The missing Arnolds tapes!

I finally got a hold of my last two gi matches at the Arnolds in March.

Semifinals.

I'm the one with hair, a Carlson Gracie patch, and a blue belt.

Strategy: This guy was a white belt competing in the blue belt division. He did however THRASH his first (blue belt) opponent, winning easily by points. He looked strong and I thought he may have had a judo base. He had a strong European accent (Polish or Albanian maybe??) and was definitely a gamer. He stared at me a few times with this "I'm going to kill you and eat you" look.

Notes: I start off at 0:13 going for this new sacrifice throw I have been working on. I hit it pretty good, but for some reason don't put my second hook in the scramble that we landed in. I missed an armbar/triangle too as I fell to guard.

At 1:00 I get my favorite deep half guard sweep, then follow up with a guard pass.

At 3:56 after pulling half guard, I get a pretty good homer simpson sweep from DHG, and pass guard shortly after.



Finals.

I'm the one with white gi.

Strategy: This guy was big and strong. I saw him pull guard in his 3 previous matches. My goal was to keep him from pulling guard, and try to secure good grips for a takedown. If a takedown wasn't available after a minute or so I was planning on jumping guard.

Notes: I thought I was getting the best of the grip fighting for the takedown attempts and was working underhooks and 2 on 1's. He was strong though, and I didn't feel like I could disrupt his base very easily to get a good shot. This caused me to pull guard at about 0:55.

I open up my guard and work an inverted armlock as a setup to try and catch him in a triangle/armbar. He's wise to it and postures up pretty well. This falls right into my "plan b" trap as he walks right into the loop choke. I get the tap for the win.