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 I competed in the 2007 Pan Asian BJJ International tournament last week in Manila. This was the second time I went to compete in the Philippines and the first time as a blue belt.
Unfortuately, I came down with some sort of bug on the day of the tournament (5/13). During the two days prior to the tournament I acutally was worried about coming down with conjunctuvitis (infection of the eye) since my right eye was feeling kind of puffy and irritated. Eye infections are very contagious and the last time I had one it didn't clear up for about a month. The eye infection didn't pan out but I did get some sort bug that made me cough and totally drained me of energy. I thought I could push through it but after 20 seconds into my first match (Masters, division), I gassed out and was without any strength or endurace. I lost my first match on points, but was totally exhausted. Got third place for losing that one match, though. And for the Masters division. Masters! Can you believe that?! Getting old . . . sigh . . . In the afternoon, I had my second match. Again, though not at 100% peak condition, I thought I could power it on for the five minute duration of the match. Wrong. Ten seconds into the match, I again was feeling tired and had not much strength nor coordnation and my opponent easily tossed me on my ass . . . well, shoulder to be precise. That hurt. Upon impact with the ground, my right shoulder was paralyzed with pain. I didn't think it was that bad, until I tried to move it. Now, that hurt. I figured something wasn't quite right but I decided to continue on. By this time I knew I didn't have the strength to beat my opponent and he was racking up points for having taken me down and getting superior positions. My goal was just not to get tapped out. I tried protecing my right arm but my opponent kept picking at it. When I tried to resist, my shoulder hurt like the heck and I was screaming bloody murder whenever he moved my arm towards my head. I was kind of surpised the referee didn't stop the match if just to see if things were OK. I have never felt pain like that before. I tried some other defensive posturing and even reversed the guy but in the end he got my injured arm free and pulled an arm bar. I didn't resist. Well, turns out that my shoulder was slightly dislocated when I got tossed to the mat. Luckily, a member of of our team is an ER doctor (thanks Warren) and he clicked my shoulder back into place. I also found out later that my opponent was a member of the Philippine national judo team. In retrospect, though I probably still would have been tossed by that judo player, if I wasn't sick I would at least have been able to control my fall so that I would have landed so as not to injure myself. Being sick can really dull your reflexes and suck away your energy. Back in Taiwan a doctor examined my shoulder and told me no strenuous exercise for about a month. Sigh. Moral of the story: Don't compete if you're not feeling well. You may end up in a far worse condition than you started in. Here are some links to photo galleries of the tournament: www.pbase.com/hochiabaya/bjj2 http://www.digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=6025  Team Taiwan BJJ |
