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:

Grapplers Quest: Beast of the East VI

Last weekend Andrew Babeu and I traveled to Asbury Park, New Jersey to participate in Grappler's Quest Beast of the East VI.  We had quite an adventure....

It started off at 3:00pm Friday afternoon.  Our estimated drive time to the weigh-ins was 4.5 hours without traffic and 5.5 hours with traffic.  Okay, so weigh-ins end at 8:00pm, we are supposed to leave between 2:30pm and 3:00pm, so if we drive fast we should be able to make it no problem.   Well, Andrew gets to the gym around 3:15pm so we are already behind schedule...hopefully there won't be much traffic.... (its 3:15pm on a rainy Friday...no traffic?  yeah right!)  It takes us 2.25 hours to get from the gym, Manassas Mixed Martial Arts, to I-95!  36 miles in 2 hours!  At this point we know we aren't going to make it to the night before weight-ins; in fact, we probably won't even make it up there in time to go out to dinner :-(  The drive was long, it was dark and raining the entire time, and for a while I didn't even have anyone to talk to because Andrew decided to sleep...thanks man.

We end up getting there around 10:00pm, we checked into our hotel, and went out for food.  Pretty much the only places left to eat were fast food restaurants....so we went to Taco Bell.  I was a little nervous about getting any food since we had missed the weigh-ins.  I didn't bring my scale and I wasn't sure what eating out would do to my weight.  I ate a quesadilla and a taco and drank some diet Pepsi.  Not too bad....  I finished way before Andrew, who was eating multiple burritos and tacos!  They looked and smelled so good!

YUMMY!

After Taco Bell we proceeded to the 24 hour grocery store to get snacks and drinks for Saturday.  Of course the have and Easter section and Andrew just couldn't resist buying the $10 giant chocolate Easter bunny!  which I have to admit was pretty good : )  We got our snacks - Nature Valley granola bars along with some G2 for me, and a bunch of random stuff for Andrew.  After this we went back to the hotel and went to bed.  ..But only after eating a little bit of the chocolate bunny...I just couldn't resist!

Since I was so nervous about my weight I decided to wake up early to go to the weigh-ins.  That way if I was over I would have time to cut a little if I had to.  Weigh-ins opened at 7:00am, I got there around 8:00am, stood in line to register, and then proceeded to the stage to weigh-in.  I weighed in at 157 lbs.  I could have eaten more of that bunny!!!  I drove back to the hotel to get Andrew.  We went to IHOP for breakfast.  I got the Simple & Fit Two X Two X Two (2 eggs, 2 strips of turkey bacon, and 2 pancakes - 400 calories!)  Andrew got something enormous, as usual...I think it was an omelet, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and sausages.  Service was horrible.  It took forever for them to take our order and forever for our food to come out.  Once our food finally came out, it was barely warm.  I would've complained but I didn't want to risk them doing something gross to my food if they took it back.  Andrew's food wasn't very hot either.  He didn't even finish.  For the the first time in my life I have only 10% tip....   I love IHOP but I was very disappointed with this visit.

Anyways, back to the tournament.  We got to the venue, Andrew registered and weighed in while I found a place to sit.  The place was awesome.  As soon as you walked through the doors you could hear the music playing and see competitor warming up.  There was such a good vibe traveling through the room, it really got you excited to compete!

The tournament started an hour late, which is not unusual.  Before starting Brian Cimins made an announcement welcoming everyone, wishing everyone luck, and informing all of us that this was the biggest turn-out of competitors Grappler's Quest has ever had!  Kids divisions started at 11:15am and went till about 2:00 or 3:00pm, when finally the adult divisions started going.  I think a lot of competitors dropped out of their gi divisions since the no-gi was taking so long.  The gi divisions didn't even start until about 6:30 or 7:00pm and the last match of the night took place around 11:00pm!

