Sweet Success!

So all the hard work of training 6 days a week has paid off. I can't say whether training 6 days a week was necessary to win my first tourney, but it definitely didn't hurt. For the the last four months I have taken every Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class I could, trying to absorb all the Relson Gracie know how that was available to me, and utilize the lessons learned in my seminars with Alvaro Romano, Ryron Gracie, Daniel Moraes and Phil Cardella...not to mention all my regular training partners that have no problem handing my butt to me when I slip up! I was really nervous about signing up for my first competition in Houston, but being the sole consistent female in the class, I felt I needed to represent our academy and well, why the hell not! We're moving to NC in a week, so it seemed fitting that I give it a go before I depart for whatever BJJ school awaiting me there. Let me tell you, I was a nauseated wreck waiting to see who would be in my division. UGH! There were so many people it was crazy. But if you have ever been to an event, you know it is a hurry up and wait thing. Just like the military.LOL. You starve yourself to cut weight ( everybody is doing it! ) and you always seem to be in that endless line for registration and weight ( even when you pre-registered)! So here we are all hungry, thirsty and anxious...great fun. Wehad a rules meeting at 0900 and fights started at 1000. It begins in no particular order...kids first and some adults mixed in..needless to say my match isn't till around 2ish. Had I known that, I'd have left to go eat! I meet an older lady in the bathroom dressed in gi without her belt...she asks me what class I'm in... I say 432. She says me too! I was like OMG! I am gonna feel so guilty now because I've met her, she's told me that she's only been doing this 2 weeks and that she recently got 3 toenails ripped off rolling with a guy training for this event. WTF? I mean, I kind of felt better not knowing who I need to beat to succeed. Then she drops a bomb on my already fraying nerves..there weren't many females in the weight class above us and they are putting the heavies with us. WHAT?! I can't take it..I had sushi last night, my belly's bubbling from the stress, and now I gotta roll against a girl who's got serious pounds on me? Don't they know I'm just cutting my teeth here? GEEZ! So time flies by and they finally call all women's divisions to ring 4. I had totally mellowed from watching all the other divisions roll. Then when they said those magic words over the speaker, I felt like a heatwave hit me, sweating and shaking like I'm suffering from a lack of booze! I felt better that the bathroom girl was just as nervous. We had nothing lose so let's let it rip, you know? I had the best coaches in my corner, Daniel Moraes, the 5x world champ, and Josh Lauber, my main instructor. Well, my hubby was there too..lol. The no gi starts off first and these girls were wild and if there were no rules to uphold, I was sure that hair would be missing by the handfuls. Whoa! Insane shit! After that, it was my turn. Turned out that the wild girl, was the heavy I had to go against. My coaches tell me to breathe and relax and just flow. I try my best to listen, it's hard to focus when everyone is loud and yelling for whatever reason. SO I go in with a plan to get this over a fast as I can to avoid overexposure to this beast that has had who knows what kind of training. I did the beginner division for 0-12 months.I try to get my grips and get an armbar from the takedown before my back even hits the mat..FAIL...she weasels out of it. So I scramble back up to my feet, we dance a lil bit longer and I attempt the same damn move again. This time I get it, but she has a good grip on her arm. I loosen my leg across the face to bait her into rolling up to get out, my foot on her bicep ready to slip thru to triangle her. No such luck...so I just went hard and ripped her grip and nailed it. She taps, I'm in shock and relieved, but still gracious enough to maintain myself. I vaguely remember the coach talking to me. It was hard to hear him. The next match they called is the bathroom lady. She was set up with this girl who had just beat the beast in no gi. She had very short hair and looked extremely athletic...did I mention her husband was an instructor at one of the academies? She had been doing this since like DEC. I'm worried for my potty pal now.. 2 weeks versus 8 months?! Then I worry about me..if potty gal fails I gotta go thru her. He man is coaching her in Portugese..I'm like oh shit, I am so done. Well, potty gal puts up a great fight but loses in the end by a choke. This girl jumps up on her to pull guard and while up there does a cross collar choke. Insane. Now it's me and the Brazilian..there goes my heart rate. I do some deep breathing and chug water. I get out there and get some grips, pull her down and take side control in the process. She is one of those bucking, flailing opponents. I get my monkey grips with one arm under her head..I'm ready to do my choke that I learned. My coach is telling me to calm down and pace myself..get the points and let her burn herself out. I back off the choke and take full mount. I spread out to get balance and smother her a bit. That lead to massive bucking and I attempt my ezekiel again at the prompt of Daniel Moraes. Josh tells me to just relax and stop moving so fast. I look at him and tell him it ain't me in a rush. So she bucked herself into giving up her back. How could I resist a gift like that..even a rookie like me knows what to do about that! Rear naked choke baby! It was friggin awesome. Maybe I got lucky, but maybe I had just enough training and knowledge to run the show. None of those girls scored points on me. I made sure to hold the positions for a few seconds to get the points, I remembered to breathe and take what was given to me. After this match I jumped up and screamed, "Hell yea" and jumped on my 2 coaches. I placed first and the Brazilian got second and heavy and potty gal got 3rd. We all won something and learned a lot from the experience. Even if I had gone out and lost, I would still be just as ecstatic as I am now. All the people who have the balls to get on the mat deserve some kudos. I was a nervous wreck, but I did it.