I’m new to Jiu-Jitsu. When am I ready to compete?
Newer Students often ask this question after joining Gracie Barra. They desire competition and seek out the Jiu-Jitsu tournament experience. After several months they feel motivated and curious but don’t know how to gauge if they are ready to enter a tournament for the first time. Professor Fabiana Borges has competed at the International Level, placing at IBJJF Worlds and Pan American Championships as a Black Belt. She teaches out of San Antonio and shares a few thoughts on knowing if you’re ready to compete.
Prof. Fabiana tells us she "believes that you are ready to compete when you can give extra attention and time to your training routine. You can train at least three times a week in GB2/GB3 classes. And when you’re attending classes, you are 100% committed to them."
The GB1 Fundamentals is an excellent foundation for your Jiu-Jitsu development and prepares you for the more advanced, sport Jiu-Jitsu techniques in the GB2 and GB3 classes. It is recommended to have trained in these more advanced classes since it’s less likely to see the self-defense aspects you learn in GB1. In an IBJJF tournament, the novice / white belt divisions will have surprisingly savvy competitors at the more advanced sport Jiu-Jitsu techniques.
Before we go further, let's quickly break down the difference between Self-Defense and Sport Jiu-Jitsu techniques. The techniques learned in GB1 are focused on Self-Defense and foundational Jiu-Jitsu. GB2 & GB3 level techniques are geared toward the battle of sport where your opponent is more likely to know the counter to your move.
So, just how much experience do you need to be ready to compete? In the beginning, you might measure based on the total hours accumulated on the mat compared to how many months you started. There is a significant difference in both learning and ability between a student who attends class twice a week or an athlete who trains every day.
Prof. Fabiana recommends "to be training at least 4-6 months so you could have learned enough techniques to apply in a tournament."
That is a decent amount of time to ensure you have been exposed to enough techniques to solidify what to do in the most basic positions.
For example, in a lousy position needing to defend, you should know:
- What attacks to defend from
- How to counter the most common attacks
- At least two escapes to reverse or better your position
- What common mistakes are made in your position
And when you are in a dominant position on the offense, you should know:
- How to control your position and opponent
- How they can escape
- At least two submissions
- How to progress to higher positions to score points
It’s essential to understand the foundational positions and advance whether you're defending or playing offense. But it’s also equally important to understand the rules of the tournament you are competing in. You want to know how you can get points, not penalties. It is your responsibility to understand the ruleset for each tournament, as they are not all set up the same.
There’s no doubt that everyone likes to win, but it’s key to remember the most crucial part is not the result but the journey of development that you go through in your preparation. The greatest reward is what you can learn about yourself and your Jiu-Jitsu through this process of preparing and competing.
Prof. Fabiana shares the same understanding, stating...
"I love competing but believe that I get a lot out of the preparation and training for it."
Stay tuned for upcoming CompNet Tournaments in your region.
Blog Written by Mark Mullen - Gracie Barra Black Belt