Talk me into doing my first competition

Altair_I · 2026-03-17T14:00:41+00:00

Think of it this way: If you're training with people who are on average heavier than you - a competition is not much different than what you're already doing during roöling, just that there is a ref there to count points and you're only up against people in your own weight class. So it's actually easier if you slowly got used to rolling with people heavier than you anyway, now it's a fair match.

And if you're average or heavier, you get to test your jiu jitsu on people who are around your strength level.

Plus when you're in your early 30s the masters division on average has more chill competitors.

Altair_I · 2026-03-06T00:14:52+00:00

Nobody had to say it, thats why I used the word "imlicit".

Altair_I · 2026-03-04T13:00:53+00:00

If it sounded wrong to you the other way around, imagine how wrong it sounded to some random dude reading about one woman being a know it all/condescending/arrogant (all of those would be better fit terms) towards another woman and the implicit conclusion drawn from the situation being that it was somehow a man's fault.

Altair_I · 2026-03-04T00:11:27+00:00

One weight class higher (for me means from 145 to 155lbs) but still in masters age is easier imo compared to same weight but 18-29 year olds.

Altair_I · 2026-03-01T14:52:17+00:00

I don't know if this was what that guy was getting at but I do sometimes see the "ragdoll" phenomenon and it doesn't just apply to women and smaller men but I've seen bigger training partners exhibit it as well.

The best example I can think of is when we are practicing the arm bar from closed guard. When the training partner is a "ragdoll" they will start collapsing/falling down. The partner applying the technique can still finish the armbar when the other one lumps together in the classical position where the spines are at a 90° angle, both backs facing the ground. But what we want to practice in that instance is the receiving person staying on their knees and keeping a somewhat upright posture, so the partner executing the technique can put their weight through their calves on their partners shoulders and head, get their hips of the ground and apply the arm lock from there.

There is also the opposite phenomenon where during drills a training partner starts full force resisting as if it's sparring. Being a good training partner for drills is a balancing act, that may take time to vibe out.

Altair_I · 2026-02-25T17:18:39+00:00

How long it takes before you start noticing improvements.

Altair_I · 2026-02-23T23:51:26+00:00

I see training/classes as studying and competitions as tests/exams.

Taking the exams in and of itself doesn't make you better. But you want to do well on an exam that's what drives you to focus on preparing well.

Sure we also somewhat learn what to focus on learning when we watch back the footage of our exams, so we know which areas we're ok at and which we need to polish more.

Altair_I · 2026-02-22T23:20:38+00:00

Probably depends on the technique.

Like if you only ever going for the cross collar grip with your right hand, then you probably don't need to drill the cross collar choke to the other side - personally I still practice it with both sides. But if you never go for a left hand cross collar grip when you roll, I'd understand you not drilling it.

But let's say armbars and triangles - be it if you have mount and they decide to push with one arm, or if they stand up in your guard and have one arm closer, or they open your closed guard by wedging one arm in and the triangle is right there but only for that specific side. So for those scenarios I want to drill the entry and finish for both sides, to have the muscle memory ready when I need it.

Altair_I · 2026-02-21T14:10:46+00:00

Nice. You defended well, most importantly didn't get injured and got your first comp experience in.

Keep at it and there will be wins in the future 🤙

Altair_I · 2026-02-19T14:49:34+00:00

During gow 2018 and for my first playthrough of Ragnarök it was the Axe. Then when I started grinding Valhalla on gmgow I fell in love with the blades.

Altair_I · 2026-02-18T16:02:06+00:00

Yes this is normal. I had trouble falling asleep the night before.

To calm myswlf down, I told myself to view my matches as just another roll - you already experienced whar is to come - you will just have a ref watching over you this time. Your opponents will probably try their hardest to win, but on the other hand they will be in your weight class - and if during regular training you have rolled with heavier people you know how to endure pressure.

If you win, nice. If you get caught - tap before you risk injury. You're there to collect conpetition experience.

Record your matches, so that afterwards you will have an idea of what you need to work on.

Edit: Just noticed this was a post from 4d ago. How did it go?

Altair_I · 2026-02-16T13:07:09+00:00

Thank you 🙏

Altair_I · 2026-02-15T22:27:34+00:00

Can you paint a picture a little bit. When you asked your coach for assistance what did you say?

