Slump, Big Time Slump

I lost my first match in the NY Summer Open yesterday. I lost 2-0, she either pulled guard and immediately swept or got a takedown, I honestly don't remember. I spent the rest of the match defending until the time ran out from bottom half.

I have not won a single gi match since the Renzo Open in December 2011. This is pretty upsetting to me because I've made a lot of changes since getting my blue belt in terms of training, diet, and general competition preparation. I'm in much better shape, am in a new weight class (featherweight), and am training 5-6 days per week, sometimes twice a day, with additional strength and conditioning thrown in. Here are some of the things I think might be contributing to my losses/losing streak:

- when I was at Shaolin's in 2012 (before my job switch forced me back to NJ for training), I was VERY stubborn and got frustrated very easily. I was able to change this aspect in the fall of 2012.
- switching schools- after I left Shaolin's, I began training at Jason Scully's academy. Jason has now closed his school, and due to the way I saw the school was operating, I left about a month before he shut the doors of the academy. I am moving in August for grad. school, so I'll be switching schools yet again!
- technique. Of course, technique is something we all work on
- aggression. I've had training partners tell me I'm not aggressive enough when rolling in class. I think this is because sometimes I think "I'm so much smaller than all these guys, what's the point in being aggressive if I'm just going to get overpowered?"

The first one is more or less resolved, the second I have minimal control over, the third is something I'm actively working on, but the last one is the biggest problem. I had much more killer instinct (to the point of it being a problem) when I was a white belt and a very early blue belt. I seem to have lost it for some reason and I'm not sure why. I want to win and I want to do well, but pulling the trigger in competition seems to be a problem for me. My conditioning/gas tank is very good, as I do a lot of outside conditioning and am rarely tired or unable to attack when rolling.

I'm was going to do a Grappler's Quest in NJ this week, but cutting to 119 is going to be very tough for me right now, and I have some cauliflower ear I need to take care of. I'm going to spend at least a week off the mat to take care of my ear and refocus myself. When I get back on the mat, I'm going to make a VERY conscious effort to go as hard as possible without being spazzy or careless.

Slump

I lost my first match at the New York Open by a referee decision and my first match at the Big Apple Open by 5 points and 1 advantage.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. It occurred to me after I lost at the Big Apple Open that I haven't won a gi match in a tournament since December 2011 at the Renzo Open. That's 8 tournaments that I've been eliminated in the first round. The first three times I lost after December 2011 it was by points, decision, or advantages, then I lost by armbar submission, then began losing by points/advantages/decision again.

In 2012, I took a break from May to October to not compete and just focus on improving. I feel that I've improved during training; I have better body awareness, have a better idea of my own strategy, and feel like I've learned some important details in several techniques. I've dropped to featherweight after my weight naturally changed and feel much more comfortable and healthy; I've never had to starve myself or doing anything crazy to make featherweight; I just avoid junk food and alcohol. Despite all these things, it clearly has not carried over in to the competition aspect. I think part of this is the aggression factor. "Pulling the trigger" in terms of going 100% is a tough thing to do, because there is fear of injury, fear of being a jerk, or simply not being used to going that hard if not everyone chooses to compete. I remember when I trained at Shaolin's, he put the people who were competing on one side of the class so they could roll hard against each other without any of the issues I just mentioned.

Additionally, it's been a rough few months of training. The school I was training at is now set to shut down. In the 6 or so months leading up to this, our instructor began teaching less and less, and sometimes did not even show up to class. A purple belt with the key would then hurry in ten minutes late and end up holding an open mat. Slowly, the school turned from a structured atmosphere in to one with more open and less structured training. I left the school about a month ago because it simply wasn't a structure that I could thrive in; I have no ill will towards the school owner and wish him the best in whatever he chooses to pursue.

I don't blame anyone but myself for poor performance. When you step on to the mat, it's just you. If there is something bad going on, it's your job to fix it before you compete, and maybe I should have switched earlier or sought out different resources so I could improve.

I am now training at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Holmdel, NJ. It's only about ten minutes away from my house, and there are several black belts as well as a great brown belt who teach class. I am also allowed to drop in at Renzo's in New York City for no additional fee, so I can complement my training the days I'm working in NYC and can't make it home on time. The switch has been pretty seamless, and some of my friends from my old academy are at Renzo's with me and are happy. Unfortunately, since I'll be attending graduate school at Rutgers University in the fall, I will have to switch schools yet again! The inconsistency of switching schools has definitely slowed me done in some aspects, but I'm much happier now.

I'll be doing the IBJJF NY Summer Open and possibly a Grappler's Quest at the end of July. I'm hoping that this new structured training environment will help me develop a game plan and that I'll be less preoccupied with other factors.

Mistakes

Really? I haven't posted since January 30th? Shameful!

February was an incredibly busy month for me. At work we had two big grant applications, which means 50 hour work weeks, and on top of that I was training 3-4 times per week, 2-2.5 hours each time. Not to mention I would miss dinner some of those days because I would run straight from work to the gym without even a small snack. This did not end well! I ended up getting sick and being completely under the weather for a couple of days. Even though I'm not sick anymore, it's only today (about 2 weeks later) that I finally don't have a runny nose. Bottom line is, don't kill yourselves people! If your body is overworked, listen to it and take some time off. Get some more sleep, and make sure you fuel your body correctly. It's pretty scary to see your own actions manifest themselves in your own body and well-being.

I competed in the Long Island Pride tournament last Saturday. I lost both of my matches by one advantage. The first person I went against immediately pulled guard. I was able to get to half guard twice but never able to fully pass. The stupid thing I did was that I kept leaning forward to stack instead of posturing up, so she got an extra advantage for a submission attempt (triangle) and one for an armbar attempt. So if I had not leaned forward, there is a better chance that I would have done better in that match. No excuses, she won fair and square, and I'm not saying that if I postured that I would have won the match, but it's something I've been working on like crazy now.

My second match was against a teammate, and we decided to go all out. I lost this match by an advantage as well, and also kept leaning forward in her guard. Needless to say, I was really upset at the end. I've never competed and lost both of my matches. A friend of mine who was coaching me took me aside and calmed me down a little, and reminded me that getting angry wouldn't help anything. I lost both my matches in VERY close situations and that if I made small improvements that there is almost guaranteed better results for next time.

The next day I hiked back out to New York City and went to open mat, where I started every matched from inside my opponent's closed guard. I was surprised at how well I was able to keep my balance by simply posturing up, which gave me a lot more confidence in my balance and base. I ended it with a 30 minute roll with a 185lb blue belt guy who was really good as using his technique and not his weight.

I'll be competing at the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials on Sunday, the New York Open on April 21st, and then at the Big Apple Open in May. My wallet hurts just typing that!