Venom 22-0 Spider-Mouth
This was an efficiently arranged session – I had not sessioned for 3 weeks as I was competing in my other sport yesterday. I am competing on 8th of December but just could not wait until then to have a match. I’d been chatting to Venom in cyber-land and we were both happy to have a match today so Cam set it up on Thursday and I made my travel arrangements.
At the studio, I met Cam and Venom. Venom changed into her combat shorts and long sleeved sports shirt then I changed into red shorts and black t-shirt ready for battle. Cam took a quick photo of us pre-match which you can see on twitter and then left us too it. We finished our warm ups and then Venom applied a gum shield which I questioned – she explained she always used it as she might get caught by one of her own limbs! I’ve been on the mats with Tiny Terror and Taz and Venom is a much more methodical grappler but used the gum shield anyway for her own piece of mind.
The first round started with us on knees, Venom uses a one leading leg approach and a similar wide gaze rather than narrow visual focus. This was just like Volcano and is a characteristic of expert athletes. The round ended after less than a minute when Venom got me with a mounted shoulder lock. I was immediately impressed by her physical ability as well as her technical skill. She was 61 kg compared to my 72 kg, but was able to unsettle my balance with ease. 1-0 to Venom.
Round 2 ended with a move I’ve never experienced before, I went down to a sweep and then Venom pushed my head to the mats side on with one hand and pulled my chin upwards with the other – oh yes my neck was feeling that – had to tap – 2-0 to Venom.
I managed to capture Venom’s right leg between my two legs and struggled on my back to keep her from making holds for a minute or so but she soon isolated my right arm and had me tapping with a perfectly executed kimura. 3-0 to Venom.
I managed to extend the fourth round to 3 minutes or more with my standard defence of capturing my opponent’s leg. I struggled and found the sweat breaking out on my forehead during this round, but could not get in a position to apply a hold myself. Once Venom escaped from my leg scissor, she was ready to close out the round with clinical precision. Then Venom got my right arm, legs quickly in position and I had to submit to the armbar. 4-0 to Venom.
In round 5, Venom tried a grapevine but I raised my legs and avoided it. She was really strong and kept me planted flat on my back moving from the grapevine position to side mount and then back again, selecting the breast smother option to gain the point. 5-0 to Venom.
Another new experience in round 6 as Venom got me with a twister. Basically, I was on my side and she had her bent leg across my side from above, and pulled my nick up with one hand and my legs up with the other, a great feat of strength and I had to submit. 6-0 to Venom.
This match was one-sided but I was determined to stubbornly resist and make Venom work for her points if I could. I genuinely gave my best but Venom had me with a kimura for 7-0.
In round 8, I think Venom used a sweep to get me in a position to apply a hold but I actually tapped during the sweep phase of her move, I found my left leg being pulled outward during this sweep and the pain in my hip was enough to make me tap. 8-0 to Venom.
Round 9 was a good struggle and I managed to pull Venom in close and struggle, evading some attempts by her to get some distance from my torso to isolate my limbs between us. Eventually, she got me with an ezikiel; I had to ask her for the name of the move she got me with! 9-0 to Venom.
In round 10, I managed to get on top for the first time, well I was looking down on Venom as she was on her back on the mats but I was in her guard. I tried to get one of her legs away from my trunk but had to beware of her arms as I tried to move her leg. She was too quick for me and unbalanced me sending me onto my side and then a very fast switch and she was behind me and got me with a rear naked choke. I tapped. 10-0 to Venom.
Just in case you are wondering how I am able to remember so much, I quickly type in shorthand notes at the end of each round – just enough to help me complete a bit more detail when my memory is jogged by my notes later on. Round 11 was a quick round, probably the quickest of the match and I tapped to an armbar. 11-0 to Venom.
I had been watching some triangle escapes on youtube the night before and tried one in round 12 as Venom started to apply the triangle on me. I moved my right hand into a telephone position to block the back of her leg and keep her leg bent. I then moved up and pushed towards her to press the leg back giving me the option to rotate. However, Venom had the strength to sqeeze the triangle in and while my head was buried looking into her stomach area, I did not see her left hand pull her own left ankle to get extra pressure with the triangle. I had to tap, Venom told ne what she did afterwards. 12-0 to Venom.
