NAGA
This upcoming Saturday is the NAGA, a huge submission wrestling tournament. It's being held in Atlanta. I almost went to the last one, but work held me down. I really want that samurai sword that they award the winners.
But I've already got myself down before it's all begun. I'm so scared.
Scared that this tournament will turn sour like the last (Pan-Americans).
Because I'm over 135, I'm a heavy-weight again. Great, just fan-freakin' tastic, I get to fight with 200 pound girls all over again.
I can't complain about something I have so much control over though. I've lost 20 pounds since I left Brazil, but I'm been on a plateau ever since.
Today I cried during class. Not the "Forest Griffin" kind-of-cry where you're wailing like a blubbering baby in front of everyone, but the silent, teary-eyed kind. The kind I try so hard to control. The kind I can get away with and still be respected.
I went 6 minutes with "Aranha". He won on points. I would have won back my points and had the extra edge with my advantages if I would have just been patient and taken side position instead of rushing into mount (where he caught my leg in a half-guard). I have no strategy, I just go blindly. Thus, I constantly lose on points. It's all a game in tournament. It's strategy I never calculate.
I miss the days in Brazil, where we'd play, "pass the guard" and I'd sweep every boy waiting anxiously on line. I was sweating, but still kept sending them back to the wall. I had 4 medals and thought I was something. Yes, those were the glory days.
But maybe, I'm just playing too much stress on it. Maybe in order to get better, I need to let go and take it for as it is, my pleasure.
But I've already got myself down before it's all begun. I'm so scared.
Scared that this tournament will turn sour like the last (Pan-Americans).
Because I'm over 135, I'm a heavy-weight again. Great, just fan-freakin' tastic, I get to fight with 200 pound girls all over again.
I can't complain about something I have so much control over though. I've lost 20 pounds since I left Brazil, but I'm been on a plateau ever since.
Today I cried during class. Not the "Forest Griffin" kind-of-cry where you're wailing like a blubbering baby in front of everyone, but the silent, teary-eyed kind. The kind I try so hard to control. The kind I can get away with and still be respected.
I went 6 minutes with "Aranha". He won on points. I would have won back my points and had the extra edge with my advantages if I would have just been patient and taken side position instead of rushing into mount (where he caught my leg in a half-guard). I have no strategy, I just go blindly. Thus, I constantly lose on points. It's all a game in tournament. It's strategy I never calculate.
I miss the days in Brazil, where we'd play, "pass the guard" and I'd sweep every boy waiting anxiously on line. I was sweating, but still kept sending them back to the wall. I had 4 medals and thought I was something. Yes, those were the glory days.
But maybe, I'm just playing too much stress on it. Maybe in order to get better, I need to let go and take it for as it is, my pleasure.