GTA comp

A quick and late report from the GTA comp in Melbourne on October 29....

It was only the second tounament organised by GTA. The first one was no gi (which I missed). This one was gi. It was well organised and well run. The five of us from Ballarat who competed had a lot of fun, and we all brought home some shiny stuff.

I only had one fight. I think there were only about 4 or 5 blue belt women there on the day. I competed against another senior in about my weight bracket. Not much to report, I pulled guard and avoided her attempts to get past my guard while still open. Once I had closed guard, I tried for the cross lapel choke, armbar. Had no problems controlling her posture. Maybe should have looked for other opportunities, but she really protected her arms well. And then I went for the armbar again and made the mistake of not cutting down hard enough with the top leg. So I lost it and she passed. There was less than a minute left to go, and I was on my way to escape side control, but I ran out of time and lost on points.

The guys did pretty good and all had a great time. One of them had had about 2 months off because of a broken kneecap, and decided to make his comeback at the comp. He didn't win, and he was down on himself, but we assured him that while it was maybe a little stoooopid to do what he did, but he wrestled well all the same. He's been to another comp since, and done really well.

I declined going to the Pan Pacs and the Melbourne Open because I had a hell of a load of work due for uni, and exams (which I have now finished).