Trained for 11 years and competed a handful of times with mixed results. My teammates often ask why I don’t compete much. I always say the same thing. BJJ is my sanctuary where I can escape the stress of everyday life. Preparing for a competition is just another stress point and makes bjj unenjoyable. The closer a comp gets the harder it is for me to train. So do what’s right for you. If you want to compete awesome. If you just want to train and have fun also awesome. I realize it might take me longer to get promoted but don’t really care. I didn’t start training for medals or belts. I do it for the health benefits and because I find it fun.
@@OldManTony789 it took me about 3 1/2 years to get my blue and a little less to purple. Been a purple for just under 5 years now. My instructor just recently said my brown is coming soon. Soon is subjective to him 😂. Just keep training the belts me less the higher you get. 🤙🏼
As a wrestler we don't have belts, so I look up to a competitor black belt more than a theoretical black belt. It's like having a college degree without job experience.
@@aaronabeyta5805 I think your logic is a little flawed. I would imagine whether a wresting or bjj school, the mats don’t lie. IMO only training is not like study in a college classroom. Plus when you get to my age, mortgage, car, general expenses take priority. Missing work and recovering from injuries is not an option for me. With that said, isn’t it great that we can both train in a way that works for our individual circumstances. 🤙🏼
When someone's reason for not doing something is "I'm not good enough" it translates to "I'm afraid of losing or failing" and at that point they've already lost.
You cannot simulate the adrenaline and nerves that rise up when you are competing. No amount of rolling in your own club will prepare you. If you want your BJJ to be a self-defence system, you need to know what happens to your techniques when your body gets flooded with adrenaline. Some can rise to the occasion, others just wilt under the stress.
I think if you don’t compete you’d be robbing yourself of a whole aspect of Jiu Jitsu. You can learn so much. Get out there and conquer that uncomfortable feeling bro.
Also, if you have aspirations to teach, you should compete so you can coach people who *do* want to compete. It might be very hard to coach somebody to do something you haven't really done yourself.
@@bane3991 I would say JD is an exception to the rule. The guy was literally a PhD student at an Ivy League university, he has intellectual and educational abilities/experience far beyond most BJJ instructors.
@@iorekby His PHD doesn't mean anything in jiu jitsu. My college experience hasn't helped me at all in jiu jitsu. A degree means nothing, you can find amazing coaches that do not have 1. If Danaher can do it, so can someone else. Look at the star athletes out there, they surpassed their trainers abilities by an extremely large margin. Cus D'amto, Mike Tysons trainer has never competed in boxing before and he produced a couple of world champions including Tyson(best boxer to ever live) and Floyd Patterson. Greg Jackson coached some of the best MMA fighters such as GSP, Holly Holm, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, etc and he never competed. In fact, his gym was known as the best in the world at 1 point. A BJJ competition and a regular roll at the gym are the exact same things, even Danaher himself said it. He said he doesn't teach his students anything different, he just tells them to treat it like a roll in the gym. He says he doesn't get people hyped up or nothing, he tells them just do what you do in the gym.
@@bane3991 I think you missed my point about his education. It's not that having a degree or a bit of paper makes you good at BJJ. It's the fact that in his case, he was doing a PhD in a complex subject and _teaching_ complex material to undergrads. He was well versed in breaking down complex material for students. Now, when you marry that to having and outstanding teacher in Renzo (who himself coached some formidable black belts) you have this perfect storm for creating a BJJ coach par excellence. I don't thibk anyone can get to the level of the coaches you mentioned. They are fairly unique. It's not just gym time or mat time that made them great. It was a deep analytical thinking style, being able to process the granularity of complex domains and having outstanding communication abilities to relay that information in a way accessible to most people that make those aforementioned coaches great. Like I said, they are the exception, not the rule. Even the fighters those coaches produced couldn't coach to the level of those aforementioned greats. So in that regard, no, they didn't surpass their teachers. I appreciate not everyone needs a degree to get those skills. I think in Danaher's case, teaching in an Ivy League school may have helped developed skills he used to tech BJJ. It's an interesting conversation and I appreciate your perspective though.
I recently did my first couple of comps, and I absolutely hated it. I was so nervous I spent most of my warmup time in the bathroom almost throwing up. When I was in the pulpit I was thinking stuff like "if I just go out and lose quickly this feeling I'm having will end. Just get it over with". Not exactly a good mentality. I was having an absolutely terrible time. And I'm just not sure I'd be willing to go through that again. I want to be a legit jiu jitsu practitioner too, but man I hate comps.
Hey man at least you tried it without anyone forcing you to, that takes guts. Not everyone has a competitive mindset, that's okay. In the end did you win? What did you learn from it (technically not emotionally)? That's what's important to your self improvement.
I learned a lot. About myself. About pushing myself during the training with the competition team. About my body and diet. About my goals and motivation(i don't feel motivated by the thought of winning at all, for example). Technically I learned I need to sharpen my submissions and sweeps cus all I got is good control in guard, not really a good followup. I learned I gotta protect my back and my neck, cus each match ended with me getting my closed guard passed, my back taken, and RNC/bow and arrow choked. 3 matches, 3 losses, same thing happend every time.
I train in a style that does ITF-style sparring and my instructor would encourage us to compete in tournaments. I didn't enjoy competitions because I am not super competitive by nature and I would always lose until I reached brown belt. I started to win some matches and lose others and this helped me overcome a lot of my internal conflict/self-confidence issues. As Chewy said, this helped me to better teach my students as I had competition experience and dealt with the same internal conflicts they were dealing with. To me, competitions are not about winning and losing but what lessons you took away whether it be a better understanding of how techniques work, which ones you can properly execute when someone is resisting, or learning how to overcome self-doubt or anxiety as they are present thought our lives. Keep training and seeking opportunities to learn and grow.
As a black belt who has competed up the ranks I agree 100 per cent. Feeling nerves, self-doubt, fear, winning, losing ... etc all that experience makes it possible to be a better teacher as it will help you relate to your students
Yes and no, as the rules dictate the style that will be successful. People who win tournaments, for the most part, have rolling styles that work well with those rules.
i lost my first, won my second on triangle and lost my Third on a giljotin . The first match was the best, there was no guard throwing, pure brawl and super fun. 2 i dont remember much, the guy i went against was good at shooting in the double leg but couldn't get me down so i got him down, i sweept him and he sweept me then i had to pull guard and i finished with a triangle. Third match, my grips was off, he had better grip, he got me on a position where i couldn't breathe, when i came back after 30 seconds i was lightheaded then he got me in a giljotin and finished me :D I had tons of fun, and i was super excited because i now know there are pleeeeenty people better then me, and i can work on my bad sides. I dont care about winning or losing, i just want a fun fight :D
Took my first class this week. Looking forward to picking up the Gi and white belt tomorrow at my second class. 33 years old with a medical device on my lower abdomen (protected mostly by a padded belt) and limited mobility due to 15 operations, but I can hang. Not sure if I could compete though. I live pretty close to River City, so maybe I'll have to check out your gym once I get farther along in my journey.
I have been doing Jiujitsu for 10 months (I am 42 years old), I already been in 3 tournements (I won bronze in the last one!!! And lost on the others) This weekend I have my 4th tournament coming up this year ! I can’t wait! I can assure you that I have been scared prior each tournement fight I have been but the moment I conquer my mind and put my ass on the line when the ref says “go” it’s just priceless and highly recommended for your own personal and mental development. #Jiujitsulifestyle Ossss!
Competition is also great for applying to real life scenarios. You can be great at training, but you need to learn to harness your skills under pressure when counts the most. Applying techniques while facing adversity, will supercharge your skill set.
I started martial arts in the 70s, began kickboxing in the 80s, and always fought black belts in the ring. I am still a white belt, and never had the desire to become anything other than a champion kickboxer I took martial arts classes because I found it interesting, and wanted to learn. I took kickboxing classes because I thought I was good enough to become champion. Unfortunately, I listened to people that could not actually advance my career. :/ But I learned a lot sparring, as well as in the ring, and really loved doing it! I don't mind being a white belt; I rather like it actually.
Hey Chewy , thanks for the great advice you post . I am a 47 year old 3 stripe blue belt with my first tournament coming up. My question is I am increasing my classes the last few months about 16 a month from about 12. I worry a little because I’m picking up some injuries. I work about 10 hours a day physical job. But I really like to train to keep my game up for the tournament. How do I find the sweet spot between training and the needed recovery time necessary to train efficiently. Thanks for your time , Ben
Competition is for office workers. There are a lot of first responders and trades people at my gym. They can't afford to miss work because they got hurt in a Jiu-jitsu tournament on the weekend.
