Team performance at Giland competition. Abril 18.

We trained hard, sacrificed our bodies (my fingers and rib are broken haha) and then we came and conquered.

It was our first outing this year as a full team to the main Jiu Jitsu promotion `Giland` here in Barcelona and it was actually the first competition for a few members of our team so it was a great way to break the guys into the competition scene.




First up was Julio, senior, white belt.
Great matches and in his first he swept into half guard, passed and secured mount.
I remember he was up like 25-0 before taking the armbar from full mount and finishing his opponent.
Overall a great showing for him!
Don't let his stature fool you! He is solid as a rock and a bombero here in Spain!



Second up was Alvaro, Adulto, White -94kg.
Great fight with a superb back take from Alvaro.
He then secured the bow and arrow grips but couldn't finish it due to the opponents resolve and defences. He won this fight on points and then lost his second on points to the division winner and absolute winner.




The third was Rhayang, White belt, Over 100kg.
His opponent never showed up so he took the gold in this category. I know this is a faux pax and he was unsure of even taking it although we said to him it was the hard training up until the comp that defined him and he should take it.
In his absolute fight, he lost to the division winner who was a big strong bull of a guy with an MMA background.




Next up was Rory, Blue belt, under 83kg.
He had a great match against the eventual division and absolute winner although unfortunately lost via 6 points. Still was a great match to watch as it was a battle from the closed guard. Still, as I said to him the hard work leading up to the fight is where you gain the experience and to keep his head up. He has the heart of a warrior so I know he will be back!


Afterwards, it was me, Masters, Purple, Under 76kg.
The first match I was against a Gracie Barra competitor (my old team is GB) who I heard from other competitors after our fight had medalled at the Mudials at purple. The guy also had 4 stripes on his belt so I knew this would be a tough crazy fight and it was!

I pulled half guard and the referee stopped us as they didn't reset the timer! Although in the end this actually helped me as I was over the initial contact anxiety.

Afterwards, I went for a fakey single and got half guard again, swept from there when he postured with a single leg style sweep.
He regained guard and I passed with the X pass and controlled him from the turtle although I ended up on bottom half again in a scramble as I was trying to secure the crucifix.
I then stuck him into my frustrating half guard lockdown and nearly subbed him with the Electric Chair although his leg passed and we ended up in a battle for a minute until I ended up sweeping him to side-control.
I passed to mount and got the points and he bridged and got me off although I countered with the new Renzo Gracie pass defence and nearly got the tap although I only had 2 fingers on the lapel so I had let it go.
Afterwards, I went to my bread and butter butterfly sweep and secured the knee slice pressure pass for the win at 16-0.


The second fight went exactly how I wanted it to and was probably my fastest match ever securing the triangle in under 2 minutes.
Lucky I had visualized the sequence a thousand times!
I pulled closed guard, overhooked the arm and started to work my overhook sequence, the guy tried to posture and pass although I controlled his passing arm to secure the triangle and got the finish.

My opponent was real nice and he had some good performances beating a judo black belt so I will probably see him again real soon!



All in all, it was a good day for the Anaconda team and we all took something away from that day. We bonded as a team, made new friends across Jiu Jitsu and pulled off some great personal goals. Without you guys, I would be nothing!

Personal psychology Issue and recovery.

Ever since the last Nogiland competition where I got subbed by the Ibjjf Roma open winner, I had been planning my return patiently working on my mistakes and developing not just my physical game but my psychological game and mindset as previously It just wasn't there and my confidence was lacking.

Also just after this, I had a personal breakup and went through some difficult times with this in Barcelona as well as hearing of multiple family health issues back home in Scotland. So really my level of confidence and motivation had dropped and I needed to start rebuilding.

Luckily I was given a lifeline and my hard work had finally been noticed elsewhere and I was promoted to the Training department at my workplace. Now teaching soft skills, I was luckily able to use this material and draw on the experience of my peer's to help me control my emotions by using rational thought.

Also even though I studied Sports psychology over 2 years at college and have a keen interest and currently study Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Sports coaching, I'd never really taken a step back and tried to apply this to myself or thought I would have to.

So, in fact, I needed a coach+mentor of my own...

*Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy has a coach and was coached even though he was so exceptional at what he does winning every gold medal possible in 2008. He says your coach is there to make marginal gains. Tiny little gains that make a difference and this manifested when he went to the London Olympics and broke world records as well as took gold.  – MARGINAL GAINS

After studying coaching deeper and looking into not only the methods+techniques which top athletes are often subjected to by sports psychologists I determined what techniques worked best for my own personal development and tried working on those to overcome my internal struggle.

The top 3:

1. Imagery - Using all of my senses to visualize winning, performing certain movements and help boost confidence while lowering anxiety.
2. Attentive Focus - Focusing on specific cues and triggers while learning to block out excess noise, persons or surroundings.
3. Self Talk - Using self-talk to express motivation and specific instructions to myself.

'I was visualising a particular combination of pull closed guard, arm trap, triangle and I lived, slept and dreamt of this particular sequence.'

'I focused on only the referee and my opponent and practiced blocking out others in training and leading up to the fight I constantly tried to focus in busy areas of my life.'

'I was speaking to myself every day telling myself that I would take this, I would finish my sequence and I would implement my game on my opponent.'

No Joke that when I was focusing and using the self-talk method I remembered a scene from an old movie I loved as a kid called Cool Runnings. 

When one of the guys is in the toilet talking to himself in the mirror pumping himself up for a confrontation! haha

I would recommend using all of those 3 techniques as they helped me greatly over the past few months and I recently gave a 30-minute presentation on some of the techniques used by sports psychologists and the presentation is attached below for whoever may have an interest.

After my hard work and with help from others I can finally say I'm coming out the other side and have managed to get back what I was looking for. My determination, confidence and self-development progress is back! So I can once again say I'm back to the previous ass-kicking style of the past!

Sports Psychology Presentation by Dean Smith 18