Kron Gracie, 11-0, and taking out Lucas Leite via armbar. The young Gracie had no easy path either, running into 2008 World Champion, Sergio Moraes, in a very tight match. Not only did these two go to town in the preliminary rounds, they also put on a show in the final, with Kayron taking the championship home in an awesome match.
Caio Terra Bringing it for the Little Guys
Not only did Caio Terra (Rooster/Light Feather) compete in the open weight divisions this year, he won TWO of them. Terra kicked off his 'David vs. Goliath' show at the Las Vegas Open, defeating Robert Fonseca (Asle) in the finals. The Gracie Fighter athlete continued his open weight journey at the American National Championship, where he took out such beasts as Rodrigo Simoes (By flying triangle), Marcelo Mafra (6-2), and the super heavyweight, Bruno Bastos. Caio is definitely a guy that the big boys should not take lightly.
Cyborg in General
It seems like everywhere I looked this year, there was Cyborg competing again and again. The guy deserves a lot of props for constantly putting it on the line time after time. It didn't matter if it was IBJJF or Grapplers Quest, he was there. Cyborg showed tons of technique and heart this year, winning many super fights, a very memorable one against Rolles Gracie found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcPrnMkIuIY, and taking home multiple IBJJF titles. Cyborg is on tear and is one of the guys everyone needs to watch out for in 2011.
These are just a few moments I found memorable, let me know what stuck out to you!
An aspiring Jiu-Jitsu player's take on the world of BJJ
Showing posts with label caio terra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caio terra. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
No Gi World Championships (Review)
This past weekend I competed in the No Gi World Championships, held by the IBJJF in Long Beach, California at the Walter Pyramid. It was a great experience and I actually had more fun than I usuallly do while competing.
First off, this was the most behind schedule Federation tournament that I have ever been apart of, but with 800 people in one day it really wasn't too bad. My open weight division didn't start untill probably about an hour later than it was scheduled to begin,, if not more . The purple belt light weight division didn't end untill about 6:30 and the open was supposed to be at 6:00, so, needless to say, they were off by a little bit. In all my years, this was really the only noticeably behind schedule Federation tournament I have ever been a part of. That being said, this won't deter me from any future IBJJF tournaments and I still highly recommend them to everyone.
As far as results and great matches go, I didn't really get to catch many due to the fact that I was competing at the same time as the black belt finals and I was helping out my teammates during the preliminary rounds. One thing I did notice though was a pretty cool sight, training partners, Caio Terra and Samir Chantre, fought in the finals of the light feather weight division. In a time of gentlmen's agreements and closing out divisions, this was pretty cool to see. Terra ended up taking the title by points in a hard fought match. Much respect to them for going at it.
As mentioned above, I had a lot of fun competing this time around. I made my return to the feather weight division after a short stint at lightweight. It actually end up going pretty well, I had a by first round moving me on to face Vin Phung (Lotus Club) in the second round. Phung was tough and had a good base, but I eventually swept him and landed in half guard. From there I secured a darce and finished it for the victory. My next fight was the quarter finals, facing me against a tough fighter from Undisputed, I cannot remember his name, but he put up a great fight. I ended winning the bout 4-0 from two sweeps. This victory placed me in the semi-finals with the young Gianni Grippo ( Renzo Gracie). Grippo was very strong, possibly the strongest feather weight I have ever faced. We both pulled guard and sat for a little bit, eventually he came on top and I went upside down, as I transitioned he hopped all the way over to my back claiming the four points. From there he sunk in the rear naked and I was forced to tap. I was disappointed, but I will come back stronger from this and I am grateful that I took third at the No Gi World Championships. Afterwards, I signed up for the open weight, something I always enjoy doing when I have the chance even though it doesn't seem to be too popular with guys my weight. I don't know what it is, but I enjoy the rush of fighting someone bigger than me, plus, a guy my size has nothing to lose. I didn't quite get the best bracketing, drawing the eventual champion, DJ Jackson (Lloyd Irvin), first round. Jackson by far has the tightest game of anyone that I have ever competed against. He was all over me, taking me down, passing my guard, mounting me. He was just too strong, big, and technical for me. I hung tough for awhile, not giving up the submission. I eventually got back to guard and with about a minute or so left I tried to transition to outside half, he hopped onto a kimura, I slipped my arm out, but he went right into a straight armbar after that, popping my arm and forcing me to tap.
