On the Road to Cincinnati: IBJJF 2018

Just three more days until my first tournament at blue belt.

Once again I find myself rolling with the big dogs at the IBJJF. Here I am last year at the Cincinnati Open after receiving a bronze for basically showing up for a 5 man division.

The IBJJF does it a little weird. Four and 5 person brackets end up with two people in 3rd place. In this instance, I got a first round bye and the lost to the young man with the gold.

I'm in the same boat this go around. My division had only one other person in it as of last Monday. I and one other signed up the next day and made it 3. Then by the registration deadline, there were 5. Brackets will be released tomorrow, which will give me an indication of whether or not I'll have to actually win a match to get on the podium again.

Do I think I'm ready to compete at the blue belt level? Absolutely not.

Despite a consistent training schedule, and a getting tapped slightly less than usual, I know I have a lot of work to do to feel comfortable in a blue belt. But even if I have just one match and lose like I did last year, I know I'm going to gain a wealth of experience.

If nothing else, I'm looking forward to finding weaknesses in my game. I also can't wait to cheer on my teammates.

I hope to post some good pictures after the weekend.

Happy rolls, folks.

Oss!