In ten years of training, I never won Gold medal until my third tournament at Black Belt. I had a lot of self doubts like Chewy said. The fear of loosing or looking bad in front of friends, family, students are real, but we can never find our full potential if we don’t step on the competition mat. Go smash Guys and Gals.
I don't feel competitive at competitions. I just don't care. It feels the same in the gym as i do at competitions. Just don't have that fire. Competitions are fake. Medals and pride don't make something more real. People talk about adrenaline and nerves...What if I don't feel that? What if the competition environment just does not do that for me? How else are you going to simulate that for me?
It's a valid and not uncommon experience actually. The BJJ community can over-emphasise the importance of competitions a wee bit. I think everyone should try a comp or 2, but it's not the be all and end all people make it out to be. I've seen people get medals just for showing up as the only person in their bracket. I've seen people sub all their opponents but they can't really tell you that they learned anything from the experience. I've seen people get tapped out in less than 90 seconds in their first match and again, they can't tell you much about what they learned that they didn't already know. I think that for many people all they ultimately get out of competitions, past the first few, is simply how to get better at doing BJJ comps. And any benefits people say they get in the first few comps (e.g. dealing with nerves, adrenaline, pushing themselves, feeling of accomplishment etc...) are things you can get doing Judo comps, or Karate comps, or any combat sport comps. Or Olympic Weightlifting comps. Or doing yoga teacher exams. Or doing a 100km charity cycle. Or entering a battle of the bands competition. Or a million other activities. BTW, I am the same as you. Maybe it was because they were smaller, local comps, but I felt nothing at comps that I didn't feel in a comp class. Looking back, my competition experiences were a bit "meh".
@@Sebdes23 and you need to have a goal. If you don’t want to win, if you aren’t going in there with some objective in mind (it could even be a particular move that you want to hit) then you won’t be satisfied. I refuse to believe you don’t have a competitive drive: it sounds like you compete with your practice partners on a regular basis. Try to get a podium, try hitting an Americana. Set out to do something, once, and then get it. If even then you don’t feel that fire, I’ll believe you. But you need to - just once - set out to do something at a competition AND succeed. Then see how you feel
I think that someone should compete at least like once for every belt level. But that's my opinion. I think the Tornado Sweep is one of those flashy moves that works. I just suck at doing it lol
Thanks for this man! I had a bad go in my very first tournament last month. I lost in the last match at about 6:45 via sub. vs a guy I train with. I came in second but, I still felt like I wasn't strong enough to compete at a higher level. I knew he was more athletic and more experienced than me but, the lose still stung. I wasn't sure if i wanted to try again. I might go back now.
If you enjoyed it, definitely do it again. Making it to the finals of your first tournament isn't what most people would consider, "having a bad go at it," I would think.
Boxed my whole life, My Pop trained World Title fighters. Started training Jiu Jitsu with my Son. It was an eye opener for me. My Pop is an old Marine and loved Judo. Always said if you know Judo and boxing you can take care of yourself. brilliant old man.
I liked what you said about looking across the room and finding your opponent and thinking you are going to lose. I did that in HS wrestling. I was tall and skinny and lost a few matches at weigh-in thinking "how am I going to beat that short and ripped dude?".
competition are too expensive in my opinion, and it's no fun to prepare for months, cut weight , pay to get in and for the travel and lose your first fight and go home..
Solutions. Have a disciplined bodyweight naturally, so you don't have to cut. Train more diligently so you win and the money and time spent are worth it.
there is always a exception to the rule ;-) And John Danaher is a VERY legit blackbelt as trainer, but he hasn´t black belt fighting skills himself due to his injuries
Tbh, not competing probably did him more good than bad. As a world class coach, you want to be focusing on your students as much as possible. Focusing on getting fit, preparing in camp, focusing on yourself makes that hard. It's his dedication to his students that makes him one of the most respected men in bjj.
@@bipedalhominid6815 well no he wasn't. But, maybe he found later that he wanted to be a teacher rather than a competitor. For certain people, competition sucks while teaching is awesome for them. John may have been like that. Tbh, I think if he'd have competed it wouldn't have changed much. He just doesn't seem to have any interest in competing.
Hey CHEWY! I am a 30 years old getting ready for my first competition which is Copa in Lakeland, FL. I currently weigh 199 lbs. Should I cut weight for these tournaments? Finally, how do I train especially with a family and full time job (military). Love the vids. Hope to hear from you!
i tried competing twice first time i lost legitimately second time i got eliminated because i wouldnt tap to a submission that wasnt gonna work so needless to say after that i stopped giving a shit about competing...
I think it is totally acceptable to not want to compete. Some people just don't have the drive or desire for it. If you wanna do BJJ for fun as a stress relief twice a week and not compete it's more healthy than stressing and putting yourself through the wringer to compete and question your ability. I compete and do awful but that's ok for me im not the competitive type I just like the different experience and mat time.
I'm only a white belt belt... But the only reason I haven't competed is because if I get injured I can't perform my job. So i'm waiting until I have a couple weeks off, just in case I get injured. Very excited to compete though since I've never competed in anything before..
I have zero desire to compete, and I know I'd probably do very well. I just don't feel like dealing with the hassle... Crowds and attitudes... Don't like 'em
Hey Chewy, I just came back from a Submission Grappling competition and I won two matches via stoppage under 1 minute. But in the semi-finals, I got choked out via triangle and I can't get it out of my head. How do I go back to the same tournament knowing that everybody knows I got choked out in the semis and build back my confidence after such a loss? Thanks! Love your channel.
Thanks to the both of you, I'll work hard on my triangle defenses and will make sure no one ever even comes close to triangle me. Maybe this defeat will push me to do better I guess, thanks again.
Even professionals, at UFC, gets triangle chokes and tap out. Avoid this of ever happen again is crazyness (impossible). A Buddha quote for you: "A man who conquers himself is greater than one who conquers a thousand men in battle".
Some competitions are crazy expensive round trip ticket, hotel, entry fee, competition gis, eating out, etc. It's really easy to tell people to compete if you have a competitive personality. The problem is a black belt isn't very well defined. Someone saying they are a national champion in a sport is more well defined. If you win brown belt worlds in adult division and just steam roll everyone a coach probably needs a good reason not to promote you to black belt because you're the best brown belt in the world using the best test we have. So it seems like if you think you deserve a black belt a good way to show that is to win a brown belt tournament that your coach appreciates. On the other hand I felt like that video was heavy handed toward competition and doesn't take into account that you've competed quite a bit and probably have a competitive personality. I can kind of understand where he's coming from if he doesn't like the point system or his reason for training bjj is heavily health related or if he doesn't like the idea of weight cutting or he's financially struggling. Depending on your job a competition could make you risk getting hurt physically and financially. There are a lot of jobs you can't do if you break a finger or strain your back where in a 5 minute roll with someone who knows you they might respect that you have a sore knee or something or you don't feel like you need to save your entry fee until you're 100% sure he's got the shoulder lock and there's only 15 seconds left maybe you can deal with it. You said competitions are real. In some ways competitions put you in a situation that isn't real. It's not very worthy of a reward if you let someone break your shoulder but you won a tournament. There are rules when someone passes your guard where you can give up your back partially and he doesn't get points for passing guard. Competitions favor the guard penalizing a standing opponent for not attacking a sitting opponent after breaking contact. That's stupid, the person who has the high ground shouldn't be forced to concede it the assumption is that the guard is superior to standing. That's total fight theory, it's not a proven fact. Some competatiors have very little respect for their opponents safety and well being especially in competitions. Check out kary kolat's arm spin in the state finals (and pretty much the entire match) he's obviously very willing to cause serious damage to this person. ruclips.net/video/vTTRJemDGUc/видео.htmlm41s I really see both sides of it and it depends who the person is.
My worry with competing is Injury . I already have a bad knee and shoulder , I don't want a spaz to do the wrong thing or pull it so fast I don't get tap before a "pop".
The thing is that when you are rolling with all of the people in your gym, you know their moves, their go-tos and habits so you aren’t thinking as much and you aren’t using as much of your knowledge of the sport. When you’re rolling some random guy or girl in a tournament, you don’t know anything about them except what they look like. I would try to do it just because you can only get so far with the people you train with on the daily, no matter how much they help you improve.
