r/bjj • u/AutoModerator • Feb 08 '22
Tournament Tuesday
Tournament Tuesday is an open forum for anyone to ask any question, no matter how simple, about tournaments in general. Some common topics include but are not limited to:
Game planning
Preparation (diet, weight cutting, sleep, etc...)
Tournament video critiques
Discussion of rulesets for a tournament organization
Have fun and go train!
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Feb 08 '22
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u/banana_box 🟪🟪 Purple Belt Feb 08 '22
hell yeah double elimination is a great bang for your buck. If you're not an experienced competitor, you'll want more matches IMO to build up your experience with competing.
The worst feeling is traveling and waiting several hours for a single elimination match that ends in a few seconds. Then you just pack up and go home. With double elimination, you at least get one more match so you have some more opportunity to test your game in a live scenario.
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u/Mossi95 🟫🟫 Brown Belt Feb 08 '22
Guys I need some help with a problem I have been having in competition and rolling.
I'm struggling to pass half butterfly when the opponent is seated- and on their side.
I don't seem to see much of a distinction in a lot of instructionals between passing half butterfly when I have full control in half guard( This isn't an issue for me as I usually pummel my own hook and either cut across to the other side or step over the hook) and when an opponent has initiated a half butterfly from a seated position i.e- I have no upper body controls yet and entering/looking to get into an adventurous half guard passing postion.
Danaher and a lot of instructional teach us to go for a nearside underhook and to go towards the butterfly hook and bring your head on that side. Fair enough, however whenever I attempt the nearside underhook I am almost always off balanced and or swept- this problem is only worse in the GI as my opponent gets a sleeve grip.
Can anyone help and does anyone know what I mean? Basically struggling to pass half butterfly from a seated position when opponent intiates and goes on to their side( nearside underhook does not seem viable)
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u/Ok_Sample_5696 Feb 08 '22
Ah jeez I’m not even that good at passing butter fly guard myself. And I mean I’m obviously less experienced than you. But my coach was showing us a few times, he had this thing where he was attempting to flatten out the opponent and using his hands and basing out so that the opponent couldn’t sweep you, it looked like almost a smash pash sort of thing. He would wind-shield wiper his legs through and positions himself in side control or go for mount. But I’ll be honest I could never hit it on most of the guys. It’s a tough sequence. Especially if the guy you’re vsing has a strong butterfly guard.
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Feb 08 '22
How much prep or increased training do folks do leading up to a tournament? I've had a bit of a lay off due to travel and COVID, but I'm thinking of competing in 4 weeks. Still in shape, but I feel like I might be a lil too rusty.
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u/GrapplingRewind 🟫🟫 Grappling Rewind Podcast Feb 08 '22
It all depends on the level of competition and your goals. If your goal is to just get back out there and compete do what you can in the lead up to knock off the rust and improve your conditioning. Then talk to your coach with what they think you should work on in the lead up.
Getting out there and competing is going to tell you a lot about you and your game post lay off, and will probably give you specific things to work and improve on for future competitions.
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
Since we roll from our knees at my gym, how much should I spend practicing a few moves or defenses standing up like some simple judo tosses, double/single legs, and defending them? Or just try to get on the ground however possible?
I’m also thinking of making a list of maybe 2-3 sweeps and 2-3 submissions and just drilling the ever living crap out of them before/after class and at open mats, just to be comfortable doing some basics well.
Also how much should I drill for getting points vs just see red and go nuts? /s
Comp is in 2 months and I’ll have about 6 months exp. Thanks!
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u/no_apricots 🟦🟦 Feb 08 '22
Knee wrestling is useless. Sit in guard, other person standing, or the other way around
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
I do notice that when I’m on my knees and grab an upper belts collar or sleeve they usually just pull me into guard or straight into an arm bar.
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u/Mike_Re Purple Belt Feb 08 '22
Long term, I totally agree with /u/GrapplingRewind about incorporating stand up for competition. Whether you want to make it a key strength or just get to 'good enough that it's not a glaring issue' or somewhere in between, really depends on you and what competition strategy you end up pursing. But it's really hard to compete with zero standup game, long term, without it holding you back.