This tournament was definitely a great experience and I am very glad I returned to a better weight for me. I'm especially happy, not only because I placed, doing what is probably the biggest achievement of my purple belt career, but I also had fun. I mean that is what we all learn as kids, right? The most important thing is to have fun.
First off, this was the most behind schedule Federation tournament that I have ever been apart of, but with 800 people in one day it really wasn't too bad. My open weight division didn't start untill probably about an hour later than it was scheduled to begin,, if not more . The purple belt light weight division didn't end untill about 6:30 and the open was supposed to be at 6:00, so, needless to say, they were off by a little bit. In all my years, this was really the only noticeably behind schedule Federation tournament I have ever been a part of. That being said, this won't deter me from any future IBJJF tournaments and I still highly recommend them to everyone.
As far as results and great matches go, I didn't really get to catch many due to the fact that I was competing at the same time as the black belt finals and I was helping out my teammates during the preliminary rounds. One thing I did notice though was a pretty cool sight, training partners, Caio Terra and Samir Chantre, fought in the finals of the light feather weight division. In a time of gentlmen's agreements and closing out divisions, this was pretty cool to see. Terra ended up taking the title by points in a hard fought match. Much respect to them for going at it.
As mentioned above, I had a lot of fun competing this time around. I made my return to the feather weight division after a short stint at lightweight. It actually end up going pretty well, I had a by first round moving me on to face Vin Phung (Lotus Club) in the second round. Phung was tough and had a good base, but I eventually swept him and landed in half guard. From there I secured a darce and finished it for the victory. My next fight was the quarter finals, facing me against a tough fighter from Undisputed, I cannot remember his name, but he put up a great fight. I ended winning the bout 4-0 from two sweeps. This victory placed me in the semi-finals with the young Gianni Grippo ( Renzo Gracie). Grippo was very strong, possibly the strongest feather weight I have ever faced. We both pulled guard and sat for a little bit, eventually he came on top and I went upside down, as I transitioned he hopped all the way over to my back claiming the four points. From there he sunk in the rear naked and I was forced to tap. I was disappointed, but I will come back stronger from this and I am grateful that I took third at the No Gi World Championships. Afterwards, I signed up for the open weight, something I always enjoy doing when I have the chance even though it doesn't seem to be too popular with guys my weight. I don't know what it is, but I enjoy the rush of fighting someone bigger than me, plus, a guy my size has nothing to lose. I didn't quite get the best bracketing, drawing the eventual champion, DJ Jackson (Lloyd Irvin), first round. Jackson by far has the tightest game of anyone that I have ever competed against. He was all over me, taking me down, passing my guard, mounting me. He was just too strong, big, and technical for me. I hung tough for awhile, not giving up the submission. I eventually got back to guard and with about a minute or so left I tried to transition to outside half, he hopped onto a kimura, I slipped my arm out, but he went right into a straight armbar after that, popping my arm and forcing me to tap.
This tournament was definitely a great experience and I am very glad I returned to a better weight for me. I'm especially happy, not only because I placed, doing what is probably the biggest achievement of my purple belt career, but I also had fun. I mean that is what we all learn as kids, right? The most important thing is to have fun.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
J.T. Torres Vs. Caio Terra
Here is the the black belt light open finals match from the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic between JT Torres and Caio Terra. I was actually surprised with the outcome, I expected JT to win, but not like this. Check it out. Also, if you want to watch more matches from this past weekend check out www.youtube.com/vinceo66. This channel belongs to a Nova Uniao student out in AZ who films as many matches as he can at the tournaments he goes to, so help support his channel.
2nd Southwest BJJ Classic (Review)
Over the weekend, the AZSBJJF and GD Jiu-Jitsu Events hit it out of the park with another stellar tournament at Mesa, Arizona’s Westwood Highschool. The event set an Arizona state record with over 600 competitiors!!
First of all, let me say this tournament was extremely well organized. All of the divisions ran on time and there were no complaints that I am aware of. Gustavo Dantas really showed once again why he puts on one of the best run tournaments out there.