I went into this tournament with a new confidence.  After losing in the first round at Pan-Ams I decided I needed to reevaluate my jiu-jitsu game and mentality.  My jiu-jitsu was good but my mind wasn't right.  I talked a lot with my coach and one of my teammates about it.  They both gave me some great advice, which I followed, and it worked.  
My first division was the Women's Advanced No-Gi 140-159.9 lbs division.  I won my both of my matches by triangle chokes!  Watch the videos for all the details.
MATCH #1


MATCH #2

Michelle Welti takes 1st in the Women's Advanced No-Gi 140-159.9 lbs division.

My next division was the Women's Advanced No-Gi Absolute.  My first match was stopped.  During a takedown my opponent landed on her knee wrong and was unable to continue.  My second match went all 6 minutes, ending 15-2, allowing me to take home the gold in this division as well.  Despite winning the match, I was thrown off a bit by all the leg locks my opponent was getting my in.  I managed to escape every time but it definitely threw me off a bit and made me want to learn some leg locks myself.

FINALS MATCH


Sorry the video cuts out early.  My video camera battery died :-(

Michelle Welti places 1st in the Women's Advanced No-Gi Absolute.

I placed first and took home the prize of a championship belt, $250 cash, and compete free for life!

During the finals match my name was called over the loud speaker, so after my match I went to the customer service table to see what was up.  It turned out there weren't any other blue belts registered in my weight class or the weight class above me.  Soooooooo disappointing!  I am getting ready to compete in the New York Open this coming weekend and that will be gi only so I was really looking forward to competing in the gi.

Around 7:00pm Andrew division finally started.  He was competing in the Men's Beginner No-Gi Absolute for a shot at $150 cash and compete free for life!  The division consisted of 26 men!  Andrew fought 5 matches, finishing 2 by points, 2 by submissions, and losing just one to the eventual winner.  Andrew placed third overall.  He also competed in the Judo Throwdown Challenge and the Wrestling Takedown Challenge placing 3rd in both of those as well.  Make sure to check out Andrew's blog for all the details of his matchs!

Andrew Babeu places 3rd in the Men's Beginner No-Gi Absolute.

We finally left New Jersey around 11:30pm.  There weren't any restaurants open anymore so we just started heading home.  We were both pretty tired so we stopped at a gas station for some energy pills and soda.  Andrew wanted to go to Pat's King of Steaks in Philadelphia for their world famous Phili Cheese Steak.  I wasn't opposed to the idea since I was hungry and they were open 24 hours.  Once we got there I was a little annoyed though.  It was in a bad part of town and there was absolutely nowhere to park.  I dropped Andrew off to get the food and circled the block.  Totally sketchy..weird people were standing on the corners.....  I come back around and there is Andrew, standing on the sidewalk with NO FOOD.  Apparently they only accept cash.  So I had to park, find and ATM, and then wait in line for my food.  We were surrounded by drunk people at 1:45am in the middle of Philadelphia...fun.  I was so grouchy because I was tired and hungry.  I kept telling Andrew that this cheese steak better be worth it!  It was :-)

We finally got back to the gym at 5:15am.  I got 2.5 hours of sleep and then it was time to teach my kid's team.

Overall, I had a very fun, satisfying trip.  Congrats again to Andrew on his medals and for getting over some mental fears he had about competing in the adult division.


TOURNAMENT PICS:

Be sure to check out www.mmaindc.com for articles and more pics from the tournament!

Pans - Day 2

So I know today is day 3 but I want to recap day 2 before I say anything about today.

Yesterday was my day to compete.  I woke up early, took a shower, and got ready to go.  I left nice and early so I could get to the venue with pleanty of time to check my weight, settle in, and relax before my bracket was up.  I got there at 10:00am and my weight was 160 -- great! that's 3 pounds under!  I ate some granola bars and an apple throughout the day and drank some water and Gatorade.  I kept weighing myself throughout the day and my weight never went above 160.5 (which I don't get because I was drinking a lot!).  Forty minutes before it was time for my bracket to go I decided to start getting warmed up.  I like to warm up early because I always get nervous jitters and running around helps me to get rid of them.  My bracket was called to the warm-up area at 1:20 so I went from running around the back hallways to bouncing around in the bull pen.  I was in there for an hour before they called me to get my gi and weight checked.  Surprisingly I was pretty relax this whole time, even as I walked onto the mat. 

