Łukasz Jan,  Aria Holsather, Morgan Frazer, T-son Inthisone D, Cody Puls, & Brittney Franz above…

Silver Last weekend on May 2nd… not proud, but hey, I’ll take it. Definitely not my best performance, with 4 to 5 hours on average of sleep and a bum knee.

Compete no matter what! Its all about the experience. Performing under pressure, adversity will excel your game exponentially… compete no matter what! All it is, is just like practice at the end of the day… ‪#‎BJJ4LIFE‬!

First time competing without my contacts in BTW… YES…

-9 ASTIGMATISM, its a blur… I’m blind as a bat… 

Adversity and comfort zone went straight out the window lol… heck no warm up!

 I will for sure celebrate that I was able to put on some kind of a fight, even though I got kimura’d near the end of the round…

T-son Inthisone D, Master’s Purple, 150 to 175 lbs, GI, Silver

Proud of my homie’s though… stepped OTM and gave it all they got!! Oss

Morgan Frazer, Men’s Blue Belt, 150 to 159 lbs, GI & Nogi, Double Gold

Łukasz Jan, Men’s White Belt, 225 lbs, GI, Silver

Cody Puls, Mens White Belt, 170 to 179 lbs, Nogi Only, Double Gold

Took off at roughly 8am to pick up Łukasz Jan aka “the amazing Albino Rhino” to head off to Minneapolis on Friday… weighed in at home early in the morning at 166 lbs… I believed I had registered in Masters, 159 to 169 lbs… not exactly sure why I was listed as an adult.  One of the questions I had once we were at the venue to weigh in the night before the tournament. For some reason its always been a psychological thing to make weight… weird eh, unwanted stress. Reality is, I walk around at 162 lbs… 169 lbs shouldn’t be an issue. Right lol… WRONG…

Last year around this time… I competed in the 2014 Ontario Open 168 lbs, GI was Saturday, Nogi Sunday. This is one of the biggest and well organised tournaments in Canada… truth!! After the GI portion was finished on Saturday, I went out and a had a huge bowl of PHO to celebrate the great battle I survived… great idea its only soup, water… hah. Forgot about the salt… thank god I got to the venue early on Sunday, checked my weight 177 WTF… had nothing but shorts and a rash guard. That god for Amanda, now living in the UK… she lent me her sweaters and jogging pants. Yep. I spent 3 hours jogging to sweat it out… lets just say I was spent. Got RNC’d by a fellow who didn’t even compete with us the day before… right lol oh well lesson learned? Walked away with a bronze in Nogi.

Rewind… to 2013 Minneapolis Submission Hunt… I believe I dropped weight down to 143 lbs to be safe and make weight as registered for a 139 to149 lbs division Masters Blue Belt. We spent a few hours in a sauna. You got it, no one in my division lol. They moved me up… my opponent was bigger then me, most definitely. Thank god the weigh in was the night before… so I do have some energy lol. That match was tough, almost controversial with the point spread. Oh well, live and learn… don’t leave it to just points and work on securing the submission. Hindsight, my advice to others is always harness first, was not taken by myself… ouch… however, walked alway with a silver in GI and bronze in Absolute GI…

Rewind… to 2013 Sudbury Open… you got it 142 lbs lol… they moved me up a few weight classes and with the adults. The killers. Young gunners that train multiple times a day. Walked away with a bronze… being 35 at the time, being on the road working 70 hour weeks. Right lol training once a week. I may look young… my recouping time tells a different story lol! Oh well it is what it is… at least I went in and left it all on the tatami. Again nothing wrong with a bronze especially if I gave it all I got!

Fast forward back to Friday… once we checked into Motel 6. Great motel, basic amenities, going through mad renovations, cheap ($61 per day), but man did we ever have ridiculous issues regarding the high-speed wireless lol $4.99 per day per person damn lol get that shit sorted out. Anywho, once sorted out we drove out to Target. Yes in the US, Target is still around lol… for those of you Canadian who read this. Went there to pick up a digital scale. I was soo paranoid about my weight, on Thursday night, I went out and bought a sauna suit. Yes, a sauna suit, in case the 2014 Ontario Open situation occurred again… I did not in any case need to burn myself out before a competition lol. 4 hours damn. No way in hell this time. I was prepared with a sauna suit lol… anywho, I weighed myself with the Albino Rhino as my officiate… boom 165 lol and with 3 hours to go… at 5:30 pm went to the liquor store to purchase a nice bottle of scotch and some beer…

6 hour drive is draining!

Arrived to the venue at roughly 6 pm… Cody Puls and Brittney Franz was there at the same time… No Morgan Frazer… Guess he missed the memo lol. I Weighed in, 162lbs baby lol, asked about why I was in the adult division and they switched me to the Masters division… weird my rage is from 150 to 175? quite the variance eh? hahaha I’m thinking to myself… must be to have more guys in the weight and age division. Oh well life goes on… got back to the hotel…

My boy Łukasz Jan weighed in at 225 lbs lol… BOOM!!

Hit up a random Chinese buffet, stuffed myself with a tonne of seafood, veggies, and an assortment of other things. Got back to the hotel and rested for the remaining of the night with some beers.

9:30 pm… I get a message from my boy Morgan Frazer… saying, “dude I missed registration, and its its closed.” Oh boy I was steamed lol.  I told him to go there early apologize, say that you missed it due to the drive from Thunder Bay. Luckily Morgan Frazer with other guys behind him…

They let him in because the girl at the desk was from Sudbury so she knows the drive and the distance, wouldn’t be fair lol… Oh lucky Morgan Frazer… hahahah drive all that way to hang out at the hotel… hahahaha. They didn’t let anyone else register!

I was baiting with a guard pull, guess he had scene it and done that. A real seasoned competitor. He really capitalized on a mistake I did. I shouldn’t have hesitated and committed to my game. Good for him.

My opponent played a real tight defensive game standing… hmmm wrestling base. He wouldn’t open up. Maybe I just couldn’t see it lol… my eyes are both -9. Blind lol… blurry like a mofo.

Man look at that size difference hahaha… someone asked me if that was the absolute division… hahha NOPE!

Back to the match… Not trying to take away from my opponent, he was a great competitor and he was a better man then me this day… I know, I could have performed better… been more relaxed and played my game… with not being able to warm up, not being able to put my contacts on… yes blind as a bat, in complete rush in the matter of fact. Which I never train contact-less.

I was registered in the Absolute division, no one to compete against this time oh well REMATCH!!… lets just say I was the only one lol no dice!

However, after this event, I know now anything can happen. You must be prepared for anything… lesson. Train without my contacts, train for the inevitable… continue on course with my weight training and conditioning. Train hard, train smart, and avoid injuries… I am 37, 40 is not too far down the road, for this older smaller purple belt with a goal and dream… A Thunder Bay future BJJ black belt earned. To be the best person I ever will be as compared to now and in the past. Always evolving, growing…

No one ever remembers your losses, only your wins…

But, this is my journey, my story, the truth, BJJ…

Similarly to life ups and downs, gotta take the good with the bad…

You just have to flow with it, no pun, intended lol.

I want to be my children’s real life BJJ Supa Hero TRUTH!

Improve, adapt, and overcome!

We all fall down, the Hero’s get right back up!

More lifting, BJJ, drilling, and conditioning lol…

See you soon OTM…

Oss!