I wish i had better news but i got destroyed yesterday. i fought a brasilian who was strong (ended up getting bronze) and motivated. I, for some reason seemed to be fighting like i was a japanese world champ and skipped with him even though that was the opposite of my game plan. he dropped in for a seio attack which i absorbed with my knee and forehead on the mat, then for some reason as he kept driving i relaxed and went over for ippon. the fight had barely gone 30 seconds!
I feel pretty embarrassed and stupid and am giving serious thought to training in a white belt for a while to snap my brain into action.
I have had 24 hours to digest the situation and question many aspects of what i do, how i do it and why. Even had those 'whats the point of doing this crap' conversations with myself.
I honestly can't see too many positives in the situation but all I can conclude is that giving up or backing off in this situation is the easy way out.
There is no way I will ever take the easy way out..................
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Grand Slam Roundup
Well the Rio Grand Slam has come and gone and it was interesting! My draw was actually the worst possible, I got the World Number 1 first fight of the whole comp. I wasn't crapping myself, just really didn't want to go out there and lose the fight mentally not physically if you know what i mean.
I new his typical game plan because i have seen him before and trained with him so i wanted to shut down his left side and stay side on so he couldnt throw his high right dominant grip. I did that well. However after about a minute of back and forth attacks from my preferred grip he switched for a sode tsuri komi goshi the opposite way to how he usually goes, this caught me off guard and by the time i reacted he was in too deep and i was over for ippon.
It sucks not because I thought i was better then my opponent, more that i was able to impose my strategy, in part, on the best fighter in the world and when he made one ver logical change i was unable to shut it down. I felt i could have hung in there for much longer and put more pressure when i did get my grips. oh well, lesson learned.
The rest of the aussie team did similiarly well, most had nightmare draws like Russia, japan etc. Kylie Koenig at 63's got our only win for the comp beating columbia by penalties before losing to slovenia next round.
This comp was an incredibly high standard. there was almost all of the worlds top fighters here, in my division alone 8 of the top 10 were here, in a division of 25 that means no easy fights! There were some awesome fights that took place, most of the 66 and 60 kg fights were brilliant and watching Guilheiro and Canto from Brasil in 81's yesterday was awesome, their technique at this level is like they are from another planet.
Now it's time for training camp where I get to do randori with all of these awesome fighters and see how i measure up, could be long days of getting belted but maybe i can actually catch a couple of them, we'll see.
Ivo
P.S. Almost lost my mate Matt D'Aquino yesterday in the surf at the beach here. The surf got crazy, quick, thank god for the life guards we thought he was gone, phew!
I new his typical game plan because i have seen him before and trained with him so i wanted to shut down his left side and stay side on so he couldnt throw his high right dominant grip. I did that well. However after about a minute of back and forth attacks from my preferred grip he switched for a sode tsuri komi goshi the opposite way to how he usually goes, this caught me off guard and by the time i reacted he was in too deep and i was over for ippon.
It sucks not because I thought i was better then my opponent, more that i was able to impose my strategy, in part, on the best fighter in the world and when he made one ver logical change i was unable to shut it down. I felt i could have hung in there for much longer and put more pressure when i did get my grips. oh well, lesson learned.
The rest of the aussie team did similiarly well, most had nightmare draws like Russia, japan etc. Kylie Koenig at 63's got our only win for the comp beating columbia by penalties before losing to slovenia next round.
This comp was an incredibly high standard. there was almost all of the worlds top fighters here, in my division alone 8 of the top 10 were here, in a division of 25 that means no easy fights! There were some awesome fights that took place, most of the 66 and 60 kg fights were brilliant and watching Guilheiro and Canto from Brasil in 81's yesterday was awesome, their technique at this level is like they are from another planet.
Now it's time for training camp where I get to do randori with all of these awesome fighters and see how i measure up, could be long days of getting belted but maybe i can actually catch a couple of them, we'll see.
Ivo
P.S. Almost lost my mate Matt D'Aquino yesterday in the surf at the beach here. The surf got crazy, quick, thank god for the life guards we thought he was gone, phew!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Rio Grand Slam
Well its 5:45 am on Friday 21 May and I’ve been up since 3. Thought I had gotten used to adjusting to jetlag with travel but after falling asleep at 8:30 last night I was bound to wake up mighty early.
Things here in Rio are good. I have been here before, 2007 Worlds where I had one of my best results (11th) so I have fond memories of this place. There is a team of 12 from Australia and everyone is pumped for the competition. There is apparently 43 countries here and over 400 fighters, this is gonna be tough! I fight in just over 24 hours and I am feeling really excited. My lead up to this has been great and I am in as good a shape, probably better then ever.
It’s weird that I was nervous travelling over here wondering who is going to be here, how will I match up? But now that I know that the absolute best fighters are here I am actually calm and interested to see how it’s going to pan out. This will be the ultimate measuring stick. By the end of the Rio Grand Slam, training camp and Sao Paulo World Cup I will know exactly where I stand in the 66 kg food chain.
Training here in Brasil has been good we have had good, sharp sessions wed, thurs and will have another one this afternoon. Just been focussing on speed work and sweating the weight off. That part has gone really smoothly. Just weighed 1.8 over but I feel well hydrated so that is good. The more often I cut the better I seem to get at it, or maybe I just get a tolerance to the feelings of hunger, thirst and the games your brain play on you in the process.
