My First Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament the 5th American National Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament - GREAT EVENT!!!
In July of this year I finally earned my Black Belt in Kung Fu San Soo. After hitting this wonderful milestone in my martial arts career I felt I needed to challenge myself more physically. On Father's Day 2006 I went to workout for the first time with Jeff Frater and his team United Fighting Systems in Rancho Cucamonga to focus spefically on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique. After that first day of rolling around I realized that I was way out of shape and I was in grave need of a major physical tune up. On that day my mental attitude flipped a switch. And so began my quest to learn the wonderful art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
In a little over ninety days I had melted off 43 lbs and build a rock solid cardio foundation. I can now run six plus miles easily (five to six days per week), jump rope for 30 minutes straight and I’m finally able to complete seven or more sets of pull ups, which I hadn’t been able to do easily in over fifteen years. I am back in shape and getting better with every workout.
So after just three months of training I figured baptism by fire was as good as any way to figure out what BJJ tournaments were all about. My coach Jeff Frater agreed that it would be a good test of my rudimentary skills so off I went to sign up for the 5th American National Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament in Torrance.
It wasn’t easy getting my 215 lbs body down under 175 lbs to hit my weight class of 181 lbs with Gi on. Here’s the details on the weigh in requirements and they are tough:
“The system will be the same used in the Mundial in Brazil and the last Pan American, the athlete will check the weight after the official call for his first fight, minutes before he steps on the mat, the competitor can check the weight only once, if the competitor doesn't make it, he will be imediatelly disqualified. Make sure you're in the correct weight division, if the competitor doesn't make the weight, no changes will be accepted in the brackets, and there will be no refund on the fee.
All athletes must check weight with the gi on. From: http://www.usjjf.com/”
On the day of the event I weighed 177.8 with my running shoes and Gi on. I made it!!! I have to say I really hate celery and grapefruit after the last ninety days though. ;-)))
So real drama started when after waiting for almost two hours I finally heard my name called over the PA system. I hustled to the competitor section and flashed my ID at the check-in official. I also got a look at my competition for the first time. It was obvious from the first look my competition was in for a tough fight as he has about a ten inch height disadvantage on me. I’m note sure but I think he might have been under 5 foot tall and in much need of hard cardio training. The real shame though was when he hit the scale he weighed in at 182.5. The officials let him weigh three times but he never cracked 182. My coach asked if they would allow him to fight an expedition match with me simply to allow us an opportunity to test our skills but they DQ’ed him on the spot and would not allow him to touch the mat. It was a win for me but a bummer just the same.
So I had to go sit and wait some more to find out who my next match would be. In the meantime I got to watch my main competition Geoff Mcgann, Beverly Hills JJ Club. He’s a great guy and hardworking white belt who is one week away from obtaining his Blue Belt. It was obvious from watching his match that he was a grappler early in life and had a strong foundation. He was quick and exploded into takedowns and had a very low base on the mat.
So after a nice long wait I finally took the floor with Geoff. We squared off on the mat and almost immediately setup Gi control. He went with a lapel grab, elbow and played with wrist gi control a bit as well, I think he was looking for a sweep for the most part or perhaps a grapevine, but I wasn’t having it. I maintained my usual gi control options but Geoff was good at avoiding my favorite happy place holds so I opted for other hooks that give ample control while standing. We went down once off the mat and came back to center and after a couple of minutes dancing I finally pulled guard on him and we hit the mat. He tried elbows and knee tactics to escape and I defended nicely. He began to build after a minute or two and I threw him into a triangle choke. My major rookie mistake was not hanging on his head so he did what any seasoned vet would do and he walked around my head and popped out to a side mount (2 points). We had moved a bit so we were stopped by the referee and moved to center mat where we reestablished our position with about ten seconds left. I had my hands where I wanted them but time ran out before I could reverse on him so that was that.
The most amazing part of our match was I barely felt the physical side of the match. I had the cardio and I felt fantastic through out. The time simply flew by. So I have a few things to work on and will focus on my mistakes in this match. Overall I had a great tournament experience thanks to great competition and great coaching.
I’d like to thank Master Jeff Frater, United Fighting Systems, Master Lari Beebe and all the fantastic guys at Master Dave Hopkins, especially Mitch, Ming, Sylvio, Danny and Master Dave of course for all the great training and personal attention. I could have never faced off with a guy like Geoff with confidence if you all hadn’t shown me so much great technique. And of course I could have never made weight if you all didn’t make me earn every minute on the mat. I can’t wait for my next event.
