I competed in my first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition over the weekend. It was tough.

My division was Male, Novice, 91.5kg.

3 fights (2 Gi, 1 No Gi). 1 win (sub), 2 losses (points).

A huge learning experience.

A few points (in no particular order):

• You got to be ready to go. No definitive match time. When your division is called, you could be first off the rank, or waiting around in the pig pen for a while. My strategy to overcome this next comp is to have a warm-up routine. Something I haven't really established yet in BJJ.
• Know your weight. I never really weigh myself. I usually hang around 90kg. The morning of the comp, I went to Kmart and bought some scales. I weighed in just over 90kg. Competing at 91.5kg meant that I was a bit concerned about not making weight. So I decided to compete fasted and didn't really hydrate until I weighed in 5 minutes before my fight. I came in at 88.3kg on the official scales, well under the 94.5kg (Gi allowance). If I had of weighed in earlier, I would of hydrated appropriately prior. I wasn't concerned about competing fasted, because I am pretty well fat-adapted, but I think this was a mistake. Next time will be different. Maybe some cold sweet potato a couple of hours prior to fight time would be better. This was highlighted in my next point.
• Competition environment is a completely different beast. After fight 1, I was completely gassed. My fitness has never really been an issue, but after my first fight I was struggling. I went back to the pig pen and wasn't sure when I would be recalled for fight 2. I did some slow diaphragmatic breathing to recover and settled ok. My forearms were burning. I got called for fight 2 against a fresh opponent and struggled from the get-go.
• Develop a stand-up game. I was lucky enough to get a hip throw in my first fight. In my second fight, the combination of fatigue, a fresh opponent and no real stand-up experience meant we danced awkwardly for 3.5 minutes, with me trying to apply the little technique I know. I ended up going for something and got taken down. More Judo required. I have tossed up the idea of whether or not I just should of pulled guard and worked for a sweep? I will bring this up with the team.
• Get stronger. I really don't train anything other than Jiu Jitsu now. I surf, do a little mobility and kettlebell work, but nothing serious. I need more strength and power. Especially at this weight.
• Train more. The one thing that really came out of my comp experience is that I need to just continue to show up to training. Keep walking through the door. I feel I am connecting more and more transitions and techniques, but I just got to keep on showing up.

A great experience and glad I did it. Both Gi fights posted below. Let me know your thoughts and feedback.

FIGHT ONE

FIGHT TWO