Hey, i got a question. Im currently a white belt training BJJ. My trainer is a purple belt, and is usually a fun and enjoyable person. But whenever he thinks i'm rolling to agressive he to begins rolling aggressive. His superior skills obviosly leads to him getting a lock/choke. My problem is the fact that he pretty much ignores my taps whenever this happens. He usually doesnt let go until im having to shout "TAP, TAP, TAP!". After he finally let's go he then begins to shout/yell at me for rolling too agressive, even though hes the one hurting me. This has lead to me getting a limp or pain for a couple of days several times. He has also done this to one of my friends on his second training, which lead to him not wanting to continue with BJJ. When i roll i tend to follow my opponents speed. My trainer is a small guy, so he moves a lot to make up for his lack of strength. I can imagine this is the reason he feels i'm rolling aggressive, even though most of our rolls consists of him controlling me, whilst i try to get out. Is this common practice, or is this wrong of my trainer? Would love to hear your thoughts, thanks. Comments would also be nice!
MyNameIsFluuup hey man, I know you were looking for chews answer but here is some advice I can give you till he responds with some better advice if I were you I would tell my trainer how I feel just tell him what you told us he might be having a bad day or who knows maybe someone passed away in his family you got to think to he has alot of bjj training to get to also just like you so maybe he's a little frustrated about that but I don't know it's best to ask your coach man just see what he says have a man to man talk with him about it and that should work if not just leave to a more experienced Jiu-Jitsu coach I have yet to join for personal reasons but I will soon my trainer is a bjj black belt so I may not have those same problems black belts tend to be more outgoing for some reason. Hope it helps man
The way your instructor is behaving is out of line. As a technically superior grappler, he should have no problem attaining and maintaining superior positions. The fact that he feels the need to finish every time he catches you is not helping him improve his own game and doesn't help you learn defenses and escapes. Worst of all is his ego driven refusal to let go of holds and chokes. This is a great way to injure a training partner and sets a horrible example for his students. You could try to talk to him, but personally I would be looking for a different instructor. Perhaps the best way to help him be a better instructor is to leave.
Thanks for the answer. I think the fact that he holds the lock even after i tap is a way to punish me, rather that his ego. My problem is how he tells me i'm being too aggressive AFTER he does it. If he would've told me, and i'd keep going aggressevly, then i'd understand why he'd do it. But he holds it before he does.
MyNameIsFluuup - Get away from that guy as fast as you can. He's a control freak and likely has passive-aggressive issues that he's acting out on you. Besides, you should be learning from someone much more experienced in teaching, not just knowledge of the techniques.
Because even in a real fight, you’re conquering your fear to engage, and in this case, completely hold down and control your opponent for a minimum of 5 minutes. If you can hold someone down, you’ve won the fight.
I am 38 years old, 8 years of training (purple belt) . 1 year after serious knee surgery - trying my best to attend 2 times a week (sometimes +1 of weekend sparring session). Work / scientific career, family (3 kids). I often go to my bjj academy being very tired. I have a hard time sparring with my academy coleagues (even with younger/silniejszymi white / blue belts). How could I even think about competing?
I’m a 51 year old white belt with about 4 months of training. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever compete since I’d be matched up against people 10-15 years younger. On the other hand, my ultimate belt goal is probably purple at best.
Personally, I've competed atleast 35 times between white and blue. Twice as a purple and none at brown so far. It's the waiting around all day and fear of getting hurt again that gets me..
How do BJJ competitions work, anyway? There’s more to it than just throwing two people of the same belt at each other, right? Other guys I follow (Jocko, Joe Rogan) have said there’s no universal skill standard associated with each belt, but rather belt progression is a representation of each individual’s own capability and potential based on his or her limitations and physical ability. If I misunderstood that, I apologize. I just started training last week.
Getting into a fight in a parking lot is real. Fighting in a competition is controlled and safe. Not that I think people should act stupid and get into fights but just because your competition jiu jitsu is good, does not mean you can win in a fight for your life. Stuff that works in tournaments can get you really messed up in a real fight.
I would say you don't need to compete not to be a black belt, but definitely if you want to teach you need to compete. You will have to coach your students and some of them will want to compete, so if you haven't been through it yourself how can you properly understand it?
Some of us old guys don't want to compete because...we don't recover fast anymore and have to go to work. If I am hurt and can't work, there's no training funds.
Hey Chew quick question being training for a good while now getting closer to the blue belt. A team mate got their blue belt promotion due to winning competitions a lot of these where default medals just themselves and their opponent in their bracket. But none of us seem to be getting praise and used as an example due to this kind of demoralising. A couple of us are traveling to a comp next week in Europe. We all have big brackets a always get to the quarter finals and no medal. Anyway to approach this topic of default medals and social media posts claiming to beat many people even though its just one person? Tommy
Everybody is on their own journey. You can't judge your own progress as a martial artist in comparison to what somebody else is doing. Coaches have there reasons. I realize no one wants to be a white belt, but take your focus off the belt and put it on getting better and sharper with your techniques. The belts will come.
Hey Chewy, I can sympathize with Eric. I did Judo when I was in junior high and high school. Since I started later than many students and didn't go to my first tournament until I was 15 (I think, I'm old now and my memory sucks). At that time, you could use chokes. Since I was very new, I hadn't been taught chokes and (more importantly) hadn't been taught how to defend against them. My first match, I got choked out hard. The last thing I remember is my vision tunneling and everything went black. Next thing I remember is being in the ER and being evaluated because I had actually had a seizure the ref stopped the match. That scared me to death from there on and I learned to dislike competition. I avoided competitions at all costs which I think the instructors saw as me not caring about the sport. My promotions slowed down and I felt that I was working for nothing. When I asked my instructors what I was missing or what I needed to do to progress, I was told that I my fund of knowledge was fine but I needed to show the other clubs in the area that I knew what I was doing. I stopped training in Judo and didn't resume until I was well into and past my college years. I don't know what the right answer is but it is important for students to have multiple options to able to demonstrate their skills. Just my opinion.
Just go there and have fun. Most of us aren't in BJJ to become the nr1 in the world. We train because we enjoy the art and the workout. Go and compete without worrying about winning or losing.
I got double gold at my first competition and I don't like competitions very much. I think it dilutes the art too much into a desperate unrealistic idea of a real fight where people are to scared to do anything but hold tight and try not to lose points, I personally prefer rolling in the academy for technique building or mma sparring with the strikes thrown in. That's just me though maybe I'm lame.
i did 2 competitions and had major anxiety for both. it’s been a few years and I want to compete again but i don’t want to ✨ c r y ✨ cause i will win or lose
Hey Chewy! absolutely love your vids! I've been training for roughly 10 months now and i am aware that I've still got lots to learn, but what i find it hard is to find a fair roll every time i go to my gym (I'm a girl who's around 166cm and 51kg, so almost always the smallest in class). I always end up feeling defeated or as if I'm "wasting" others time because i can't go against someone else's normal rolling (I'm very easy to squash hahaha), so my question is, how can i train effectively in a gym thats full with big and much stronger people? i've been told that my techniques are good, but once someone gets a knee on belly or mount i feel like its game over to me. Thank you so much!
Basic answer is learn to frame out better, grip fight, get faster in scrambles, etc. to make sure you never end up on the bottom. Knee on belly and mount are hard when practicing with much bigger opponents. For some video suggestions: Stephan Kesting has a video series with Michelle Kwok on how to work against bigger, stronger opponents that might be of some use to you. As a heads up: You are never wasting anyone's time rolling with them. They might be wasting their time if they don't use the time practicing with a smaller opponent to use less force and more technique and to practice other aspects of their game than smashing. That's on them. Also one training specific thing you might consider is asking your partner if there is something specific you can work on --- that way you can change open sparring to positional sparring and prevent yourself from getting stuck excessively in bad positions.
I will second the positional sparring suggestion. If you can, find a willing partner and work those horrible positions, but set some ground rules. Knee on belly is a grest position to injure your ribs, so tap before you get them dislocated if they start pulling up on your head. Ask your instructor for specific escapes from these two positions and try to use them. As a smaller grappler, I have also had good success using the Great Grappling knee on belly escape and frequently watch Chewie's various mount escapes to compliment the ones I have been taught in class. The more you put yourself in horrible situations in a controlled manner, the more calmly and methodically you can work to escape or sweep. At first it will mostly be a challenge just to survive, but there is much merit to be had in that. Your goal can be to survive x seconds or x submission attempts. Then with reps and increased familiarity you can begin to mount your own game.
