Saturday, January 7, 2012

Looking Ahead to the Winter Open

Coming off the holidays is not the easiest time to start prepping for a tournament.  It does; however, give one an excellent excuse to start working off the indulgences of the previous month.  With the IBJJF's Chicago Winter Open scheduled for March 3rd, it's time to start considering the mechanics of performing.

Obviously, it's time to up my training time.  Not exactly easy, but the family can handle a two month increase to a degree.  This started last week with the addition of extra cardio and weight work thru the week.  Sometimes doubling up on BJJ days.  But what to do with the time?

First I have to take a look at where to compete.  Settle for the relatively easy cut to middle weight, or go for the lightweight bracket at 167.9.  Not unattainable, but more difficult while weighing in directly before the match IN the gi. This needs to be done ASAP so I can adjust the additional workouts and my diet accordingly.  I'll keep an eye on weight this week and decide by the weekend. 

Plan on weight class:  check.  Kind of.

Now to look at game planning, I took a look back 1 year to my last appearance in the IBJJF:


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g6e1lt5NUM


Looking at this, I have to think about a couple of things.  First, my takedowns need to be better.  I've spent time working this, so I'm wanting to utilize a better level change to facilitate a penetration shot.  I want to focus on singles and doubles for this.

Next, I need to be more cognizant of my position.  The fundamentals need to tighten down.  For instance, I'm pretty flat on the high guard position I work a lot.  Defiantly need to be up on my hip more, and crunched in.

The attack chains are pretty good, but I need to vary them up.  And above all, keep working for top.

So there's the big things that stand out to me that I'll be focusing on as we move towards the month of March.  So, game plan on jits:  Check.  Kind of. 

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