To say I was excited about this EBI would be an understatement. There is so much female talent out there and I knew it would be an extremely technical display of skill by women from all over the world.My favorite first round fights:
Talita Alencar Vs. Ffion Davies- Alencar via RNC
This was a fantastic opener for the night. Alencar was the number one seed, in the tournament and unsurprisingly pulled out a win in technical dramatic fashion. Alencar is a force to be reckoned with and blew through her weight class tournament, after tournament this year! That being said, I was extremely impressed with the heart and skill of Welsh flyweight Ffion Davies. Her style is aggressive and unrelenting and she is definitely going to be a phenomenal black belt.
Crystal Demopoulous vs Rachael Cummings- Cummins Via Dead Orchard
First of all, both of these women are absolute physical specimens. Crystal took the match on late notice and put up a tough fight against MMA fighter Rachael Cummins. This was an extremely athletic, highly skilled match and an excellent show by Rachael Cummins who ended the bout with a very impressive Dead Orchard.
Pati Fontes vs. Katherine Shen- Shen Via Armbar
This is one of matches I was most looking forward to as I've heard a lot about 10th planet phenom Katherine Shen and the absolute legend Pati Fontes. From the beginning, this was a fascinating match up. Fontes held position and played a great pressure game the first half of the match with Katherine making an epic comeback and submitting Pati Fontes in overtime. Shen has generated a lot of talk leading up to this match and proved she's worth the hype!
Lila Smadja vs Olympia Watts- Smadja Via Guillotine
One of the fastest submissions of the night, Lila Smadja defeated Olympia Watts in 23 seconds via guillotine choke. Lila is fast paced, opportunistic and has a strategy from every position. She was one of my favorites to watch over the course of the evening with her meticulous game and quick finishes.
Round 1
Talita Alencar Vs Ffion Davies- Alencar via RNC
Rachael Cummins vs Crystal Demopoulos- Cummings via Dead Orchard
Gabi McComb vs Kayla Patterson- McComb via RNC in overtime
Gabby Romero vs. Kristina Barlaan- Romero via RNC in overtime
Katherine Shen vs Pati Fontes- Shen via Armbar in overtime
Erin Blanchfield vs Livia Gluchowska- Blanchfield via RNC in overtime
Lila Smadja vs Olympa Watts- Smadja via Guillotine Choke
Nikki Sullivan vs Fiona Watson- Sullivan via Scissor choke
Quarter Finals
Talita Alencar vs. Rachel Cummins- Alencar Via Armbar with seconds to go
Gabbi McComb vs. Gabby Romero- McComb via Armbar
Erin Blanchfield vs. Katherine Shen- Blanchfield via Kumura
Lila Smadja bs Nikki Sullivan- Smadja via Heelhook
Semi Finals
Erin Blanchard Vs. Lila Smadja- Blanchfield via Armbar
Gabi McComb vs Talita Alencar- McComb via fastest escape time
The Final Match
McComb (19) and Blanchfield (18) was an amazing match up. McComb is the student of legendary Leticia Ribeiro and plays a solid, unrelenting game. Blanchfield, herself, attacks from every angle and is consistently going for submissions. This was a hard fought victory for Blanchfield who won in overtime with the fastest submission escape.
Combat Jiu Jitsu:
Semi Finals
Llima Lei McFarlane vs Brooke May- McFarlane via fastest sub in overtime
Celine Haga vs. Amy Montenegro- Haga via fastest sub in overtime
Finals
Llima Lei MacFarlane vs Celine Haga- MacFarlane via Kimura
Overall: I must admit, I was skeptical about the combat jiu jitsu but I seriously loved it! EBI 12 was definitely one of the best tournaments I've seen in a long time! I love women's matches because I find we are always going for the kill and as promised, this tournament did not disappoint. I am so thankful Eddie Bravo put this together, next time I'd love to see some lady heavy weights!
How it feels rolling next to two brand new white belts.......
When someone asks why I wasn't at training and I'm trying to think of an excuse....
When someone calls me out for messing up the group jiu jitsu photo.....
When someone asks me to roll right before I can get a drink of water...