Let’s be honest, tournaments are boring af. I was very successful when I started doing tournaments (7 gold medals in my first 4 tournaments) and I got less enthusiastic with each tournament. I only do local tournaments now to be a part of my team. The prospect of 6 hours waiting around to compete is the worst part of jiu jitsu now.
@@Chewjitsu No. If “many” people disagreed with me then attendance at jiu jitsu competitions wouldn’t be counted in the tens of spectators. I literally watched a video where you yourself talked about how you find yourself not watching the higher belt matches at major tournaments because they are so boring and nothing happens for the whole rounds.
I’m not a fan of point Jiu Jitsu competition. I prefer submission only, the stalling when ahead on the scorecard takes away from the pure test of your Jiu Jitsu game IMO
You could have a competitive grading system like they do in Judo...you fight for grades rather than medals..that works well and forces you to compete. By the time you've got your Judo BB you'll have fought in 6 or 7 gradings minimum over 4 or 5 years. And if you don't win your 2 or 3 fights you don't get the next belt. You've also got your theory test to do for each grade to demonstrate your knowledge of the art as you advance in judo.
I got told i couldn't get a blue belt till i win a comp i'm a 1 stripe white atm and i've been training for about 2 years but i can't really afford to keep going into comps just to get more stripes etc
I would like to compete before too long i just have a hard time making time for it between work and family but i love to train and maybe when my kids get old enough i can go to competitions with them and compete as a family
Chewy I'm just a white belt 3 weeks in I'm not even looking at that black belt I'm be lucky to my first stripe in a year let alone two but I'm lucky to be with a careful group of guys that don't roll hard.
im so scared of competition. i did a few, but before the match im so scared i start shacking, i cant even sleep the night before. and before or in the match i feel like im going to vomit .. and im just thinking about vomiting on the mats (saw this 1 time) and this makes me even more nervos xd i think just 10% about the fight and dont care much about win/loose.. but my nervs .. feels bad
Chewie I can only train bjj once a week however will have more time to train in future should I still train or should I wait till I have more time to properly commit
Train as much as you can. A small amount of training will always be better than none. I'm not Chewie, but I think it's safe to assume he'd say the same.
I am actually training karate as my main Martial Art in germany However i am actually interested as well. Problem is that i just can't find a gym to train. Their either way to far away or the one kinda nearby charges completly insane prices (1 month of BJJ would cost the same as 2 years karate). This makes it pretty much impossible...
Hi chewy, Ive been to my first few bjj classes and I'm really struggling to sink my hooks in. I'm only 5 ft 6 and it seems my legs are too short hahaha do you have any tips or drills I can do that will help me either get the muscle memory or alternate ways to work around?
Competition is partly an idiosyncrasy of BJJ. People compete in BJJ because you can train and compete with low risk of major injury. The gym can also be real competition.
Personally I think you should, imo that's the only way to be certain you're not coming from a mcdojo. The more people you beat the more likely you've beaten someone from a legit dojo. And if you've beaten someone from a legitimate dojo then you don't come from a mcdojo. But that's just my take on it
I wasnt too crazy about my frist tournoment, awkward faze where i was 15/16 but was the size of a 12 y/o they made up a whole decision of lite weights for me in my age since i was way under weight and i did lose lol that part i didnt care about i just didnt like the experience especially sinxe at that time i trained with kids since my master didnt realize i was 15. Cause of that i never cared for tournaments, but i competed in others and liked those alot better still lost but the experience was so much better for me. Now im aboyt to start back up in bjj after 10 years idk if im goibg to try some tournaments, but i much rather do them for fun more than anything love to won, but dont think my go with the flow mindset works for thst lol
Well i am good at bjj white belt and goal is the black belt use to do some no gi.. i really do not feel like i need to compete since i have a lot of fun on normal training.. did mma and not feel like i need to prove to anyone anything but in this gym where i joined they say you need to compete at least once if you ever want to be a black belt.. soo i am gona do one but feel like if i go there i won't give much fuck about it 😂😂 Can't really see point there.. is that just me?
Update: It is not just you, however you should compete my friend and it is true at least once 😅 Should taste it all my friend like you did, at a top level as well 🎉😂 Current state of competition dangerous at a highest level especially no gi.. unfortunately my friend you need to go day after to work 😅
I went to NaGA and that was the crapiest venue. They charge 100$ for a trash event it is amazing lol. I don’t blame him for not wanting to compete in that sense
You dont have to compete cuz youre still rolling in class but youd be missing out. But Joe Rogan is vouched as a legit black belt by Machado and Eddie Bravo and hes never competed in bjj.
Hey Chew i started watching your vids ever since i started bjj and you really helped me a lot. However, after 3 weeks of training I’ve received my first stripe but i don’t feel like I’ve deserved it? I’ve been training 4 times a week with one of them being no gi. Is this normal? I just don’t wanna receive a stripe that i don’t deserve. Thank you!
Jason Bleau how come others took two months? And trust me the last thing i wanna do is insult my instructor. He’s fantastic i just feel like there’s a lot of basics that i can still do or improve on.
Dee Kay just keep the stripe. You cant rip it off once you get it. That being said 3 weeks or even 2 months even at 5x per week is awefully fast. Most schools wait a minimum of 4-6 months for a stripe. Who knows though, you could be a prodigy.
Thank you. But thats exactly what I was thinking that it was fast and I dont think I'm doing anything special either but I guess I just gotta trust my instructor. I mean I try to learn as much as I can outside of lessons like youtube etc and trying to apply and then whenever I learn something new in our lessons I would note it down but other than that, thats it.
Dee Kay just keep on training. But be mindful that if you move and end up training elsewhere, that if you have 4 stripes by 8 months you could go somewhere else and be trounced by guys with 0-1 stripes. 3 weeks -2 months a stripe is very rare.
If I want to be in shape, I’ll hit the gym If I want to defend myself, I’ll get a gun and train sprints If I do bjj/mma it’s because I want to compete and get rewarded
Trained for 11 years and competed a handful of times with mixed results. My teammates often ask why I don’t compete much. I always say the same thing. BJJ is my sanctuary where I can escape the stress of everyday life. Preparing for a competition is just another stress point and makes bjj unenjoyable. The closer a comp gets the harder it is for me to train. So do what’s right for you. If you want to compete awesome. If you just want to train and have fun also awesome. I realize it might take me longer to get promoted but don’t really care. I didn’t start training for medals or belts. I do it for the health benefits and because I find it fun.
I’ve wondered if it would hinder me not wanting to compete but this is good to hear, could I ask what belt you have jus out of curiosity
@@OldManTony789 it took me about 3 1/2 years to get my blue and a little less to purple. Been a purple for just under 5 years now. My instructor just recently said my brown is coming soon. Soon is subjective to him 😂. Just keep training the belts me less the higher you get. 🤙🏼
@@chriso8726 thank you 🙏🏼
As a wrestler we don't have belts, so I look up to a competitor black belt more than a theoretical black belt. It's like having a college degree without job experience.
@@aaronabeyta5805 I think your logic is a little flawed. I would imagine whether a wresting or bjj school, the mats don’t lie. IMO only training is not like study in a college classroom. Plus when you get to my age, mortgage, car, general expenses take priority. Missing work and recovering from injuries is not an option for me. With that said, isn’t it great that we can both train in a way that works for our individual circumstances. 🤙🏼
When someone's reason for not doing something is "I'm not good enough" it translates to "I'm afraid of losing or failing" and at that point they've already lost.
Yeah, I think everyone should do at least 2 BJJ comps in their BJJ lifetime, just to get the full experience of the art.
You cannot simulate the adrenaline and nerves that rise up when you are competing. No amount of rolling in your own club will prepare you. If you want your BJJ to be a self-defence system, you need to know what happens to your techniques when your body gets flooded with adrenaline. Some can rise to the occasion, others just wilt under the stress.
100%
Rolling 100% with those in your training center is close to the same. Your adrenaline is there.
No it’s not even close
@@nickk707 maybe not for you..
@@kreignbeatz I would be this is coming from someone who hasn’t competed.
I think if you don’t compete you’d be robbing yourself of a whole aspect of Jiu Jitsu. You can learn so much. Get out there and conquer that uncomfortable feeling bro.
Also, if you have aspirations to teach, you should compete so you can coach people who *do* want to compete. It might be very hard to coach somebody to do something you haven't really done yourself.
