Though Alliance is mainly known as a school of armed combat,
grappling has always been a part of our curriculum. We devote
probably 20% of our time to this subject, as it is related to the
larger picture of self defense. Much of the time is spent on standing
grappling, escaping hold downs, striking, kicking and gouging, and
using or fighting against weapons while in close contact or on the
ground. Very little time is spent on straight up one-on-one sportive
wrestling.
However, when we heard about this tournament, and that was going to
be right here in town, the focus of our training went to more
competitive oriented grappling for about 3 months. Everyone already
had their conditioning at a decent level, so that wasn't a factor.
Still, trying to put together all the aspects needed to compete in
both gi and non-gi grappling in such a short time was a big bill.
But, it was one which the Alliance crew threw themselves into
wholeheartedly.
In the end, not all of our folks who trained could make the
tournament. Our two heavyweights were out for various family reasons,
one of our ladies couldn't compete because of school, and I was
sidelined with a last minute injury. In any case, we still had four
of ours on the mat; Lily Gold, Michael Gray, Chris Jones, and Kurt
Piller.
The day started off with a seminar on wrestling takedowns by the
Ithaca College wrestling head coach, Marty Nichols. He has a great
style of teaching, and is clearly an master on the subject. This went
on for about 45 minutes and then they got underway with the kids and
teens divisions. These were great fun to watch, and the teens pulled
out some wild moves. One kid tried a flying armbar, failed, scrambled
up to his feet and then threw a rolling knee bar just that fast in
the action. Wow!
Because the tournament was a new one, the attendance in the lower
belt gi divisions was light, and so most of our crew got to wrestle
both in the white and blue belt divisions, which was nice. Because no
other women signed up for the gi division, Lily asked to be allowed
to wrestle with the guys, and was allowed to compete as well. Very
cool.
In the end, for the gi division, Kurt Piller took 2nd place and
Michael Gray took 3rd place in Lightweight White Belt, and Chris
Jones took 2nd place in Middleweight White Belt.
After a short break to watch the professional matches, which had some
great action, it was time for the no-gi competition.
Everyone competed in this division as well. There were many more
people competing in the no-gi, and because the age and skill brackets
got "compressed" (this being a new event) the level of skill for
"beginners" was very good, indeed. Though the boys didn't fare as
well as they had in the gi division, they all put on a good show,
worked hard on the mat, and had fun. This was the first time they
have ever gotten to play with people outside of our school, and
considering we spend most of our time on other subjects, they did
real well.
For us, the no-gi division belonged to Lily Gold, who defeated her
opponent in a tough match by 7 to 2, to take the 1st place in the
Women's No-Gi Beginners. Hats off to her opponent, Sylvia, the only
other woman who stepped up to compete in the tournament.
Overall this was a great event, and the hosts, organizers, staff, and
competitors are all to be commended. Everyone there that I spoke to
was very nice, interested in what each other were training in, and so
on. The wrestling was tough but clean, and the referees did a good
job.
While this type of competition training will never become our
"meat-and-potatos" here at Alliance, it is sometimes fun to go and
compete just as another outlet, in the same way we did a few years
back with the Karate
Tournament Invasion.