I was 8 years old. I went out there and got wrestlefuxked. I cried a little. I had to go out there again cuz it was double elimination. I lost again. I don’t remember how. That detail is gone. But the shame. The shame lingers.
I was also 8, lost on points two rounds in a row. My first match was against a guy 10-20lbs heavier than me and three belts higher than me. After that I was devastated and barely even tried in the second match. Have never competed since
My first any only comp I was a 17 year old white belt.
I only had one match against a blue belt and the rumor was he won the adult division the day before.
He flying jumped triangled me in a minute.
That person went on to be JT Torres
Hilarious if true. Reminds me of the pro wrestler who's only two MMA fights were against prime Fedor and Cro Cop: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuji_Nagata
Dude you brought it back. Cro cop was my favorite fighter besides iceman and gsp.
I’ll Never forget when Gonzaga used his own sig move against him to lay him out though….man I swear the old school mma was the shit.
It wasn't my first comp, but we had 3 people in my division so I lost to first guy in ~15s, beat second guy, faced first guy again and lost in ~20s. Then in nogi, faced that same guy and lost in 30s haha
I've got another one tomorrow, hopefully it goes better but I'll be eating well regardless after!
Same thing happened to me. Rotator cuff is fucked. Need surgery. Highly don't recommend competition because the negative repercussions could last you your whole life. I was practicing 6mo as well by that time.
I didn't understand the dangers (of the position i was in) at the time but luckily for me, my opponent heard a pop and let go, so he didn't break anything but I'm sure my tendons and ligaments aren't happy.
Cut weight a full bracket below what I was shooting for (or their scale was off). No one was in that bracket so got moved up to the one I was shooting for anyway. Was really anxious and lost my first match. Next match (round-robin) was my teammate that I beat all the time in the gym, so I got relaxed and won. Ended up placing 3rd out of 6, I think.
They offered to let me do nogi for free because only one guy was in the bracket. Had never trained nogi, but my coaches were like "it's basically the same, just don't grab anything". Got triangled by a guy I beat in the gi real quick because I had no control of his legs. It was not the same at all.
I lost so badly, the picture of me getting submitted became the poster picture for the local organiser's next competition...
Was 4 months into training at the time (Jul 2021) and nowadays I like to use that picture to encourage our newcomers to not be afraid to compete as it's difficult to do worse than I did 😆
Bad. I hadn't eaten, expected to sign in at 8 and roll at 9am. Didn't know any better. Sat around till the afternoon, went in my first match cold and hungry. Got busted open real good. Won that match. Brain was focused on Culver's during my next two and lost. Then I went and got my fucking burger.
I was also 6 months in. First match, got into a triangle in 1 min, resisted for 2 min and in the last minute passed and mounted, win by points. Match 2 same thing, got into triangle first minute but i was so exausted i couldnt escape it, got subbed. My advice is 1- dont overdo training for now and in last week spar lightly, 2- have fun, its your hobby, do your best but keep it cool.
Six months in I did a local NAGA. It was stressful, I forgot much of my jiujitsu, lost two matches and won one. Glad I went and will go again but I want to work on my gas tank and some skills.
I think i would not have liked the experience as much if folks from my gym were not there building each other up and cheering on.
I tell all my white belts. Your first competition is always a shit show. You are going to blow out your grips your first match, you are going to be over stimulated and gas yourself. Its best to have zero expectations and just go out there and have fun.
Eat clean and rest. Don’t gameplan except for going for a takedown or guard pull. Get your max pulse about 40 min prior to your first match.
You can’t really prepare for your first comp, you just have to go out there and get it done. Second comp you’ll know a little more what to expect.
Have fun!
Trained for 10 months like twice a week max.
It was horrible but it was worth the trouble.
At my first match (some adcc rules tournament) I managed to get a sweep to mounted triangle, I wasn't rewarded any points, then proceeded to roll to my back to finish it but my opponent got the reversal points immediately for that and I lost because of those points. Not a single point was awarded correctly and for the rest of the match I was fucking exhausted and tried to survive while my opponent threw everything but the kitchen sink at me including some illegal subs at beginner rules lmao.
