A Look Back on February 2019: The Month of Competitions
February, the Month of Competitions!
5 tournaments in 6 weeks! Two of the tournaments did fall just outside of February, but I'm going to include them in here just for fun 😄 I entered into every bracket that I possibly could at these tournaments, and was able to bring home a few pieces of hardware. Final medal count being: 4 gold 🥇 3 silver🥈 and 3 bronze🥉
The two tournaments that were the most memorable from this circuit were Ground Warrior and NAGA Portland. The reason these particular ones were so memorable, really had nothing to do with the competitions, but the great fun and good times that I had hanging out with the team.
Another fun thing about hitting all these competitions has been getting to see a lot of the same competitors at them. Even though we compete against each other, I think the majority of us view competitions as a way to improve ourselves, which makes the dynamic of these events feel more like extended family reunions than anything else. There was lots of great conversations and catching up, along with invitation to visit each others schools in the future. Something unique about the competition culture of JiuJitsu that I greatly enjoy.
I wasn't logging all those competition miles alone. The team at Wakizashi BJJ prepared me, and is who I attribute to my podium finishes. A good number of teammates participated in these tournaments, or just showed up to support t the rest of the Wakizashi tribe.
The guy that hit every one of those tournaments with me though was my good friend, and pretty much brother, Jules Vondoom. As a 200lb purple belt, my brackets are a bit thinner compared to my lighter counter parts. Jules not only did just as many tournaments as me, but entered into some STACKED brackets from which he came out with a lot of podium finishes himself. These tournaments and trips wouldn't have been anywhere near as memorable or as fun if he wasn't running them with me.
Layover in Denver
I did get to sneak in some non-competition traveling in! While flying back home from National Guard training, I had a 16 hour layover in Denver, courtesy of the cheapest flight I could find. I took advantage of that time and rented a car from the airport to visit two new schools! I dropped in a Colorado BJJ Stapleton where I picked up a lot of really good conceptual details that Professor Sean Stewart dropped.
After class was over I grabbed some Chik Fil A (aka the Lord's Chicken) and ran over to a laundromat to get my gi ready for the next spot.
Round 2 in Denver was at Jubera JiuJitsu. I went there at the at the recommendation of my good friend Braulio, and got to train with his friend Coach Will.
I got to log two additional classes here, and picked up even more details to add to my game. I consider the bow and arrow choke to be a staple for me, and have won the majority of my tournament matches with it. I was consequently thrilled to pick up some refining details on the choke from these classes. Two things that I enjoy about travel training is making the JiuJitsu world a little smaller, and acquiring new technical perspectives. I got to do both of these here, and couldn't have picked a better way to spend a layover.
Overall February was another great month of JiuJitsu! I'll be switching gears in the month of March. Half of the month will be spent at National Guard training, and the other half will be continuing to refine my game with the team from all of the notes 📓 that I gathered from this month's competition circuit.
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