2007 Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu Tournament.

"all right, everybody pair up, Charbel, you go with Gordo. Alejandro, with Carlos. Furacao, you're going with me, five minutes, ready go! It was a regular jui-jitsu class at eight pm, like every other day of the week at hectors' Academy, on Calle 50. there was only ten minutes of class left and we were ready to do the last spar of the day. That specific night, i remember perfectly that i was paired up with some guy in his mid twenties they called gordo. not that he was fat, or anything, he was actually rather small. But anyway they called him gordo.
As soon as Hector said "go!" i noticed there was something peculiar they gordo iniciated the fight. I remember he had rapidly taken me to the ground with an overly agressive double legged take down. Now, that there was anything wrong with that, but he was taking the friendly spar to another level. He acted as if there was a first class ticket to Hawaii waiting for the winner. Regardless as soon as i hit the mat, i knew this match was personal, and there was no way i was going to let this guy tap me out. So i got on the same level he was on.
The next day, around noon, i recieved a phone call from Hector. I remember thinking to myself, what could Hector possibly want. I figured he was just calling for me to teach some kids class he was not going to be able to make it to. Instead, he told me to come to jiu-jitsu class a couple minutes early to discuss something. He ended the conversation by saying, "by the way nice arm bar yesterday you got gordo good." That same day i get to jui=jistu class early and i see there are a couple of other students in Hectors office. I walked in, and Hector said,"for those who havent been told yet, the Pan-American tournament is going to be held in California in October, and i think with a couple of months training you guys might have a shot." I remember feeling goose bumps rush from my head all the way to my fingers. I was thrilled.
The Pan-American tournament is one of the best known jui-jitsu tournaments in the united states. i couldnt wait to go and dominate. When i heard i was going to be fighting a seventeen year old kid in the same wieght category as me, i flipped. I was convinced i was going to win. i had been training with adults for the last couple of years and i had won first place in the Florida state Disney tournament, in 2004. And, yes, it was a Disney tournament. I whooped mickeys butt. No just kidding about that but, anyway, i was under estamating my oponnent.
Its two days before the fight. Ive been in California four days already because the adults that came with me had their fights before mine, and after their fights we would go shopping and sight seeing, and most of all we ate, we ate alot. from Ihop to P.F Changs chinese bistro, we ate everything. the next thing i knew im wieghing myself two days before the fight and i was over the weight limit by two pounds. I didnt know what to do. if youre over the limit by just one pound, you cant fight. I found myself in a serious delimma. If my mom found out i flew all the way to California to get disqualified, i was going to have my own little fighting tournament when i got home. So i did what i had to do: i didnt eat anything for two days i would only have salad and, water just a tiny bit of water. Not only that, but i was would be running all morning and all night with a sweater on, and lets not forget the steam room. I practically lived in that steam room.
The day of my fight finally came, and from the moment i woke up was a salad and a sip of water literally, when they called my name for the weigh in i was nervous, but i made it.
I had gotten the weight problem fixed, but now i had another one i was so busy concentrating on my weight i had forgotten about my physical condition. I found myself dehydrated, hungry, and soar from all the running, and there was only a matter of seconds before my fight. I chugged a gatorade and went for it. My competetor was some indonesian kid or something, he didnt look intimidating at all. I was ready for my fight. We stared eachother down like two cowboys before a gun draw from the moment we walked on the mat. As soon as the refery blew that whistle we went at it. I almost had him in an arm bar, but he got out. In Jui-jitsu tournaments you can either win by tap out, or points, and you have only ten minutes. To make a long and sad story short, i lost. The indonesian kid beat me by points. He didnt tap me out, but never the less he still beat me. Like master maogi once said, "never underestimate your opponent."