@@iorekby Tell that to John Danaher
@@bane3991 I would say JD is an exception to the rule. The guy was literally a PhD student at an Ivy League university, he has intellectual and educational abilities/experience far beyond most BJJ instructors.
@@iorekby His PHD doesn't mean anything in jiu jitsu. My college experience hasn't helped me at all in jiu jitsu. A degree means nothing, you can find amazing coaches that do not have 1. If Danaher can do it, so can someone else. Look at the star athletes out there, they surpassed their trainers abilities by an extremely large margin. Cus D'amto, Mike Tysons trainer has never competed in boxing before and he produced a couple of world champions including Tyson(best boxer to ever live) and Floyd Patterson. Greg Jackson coached some of the best MMA fighters such as GSP, Holly Holm, Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, etc and he never competed. In fact, his gym was known as the best in the world at 1 point.
A BJJ competition and a regular roll at the gym are the exact same things, even Danaher himself said it. He said he doesn't teach his students anything different, he just tells them to treat it like a roll in the gym. He says he doesn't get people hyped up or nothing, he tells them just do what you do in the gym.
@@bane3991 I think you missed my point about his education. It's not that having a degree or a bit of paper makes you good at BJJ. It's the fact that in his case, he was doing a PhD in a complex subject and _teaching_ complex material to undergrads. He was well versed in breaking down complex material for students. Now, when you marry that to having and outstanding teacher in Renzo (who himself coached some formidable black belts) you have this perfect storm for creating a BJJ coach par excellence.
I don't thibk anyone can get to the level of the coaches you mentioned. They are fairly unique. It's not just gym time or mat time that made them great. It was a deep analytical thinking style, being able to process the granularity of complex domains and having outstanding communication abilities to relay that information in a way accessible to most people that make those aforementioned coaches great. Like I said, they are the exception, not the rule. Even the fighters those coaches produced couldn't coach to the level of those aforementioned greats. So in that regard, no, they didn't surpass their teachers.
I appreciate not everyone needs a degree to get those skills. I think in Danaher's case, teaching in an Ivy League school may have helped developed skills he used to tech BJJ. It's an interesting conversation and I appreciate your perspective though.
This guy is cool AF
I know right
Just as close to perfection 🤩
I recently did my first couple of comps, and I absolutely hated it. I was so nervous I spent most of my warmup time in the bathroom almost throwing up. When I was in the pulpit I was thinking stuff like "if I just go out and lose quickly this feeling I'm having will end. Just get it over with". Not exactly a good mentality. I was having an absolutely terrible time. And I'm just not sure I'd be willing to go through that again. I want to be a legit jiu jitsu practitioner too, but man I hate comps.
Props.. “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
Thanks, man.
Hey man at least you tried it without anyone forcing you to, that takes guts. Not everyone has a competitive mindset, that's okay. In the end did you win? What did you learn from it (technically not emotionally)? That's what's important to your self improvement.
I learned a lot. About myself. About pushing myself during the training with the competition team. About my body and diet. About my goals and motivation(i don't feel motivated by the thought of winning at all, for example). Technically I learned I need to sharpen my submissions and sweeps cus all I got is good control in guard, not really a good followup. I learned I gotta protect my back and my neck, cus each match ended with me getting my closed guard passed, my back taken, and RNC/bow and arrow choked. 3 matches, 3 losses, same thing happend every time.
Polar Bearon you actually need to learn how to get out of the submissions you get caught in learn your position then submission
I train in a style that does ITF-style sparring and my instructor would encourage us to compete in tournaments. I didn't enjoy competitions because I am not super competitive by nature and I would always lose until I reached brown belt. I started to win some matches and lose others and this helped me overcome a lot of my internal conflict/self-confidence issues. As Chewy said, this helped me to better teach my students as I had competition experience and dealt with the same internal conflicts they were dealing with. To me, competitions are not about winning and losing but what lessons you took away whether it be a better understanding of how techniques work, which ones you can properly execute when someone is resisting, or learning how to overcome self-doubt or anxiety as they are present thought our lives. Keep training and seeking opportunities to learn and grow.
As a black belt who has competed up the ranks I agree 100 per cent. Feeling nerves, self-doubt, fear, winning, losing ... etc all that experience makes it possible to be a better teacher as it will help you relate to your students
Yes and no, as the rules dictate the style that will be successful. People who win tournaments, for the most part, have rolling styles that work well with those rules.
i lost my first, won my second on triangle and lost my Third on a giljotin . The first match was the best, there was no guard throwing, pure brawl and super fun. 2 i dont remember much, the guy i went against was good at shooting in the double leg but couldn't get me down so i got him down, i sweept him and he sweept me then i had to pull guard and i finished with a triangle. Third match, my grips was off, he had better grip, he got me on a position where i couldn't breathe, when i came back after 30 seconds i was lightheaded then he got me in a giljotin and finished me :D I had tons of fun, and i was super excited because i now know there are pleeeeenty people better then me, and i can work on my bad sides. I dont care about winning or losing, i just want a fun fight :D
Took my first class this week. Looking forward to picking up the Gi and white belt tomorrow at my second class. 33 years old with a medical device on my lower abdomen (protected mostly by a padded belt) and limited mobility due to 15 operations, but I can hang. Not sure if I could compete though. I live pretty close to River City, so maybe I'll have to check out your gym once I get farther along in my journey.
My main instructor is a black belt trained over 20 years. Competed once ever at ibjjf took gold.
I have been doing Jiujitsu for 10 months (I am 42 years old), I already been in 3 tournements (I won bronze in the last one!!! And lost on the others)
This weekend I have my 4th tournament coming up this year ! I can’t wait!
I can assure you that I have been scared prior each tournement fight I have been but the moment I conquer my mind and put my ass on the line when the ref says “go” it’s just priceless and highly recommended for your own personal and mental development.
#Jiujitsulifestyle Ossss!
Competition is also great for applying to real life scenarios. You can be great at training, but you need to learn to harness your skills under pressure when counts the most.
Applying techniques while facing adversity, will supercharge your skill set.
I agree to an extent, but you can get that in a comp class in another gym.
You can get that from having done other sports too. The adrenaline dump and nerves are the same.
I started martial arts in the 70s, began kickboxing in the 80s, and always fought black belts in the ring. I am still a white belt, and never had the desire to become anything other than a champion kickboxer
I took martial arts classes because I found it interesting, and wanted to learn. I took kickboxing classes because I thought I was good enough to become champion. Unfortunately, I listened to people that could not actually advance my career. :/
But I learned a lot sparring, as well as in the ring, and really loved doing it! I don't mind being a white belt; I rather like it actually.
Cool story, bro!
Hey Chewy , thanks for the great advice you post . I am a 47 year old 3 stripe blue belt with my first tournament coming up. My question is I am increasing my classes the last few months about 16 a month from about 12. I worry a little because I’m picking up some injuries. I work about 10 hours a day physical job. But I really like to train to keep my game up for the tournament. How do I find the sweet spot between training and the needed recovery time necessary to train efficiently. Thanks for your time , Ben
Ben's Travel and Kayak Fishing adventures. How did it go?
All your posts are so helpful, but this one may be my favorite. Thanks!
Competition is for office workers.
There are a lot of first responders and trades people at my gym. They can't afford to miss work because they got hurt in a Jiu-jitsu tournament on the weekend.
I have plenty of first responders who compete from time to time.
In ten years of training, I never won Gold medal until my third tournament at Black Belt. I had a lot of self doubts like Chewy said. The fear of loosing or looking bad in front of friends, family, students are real, but we can never find our full potential if we don’t step on the competition mat. Go smash Guys and Gals.
I don't feel competitive at competitions. I just don't care. It feels the same in the gym as i do at competitions. Just don't have that fire. Competitions are fake. Medals and pride don't make something more real. People talk about adrenaline and nerves...What if I don't feel that? What if the competition environment just does not do that for me? How else are you going to simulate that for me?
It's a valid and not uncommon experience actually. The BJJ community can over-emphasise the importance of competitions a wee bit. I think everyone should try a comp or 2, but it's not the be all and end all people make it out to be.
I've seen people get medals just for showing up as the only person in their bracket.
I've seen people sub all their opponents but they can't really tell you that they learned anything from the experience.
I've seen people get tapped out in less than 90 seconds in their first match and again, they can't tell you much about what they learned that they didn't already know.
I think that for many people all they ultimately get out of competitions, past the first few, is simply how to get better at doing BJJ comps.
