Insight Into Comp Day

Here is a cool little video, shot by Rob Norman (cinematographer) which follows me through a competition day in Sydney last year.

This video demonstrates the great sportsmanship that the majority of BJJ competitors display. For the most part, it seems to be something inherent within the sport. Each country and each academy has its own attitude, some less agreeable than others, but for the most part I can honestly say that BJJ athletes are well natured people (Thank you Mike and George, always a good battle).

It is a cool thing to look back at my comp videos and be able to see where i made mistakes. I know that on comp day the big challenge is staying on top of my mental state. I believe staying on top of this means being able to compete at full capacity.

Competing is a different thing to training, mostly in regards to the added stress and anxiety that builds up in anticipation of a comp. It usually has an effect on an athletes performance and you can see that happening at the comp - those who get better with the pressure to perform and the audience etc., and those who lose a little technique and timing and subsequently get worse.

For those who are naturally good competitors, they probably have little to no understanding of what its like to feel nervous or scared before a comp. For the ones who do lean towards that fear of competing, its often a big challenge to step into a competition and often something such people shy away from. I have found personally that the more i compete, the more relaxed i become about the whole thing. I can remember the stress i felt in the days leading up to and the days of the competition back when i was a white belt.

I find there is also a small strength gain that comes from the extra adrenaline being pumped through the body. This often causes a small reduction in technical ability - at least in the first match. The adrenaline seems to stiffen the body somewhat, and those extra sensibilities that BJJ practitioners spend so long developing on the mats, seem to be harder to recruit.

Once that first match is out of the way and the energy levels have planed out, the technique usually starts to flow a little bit smoother - at least until the gas runs out...

Good humans,
Enjoy