A nasty respiratory infection wasn’t enough to keep Vernon’s Sarah Draht from claiming her second-ever gold medal at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan American Championships in Los Angeles.
Draht, who trains at the Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu centres in Vernon and Kelowna, won her first match by what she refers to as a “modified bow-and-arrow choke.” Already way ahead on points, she forced her opponent to tap with the submission in the final 30 seconds.
Draht, who won gold as a white belt in her PanAm debut, and silver as a blue belt, went up against a purple belt with three stripes (one step below brown) in her next match. Ahead on points in the final minute, she could feel her lungs rebelling.
“It was the longest last minute of my life. Mario (head instructor Deveault) was like ‘Do not get scored on!’”
Having already secured her purple belt heavyweight (163 pounds or more) gold, Draht competed in the Open class in her final bout, losing by just two points.
“My throat was starting to close up. I could have had her, but I just ran out of gas,” she said.
Draht credits an intense four-month boxing training camp for giving her a physical edge at PanAms.
“I think that’s what got me gold. It sucked that I was sick, but that conditioning pushed me through,” said Draht, who trains for boxing with Brian Jones at the Vernon Boxing Club.
“They might have technique on me, but my game-plan was to just go, go, go.”
Draht notes the life of a fighter isn’t as glamourous as it might appear.
“People look at the medals and think training to be a fighter must be great. It’s not. It’s hard work. You’re not drinking, you’re not partying, and you’re eating stupid tuna salads. But the last six months of my life were so worth it for those 21 minutes.”
In other PanAm action, Vernon brown belt Gary Armbrust earned bronze in the senior 1 men’s medium-heavyweight class. Other Vernon Gracie Barra members John Davies and Garret Herzig battled hard, but came up empty-handed in the single-elimination tournament.
“This is the second-largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the world, and an opportunity to test one’s skills against competitors from around the globe,” said Deveault, a Gracie Barra black belt.
“Regardless of results, there is so much to take home from huge tournaments like this. It tests your mind and all your training.”
Draht, who is on the lookout for sponsorship, plans to drop a weight class when she goes to IBJJF worlds, June 2-5 in L.A.
“The girls just get to be too big,” said Draht, who teaches women’s kickboxing and jiu-jitsu at the centre in Kelowna.
Jorden Reichenbach, another Kelowna instructor, earned bronze in the purple belt super-heavyweight.
