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This article is for the BJJ trainees who want to win more competitions. The truth is that even if you never compete in your BJJ career, you'll still benefit from reading this article. However, there's one benefit we can't ignore from competing in BJJ. That benefit is the expectation and motivation preparing for the competition leads to. Who do you think is going to train harder, a grappler who has a tournament in front of his eyes or another grappler who has no goals and no tournament in line of sight? The answer is quite obvious. The grappler who has something to expect will be more motivated and dedicated to working hard, for the most part. Furthermore, winning your first or second BJJ competition—is a sign you're at a great place. Not only do you train hard, but your mindset is also set in place. This will motivate you to keep going, which is a win-win situation. So competing in BJJ is awesome. Here are 11 tips to win more of them throughout your BJJ career! Whether you're a white, blue, purple, brown, or black belt, you'll benefit from reading this article. So let's dive in! #11 – Move first The first tip is to move first. You guys know the saying: he who moves first, damages first. That saying applies to many things and areas in life. It also applies to BJJ. Moving first will lead to a few benefits, including you having the surprise factor. Being more unexpected—is always a positive trait, especially in a sport where your opponent always tries to predict you. While reacting to the opponent's actions is also something you want to focus on, you're going to be in a much better place if you initiate the first move. Think about it, would you be better off reacting to the opponent's first move or forcing your opponent to react? Now both of you want to move first. Thus, it'll be worth it not to jump in immediately and force any move on the opponent. No, that's not what you should do. Instead, you want to look for an opening and attack once you find it. Everyone has a sweet spot you want to attack, even the greatest BJJ masters. It's just that they hide in so well that you'll almost never find it. But finding an opening against the average grappler—won't be as difficult. And when you initiate the first move on that weak spot, the sky's the limit. #10 – Eat right before the tournament Tip #10 is going to be quite obvious, but it's definitely worth mentioning. You want to eat right before the tournament. What does that mean and why will it help you win the competition? Let me tell you a little story about a time when I puked myself in a martial arts training session. I was just a beginner when I began learning this martial art and I didn't know anything about proper diet. It turns out that you want to avoid coming too full to an intense training session. Who knew? If I were to eat right, I wouldn't have puked myself and would have seen more progress and results from that particular training session. It can be quite tempting to overeat or to eat sugary/fatty foods, which I totally get. However, before a tournament, it would be best to eat a large meal 4 hours prior to it starting. This large meal should contain carbs, fats, and protein. Then, you want to fuel yourself with sugars around 30 minutes before your fight. Of course, don't let yourself be too full—or else you'll find yourself in a stinky situation (pun well thought of.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsgMbEn55bA&pp=ygUgaG93IHRvIGVhdCBmb3IgYSBiamogY29tcGV0aXRpb24%3D What to Eat on the Day of the Tournament #9 – Read the local rules Do you know what's the worst feeling when attending a BJJ competition? It's not losing and it's not getting submitted. Rather, it's winning the fight and getting disqualified since you broke some rule you didn't know about. Reading the rules of the tournament you're applying for—is critical. You'll be able to know what to avoid and what not to avoid. The best solution for that is to read the rules as thoroughly as possible. If, for example, executing the Kneebar is illegal in the competition you're about to attend, you'll want to avoid doing just that. Some competitions ban the use of various submissions, and you want to keep an eye on that. So read the local rules of the tournament you're about to attend before you show up. #8 – Use the competition as motivation One of the best benefits of competing in BJJ is the amount of progress you'll be making leading up to the tournament itself. This can be one of the best ways to progress quickly. Hear me out. Whenever you sign up for a competition, you'll suddenly get excited about training since you want to win it. So you now have an entirely different external goal, which you haven't had before. Your mind is going to react by fueling your motivation tank, leading to more dedication in the training itself. The more motivation you have, the easier it'll be to stay disciplined in training, which will lead to more progress and results. So use the competition as fuel for your training, even if your current goal isn't to compete. #7 – Don't focus on points #7 is not focusing on points. We all know how great it can feel to score 4 points in a tournament by attaining Back Mount or Full Mount. However, it can also be easy to diverge your entire focus on points, instead of on what truly matters in BJJ. To understand what truly matters in BJJ, we must understand what points really do. What are points granted for? The answer is control. The more control you have, the more points you'll be granted. For example, you'll be granted 3 points for passing the opponent's guard and attaining Side Control. Likewise, you'll get 2 points for getting to Knee on Belly or sweeping the opponent. All of these actions and positions aren't things you want to focus on. However, if you focus on control, you'll be more likely to get more points, paradoxically. #6 – Focus on control I want to dedicate another section to this topic, as I believe it's more important to understand than you think. Focusing on points will lead to having the wrong goal in mind. While points are a fantastic indicator of which grappler has the upper hand, control is what the game is about. If you submit the opponent, you win, regardless of how many points you or the opponent have. Therefore, it'll be worth it to focus on control and attack whenever you see fit. For example, if you pass the opponent's guard and attain Side Control, your goal should be to maintain