Competition

The opinions on competing in BJJ tournaments are as varied as the people you see walking into a BJJ or MMA gym.  Some schools are very competition oriented and place a lot of emphasis on competing even to the point where you must win your division at a certain belt level in order to be promoted.  Others are much more layed back and do not place as much emphasis on competition.  The different attitudes you will find around the world towards jiujitsu and the various aspects of it is why I love this sport.  There is a niche for everyone.  From the ultra competitive athlete to the guy who just wants to get in shape, lose weight, and learn self-defense.  As for myself I think I land more on the competition oriented side of the spectrum.  While I don't compete as much as some I definitely compete more than most.  My personal reasons for competing are pretty varied but it pretty much boils down to wanting to push myself and seeing how I stack up against other schools.  I also believe that competing gives you a true idea of where your skills are really at.  What I mean is that when your in your gym rolling or drilling your on a nice cush mat, you are pretty confident that your not going to get slammed or punched in the face.  Now I am aware that you can't strike in grappling competition but I do believe that the adrenaline you experience when you step on the competition mats is similar to what you would feel in a self-defense situation.  You get tunnel vision, you are extremely tense, dare I say scared?  You try to muscle everything and technique goes out the window a lot of the time.  Now, I am just speaking from personal experience, this is not to say that everyone is like this.  In fact I know there are many out there who have great composure before and during a fight, but this is something that I have struggled with in past competitions.  I want to master this weakness in my game and so I push myself to compete although I don't always feel like it.  In addition I love the feeling I get after winning a match, you feel accomplished.  I am not happy that I hurt another human being, I am happy that I overcame my own fears and fought through them.  I am grateful to my opponent for having the guts to step on the mats and push himself as well as me.  I am grateful for all my training partners and coaches who push me to improve and who support me during the tournament.  That is the reason I compete, and hey the gold medal doesn't hurt either.;)
          Another reason I enjoy competing is how much I learn.  Whether I win or lose (but more when I lose) I always come away with questions for my instructors and exposed weaknesses in my game.  I come away with a renewed determination to train harder and to iron out those weaknesses that were exposed to me.  Fighting people from different schools with different styles quickly reveals all those weaknesses for you.  In essence I believe competition is good for everyone but certainly not a requirement to become an accomplished jiujitsu practioner.  I am competing next week in a tournament and I am very excited to do so.  Peace out, and train hard!!!