When I meet someone who only trains at noon.....
Trying to keep up with everyone during bear crawls.....
When my boyfriend tells me to stop stalking a new jiu jitsu girl......
When someone tries to footlock me by bending my individual toes back......
When you roll with the black belt.....
Me: When I showed up late to the leg lock trend......
Rolling with the newbie who doesn't know fist bump etiquette....
When you're cornering someone who doesn't listen and they ask what went wrong
When a lower ranked dude skips me and starts calling out partners to roll...
whispering to my team mate when he enters late and it's a judo day...
Trying to motivate team mates to compete....
When everyone is enjoying the new warm up and I'm trying to act like I enjoy it too
When I put a Shoyoroll gi in my basket but it's "out of stock" when I go to checkout
When I see someone with a great inverted guard and get jealous
When you get your tax return and buy all the gis!
This year I decided to compete again, making this my first tournament at Blue belt and my first tournament in America. It was nice being able to understand the referees and announcements! This competition started with a huge weight cut for me, not really a cut, but a conscious decision to eat much better than I was and to get down to middle or medium for IBJJF. After about 3 months, hours of training, supplements, recovery aids, no cupcakes, limited gluten and a whole lot of scale accountability I was finally down 23 pounds.
I competed in the largest tournament I've ever been involved in: The IBJJF New York Open.This tournament was different in many ways. 1st- I felt so prepared it was ridiculous. I trained more than I ever had before, developed a game plan and felt solid. 2nd- I didn't feel the pressure to impress anyone but myself. For the first time I was truly battling my doubts, my insecurities and anything that told me I was incapable and 3rd- The second I stepped off the mat I felt like I absolutely was meant to be there.
When we arrived at the venue I felt good, I was on weight (in fact 9 pounds under). I paced around the stadium for a while feeling all of the nervous energy. It's truly a unique experience to project all of the emotions the athletes give off. You can actually feel the anxiety, the tension, the hopes, it's truly amazing.
My match was pushed back and finally in the late afternoon I stepped into the bullpen behind Dillon Danis and Paolo Miyao. It's a surreal experience knowing you're about to share a mat with a living legend and it's even more surreal to look up and see all of the eyes on you. I'm no stranger to attention or competition, after many years of rugby you think I'd be used to the pressure. This was a whole new beast.I have had competition anxiety for as long as I can remember, so much so that I actually hired a sports psychologist during my rugby days to deal with the constant hives and panic attacks. He asked me what made me feel most in my element and what comforted me. I told him poetry and he suggested I carry a piece with me to read before each event. That poem was always "Invictus" a piece that both my grandfather and my idol (Nelson Mandela) loved. It was the poem he used to inspire the Springbok South African rugby team, leading them to victory. A piece so dear to me that I have it forever tattooed on my ribs.
Competing at a higher level taught me there is nothing I cannot deal with. I stepped on the mat and my opponent vanished. All I saw was the self doubt I had been carrying around for the last five years, all I heard was the voice that said "you're getting older, you're not as fast or athletic as you used to be" and I pushed them both out of my mind. I replaced every single insecurity with a reason why I deserved to be there and the reason why I deserved to win. The negative voices were drowned out by the support of my coaches, my boyfriend and team mates.The match was honestly a blur, but when I stood up, tied my belt and my hand was raised I knew I'd conquered much more than a jiu jitsu match. I faced every single doubt that told me I wasn't good enough and won.
The next day I competed in no gi, going up 2 weight classes to Super heavy. I felt the voice creeping in again: "they have the weight advantage," "you don't train no gi," "why did you sign up?" I immediately began repeating:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
I heard one person laugh and say "look she's praying cause she's about to get destroyed." I didn't care. I was in my zone. I won my first match by ankle lock and lost in the finals to a competitor who forced me to work harder than I ever had before. I can't remember ever being prouder than I was on that day and I can't remember a time where I worked harder to prove to myself what I already should have known, what my boyfriend tells me on a constant basis, what my team mates are and encourage me to be: I'm a warrior and if I can beat my toughest opponent (myself) I can do pretty much anything. I cannot wait to step out there and prove it to myself again.
