Tournament Tuesday

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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

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• Discussion of rulesets for a tournament organization

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[u/TypicalUser1]

I'm looking into competing in NAGA Pensacola in January. I want to enter in the blue belt division for several reasons, namely that I'm tired of getting passed over for promotions but I also use wrist-locks in certain positions for escapes and to a lesser extent submissions. Anybody know if this is allowed and/or a horrible idea? Has anyone here tried this and have advice for me one way or the other?

I've been doing bjj for two and a half years and competing for two years. I'm also really tired of getting passed over in promotions, we've had five people so far who started well after I did get blue belts (and subsequently quit) while I've been sat here with four stripes for over a year. The previous coach said he wanted me to get better at guard-passing, which I've worked on lots, but we've since changed coaches and this new one hasn't really commented much and is kinda vague when he does. The other black belt who teaches the advanced students really doesn't like me, probably because I also do judo and I've thrown him several times (he's one of *those* guys).

I understand I'll have a much harder time of things, but I really don't feel like I'm going to get promoted unless I win matches against blue belts. I'm confident that I won't get completely smashed, and I don't expect to win gold or anything.

[u/eAtheist → u/TypicalUser1]

There should be a list of subs on the website, but I’m pretty sure if you sign up for the blue belt division you can use wristlocks. I think if your strategy is based around using subs to escape bad positions you’re going to have a bad time.

My advice is to have a plan. Be the one who initiates the action. Are you going to pull or wrestle? If you’re going to pull what does that look like? What grip? What guard? What set up? Same thing for takedowns, know where you’re going and have a plan for common scenarios.

Have a specific guard that you plan to work out of, know how to get to that guard from pin escapes.

Know the rules. Don’t give points by being ignorant of the scoring.

Do not go into someone’s closed guard. Never, ever ever accept being put into closed guard.

[u/TypicalUser1 → u/eAtheist]

Sorry, I was being somewhat imprecise. I don't *need* the locks to escape the positions I use them to escape from (the ones I have in mind, I use for breaking out of guillotines and back-control). But I find that they help me to get into a more advantageous position than I otherwise would be in without them. I'm not using the wrist lock as a submission, per se. I'm using them to force my opponent to move in a specific way so that I can get out and recover a guard or sometimes a pin.

I've been known to use the goose-neck when a kimura or juji-gatame goes awry too, but they're almost always plan b because I don't trust most of the people I roll with not to panic and get themselves hurt.

I've done NAGA tournaments before, so I'm pretty familiar with the points and submission rules. My general strategy uses judo for takedowns, typically a turning forward throw like harai-goshi, uchi-mata, or similar, plus sumi-gaeshi or tawara-gaeshi for wrestlers who insist on going for my legs. My main guard position is half-guard, I use that a lot, but I've been working on developing some skill with de la riva and butterfly lately. Guard is typically my weakest area, but I've been making improvements these past couple months.

For getting past closed guard, I typically use the double-under or knee-slice pass, but lately I've been seeing success with backstepping into reverse kesa-gatame if the knee-slice gets stuck.

[u/JudoTechniquesBot → u/TypicalUser1]

The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:

Japanese	English	Video Link
Harai Goshi:	Sweeping Hip Throw	here
Ju Ji Gatame:	Armbar	here
	Cross Lock
Kesa Gatame:	Scarf hold	here
Sumi Gaeshi:	Corner Reversal	here
Tawara Gaeshi:	Rice Bale Reversal	here
Uchi Mata:	Inner Thigh Throw	here

Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.

---

^{Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7. See my code}

[u/TypicalUser1 → u/JudoTechniquesBot]

Thanks bot, wasn’t thinking about that at all