(This
is part 3 of this series. If you haven't seen part 2 it can be found here.)
So
I competed for the first time...
My
first ever competition was on Sunday, October 10th 2004. The competition itself
wasn't even a BJJ competition, but a traditional Ju-Jitsu competition run by
the NJJC (National Ju-Jitsu Council). Back in 2004, I don't think there were
any BJJ competitions run in the UK, or very few. I think the only BJJ
competition to run at that time would have been the Gracie Invitational, which runs
at the SENI show in London. My first time ever competing under total IBJJF rules
and with submissions was at a competition Braulio put on himself at his
club back in February 2008, but that is a story for another time.
The
competition itself was held at the Perdiswell Leisure Centre, Worcester,
which is about a three hour drive from my house. Actually, the night
before was my friend’s birthday party, and after it finished we got in the car
and drove straight to the hotel in Worchester, which was around a five
minute drive from the venue.
They
always say the first time is always the worst, well that cannot be truer in this
case, as I pretty much had no sleep that night, as I was just so nervous.
When
I woke up in the morning, I was very nervous about what was about to happen, as
I had never competed before, and didn't know what really to expect. So, when we
finally get to the venue, the place is packed, and I mean packed! Hundreds and
hundreds of kids were there to compete, and at this point my heart felt like it
was going to beat out of my chest.
The
hall at the leisure centre was actually pretty big, and I think there must have
been at least eight mats running, maybe more.
Now,
in BJJ your category is based on your rank, age, and weight. However, in this
competition it was only based on weight, and each weight division went up in
fives e.g. -35kg, -40kg, -45kg etc. So, if you were pretty big for your age,
you would be stuck in the people who are way older, stronger, and more
experienced than yourself. Which in theory sounds okay, but if you were big for
your age, as I was, it didn't seem really all that fair.
Another
thing I can always remember was the massive waiting time, I mean literally
hours. All the categories were pretty big as well; I remember categories with
40+ people in them. So, when your category was called you would pretty much all
sit around mat and wait to be called, which sometimes could take a while.
As
this wasn't a BJJ tournament, kids weren't allowed to do submissions, so
you could only win by points. There might have been a rule that if you accumulate
ten points then you automatically win, but I'm not really all that sure.
So
after hours of waiting around twiddling my thumbs, I was finally called to
fight. I remember it pretty clearly, I was in the -45kg division as a nine year
old (yes, I was pretty fat as a kid) and the guy I was against must have been
at least thirteen, maybe fourteen. This moment was probably the most
nervous/scared I have ever been; I don't think anything else has probably come
close. It sounds a little bit stupid saying that now, but I was actually terrified.
The
fight itself was complete domination; the other guy just totally wrecked me. In
the first ten seconds the guy gave me a hip throw, and the side of my face smacked
the mat giving me a nose bleed. After that, the guy landed straight into side control.
When the referee saw I had a nose bleed he stops the match, and calls the medics
over to clean up my nose, and we restart in side control. Basically, back then I couldn't
escape side control even if my life depended on it. Back in those days I didn't
even know what a shrimp was. Shortly after the guy transitions to
mount, and stays there until the fight was over.
If
I'm honest I was just glad the fight was over, and I could go home. That
feeling of adrenaline was nothing like I had experienced before or since. But
on the plus side I've never been that nervous in competition again.
In
reality I wasn't that disheartened, I still carried on training and competing,
and I got better as time went on.
I'll
stop there for now, and I'll pick up the story next time.
I
hope you guys enjoyed!
Catch
you later,
Giordano
Love it !!
ReplyDeleteThanks man! :)
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