COMPETITOIN WRITE UP: SUBMISSION CHALLENGE 8 DEC 2024, OMAHA NEBRASKA, MEN'S MASTERS 1 171-185LB WHITE BELT

 

**INTRO AND SPOILERS**

 

It's a gaining phase, and I'm eating EVERYTHING

Once again, I have competed in a grappling competition, despite the fact I DON’T train in grappling.  The martial art I currently train in, Tang Soo Do, is primarily a striking martial art, with a heavy base from Shotokan (which is why it’s referred to as “Korean Karate”), that includes what could best be described as “situational grappling”, but what Matt Thorton (there’s a blast from the past) would describe as “dead training”.  Basically, the only time I get to grapple is when I compete at these things, as I’m otherwise relying on high school wrestling instincts and brief MMA training that I stopped doing when I was 21…and now I’m 39…so yeah…

 

But, relying on just that, and a LOT of strength and conditioning, I managed to take home another gold medal in the Men’s Masters 1 White Belt 171-185lb division.  That was actually me stepping UP, as I’m technically a Masters 2 athlete…because I’m getting too damn old.  There was one other guy in the division, so we were paired off in a “best of 3” match up, which, from this, you can tell that I won 2 matches, but I’ll leave the HOW I won as a bit of a surprise. 

 

**TRAINING**

Yeah, that's about right

 

Of course, I did zero grappling leading up to this grappling competition.  I’ve been advised by many people that this would improve my ability to grapple, but it’s a question of bandwidth for me. 

 

Instead, I’ve been following the Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol, as detailed in my most recent blog post.  This did result in me coming into this competition much heavier than before, weighing in at 185.6 in full sweats with a full belly, whereas before it was more like 181 with all that AND 40oz of tea/electrolytes in me.  I felt like coming in bigger and stronger would help.

 

Mass protocol doesn’t push conditioning too terribly hard, but I’ve been diligent about keeping my rest periods short, and I feel like that all helped me maintain a solid conditioning level coming into this.

 

 

**NUTRITION**

 

I'm pretty much following these guys for grappling techniques; might as well go with nutrition

I’ve stuck with my “protein sparing modified intermittent feasting” carnivore protocol for weekdays, and 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner) on weekends.  Since this competition was on Sunday, I had a hearty breakfast on Saturday (2 omelets filled with some leftover thanksgiving turkey with swiss cheese, covered in grassfed sour cream, beef bacon, grassfed beef hot dog, some grassfed cottage cheese and pork cracklin) with a lighter dinner of 6 beef patties with butter from Culver’s.  Sunday Morning, I had my traditional pre-competition meal of steak and eggs.   And if you’re really curious, I had a full rack of ribs (no sauce), pulled pork, scrambled eggs and grassfed cottage cheese on Friday evening.  I stuck with beef for Saturday and Sunday because I find pork can make me somewhat inflamed, and I didn’t want to deal with holding water leading into the weigh in.

 

Saturday Dinner

Morning of comp Breakfast

Friday Dinner

Saturday Breakfast

 

**MORNING OF**

Gotta get started early

 

Where in my past 2 competitions I was WELL within the weight class, my recent focus on gaining actually had me in a state where I needed to be somewhat cautious, so I ensured to weigh myself on my home scale in full sweats first thing.  Upon seeing 83.4kg, I knew I was in the clear, but still decided to forego my traditional 40oz of green tea mixed with electrolytes until AFTER weigh in.  With a belly full of 14oz of piedmontese ribeye, 4 sunny side up eggs, a bunch of ghee and 1.5 strips of bacon leftover from my kid’s plate, I weighed in with full sweats at 185.6, which, with the 1lb allowance, meant I was cleared.

 

I got on the mat about an hour before my match, just to feel what it felt like.  Did a butterfly stretch and rolled onto my back, but ultimately spent 2-3 minutes “warming up” before sitting down and waiting for my match to start.

 

**MATCH 1**

 

 

 

 

The dude I was competing against chatted with my briefly before the match.  He asked where I trained out of and I said "I don't...but I wrestled in high school".  Well he relayed that to his coach, who stereotyped the hell out of me and kept yelling "He's going to hunt for the shot!  Watch out for the shot!"

 

Fun fact: I never shot in wrestling.  I was terrible at it.

 

But, that said, after too much time standing, we were warned that if we didn't have a takedown in the next 15 seconds, they were going to implement some sort of "get down" rule.  I'll admit I panicked upon hearing that, and decided to go for a takedown.  He responded by sinking a standing guillotine that was VERY locked in.  I got a little upset because I was violently tapping him and the ref was just ignoring it for nearly too long before finally someone from the audience yelled "He's been tapping for a while".

 

Upon reflection, there was no need to go for that takedown, because I realize, in all of these tournaments, I have NEVER felt threatened when I've been on the ground.  I may not have much in the way of offense there, but no one has ever put me in a threatened position.  So from here on out, I'll make them play my stupid game of standing until something happens, and if we get forced to the ground, even better.  Because on top of all that, I’ve never been taken down: I can keep things standing forever.

 

 

I DID benefit from that first round though.  Got to feel him out, determine he wasn't stronger than me, nor did he have better cardio than me.

 

**MATCH 2**

 

 

 

 

I took some lessons learned from that first match.  I decided to just be a bully this time.  I came out aggressive, shoved him, secured a thai clinch, which was of no value whatsoever but still cool, and forced my will on him.  At one point, we nearly repeated the same ending as before, with him locking in a guillotine, and it got me angry and I said to myself in my head "no this time motherf*cker!"  He pulled guard on me, and that's where I was better able to work my "magic".

 

 

I got out of the guillotine, and then just kept pressuring him as much as I could.  He went for a triangle, but I never felt threatened by it, and I just kept stacking and pressuring him.  Whenever I was in his guard, I'd put my weight on him, and I noticed that, whenever I got a forearm across his throat, he REALLY didn't like that.  He'd panic and give up position.  So, of course, I kept doing it.

 

 

Just like my other 2 competitions, I could feel the exact moment that his energy and strength left him, while I still felt dandy.  In my head I said "You seem tired: I can do this all day".  I guess I'm a nasty person inside my head.  I eventually wore him down to the point that he could no longer put up any resistance, at which point I locked in an Americana I had been hunting for for the whole match. 

 

Come time for the third match, and his corner informed me he wouldn't be coming out.  I had exhausted him so much he didn't want to do a third with me.  I had noticed between the first and the second match his fatigue level was already pretty heavy, and it seems he reached his limit.

 

 

What's cool is, on my record for this organization, it categorizes that final win as "win by KO"

 

              **WHAT’S NEXT?**

 

I’m just going to keep signing up for these as long as they’re convenient for my schedule.  In an ideal world, I’d love to get back into training again, but it’s just not in the cards currently as far as my available bandwidth goes.  It’s not “I don’t have time”, it’s “The time I have, I prioritize for other things”.  Ultimately: time with my family.  That’s WHY I lift weights at 0400 in my garage: that’s when my family is asleep, so they don’t miss me.  Sooooo, if I found a school that was open at 0400, I’d give them a go.

 

Meanwhile, what’s next on the competition front is a 10 mile race in the first week of April and a strongman competition in the second week.  In between that, I have 2 cruises and have drafted out a plan with Tactical Barbell to carry me through this next cycle of competition.