30. April 2010 by Don Ebuen.

Its been 2 weeks since my first tournament experience and really my first benchmark for Dojo Fightgear’s One Man’s Quest. After starting my training in January, I headed over to Murrieta CA for the Grappling X No Gi Tournament to compete. I went into the tournament confident of what I’ve learned under Coach Brian at West Coast Jiu Jitsu and more focused on the tournament as a learning experience and a chance to ‘get my feet wet’.

The Night Before
I made to Murrieta in about 4 hours. I drove out there with Merv from Elite Photography who helped capture my experience on ‘film’. We checked into our hotel and headed over to the Fight Lab for weigh ins. Around 7pm, it was official. Made weight and signed in for the tournament. I was stoked…and hungry.

Game time. Let’s Do This
Woke up excited and anxious for the tournament. Had breakfast around 10AM assuming I would get a little something to snack on before my first match. Brian called me around 1230 letting me know the West Coast kids did great. 2 silvers and a gold! I head out and get to the gym around 1PM.

Around 1:45 some of my competitors show up and Brian begins giving me pointers on what to do. I go into a separate room to stretch. A bunch of the other competitors start asking me questions. I get the vibe they’re worried about me already. This is good. I’m asked “Are you in the Masters division?” then “Beginners or Advanced?” and “What weight division?”…I just answer politely and I see relief on some of their faces.

Match 1: Christopher Gomez from Throwdown
Started off with Chris trying to muscle me around. Not having it. I shoot in, I take him down. We roll for a bit and I get swept. I escape and we square off again. I shoot in, he tries to guillotine me, I escape and pull guard. After 4 minutes, its a draw and the ref says 1 minute overtime. Brian instructs me to shoot in and mount right away. I do it and I’m up 4-0 in the overtime. He sweeps me but I pull guard as time expires and my hand is raised. Chris was a great TOUGH first match. I was happy to get the win but paid a price doing so. During one point of the match, I pulled my groin and if you’ve ever done that, it SUCKS.

So now I’m sore and EXHAUSTED. Brian takes me to the other room and has me lay on the floor and breath. After about 5 minutes, I hear my name being called. I’m up again!

Match 2: Curtis Brown from De La O Jiu Jitsu
It’s obvious from the start, Curtis is a wrestler. Knowing I am still burnt out from the first match, Brian instructs me to just circle around and wait for Curtis to shoot in and be ready to sprawl. After circling for a good minute, Curtis initiates a take down. I pull guard right away. He’s a heavy guy but I’m able to easily sweep him. We roll. In the end, I sweep Curtis again but he has my leg in half guard. The leg with the groin pull. All I can hear is Brian urging me to pull my leg out and mount. It sounded so easy but without being able to really pull my leg up, it turned out to be impossible and Curtis won by points.

I’m sitting on the side of the mat, totally spent and sore trying to get my wind back. I hear my name AGAIN. I’m up again already?!? Against Curtis again!!! I let Brian know I can’t continue. My groin is sore and I’m as useful as a sack of potatoes at this point. My tournament run is over.

Curtis and Chris go at it for 4 minutes and Chris expectedly wins. And with a 1-1 record for all three of us, Chris gets the gold, Curtis gets the silver and I get the bronze. I kind of felt cheated at the time considering I beat Chris but he sat 2 matches before fighting again and he won only one match and got the gold…..BUT, I am happy with the experience and it’s more important to me than a medal.

I learned so much from the experience. I know I can win. I know what it feels like to win. I know I will win again.

Lesson of Day:
There’s actually 2 lesson I’d like to share to anyone out there looking to compete for the first time:
1. Don’t forget to wear your protective cup! I was so anxious to get on the mat I forgot to put my cup on for my first match.
2. When you’re competing…GO FOR IT. Take risks. Go for your submissions. Brian has taught me so much and I know submissions but I only went for one…a Rear Naked Choke. I look at the videos and I kick myself for not just taking risks. Who knows…maybe I wouldve gotten beaten them by submission before having to go the full match. Either way, I will never know now.

The Quest continues….stay tuned.

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16. April 2010 by Todd Templeton.

First off, I have been away. The work/life balance I maintain sometimes inhibits my ability to provide my 2 cents as often as I would like to but hey…I try. Make no mistake, I have forced a way to find my way into the gym from time to time, which I found gives me an interesting perspective as I update my notes here.

