Today I finished up my first full week back on the mat with an all women's open mat in Torrance at Let's Roll BJJ. It's organized by the Facebook group, SoCal Women BJJ, organized by the M3 academy in Montrose, CA and has been gaining momentum for months. It was so great to have so many women on the mat at once for something other than a tournament! There were at least three black belts, a brown belt, several blue belts, and a whole mess of white belts to roll with. The photo to the right isn't even a full picture of all of us; I think that about 5 girls had left by the time it was taken. I've come up with three great things about the whole experience:
First, I didn't have to think twice about who to roll with. If someone asked, I automatically said yes. Or, if I saw someone sitting out, I just asked them if they were down to roll. I wasn't sizing anyone up, because everyone was about the same size. That never happens to me! I'm so terrified of being smashed on by big guys that I get all lock-jawed when it comes to rolling with them. No fear today!
Second, the whole vibe was really laid back and supportive. Everyone was really into learning from each other and even though, of course, someone is going to win at some point and get a submission (or declare the roll over due to exhaustion) the entire event was more about learning and growing together and trying things out than smashing on each other.
Third, I actually got some sweeps, mounts and taps! I did! Me! I still have some blank spots and there were a few times that I knew I had something and could not for the life of me remember how to finish it, but that's OK. I have never ever in my entire BJJ experience tried for a sweep and gotten it. Ever. Until today. Really. And it was from HALF GUARD, which for me may as well be called "it-is-only-a-matter-of-time-until-this-is-over-guard."
Even though I know I have a long way to go, I'm really happy with how I did today. More than that, I am so happy to be back and feeling healthy. I didn't feel a single moment of vertigo today, and only about two or three moments yesterday that weren't to intense. I'm feeling so good that I'm not even regretting registering for the Grappling X tournament, and if I'm not careful I may start to feel like I have a shot at a medal.
Women's Grappling Open Mats are wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, fun way that everything connects -- Cecily Garcia (3rd from the right, back row), who helped to get these started & organized out there, most recently comes from Richmond, VA (3 hours from me, and the Virginia center for women's grappling).
It's been so great that she has set this all up! There was a brown belt from Sweden at the open mat yesterday who kept asking what exactly the event was and does it happen all the time because she had never seen anything like it. It was so great! Open mats are usually two hours of soul crushing humiliation and defeat. Yesterday I actually got to experiment with stuff and try new things and see what worked and didn't work. It was amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling healthy again! Yay!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am incredibly jealous. I would love to have a women's open mat or other women to train with.