The IBJJF Masters Worlds Jiu-Jitsu tournament continues to grow in competitor attendance. The Masters 5 Brown Belt division had 59 competitors, twelve of which were in my Medium-Heavy weight class. They began seeding the tournament this year using the current IBJJF Ranking points. This gave me a first round bye.
I am always excited to get going and get into that first match. It took a while to get past his guard.
Eventually I was able to get to mount and finish with an Ezekiel choke.
Another tough opponent in the semifinal. Ended up winning 5-0 with a pass and knee on stomach points.
The medium-heavy championship match was a good lesson for me. I was too comfortable after he pulled guard. I maneuvered into a triangle as he attempted to sweep, which I do a lot in training. But he stopped me from progressing to a finish and eventually opened the triangle. Now he was granted the two point sweep. He had a very solid base, which we would see again in the quarter finals of the open division as he swept last year’s absolute champion and staved off many sweep attempts to advance to the semis. I got a bit of tunnel vision and stuck with one series of sweep attempts. I wish I would have switched to another that I know, which my coach reminded me of later in a voice mail. But, my opponent from Hungary definitely was formidable and he won the match in the end 2-0.
On to the open division…
Eleven men signed up for the open division. Again, I received a first round bye. My quarter final opponent from the super heavy division pulled guard. I passed and eventually secured a paper cutter submission.
In the semi-final I met up with an opponent that I had not fought since blue belt. He has moved up to the super heavy division, which is one reason we do not meet on the mat very often. He pulled guard and I spent the rest of the match trying to score further but not quite securing the positions, which resulted in 5 advantage points.
The absolute final match was against the feather weight division champion. He had pulled guard against the opponent from Hungary in his semi-final, was unable to secure a sweep during regulation time. Their final score was zeroes across the board. The referee’s decision went his way for his work towards those sweeps.
He pulled guard right away and I began attempting to pass. Little did I know that we would spent the next 4 plus minutes in this position as we battled for the title! At one point I passed to mount, but only for a second at most and he got back to a half guard. I knew at that point that I had an advantage point coming. But, the advantage point would not be awarded until the position was abandoned. I stayed heavy with my pressure pass attempts hoping to actually put points on the board. I also did not want to give him space for a valid sweep attempt, which may tie things back up if he were to get an advantage point. So time expired, I was awarded by single advantage point and my hand was raised. I greatly respect this opponent as he is super tough to pass!
Another Masters Worlds is in the books. I enjoyed it and I made a few more friends at the venue. Since Brown Belts compete the first of the four days, I was able to relax, have some Acai, watch teammates compete and enjoy the time with my wife Jodi.