Today’s plan is small breaky then sweaty run midmorning. Small lunch and sauna off the rest of the weight in afternoon/evening. If that goes well and I am underweight I might even have dinner, fingers crossed.
By the time we get back from training this afternoon the draw will be done and we’ll all know who we are fighting. The meat head in me wants to fight one of the Japanese, Cubans, Brasilians, French etc and fight for my life but the little voice in the back of my head is saying maybe an easier first round makes more sense. But who knows? I am unseeded here so I am just as likely to get a world beater as I am to get a more winnable opponent (there are no EASY fights at this level).
Fingers crossed it all goes well. I doubt I’ll add anything else before the comp so hopefully my next entry is me bragging about the amount of butt I kicked at Maracanazinho on Saturday 22 may.
If you want to follow it all live you can go to ippon.org or video link will be on eju.net look for JUDOTV link.
Ivo
Things here in Rio are good. I have been here before, 2007 Worlds where I had one of my best results (11th) so I have fond memories of this place. There is a team of 12 from Australia and everyone is pumped for the competition. There is apparently 43 countries here and over 400 fighters, this is gonna be tough! I fight in just over 24 hours and I am feeling really excited. My lead up to this has been great and I am in as good a shape, probably better then ever.
It’s weird that I was nervous travelling over here wondering who is going to be here, how will I match up? But now that I know that the absolute best fighters are here I am actually calm and interested to see how it’s going to pan out. This will be the ultimate measuring stick. By the end of the Rio Grand Slam, training camp and Sao Paulo World Cup I will know exactly where I stand in the 66 kg food chain.
Training here in Brasil has been good we have had good, sharp sessions wed, thurs and will have another one this afternoon. Just been focussing on speed work and sweating the weight off. That part has gone really smoothly. Just weighed 1.8 over but I feel well hydrated so that is good. The more often I cut the better I seem to get at it, or maybe I just get a tolerance to the feelings of hunger, thirst and the games your brain play on you in the process.
Today’s plan is small breaky then sweaty run midmorning. Small lunch and sauna off the rest of the weight in afternoon/evening. If that goes well and I am underweight I might even have dinner, fingers crossed.
By the time we get back from training this afternoon the draw will be done and we’ll all know who we are fighting. The meat head in me wants to fight one of the Japanese, Cubans, Brasilians, French etc and fight for my life but the little voice in the back of my head is saying maybe an easier first round makes more sense. But who knows? I am unseeded here so I am just as likely to get a world beater as I am to get a more winnable opponent (there are no EASY fights at this level).
Fingers crossed it all goes well. I doubt I’ll add anything else before the comp so hopefully my next entry is me bragging about the amount of butt I kicked at Maracanazinho on Saturday 22 may.
If you want to follow it all live you can go to ippon.org or video link will be on eju.net look for JUDOTV link.
Ivo
INTRO
Well this is my first blog ever! I will mainly document my training and competition information and it will probably serve as a good tool for my own reflection through the journey. Not sure how many people will be interested in what goes on in my every day life but if some are then this will be a way to keep tabs on what I do to try and achieve my life’s ambition and qualify for London 2012 Olympic Games.
If you don’t know me and you’ve stumbled upon this blog then here’s some background…
I am 24 years old. I’ve been doing judo since I was 5. I have loved the sport since then and have competed with some success through the years. I have won senior national and oceania championships, a couple of commonwealth bronze medals and 11th place at the 2007 World Championships. My sob story of missing out on Beijing 2008 basically sums up to me being the current national and oceanic champion at the time of Olympic selection but I slipped up and came 5th at one of the selection events and I was unable to bridge the gap. There’s a lot more to that story but it’s something I have moved on from but all I will say is that gut wrenching pain of missing out on my dream first time round is something I never, ever want to experience again.
Anyways, I train my butt off every day to get to London. My training week consists of 3 sessions a week at my club Western Judo Academy, 4 judo sessions at Dominance MMA (under Maria Pekli and Daniel Kelly) and 1 at Essendon FC. I do 3 strength sessions a week and 2 agility/flexibility sessions.
I juggle this with full time university, work in construction and spending my spare hours with my girlfriend Isabel and my family, don’t watch much TV.
That’s intro to Ivo sorted. Next blog will be from Rio de Janeiro.
Ivo
If you don’t know me and you’ve stumbled upon this blog then here’s some background…
I am 24 years old. I’ve been doing judo since I was 5. I have loved the sport since then and have competed with some success through the years. I have won senior national and oceania championships, a couple of commonwealth bronze medals and 11th place at the 2007 World Championships. My sob story of missing out on Beijing 2008 basically sums up to me being the current national and oceanic champion at the time of Olympic selection but I slipped up and came 5th at one of the selection events and I was unable to bridge the gap. There’s a lot more to that story but it’s something I have moved on from but all I will say is that gut wrenching pain of missing out on my dream first time round is something I never, ever want to experience again.
Anyways, I train my butt off every day to get to London. My training week consists of 3 sessions a week at my club Western Judo Academy, 4 judo sessions at Dominance MMA (under Maria Pekli and Daniel Kelly) and 1 at Essendon FC. I do 3 strength sessions a week and 2 agility/flexibility sessions.
I juggle this with full time university, work in construction and spending my spare hours with my girlfriend Isabel and my family, don’t watch much TV.
That’s intro to Ivo sorted. Next blog will be from Rio de Janeiro.
Ivo
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