Zombies....arrrrgggg....brains...subs...

The Zombie House is a completely unique approach to competition.  It borders on almost not being competition due to the rule set, environment, and ultimate goals.   It's been branding and run as an "Arte Suave Submission League" and has been going on since Oct 2010!    They took some time off and had their first event back just this past weekend on August 18th. 

This past weekend was my first exposure to the zombie house and I had a great time!   Stephen and I made the trip to Inner City MMA (in downtown toronto). We left mega early because you never know what the state of the 403/qew/gardiner is going to be.  Good thing to, because it turns out, spadina was closed, which was very inconvenient.  We were one of the first people there, even though we were a few minutes after the time they had suggested everyone be there by!  shame on you people who strolled in after the official match start time.  you know who you are!

So we signed our lives away,  paid the fee (only $25!) ,got changed and chilled till everyone arrived.   Once we were all mostly there we went over the rules / guidelines  for the event.

Basically, in my words:
1. Subs only.  and if you tap, you restart.
2. Roll hard, but don't be a dick
3. No Refs, but "life guards" who will do their best to keep you in your space, and will call a sub if they think your being stupid by not tapping.
4.  5 minute rounds.
5.  All belts fight each other,  but are handicapped by points, and subs allowed.
6.  4 weight classes, round robin, You fight 5 guys/girls in your division.
7. Girls and Guys fight together!

So that's that.   We got the day rolling.  4 fights went at a time. Using a single timer.  so it all ran very smoothly.  A few times we had to pause the timer but it all ran very smoothly!

Unfortunately gringo had to leave early, and took a few of his guys with him, including my 5th fight!   but i still got 4 great matches. 

#1 - Caitlin!  Yay a girl!   was nice to fight a girl after the weekend before at montreal grappling.  Even better, we were pretty much the same size! Outstanding!  We had a great roll, she almost caught me in a triangle, and i got 2 arm bars.  very back and forth.

#2.  Gregg King - I had watch Gregg at montreal grappling (he fought my team mate twice). He should just be renamed Triangle King.  Man were they slick! and tight!   we had a pretty good roll.  He caught me in 4 subs, I almost got an armbar at the end, but i think he decided to take it easy hahah.  all in all I learned I need to work on my posture a bit to avoid those pesky triangles.

#3 Nihad (from gringos).  Another Great roll!  Nihan is mega technical, and strong, felt a bit stronger then Greg, but maybe that's just their styles.   He caught me 4X as well, and I didn't really launch much of an offense,  to busy trying to keep my head out of his triangle and my arms attached haha!

#4 Andy (from gringos)  Andy's a white belt, with a couple stripes, but he rolls really really well!  We had a great back and forth match.  He has really good back attacks that kept me defending steadily.   We ended up going 0-0.

That was my day. I ended up with a score of -6.  which.. isn't so great, but I had a lot of fun, and would definitely go back.

They are working on putting together a Ladies Zombie House!  I can't wait for something like that. It'll be amazing.  Keep your eyes open for it ladies.  It's a great way to get some experience, and try new things, and see how your game is coming along in a safe, cheap, and friendly environment.

Here's the website for the zombie house: http://zombiehousebjj.com/  

That's basically it.  I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone looking for some extra mat time, or looking to try out some new setups and subs without having to worry about the other person stalling or loosing on points, or getting subbed.

Thanks to the whole Inner City MMA / Shah Franco Team for hosting and putting on a great event.  and thanks to everyone who came out for the great rolls, support, and fun.   Oh and Stephen, for coming along I LOVE having team mates that come to tournaments and compete with me!

Ascension Feb 2012

So after my embarrassing performance at the Michigan tournament (I go squashed, and could do nothing about it), I hit the mats the very next day and was determined to not have that happen again,  or at least, not so badly.   I worked hard on getting the underhook from bottom 1/2 guard and keeping from being flattened out.  Fast forward a couple weeks and it's time for the Ascension tournament.

This is kind of the unofficial start to tournament season in Ontario.  Omar Salvosa runs a great event.   Like most tournaments in Ontario, it started a bit late,  but ran fairly smoothly once it got going.   I think the highlight for me was the amazing rendition of O Canada to open up the tournament.   It was something else!  I wonder if anyone has video / audio of it. I'd like to see/hear it again sometime.

The girls divisions here were a decent size, and by decent size I mean the existed.    In Heavy (163+)  we had myself, and Sam Curtis.   Jane Poulin ended up joining us after medium heavy turned up empty.  A problem I have since remedied by un-fattening myself.  Of course, Jane is usually in middle, so It seems medium heavy is quite sparse after all. But that's a problem for another day.

So Jane and Sam fought first,  with Jane coming out ahead.

 Now, a 3 person division, in the OJA tournaments has a kind of strange setup.   the first two people fight.  then the loser fights the fresh person, and the winner of that fights the winner of the first.  Sometimes, if the loser of the first fight wins that second fight, they just get silver, they don't get a second change at gold.  It's a very strange system, but it kind of works.   I'm a firm believer in having round robin for a division of 3.  I think it's the most fair and will produce the most accurate winner.  But, I don't run tournaments, so It's not up to me.  

Ok, back to the event.   I then fought Sam, and won by arm bar,  It was a good match to follow up the atrocity that was Michigan.  I even used what I had worked on since then!  I love it when I can actually use the stuff I drill.  Next up was me Vs Jane.   She is so tough and feisty!  We had a great match, and I ended up pulling off an arm bar late in the match.   I've gotta give major props to Jane for coming up to Heavy weight and fighting my fat ass.  I was really heavy back in January!!  I think without my big weight advantage, the match would have been even closer!!

 I was feeling pretty good, but decided not to do the absolute.  I'm really not sure why.  I think I was tired,  my conditioning wasn't to good, having still been on the comeback trail. My confidence wasn't to high either.   I didn't want to ruin my good day by being smashed by people smaller then me.  What a horrible attitude.   I've since remedied this attitude. there is nothing wrong with losing to smaller people,  It's all experience on the road to becoming a better fighter.  

One other good thing that came from this event was it began my serious effort into getting back into shape.  After seeing some pictures of myself from this fight, and how gigantic my butt looked... man, it wasn't pretty!  No more pizza and ice cream 4 or 5 days a week for me haha.    I wish I could find those pics to link to here,  just for motivation, but I think I un-tagged myself so I wouldn't be embarrassed. 

The end.