Late notes from the Submission Hunt in Minneapolis.

On December 13th, two of my teammates and I competed in the "Submission Hunt" tournament in Minneapolis. All in all it was great tournament. My buddy Andrew got a gold and silver in two division and got wins in the absolute divisions. I was able to win both my gi, blue belt division and no-gi division. Our buddy Will got his first tournament wins! As a team we placed 12th (Cedar Valley Jiu Jitsu). It was a successful trip. Below are a few random notes/thoughts about the weekend:

This is me, you could say the "thumbs up" is my finishing move....

Will made so many friends. 

This is Dostal, he is mildly impressed with his win.  

1. Thank God there was no snow from Waterloo to Minneapolis
2. It sucks to cut weight only to have your weight classes combined into 3 groups with your original weight class being the lowest class (e.g, you weigh 160, your group ends up being 160-190). I could have just been my normal tubby-self the 3 weeks before.
3. Chipotle is great after cutting weight
4.      Chipotle 2 times in 5 hours....might not be your best bet.
5. If you can stay at Dostal's sister's awesome condo the night before, do it! This is probably more specific to my situation. 
6. Moldy bagels the morning of the tourney will not hinder you as bad as you think. 
7. Dostal tapped a black belt with a knee-bar, dude is a bad bad man. 
8. Everyone thinks BJJ tournaments are fast paced. No, they are a lot of sitting and waiting. Then they call a bracket and you start to warm up and it is not your bracket...it is never your bracket. 
9. There are few things as personally rewarding as tapping out a college wrestler who is bigger than you. Then hearing him refer to you as a "fat, f*cking old man" in the locker room. 
10. Most competitors at a BJJ tourney are awesome, cool and friendly. I grew up wrestling, it is a far friendly environment at BJJ tourneys. 
11. You are always disappointed not signing up for the open division when the names start getting called. I would not have won the blue belt open, but I would have loved to give it a go.  
12. Dante Leon won both absolute divisions. Do yourself a favor and look him up, dude is an animal. 

Submission Hunt is a really well run tourney for a great price. Also, St. Paul and Minneapolis are great towns to visit. If you are in the area, give it a shot. I was glad I went and got to hang out with Will and Dostal. Both are great guys, competitors and friends. If you are thinking about competing, go for it! There is a Combat Corner tourney in Milwaukee April 9th, some of my team will be there. If you are a midwesterner and thinking about competing, this is a good time to try.