Last weekend’s Five Grappling Super League event at Studio 540 in Solana Beach, California, was a big success. The big deal (besides all the big names) was that it was the first professional event offering EQUAL prize money to the men’s and women’s divisions—$10K to the first place winners (Tim Spriggs from Master Lloyd Irvin’s in the men’s division, and Mackenzie Dern from Gracie Humaita Phoenix in the women’s). That’s an important step, and one I hope and believe will open the door and create more excitement and opportunity surrounding women’s BJJ.
I was invited to compete at the Super League 3 weeks out and started preparing. The first week of training was great, culminating with a seminar at our school (ETC Castle Rock in Colorado) with Master Renato Tavares and getting in some great work with my amazing training partner and friend Professor Rossie Snow, one of Amal Easton’s new female black belts.
The next week was a bit of a wash, since I strained my back and had to take a few days off, then traveled to Rio with Ethan Day (one of my professors and boyfriend) and Greg (our friend and one of our blue belts), arriving on Friday morning. The Super League contract stipulated no other competitions 30 days before the event, but since it had been so close to the event and I already had a trip planned to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Rio Open and Masters International, Five Grappling made an exception. The black belt divisions were starting on Saturday, but I decided to opt out of the absolutes (in light of the upcoming event the next weekend) and only competed on Sunday in the middle weight divisions for both events (which I won!).
I had planned to take off Monday, but couldn’t resist training since I was in Rio and went to Master De La Riva’s academy on Monday morning. Tuesday morning we trained at Nova Geracao, with Master Toco, then I hit my last training in Brazil back at De La Riva’s on Wednesday morning. While there I got to train with one of his super tough brown belts Claudia Fernanda Onofre Valim Do Val; it’s always great to get to train with other women!
Wednesday night I flew back to the states, arriving in San Diego in full zombie mode on Thursday morning. I spent most of that day sipping tea while waiting for my hotel room to be ready, then crashed out super early. Friday we had photos and interviews for the event at Studio 540 (possibly the most nerve-wrecking part for many of us!?!), rules meeting and weigh-ins on Saturday, then the event on Sunday at 2 pm.
The day of competition is always tough for me (I’m still working on that part!!)—I wake up pumped and just want to get on the mat right away. I think this is actually pretty normal when people are competing, but some competitors just seem cool as a cucumber no matter how long they have to wait. When I saw the line-up I was relieved and excited to see that mine was the first of the female matches scheduled.
I was invited to compete at the Super League 3 weeks out and started preparing. The first week of training was great, culminating with a seminar at our school (ETC Castle Rock in Colorado) with Master Renato Tavares and getting in some great work with my amazing training partner and friend Professor Rossie Snow, one of Amal Easton’s new female black belts.
The next week was a bit of a wash, since I strained my back and had to take a few days off, then traveled to Rio with Ethan Day (one of my professors and boyfriend) and Greg (our friend and one of our blue belts), arriving on Friday morning. The Super League contract stipulated no other competitions 30 days before the event, but since it had been so close to the event and I already had a trip planned to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Rio Open and Masters International, Five Grappling made an exception. The black belt divisions were starting on Saturday, but I decided to opt out of the absolutes (in light of the upcoming event the next weekend) and only competed on Sunday in the middle weight divisions for both events (which I won!).
I had planned to take off Monday, but couldn’t resist training since I was in Rio and went to Master De La Riva’s academy on Monday morning. Tuesday morning we trained at Nova Geracao, with Master Toco, then I hit my last training in Brazil back at De La Riva’s on Wednesday morning. While there I got to train with one of his super tough brown belts Claudia Fernanda Onofre Valim Do Val; it’s always great to get to train with other women!
Wednesday night I flew back to the states, arriving in San Diego in full zombie mode on Thursday morning. I spent most of that day sipping tea while waiting for my hotel room to be ready, then crashed out super early. Friday we had photos and interviews for the event at Studio 540 (possibly the most nerve-wrecking part for many of us!?!), rules meeting and weigh-ins on Saturday, then the event on Sunday at 2 pm.
The day of competition is always tough for me (I’m still working on that part!!)—I wake up pumped and just want to get on the mat right away. I think this is actually pretty normal when people are competing, but some competitors just seem cool as a cucumber no matter how long they have to wait. When I saw the line-up I was relieved and excited to see that mine was the first of the female matches scheduled.