Saturday, the kids started off the excitement. It was quite the sight to see: 200 children leaving it all on the line. With every tournament I keep getting more and more impressed with how the kids grow and show off their talent. The team title was taken by MMA Lab who always bring a tough group of youngsters to represent. Despite all the young hopefuls the biggest winner of the children was Brett Trivitt from the Lion’s Den, who had luck on his side in winning the raffle for the Nintendo Wii. Not a bad weekend if you ask me: Jiu-Jitsu and a free Wii, you can’t beat that.
Also, on Saturday were all of the blue belt divisions. One of the matches that really sticks out to me is the feather weight final between two Nova Uniao athletes, Jonathan Van Buren (GD Jiu-Jitsu) and Josh Rodriguez (ISMA). This was a very exciting, back and forth match in which Van Buren ended up claiming the victory by reverse armbar that you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCpe2p56Vk. The big winner of the day though was Alex Centner of (ISMA), who won the ultra heavyweight division and the open weight division. In what was another Nova Uniao final Alex submitted his opponent from the opposite end of the spectrum, the light feather division, Arnold Monterroso. Monterosso fought hard, but Centner proved to be too large and eventually caught a kimura, putting an end to day one.
First thing Sunday morning were the co-main events, the black belt light and heavy open classes. The light open pitted two of the toughest black belts out there against each other in the finals. JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin), who had no easy way to the finals beating the tough Samir Chantre(Gracie Fighter), faced off against an always game Caio Terra(Gracie Fighter). The two fought hard with JT coming out on top via armbar, taking home the ticket to Portugal. In the heavy open division finals we saw a rematch from the AZ State Championships, between Carlos Farias (Traven) and Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao). Bruno took the victory once again by one advantage point.
Sunday also brought about competition from the white, purple, and brown belts. Although everyone in these divisions put on a great show, I feel the standout of this day was “DJ” Jackson of team Lloyd Irvin. DJ put on a clinic submitting everyone in his weight and taking home the open weight purple belt division. Jackson definitely has a very bright future in Jiu-Jitsu. Also, the same day the third and final ticket to Portugal was raffled off amongst all the winners of each divison, leaving Matt Lowry of Gateway Martial Arts Academy the lucky winner of the weekend. As far as the team tournament goes, team GD Jiu-Jitsu took home the first place trophy with more than twice as many points as any other team at the competition.
I had a good personal experience at this tournament. Seeing as how this was my coach’s tournament, I not only competed, but helped at the tournament. Friday was the easy day helping set up, then Saturday I worked as matt coordinator all day, and finally Sunday I competed and worked again afterwards, then I helped break down the tournament as well. As for competing, I had one match with an always game Blayne Barlow (Relson Gracie) in the purple belt lightweight division. It was a fun match in which I won 10-2 and then I advanced to the finals where I closed out my division with my teammate. You can watch my match here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoYfa_DytUE. I also fought in the open weight where I had one match with a heavyweight from Megaton and lost 2-0. All in all it was a good experience and I hope to see you all at the next one!!
First of all, let me say this tournament was extremely well organized. All of the divisions ran on time and there were no complaints that I am aware of. Gustavo Dantas really showed once again why he puts on one of the best run tournaments out there.
Saturday, the kids started off the excitement. It was quite the sight to see: 200 children leaving it all on the line. With every tournament I keep getting more and more impressed with how the kids grow and show off their talent. The team title was taken by MMA Lab who always bring a tough group of youngsters to represent. Despite all the young hopefuls the biggest winner of the children was Brett Trivitt from the Lion’s Den, who had luck on his side in winning the raffle for the Nintendo Wii. Not a bad weekend if you ask me: Jiu-Jitsu and a free Wii, you can’t beat that.
Also, on Saturday were all of the blue belt divisions. One of the matches that really sticks out to me is the feather weight final between two Nova Uniao athletes, Jonathan Van Buren (GD Jiu-Jitsu) and Josh Rodriguez (ISMA). This was a very exciting, back and forth match in which Van Buren ended up claiming the victory by reverse armbar that you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCpe2p56Vk. The big winner of the day though was Alex Centner of (ISMA), who won the ultra heavyweight division and the open weight division. In what was another Nova Uniao final Alex submitted his opponent from the opposite end of the spectrum, the light feather division, Arnold Monterroso. Monterosso fought hard, but Centner proved to be too large and eventually caught a kimura, putting an end to day one.
