Hi... I've been training BJJ on and off (because of university) for about 8, 9 months now. I've never been competitive with any sports I played, but BJJ changed that for me, in a fun and healthy way. So anyway, I entering my first tournament in about 2 weeks. It's a 2-day competition. First day is gi, and day-2 is no-gi. I train primarily no-gi. Mostly I go shirtless with just some comfortable basketball shorts. So my questions are several. Greatly appreciate responses to any of them. 1) Do I need grappling short (sprawl, tapout stuff?) 2) Do I need a rash guard, if so, can I use rash guards used my surfers (I used to surf). Is there a difference? 3) Where I can find a cheap gi (I used to borrow the loaner at my gym. My gym is really hot. Training gi sucks in the warm weather). Any specifications on them? 3) Any overall advice on what I should expect as per my first competition? (I'm entering the white-belt (gi) and beginner (no-gi) level at lightweight (155) 4) Oh last question. I wake up at 160lbs. 5 pounds is not much to cut. Any advice how how to do it while maintaining my good cardio and strength? Thank you very much ahead of time
1: no 2: no 3: rednose, gameness, century make sure you gi is not tight they will check it check ibjjf.com for exact info. Expect for you opponent to use a bunch of strength and not be too technical. Just be calm and do you best. 4:5 pounds is nothing just eat light and make sure to hit you cardio hard.
Have fun! Even though I'm green to competition myself, I thinkthat you should just soak up the atmosphere and feeling of competition and enjoy yourself! Tha hould come first.
1) No, but if you have a choice avoid shorts that have pockets (people can break fingers if they get caught in the pockets) and avoid shorts with only elastic in the waist as they sometimes will slip down in a comp and it can ruin your game, to say the least 2) No, I just wear some cheap wal mart knock off underarmor 3)Howard Combat Kimonos. You can get a nice one from their website for like 75, and its really high quality. HCK BJJ KIMONOS just run it through the dryer twice to get it shrunk to size 4) Being nervous is okay, but never get into a panic. Everything your instructor showed you is legit, don't decide to start improvising stuff. 5) When I cut weight I use the 'water cycle" method. without going into too much detail it's: Water In- Sweat it out- Rehydrate-sweat it out- rehydrate-sweat it out- weight in- rehydrate (over a period of a few days). It's what your body does naturally, just timed to coincide with your weigh in. Don't be a tool like my one friend and cut those 3lbs by eating 500 calories a day for three days and then wonder why you lost every match
1. Yes, get some shorts without pockets and with a good drawstring. Truth Fightware has a good pair of grappling shorts for $25. 2. Being shirtless is an advantage, I think. 3. HCK, Padilla and Sons, and Fuji all make good cheap gis. 4. The pace will probably be a lot faster than you're used to in class, especially at beginner levels. Be ready to go hard the whole time. 5. 5 pounds is nothing. Get some plastics and work out for an hour the night before and wait until weigh-ins to rehydrate. I wouldn't restrict food at all (except for a light dinner the night before).
My instructor asked me if I was comfortable passing guard, I said yeah, He said can you escape mount, I said yeah. He said than keep working those 2 and everything else will fall into place. So needless to say that's all i worked getting ready for my first tournament.
Dont be concerened with what you are wearing. Just relax and play your game! Dont be afraid to go for things, your subs and sweeps actually work better in tourneys if you do them right bc people tend to stiffen up at your level. I know that bc thats my level too. And people are so stiff and use so much muscle that if I would just relaxed and played my game I wouldve gotten more taps or sweeps.
If you do not have a wrestling background and are not practicing live standup grappling frequently right now, use the time you have left to heavily work takedowns, defense, and guard pulling. Do not change your strategies or what you routinely do when you're in a tournament. Basically, if you are not confident in your single legs, your first tournament is not the time to go for one. If you are good off your back, no shame in pulling guard. Nothing worse than spending four minutes on your feet when you spend x hours a week training on the ground. Expect a lot of people in the no gi beginner division to have years of wrestling experience. Have fun, but go to win.
im askin about what I'm wearing because I know there's certain regulations for them. i havent been to the gym in a bout a month because of exams and wont be back till september. didnt ask anythign about competition stuff. gi is self-explanatory. so for no-gi... just wondering if i can go shirtless. if i cant, does it have to be a rash guard... and for the shorts... they must have no pockets? whats the regulations on those?
I was always told it doesn't have to be a rash guard but if it's a t-shirt it should have sleeves. Then again I've seen people wearing like wrestler onezees or whatever their called. No pockets in the shorts and no shirt under the gi top.
appreciate that last bit a lot.... yea.. we rarely, rarely practice live grappling from a standing position. I am very concerned with the takedown aspect. my strategy was if i get taken down.. imma try my best to have them land in my guard (of course, not always possible), cuz im really good off my back. or i was thinkin of butt scooping and goin for marcelo garcia sweeps are pull x guard
Probably not the best idea. You should do some practice in-house "tournaments" to try and acclimate yourself to the increased intensity. The tournament will still be much more intense, but it will help. Just don't get hurt training.
Concerning equipment: Don't go shirtless, it give you an edge, but your are exposed to cuts and fungi. Don't use shorts with pockets, it's dangerous and will become unconfortable. You can use surf equipment, it does not need to be a mma brand to do its job (cover your skin). Google for cheap Gis, there is a lot of cheaper gis (non of them are cheap!). I give you an advice, buy a good gi, it will be worth the money in the long run and will be harder for your oponent to grab you. Concerning your game. Don't inovate in a tournament, keep your game to what you trained and are better at. Be afraid, but don't be nervous or panic, and hear what your team mates are saying. PS: keep your elbows close!
thanks everyone for your responses. i weigh 158 after a full meal now.. so I should wake up at 154, 155. my goal to wake up at 152, 153 so i can get a nice breakfast in before the weigh-ins (it's a long drive to the competition stage and I never feel good for the day without breakfast). any more tips is welcome, helpful and greatly appreciate. the tournaments date is june 21st (gi) and 22nd (no-gi) so right now i'm just working strength and cardio for my physical condition. techniques: i figure im not goin to learn proper double-legs, single-legs in 2 weeks. so I'm working a lot of takedowns from clinch. a lot of sprawls. n i'm just perfecting the basic sweeps, doing pummeling drills, and really working the submissiong i'm comfortable with (not planning to try anything i can only pull in practice) thanks again... any more input or your personal expereince of your first tournament is greatly appreciated
u should do alright. there might be som blue belts in your division for no gi. since i believe the time is up to 2 years in beginner no gi. but take your time and remember to BREATH! seriously even having someone there to tell you to breath can help. relax
That is the best advice you can get man. In my first comp a quick 3 min match felt like hours long and I was spent from prob holding my breath and being nervous. Relax and breath at all costs