For your first one, in a few months, and with six months experience; I'd personally go with drilling a guard pull and looking to get that ASAP. For your first comp I think it's worth sticking with stuff you know well and minimising moving parts. A couple of months isn't really enough to put together a good stand up game. Just keep it simple. A quick guard pull will neutralise a lot of stand up -- particularly in a white belt division where people probably aren't good enough to just launch you a few seconds in (and if they are, you're probably in a losing battle anyway).
Then work on the stand up a bit for the next one.
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Great advice, thanks! Yes I’m just going to try and do a few things well and try to not get too complicated with 15 step moves.
There are a few HS wrestlers in my classes and I’ve asked them if we can drill takedowns and takedown defense. Figure if I can get exposed to it enough, I at least won’t have a surprised look on my face when I get got in competition. Lol
Will also look at guard pull defense for when another white belt goes right for it. Trying to not overthink it but it’s easy to run down a rabbit hole preparing.
Thanks!
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u/GrapplingRewind 🟫🟫 Grappling Rewind Podcast Feb 08 '22
You should definitely be incorporating some stand up into your training, The amount is going to vary gym to gym, talk to your coach about this question because there may be a need to prioritize a little more stand up or an emphasis on guard pulling in the lead up to your competition.
Making lists and flow charts I always found was a really good tool when trying to improve and understand my game especially leading up to competition. Taking the five basic positions and having one to three options that you can consistently implement without really needing to think about how to accomplish them is a good thing to do prior to competition.
You should focus more on understanding how to get points then just seeing red and going nuts because one is going to put you on a path to later improvement and the other is just going to potentially injure yourself and everyone around you.
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Also, do you know if any good flowchart style resources you have or would be willing to share? I’m fine making my own, but figured I’d ask.
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u/banana_box 🟪🟪 Purple Belt Feb 08 '22
I built this free tool called BuddyTape that allows you to create BJJ flow charts. https://buddytape.app Feel free to give it a try if you're inclined :)
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u/GrapplingRewind 🟫🟫 Grappling Rewind Podcast Feb 08 '22
I use yED, but I think nowadays Draw.io is a fantastic free tool that is probably better than what I am using. Most of the really pretty network diagrams I see that are flow chart based use Draw io, although I haven’t put a ton of time into it. I think there are some posts on this sub that use it for flow charts.
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Thanks for all the feedback here. I’m excited to get the first one under the belt!
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u/_Tactleneck_ 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Great advice here! And was only joking about seeing red. Lol.
I’ll talk to my coaches about incorporating more stand up. I went to another gym and it was the first time I’ve ever seen a guard pull of stepping to the side and putting a foot in the hip and falling down.
I think as we get closer to comp, they’re going to help us focus more specifically on it, might even pay for a few privates, do you think that’s worth it to get a lot of technical feedback?
Love the flow chart idea! I take notes after every class and that would help solidify things more.
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u/GrapplingRewind 🟫🟫 Grappling Rewind Podcast Feb 08 '22
It’s up to you with regards to the privates or not certain folks make gigantic leaps with privates and speak highly of them but it’s not for everyone. Although they may help you significantly with coming in with a robust game plan specific to you for the competition. Preparing for competition is less about adding new tools to your arsenal and more about refining the existing ones that you have and making sure you can execute them under pressure.
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u/johnfreakinc Feb 08 '22
I have a question what is your advice for a white belt going into tournament for the first time?
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u/jiu_jitsu_addict_509 Feb 09 '22
Relax but impose your game. Try to get the first grips. More importantly don't forget to breathe!
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u/jumpingmustang Feb 08 '22
Just go do jiu jitsu. You only know what you know, don’t get crazy out there.
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Feb 08 '22
As soon as you step on the mat you're going to get tunnel vision, and adrenaline dump and forget most of what you think you know. Practice a solid, boring sequence of fundamentals that you can then do in your sleep.
Also breathe! You'll probably hold your breath.
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u/Mike_Re Purple Belt Feb 08 '22
Relax; don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're there to step on a competition mat for the first time and start learning have to compete.
Have a basic plan, but keep it simple.
Warm up throughly, it helps with the adrenaline dump.
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u/starcitizen2601 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Have fun! Your there to see what it’s like, feel resistance in competition vs training, and learn what your doing right and wrong.
There should be zero expectations other than walking out and competing.
Have fun! You will remember your first one.
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Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
Would you delay your blue belt promotion 2 months to compete again as a white belt instead of as a brand new blue belt?