Michelle Welti (DTJJ) vs Brooke Goldsworthy (Crispim BJJ) 

We shook hands and the match began.  Brooke crouched down low - I knew this meant she was going to try to pull guard.  She backed away from me as I came in to get my grip.  I remained in the center of the mat to wait for her to come to me.  I wanted her to play my game.  Time was ticking by and she wouldn't come to me so finally I went to her.  I grabbed her lapel and she immediately pulled guard.  I held her up, her feet weren't closed yet - this is not so bad, I like the top, I'll just pass to the side and submit.  Oh no, she grabbed my ankels - I can't let her sweep me, I am not starting this match down to points.  She ended up sweeping me.  She was in my open guard in combat base.  I tried for submissions, and I tried for sweeps but she was holding her positions and not wanting to move.  I was getting frustrated.  All of a sudden I here someone call out "30 seconds left!"  No, I refuse to lose in the first round again.  I MUST get a sweep!  I tried so hard, but was unable to do anything.  The buzzer rang - I lost. 

I was so mad, and dissapointed, and frustrated.  I couldn't believe I lost in the first round.  I honestly thought  I was going to win gold.  I wanted to cry.  I gathered my things and returned to the stands to watch the remainder of my braket.  Brooke Goldsworthy ended up placing third in the bracket.  First place went to Jessica Eve Richer of team Gracie Barra Long Island.  And 2nd place went to Alexis Dufresne of team Carlson Gracie.

Hours past as I watch the rest of the women's blue and purple belt divisions.  Time was closing in on the Women's Blue Belt Open.  I cleared my head and was ready to make my comeback in the Open.

Michelle Welti (DTJJ) vs Hana Fischer (Alliance SP)
Match starts and I immediately get my grips.  Hana also gets her grips, a huge power grip around my arm and to my belt.  Great, gotta break this and get my posture - she's creating an angle, she wants to throw - break that grip NOW.  I broke the grip - we gripped back up, same grip.  I broke it again.  We gripped back up, SAME grips - ugh this is getting frustrating. Oh no, I just got thrown.  I won't let her take my side...turtle up.   I reached for her leg to drive he back.  She was big and sprawling hard - I just couldn't pull that leg under.  New plan, sit through to guard.   I tried a few time to sit through to guard but had to revert back to the turtle.  Eventually I got to the half guard. I need to sweep to the top, I can't let this 200 pounder stay on top.  Let's try to get to deep half and sweep, I don't think I can lift all her weight with a hook sweep with my bad knee.  Oh shit, she has my arm and is going for a paint brush!  My shoulders are bad!  This hurts so bad...  Tap.  I lost again.

I learned a lot yesterday.  There are many things I need to work on.  But the number 1 thing is my confidence.  I know I am better than most, if not all, of the girls out here, but for some reason when I get to the mat all my confidence goes out the window.  I start to fear losing and it crushes me mentally.  I need to search deep inside myself and figure out why this is.  It is only then that I will start winning the titles I deserve.

Pans - Day 1 Con't

I got to the tournament, paid $10 for parking, and made my way inside.  It's a pretty big place, not as big as the venue for the World's, but still pretty big.  There were all the usual stands -- Atama, Jiu-Jitsu Pro Gear, Keiko, Vulkan, Gracie Mag, the Brazilian BBQ, and the Acai ice cream with granola and sliced bananas on it (soooo good!).  I took a couple pictures and then started trying to find the stand to pick up my event t-shirt.  I wanted to get my t-shirt right away because there were already a lot of people there and I didn't want them to run out of size small.  At last year's World's I had to get a medium that I don't even wear :(  Eventually I found it -- downstairs in the competitors area.  I had never seen a line so long to get a shirt!  I was a little worried they wouldn't have my size, but after standing there for 45 minutes I found out they did!!