I struggled quite well for 2 minutes or so in round 13 and we were both sweating a bit and reddening in the face with the effort of the session. I’m glad it was at least a little taxing for her, I was certainly getting a good workout. She managed to get her legs around my chest in a cross body scissors which was beginning to crush my chest and restrict my breathing so I tapped. 13-0 to Venom.
A quick drink of water and towel down and then we were facing each other for another round. This time when Venom went for the armbar, I tried another escape move that I saw on youtube but it backfired on me. Basically, the opponent on the youtube clip did not do a lot when the opponent was escaping. Venom was well onto me and had a counter for my escape attempt and as I rolled my body away, may left arm was caught and was twisting the other way behind my back and I was in danger of being caught in a wrist lock too so I had to tap. 14-0 to Venom.
The 15th round must have been the longest of the match and we covered a good bit of the mats as Venom pressed sown on me in side mount position with her leading leg positioned to take extra control when she needed. I shifted beneath her as she moved to keep my chances of escape open. As I tried to force my way up off the mats using my size advantage, I got caught with an armbar on the left arm. 15-0 to Venom.
As the rounds went on and I was game for more action, Venom gradually increased her intensity level and I was fine with the level we were wrestling at throughout the match. I tried to push her back at the start of this round to see if I could use my size advantage to gain the upper hand but went straight into her body scissors. Venom gradually applied the pressure and I tapped. 16-0 to Venom.
The next round involved me submitting to another hold that is new to me and I need to find out its name. Basically, my bent right arm was trapped by her body when she had side mount control and she simply leaned into me to pressurise the shoulder and I submitted. 17-0 to Venom.
We were soon on the mats again in a hot sweaty grappling contest, I was trying to sap her energy to see if I would have something left to gain a late point, but Venom kept pouring her energy into the fight. She had failed to get the grapevine on earlier but this time she got my lower legs with her ankles and went for the grapevine. I planted my legs hard on the mats to hold them as close together as I could while Venom was trying grapevine them apart. It was a test of isometric strength, surprisingly I felt the pain in my hamstrings rather than lower legs, due to my effort in keeping my legs together. I had to tap and it was 18-0 to Venom.
On my back once more with Venom in control with aside mount position, switching periodically to full mount and back. We moved across the mats and I planted my foot on the side wall to try and get some leverage to get out from under her while she could not see (she knows now if she’s reading) but to no avail, Venom went for the guillotine and I had to keep her hands apart, she was almost getting a one handed guillotine and I was seriously thinking of tapping at that point, but wanted to try and fight my way out if I could, but once her hands joined and the guillotine was fully on I tapped. 19-0 to Venom.
Venom’s next point came from a choke move from the front, with one arm behind my neck and the other in front and one hand taking her opposite arm to press the hold home. She looked into my eyes as she applied it to see the effect and know I was OK, I verbally tapped on this occasion. 20-0 to Venom.
I mentioned that my record defeat was by 21 points (it was actually only by 20 when I looked it up later). So Venom went all out to get the points she needed for a record win against me. I tried to stifle her attempts to do this but she was technically excellent and putting on an excellent show of martial arts skill. I was soon tapping to another armbar. 21-0 to Venom.
We launched into a final bout of action and I struggled to defend and reduce the risks, trying to avoid holds rather than use any offensive techniques that Venom could counter. She soon got my back and had her legs around my waist with her heels tucked in between my legs. I was expecting a nelson / body scissors combo but the compression was actually on my hips and I was feeling but stubbornly resisted until an arm slipped under my throat as my forehead was eased back with her other hand. I tapped and the match ended 22-0 to Venom.
This was an excellent experience, finding out first-hand what it is like to take on an athlete of such ability. I was nowhere near getting any points myself but made a good physical effort and as I type, I know I’ve had a good workout today. Cam came back to find out the score and talk to us about the session and then kindly dropped us back to the station. Venom and I said our goodbyes there as she took one tube line while I took the Hammersmith line back to Paddington and then the train back to Wales. I’ll do some more homework on youtube before next Saturday when I take on Venom again in a 30 minute bout which I’m really looking forward to already.