They are brief, but bear with me..here I go.

Wait, in no specific order either…

Alright here I go for real:

- Dang ya’ll…Don got kinda good. I don’t remember when I left that Don can do a few of the things I saw him do just the other day. Now let me say that I have been gone for the lions share of the last 5 weeks and Don has been doin WORK! He somehow maintained a balance in his own time away and was able to come back and train well right away it seems. He was a different animal from when I rolled with him just 5 weeks ago!!! He went from a rough white belt to a technical, thinking jiu-jitsu player. That in 35 days folks.
- 35 days of hard work however does not always save you when we are talking about jiu-jitsu. Experience saved me from getting choked out by Don. I wasn’t scared…but I was well….concerned about how Don hoodwinked me into thinking I was safe…when I may have been..dare I say…in danger…..of getting choked by Don. But then I did a little of this..a little of that and Marvin captured how things ended for Don that day.
- Note to my boy John Rambo, I didn’t finish that triangle Don noted I hit. You got out. We continued and if you can find time off as a professional EMT bring your ass in so we can punch each other in the face more. Do it.
- Mervin’s pictures are as real as it gets.
- Don, if Mervin can make you look cool. He must be putting in work. Hahaha.
- The amateur scene at West Coast is HOT. Like for real hot. There is a new breed at West Coast. But there is always room for a crafty veteran. I know of one (at the very least) that is up for the challenge.
- There is no better cure of jet lag than getting punched in the face.
- I am going to fight in June.
- Having 3 boys makes things have perspective.
- Props to Frankie Edgar and can we please just get back to smashing people Mr. Silva.

Let’s see is there anything else worth blogging about…oh yeah there is one more thing. DON COMPETES FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS WEEKEND. He is ready, able and as all of you have seen…willing.

Don, my brother in arms, legs, and overall submissions. Good luck, god speed and defend the neck! Just remember, an ugly win is still a win. And with a face like yours, any win you get will be ugly.

Mervin, keep the camera close; it’s only a matter of time before you literally get that million dollar frame. For real. I hope it’s me doing something good!

As far as I go, I am in the rebuild stage, and I feel great. Stay tuned everyone.

I want to see updates on my warrior spirit challenge, ya’all must have forgotten! It’s summer time, let’s go!

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14. April 2010 by Don Ebuen.

In a few days I will compete in my first No Gi Jiu Jitsu tournament in Murrieta California. I’m feeling nervous, anxious, excited…work has made it hard for me to get into West Coast as much as I’d like to. But the days I am there, I put in work and Brian’s lessons continue to help my confidence…and of course today was no different.

I decided not to really talk (or write) about training today. Instead I want to talk more about what’s driving me with One Man’s Quest.

The support from my family, friends and fellow students has been incredible. Each time I hear someone say “Hey, I just checked out you blog” it makes me feel even more eager to compete, win and let everyone see anything can be done if you make a plan and commit to it. In Todd’s first blog he said that by putting my experience online for everyone to read as I move along my journey, it puts more pressure on me NOT to give up. Cause if I do, everyone who follows my blog will see I quit.

Jiu jitsu has become a part of my life. Practicing and learning new things is truly fun for me. Becoming completely exhausted and so tired you just want to lie down, is what I look forward to. The workout, the challenge, the improvements make it all worth it.

This weekend I compete not for me but for everyone who has stopped by and read the blog. For my cousin Julius and my brother Mike who run Dojo Fightgear with me. For Brian and the entire West Coast Jiu Jitsu family who prepare me. For my family and friends who have continued to wish me luck on my journey. For the rest of my team OMQ Todd, Martha and Mervin who continue to motivate me and push me to get in the right physical shape to compete.

And especially, for everyone who has ever tried something completely new and different and made it a part of their life.

And last but not least…for my Dad. Who was a huge fan of competition and knowing that I never got involved in anything that would have interested him. I know if he were here today, this would definitely be something we would talk about.

Thank you all again for reading this. First stop, Murrieta. Next stop…stay tuned.

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7. April 2010 by Don Ebuen.

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6. April 2010 by Don Ebuen.

