1st Tournament Gold/Silver

[Michael Sioda]

I competed for the 1st time this weekend as a 185lb Beginner (9mo - 2 yrs) @ the US Grappling Submission Only tournament in Rochester, NY. The organizers where very cool & a good time was had by all. The no-gi divisions were smaller than expected - I had only 1 match for the 30+ division & 2 matches for the 18+ division. They even had to combine my weight class with the one above (up to 202lbs) just to have that many.


30+ Men's - 1 match for Gold


18+ Men's - 2 matches for Silver




It's nice to watch the videos to see where I need to improve (I see a ton of mistakes). The #1 thing that I learned is that my cardio sucks ass. I guess I already knew this but gassing in only my 3rd match was a terrible feeling. I saw one match that went for 105 minutes & the winner went on to fight again - that seems totally amazing to me.

Still I'm happy just to have my 1st tournament under my belt. Thanks to the entire 10P family for the motivation to improve & of course the great instruction that I receive when I actually manage to make it out to a moon.

Comments/suggestions/verbal abuse regarding my matches are all welcome.

[The kza]

do more wrestling

[Tony "The Goods" Garcia]

We all have areas that need extra work, mine include the entire jiu jitsu game lol. Congratulations though! You've put some technique time in and it shows. Good job Sir!

[Chris Herzog]

I was out of town on vacation, Scott was gunna bring a small crew , but apparently everyone bailed at the last minute, thought you werent gunna make it either Mike?


Looking forward to watching the vids, I'm running out the door now, I check them out tonight.

[Michael Sioda]

I was sick as hell for 2 weeks & feel lucky to have recovered so quickly. It was a complication brought on by my ulcerative colitis (the same shit that took Mike Swick out of action for the last couple of years). My doctor gave me a prognosis to expect 50% recovery in 8-10 weeks. I was in a crazy amount of pain & the medication didn't seem to help at all.

Luckily I read up online & made some serious changes to my diet. I was feeling almost 100% better after a few days. I only had one good week to prepare for the tournament but decided to give it a shot anyways. My red blood cell count is still pretty low so I'm hoping that as it improves my cardio becomes less of an issue.

I've heard it for a long time but now I'm truly a believer, DIET IS EVERYTHING!

[Michael Sioda]

Kevin Smith had the same problem & talked about it on Joe Rogan's 9/2 podcast - give it a listen if you want to hear the gory details!

[Jon Helton]

Great job man! Definitely got some stuff to work on next time you're down in Charlotte.

[Chris Herzog]

Mike, for someone who had some significant recent health problems, and having the balls to enter a no points, no time limits, submission only tournament for his first competition you did a hell of a job!

Obviously some technical errors, but over all you put in some solid work.

Few little suggestions:

Work on solidifying your positions, and on you posture in your opponents guard. As with most beginners you're "slamming on the gas pedal, why your car is still in neutral" Essentially the motor is revving at high RPMS but you’re not going anywhere. Slow it down focus on your technique and be deliberate with your movements rather than moving for the sake of moving. Again brotha great job, looking forward to your next visit to the Roc!

[Michael Sioda]

Thanks for taking the time to check out my vids - your analogy about slamming the gas while in neutral is well taken. I looked like a spaz in the top guard position. I hope to have a little more composure in my 9/24 Hayastan tournament. Is anyone from Roc coming down for this one?

[Chris Herzog]

Thanks for taking the time to check out my vids - your analogy about slamming the gas while in neutral is well taken. I looked like a spaz in the top guard position. I hope to have a little more composure in my 9/24 Hayastan tournament. Is anyone from Roc coming down for this one?

No problem, and yes we should have a group coming down for it.