I had been planning to join the Copa Dumau Competition ever since my teammate, Adonis, told me about it, and that was after my Licensure Exam for Teachers. So as early as March 20, 2023, i decided once and for all, i'm gonna join it.
<< i even made this my phone wallpaper until end of comp period
I had one goal in mind, to train as often as I could starting March. However, it seemed like God had other plans. Hehehe.
I got some kind of viral infection. I cannot train for about two months. I started regular training June although I cannot train straight 6 days a week cause i had to balance family, cats, work, choir. But of course i tried to make the best of it.
As the date of the competition was slowly arriving, i kept checking on the Dumau website if there are other competitors signing up. I wanted lots of ladies to sign up so that i would at least have lots of matches even if i kept losing. But to my dismay, no one else signed up for blue belt, lightfeather adult division. Not until it was the last week of registration. I saw names like Alguidano and Zapanta. I didn't know them at all. And so as not to add to my anxiety, i didn't stalk the ladies. Hehe. I was also scared i'd get beaten up. In a competition, anything is possible. So to avoid further pressure, i only told some of my teammates about me joining the comp. I tried to keep it a secret but coach Mark gave some clues to the everyone during training so everybody eventually knew about it. Gosh.
I flew to Cebu October 20, Friday. Thanks to my cousin Joy and her boyfriend for accommodating me into their home in Lapu-Lapu City. I slept soundly that night. The day after i had to travel through tricycle then through ferry to arrive to my destination: the comp venue. It was one hot day in one hot place and i was sweating as i entered the mall. i was alone because nobody elso from Dojo.82 signed up for Copa Dumau. Yes, i was alone but i had to face this, i signed up for this and i prayed for this. i was scared but my teammates kept cheering in our group chat.
Finally the match was about to begin. Unfortunately, i got an information that my first opponent, Zapanta is so good she can actually already be promoted to purple belt. And that was what... about a couple minutes before the match is to begin. Gosh. I was panicking inside and my nervousness was rising. I stepped onto the mats really scared but when the match begun, i had no choice but to be a warrior and apply everything i have learned back at Dojo. Zapanta: 7, Me: 0. Zapanta won via points.
Match 2 for me was against Alguidano. I won via armbar submission.
Match 3 was once again against Zapanta. Fighting for gold but i lost via collar choke submission.
So for gi category, blue belt, lightfeather adult division: i was awarded the silver medal.
But i still had other matches coming up since i also signed up open weight blue belt adult. I felt a really burning sensation inside. I am quite tired but i know i still have some energy left for my matches.
Match 4 against Sandoval and i won via armbar.
Match 5 against Baclayon and i lost via points.
So for open weight division, i also landed on silver.
After the matches, i rode a motorbike (habal-habal) and went home to my cousin. A few minutes after arriving and narrating to my cousin the events of the day, i suddenly felt blood flowing from my nose. Gosh, i am nosebleeding. I took a shower and hoped it would go away. At that time i also was spitting blood.
In the morning, the nosebleed has subsided a little but i still was splitting blood. I was quite worried because i still had no-gi matches that day but i already felt like i was gonna die. Nonetheless, i still took Dachstzu, their pet dog, for a walk and decided to go on with the comp. Took a less stressful route to the comp venue and arrived there not sweating.
Match 1 for that day was against Zapanta. I lost via armbar and it was a really cool submission. Zapanta is really good. I felt really honored to fight against her and be submitted by her. For no-gi, blue, lightfeather, adult, only the two of us registered to i automatically got the silver medal.
Open weight, blue, adult category
My match 2 for that day was against Baclayon. I lost via rear naked choke. But i still had another match for silver against Sandoval and i won via points. So i still had to fight again against Baclayon for gold. And once again i lost via kimura submission. I won silver for open weight. For my last 3 matches Adonis already arrived and he coached me.
By the end of my matches, i got really sad with my performance. I know that the energy i showed now was nothing compared to my energy last year. But i know for myself that this experience will not discourage me but instead push me to train smarter and harder. Of course, because jiu-jitsu is love.
The next day, i availed the free training session at Studio 32. Prof Norman Go taught us the head and arm choke in no-gi. I remember Fffion Davies doing the technique to so i was really so into the lesson. It was a new bunch of people and i really had fun training with them. My left elbow popped because of armbar during sparring session but that's okay. It was part of the training and it was worth it anyway. Too bad i had to leave for Davao the following day.
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