August 2019: Back from the Desert then back again

It had been four months since I had been able to compete. Coming out of the desert where I wasn't even able to train for a month, I was itching for some action. Jumping into a competition straight out of a month in the desert eating a strict diet of Asian Beef Strip MREs three times a day might not be an ideal train up, but I had to get just one more in before leaving the States.

So I got out of uniform Friday afternoon and started driving for Richmond, Virginia for a chance to participate in a US Grappling again. I wanted to make the rental car, hotel, and 4-hour drive worth it, so I signed up Saturday morning for all four divisions: gi, gi absolute, no-gi, and no-gi absolute.

The real highlight of the tournament was getting to see so many East Coast JiuJitsu friends in attendance. US Grapplings and Toro Cups are kinda like extended family get-togethers and it made me happy to see so many of you out there.



Results
I knew it would be rough jumping right into a tournament, but two minutes into my first match I was gasping for air and was smoked. My reactions were slow, and I felt like I was on a three-second delay. My heart was incredibly happy to be back on the competition mats though! Twice I blew a solid point lead and was caught twice in a straight ankle lock (Something that rarely happens.) I was grinning from ear to ear even when my opponent's hand was raised because I was thrilled just to be competing again. As far as hardware 🏆 goes, I was able to walk away with the gold in gi absolute and ended the day with a silver in gi and no-gi weight.

Final Traveling
Visiting old friends - With a little than a week left before heading back into the desert, I wanted to get as much training in as possible before leaving again. It is hard to train while in uniform, with early mornings and late nights being the norm, fight training drops down the list as a priority and possibility.

The first stop was to visit my big brother Chad. Like old times, we ended up joining a class at Cornerstone. It was great to visit with the old crew and get some good training in.

I also got to visit the Spangler Martial Arts crew. They run a phenomenal open mat there every Sunday with people from all over the area coming in to share the mats and JiuJitsu. I've always had a great time every visit.



New places - I headed out to Wilmington, NC to hit three new schools and see some other old friends. Cornerstone and Uzcategui BJJ have had an almost student exchange program, over the years a lot of our guys training their while at the beach, and their guys dropping in to visit while traveling. I finally made the chance to go, and it was awesome!

I dropped in for a class with the viral John Salter. Super cool guy and he ran a fun, but tough class. You can see that it looks like I got out of a swimming pool in our post-class photo. I've talked about it before, but one of the dopest things about JiuJitsu is that you not only get to meet the big names in the sport, but most of them are thrilled to get to roll with you.

The last training spot was with a badass group of Marines over at Camp Lejeune. As a part-time Army guy, I'd never tell them to their faces, but I have huge respect for the Marine branch and love their fighting culture. The guys were all super tough, but equally as friendly. We got a bunch of rolls in, then talked technique, JiuJitsu and military lifestyle. For the official record, it isn't fair that Thomas Sibley is that strong of a human and good at attacking legs 😂  These small group, tough training sessions are my favorite, and I learned a lot and had a great time training with these guys.

Back to the Desert
The days of freely roaming the country dropping in at new schools are going to be over for me for a while. For the next year, I'll be in uniform full time, and training is going to look a lot different for me. I'm excited about these new opportunities and opportunities though, and might even have the possibility of passing along my passion for fighting and some of the knowledge that I've gathered over the past several years. Thank you to everyone that has supported me over the past couple of years. All the schools that have welcomed me in with extreme hospitality, and everyone that shared the mats and memories with me. 

About the Author:

Steven McMahon earned his Kyuki-Do Black Belt in 2011 from Grand Master Kim at Kim's Black Belt Academy and his  BJJ Purple Belt in January 2017 under Professor Charles Nunley. He currently trains out of Wakizashi BJJ  in Oak Harbor under Professor Eli Trevino. He is an active competitor at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Army Combative tournaments.