best of the west 2009 (advanced division)

I made the jump to advanced division today. I was in the same division as Mike.

I fought Luis from 10th planet, and it was a good match. We begun by me pulling butterfly guard and then immediately attacking the legs and sweeps. After a bit, he jumped out of it and sat down to butterfly guard, so I stood up and started passing. I almost passed a few times and avoided his sweeps, and at one point knee slid for the pass, but he accidentally took my knee to the chin and we stopped. We restarted in side control, and he escaped before I got the points. Eventually after some defended hip bumps, I was in rubber guard, which I tried to stand up shake off. He transitioned to a guillotine and I stuck out my neck a bit too much and had my jaw getting grinded. Very painful, and I tapped.

Overall I felt like I could have possibly won, but it was a good experience nonetheless. The intermediate division wasn't challenging me anymore, so it was time to graduate. I feel that now I have to raise my game up to the level of advanced, so I should improve dramatically over the next few months.

I felt much more accomplished just DOING the advanced division rather than running through intermediate with no challenge.

Time to step up the game. Time to learn some leglocks!