Just returned from day 1 of the Arnold.

[McLeod]

Hey all.
Just drove the 2 1/2 hours from the Arnold.
here are a few random thoughts now that I've been up for many many many hours, and spent about half of those crouched coaching some buddies.
1. I didn't compete due to the torn ligament in my right wrist, however I will compete at the end of this month.

2. The tournament could've been run MUCH MUCH smoother. The tournament didn;t start till about 11:30 am... the competitors were there starting at about 10.
The white belts took forevere, with at times only 1 or of the 5 available mats being utilized. When the blues finally began ( after the superfights) it was after 3:30 pm... so the blues stood around with no brackets or times posted for HOURS. Then the blues were ran through very quickly.. some rests were VERY short.

3. The superfights were very good and the crowd followed them very quietly until a reversal... I felt like I was in Japan. Saulo overcame the weight disadvantage and defeated Conan very handidly.. hoped to his butt, and swept Conan with the same move twice.. though it took a few minutes. Had Conans back a couple times, though Conan would escape..had Conan mounted..but could'nt tap him. It went the full 15 minutes.

4. The other super fight "Clean" from Conan's school fought a very large Jeff Monsen... this was a more exciting fight than the aforementioned. Monsen was on top the whole time, and was almost caught in two triangles, one was VERY tight... but he powered out of both... The second triangle came out of nowhere as Monsen had North south out of a cradle..
I saw a few advantages given to both men, but the decision went to "Clean". Monsen seemed really upset, and I can't say I blame him...he came into a BJJ event, fought well, and perhaps there should've been an overtime. But eitherway, entertaining.

5. Fighters I saw and talked to first hand: Conan and his brother, Minatauro Nogiuera's Bro and a few of his fighters, Some Ruas vale Tudo guys including Caccerrero, Reylson, Carlson Grace Jr (all 4 foot 2 of him), Saulo and his brothers including Shaolin, Wallid, Dan Severn, Bobbish, "Clean", The guy who does Gymnastica Natural, Coleman... I might be forgetting a few.

6. The Martial arts Booths were SEVERELY limited in comparison to past years... there were three booths set up in the tournament area, one by Jeff Osborn for HNS, the other two were Gracie clothing. In the main square where last year MANY booths were found, you could;nt fina anyone but Michael DePasquale...

7. Good cometition.. and goos sportmanship..no fights or arguments...though one fighter did get his arm broken badly...

[AlbanyRJB]

I'd call that a very accurate assessment of the tournament. I share your complaint about how slowly the tournament started out. It was very frustrating to see five mats available and only one or two being used at a time. The same thing happened at the Gracie Nationals last year and made for a very long day. But after the superfights things seemed to go into turbo mode and ran far more smoothly.

The second superfight was very exciting. For some reason, the competitors were not introduced and no one knew who Monsen was fighting (I later learned that his name is Dustin Dennis, a brown belt I think). He caught Monsen in a couple of submissions, but Monsen just powered out of them. I felt the judges were justified in giving Dustin the decision since he was trying harder to finish the fight.

The guy who got his arm broken was Warren Orsley, a BJJ-stylist and NHB fighter from West Virginia. I didn't see the incident myself, but I'm told it happened from a fall to the mat rather than a submission hold. Just one of those fluke things.

I too am disappointed there wasn't more of an NHB/MMA presence at this tournament. In years past, Frank Shamrock, the Lion's Den, etc. have made appearances. Frank had a booth this year but no-showed.

Arnold made an appearance during the tournament which shut things down temporarily. You can always tell when Arnold is approaching because an ARMY of suits precedes him to clear the way for his appearance. He and Relson exchanged pleasantries and the tourney proceeded.

I'm looking forward to day 2---no gi.

[John Bennett]

Cool.

Thanks for the report guys!