Should I do beginner or Intermediate?

[K-Style]

Hey guys. I've been training for about 7 months and have a tournament coming up. I wasn't sure what division I should be in for no gi. The tournament cutoff for novice to beginner is 6 months but I don't have any wrestling background and haven't train more than a few classes in no gi. My school only has class twice a week. My question is should I go ahead and move up to the 6 to 1.5 years group? Or stay with the under 6 month group since this is my first no gi tourney? I'm not trying to sandbag but I'd like to get a little experience. I just wasn't sure how much of a difference there was between the divisions. Thanks,

 

[JamesBJJ.**]

Huge difference in the divisions, go with the begginer you have not been training long and you dont train often.

I would not consider that move sandbagging.

 

[EducatedFool]

If you've never entered before, beginner is the way to go.

 

[ratichek]

It depends on what you want from the tourney. I would say that if you want to really push yourself then go for the upper division. Set your standards high and be ready to do your best. Itll help you improve more in most cases.

On the flip side there will be guys in the 6-1.5 division who have been training 5-6 days a week for 1 .5 years and may do very well. I would consider how you do in your class and against other schools students when you cross train. If you are very good for your experience level then stay with the upper class. If you are average or below compared to other guys then its fine to stay in begginer.

 

[Nick Kilian]

Intermediate if you have wrestling experience. What I do is I go into advanced nogi which isn't too bad if you have wrestling experience and do white belt gi. It balances out. You learn from being able to do technique and you also learn from getting your ass handed to you.

 

[JJd2sc]

I personally think 7 months is fine to enter the novice division if you only train 2 days a week. It will be good experience, and there will be some people in that division that train daily for 6 months as well.

 

[Meegle818]

i would go for the lower division....this is your first tournament, you havn't been training for a year, give it a try. If you find that you walkthrough the compition then i guess its time to move up. But like most people are saying, if this is your first tournament and you've only been doing it for 7 months just go easy and see where it takes you

 

[Trickster***]

Novice and/or beginner! Unless you are a phenom you are going to get TOOLED in intermediate!

Beginner is just fine...but try novice! Novice is ALL strength and very lil technique with a lot of wrestlers but why not start there and not move up until you win.

Win Novice move to Beg.
Win Beg. move to Int
Etc

 

[Corey Lautischer]

do you want to learn as much as possible or do you want to win some prize??
push yourself

 

[Mr. Switch]

do you want to learn as much as possible or do you want to win some prize??
push yourself

What if he goes out within the first five minutes- it's not like he can just keep rolling... Plus he doesn't know what level he's at. It's fair enough trying to push yourself but surely that's a little like saying to someone who's never even lifted weights before to go pick up a car- it won't last that long, it'll be painful to watch, possibly painful to do and pretty pointless in the long run.

 

[peregrine]

I think novice is fine. 7months is not long.
Take into account guys who train 7days a week 4hrs a day, v someone who trains 2x week 1hr. Big difference. With class2x week, you are like a guy whos trained 5x week for 2months. I'd enter the novice even at 1.5yrs in your situation.

These guys saying push yourself are forgetting that one should have a place of reference to see where they are at before pushing yourself.
It's like the guy who tries to bench 225 before he's ever lifted 205. Push yourself, how the hell are you supposed to know if you can push 225 if you have never lifted 205 and don't even lift weights. He trains 2x week.

Enter the novice with a clean concscience(?) and put your work in. You need the tournament time to get seasoned, but you also need a lot more mat time before you're an intermediate.

 

[stlnl2]

Beginner. there will be plenty of beginners who have been training 6 days a week 2-3 hours a day. They will be test enough to push yourself against.

 

[peregrine]

do you want to learn as much as possible or do you want to win some prize??
push yourself

silly post considering he trains 2x week and has never entered a tournament.
no reference point.

 

[Corey Lautischer]

What if he goes out within the first five minutes-.

then it's a humbling day indeed and he'll train that much harder

maybe it's just me, but I'd rather roll with guys I'm sure are going to give me a huge challenge, rather than guys that may or may not be at my level