your upper hand in the competition and strive for more control. So you either want to transition into Full Mount or go for a submission. As you can see, both these options will lead to a greater probability of winning the tournament, either by giving you more points or forcing the opponent to tap. So by not focusing on points, we've managed to plan our next steps to gain more control. Paradoxically, we've managed to gain more points by not focusing on getting more points! #5 – Stick to your game plan Coming up with a strategy for each BJJ competition you attend—is critical. You want to avoid showing up unprepared, as that will likely lead to you losing more matches. However, if you come up with a game plan you'll follow, you'll be more likely to (A) get more points, and (B) win more fights. This also correlates to reading the local rules of each tournament you apply to. For example, if you see that getting Side Control gives you 2 points, like in the NAGA point system, you'll be more inclined to use it as part of your game plan. This is common sense. However, not many grapplers plan which positions they want to use most and focus on that. Therefore, they come too dynamic to the fight, not realizing that having too many options can cause issues. If one grappler focuses on attaining Mount, he's much more likely to get it than the other grappler who just showed up to the fight without any clear plan. So stick to your game plan and plan it according to the rules and point system. I wrote another article on the best BJJ competition strategies you want to start using. Follow the link to learn more. #4 – Understand the point system Next up, you want to understand the point system. There are clear ways to attain points in BJJ competitions, which are everything to do with control. For instance, if you attain Back Mount, you get 4 points for the amount of control you just got. Once you hook your legs, the judge will grant you the 4 points you deserve. That's all fantastic. But what if you don't know how the point system works in the tournament you're currently applying to? If you show up and it turns out that you don't get any points for trying to submit the opponent, you might try and gain a dominant position before moving to a submission. I wrote a separate article on how the point system in the most popular BJJ official tournaments works. So follow the link to read more. #3 – Attack often The next thing we'll review is to attack more often than you do now. Many grapplers show up to their competition with the sole goal of getting as many points as possible. Now, if you think about it, this derives you from the will to try and submit the opponent! BJJ is all about attacking. That's why you won't get any points for escaping the Mount or any other dominant position. But if you don't get any points for trying to execute the Kimura, Americana, or Guillotine Choke, how likely are you to go for these submissions? The fact is, you want to attack more often because that's what BJJ is all about. Not only will you get an instant victory if you force the opponent to tap, but you'll also be able to gain more control as a result of that. And we all know what more control means. More points! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3hdB87Pfg8&pp=ygUfc3VibWlzc2lvbnMgaW4gYmpqIGNvbXBldGl0aW9ucw%3D%3D Best Submissions in Grappling Competitions #2 – Know and use your strong points What are you best at? Are you best at pulling guard or takedowns? Let's assume you're much better at takedowns than pulling guard. Alright, that's perfect. So instead of starting with a pulling guard strategy, you want to begin by trying to take the opponent down and gaining the points for that. Taking the opponent down means having an endless set of options appear, like the Peruvian Necktie, German Necktie, and Japanese Necktie. By the way, if you want to learn which neckties are most effective in BJJ, follow this link. So understanding your strong points will give you an indicator of which moves you want to focus on going. If you're better at Armbars than Chokes, focus on the first rather than the latter. #1 – Focus on the progression, not the outcome The last tip is the most important one. You want to focus on the progression that the tournament will lead to rather than its outcome. You might come in 2nd, 3rd, 7th, or 1st place. Frankly, I don't care because you might have faced much better grapplers than yourself. Or, on the other hand, you might have faced less experienced and skilled grapplers than yourself and swept all of them. In any case, you have learned many things about yourself as a grappler. You might have learned that you should work more on takedowns. So you now have a better plan moving forward in your BJJ journey. That's absolutely fantastic! This will lead to a faster progression rate and a much better experience in your grappling journey. Focusing on the outcome of the tournament will deprive you of that experience. It doesn't matter which place you got, all that matters now is how you'll plan your journey will your current experience. Because if you plan your future accordingly, there'll be nothing stopping you from skyrocketing your progression rate and results! Final Words This was it for this article. Hopefully, you've already signed up for a BJJ tournament in the near future and you've already started preparing for it. The amount of progress you can make leading up to a competition—is astounding. Focus on that. Please don't focus on the outcome. That will reduce your fear of losing and failure, as you don't care about the outcome, but about the progress you'll make leading up to the competition. But, of course, it'll be best if you keep yourself excited leading up to the BJJ tournament. Anxiety and fear are a part of the drill, and you can utilize them to keep yourself excited and turn them into motivation and dedication leading up to the fights! So go sign up for any BJJ competition, if you haven't already. Here are other articles you'd enjoy reading: 4 Reasons Why You’re NOT Improving in BJJ 10 Tips for BJJ White Belts | How to progress faster Is BJJ Hard for Beginners? Complete Breakthrough Is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Effective for Self-Defense? 7 Best Grappling & BJJ Mats For Your Money | Full Guide 3 Ways You Can Learn BJJ at Home | Full Guide 9 Physical Benefits of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Fitness

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