First thing Sunday morning were the co-main events, the black belt light and heavy open classes. The light open pitted two of the toughest black belts out there against each other in the finals. JT Torres (Lloyd Irvin), who had no easy way to the finals beating the tough Samir Chantre(Gracie Fighter), faced off against an always game Caio Terra(Gracie Fighter). The two fought hard with JT coming out on top via armbar, taking home the ticket to Portugal. In the heavy open division finals we saw a rematch from the AZ State Championships, between Carlos Farias (Traven) and Bruno Bastos (Nova Uniao). Bruno took the victory once again by one advantage point.
Sunday also brought about competition from the white, purple, and brown belts. Although everyone in these divisions put on a great show, I feel the standout of this day was “DJ” Jackson of team Lloyd Irvin. DJ put on a clinic submitting everyone in his weight and taking home the open weight purple belt division. Jackson definitely has a very bright future in Jiu-Jitsu. Also, the same day the third and final ticket to Portugal was raffled off amongst all the winners of each divison, leaving Matt Lowry of Gateway Martial Arts Academy the lucky winner of the weekend. As far as the team tournament goes, team GD Jiu-Jitsu took home the first place trophy with more than twice as many points as any other team at the competition.
I had a good personal experience at this tournament. Seeing as how this was my coach’s tournament, I not only competed, but helped at the tournament. Friday was the easy day helping set up, then Saturday I worked as matt coordinator all day, and finally Sunday I competed and worked again afterwards, then I helped break down the tournament as well. As for competing, I had one match with an always game Blayne Barlow (Relson Gracie) in the purple belt lightweight division. It was a fun match in which I won 10-2 and then I advanced to the finals where I closed out my division with my teammate. You can watch my match here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoYfa_DytUE. I also fought in the open weight where I had one match with a heavyweight from Megaton and lost 2-0. All in all it was a good experience and I hope to see you all at the next one!!
2nd Southwest BJJ Classic
October 16th and 17th marks the second installment of the Southwest BJJ Classic. This is sure to be an event you will not want to miss.
The AZSBJJF, in association with GD Jiu-Jitsu Events, is going big this time, giving away not one, but three tickets to Portugal for the IBJJF 2011 European Championships. Two of the tickets will be given away to the winners of the black belt light and heavy open divisions. With big names such as Bruno Bastos, Caio Terra, and Samir Chantre confirmed, this is sure to be an exciting event. The other ticket will be raffled off among every divisional champion. Not to feel left out every competitor in the children’s division will receive a raffle ticket for a chance at winning a Nintendo Wii. Also, all competitors who register by October 8th will not only save ten dollars on the registration, but will receive a free tournament shirt and issue of Graciemag.
The prizes and promise of great black belt action aren’t the only thing that make this tournament a worthwhile experience. Gustavo Dantas holds a very high standard for organization at his tournaments. The only fair comparison is that of an IBJJF event. I feel that those who are used to tournaments such as Grapplers Quest, Naga, and many other competitions will be pleasantly surprised with how smoothly things are ran at an AZSBJJF event. There is always a schedule offered with times on it, not just an ordered list that involves guessing. Plus, all referees are IBJJF certified and are a minimum rank of brown belt to insure that your matches are called fairly. Another defining factor is that there is a barricade between the competition area and the rest of the venue, which means no kids or unqualified persons running around on the mats getting in the way of competition.
With that being said I hope to see you all at the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic. You can sign up and learn more about the event here http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj2. I will be there competing and supporting the event so come say hi if you have the time.
The AZSBJJF, in association with GD Jiu-Jitsu Events, is going big this time, giving away not one, but three tickets to Portugal for the IBJJF 2011 European Championships. Two of the tickets will be given away to the winners of the black belt light and heavy open divisions. With big names such as Bruno Bastos, Caio Terra, and Samir Chantre confirmed, this is sure to be an exciting event. The other ticket will be raffled off among every divisional champion. Not to feel left out every competitor in the children’s division will receive a raffle ticket for a chance at winning a Nintendo Wii. Also, all competitors who register by October 8th will not only save ten dollars on the registration, but will receive a free tournament shirt and issue of Graciemag.