And any benefits people say they get in the first few comps (e.g. dealing with nerves, adrenaline, pushing themselves, feeling of accomplishment etc...) are things you can get doing Judo comps, or Karate comps, or any combat sport comps. Or Olympic Weightlifting comps. Or doing yoga teacher exams. Or doing a 100km charity cycle. Or entering a battle of the bands competition. Or a million other activities.
BTW, I am the same as you. Maybe it was because they were smaller, local comps, but I felt nothing at comps that I didn't feel in a comp class. Looking back, my competition experiences were a bit "meh".
Very strange. Are you very good? Like are you just smoking your competition?
@@johnomara849 no. Very bad actually . In summation, I feel no competitive drive.
@@Sebdes23 you gotta get in touch with your human spirit
@@Sebdes23 and you need to have a goal. If you don’t want to win, if you aren’t going in there with some objective in mind (it could even be a particular move that you want to hit) then you won’t be satisfied. I refuse to believe you don’t have a competitive drive: it sounds like you compete with your practice partners on a regular basis. Try to get a podium, try hitting an Americana. Set out to do something, once, and then get it. If even then you don’t feel that fire, I’ll believe you. But you need to - just once - set out to do something at a competition AND succeed. Then see how you feel
I think that someone should compete at least like once for every belt level. But that's my opinion. I think the Tornado Sweep is one of those flashy moves that works. I just suck at doing it lol
First comp next month. Let’s go!
I’m not sure there is anyone contributing more to this sport than Chewy. Great perspective here.
Thanks for this man! I had a bad go in my very first tournament last month. I lost in the last match at about 6:45 via sub. vs a guy I train with. I came in second but, I still felt like I wasn't strong enough to compete at a higher level. I knew he was more athletic and more experienced than me but, the lose still stung. I wasn't sure if i wanted to try again. I might go back now.
If you enjoyed it, definitely do it again. Making it to the finals of your first tournament isn't what most people would consider, "having a bad go at it," I would think.
Boxed my whole life, My Pop trained World Title fighters. Started training Jiu Jitsu with my Son. It was an eye opener for me. My Pop is an old Marine and loved Judo. Always said if you know Judo and boxing you can take care of yourself. brilliant old man.
I really needed this video I appreciate all the content you put out keep it up !!
I liked what you said about looking across the room and finding your opponent and thinking you are going to lose. I did that in HS wrestling. I was tall and skinny and lost a few matches at weigh-in thinking "how am I going to beat that short and ripped dude?".
Nice to see you rocking the shirt from Mark Bell!
competition are too expensive in my opinion, and it's no fun to prepare for months, cut weight , pay to get in and for the travel and lose your first fight and go home..
Solutions.
Have a disciplined bodyweight naturally, so you don't have to cut.
Train more diligently so you win and the money and time spent are worth it.
Not that your point isn't valid, but I would guess Danaher never competed because he already had serious injuries before even starting jiu jitsu.
there is always a exception to the rule ;-)
And John Danaher is a VERY legit blackbelt as trainer, but he hasn´t black belt fighting skills himself due to his injuries
Danaher just doesn't seem athletic enough regardless of injuries. I dont think he would do well at competition even if he was healthy.
Tbh, not competing probably did him more good than bad. As a world class coach, you want to be focusing on your students as much as possible.
Focusing on getting fit, preparing in camp, focusing on yourself makes that hard.
It's his dedication to his students that makes him one of the most respected men in bjj.
@@eddietasker9110 you act like he was always a coach. That's weird to have a brain that works like that..
@@bipedalhominid6815 well no he wasn't. But, maybe he found later that he wanted to be a teacher rather than a competitor.
For certain people, competition sucks while teaching is awesome for them. John may have been like that.
Tbh, I think if he'd have competed it wouldn't have changed much. He just doesn't seem to have any interest in competing.
Hey CHEWY! I am a 30 years old getting ready for my first competition which is Copa in Lakeland, FL. I currently weigh 199 lbs. Should I cut weight for these tournaments? Finally, how do I train especially with a family and full time job (military). Love the vids. Hope to hear from you!
I feel the same way about the anxiety with the match over my head, I just wish I felt more comfortable in there because I wanna compete more
You’re awesome man
i tried competing twice first time i lost legitimately second time i got eliminated because i wouldnt tap to a submission that wasnt gonna work so needless to say after that i stopped giving a shit about competing...
Omg I got this thing like a job that if I get hurt I lose everything I can't even role with the 25 yrs that think they are going to world's
Facts. Biggest reason for me. 100% agree
Fuckin A!!
I think it is totally acceptable to not want to compete. Some people just don't have the drive or desire for it. If you wanna do BJJ for fun as a stress relief twice a week and not compete it's more healthy than stressing and putting yourself through the wringer to compete and question your ability. I compete and do awful but that's ok for me im not the competitive type I just like the different experience and mat time.
as long as you do your best that is all that matters
I'm only a white belt belt... But the only reason I haven't competed is because if I get injured I can't perform my job. So i'm waiting until I have a couple weeks off, just in case I get injured. Very excited to compete though since I've never competed in anything before..
I have zero desire to compete, and I know I'd probably do very well. I just don't feel like dealing with the hassle... Crowds and attitudes... Don't like 'em
This... I hate it
I think the drive of wanting that gold drives people in a whole new level. It's like a level right behind life or death
Hey Chewy, I just came back from a Submission Grappling competition and I won two matches via stoppage under 1 minute. But in the semi-finals, I got choked out via triangle and I can't get it out of my head. How do I go back to the same tournament knowing that everybody knows I got choked out in the semis and build back my confidence after such a loss?
Thanks! Love your channel.
Kshitij Kumar ego Bro no one knows you got choke out if so ..so what keep a it I'm sure after that no one can triangle you
Nobody will remember your defeat (or care about), besides you. And in the end, we all will be dead sooner or later.
Thanks to the both of you, I'll work hard on my triangle defenses and will make sure no one ever even comes close to triangle me. Maybe this defeat will push me to do better I guess, thanks again.
Kshitij Kumar no problem but that's how bjj work and that's how you get better
Even professionals, at UFC, gets triangle chokes and tap out. Avoid this of ever happen again is crazyness (impossible). A Buddha quote for you: "A man who conquers himself is greater than one who conquers a thousand men in battle".
That's why jiu jitsu so fun ...it's not just competition but just having fun with it
Some competitions are crazy expensive round trip ticket, hotel, entry fee, competition gis, eating out, etc. It's really easy to tell people to compete if you have a competitive personality. The problem is a black belt isn't very well defined. Someone saying they are a national champion in a sport is more well defined. If you win brown belt worlds in adult division and just steam roll everyone a coach probably needs a good reason not to promote you to black belt because you're the best brown belt in the world using the best test we have. So it seems like if you think you deserve a black belt a good way to show that is to win a brown belt tournament that your coach appreciates.
On the other hand I felt like that video was heavy handed toward competition and doesn't take into account that you've competed quite a bit and probably have a competitive personality. I can kind of understand where he's coming from if he doesn't like the point system or his reason for training bjj is heavily health related or if he doesn't like the idea of weight cutting or he's financially struggling. Depending on your job a competition could make you risk getting hurt physically and financially. There are a lot of jobs you can't do if you break a finger or strain your back where in a 5 minute roll with someone who knows you they might respect that you have a sore knee or something or you don't feel like you need to save your entry fee until you're 100% sure he's got the shoulder lock and there's only 15 seconds left maybe you can deal with it. You said competitions are real. In some ways competitions put you in a situation that isn't real. It's not very worthy of a reward if you let someone break your shoulder but you won a tournament. There are rules when someone passes your guard where you can give up your back partially and he doesn't get points for passing guard. Competitions favor the guard penalizing a standing opponent for not attacking a sitting opponent after breaking contact. That's stupid, the person who has the high ground shouldn't be forced to concede it the assumption is that the guard is superior to standing. That's total fight theory, it's not a proven fact. Some competatiors have very little respect for their opponents safety and well being especially in competitions. Check out kary kolat's arm spin in the state finals (and pretty much the entire match) he's obviously very willing to cause serious damage to this person. ruclips.net/video/vTTRJemDGUc/видео.htmlm41s
I really see both sides of it and it depends who the person is.
My worry with competing is Injury . I already have a bad knee and shoulder , I don't want a spaz to do the wrong thing or pull it so fast I don't get tap before a "pop".
