Good post Andre.
I had similar experience, about freezing up in comps. I filmed myself in training and in competition and I looked like 2 different people! The stress/intensity of the competition also made me fatigue much quicker.
It's unfortunate people were getting hurt on their first time out. I saw the same thing but because competitors were too stubborn too tap.
I had a bad experience on Sunday at my first comp. I tapped my opponent with an armbar and when I released it he denied tapping. I then proceded to dominate him, nearly tapping him with an omoplata, 2 triangles and 2 armbars but still "lost" the match. It seems to me that until this type of thing stops happening then competitions don't hold much interest for me.
estanmilko - that sucks, especially considering you probably paid a rip-off entrance fee and deserve better, but, honestly, if you know in your heart that you dominated him, then what does it matter? I always have to laugh at guys that are complaining about points in the middle of their match. Just keep fighting, and whatever happens, happens.
Operator, it was in Birmingham in the UK.
I'm with the majority of you guys on here. I'm in my late 20's but even now I'm still feeling the effects of years joint manipulations, I guess however it goes with the territory. My only gripe is that as you get older you start to notice that you bounce back alot slower from your injuries. My first injury a torn ligament happened when I was in teens, till this day I still have pain in my knee. Most of the injuries I've had occurred while I was training and not in any competition. When I have been injured it's usually when I roll with new guys who are going balls out trying to rip your arm off and feel they have something to prove or when I'm training with someone alot bigger than myself. Personally Jujitsu for me has always been about self growth rather than who you can beat. Those who do decide to compete however hey my hats off to ya, but I'm with the majority here in that with age comes more responsibility, and the rewards of competing are just not worth the risk of getting injured.
Bruce ~
that sucks so bad estanmilko.
I´ve competed a few times now, never really did amazing, always around average (lol story of my life), but it´s something i always wanted to do simply because it´s so different from training. Going against someone who´s going balls to the wall to beat you, that´s the reason i like it. Plus knowing you only get that ONE shot at beating this guy, you can´t just tap and then go with him again, every position you give up is potentually disastrous, it´s not "just another tap", so not only do you get someone going crazy on you, but you get to go crazy on other people :) (within the limits of the rules of course).
Qey, I agree, I was soooo surprised at how much more tiring it was than sparring. I've gone against plenty of people who fought harder than this guy, guys who outweighed me by 10 kg or more, but NONE of them tired me out as much as this guy did.
I've been competing in grappling events since I was 11 years old - I'm going on 32 now. It was only a few years ago that I got my first Gold medal, and you know what, it didn't mean that much to me.
What I've gained through such competition is a real sense of composure during stressful situations and met a heap of people who I wouldn't have had the chance of meeting otherwise. It's such events that make a individual sport into a team event.
Yeah it´s crazy estan, i remember my first competition i did horribly, in part (propably only a small part lol, i was pretty bad in that tourney) because i spassed out at everything, i was so concerned of giving up position so insted of trying to flow and not go crazy i was holding on to dear life to everything. As i competed a bit more i learned to relax a bit when i had a chance insted of spassing all the time, but it´s still totally different :o
If I had to answer someone that asked the question; "Should I compete?"
I would answer, if you really want to you will, if you really don't want to you won't. If you aren't sure, compete three times, by then you will know whether you want to continue competing or not.
Dave.
Competitions stress the hell out of me, but if you really want to progress in the sport and be part of this community, you should enter some of them.
In competition you see how well you perform under stressfull conditions and without knowing anyhting about the fighting style of your opponent (most times) ... very similar to a street fight !
Defeats should be treated in my opinion as "the best instructor", you learn a lot from a defeat, you discover weaknesses and imperfections in your strategy and technique. They should not be an excuse to avoid re-entering a competition, even if the refereing was bad.
At the end of the day, competing is an experience, and the only way to gain such experience is to actually do it. I try to enjoy the effort as much as I can, if I lose then I accept the defeat, if I win even better! I believe effort counts more than the result.
As far as injuries go, you can avoid most of them by tapping on time. I always put my ego behind when I am caught and tap immediately. Referees should be very carefull of this and iterrupt the fight immediately.
A lot of people don't want to accept that they've been caught and end up unconscious or with a broken elbow, arm etc !
You should compete once at every rank you acheive no matter what IMO
After that, compete only when you want to. In my first not quite 1.5 yrs of jiu jitsu, my appetite for comp seems like it's 3 to 5 times per year.
If next year I want to compete every month or once all year, I'll follow what my drive is telling me to do.
I'm pushed to compete in every tournament by my instructor. Everytime a competition comes around, I know I'm going to be asked to compete. When I was younger I would compete because I had that fire to go out and try to win. Now that I'm getting older, I only compete in certain competitions (due to the lack of peoople in my division in smaleer competitions, brown belt, feather, adult or masters division). I just go out there not worrying about winning or losing, but just trying to see for myself if I can still compete at a high level. Win or lose, I don't care. Luckily, I still have it. I won my Pan Ams division this year in a higher weight class than normal. I know that my time will come though and that when it does I'll be ok with it. I guess that the attitude of just going out there and proving it to yourself just comes with age because I was not like that when I first started.
"which is no big deal however my instructor wouldn't talk to me after for some time, very embarassing."
That is sad neckcranku. If your coach really did that, you should reevaluate where you are training. Good luck.
Brett
It's great to see where you stand compared to other people who train but between bad reffing, the nerves pre fight, and most of all, everything running 4 hours behind time, it doesn't seem to be worth it. With that said, I try to compete given any chance. It's infrequent enough that I forget about the huge delays, nerves, etc so I keep trying it.
I injure myself enough in class so I do'nt worry about comps.
I am too old and slow to complete against younger
guys in my weight division...as well as only
possessing elementary skills. Despite all my
efforts, I remain only a very basic grappler.
I train for the enjoyment of training, to get fit and to
attempt to master the technical aspects of
grappling.
I enjoy rolling with the guys who are getting ready
for upcoming comps (usually I get smashed..) and
if by some small measure I can help someone
else achieve their goal of winning in a comp, I
consider my amatuerish effort worthwhile.
ttt