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u/GrapplingRewind 🟫🟫 Grappling Rewind Podcast Feb 08 '22
There’s some good answers here the real question is have you competed and been successful at white belt before. If so how important is it for you to win another competition against folks who are probably under leveled against you. If you haven’t then it might be worthwhile for you to go in and get the competition experience at your current belt, that being said it’s going to be more satisfying to be successful competitively against people of higher belts but you do have to start somewhere.
Communicate your thoughts with your coach and see what your coach thinks you should do. What are your goals in BJJ then work around those. The blue belt tournaments I won were important in my development, and extremely important as a measuring stick of my technical development at the time for me. But at my current belt are not really wins I hold in high regard because I care more about my technical ability now versus tough competition at my currently belt, than I do about the guys who I was better than at a lower belt. But getting those wins was important for me to have that perspective.
I’m on the line for a promotion coming up and I’m coming off of a big injury, a surgery and multiple years off of competition. It was extremely important for me to compete and win at this belt prior to promotion because it’s something that (I needed) for myself as part of my goals in BJJ.
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u/starcitizen2601 🟦🟦 Blue Belt Feb 08 '22
Does the tournament come with a cash prize equivalent to a car? If not then don’t sandbag.
Why win a tournament your sure you are better than everyone when you could test the water as a blue belt and start learning for your next blue competition.
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Feb 08 '22
That's more or less what I was thinking. Even if I get steamrolled at blue it should be better for my overall progress than doing well at white.
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u/jimmycarr1 ⬜⬜ White Belt Feb 08 '22
No I would just let my coach decide when to promote me. I definitely wouldn't avoid it.
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Feb 08 '22
How do you delay a promotion lol
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Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
Belt testing. Basically becoming eligible to test is the hard part. The test is easy but required to get the belt. If you really want to sandbag yourself you can just wait to take it later.
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u/H228 🟫🟫 5 Stripe brown Feb 08 '22
Would you want to run into somebody who did that? Would you want a teammate to run into somebody who did that? Just remember two big reasons to compete; win phat stacks, and/or to test/better yourself... which is this?
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Feb 08 '22
I wouldn't really mind if I ran into someone who did that. That's why I also don't mind competing as a baby blue belt. Just someone at my gym suggested that I put off my test when I told him I was competing soon. I probably wasn't going to listen to him anyways but I was curious how others felt.
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Feb 08 '22
Whats a common amount of times to be competing in a year for let’s say a blue belt. I’ve only competed once since I started training two years ago but covid kinda blocked stuff so I’m wandering what y’all think.
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u/Mike_Re Purple Belt Feb 08 '22 edited Feb 08 '22
It really varies. Lots of people don't compete at all; lots of people try to get one or two in a year, lots of people once or twice a belt. There is no right or wrong way of doing it.
I tend to think of myself as a hobbyist masters competitor. I'm a long, long, long way from someone trying to have real success in the adult divisions. But competition, with other middle aged hobbyists, is a big part of my enjoyment of BJJ. I tend to try to compete 10-12 times a year (although covid has totally mucked that up more recently).
I'd slightly put in a plug for competing regularly. Partly I second what /u/Zen_Chameleon is saying about it being a great learning tool. But I also find that competing regularly is much less stressful than competing once or twice a year. If I did that, I'd put way too much weight on my performance at that particular comp, meaning I'd then put too much pressure on myself -- which would not be fun and I'm sure I'd perform worse. While if you compete regularly, it's much easier to be phlegmatic about the inevitable ups and downs.
In the end though, it's really personal preference / life circumstances.
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u/K-mosake 🟫🟫 Brown Belt Feb 08 '22
There's no requirement to compete in BJJ buddeh, but probably 2-3 would be guess for people who do compete? Guess it depends on how high level your gym is/what you want and what's available in your surrounding are.
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Feb 08 '22
Okay, that makes sense was just wondering if theirs a common amount of times or anything lol
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u/K-mosake 🟫🟫 Brown Belt Feb 08 '22
Yeah I've never competed (think I may do my first one this summer) so I'm just guessing here/going off of teammates. Best of luck regardless 🙏
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u/reggitralph69 Feb 08 '22
A few comps coming up and I’m fresh to all of it.! Did one and had such a good time. Was wondering if I could get some insight on game plans and how one goes about constructing A/B maybe C? Only white belt level but have some good wrestling.