The thing is that when you are rolling with all of the people in your gym, you know their moves, their go-tos and habits so you aren’t thinking as much and you aren’t using as much of your knowledge of the sport. When you’re rolling some random guy or girl in a tournament, you don’t know anything about them except what they look like. I would try to do it just because you can only get so far with the people you train with on the daily, no matter how much they help you improve.
Hey, i got a question. Im currently a white belt training BJJ. My trainer is a purple belt, and is usually a fun and enjoyable person. But whenever he thinks i'm rolling to agressive he to begins rolling aggressive. His superior skills obviosly leads to him getting a lock/choke. My problem is the fact that he pretty much ignores my taps whenever this happens. He usually doesnt let go until im having to shout "TAP, TAP, TAP!". After he finally let's go he then begins to shout/yell at me for rolling too agressive, even though hes the one hurting me. This has lead to me getting a limp or pain for a couple of days several times. He has also done this to one of my friends on his second training, which lead to him not wanting to continue with BJJ.
When i roll i tend to follow my opponents speed. My trainer is a small guy, so he moves a lot to make up for his lack of strength. I can imagine this is the reason he feels i'm rolling aggressive, even though most of our rolls consists of him controlling me, whilst i try to get out. Is this common practice, or is this wrong of my trainer? Would love to hear your thoughts, thanks. Comments would also be nice!
MyNameIsFluuup hey man, I know you were looking for chews answer but here is some advice I can give you till he responds with some better advice if I were you I would tell my trainer how I feel just tell him what you told us he might be having a bad day or who knows maybe someone passed away in his family you got to think to he has alot of bjj training to get to also just like you so maybe he's a little frustrated about that but I don't know it's best to ask your coach man just see what he says have a man to man talk with him about it and that should work if not just leave to a more experienced Jiu-Jitsu coach I have yet to join for personal reasons but I will soon my trainer is a bjj black belt so I may not have those same problems black belts tend to be more outgoing for some reason. Hope it helps man
The way your instructor is behaving is out of line. As a technically superior grappler, he should have no problem attaining and maintaining superior positions. The fact that he feels the need to finish every time he catches you is not helping him improve his own game and doesn't help you learn defenses and escapes. Worst of all is his ego driven refusal to let go of holds and chokes. This is a great way to injure a training partner and sets a horrible example for his students.
You could try to talk to him, but personally I would be looking for a different instructor. Perhaps the best way to help him be a better instructor is to leave.
Thanks for the answer. I think the fact that he holds the lock even after i tap is a way to punish me, rather that his ego. My problem is how he tells me i'm being too aggressive AFTER he does it. If he would've told me, and i'd keep going aggressevly, then i'd understand why he'd do it. But he holds it before he does.
MyNameIsFluuup - Get away from that guy as fast as you can. He's a control freak and likely has passive-aggressive issues that he's acting out on you. Besides, you should be learning from someone much more experienced in teaching, not just knowledge of the techniques.
All I train is Bjj Self defence ....... Silvio Behring....We train the self defence stuff HARD once I learn the move....
Well said!👍🏻🥋
How real is Jiujitsu if people just hold for points in competition?
Adapt to the situation i guess
Its hard for me to compete too...because to be honest i prefer to be in guard
Because even in a real fight, you’re conquering your fear to engage, and in this case, completely hold down and control your opponent for a minimum of 5 minutes. If you can hold someone down, you’ve won the fight.
100 real
What are you going to do
I am 38 years old, 8 years of training (purple belt) . 1 year after serious knee surgery - trying my best to attend 2 times a week (sometimes +1 of weekend sparring session). Work / scientific career, family (3 kids). I often go to my bjj academy being very tired. I have a hard time sparring with my academy coleagues (even with younger/silniejszymi white / blue belts). How could I even think about competing?
I’m a 51 year old white belt with about 4 months of training. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever compete since I’d be matched up against people 10-15 years younger. On the other hand, my ultimate belt goal is probably purple at best.
Well said Chewy
Personally, I've competed atleast 35 times between white and blue. Twice as a purple and none at brown so far. It's the waiting around all day and fear of getting hurt again that gets me..
I cant wait to compete !
How do BJJ competitions work, anyway? There’s more to it than just throwing two people of the same belt at each other, right? Other guys I follow (Jocko, Joe Rogan) have said there’s no universal skill standard associated with each belt, but rather belt progression is a representation of each individual’s own capability and potential based on his or her limitations and physical ability. If I misunderstood that, I apologize. I just started training last week.
Getting into a fight in a parking lot is real. Fighting in a competition is controlled and safe. Not that I think people should act stupid and get into fights but just because your competition jiu jitsu is good, does not mean you can win in a fight for your life. Stuff that works in tournaments can get you really messed up in a real fight.
Facts everyone has a plan till they get punched in the chin
I would say you don't need to compete not to be a black belt, but definitely if you want to teach you need to compete. You will have to coach your students and some of them will want to compete, so if you haven't been through it yourself how can you properly understand it?
Some of us old guys don't want to compete because...we don't recover fast anymore and have to go to work. If I am hurt and can't work, there's no training funds.
Hey Chew quick question being training for a good while now getting closer to the blue belt. A team mate got their blue belt promotion due to winning competitions a lot of these where default medals just themselves and their opponent in their bracket. But none of us seem to be getting praise and used as an example due to this kind of demoralising. A couple of us are traveling to a comp next week in Europe. We all have big brackets a always get to the quarter finals and no medal. Anyway to approach this topic of default medals and social media posts claiming to beat many people even though its just one person? Tommy
Everybody is on their own journey. You can't judge your own progress as a martial artist in comparison to what somebody else is doing. Coaches have there reasons. I realize no one wants to be a white belt, but take your focus off the belt and put it on getting better and sharper with your techniques. The belts will come.
Hey Chewy, I can sympathize with Eric. I did Judo when I was in junior high and high school. Since I started later than many students and didn't go to my first tournament until I was 15 (I think, I'm old now and my memory sucks). At that time, you could use chokes. Since I was very new, I hadn't been taught chokes and (more importantly) hadn't been taught how to defend against them. My first match, I got choked out hard. The last thing I remember is my vision tunneling and everything went black. Next thing I remember is being in the ER and being evaluated because I had actually had a seizure the ref stopped the match. That scared me to death from there on and I learned to dislike competition. I avoided competitions at all costs which I think the instructors saw as me not caring about the sport. My promotions slowed down and I felt that I was working for nothing. When I asked my instructors what I was missing or what I needed to do to progress, I was told that I my fund of knowledge was fine but I needed to show the other clubs in the area that I knew what I was doing. I stopped training in Judo and didn't resume until I was well into and past my college years. I don't know what the right answer is but it is important for students to have multiple options to able to demonstrate their skills.
Just my opinion.
Just go there and have fun. Most of us aren't in BJJ to become the nr1 in the world. We train because we enjoy the art and the workout. Go and compete without worrying about winning or losing.
I got double gold at my first competition and I don't like competitions very much. I think it dilutes the art too much into a desperate unrealistic idea of a real fight where people are to scared to do anything but hold tight and try not to lose points, I personally prefer rolling in the academy for technique building or mma sparring with the strikes thrown in. That's just me though maybe I'm lame.
i did 2 competitions and had major anxiety for both. it’s been a few years and I want to compete again but i don’t want to ✨ c r y ✨ cause i will win or lose
Hey Chewy! absolutely love your vids!
I've been training for roughly 10 months now and i am aware that I've still got lots to learn, but what i find it hard is to find a fair roll every time i go to my gym (I'm a girl who's around 166cm and 51kg, so almost always the smallest in class). I always end up feeling defeated or as if I'm "wasting" others time because i can't go against someone else's normal rolling (I'm very easy to squash hahaha), so my question is, how can i train effectively in a gym thats full with big and much stronger people? i've been told that my techniques are good, but once someone gets a knee on belly or mount i feel like its game over to me.
Thank you so much!
Basic answer is learn to frame out better, grip fight, get faster in scrambles, etc. to make sure you never end up on the bottom. Knee on belly and mount are hard when practicing with much bigger opponents.
For some video suggestions: Stephan Kesting has a video series with Michelle Kwok on how to work against bigger, stronger opponents that might be of some use to you.
As a heads up: You are never wasting anyone's time rolling with them. They might be wasting their time if they don't use the time practicing with a smaller opponent to use less force and more technique and to practice other aspects of their game than smashing. That's on them.
