Hey veterans...Best advice for a NAGA novice?

D

DMcKayBJJ

Blue Belt
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
602
Reaction score
0
This is for all the seasoned NAGA competitors out there.

PLEASE HELP ME.

I need your best tips (short and sweet) because I'm thinking of competing at an upcoming NAGA event and would like your advice on how to improve my chances of doing well and not embarrassing the hell out of myself or my school.

I'll be doing GI (I've trained BJJ for almost a year) and will probably try NO-GI (for fun since I've never done it before).

Is it as disorganized as I've heard? Is the sandbagging really that bad? I've also heard the referees sometimes totally suck.

It's my first tournament, and I'm trying to keep my attitude of "I'm just doing it for the fun of it and to test myself against total strangers." But it's hard not to get super competitive about it and think, "Wait...I might actually have a chance to do really well or maybe even win my division if I get more intense about it." And, obviously, nobody likes losing, especially since it won't be the type of "check-your-ego-at-the-door" type of learning/training we do in class.

What do you guys think?
 
I've done one NAGA tournament, and it was fairly chaotic, although not totally unorganized. I though the sandbagging wasn't terrible--I think most people were in the correct division.

Get total clarification on the rules at the meeting before the fight. There are so many variables in scoring. Referees will differ as to what constitutes "pulling guard" and hence involves no points for a takedown. Similarly, "passing guard" is open to interpretation. Overall, I found the point allocations stingier than I would have expected (although fairly administered for the most part).

Give it a shot. I had a good experience.
 
I'm not a real veteran but........

I'm kind of fond of NAGA tournaments since they are the only tournament that comes to Hawaii that usually have the least amount of bias as they bring their own judges. Plus NAGA was my first tournament that I entered and won in the white belt division.

I could not enter the last NAGA Hawaii since I am recovering from bulging discs L5, L4, L3 BUT I was there supporting my teammates. I am NOT a expert or anything but if you wanted any advice I would say this.

If you are going with your classmates and instructor, really break down stuff. Who will watch your bags when you are on the mat? Who will watch time? Who will coach you? Who has the digital camera and who has the video going? Who will keep score? That sort of thing.

As a competitor you need to focus on your competitor and what you are doing in the match. Nothing else. You really want your own time keeper that is matched to the official time keeper. Then you need someone to keep track if you are ahead and if you are getting your points. You need one voice yelling instructions no matter if you are ahead or behind. You need someone to watch your bags, wallets, watch, cooler with bananas etc to make sure no one steals your stuff. You will want pictures and video if you can to improve what needs improvement. So make sure you designate that in advance and have back up at the match.

Other than that, practice take downs, throws and sweeps these are your instant points no matter what happens. You must train all the time so continue to ask your instructor how to improve. Stop training a night before and meditate. Sleep well, eat a good breakfast and get to the tournament early. Pack bottles of water in three stages, totally frozen, three quarters frozen and half way frozen. Pack it is a collapsable cooler with your lunch, meal replacement bars, bananas, motrin and advil.

A NAGA event is long and the frozen water will melt, bananas help with cramping and provide a stable supply of energy, who knows when your match will begin, so having food and drink on hand prevents you from being disqualified as you stand in line outside buying something.

Other than that I can't think of anything else. Just remember you got guts entering a tournament. Out of all the people that trained grappling at your school you entered a tournament and represented your school. You are a winner no matter whose hands are raised in the end and what if any medal / sword is on your neck or in your hands.
 
Ive done a bunch, best thing is to be prepared for the worst. If you are terrible at escaping mount, under sidemount, or get stuck in guard/half guard then you definitely should work on that before going.
 
No matter how smooth the tourny there will be a lot of waiting around, so bring your ipod or a book and find a comfy place to chill out before your division gets called.

Also bring some fruit, drink, energy bar etc...

Training wise be prepared for the best case scenario which = several matches in a row. :D
 
jjmuaythaiguy said:
I'm not a real veteran but........

I'm kind of fond of NAGA tournaments since they are the only tournament that comes to Hawaii that usually have the least amount of bias as they bring their own judges. Plus NAGA was my first tournament that I entered and won in the white belt division.

I could not enter the last NAGA Hawaii since I am recovering from bulging discs L5, L4, L3 BUT I was there supporting my teammates. I am NOT a expert or anything but if you wanted any advice I would say this.

If you are going with your classmates and instructor, really break down stuff. Who will watch your bags when you are on the mat? Who will watch time? Who will coach you? Who has the digital camera and who has the video going? Who will keep score? That sort of thing.

