Glasgow - Scotland
November 2019
I competed in my first BJJ tournament in November – which was an intense experience to say the least. It’s genuinely hard to explain why training in a martial art like BJJ is fun, given that my Monday’s, Friday’s and Saturday's invariably involve getting choked, thrown to the ground and beaten up to some degree. But there is a certain satisfaction in overcoming the adversity that BJJ provides – the same one I expect moves people climb mountains or run marathons.
Competing is then another level higher than that, perhaps one of the most intensely stressful things I’ve done in some time, because for all of the pageantry, it is essentially signing up to fight several people in one day – no more training, or niceties – two people on a mat giving it their best.
I competed in the Ultra-Heavyweight division, which consisted of only 4 guys. Arriving early to Scotstoun Leisure Centre, I took my time donning my Gi and performing my warm-up. I then weighed in and all of a sudden was on the mat, staring at a hulk of a man – my first opponent. Being an open weight division, he outweighed me by 15kg and I felt every single kilogram as he managed to take me down and put me in side-control. Under intense pressure and fair technique I ended up being manhandled and I tapped out in the 4th minute to an Americana armlock. A fair result, the guy did well. I was happy to have defended reasonably well, having attempted a number of techniques that he managed to counter – I was terrified I’d forget what I was doing as soon as someone came at me, so that was good.
The next match then came up quickly and all of a sudden I was staring down another man – this time more similar to me in size. He managed a takedown, but I managed to almost pull guard, but then managed to escape to back mount, steadily working to a clock choke submission in the 3rd minute. Having my hand held up by the referee was something else – as was returning to my corner to the support of a few of my academy’s blue belts – Saul and Scott who had come down to support.
In the end, I finished with a bronze. I was buzzing for the entire the day and immediately began planning my next competition.
November and December then ended up blurring together with a mix of activities, events, and festivities. All of which I wanted to jot down.
I had a football trip to Manchester, I attended the Betfred Cup Semi-Final between Rangers and Hearts and the Cup Final between Rangers and Celtic, Amy and I saw Ghost play, Sam and I went to see WWE Raw at the Glasgow SSEC, I raised 500GBP growing a moustache for Movember, and more significantly, I handed in my notice at work.
With growing interests in sport and teaching, working in Ayrshire became quite a limitation for me when it came to pursuing other interests, so I pulled the pin and told my boss Kate. I felt sad to leave the team, but confident that it was the best decision for me to have made – at the end of the day you should work for yourself.
The weather continued to change as winter steadily approached. The golden leaves of the Kelvingrove Park gave way to barren trees and dreary skies. Although there is a charm to particularly dreich Scottish weather, you can’t say it’s all that pretty once winter sets in.
Amy having decided to attempt the Seville Marathon in late February, began training in earnest during this time, along with her friends Emer and Grace. I couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous with my running days being behind me.
Just as soon as Amy started training, she ended up leaving, as she had to return to Australia for Tahlia and Zivian’s wedding and to finalise her (our) ancestry visa for the year to come.
That left me all alone in Glasgow, somewhat lonely during the Christmas period. I kept myself busy mostly with work – now doing 3 jobs and far too many hours per week as I began transitioning to a different practice in Glasgow: ESP Physiotherapy. I had a few Christmas parties, a number of nights out – including one unusual, but altogether fun trance gig with Athena, a friend from softball, and a lot of time spent doing Jiu Jitsu.
I eagerly looked forward to the Christmas break and the company of a few friends, including Sam, as well as the New Year, when Amy was set to return.
JC
Comments