Competition: Manchester Open 2010

MANCHEST'AH OPEN 'MY TEAM PERSPECTIVE'

(To make this post a more enjoyable experience please feel free to scroll to the bottom and listen to the Stone Roses-Fools Gold whilst browsing).

I hate alarms I think they are a bad invention, one should wake up naturally, when our bodies are good and ready. As, I get older I find it increasingly harder to adjust to early mornings. Working on Brazilian time, I packed my bag with essentials (cold and flu tablets, a banana and a pack of salt and vinegar crisps) and headed over to the Sugden Sports Centre (the same venue as the Ground Control competition) in sunny Manchester; to spectate at the Manchester Open. The Manchester Open is a new competition on the circuit and is organised by Gus Oliviera of Grab and Pull.

Today I was fortunate enough to have chief Movimento Lento Blog co-reporter Jody "The Axeman" Paxman spectating with myself. Unfortunately the interviews the Axeman conducted may never see the light of day, mainly because I am technologically retarded and can't open the audio files. Luckily he was able to provide myself with a few photos. Also, the GB Halifax team was blessed to have fellow training partner and assistant coach, Darren Ward, on hand to perform pre-match massages (extras at added cost, or so I hear).

Rather than write and comment on all the matches I will comment on a few of the performances from my fellow team mates and friends.

In action from GB Halifax/Dewsbury (Victor Estima) we had (amongst others):


Adam Medlock UHW White


Phil Ounsley HW White


Marc Leigh LW Blue


Jamie Paxman MW Blue


and from Nova Vida we had (amongst others):


Daniel Thompson FW Blue


Roberto Barbiero LW Blue an 'oldie' competing with the 'young guns' in the Adult division


Hanif Rehman LW Masters White


It was Mr Medlock's first gi competition and he looked incredibly nervous. Which is not surprising since the rest of his division either looked like they had been released from their weekly weight watchers programme or a Russian prison. Unfortunately Adam lost his first bout by kimura but he managed to pull off a nice sweep. I am sure Adam will be back stronger next time now that he has burst his competition cherry.

Big Phil Ounsley put in a stellar performance for his first BJJ gi comp and managed to clinch the gold. It must of been the brand spanking new gi, that he received for fathers day. Maybe a new gi for every comp is a sure fire path to success.

Now everyone will be glad to hear that Marc Leigh (mentioned in my previous post) DID actually make weight this time. Looking like a angry chiwhawha with his Arlovski style mouthguard he proceeded to dominate his first round opponent. Marc demonstrated good solid Jiu-Jitsu skills. He managed to execute a beautiful omoplata sweep and a total of 3 'Roleta' style sweeps, with one being stopped only by the judges table. This earned him a points victory and entry into the next round. In Marc's second fight he was up against the eventual winner (and a seasoned blue belt). Mr Leigh showed excellent top game work and was shutting down his opponents half guard, until one mistake led to him being swept and finished with the subsequent cross choke submission. Unfortunately, Marc looked slightly 'gassed' in his final fight and eventually tapped out to an arm bar. I think he just wanted to get to the pub for a justly deserved real ale ;-).

At only 19 years of age Jamie Paxman (aka Andre) was the top performer of the day from the club romping his way to the middleweight gold. Andre has been attending Victor Estima's academy on a more regular basis and this was evident from his matches. Looking calm and collected like a young Roger Gracie he manged to pass the guard and enforce his game on two of his opponents, this earned him a place in the final. The final was a close run contest, with Jamie leaving it until the last ten seconds of the fight to secure the back mount with hooks and ultimately victory. It was good to see the hard work finally starting to pay off. He has come along way since the only technique he knew was the Saulo Ribeiro running escape. (I have included a picture of Jamie with his gold medal, top left of post)

Daniel Thompson (aka the Flying Ferret), not having much luck of late (sunburn, broken car) continued with this trend loosing his first fight. Dan was very close to pulling off the 'Glover' half guard sweep, if he had of managed this task the outcome may have been very different. With some more hard training I am sure we will see Dan and his Californian tan again in the near future (Please check out Dan's blog here.).

Talking to our co-reporter "the Axeman", Roberto Barbiero said that he felt confident going into his matches and that he was going to take the victory by pulling guard and "snapping peoples arms off". In his first match he nearly managed to do just that but his opponent, with great tenacity, managed to escape. Rob eventually stormed to victory with a overwhelming points win. In his second match up Rob got unlucky, getting caught with a sneaky loop choke from guard to the eventual winner. Roberto's day was topped off by a poor performance by Italy in the World Cup.

Hanif Rehman at 36 years young put on a valiant performance and secured a bronze medal. Surprisingly Mr Rehman did not not recite an inspirational quote and seemed a little disappointed that he had lost his bout. I am sure we will see him back in action again soon enough.

The young girls from Nova Vida (Tia and Davina) gave it their all and performed exceptionally well. I did not manage to catch their final fights but it was great to see the youngsters in action, definitely some future grappling talent right there.

Everyone put in a great performance whether they won, lost or drew and it was great to watch and have a large team for support. It made me feel guilty for not competing and wimping out with a cold. Next time frens I will compete fo'sure.

So there you have it a day out at the Manchester Open with Movimento Lento and Co. Lots of great matches and up and coming stars.

I am off to buy myself a years supply of acai.

Til' next time.



Note: It was good to see fellow competitors, friends and spectators from Nova Vida, GB Leeds and other clubs. It was also nice to see my friend Paddy Carmody there competing, I have to say there seems to be some talent coming from GB Brum.