I went back upstairs and found a good seat to settle in at for the day.  I watched hours of matches and finally left the tournament a little after 4:00pm.  It wasn't over yet but most of the blue belts were done and the next 3 hours of the schedule were supposed to be white belts.  I did want to see the blue belt male open division but it wasn't scheduled until 7:00pm and I just didn't want to sit through all those white belts to see it.  My drive back to my hotel is supposed to only take 15-20 minutes and it took me an HOUR!  Ugh, traffic was so bad.

Now I think I am going to head over to the 24 Hour Fitness and do a little cardio and kill some time!

Pans - Day 1

When I got to my hotel last night I was a little scared.  It was dark and rainy, my room was all the way in the back of the building, and there were weird people sitting outside.  I was planning to go to Walmart to get some food and drinks and other stuff I'd be needing for the next few days, but decided to stay in because I didn't want to walk past those people again.  I talked to Dave on the phone for a while and then went to bed.  It was only like 10:00pm here but it felt like 1:00am.  I ended up waking up at 5:00am (equivalent to 8:00am back home, which is like sleeping in for 2 extra hours for me) went back to sleep and woke up again around 7:00am.  I got dressed and went to Walmart.  The neighborhood I'm in is not actually bad like I originally thought.  Like two blocks away there is an amusment park, Knott's Berry Farm - America's First Theme Park, and tons of stores and restaurants and a mall!  I feel much better now :)

 I got all my groceries and have settled in a bit so now I am ready to head out for the day.  Check out the venue, watch the white belts and blue belt males compete.  I want to get my event t-shirt today too so that I can get a size small -- at last years Mundials I had to get a medium and I don't even wear it because it is too big :-( 

Well, I'm off -- I'll take pics while I'm there and post them for you guys!

Later!

Heading to Cali -- ALONE!

This is the first time in my 23 year of life that I have ever traveled alone. It’s a little scary but kind of fun. I feel like I am being forced to grow up a little bit and becoming more independent. I am traveling to Irvine, CA to compete in the IBJJF: Pan Jiu-jitsu Championship. I wasn’t supposed to take this trip alone, but due to unexpected circumstances I had to. I was pretty stressed out this morning – I had to work before leaving for the airport, and the entire time I was at work I was on the phone with the travel agency making changes to my trip – cancelling a flight and changing the car rental. After being on the phone for what seemed like forever, I finally got things straightened out. After getting of the phone I felt like one weight was lifted off my shoulders and another was put on. I am about to travel to the other side of the country to compete in the second largest tournament in the world – ALONE!

Dave Trader was supposed to bring me to the airport but because of those unforeseen circumstances he was running late. Those of you who know me know how crazy I get when I am feeling stressed. So finding out Dave was going to be a little late got my heart rate going and I could feel the stress coming on. Luckily for me, Dave is awesome and knows that I got nuts about this kind of stuff and he suggested I drive myself to the airport and just pay to park. Initially my heart sunk at the thought of not being able to see him before leaving for this trip – my first trip alone, to a big tournament. I wanted to wait for him so I could get some last minute words of wisdom before the tournament, but then I decided it would be best to just get to the airport and not stress myself out too much. I can always talk to him on the phone right? :-)
Josh was in between clients on a long break so he said he would take me to the airport. (Thanks again!) My flight was scheduled to take off at 2:20pm so getting to there airport at 1:00pm gave me plenty of time to get through security. So I head to security dreading the long line I’d have to stand in, but luckily for me there was almost no line at all! I flew right through that (no body scanners) and headed to my departure gate. When I got to my gate I saw there was a flight delay! Ugh, I wished I had waited for Dave! We didn’t start boarding the plane until 2:45 and didn’t take off till after 3:00! This pushed our arrival time back to 6:00pm – hopefully this doesn’t effect my car rental…I know they are weird about you picking your car up within a certain amount of time. I’m sure things will be fine – why do I always do this to myself, stressing over nothing!