I had been off of my training schedule because of the birth of my second beautiful daughter Aven Nalani Ebuen. Unfortunately she and her mother are back in Virginia indefinitely. To keep my mind off missing them Brian presented me with my first challenge: The Grappling X No Gi tournament. This will be my first tournament and will allow me to get my feet wet as I prepare for Grapplers Quest. The tournament is coming up quick so I completely dedicated to going to West Coast Jiu Jitsu every night possible. My goal is not only to get experience in competition but to win the tournament.

Day 21: I took the No Gi class at West Coast but didn’t wear a gi. I want to focus my mat time on no gi since that is what I will be competing in. Brian begins instructions on an Ankle Take Down. When shooting in you cup your opponent’s ankle with both hands (one over the other) leaning forward with your shoulder in their shin just under the knee it forces them down.

Next, Brian instructs the class on several gi chokes from the Mount. I practice the chokes on Miko (since he’s wearing a gi) and another student in class. After practicing the chokes several times, Brian puts 12 minutes on the clock and everyone partners up. Since I’m not wearing a gi, I get to partner up with Brian. This is not only great because Brian is about the same size as me, but I won’t be facing anyone at his skill level in this tournament…so if I can try to hang with Brian, I think my chances with other white belts will be pretty good.

I practice the Ankle Take Down on Brian and shooting in with the single. 10 minutes with someone like Brian (who can basically do whatever they want to you and deny anything you try on them) is a constant uphill battle. Awesome experience for me though and I learned a new choke from the Sprawl so that was a good thing. Well, at least I learned what it feels like and what to try to avoid in competition.

Day 22: Showed up at the No Gi class tonight. Mervin, the official photographer of Dojo Fightgear and One Man’s Quest, met me there so I knew he would get some good shots tonight.

I knew it would be a good training session tonight when I walked in and saw Todd and Martha (Professional MMA Fighters fighting for West Coast and Team Dojo…and of course One Man’s Quest trainers) there warming up. I hadn’t seen either of them in a while so I was pleased they made it there too.

The choke from the Sprawl that Brian did on me on Day 21 (about 4 or 5 times mind you) was the first lesson of the day. From the Sprawl, you put all your weight on them by leaning your hip into their shoulder. Using your outside hand, you slide your arm under their neck and reach for their shoulder. The further you reach the tighter the choke the sooner they tap. Todd and I partner up and practice.

Let’s say your opponent is blocking the choke attempt. That leads us to Step 2: Sliding your inside leg under his arm and locking it in a Leg Triangle. Again you attempt the choke now that they can only block with one hand.

Now let’s say your opponent continues to block. Step 3: By reversing your Leg Triangle you now set your opponent up for an Arm Lock by moving the arm away from his body with your legs and pushing your hips forward.

Your opponent tries to avoid the pressure by rolling over. Step 4: Roll with him and lock in the Seat Belt Grip. The arm is still trapped. position your top foot as close to your buttocks as possible. Get on your toes and arch your hips forward. This is even more painful than Step 3. Brian confirmed this is the position you eventually want to force them into.

10 Minutes on the Clock: So now we roll for 10 minutes straight with our partners. I get to roll with Todd who I hadn’t rolled with in a long time.

This was another great training experience for me. Todd is very slippery opponent and when he balls up, its almost impossible to get any kind of hooks in. I try to maintain the offensive with Todd and shoot in for some take downs. After 10 minutes straight with Todd, he submitted me twice. And one was at the very end…so that shouldn’t count. (Just kidding Todd).

Overall, another great great class. Can’t wait for Day 23.

Lesson of the Day: Unfortunately Martha was seriously injured tonight. As usual, Martha was rolling with some of the guys in class and judging by the picture (see below) was teaching them a thing or two. At one point, Martha went for a move from the standing position but slip off her opponent and fell hard to the mat. She suffered a separated shoulder.

This was a reality check for me. That serious injuries can happen to anyone at any time. This sport is for real for anyone that doubts how intense and/or extreme it is. I knew the risks going into this and I am prepared to go balls out and hopefully…HOPEFULLY…avoid injury.

Brian Espinoza’s West Coast Jiu Jitsu: Kids Welcome

Brian overseeing Todd’s Technique

Arm locked and Rear Naked in Full Effect

Rolling with the Reign Man

Trying to keep offensive with Todd

See? Told you Martha doesn’t mess around.

Todd choking the shit out of me.

Todd choking the shit out of someone else

Todd Me and Martha listening to Brian’s instruction.

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