As a competitor you need to focus on your competitor and what you are doing in the match. Nothing else. You really want your own time keeper that is matched to the official time keeper. Then you need someone to keep track if you are ahead and if you are getting your points. You need one voice yelling instructions no matter if you are ahead or behind. You need someone to watch your bags, wallets, watch, cooler with bananas etc to make sure no one steals your stuff. You will want pictures and video if you can to improve what needs improvement. So make sure you designate that in advance and have back up at the match.

Other than that, practice take downs, throws and sweeps these are your instant points no matter what happens. You must train all the time so continue to ask your instructor how to improve. Stop training a night before and meditate. Sleep well, eat a good breakfast and get to the tournament early. Pack bottles of water in three stages, totally frozen, three quarters frozen and half way frozen. Pack it is a collapsable cooler with your lunch, meal replacement bars, bananas, motrin and advil.

A NAGA event is long and the frozen water will melt, bananas help with cramping and provide a stable supply of energy, who knows when your match will begin, so having food and drink on hand prevents you from being disqualified as you stand in line outside buying something.

Other than that I can't think of anything else. Just remember you got guts entering a tournament. Out of all the people that trained grappling at your school you entered a tournament and represented your school. You are a winner no matter whose hands are raised in the end and what if any medal / sword is on your neck or in your hands.
Click to expand...

Top notch advice

As was said in the absolutely excellent post above, the secondary things always cause the most trouble. You win some you lose some but the event itself can really suck, win or lose, if your not prepared for all the non jiu-jitsu stuff.

One other thing DO BOTH GI AND NO GI. If you lose quick in one div. You can't have too much tourney expirence.
 
If you do Gi and No-Gi expect a LOOOOONGGG day. No gi is usually done in the morning 11 on, and Gi is in the afternoon/evening. The one NAGA I went to, was fairly organized considering the massive amount of people.
 
Aside from practicing for a tourney like any other, I can tell you NAGA events tend to be LONG. Whatever time estimate they gave you for your division to start, you can rest assured that you likely will not fight till hours afterwards.

Definitely bring food, drinks, and anything else to keep you entertained, or you will drive yourself crazy with all the waiting around. Believe it or not, waiting just makes your nervousness and anxiety worse, so try to keep occupied and relaxed before your division starts.
 
I've done one NAGA and won the men's beginners. I had thought about doing intermediate but being that it was my first tourney I wasn't sure what to expect. Well there were only 3 guys total between the intermediate and advanced, so those guys had thier own category. The mens beginner had around 15 guys. Novice had around 18 guys. The level of competition wasn't that great. I won the beginners pretty easy so i think I could've bumped up, but those guys looked really good. So its hard to say if some guys were sandbaggin or if the level of really good guys just wasn't there. It looked the same in every other weight class as well.

Tips:

1. Great advice above about having your own time keeper and score guy in your corner. Also have a corner guy coach. There were a bunch of times that I just shouted out "time" to see how much I had to go. And one of my boys kept yelling, "your up 4, your 4" this will all play into what strategy you have in each match.

2. I didn't go for too many subs in order to avoid giving up postition and points. My strategy the whole time was to try and better my position and earn points and if I saw a sub go for it only if I wasn't going to give up points if I missed it. My closest match was 10-4.

3. Drink water, because once your bracket starts the matches seemed like they were coming around really fast

4. Organization - compared to high school wrestling tourney's this was a disaster, but honestly other than my bracket starting about an hour after we thought it would, it wasn't all that bad. They try to keep it moving rather quickly.

5. Best advice I can give you are two things. 1 - regardless who you are going up against or what school he's from, he's nobody special. Remember, he's just another guy in the beginners bracket just like you. So go take it to him. 2. This isn't practice, this isn't your buddy you practice with and try out new moves. This is match and if you lose you go home. So fight to win.

Good Luck
 
hazeOne said:
I've done one NAGA and won the men's beginners. I had thought about doing intermediate but being that it was my first tourney I wasn't sure what to expect. Well there were only 3 guys total between the intermediate and advanced, so those guys had thier own category. The mens beginner had around 15 guys. Novice had around 18 guys. The level of competition wasn't that great. I won the beginners pretty easy so i think I could've bumped up, but those guys looked really good. So its hard to say if some guys were sandbaggin or if the level of really good guys just wasn't there. It looked the same in every other weight class as well.

Tips:

1. Great advice above about having your own time keeper and score guy in your corner. Also have a corner guy coach. There were a bunch of times that I just shouted out "time" to see how much I had to go. And one of my boys kept yelling, "your up 4, your 4" this will all play into what strategy you have in each match.

2. I didn't go for too many subs in order to avoid giving up postition and points. My strategy the whole time was to try and better my position and earn points and if I saw a sub go for it only if I wasn't going to give up points if I missed it. My closest match was 10-4.