I’ll post more later stay tuned.
Best Regards,
Kenneth Knapp
Kurt Bellman’s Riverside Kung Fu San Soo &
United Fighting Systems
In a little over ninety days I had melted off 43 lbs and build a rock solid cardio foundation. I can now run six plus miles easily (five to six days per week), jump rope for 30 minutes straight and I’m finally able to complete seven or more sets of pull ups, which I hadn’t been able to do easily in over fifteen years. I am back in shape and getting better with every workout.
So after just three months of training I figured baptism by fire was as good as any way to figure out what BJJ tournaments were all about. My coach Jeff Frater agreed that it would be a good test of my rudimentary skills so off I went to sign up for the 5th American National Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament in Torrance.
It wasn’t easy getting my 215 lbs body down under 175 lbs to hit my weight class of 181 lbs with Gi on. Here’s the details on the weigh in requirements and they are tough:
“The system will be the same used in the Mundial in Brazil and the last Pan American, the athlete will check the weight after the official call for his first fight, minutes before he steps on the mat, the competitor can check the weight only once, if the competitor doesn't make it, he will be imediatelly disqualified. Make sure you're in the correct weight division, if the competitor doesn't make the weight, no changes will be accepted in the brackets, and there will be no refund on the fee.
All athletes must check weight with the gi on. From: http://www.usjjf.com/”
On the day of the event I weighed 177.8 with my running shoes and Gi on. I made it!!! I have to say I really hate celery and grapefruit after the last ninety days though. ;-)))
So real drama started when after waiting for almost two hours I finally heard my name called over the PA system. I hustled to the competitor section and flashed my ID at the check-in official. I also got a look at my competition for the first time. It was obvious from the first look my competition was in for a tough fight as he has about a ten inch height disadvantage on me. I’m note sure but I think he might have been under 5 foot tall and in much need of hard cardio training. The real shame though was when he hit the scale he weighed in at 182.5. The officials let him weigh three times but he never cracked 182. My coach asked if they would allow him to fight an expedition match with me simply to allow us an opportunity to test our skills but they DQ’ed him on the spot and would not allow him to touch the mat. It was a win for me but a bummer just the same.
So I had to go sit and wait some more to find out who my next match would be. In the meantime I got to watch my main competition Geoff Mcgann, Beverly Hills JJ Club. He’s a great guy and hardworking white belt who is one week away from obtaining his Blue Belt. It was obvious from watching his match that he was a grappler early in life and had a strong foundation. He was quick and exploded into takedowns and had a very low base on the mat.
So after a nice long wait I finally took the floor with Geoff. We squared off on the mat and almost immediately setup Gi control. He went with a lapel grab, elbow and played with wrist gi control a bit as well, I think he was looking for a sweep for the most part or perhaps a grapevine, but I wasn’t having it. I maintained my usual gi control options but Geoff was good at avoiding my favorite happy place holds so I opted for other hooks that give ample control while standing. We went down once off the mat and came back to center and after a couple of minutes dancing I finally pulled guard on him and we hit the mat. He tried elbows and knee tactics to escape and I defended nicely. He began to build after a minute or two and I threw him into a triangle choke. My major rookie mistake was not hanging on his head so he did what any seasoned vet would do and he walked around my head and popped out to a side mount (2 points). We had moved a bit so we were stopped by the referee and moved to center mat where we reestablished our position with about ten seconds left. I had my hands where I wanted them but time ran out before I could reverse on him so that was that.
The most amazing part of our match was I barely felt the physical side of the match. I had the cardio and I felt fantastic through out. The time simply flew by. So I have a few things to work on and will focus on my mistakes in this match. Overall I had a great tournament experience thanks to great competition and great coaching.
I’d like to thank Master Jeff Frater, United Fighting Systems, Master Lari Beebe and all the fantastic guys at Master Dave Hopkins, especially Mitch, Ming, Sylvio, Danny and Master Dave of course for all the great training and personal attention. I could have never faced off with a guy like Geoff with confidence if you all hadn’t shown me so much great technique. And of course I could have never made weight if you all didn’t make me earn every minute on the mat. I can’t wait for my next event.
I’ll post more later stay tuned.
Best Regards,
Kenneth Knapp
Kurt Bellman’s Riverside Kung Fu San Soo &
United Fighting Systems
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