I was destroyed at the Gracie Open!!!

[Mad Dog]

After months of killing myself during rigorous gym workouts and hours and hours rolling on the mat, I was totally dominated in my first fight (first tourney also) of the night. I had rolled with the guy years ago at Cesars gym and knew that I had little chance of winning and I was right. I did try 110%, don't get me wrong, but he was so much stronger than me I could do absolutely nothing. I went the distance at least, but that's small consolation after all the training I did. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble here.
It was just really, really humiliating...

[Lacrymosa]

Tough break, man. Hang in there.

[SweepEm]

Dude, don't feel humilated.
There are tons of dudes that train regularly but don't have the huevos to step on the mat and compete.

I am serious. Tons. Look around in your class and see how many dudes are not going to compete.
It was funny, every time there was a tournament, these guys would get sick and not be around for Royce to get in your face to ask (I mean TELL you) if you were going to compete.
There was a really funny story, I was sick for a short time and didn't do a weigh in when everyone else did and so, at class, I went into Royce's office to get weighed in.
I stand on the scale and it starts to bounce and goes up to something like 210 lbs. Royce snickers and says, oh, you will have to compete in the Open division and I am thinking to myself WFT? SHEEEEEET? and I look back and he has his toe on the scale and is putting pressure on the scale to add lbs. With the right people, Royce does have a really funny side to him. When I first met him though, he never smiled or rarely. Now he is always smiling. I think being married and having kids did bring him happiness.

Oh sorry, got off the subject.
My first Gracie tournament, in the small room and it was completely packed (before they had the upstairs) and I completely froze. My opponent rushed me, took me down and mounted me, put his forearm against my throat for a choke and for I think 4 minutes, i was struggling to get his forearm off, forgetting everything I had learned up to that point. A one month white belt could and would have done better than me. In that tournament, I sucked.

Come to think of it, every tournament I suck. Oh well.

Hey, there was one tournament, I did win with an Ezekial (spelling?) choke and came in second place. In the finals, I went against a guy that completely dominated me.

There is no humilation in competing. If you lose to a superior opponent, nothing you can do. If you did your best, hold your head high, especially compared to your wimp compadres.

[Quad]

Hey Mad dog ,There is never shame in losing, because competing is the ultimate show of bravery.Like Sweep Em said,there is a lot of guys that will never dare to compete due to lack of huevos.You can show off and beat the living crap out of any guy in the street and yet I don´t find dignity or pride in that.but when competing you know your gonna face someone with skills maybe more skills or less but at least has the knowledge and the guts to be standig there in front of you. And there is where I find the dignity and the honor.So in my opinion you can be proud of yourself and dont forget that practice makes perfect.Congratulations for competing.

[Tony10]

Hey don't sweat it Mad Dog--just keep training.

Try and figure out what you're missing that resulted in your loss--that's all you can do, right? Or you can quit. Some people just pick things up faster or seem to be born with a built-in ability, whereas others have to train, train, train.

So stick with it. And don't be ashamed--you don't want to be dominated and it feels bad when it happens. But use it to motivate yourself.

Remember, there's always somebody better, no matter how good your are. We all go through this. Even if you're king of the hill, odds are that the more people you roll with, the more likely you'll encounter somebody who just cleans your clock every time, for whatever reason.

My goal--'cause I'll never be a Rickson--is a) to be able to beat 99% of untrained fighters (that may unrealistic, but aim high, right?) on the ground and b) at least have BJJ opponents respect me.

It happens to all of us, though. All the time. Don't be discouraged. Experience is always valuable if you know how to learn from it.

[Edited by Tony10 on 09-27-2000 at 12:43 PM]

[Underdog]

You stepped on the mat...

That's put you inside the elite.

The rest it's just playing and having fun.

[tristan]

awesome, u guys actually train with the Gracies? that must be the best. Feel no humility, at least u got ijn there! i give you much props for that!

[hounddog]

sheeit. i got tapped in about 10 seconds my first ever match

[Mad Dog]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!
Even though it's only been a couple of days I am already feeling much better and rebuilding my Ego with much
rationalization!!!!

[Ninjagod]

Strenght matters a LOT! So if your fairly equal in talent and he is a lot stronger i think you did great to stay all the way!

[sabaki]

I see you guys point but why compete with a self-defeating attitude. I competed in a sport for years (it was a combat sport) and I trained hard and felt the nerves as I actually step out on the mat to fight.

But ultimately I see, in retrospect, how I made things worst for myself by being too doubtful and fearful of my opponent as well as my own abilities.

Honestly if you going to compete put in the effort both physically as well as mentally. I'm telling you I bet your opponent wasn't as tough as you think.

Try to think this way: my opponent isn't as strong as I think nor as weak as I think and focus on the job at hand. I guarantee you'll win alot more matches this way.

[Hawk]

Mad Dog,
Training and competing are two totally different things.
Keep going and you'll do great!!!
Hawk