Anyways, now I am bored on the plane with nothing to do. The last two times I traveled out to California I traveled on Virgin America, which was awesome. They have TV’s behind every seat and you can watch TV or movies, play games, listen to music, order food – it even shows you a map of where you are, how fast you are going, your altitude, and your ETA! Today I am flying American Airlines and I must say I am very disappointed. The only thing for you to do is watch the “feature film” on the one TV they have for every 3 rows. Fortunately for me I was interested in what they were showing – a documentary on how bad the education system and teachers in America are. Now that that is over there is nothing to do again, so I thought to myself, what better time to write a blog entry! As soon as I land and am able to connect to the internet again I will post this!


Later!

Abu Dhabi Pro Trials 2011

Over the weekend I competed in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in Jersey City, NJ, USA.

I left the gym Friday afternoon with my coach to head up to NJ for the weigh-ins.  The drive was long but we finally made it.  I weighted in and then we were off to our hotel.  Our hotel wasn't too bad.  I was a little upset that I had to pay an extra $15 for parking, but other than that it was good.  I got a good 9-10 hours of sleep and then it was time to head to the tournament!

It was raining (yuck!) and with all the snow they have gotten up north, parking was nearly impossible.  There wasn't a parking lot; all street parking...with meters!  Finally after driving around for about 15-20 minutes we found a spot about 2 blocks away.  We parked and headed to the venue.  The tournament started on time and actually ran pretty efficiently.  It started with female purple/brown/black belts and male brown/black belts, followed by male purple, then female white/blue and male white/blue.

After hours of watching and waiting it was finally my turn to go!  My first match was against a girl from Brazilian Top Team Canada.  She pulled guard, I passed to half, I tried to take her back but got swept landing in my guard where I ended up submitting her by cross collar choke.  The match was only 2:30 minutes, giving me plenty of recovery time before the next round.  My next match was against another girl from Brazilian Top Team Canada.  She also pulled guard, I passed and dominated positionally.  I tried for submissions but she defended pretty well.  Final score was 13-0, although I think they didn't give me points for a few things.  My last match wasn't as great as the first two :(  I got taken down, but landed in my guard.  The girl passed to half, tried for the mount but I recovered half guard, and with 30 seconds left she ended up tapping me with a straight arm lock. 

Overall I took second place in the women's white/blue +63kg division.  Not bad, but I don't like to settle for less than first.  I definitely need to work on a few things, specially my judo and my open guard.  I have a lot to work on these next few weeks.  I won't be making the same mistakes in the next tournament.

Post Christmas Plans

Christmas was great!  I got to spend the entire day with my family.  I got great presents, including my brand new Black Gameness Feather Gi!!! Thanks Dave :-*  This is my first black gi, which I plan on doing BJJ in tonight! My knee is feeling a lot better!  I haven't rolled in almost 2 weeks now.  I am so excited to train tonight....light rolling of course.  Hopefully it will feel fine and I'll be able to get enough training in, in order to do CopaNova on the 8th. 

January 1st, my diet starts again.  I need to be 147lbs for Pan-Ams and I don't want to have to cut any weight, or crash diet the week before to get to my weight.  So the diet and exercise start Saturday, January 1st, 2011!  I am actually pretty excited about it.

The 1st half of 2011 is going to be exciting with all the tournaments I'll be competing in!  I need to save money for travel expenses and entry fees (excluding GQ...FREE TOURNAMENTS FOR LIFE!)  Pam-Ams and Worlds are in California so those will be the two most expensive ones; the rest should be easy to finance.  I need to look for some sponsorships.....

I was thinking about asking Gameness for a sponsorship.  All I train and compete in is Gameness anyway so I am pretty much already promoting their product.  I love Gameness gis too, they fit me perfectly and I've never had any problems with them...so encouraging others to get them would be easy too because I believe in what I would be telling people.  Gameness is the only brand we sell here at the gym and we carry every style they have...and I personally own 2 platinum, 1 elite, and 1 feather.  I think I might just have to apply for that sponsorship......I'll talk to Dave first and see what he thinks.... :-D


Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  Now it's time to train!!!!!!

