43 old ultra heavyweight competing for the first time

Michael McNeal

White Belt
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I’m a 43 yr old purple belt. I’m looking to compete for my first time coming up in July. I will be in the senior ultra heavyweight division. I’m nervous about starting competition as a purple belt and being 43 years old. I am vigorously training to get ready. Any advice or tips.
 
Best advice I can give is go for stuff that works for you and have a game plan.

If you like getting on top and going for collar chokes make that a priority

If you win most of your sparring sessions by pulling guard and landing a fancy sweep then pull to the guard you're comfortable with and land that sweep. Competition isn't the time to try new things. You want to have a game plan in mind but also be ready to deviate if you find yourself out of position. Since you're not going against your normal sparring partners don't be afraid to go right into what set up's and moves you know works for you. Your sparring partners are used to your stuff, your opponents aren't.

Also try to understand that competition is kind of its own beast. No matter how hard you think you're sparring it's just a different feel. Try to remain calm and breathe. I'm personally a fan of mental preparation but every person is different.

As a side bar don't be upset if when it's all done you look back at it and think you could have done better. Competition definitely takes a while to get used to and people rarely preform as good as in comp as they do sparring until they get used to it. Only way to do this is to compete more. The really good guys know how to use the tournament jitters to ride to the occasion and compete better than they practice.

Good luck, and enjoy it.
 
Work your gripfighting. Easily the most important thing in grappling, and also the most overlooked. You're not doing anything without a dominant grip, and neither is your opponent.
 
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