As the sport of BJJ continues to grow so do the tournaments all across the world. Between your academy, word of mouth, and the internet it has become quite easy to find a grappling tournament taking place every few weeks within driving distance of your home.
Events that started only a few years ago housing about 50-100 competitors now consistently attract around 200-300 fighters. And we all know how well the high profile tournaments do like the Pan Ams, Mundials, and the Abu Dhabis.
An off-shoot of this growth is an influx of first time competitors. Some of these first timers will fight in one tournament and decide it is not for them others will become addicted and travel hours and across multiple state lines just to test their skills against an unfamiliar foe.
Whoever you are there, here is some advice to those beginning their tournament journey in BJJ:
RELAX - Easier said than done and something I should practice instead of preach. Look, it's your first tournament; you are going to be nervous. If you are generally a nervous individual anyway then there is a good chance days leading up to the event you may start to feel butterflies. But don't worry, as soon as the match starts that all goes away. You are finally able to unleash all that pent up nervous energy. And regardless of the outcome you will never be as nervous as you were for that first fight.
ROLL LIKE YOU ARE IN CLASS - Rest on the fundamentals. Clear your mind and just let your instincts take over. Whether you have been training bjj for 2 months or 2 years believe in what you have learned and use it. The person across from you is not super-human. They go to class, train, sweat, and make mistakes just like you. He or she is just another training partner and training partners are there for you to learn and improve your jiu jitsu. A tournament is one giant learning experience after all.
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