JiuJitsu Competition Atmostphere

This past month I jumped back into competition and entered into a NAGA and an IBJJF Open. Both of them reminded me of how a unique an experience JiuJitsu tournaments are. This past weekend I drove up to San Francisco to hit the open. I was welcomed into the Ralph Gracie school for a no gi class with Kurt Osiander. Jumping into a no gi class is always interesting because you never know who you are grabbing when it comes time to roll. One of the guys that I trained with was originally from London and now trains at the Renzo Gracie academy in New York and was also visiting the school. Another student that I had a great roll with I ended up talking to briefly with and he was also going to be competing the next day. We parted ways and I told him that I hoped to see him the next day.

Well that guy just so happened to be a black belt. Something that I found out after watching him compete on Sunday. I went over and talked to him after his match, and he asked me if I had anyone coaching me, because he knew that I was visiting from North Carolina. When he found out that I didn't, he offered to coach me for my upcoming open weight class match. Competing alone can be tough. Just having someone in your corner is nice for the morale support, and it helps when they are also a black belt that can coach you through your match. I thought that was just the coolest thing that a random black belt was willing to support someone that he had just met the day before, and that really meant a lot to me. After a great class and that experience, I can't say enough good things about the quality of training and the people at the Ralph Gracie academy in San Francisco. 

Another thing that reminded me about the atmosphere that you are getting into at a JiuJitsu tournament was the conversation I had with my opponent after the match. The guy is on the ATOS competition team, and while we were waiting near the podium to pick up our medals, I talked to him about our match. He had done a phenomenal job of breaking and controlling the grip fight of the match and had used a reverse kimura attack from guard to set up a sweep that he had gotten on me. He happily answered my questions about how he had set it up, as well as what it was like training on the competition team there. I thought that was also really cool as it is rare within a sport to receive coaching and game advice from your competition.

The atmosphere at tournaments is just one of the parts that makes up why I love competing so much. Some really good friends that I have within JiuJitsu are people that I have competed against at one point in time. I'm looking forward to participating in additional tournaments this year, and I'm sure that I will walk away from them as similar experiences as this one.

About the Author:

Steven McMahon earned his Kyuki-Do Black Belt in 2011 from Grand Master Kim at Kim's Black Belt Academy and his  BJJ Purple Belt in January 2017 under Professor Charles Nunley. He trains out of Cornerstone BJJ in Fayetteville, NC. He is an active competitor at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Army Combatives tournaments.