Personal Goals

• Last the first minute of each fight
• Pull off a flying Armbar (so I would have a short fight)
• Reach the Podium
• Have fun
• Close out the divsion with my team mates. Then I learned I would be fighting in a lighter division than my team mates, and would have no other Team mates with me - I really started to think I had a great chance to win.

Fight 1

Pre fight

Frame of mind - nervous
Body Language - relaxed
Fight Strategy - none

During Fight
Losing the throw and ending up in a headlock threw me off. I felt my energy was not there (could not complete 3 seperate chokes) and I simply wanted to just get through the fight once I knew I was ahead on points. I ignored my corner too. It's a bit of a blur to be honest.

After fight
Gassed. Body was over heated. Took me 45 minutes to calm down. Body was shaking. Threw up. I was overloaded and questioning everything. Luckily I had hours between fights but it was like my 1st fight all over again. After a pep talk and bottle of water over my head from Jorge I felt better. But I felt'low'.

Summary:
I won *but* I needed to change my Mental Attitude and WAKE UP!

Fight 2

Pre fight

Frame of mind - Fired Up - THIS IS MY TIME! I 'WANTED' to fight
Body Language - pacing, slapping my face, stomping on the ground
Fight Strategy - I sized up my opponent for the Flying Armbar. I wanted to get in his head early with the body language. I was not going to lose this.

During Fight
As soon as we locked up he revealed the chance to take the Flying Armbar. I remember having so much fun during this fight and after I jumped up, did a lap of honour - pumped up the team and ran off the court. I did go over an say sorry for my lap of honour to my opponent (it was very spontaneous).

After fight
Totally Pumped up - lots of high fives and slaps on the back from team mates. I felt the'high' and loved it much more than 'the low'.

Summary
Right from entering the pit I knew I needed to super charge myself. So repeating the Mantra 'This is my time - I love what I am here to do - he shall not pass' and stomping around, pacing etc it actually worked. I can see from the video I was on a different level. I felt I did all the right things.

Fight 3

Pre fight

Frame of mind - Tried to tap into the same energy but it wasn't there
Body Language - pacing but much more relaxed...less 'sure'
Fight Strategy - I knew my opponent, from Alliance, having attended his Cobrinha Seminar in Toronto and felt we were evenly matched but I couldn't trigger the same fire as my 2nd fight. I went in with no plan.

During Fight
I spent about 3 minutes relaxed and trying to pass the guard. Again I was ignoring Jorges calls for 'Torreando' (because I can't do it well). I was swept and spent a few minutes on the defensive before being submitted by a bow and arrow choke.

After fight
I was sad I had lost and missed my goal of getting a medal. I kept myself to myself for half an hour and processed all the feelings and then got over the loss and joined with my team mates in watching the other matches.

Summary:

What was missing was the fire I had in the 2nd fight and the fight plan.I have heard many times now from higher belts that fighters cannot control the outcome of the fight. They come to fight - win or lose. Believe in yourself and your training, be confident and have fun.

Lessons Learned
Perhaps I am the type of guy who needs all that chest thumping and face slapping to get me going. I also need to develop Positive Mental Attitude.

Your mind is a powerful tool! It's also the first point of weakness. If you allow yourself to doubt you allow the door of defeat to be opened.