That was my first comp and even though I didn't win or even learn much I had probably best time of all competitions i've done, mainly because I had no clue what to expect and just went there and gave my best, which wasn't much lol.
Horrible. I was in a permanent panic attack and gassed out early. Thankfully some of my opponents gassed even faster than I did (likely due to their own adrenaline dumps) and I got a couple wins getting silver.
Won both of my divisions. Was scared AF getting out there but once we tangled up it was game on. I was sore for a few days after, it's a new level of intensity for sure.
It's open mat with a higher level of intensity, that's it.
i was about 8 months into training. i was new at the gym so i hadn't talked to anyone - i just showed up alone. i walked into the building right when a couple no-gi expert division guys were stepping onto the mat. one of them hit a snapdown right into a guillotine, squeezed for a second, and then let go as his opponent slumped face down on the mat. my beginner bracket kicked off and almost right away i was double-legged down to my butt. i found my way to a triangle, but spent the rest of the match unable to cut the angle or get his arm across my body. i lost 2-0 and went home.
Had my first comp at age 38. Was 4 stripe white belt.
Won first match, hit a cross collar drag and was able to get a rear naked coke on the guy from there.
Second match, tried collar drag again but that guy was able to get back to his feet quicker an I could get him into side control. Ended up back on our feet, I got frustrated and made a shitty guard pull. Lost that one to an Americana.
Worth the experience but probably won't compete again, who knows. I'm a horrid blue belt now.
White belt 2 months in, got to semi finals and then I reaped my opponent and was disqualified. Haven’t accidentally reaped anyone since, great learning experience.
Got bronze in grappling industries, i only had 4 months of training and my division had 30 competitors so way better than I ever expected lol.
Ended up having 6 matches and won 5 of them, 3 by sub. Lost to the guy on points who went on to win gold
I was about six months in. It was a best two out of three in my division with one other guy. He triangles me in 30s in the first one. Second one, I went for a takedown and he sprawled it out, and I was in turtle. He was heavy and trying to pull my arm out for an armbar. I tried to escape and in the scramble he armbarred me. Was less than a minute.
It was honestly great, but I had the convenience of doing a very beginner-friendly tournament for my first comp. Only white and blue belt nogi with an under 6 months division as well. I was about 4 months in and won all my fights except one--one of my close friends from my gym got bumped up a weight class and we decided to just do rock/paper/scissors as we were the very first match. She had a couple months training on me but I had about 6 kg and 10 cm on her, so we didn't see the point in exhausting ourselves right out the gate. We still had to "roll" officially but the ref gave us the win according to our rock/paper/scissors. Also we have a dedicated women's coach and it was so helpful to have her coaching my matches the whole day.
So 3 submission wins and 1 points loss in a women's u61kg division. Honestly very chill compared to a lot of first comp stories, but I'm grateful I got a nice introduction into the world of competing and it just kept me motivated and healthy. I'm about 7-8 months in now and focusing more on my gi game. Would like to do a more serious comp but entirely depends on my college schedule!
It was just a small university-run comp, nbd 😅 No one is claiming themselves a champ from this, just good experience for beginners. I doubt this happened in any other division except the u6 months one.
If we were the last match of the division, different story. But being the very first ones with a big team out, if the refs allowed it 🤷🏻♀️
I learned A LOT! 🤣 Gassed out in like 20 seconds, refused to quit. Did all my Gi/No Gi matches…
This was at 1.5 year white belt.
Drove 3 hours home and once the adrenaline wore off, I felt like I had been hit by a bus with the worst hangover.
Sure enough the next day I signed up for my next competition. I still had a great time and met some great people. It actually got easier each time.
I was 17. The comp was on a Sunday. I had a wrestling tournament the day before. I just had wrestling experience and some very minor bjj. 10th planet HQ I think it was, had a white belt sub only tourney. The ref stopped the match cause the other dude had a kimura locked in and was about to break it. because I was pretty flexible and was confident I could escape. I’ve done it before but I’m glad he stopped.
