The stress tok me

[feeeno]

part of the guys are going to tournament next week, so we had some competition in training.
There were two minuter matches where the winners get points, quite funny.
I came against two buddies that I win 90% over in regular sparring, but today I lost both. It felt as I stiffened with all the pressure and I didnt have aggression at all. including I lost all feelings in my fingers after the first match, and everything went bad.

It was quite educative, where much of my weaknesses became visible. I have tournament little under a month and was wondering if you had tips on how I should spar henceforth to change the behavior / aggression and the stress.

 

[SuperSuperRambo]

It's normal. The answer is really just more hard sparring at that pace. Your regular sparring with these guys might not be as intense, and you need to replicate that in training. Competing regularly will also help.

 

[KikoJones]

I have two or three training partners that I know we'll be turning it up to 11. Everyone else is just a technical roll. I tend to roll more with those intense partners more before competitions. But they're not just spazes, they understand the difference between intensity and all out brawl. OP, if you want to compete regularly, find those partners that won't take it personally when you're ripping grips and exploding for the sweep. That'll get you in the right frame of mind.

P.S. I got one guy that's really good and talks mad shit to me the whole time we're rolling, now that gets you mentally prepared.

 

[Tchoker]

Try dropping into a different gym than yours for open mat. You'll be rolling with new folks obviously, which usually ends up in a hard roll, assuming you're somewhat evenly matched. As the 'new guy,' the regulars at the gym will definitely turn it up to see what you're made of. This simulates a tournament setting....unfamiliar place, rolling with unfamiliar people.

I train in a tiny garage style gym, so I try this method whenever possible, as I have a very limited number of regular training partners. I've been to at least a dozen different gyms in the two years or so I've been training. Also, don't forget to breathe!

 

[berimBOWLoh]

pretty common. most ppl perform much worse, a rare few perform better.

the fact idgaf seems to benefit me in those type of situations.