#bamfmma

[noegobjj]

I wanted to get my feet wet and joined my 1st blue belt tournament last weekend at Deftac's In-House tournament.

It feels good earning my 1st gold medal as a blue belt.

Competing in tournaments is always a good time for me.

[noegobjj]

During our basketball practice last night with my BJJ family (Deftac), I also released my 1st batch of shirts. I wanna give a shout out to Arthur Mori for helping me design the shirt and my new logo. I'd also want to sincerely want thank everyone, who have followed and supported NoEgoBjj and given me heart-warming compliments. This truly warms my heart and inspires me to keep on doing what I am doing... And do better

[noegobjj]

NoEgoBjj goes .COM, y0!

Never did I really think this blog would turn into serious business. To those, who follow NoEgoBjj, I sincerely thank you. It truly is inspiring to have my little work appreciated. 

Oh and this blog wouldn't be where it is now without the help of my good friend, Arthur Mori (awesomesst.tumblr.com). You turned my thoughts into reality.

...and presenting my logo...

[noegobjj]

2012 Deftac In House BJJ Tournament

Last Saturday, April 14, I participated in my 2nd Deftac In House BJJ gi tournament. Benefits of the tournament would go to Deftac's representatives on this coming World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championships or the BJJ mundials in California. It was all for a good cause plus a good preparation for next month's Pan-Asian's.

In this event, I did not hype myself too much with the tournament like I usually do. My mind set towards that event was pretty much simple:

treat competition like a normal day in training but paying extra attention to details (as Professor Alvin Aguilar would always advise us before tournaments).

The 11 months of consistent training also gives me a feeling of confidence as compared to last year's where I have only started training for a couple of months and still bagged a bronze medal.

On my 1st match, I went against someone from another gym. I thought it was a good opportunity to go against someone I don't know. This would somehow simulate tournaments, such as the upcoming Pan-Asians. I just do not like the uncertainty of it, and stepping outside our comfort zone is never convenient. I can only rely on my own skills, which was developed through training, and hoping to impose my game over my opponent's. On a personal level, I thought I was aggressive and had been working on submissions in this 1st match. I had a couple of submissions going for me but was not able to make him tap. I won the match but was exhausted by not pulling off my submission(s). After the match, Professor Alvin Aguilar approached me and gave me a simple and sound advise: Establish position before going for a submission. This lesson I will remember. Reviewing this match (on video), it was true that I should have established position before the submission such as the rear mount before going for the choke and let go of the triangle choke since he did not intend to tap and pursue the readily available sweep instead. This match would not have been as tiring if I earned my points 1st by establishing position, then going for the submission if and when possible.

My 2nd match was against someone from another gym also. This time I lost by points. He had good control over me for most parts of the match-up. What I should learn in this particular match is that I should try to remember the principles of the half guard, which is to be on your side and the pull of the bottom leg and the top knee shield plus the bottom hand to ward off the cross face. This is where it all starts. Reality check for me . Time to review notes and try to remember the principles of the basic positions. I honestly was disappointed with the fact of losing this match and losing the possibility of earning the gold medal. It might sound cliche-ish but I HATE LOSING! But I should remember the lesson learned over the actual loss. 

My 3rd match and the battle for bronze was against a teammate, Nikko. I started training just a couple of months earlier than him. I saw this guy's game grow significantly throughout the months and this can be attributed to his honest dedication in training jiu-jitsu. I won this match via triangle choke after initiating a closed guard arm-wrap. I got this move from the Jiu-Jitsu University book by Saulo Ribeiro and have been drilling it the past weeks in our sparring sessions.

"Reading and watching moves on youtube is the same as learning sex by watching porn. There are things that you really can't learn by watching. Jiu-Jitsu is one of them"-as tweeted by BJJ black belt Felipe Costa.

There is no problem with doing your own research whether from books, DVDs or youtube, the important this is that you drill it. On my free time (including bathroom time), I have been doing this to have that little edge and this time it paid off.

I honestly was hoping to come home with a medal better than last year's (bronze). Well, at least I have the consolation of still getting what was mine last year.

Every time I come home from a competition or basketball game, my little girls always ask me if I won or got a medal. I showed them the bronze medal and it didn't matter to them if it was gold, silver or bronze. They were shouting in celebration and happy. I guess sometimes we should learn to truly know what values most...and to them I am a winner and champion.

[noegobjj]

More pics from April 3 Graduation of the six month program at BAMF MMA.