First Competition... That could have gone better...

So let me preface this with the following disclaimer- I really don't think I did that great my first time rolling in competition. It was double elimination- I lost my first match after BADLY botching an attempted osotogari (here is a hint- I got my hips in front of my shoulders and damn near clotheslined myself- it is laughable). All I can say is my nerves got the best of me. My wife took a picture of me sitting on the mat prior to the match, and i look like the weight of the world was on my shoulders... just totally living inside my head.

The second match went better- instead of attempting a take down, I just jumped guard. Then it becomes a comedy of errors as he tries to break my guard and I try to sweep- always in the wrong direction. I also made the mistake of planting my hands on the mat, and when weight shifted I bent back the last two fingers of my hand- basically my pinky knuckle popped out, and my finger bent all the way back to where my finger knuckles touched the back of my hand- I looked at it and it looked like an alien claw for a second, and then my fingers popped back in- apparently nothing torn, or broken- 2 days later I have a nasty bruise across my palm, but that is it.
The match was halted so i could get some tape on it, and then we restarted from position- I then finished the match with a triangle (see my nifty new avatar.)

Here is the video of the second match

Part 1



Part 2






For the third match- I should have scratched- the hand was really bothering me once I had sat for a while, and I couldn't really grip very well with it. I made an attempt, but it was pretty sloppy- I got mounted, then frustrated, and finally choked. No fun, but i did learn several things

1. I need serious work on my takedowns

2. I have an escape from mount I want to try.

3. NEVER plant hands on the mat- if necessary, plant a fist instead.

4. I want to compete again, but next time i will put more focus into my preparation.