The prizes and promise of great black belt action aren’t the only thing that make this tournament a worthwhile experience. Gustavo Dantas holds a very high standard for organization at his tournaments. The only fair comparison is that of an IBJJF event. I feel that those who are used to tournaments such as Grapplers Quest, Naga, and many other competitions will be pleasantly surprised with how smoothly things are ran at an AZSBJJF event. There is always a schedule offered with times on it, not just an ordered list that involves guessing. Plus, all referees are IBJJF certified and are a minimum rank of brown belt to insure that your matches are called fairly. Another defining factor is that there is a barricade between the competition area and the rest of the venue, which means no kids or unqualified persons running around on the mats getting in the way of competition.
With that being said I hope to see you all at the 2nd Southwest BJJ Classic. You can sign up and learn more about the event here http://strongvon.com/southwestbjj2. I will be there competing and supporting the event so come say hi if you have the time.
American National Championships
This past weekend the American National Jiu-Jitsu Champiuonship took place in Carson, California in the gymnasium at Cal State Dominguez Hills. It was a weekend full of excitement and great matches.
Saturday, the adult blue belt division was dominated by a group of young stars leaving the podium looking more like a juvenile division. Isaac Doederlein (Gracie Humaita) and Jordan Landry (Gracie Fighter) marched their way to the finals of the light feather weight division leaving many submissions in their wake. The two squared off in the final match leaving the young fighter from Humaita the victor. It was a very tight match with Doederlein only pulling it off by one advantage. In the light weight division another youngster, Michael Liera (Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu), took home the gold. Liera looked very impressive, submitting everyone in his weight class. The Ribeiro brothers’ prodigy returned on Sunday for another impressive performance in the open weight category. Liera went all the way to the finals, closing out the division with his team mate.
Also on Saturday, was the main event, the black belt open weight division. Surprisingly this division was taken by a light feather weight, Caio Terra. Terra keeps looking more and more impressive, with this being his second open weight title at black belt. Terra got a bye first round and then went on to submit Rodrigo Simoes with a nice flying triangle. In his next match he faced the tough middle weight, Marcelo Mafra. Terra ended up taking this bout 6-2 and almost catching an armbar at the end before Mafra escaped. On the opposite side of the bracket was the always game super heavy weight from Nova Uniao, Bruno Bastos. Bastos’ first match was the resilient feather weight, Rodrigo Ranieri. Bastos took this match with a half guard sweep, winning 2-0. In his next match he took on Leandro Santos from Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu, winning with a foot sweep in another 2-0 victory. Eventually, Terra and Bastos met in the end bringing about a pretty lack luster, ‘David and Goliath’ final. Terra pulled guard and shot up a few oma platas, but Bastos proved to be too strong for those and easily stood up to defend. The very passive Bastos was penalized for his lack of movement giving the win to Terra on the negative point.
There were also many other noteworthy matches throughout the weekend. One being Zak Maxwell, in his black belt debut, vs. Phillipe Della Monica. A match which I thought would be a very tough test for the young, recently promoted Maxwell. Zak passed with flying colors defeating the Gracie Barra athlete by a score of 10-2 in pure dominance. As Maxwell advanced to the finals, Della Monica’s teammate, Rodrigo Simoes, would come looking for revenge that he would wind up getting. In a very exciting final, Simoes took the lead early with a beatiful, old school, Pe de Pano style cross guard sweep. As the match went on Simoes hit another cross guard sweep making the score 4-0. In the final moments Maxwell swept back and began trying desperately to pass, but could not pull it off, leaving the final score 4-2 Simoes.