Also one training specific thing you might consider is asking your partner if there is something specific you can work on --- that way you can change open sparring to positional sparring and prevent yourself from getting stuck excessively in bad positions.
I will second the positional sparring suggestion.
If you can, find a willing partner and work those horrible positions, but set some ground rules. Knee on belly is a grest position to injure your ribs, so tap before you get them dislocated if they start pulling up on your head.
Ask your instructor for specific escapes from these two positions and try to use them. As a smaller grappler, I have also had good success using the Great Grappling knee on belly escape and frequently watch Chewie's various mount escapes to compliment the ones I have been taught in class.
The more you put yourself in horrible situations in a controlled manner, the more calmly and methodically you can work to escape or sweep. At first it will mostly be a challenge just to survive, but there is much merit to be had in that. Your goal can be to survive x seconds or x submission attempts. Then with reps and increased familiarity you can begin to mount your own game.
Thank you both so much! such great advice and i'll surely put it in practice!
Let’s be honest, tournaments are boring af. I was very successful when I started doing tournaments (7 gold medals in my first 4 tournaments) and I got less enthusiastic with each tournament. I only do local tournaments now to be a part of my team. The prospect of 6 hours waiting around to compete is the worst part of jiu jitsu now.
That’s your opinion. Many would disagree with you.
@@Chewjitsu No. If “many” people disagreed with me then attendance at jiu jitsu competitions wouldn’t be counted in the tens of spectators. I literally watched a video where you yourself talked about how you find yourself not watching the higher belt matches at major tournaments because they are so boring and nothing happens for the whole rounds.
I’m not a fan of point Jiu Jitsu competition. I prefer submission only, the stalling when ahead on the scorecard takes away from the pure test of your Jiu Jitsu game IMO
Do it for fun, and do it for yourself. Don't do it to impress someone
You could have a competitive grading system like they do in Judo...you fight for grades rather than medals..that works well and forces you to compete. By the time you've got your Judo BB you'll have fought in 6 or 7 gradings minimum over 4 or 5 years. And if you don't win your 2 or 3 fights you don't get the next belt.
You've also got your theory test to do for each grade to demonstrate your knowledge of the art as you advance in judo.
sienna three judo and Greco roman wrestling have a lot of different rules also judo is in a gi comps have weight classes and age brackets
I love this
I got told i couldn't get a blue belt till i win a comp i'm a 1 stripe white atm and i've been training for about 2 years but i can't really afford to keep going into comps just to get more stripes etc
I did my fist and win the second and third love them
I would like to compete before too long i just have a hard time making time for it between work and family but i love to train and maybe when my kids get old enough i can go to competitions with them and compete as a family
Chewy I'm just a white belt 3 weeks in I'm not even looking at that black belt I'm be lucky to my first stripe in a year let alone two but I'm lucky to be with a careful group of guys that don't roll hard.
im so scared of competition.
i did a few, but before the match im so scared i start shacking, i cant even sleep the night before.
and before or in the match i feel like im going to vomit .. and im just thinking about vomiting on the mats (saw this 1 time) and this makes me even more nervos xd i think just 10% about the fight and dont care much about win/loose.. but my nervs .. feels bad
Phenibut is the drug for you mate
Chewie I can only train bjj once a week however will have more time to train in future should I still train or should I wait till I have more time to properly commit
Train as much as you can. A small amount of training will always be better than none. I'm not Chewie, but I think it's safe to assume he'd say the same.
Thanks dude
Yw, good luck!
I am actually training karate as my main Martial Art in germany
However i am actually interested as well. Problem is that i just can't find a gym to train. Their either way to far away or the one kinda nearby charges completly insane prices (1 month of BJJ would cost the same as 2 years karate).
This makes it pretty much impossible...
Hi chewy, Ive been to my first few bjj classes and I'm really struggling to sink my hooks in. I'm only 5 ft 6 and it seems my legs are too short hahaha do you have any tips or drills I can do that will help me either get the muscle memory or alternate ways to work around?
Josh creba Just keep training bro, your mind and body will link. And you will find your gameplan.
There are ways to control the back without hooks in. There are some serious folks who only sink 1 hook or none at all.
Competition is partly an idiosyncrasy of BJJ. People compete in BJJ because you can train and compete with low risk of major injury. The gym can also be real competition.
That T-Shirt looks possibly like it's from Supertraining gym/Mark Bell. Is that true?
Personally I think you should, imo that's the only way to be certain you're not coming from a mcdojo. The more people you beat the more likely you've beaten someone from a legit dojo. And if you've beaten someone from a legitimate dojo then you don't come from a mcdojo. But that's just my take on it
I wasnt too crazy about my frist tournoment, awkward faze where i was 15/16 but was the size of a 12 y/o they made up a whole decision of lite weights for me in my age since i was way under weight and i did lose lol that part i didnt care about i just didnt like the experience especially sinxe at that time i trained with kids since my master didnt realize i was 15.
Cause of that i never cared for tournaments, but i competed in others and liked those alot better still lost but the experience was so much better for me. Now im aboyt to start back up in bjj after 10 years idk if im goibg to try some tournaments, but i much rather do them for fun more than anything love to won, but dont think my go with the flow mindset works for thst lol
Do you have to be a legit black-belt before you're 50 to be a legit black-belt?
Yes
No
When you think it is good enough, you need to train more!
no... you don't have to do tourneys. you just have to show up consistently and train your but off for about ten years.
Are any of you aware of competitions that do not take place on Saturday?
Well i am good at bjj white belt and goal is the black belt use to do some no gi.. i really do not feel like i need to compete since i have a lot of fun on normal training.. did mma and not feel like i need to prove to anyone anything but in this gym where i joined they say you need to compete at least once if you ever want to be a black belt.. soo i am gona do one but feel like if i go there i won't give much fuck about it 😂😂 Can't really see point there.. is that just me?
Update:
It is not just you, however you should compete my friend and it is true at least once 😅 Should taste it all my friend like you did, at a top level as well 🎉😂
Current state of competition dangerous at a highest level especially no gi.. unfortunately my friend you need to go day after to work 😅
I agree that some of the BJJ videos on RUclips are just ridiculous.
I went to NaGA and that was the crapiest venue. They charge 100$ for a trash event it is amazing lol. I don’t blame him for not wanting to compete in that sense
Hey I just want to let you know I like this before I watched it
:-)
if your going to activate the panastetic influence make sure your going to get paid for it
Hey I have a power mag shirt! I like smelly bell too
You dont have to compete cuz youre still rolling in class but youd be missing out. But Joe Rogan is vouched as a legit black belt by Machado and Eddie Bravo and hes never competed in bjj.
I'm 63 Brother ....
I'm a redgreen belt
He could just compete an tap fast just to get it over with I might do that my self
If I had millions of dollars I wouldn’t be making BJJ videos. Dan Bilzerian must be on hard times. Lol
Hey Chew i started watching your vids ever since i started bjj and you really helped me a lot. However, after 3 weeks of training I’ve received my first stripe but i don’t feel like I’ve deserved it? I’ve been training 4 times a week with one of them being no gi. Is this normal? I just don’t wanna receive a stripe that i don’t deserve. Thank you!
Don't insult your instructors that way. 1st stripe is time on the mat. They feel you earned it, so you earned it.
Jason Bleau how come others took two months? And trust me the last thing i wanna do is insult my instructor. He’s fantastic i just feel like there’s a lot of basics that i can still do or improve on.
Dee Kay just keep the stripe. You cant rip it off once you get it. That being said 3 weeks or even 2 months even at 5x per week is awefully fast. Most schools wait a minimum of 4-6 months for a stripe. Who knows though, you could be a prodigy.
Thank you. But thats exactly what I was thinking that it was fast and I dont think I'm doing anything special either but I guess I just gotta trust my instructor. I mean I try to learn as much as I can outside of lessons like youtube etc and trying to apply and then whenever I learn something new in our lessons I would note it down but other than that, thats it.
Dee Kay just keep on training. But be mindful that if you move and end up training elsewhere, that if you have 4 stripes by 8 months you could go somewhere else and be trounced by guys with 0-1 stripes. 3 weeks -2 months a stripe is very rare.
Hollywood Stunt Techniques
If I want to be in shape, I’ll hit the gym
If I want to defend myself, I’ll get a gun and train sprints
If I do bjj/mma it’s because I want to compete and get rewarded
Sometimes a gun or running can’t help you, what if a guy comes from behinds you and just tackles you
Yes
TL;DR No, but yes.