My first round match up was against Nyjah Rollins (formerly Nyjah Easton, but she just got married), a world class competitor and one of Master Lloyd Irvin’s top female athletes. I had faced her once before, last year at No Gi Worlds, and she thumped me on points. I was bound and determined to have a better showing and come out on top. At the end of our 6 minute, 0-0 battle, I thought I had won based on a choke attempt, but I lost the referee’s decision (main ref gave the match to me, corner refs to her), so I was done for the day and she advanced.
I did cry a little (just one really stoic tear, later on), mostly because I was mad at myself and felt like I let down my students, team-mates, training partners, and coaches. In any tournament, whether it has advantages or not (which this one did not), it’s always better to win decisively than to let it go to decision. I just couldn’t pull it off that day.
We stuck around to watch the rest of the event, which really was awesome. To borrow from a colleague and coach, watching Mackenzie do BJJ is like watching Rhonda Rousey fight MMA. She is such a technician and fierce competitor. Karen Antunes also had a great showing, establishing herself as a new force to be reckoned with at black belt.
So, that’s the scoop, at least my side of it! Here are my top 3 take-aways from the event overall:
1) The level of professionalism at the Super League was astounding. Top to bottom, this event was done right. There were a couple very small pre-event hiccoughs along the way (we can blame that on CA traffic!), but the event staff did everything they could to keep things running efficiently. Not surprisingly, that professionalism extended to the athletes; I love seeing great athletes showing great sportsmanship, before, during, and after battle.
2) Studio 540 is awesome. It’s a beautiful gym, minutes away from a beautiful beach, and touts a really cool concept—no politics BJJ, something that is starting to pop up more and more. The owner, Rob, was very laid back, sincere, and down-to-earth, and all the employees I met were super sweet and eager to help. If you’re ever in Solana Beach (near San Diego), you’ve got to check it out!
3) BJJ is headed in a good direction. BJJ is growing exponentially, for women and men, and there are some discussions about whether it’s headed in the “right” or “wrong” direction. I think as a community we have an on-going responsibility to keep re-evaluating how we train, how we compete, what and how we teach our students, and why on all counts, to continue to drive and guide the direction of its evolution. That's a continuous process and challenge. Got it. That said, every time I step on the mat I feel like we are all part of something bigger, and that is the BJJ community—the friends we make, the people who inspire us, those we inspire, and the lives that are transformed through BJJ. This is the “good” part, the community itself, and the positive benefits we reap from training and being a part of it and thus carry into other aspects of our lives.
Boom. :)
I did cry a little (just one really stoic tear, later on), mostly because I was mad at myself and felt like I let down my students, team-mates, training partners, and coaches. In any tournament, whether it has advantages or not (which this one did not), it’s always better to win decisively than to let it go to decision. I just couldn’t pull it off that day.
We stuck around to watch the rest of the event, which really was awesome. To borrow from a colleague and coach, watching Mackenzie do BJJ is like watching Rhonda Rousey fight MMA. She is such a technician and fierce competitor. Karen Antunes also had a great showing, establishing herself as a new force to be reckoned with at black belt.
So, that’s the scoop, at least my side of it! Here are my top 3 take-aways from the event overall:
1) The level of professionalism at the Super League was astounding. Top to bottom, this event was done right. There were a couple very small pre-event hiccoughs along the way (we can blame that on CA traffic!), but the event staff did everything they could to keep things running efficiently. Not surprisingly, that professionalism extended to the athletes; I love seeing great athletes showing great sportsmanship, before, during, and after battle.
2) Studio 540 is awesome. It’s a beautiful gym, minutes away from a beautiful beach, and touts a really cool concept—no politics BJJ, something that is starting to pop up more and more. The owner, Rob, was very laid back, sincere, and down-to-earth, and all the employees I met were super sweet and eager to help. If you’re ever in Solana Beach (near San Diego), you’ve got to check it out!
3) BJJ is headed in a good direction. BJJ is growing exponentially, for women and men, and there are some discussions about whether it’s headed in the “right” or “wrong” direction. I think as a community we have an on-going responsibility to keep re-evaluating how we train, how we compete, what and how we teach our students, and why on all counts, to continue to drive and guide the direction of its evolution. That's a continuous process and challenge. Got it. That said, every time I step on the mat I feel like we are all part of something bigger, and that is the BJJ community—the friends we make, the people who inspire us, those we inspire, and the lives that are transformed through BJJ. This is the “good” part, the community itself, and the positive benefits we reap from training and being a part of it and thus carry into other aspects of our lives.
Boom. :)
