I was able to pull a gold at the Rickson Cup 2017 in Albany, NY. My bracket was tiny. It was still a fantastic contest. It was a supreme honor to compete on the mats with tough opponents, as Rickson held court. He sat by for most of the matches, and watched as we went at it.
Rickson needs no introduction. He's a superstar. He is arguably the greatest competitive mixed martial artist of all time.
A good portion of my team went with me. God bless, North Shore Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy! My wolf pup brother, Kyle Hodgdon, competed as well. The two of us were in the bullpen together. We worked our pummeling, "east, west", shots, and cut throughs to the back. Kyle fought before me, and came up upon a very difficult opponent. His bracket was hellish. I never got gold as a blue belt. I only competed a couple of times, and didn't have the gusto at that point in time. Kyle has the mental fortitude of a seasoned hitman. He was able to pull off a bronze in a very competitive bracket. He fought like a madman. He wasn't thrilled with his performance, but I was. Watching Kyle fight is like watching the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes. It's always a fierce barrage of aggressive BJJ. I partly wish I fought like him. I fight more like an old fart. My style is slow, boring, and pressure orientated. Kyle has an intense will to fight. You will be seeing him in the future going all kinds of Musashi in the higher ranks. Needless to say, It was an honor to fight alongside the likes of Kyle Hodgdon.
I've discussed in the prior post about my thoughts on martial arts. I've been on a martial arts journey throughout my life. Rickson held a seminar the night before. It was an affirmation. He talked about Jiu-Jitsu throughout life. He discussed returning BJJ to self defense. All too often we've seen BJJ transform into a sport that forgets its routes. Jiu-Jitsu is about self defense first. It was created by Samurai. This was used on the battle field for life and death. Roger, my professor in Brooklyn, would sneer at us if we pulled guard. Our tradition was always routed in the ways of the past. Chris Hauter put it best, "I do sport, and I think street." Chris showed up to the event, and it was awesome seeing him again. We discussed making comics for a moment (How cool is that?).
There's a lot of "fuckery" in martial arts, as Joe Rogan puts it. BJJ is truth. A choke is a choke. A takedown is a takedown. An escape is an escape, and a tap is admitting your demise. BJJ is truth. When you match your opponent on the mats under the pressure of competition you live in an alternate dimension. Mostly, we live in safety (at least in America we do). We don't often get into a violent altercations (I hope you don't anyway). So, how do we know? Would we live or die in the street? Through contest we get to act out that hypothetical. Can you perform under pressure? Can you defeat a trained killer?
I don't believe competing in the room. You don't fight your teammates. Your teammates are blood. I look at it like a racket ball club. The play can become competitive, but you don't fight them. The dojo is the laboratory of technique. You try out a rear naked choke. You test the workings of an ankle lock. You notate the discoveries. Playing BJJ at the club shouldn't be stressful. It should be fun, enlightening, and productive. Can we be prepared to protect ourselves based solely on the practice in the dojo? I believe we can. We can train our muscle memory, technique, and strategy in this environment. Competition tests us in a more rigorous way. It's scary rolling with a stranger. It emulates the streets. It's never comfortable going for attacks on a relative stranger. It's never comfortable to get manhandled by a relative stranger. I know why we're all there though. It's to see where we stand. It is partly to assess our lineup in the pecking order. I look more inward though. I see if I have the mental fortitude to endure a stressful situation. Can I keep my cool in the heightened moment?
I have been blessed to train with two amazing teams in Brooklyn, and Salem. I will continue my training, and look to grow more. It's time to hit the books, kiddos. School is back in session. I'll keep my hands up, because these books hit back!