I lost my match at the Abu Dhabi Trials on points. People keep telling me it's okay because I was small for the division (I weighed in with all my clothes on at 122lbs; the upper weight limit is 139), but frankly I didn't care. I entered that tournament knowing I'd be on of the smallest people there and that it wouldn't stop me.
On a somewhat positive note, I was not as upset as I could have been. For the first time in a couple of tournaments, I didn't feel the same helplessness I have felt the past 2 tournaments. I definitely "lost better" (does that make sense?) than I have in the past in that it wasn't a quick submission, I was able to block some sweeps, and some of my past weaknesses weren't as glaring or capitalized on by my opponent. I also got to see some incredible matches afterwards. Of course there were big names like Cyborg, Keenan, DJ Jackson, Tanquinho, Mackenzie Dern, etc., but one of the cool things was that I got to see some of the rising colored belts. There were some INCREDIBLE purple belt matches; it's always great to see this sport continuing to progress and to see who are going to be the future big stars.
I've already moved on and am focusing on how to prepare for the Big Apple BJJ Open in December. It's a gi and nogi tournament being put on by Shaolin. Kinda weird that it's his tournament and I'm not with his school anymore, but I didn't leave with any bad blood so it's all good!
Training has been put to a temporary halt because of Hurricane Sandy. I'm EXTREMELY thankful that my house was not hit badly; we have no power (running on a generator though) and don't expect to soon, but my house wasn't damaged and there were only a few downed trees. My thoughts go out to those near the beach who were hit much worse.
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