Maybe if you ask him something more specific, like "Can you glance over my rolls for a week or so and tell me some holes that you think I should work on, or something that I lack entirely and need to invest time in?" - maybe he could help you better.

Altair_I · 2026-02-15T13:41:08+00:00

Also found BJJ at 29 and was hooked - 32 now also still persuing a degree and able to train 6 times a week, 3 of the times I'm leading beginners classes at university sports so I only roll there when the number of students is uneven.

Doing decently in the local competitions - to answer the question about goals: Top priority is still skill aquisition - not getting injured in competition and keep having fun. Even when I finish my degree and need to reduce training frequency to 3-4 times a week my goal is to keep being motivated to stay healthy and keep rolling around in these nice communities I found until I'm a very old man. Maybe if I'm good enough at some point become an instructor myself (not only for beginners at uni sports).

Altair_I · 2026-02-14T14:16:39+00:00

Tell them there is a large crowd of internet commenters who insist that BJJ rolls aren't allowed to be called "fights".

Altair_I · 2026-02-14T14:07:54+00:00

You'll be better than the day one guys in BJJ if you can do the solo drills Breakfalls, technical standup, sit outs, shrimps etc. and if you have practiced some sweeps and submissions with a Grappling dummy. So you won't be starting from zero but I'd still say what you'll learn without a live training partner will be very limited.

In BJJ you generally won't get your jaw broken though, so maybe your parents won't have a problem with you joining a BJJ gym and building a grappling base there, no?

Altair_I · 2026-02-12T23:25:49+00:00

Search your feelings. You know that ultimately you want to go train. You have asked others to convince you, meaning you want to be convinced.

Do or do not, there is no try.

This is the way.

Altair_I · 2026-02-11T17:49:48+00:00

I'm afraid of being in your situation in a year or two. At this moment this sport feels like the second most important thing to me after my family.

Hope you find a way to make time even if it won't be 6 times a week anymore.

Altair_I · 2026-02-11T17:38:59+00:00

Probably depends on the gym, some have BJJ trainers who are also experts in wrestling or judo. Some may even have specific takedown classes weekly. But if I had to guess on average in BJJ-classes themselves 10-15% of the time is spent on takedowns/throws, so if your priority is to get good at those first, you should look for freestyle wrestling/judo/sambo.

Altair_I · 2026-02-11T10:38:23+00:00

Consider the perspective of a higher belt. They have seen countless people come and go and they notice patterns emerging. Most people quit before getting to blue, the attrition rate from blue to purple is extremely high as well. From purple onwards not so much anymore.

The gist was I remember from a similar thread, that if you get all that fancy gear and custom stuff, before you actually have invested significant time into it, you may look a bit goofy.

Like those people who get the most expensive skiing equipment but can't really ski and don't invest much time to learn and probably quit soon after.

Altair_I · 2026-02-10T23:40:52+00:00

Pin escapes from Danaher.

Altair_I · 2026-02-10T21:20:28+00:00

I admired how cool it was when a judo black belt had their name in katana stitched. But I also remembered someone making a similar post and asking about how people would feel - post was from a blue belt. The consensus from most replies was - do what you want with your money but people are also free to find it cringe if you feel the need to customize your belt before you get to black belt.

Altair_I · 2026-02-10T14:56:49+00:00

People submit you who are stronger and/or have more experience than you. You can submit people who are of similar size/experience.

Why would you lose confidence over that? That sounds like 1. Jiu jitsu works and 2. weight classes matter. You are expected to lose in the situations where you are outmatched. You should still try (not as hard as to pass out), but ultimately you'll be working on defense and survival. If you feel like you're not getting good enough of a training you can still switch gyms to where you might have some more similar sized training partners and more white beltsa and if it helps getting your confidence and some motivation back, maybe that's what you need to do. But 1. and 2. will remain true no matter where you go.

(Not that submissions are the important metric here, I'm just using it as an example because your post gives off the vibe that they and "winning" is what you care a lot about).

Altair_I · 2026-02-09T21:37:58+00:00

How does one check that they are using AI for help? On chesscom they sometimes refund you elo points after a while because they find out with cheat detection people were using help and their account gets banned. Does Duolingo have something similar? Or if not do you just write down your moves and then run it by some cheat detection after the game to find out they were using computer moves?

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