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Fitness

Victory at the Boston Summer Open (Athlete Journal 34)

What started as a disappointing day turned out to be one of the most exciting tournaments I've ever experienced.

James Kearns

Written by James Kearns Last updated on August 26, 2014

On Saturday I competed in the Boston Summer Open. What started out as an unbelievably disappointing day turned out to be one of the most satisfying and exciting tournaments I have ever competed in.

On Saturday I competed in the Boston Summer Open. What started out as an unbelievably disappointing day turned out to be one of the most satisfying and exciting tournaments I have ever competed in.

I was already a little disappointed before the tournament even started because I only had one other competitor in my division. At no point in time am I looking for an easy opportunity to get on the podium, so the more competitors in my weight class, the better. But this is something I can’t control, and I began to prepare myself for one single match in my division.

Competing Against a Teammate

After weighing in, I was mentally prepared and ready to go. Unfortunately, my lone opponent missed weight and got disqualified. That meant that I wouldn’t have any matches in my weight class and would have to wait for another three hours and compete in the absolute (open weight) division.

I can’t explain how disappointed I was after hearing this news. The guy that missed weight came up to me and apologized profusely. All I could say was, “Don’t worry about it.” Unfortunately these things happen and it’s just the way it goes sometimes.

So I waited around for the absolute division to start and things continued to not go well. When the brackets came out I was informed that I would be competing against one of my own teammates in the first round. After talking about what to do, we decided to just go out on the mat and compete. He gave up a lot of weight against me, but we still had a pretty good match.

The Final Match

But after I won that match, I moved into the finals. That is where it all changed. I found out I would now be competing against same opponent who submitted me in the absolute finals just a few weeks ago at the New York Summer Open. I can’t tell you how jacked up I was to get another opportunity to compete against him. He really put it on me a couple weeks ago, so I already knew how good he was and how hard it would be to get the win against him.

We had an epic back-and-forth grip fight for the first five minutes of the match until, on the thirteenth takedown attempt, I finally got him down. Once I got my two points, there was no way I was going to give up sweep or any position for the rest of the match. That was it. I finally won the absolute gold at purple belt.

What made it such a great competition for me wasn’t winning gold, but competing against such a good BJJ practitioner and having it go my way. I will probably see him again, and I can’t wait for another opportunity to test myself against such a good competitor.

Next up is a lot more training and getting ready for Master’s Worlds in November.

James Kearns is an active Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting.Follow his journals here every week.

James Kearns

About James Kearns

James Kearns is a Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and former United States Marine who began training martial arts in 2005. Starting in Taekwondo and boxing in his hometown of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, he would eventually begin training and competing in mixed martial arts. This is when James first started to train in no-gi jiu jitsu. Then, two and a half years ago, he reluctantly borrowed a gi and tried the Brazilian jiu jitsu class. James has trained in no other martial art since.

After successfully competing at the rank of blue belt for the last two years, earning six gold medals in IBJJF events and finishing the year with a gold medal in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials adult division, James earned his purple belt in December 2013. Having set his goals high for 2014, he plans on competing six to eight times this year, including the IBJJF Masters World Championships.

Along with being an active BJJ competitor, James also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting. Having a passion for the health and fitness industry, James is a certified personal trainer and the strength and conditioning coach at Tactical Combat Academy in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where he focuses on individual and group program design for combat sport athletes. James is also a full time student, working on his B.S. in Sports Management.

Although training in Brazilian jiu jitsu and Olympic weightlifting, being a strength coach, and being in school keep James pretty busy, he still spends most of his time with his wife and four kids (who keep him even busier).

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