Saturday, March 24, 2012

Day 1 - Grapplers Quest: Beast of the East 2012

Normally I compete  in the 140 - 159.9 division at Grapplers Quest, but lately I've been walking around between 150 and 155 so about 5 days before the tournament I decided I wanted to try to cut down a weight class.  I started dieting and lost about 6 lbs in 4 days.  I was down to 146.5 when I got to my hotel and decided to sweat out the last few pounds. This started out well, I dropped 3 lbs in the first hour.  I thought to myself this will be a piece of cake! but it wasn't.  The following hour and a half  I only lost 1 pound and was down to 142.5, but time was up and I needed to weigh-in.  I was sooo depressed - all that hard work for nothing.  Now not only did I feel like crap but I still had to go with the heavier girls :(((  

I didn't think it would matter that much because I was used to fighting in that weight class, but I definitely felt it today.  I lost my first match and felt like puking afterwards.  I felt weak and out of breath the entire match. Not only did I physically feel bad, but I felt like my jiu-jitsu wasn't up to par either.  I was having a lot of trouble gripping and controlling my opponent with out the help of the gi.  This really made me realize that if I am going to compete no-gi I need to start training no-gi.

2nd Place
My absolute division went a little better.  I won my first match 20-0.  I completely controlled positioning but was unable to finish any submissions.  I tried for the d'arce choke and the rear naked choke but couldn't finish either one (I did get 2 advantage points though).  My second match was the finals match and it was against the same girl I fought in my weight class.  She took me down and scored 2, but then I swept her with a really nice hook sweep and scored my 2.  I tried passing the guard but couldn't figure out a good way to control her body and she closed her guard on me and eventually guillotined me.  

I ended up taking 2nd place in both my weight class and the absolute women's advanced no-gi divisions, but I am definitely not satisfied unless I win gold.  I am very confident in my gi game, and I am extremely motivated to go out there tomorrow and win my gi divisions.  And when I get back home I plan on continuing my diet, starting conditioning, and starting no-gi training.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Trials - NYC

Below is a link to a write up my Manassas MMA did about my trip to the trials!

"Michelle Welti of Team Dave Trader Jiu-Jitsu traveled to New York City this past weekend to compete in the Abu Dhabi World Pro Trials. The trials are held each year in different cities all around the world, with the winners taking home an all expense paid trip to Abu Dhabi to compete in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championships. Prizes go to the winner of each weight class at Brown/Black Belt, and the winner of the Absolute (open weight class) at Purple, Blue, and White Belt."
Click here to continue reading!

Here are a few picture from the tournament: