A few months ago I gave myself a rule of not standing for more than two minutes in my jiu jitsu matches during tournaments. I have a bad habit of not taking the match to the ground soon enough and standing for the entire match. Then going into overtime and repeating the same thing. I tell whoever is coaching me to let me know when two minutes have passed. At my first match though, this past weekend, for some reason I didn’t hear them. I ended up standing the entire five minutes of the match with no points scored. The positive outcome was that I realized my breathing has improved. I felt as though barely any timed had passed.
Now the match was in overtime and the opponent who gets the first takedown wins. This time we went another seven minutes as I was waiting for a set up to attempt a double leg takedown. Before this tournament, I never tried a double leg takedown and was hesitant about going for it. I told myself that I needed to completely commit to it. Thankfully, I did commit and pulled through to earn the win for that match. I spoke about the mental game in last month’s blog and how important it is in this sport for me. The actual decision of going for it is more difficult to me than the move is physically. I was pleased that I achieved another personal goal along with the improved breathing.
My second match was against a teammate of mine which is never ideal, but that’s how it ended up with the bracketing. I earned a win via points for that match. I was most pleased that I felt clear and present for both matches. It’s the most important aspect for me so I know that I am at my best. I would have liked to learn more from this tournament. Between a teammate as an opponent and no ground time in my other match, there wasn’t the learning experience I needed to continue to improve.
Now I’m training for Gracie Worlds in August. This tournament is submission only with a 15 minute time cap, so I’ll be adding some more cardio in my training along with longer sparring time. With BetaTOR, I have had much improvement with strength and cardio during my matches. I look forward to improving my game and learning more skills in class and my lessons. I’ve also been consistent with increasing my meditation time to 20 minutes in the morning and at night.
Keep a look out for my new video along with all of the other Team HMB athletes about our favorite training day. I will be focusing on hamstrings, since they used to be a lagging body part. They are also often used in jiu jitsu with leg curling in many positions. Stay tuned for the video and results from next month’s tournament.