3. Drink water, because once your bracket starts the matches seemed like they were coming around really fast

4. Organization - compared to high school wrestling tourney's this was a disaster, but honestly other than my bracket starting about an hour after we thought it would, it wasn't all that bad. They try to keep it moving rather quickly.

5. Best advice I can give you are two things. 1 - regardless who you are going up against or what school he's from, he's nobody special. Remember, he's just another guy in the beginners bracket just like you. So go take it to him. 2. This isn't practice, this isn't your buddy you practice with and try out new moves. This is match and if you lose you go home. So fight to win.

Good Luck
Click to expand...

Also good advice. I have my first NAGA coming this Saturday and I'm very anxious.
 
NAGA is a solid tournament, sandbagging always goes on, I always enter a dvision up from mine. You will have fun, just fight hard.
 
Gentlemen, thank you for all the excellent advice. This is exactly what I was looking for.

Anyone else want to throw in their 2 cents?
 
Condition and train hard before your tournament. Try to work on different gameplans every time you step in the gym and drill hard. Always stretch and warmup before.

Eat well before the tournament... stretch and get loose before your match... even if you're cutting weight, still eat decent so you won't get burnt out before the match and lose your strength... remember, this is just one tournament. It's nothing too crazy.

Just think of competition as rolling hard with a new person. Learn as much as you can, but try your best and be confident and you'll be fine. Hydrate after every match... and watch for your name. Sometimes, it takes a hour after you think you're going to compete before you do. Always be ready and calm.

If it's your first tournament, you will still have a chance of winning but winning isn't everything. Get as much experience as you can and LEARN from your mistakes. Work in class what you did right and what you did wrong.

Sandbagging does occur, but you should be pretty fine in novice if you've been training a while. Experience, experience, experience!

If you lose, hold your head up high and don't complain. If you win, don't scream and act like you just won the UFC belt. Prepare right away for your next match. Save the victory dances for after the tournament.

Good luck!
 
i have a question.How high do the scores usually get up to?its my first tourney but i should have the best double leg in my division.thats a quick two if things go my way but i wonder how many points it normally takes to win.oh yeah Don't stress i'm not expecting to completely live off of my double i'm working on my entire game equally.
 
dirtroller said:
i have a question.How high do the scores usually get up to?its my first tourney but i should have the best double leg in my division.thats a quick two if things go my way but i wonder how many points it normally takes to win.oh yeah Don't stress i'm not expecting to completely live off of my double i'm working on my entire game equally.
Click to expand...

I have won matches in overtime after a full 6 minutes still 0-0. I have lost 22-0. I have won 18-0. I have lost by sub under a miute. I have won by sub in under a minute

There is some luck involved especially if you really test yourself, by moving up a division from where you should be. NAGA is good for that. They let you register say Intermidiate and You can just walk up to advanced when it is called. IF you lose, you can just go back to your division, just bring your card with you (If you ahve done NAGA you know what I mean)
 
Im definitely not a veteran, but show up as soon as the tournament starts. Theyll give you the the approximate start time but it can mean nothing. I supposed to go last on my mat at 5 pm but they ended bumping my division to going first on that mat at 9 am, luckily I showed up 5 minutes before I had to go.
 
Here are my two cents. If you train primarily Gi, I would only do Gi. Here's why:

1. Its an incredibly long day if you decide to do both, with No-Gi being done in the morning, and Gi being done in the evening. The waiting could leave you less then 100% for gi (the aspect in which you are good at)
2. The possibility of having several matches in the morning could leave you drained physically for Gi (even though they could be HOURS apart)
3. Injury. While it's rare, there is always the risk of injury, and it would be ashamed to be injured and not compete in your "bread & butter". Also, it would suck to miss training cuz of an injury because you decided to try no gi.
4. Confidence. If you get destroyed in your first match, it can affect your confidence when it comes time to do gi.

Bottom line, focus 100% of your efforts into what you train. Gi.

Also, if you've been training for almost a year, I would think your overqualified for Novice (6 months or less). While you might train gi only, you still have almost a years worth of grappling experience.
 
Two words

CHILL OUT

need to jsut relax, and go have fun... If you think to much about the tournament, your going to get stressed out and fail. Think of it as just another day training... win or lose.. just going to see whats up.......

With no expectations youll do fine..
 
Thanks to everyone for all the excellent advice.

I know a lot of it sounds pretty much "common sense," but it's great to hear it from experienced competitors.

It might sound gay, but I mentally feel a lot better and feel iike I've got the right attitude heading into the competition with all the above advice.

I'll be sure to post afterwards and let you all know how it went!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,267,476
Messages
57,474,641
Members
175,720
Latest member
athletesnation_mngt

Share this page

Back
Top