The three weeks leading up to competition were tough. I was in my second month of new job and had the added responsibility of running my Jiu Jitsu classes. The main problem I had was just tiredness, however I had no real expectation of winning, I simply wanted to experience a Judo competition and hopefully improve along the way, I therefore vowed to compete and just enjoy the ride.
My game plan was fairly simple, my right handed throw would be Uchi-Mata, my left handed throw would be..well I didn't have a left handed throw, but there wasn't much I could do about it so close to the tournament. The big advantage I did have, however, was my ground game, unless my opponents were also Jiu Jitsu purple belts, I felt confident I could control things and win on the ground.
As I said before, one of the main reasons I compete is because it forces you to focus and improve your technique. The two black belts at Alexandra Palace, Stuart and Racky, really put me and Richard, my training partner who was also competing for the first time, through our paces. We focused exclusively on our strongest throws, and I have to say I saw a huge improvement my uchi-mata, it still needs a lot of work, but its certainly better than it was.
However, I still had the problem of having no left-hand throw. Picking something I was familiar with, I thought I would try uchi-mata, perhaps I'll get it at some point, but in preparing for the competition, it just wasn't there. So I decided to experiment with a few throws and seemed to find Tai-Otoshi a little bit easier. Over the course of the next two weeks I really practised it in earnest, like my Uchi-Mata, I have a long way to go, but it feels like I've definitely made some progress.
The other huge benefit of competing is the fact that it makes you train that little bit harder than normal. The classes therefore consisted of throwing practice which consisted of throwing different uke continuously and of course round after round of randori.
So, in terms of preparation, I felt I'd done all I could in the time given. The competition was scheduled for Sunday so I decided to stop training on Tuesday. I had to teach my Jiu Jitsu class on Thursday but didn't do any sparring, and apart from being tired I felt OK - until I woke the next morning with a stinking cold. Competitions are tough enough without germs making it worse, for a while I thought I might not be able to compete but hoped that I'd be feeling better with a rest on Saturday.
On Saturday I was still feeling a bit ropey, but not worse, so I popped down to the club to sort out my Judo licence. If there is one thing during your preparation for a competition its that you can guarantee something will go wrong, be it an injury, work getting the way, family strife or in my case a cold and then crashing your car on the way home. I was fine, but I was really beginning to think that I was destined not to compete. Fortunately, Stuart was good enough to pick me up along with Richard and drop us at the venue which was in Oxford
After registering and changing we waited to fight. It was freezing, I wondered what the hell I was doing when I could be at home in bed. At Jiu Jitsu tournaments I've always been one of the last to fight, this time my bracket was up first, but this didn't stop the pre-fight nerves. I know its my body's way of preparing me to fight, but for me its the worst thing about competing, much worse than losing.
Our bracket was called, Men's Senior >90kg and I sized up the competition. There were only three guys in my category, Richard who I knew well, and a green belt. Whenever, I compete I can't help but make assumptions about my opponents, this guy looked big, strong and he was belt higher than me. We warmed up and stretched which helped alleviate the nerves but then had to watch the >76 and <90KG guys fight before we even got on the mat. Richard and the big green belt were up first and in my opinion Richard was the more active player, he continuously attempted Judo throws. The green belt was strong but seemed to be resorting to 'strong arming Richard', rather than applying technique.
Richard has been training Jiu Jitsu with me since the beginning of the year, when he and the green belt stumbled to the floor, Richard pulled guard, but after only a short period time the referee stood them both up again. I concluded that if it hit the floor I'd have to be active and precise immediately, Richard was capable of submitting, but hey, that's competition experience. After they stood up, Richard went in for a Seoi Nage, but the green belt literally just grabbed Richard's belt and dumped him on the floor for the Ippon.
Another fight took place and then it was my turn. By this time, all the benefits of my warm up had disappeared and I feet were frozen, not ideal, next time I'll remember to keep moving. Nevertheless, I went into fight mode and was ready. We bowed, and went in for grip fighting.
Wow, this guy was strong, he was almost picking me up without throwing me. I tried to turn in but his arms felt they belonged to a robot, I thought my best chance was to counter, but he really wasn't attacking, instead he was trying to break my balance but only trying non-committal ko uchi gari's.
Then to my surprise, the referee stopped us and gave me a warning for stalling! There really wasn't much I could do, but I really felt that the green belt was being a lot less active than I. Anyway, we started fighting again and I went in for an uchi-mata, he moved out slightly and I switched to o uchi gari, I had him on his toes but just couldn't finish. He then came in for a throw and we both stumbled to the ground, he tried to apply a arm lock of sorts, but with all my Jiu Jitsu training there was no way I was going to get caught with something like that. I manoeuvred out of it, and pulled guard. Having seen the referee stop Richard's match I grabbed his collar, broke his posture and scissor swept him straight to mount. Now, I could have ended the match with about three different submissions, but was slightly wary about the referees previous dodgy warning, so I simply held in mount, it seemed to go on forever, much longer than thirty seconds, but there was no way I was letting him up, Ippon.
I would have loved to win with a throw, but its a competition, win first and perfect later.
After watching another >76KG fight it was time for my second match. Fighting team mates is never fun, you can never really celebrate a win and of course you hate to lose, but Richard was my opponent, so I got with the job in hand.
We fought for grips and Richard tried to turn in for a Seoi-Nage, I felt him turn and move to the side to stop him. I then took an overhand grip and Richard knew I setting up for an uchi-mata, so he ducked his head under my arm. Now during randoori a lot of guys at the club know I like this throw and often duck their heads under my arm, having digested this I thought that it might give me the opportunity to pull off a sumi-gaeshi by simply reaching over, grabbing the belt and flipping my opponent over my head. However, I never expected to try it a competition, but the opportunity presented itself and acting on instinct I grabbed Richard's belt, fell backwards, placed my foot inside his thigh and over he went, Ippon.
So, two matches, two Ippon's. My first Judo competition accelerated my learning and the pressure of applying all my leaning in 'live' scenario will hopefully pay huge dividends, the journey continues....!
