Match VS Cindy of Tampa

Squared-off in a grapple with Cindy from Tampa (of Shefighters fame!) in a hard fought struggle! We had gone at it once before a year or so back with me edging her out in a very fun battle with MMA gloves. My arms were really sore from that! If you have not tried it, grappling with those gloves on makes your hands way easier to grasp and as a result you end up struggling in ways different from how you would bare-handed.

We set out the mats and got right into it! The first fall was really long with both of us reversing the momentum several times. In addition to the fact that Cindy has training she is hella-strong and fit. Even though I have some good size on her when we would get into mutual locks, there was no quit in her as she would eagerly try to out crush me with sheer strength!

After a good 10 to 15 minute marathon I finally slipped her into an arm triangle and stretched her out for the first submission! Though frustrated, Cindy was undaunted as she was eager to even the score. This girl, though a sweetie, definitely has an intense competitive streak! We went at it for a few more long and active falls with each of us fighting for position the whole way!

Eventually I was able to slide my legs around her and force her to concede at least two more times! (We had a couple falls end prematurely, one from a safety/mats check and one from mutual exhaustion.) All in all it was a very fun match and for me a much needed win against a tough opponent!

Pitch-black grappling challenge vs Roxi Vicious!!!

Had a rematch against my now long time rival Roxi Vicious with an interesting twist! Half of the match was a standard submission challenge. The second half was new for both of us but something we had both heard about. Grappling with no light what-so-ever. In our last match Roxi had steamrolled me pretty good so I was eager for revenge!

We squared off for the first part of out challenge in the same space as the previous encounter. I managed to keep things much more competitive this time gaining top position and going for chokes! She was able to fend me off though in the long run and wore me out with her strength! Roxi had been upping her Yoga routines since our last battle and had added kettle-bells to her workout regimen. Her arms and shoulders were noticeably stronger! Slowly she would wear me down in a python-like struggle, muscling out of my arm-submission attempts and locking my legs up in a lower body stalemate. Each fall was close and hard fought but Roxi again edged me out 4 to 1.

Soaked in sweat we hit the lights and continued in complete darkness. A very interesting experience as we went at it, both of us only able to sense strategy by the feel of the other's body movements. The falls felt longer by comparison and I could feel Roxi working hard against me, but much like before her strength was too much as I felt my arms tire in the struggle against hers and she was able to wrap me up into more submissions, winning the darkness part of our challenge also by a score of 4 to 1.

The only two submissions I was able to secure were both body scissors, proving that my legs were still a force to be reckoned with. But I was clearly out muscled in my arms and shoulders and unable to sink in my trademark arm triangle. Clearly, some kettle-bell routines of me own need to happen!

Another fun and really intense struggle for sure!

Exhausting Grapple vs Gianna!

So upon returning from a nice relaxing trip I faced Gianna in a competitive submissions only 1 hour grapple! I had seen her in action vs Veve Lane on at least two occasions and knew I was in for a fight against a very skilled grappler! We met at the venue after a little bit of phone tag and set up the mats in one of the rooms in the same facility as my previous two bouts.

Gianna is as stunning in person as she is in her photos and was playfully teasing as we set up the mats that she was confident of a win against me. I teased back politely but was inwardly determined not to give her any easy wins on my account! As we sized each other up on the mats things seemed overall even. I knew she had skill and experience in her favor as she has been training on and off since the late 90's! I had size on her and I was pretty sure I had her beat in strength and as for endurance, time would soon tell!

We came together in the middle of the mats as Gianna quite gently scooted closer and into position, legs ahead of her, the sure sign of a strategic fighter! I moved in and tried to lock in close against her but she pretty expertly used her ankles against my hips in a rubber guard to control my weight. She would flip me over and try to get on top as I would then use my strength and my legs to sweep and roll her back to her back, where she would very quickly hook her ankles in again and flip me back to my back!

We went at it like this for quite a while! The first 45 minutes were excruciatingly tiring! Gianna managed to submit me with various chokes a few times, including a super tight triangle which she admitted to being a bit surprised that I had almost lasted and battled out of! When I was able to pass her guard and get in close against her, my overall strength advantage became clear. Gianna has extremely strong arms that are almost as strong as mine that made arm-locking her exhaustingly tough! But once I was able to lock her up in my trusty anaconda/arm-triangle I was able to squeeze a satisfying submission from her that had her cursing in competitive (but still friendly) frustration!

I had done well for myself thus far! Gianna was ahead 3 to 1, but I had managed to keep her on the defensive for much of the match and she was admitting to feeling alot more fatigue than she thought she was going to! If I could keep going I might be able to even it up and wear her out.

In the last 15 minutes endurance came into play as Gianna managed to keep her pace up as I felt my muscles burning and tiring! She started putting my on the defensive more scoring a couple of pretty dominating rear naked chokes, snaking her legs around my hips as her arms contracted around my face like vices! Damn she was strong at locking that in! Pulling at her arms to get free was useless! And the slipperiness from such a hard fought match aided as she would eventually slip her biceps against my throat.

After choking me to submission she would gleefully hold her hands in front of my face before unwrapping her legs, giggling and taunting and holding up fingers to display the score as the match quickly lopsided in her favor. 4 to 1, 5 to 1, 6 to 1 all in quick succession! Finally after squeezing her way to a 7th submission the match was over! Both of us were tired but it was clear she had worn my body out and outlasted me in a match of endurance! All other stats between us at least came close to balancing us out.

We're already thinking of doing a rematch in the winter so I will have to try to work up my endurance for that one! Not to mention I feel like if I had worked at chokes from mount and half guard instead of struggling so much with her equally strong arms I might have been able to score a few more submissions in the first 45 minutes when I was holding my own! Time will tell!

Gianna is a very fun opponent! Clearly hot. Very sweet, yet with a definite ultra-competitive streak! It will be fun to see if I can manage to frustrate her a bit more next time! hehehe!