Traveled down to Charlotte, NC this weekend with Dave and Bud to pick up some new gym equipment.  The first part of the trip was fine.  Loading the equipment took a little longer than anticipated, but that still wasn't bad.  Driving home in a 26ft U'HAUL towing a Jetta behind it, not so good!  Making a u-turn in that thing was impossible!  It ate gas too, and we probably averaged about 55mph on the way home!  We left at 6:00am Sunday morning and got back around 2:00am this morning.  Coming home was sort of a nightmare, but it was worth it; we got an amazing deal on 11 pieces of Nautilus gym equipment.

GQ Team Results

Team Results from 2010 World Series of Grappling Presented by Grapplers Quest and Revgear

 

 

Team Results are up for the Grapplers Quest: 2010 World Series of Grappling! With just two competitors Team Dave Trader Jiu-Jitsu placed 8th overall, 2nd in the Womens, and 5th in the Teens!

GQ Tournament Results

Sorry it took a few days to post theses results.  I wanted to keep everyone updated throughout the day on Saturday but I didn't have any service inside the building.

Andrew did very well, placing 1st in the Teens Advanced Gi division, 2nd in the Teens Advanced No-Gi division, 2nd in the Wrestling Throw Down, and 2nd in the Judo Throw Down!  Andrew won a championship belt and a free Grappler's Quest sweatshirt for this win in the Teens Advanced Gi division.  Congrats to Andrew Babeu!

I placed 1st in the Women's Advanced No-Gi division, winning a championship belt, $50 of free merchandise, $250 cash, and best of all FREE GQ TOURNAMENTS FOR LIFE!  I also placed 2nd in the Women's Blue Belt division.  No one else registered for the women's divsion for the Judo Throw Down so I defaulted to 1st place.

Despite my loss in the gi division, my must say I am overall satisfied with the results!

Thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me get ready for this tournament!  DTJJ FTW!!!

The Tournament is Underway

The tournament has started!
Andrew is up first for the Teen Advanced No-Gi division, then me in the Women's Advanced No-Gi Open division, then back to Andrew for his gi division and then its my turn again for my gi division!
Results to come.

Weigh-Ins

The drive to Jersey wasn't that bad; we barely hit any traffic. The only problem be had was actually finding the venue. We took a few wrong turns and one of the roads the directions said to take was closed off. But eventually we found it, after driving past it about 10 times!

We got checked in, received our free dvd, tee shirt, and grapplers quest coupon, and made out way to the stage to get weighed....

Before leaving I spent almost 2 hours in the sauna trying to lose those last few pounds. I hadn't eaten or drank anything since Thursday night. I was hungry, but most of all I was extremely thirsty that whole long car drive. (Actually, am I still quite thirsty now.)

.....We made our way past the 12 mats to the stage to weigh in. My weight cut off was 159.9 - I stepped on the scale, the screen was facing the staff member, ugh, he didn't say anything about my weight. He started to write my weight on my form.. I could barely read his writing so I asked and I was pleased with his answer - 159.8! YES!

Next was Andrew's turn...but where was Andrew?? I was totally done with everything and he was still at the tee shirt table! Man he can be so slow :) Finally he gets his tee shirt and then, as me and Dave watched laughing, he looked around it total confusion for the place to weigh-in! It was pretty amusing, but he finally saw us and came up to weigh in. Of course, Andrew made weight no problem, he was in the top weight class.

All good to go for tomorrow! Time to eat, but first we need to check in at the hotel..

Haha, so we got the hotel and poor Andrew had to hide in my car so we wouldn't get charged the extra $20 for an extra person. We dropped the luggage in the room and then headed to Outback (gotta keep up tradition!)

Next, it's off to get some rest before tomorrow!

I'll try to update everyone tomorrow and post picture and videos throughout the day.
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