Rob’s conditioning and work ethic really paid off. He’s been getting down essentially every class since we moved to the new place.
In the pool’s, Rob almost got a slam of the day, but instead decided to gently put Phil down and work from there. He pulled off a couple of subs and got into the semi’s in first place.
Rob dominated his opponent, David O’Brien from KO Martial Arts and caught him quickly with a guillotine.
Download video here (mpg, 44 secs, 6.3MB) Youtube video here
For the final, Rob faced off against Stephen Jalet, who had ripped through his matches. Stephen appeared technically superior to Rob, and I’d like to see these guys roll a bit in a calmer setting. Rob postured well in guard – something he’d been shown just on Tuesday last, but made a mistake standing up and got swept. Rob responded well to cornering (we even took advantage of a reset in the centre – don’t tell anyone!) For a brief moment after he escaped mount, we thought Rob would get caught in a guillotine – live by the sword, die by the sword. But he’d gotten his arm in and survive. Stephen then tried a triangle, but luckily enough we’d gone over the triangle defence on Tuesday as well! Rob took a mounted guillotine to win with less than one minute.
Rob was sore today – victory injuries!
Download video here (mpg, 3:08, 27MB) Youtube video here
Eamon showed up and asked could he compete. His injury didn’t look like it would cause trouble so I gave him the go ahead.
Wow! Eamo fights like a whirlwind, throwing submissions left, right and centre. It’s actually difficult enough to corner him because it looks as if there’s no thought process on the mat. He threw sub after sub out, and ran all the way to the final to take the gold.
Dan’s well happy he discovered Eamo – The Tasmanian Devil
Eamo’s pool match: Download video here (mpg, 1:09, 9.9MB), YouTube link
Eamo’s semi final: Download video here (mpg, 17 secs, 2.3MB), YouTube link
Eamo’s final: Download video here (mpg, 1:34, 13.6MB) Youtube link
Richard was happy that he got in and competed – but found he gassed quickly. This is mainly due to nerves and the intensity of competition, but it’s an important lesson that you need to keep working on your conditioning!
Kev (Blinkie) and Mark had bad days. Kev got caught by Dylan Costigan of Three Castles. Kev triangled Dylan at last year’s MMA League, but it was Dylan’s day. Dylan has always had an aggressive guard and caught Blinkie with an armbar.
Download here (mpg, 53 secs, 7.5MB), YouTube video here
Mark’s division was on first, and sometimes this can throw you. His first opponent came dangerously close to being DQ’d for passivity, and was playing for points (he didn’t understand the rules) so this forced a draw. Incidentally Mark’s opponent got DQ’d in his second match. Another draw and a loss made it a disappointing day for Mark, as he never got a chance to get going. Nothing technically wrong, just chalk it up to a bad day.
I didn’t get to see a lot of Conor, but he made some simple, correctable mistakes at the worst possible time getting caught in three armbars.
“Pancakes” did surprisingly well, having stepped up from Intermediate from the Nationals. The Advanced at 92 is exceptionally tough, and Paul hung tough with some big dogs who are at Purple Belt level.
Paul vs Arek: Download video here (mpg, 3:56, 33.9MB) Youtube video here
Due to my oversight, Stef went into the Intermediate instead of the Advanced. Needless to say, he won with ease. A short days work for the Slimy Italian!