My personal experience was not the best at this tournament. I entered the Purple/Adult/lLightweight division. I won my first match against a tough Jaxon Smith (Machado JJ). I pulled guard really bad, without good grips and had to recover from there. Smith is very srong and I ended up winning 2-2 with one more advantage than him. It was a very tough match and at times I didn’t think I could pull it out, but I just kept telling myself I could and that helped me through. It’s amazing what some self affirmations can do. My next match I pulled bad again and my opponent took advantage and passed. Eventually he caught a choke that I seriously thought about tapping to, but I fought out and we scrambled to our feet. I took the time tying my belt to regain what was going on and recognize what I had to do. I was down 5-0. I tried to get a good grip to get a better pull, but in taking my time he pulled first. I knew I had to do something so I stood up in his closed guard and made a mistake with my grips, he took advantage and caught me in an armbar. It was a very disappointing tournament for me considering I trained so hard, but I tried hard and learned what I need to work on from my mistakes. It’s like my favorite quote says, ” Broken dreams are built to make you strong.”
Saturday, the adult blue belt division was dominated by a group of young stars leaving the podium looking more like a juvenile division. Isaac Doederlein (Gracie Humaita) and Jordan Landry (Gracie Fighter) marched their way to the finals of the light feather weight division leaving many submissions in their wake. The two squared off in the final match leaving the young fighter from Humaita the victor. It was a very tight match with Doederlein only pulling it off by one advantage. In the light weight division another youngster, Michael Liera (Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu), took home the gold. Liera looked very impressive, submitting everyone in his weight class. The Ribeiro brothers’ prodigy returned on Sunday for another impressive performance in the open weight category. Liera went all the way to the finals, closing out the division with his team mate.
Also on Saturday, was the main event, the black belt open weight division. Surprisingly this division was taken by a light feather weight, Caio Terra. Terra keeps looking more and more impressive, with this being his second open weight title at black belt. Terra got a bye first round and then went on to submit Rodrigo Simoes with a nice flying triangle. In his next match he faced the tough middle weight, Marcelo Mafra. Terra ended up taking this bout 6-2 and almost catching an armbar at the end before Mafra escaped. On the opposite side of the bracket was the always game super heavy weight from Nova Uniao, Bruno Bastos. Bastos’ first match was the resilient feather weight, Rodrigo Ranieri. Bastos took this match with a half guard sweep, winning 2-0. In his next match he took on Leandro Santos from Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu, winning with a foot sweep in another 2-0 victory. Eventually, Terra and Bastos met in the end bringing about a pretty lack luster, ‘David and Goliath’ final. Terra pulled guard and shot up a few oma platas, but Bastos proved to be too strong for those and easily stood up to defend. The very passive Bastos was penalized for his lack of movement giving the win to Terra on the negative point.
There were also many other noteworthy matches throughout the weekend. One being Zak Maxwell, in his black belt debut, vs. Phillipe Della Monica. A match which I thought would be a very tough test for the young, recently promoted Maxwell. Zak passed with flying colors defeating the Gracie Barra athlete by a score of 10-2 in pure dominance. As Maxwell advanced to the finals, Della Monica’s teammate, Rodrigo Simoes, would come looking for revenge that he would wind up getting. In a very exciting final, Simoes took the lead early with a beatiful, old school, Pe de Pano style cross guard sweep. As the match went on Simoes hit another cross guard sweep making the score 4-0. In the final moments Maxwell swept back and began trying desperately to pass, but could not pull it off, leaving the final score 4-2 Simoes.
My personal experience was not the best at this tournament. I entered the Purple/Adult/lLightweight division. I won my first match against a tough Jaxon Smith (Machado JJ). I pulled guard really bad, without good grips and had to recover from there. Smith is very srong and I ended up winning 2-2 with one more advantage than him. It was a very tough match and at times I didn’t think I could pull it out, but I just kept telling myself I could and that helped me through. It’s amazing what some self affirmations can do. My next match I pulled bad again and my opponent took advantage and passed. Eventually he caught a choke that I seriously thought about tapping to, but I fought out and we scrambled to our feet. I took the time tying my belt to regain what was going on and recognize what I had to do. I was down 5-0. I tried to get a good grip to get a better pull, but in taking my time he pulled first. I knew I had to do something so I stood up in his closed guard and made a mistake with my grips, he took advantage and caught me in an armbar. It was a very disappointing tournament for me considering I trained so hard, but I tried hard and learned what I need to work on from my mistakes. It’s like my favorite quote says, ” Broken dreams are built to make you strong.”
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