Podiums, Pitfalls, and Perseverance: My Nationals Story
“Make each day a masterpiece. Don’t think your best days are out there somewhere. Why not today? Why can’t today be a great day? It can if you believe it will.”
— John Wooden
Thought of the Day
Over the long weekend, I had the honor and great opportunity to represent Team British Columbia at the Canadian Judo Nationals. This had been a dream and goal of mine for a very long time. I could have never predicted that coming out of retirement after fifteen years — just this past March — would lead to the chance to step onto the national competition mats.
I want to say thank you to all my senseis, past and present, and to Team BC. Judo has given me so many good things, and I am very happy to be back in the mix and making steps toward my black belt.
By now, most of you will know that I finished on the podium with a bronze medal on day two. It was awesome to be able to do that in a stacked division where I was the only brown belt competing against all black belts. What was even cooler was losing my first match and then coming all the way back from the bottom of the repechage bracket to stand on the podium — not losing another match for the rest of the tournament.
But the best part was being able to have my kids there with me for the medal ceremony. While dragging my son to the area was a fight, I would totally do it again. All of this was really cool, and there were a lot of lessons learned in the comeback story.
I think the funnier story was in the defeat the day before (which my son actually loved more than anyone else).
On the day to come, I’m feeling super confident about finishing on the podium for the first day. It’s all ground fighting, albeit with a different rule set than I am used to. I don’t fully know the rules, but I’m committed to learning them on the job. My first two matches go according to plan — I’m in control, feeling strong, and fighting some great guys.
Something about Judo is that you meet some awesome and very humble people.
Then comes my next match — against a 265-pound monster (who would go on to become National Champion in the weight class above mine the following day). Not just heavy, but in great shape, and competing in both Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. We have a super close match that I end up losing by two points.
Now it’s time for the bronze medal match. Everyone I fought — and those watching — know I have this match in the bag. I can taste the medal.
We bow in, and the match starts. As I’m about to bull him over, only two seconds into the match, my mouth guard case pops out of my gi and skids across the mat. “Stop!” is called. The referee picks up my case.
I’m waiting for the restart when he informs me I’ve just been disqualified.
It wasn’t a leg lock or some weird Jiu-Jitsu transition — it was a foreign object in my gi that got me booted and cost me the medal.
But please — if anyone asks, just say I did some crazy ninja-like Jiu-Jitsu move.
Moral of the story: I learned a new rule and also found a new and interesting way to lose. For the rest of the tournament, I got reminded about a million times to keep my case out of my gi. At least that’s one mistake I’ll only make once — and likely never live down.
Medals and great matches are all good. But at the end of the day, the point of competition is to learn and grow.
In my heart, I’m leaving as a double bronze medalist. And in reality — at least — I have one piece of hardware. But more importantly, I’ve learned some rules, came back from adversity, and I’m leaving with tools to be a better martial artist because of my participation at Nationals.
Each day — win, lose, or draw — we’re building ourselves up. Learn the lessons, laugh at the blunders, and continue to grow one percent better.
Tuesday
1. 1. 20 minute AMRAP
30 sec Handstand hold
30 sec Squat hold
30 sec L-sit hold
30 sec Chin over bar hold
2. 2.Bench press & Bike
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Bench press 125/185#
Cal echo bike
3. 3. 10 Min AMRAP
25 ft DB Front rack lunge 35/50#
1 rope climb
25 DU
4. 4. HPC
3-3-3-3-3
5. 5.40 Min SLIPS
