Sat 21st Nov - Madrid Open 2015

Managed 1st place master 1 medium heavy and bronze in the absolute division, I got caught in a deep armbar so I cut my losses and bailed out on the nogi division (which I somehow ended up 3rd place in). the knee held up ok, clicking and clunking coming out of deep flexion but no real pain. Happy and relieved with the outcome.

I felt relaxed for the most part, a little nervous before the matches but I was able to control my breathing and stay task focused and also managed to tell myself the heavy legs etc. were just an illusion.

Final Medium Heavy...


Quarter Final Absolute division...


I made a silly mistake in the absolute semi final, actually got beaten inside 10 seconds! Just a really stupid mistake when the guy pulled guard, I left my arm out stretched and he took advantage. I was upset as I lost to him in the final last year and was feeling good and looking to redeem myself. Maybe I need to pull my guard first next time and start fast. I probably got too confident and relaxed - I definitely wasn't anxious or nervous, a new departure for me, being over confident!

Definitely feeling the benefits of new team and training partners. I tried to get as much done as possible regarding work, before I left, so that I wouldn't be rushing around and this helped a lot. I kept the food in check and the diet felt good as well, I was happy that I had a lot of the controllables sorted out leading into this.