Post-Competition Thoughts and the Berimbolo

So the Atlanta Open was last Saturday, and it was a truly great event, despite me losing my first match. My opponent got some grips, pulled De La Riva guard, and inverted for a Berimbolo sweep. He took my back and sunk in a tight collar choke. I'm pretty angry that I didn't even have a chance to use my jiu jitsu, but it was a good experience nonetheless. I made weight successfully, which meant that I took my diet and preparation seriously. The tournament was run VERY well, especially when compared to NAGA and Lutador. They had all the blues/purples/browns competing first, follow by black belts around 2pm, Open divisions at 3pm, and white belts from 4pm onward. It's great because the white belts aren't taking forever and making the other belts wait, and the organizers can have these black belt super fights in the middle of the day. I will definitely be back for the next nearby IBJJF competition. The professionalism cannot be beat, in my opinion.

So now I'm back to training and we've gone over the Berimbolo so I can maybe see it coming next time. It's a cool sweep, but if you aren't familiar with it, it's definitely WTF when it hits you.

Things to improve:

Side control escapes
guard recomposition/hip movement
back mount escapes
not giving up back hooks so easily
maintaining back control and finishing the submission from there
offensive guard sweeps

I took a dose of creatine yesterday, but figured since it was the weekend, it's a bad time to be loading (I don't want to be drinking while loading especially). I would say I'm hovering around 140lbs at the moment. Back to eating whatever I desire. The goal is 155 lbs with some good muscle mass without sacrificing cardio. We shall see where the creatine takes me, and if I even like it at all. 

Atlanta Open Preparation Going Strong

I've been back at my home gym for a while now, and I can honestly say that my time training so much at Alliance has helped me take my game to the next level. My guard is so much better from a defensive standpoint (although offensively I still have work to do) and my passing is exponentially better. I have improved balance, weight awareness, and a pretty effective Torreando pass to knee-on-belly that I'm hitting people with non-stop. I've been trying to roll in the gi as much as possible, and we've started Saturday Open Mat sessions that are grueling but so satisfying. Rolling with our purple belts who outweigh me by 70+ lbs, but it's definitely helping me prep for the fight on September 15. I've been dealing with some injuries, namely a jacked up knee that has been braced for a while now. It's going to affect my game plan at the Open, so we'll see what can be done when the time comes.

Dieting down from ~145 to ~139 has been interesting thus far. This is my first venture into any weight cut, and since I usually eat whatever I want, whenever I want, it's not easy. But failure is not an option, so I am eating fewer calories but VERY healthy (lean proteins and veggies/fruits) and seeing the results I need to see.

Things that need to be improved ASAP after the competition are: offensive guard, side control escapes, and turtling without giving up my back with hooks. Top game and takedowns will continue to be worked on. I just wish more people would want to play guard with me!