08/18/2026
Hello/goodbye Cupertino! Got myself a shiny silver after a blitzkrieg visit. Super thanks to Sonny Mannon for the coaching and good conversation! I was able to stay standing and “took down” my opponent twice. She single pointed me to death with high pressure ring outs and fell on me a billion times, so that was fun AND educational, haha. Miss Shelby El Otmani did super well against her, and managed her single legs and muscled techniques with some candor and finesse- we love to see it. She took home the bronze and got to hang for a fun expo match. Nice work!!
It’s tricky to work with someone who has wrestling experience but maybe not YOUR wrestling experience. In BJJ it’s fine to go down on or with your opponent- and I guess it still works in shuai jiao tho it does shut down the actual game somewhat. Not a wash, but a different conversation.
Always good to see Caillou Allen and work in with folks from USA Shuai Jiao. Now it’s time to lock down and zero in for 10/9/26. Here we come.