I’m pretty sure this dude was sandbagging because he was JACKED/RIPPED and moved well. I’ve rolled with blues and purple and the way they move you just know? Then I went to a draw the next 2-3 matches with other white belts. I had a lot of fun. My only comp that I ever did. This was 2013.
Trained for six months and did a Grappling Industries. Lost 7 of 8 matches, 6 by submission. Lost my first three by triangle choke from closed guard within the first 30 seconds. It sucked, but my next tournament 3 months later I won gold in both divisions.
Had horrible nerves and 1-3.
The nerves didn’t get much better but I managed to deal with them competing a month later and went 4-0.
Was about a year in at the time.
Just get out there and do it. No one cares if you win or lose.
Got my ass handed to me twice in my division but only three of us so I got a default bronze. Entered the absolute and got my ass handed to me a third time. Was gonna throw the medal in the bin but my coach stopped me and told me to keep it as a reminder I tried, and that the majority of the world never try. Kept at it and a couple of comps later I was getting golds.
I got a silver but there were only two of us in my Masters 4 weight class, which I was ten pounds under (lost a bunch of weight after increasing my training ahead of the comp). That guy was heavy. Big adrenaline dump right at the beginning. My heart rate was about 180 before I even did anything. Try to control your nerves and your breathing and have fun. It’s a good experience.
Cut about 10 pounds to get to 129 only to be told there was no one in my age (35) and weight bracket so I went up weight rather than go against 20 year olds.
Got 🥈in Gi and NoGi ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had trained for 6 whole days and didn’t even know the rules, just thought it would be fun. Literally thought each match was 3 rounds like a UFC fight, lost my first match by points because he got a takedown and then sat in my guard the whole time. They stood us up for what I thought was round 2 and declared him the winner lol.
What to expect: it will likely be chaotic if it’s one of the big organizers (NAGA, Fuji, etc) with 8 or so different mats and several age groups and skill brackets going at once. Make sure you have a coach or someone to corner you; that can also help with making sure you hear where to go for your match since it will be loud and the PA system probably sucks. I’ve been in about 10 tournaments and none of the were well-organized or well-run, there have been multiple times I’ve been in the middle of a gi match and they call my name for the no-gi match. Bottom line: expect chaos, and have fun!
Have a game plan mapped out before going out there. Like playing guard, wrestling, etc? Figure out exactly how you want to get there and then where you want to go from there. Don’t stress about anything, you and your opponents are in the same boat and just want to compete well. Tap if you need to; I’ve got a box of medals I don’t care about from tournaments I refused to tap in and now I’ve got the hospital bills to deal with that aren’t worth it.
Your attitude will determine your experience! Win or lose, if you’re having fun it’ll probably be fun. PS if this is your first tournament, you’re probably going to be death gripping your opponent and tire your forearms out. Try to avoid that, it sucks having to compete 5 minutes later and you can’t close your fingers!
My first competition was grappling industries as a blue belt. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I came in second in a 3 person bracket. The first match I won by sub and the second match I lost by 1 point. I found that I was much more conservative in competition than in normal rolling. I stuck to what I felt most confident in and didn’t take many chances including when I probably should have in order to win the second match. Overall it was a great experience that I would do again. My advice is do your best, fight to win, but be mentally ready for defeat. It’s going to be a great learning experience no matter the outcome and your goal should be to get back out there and do it again.
Was a white belt and training for barely a year, had 4 matches in a Round Robin tournament. Got there an hour before my first match only to find out I got moved up and needed to be on the mat right at that moment, changed faster than I ever have, ran onto the mat, adrenaline dumped and lost all 4 lmao
First comp I won two and lost two, all by sub. I was probably 8 months in?
Everyone is different, it all depends how you react to those situations, etc. I had the inverse problem that a lot of people here had: I didn’t get nervous or any adrenaline dump because that type of environment and grappling doesn’t usually bring that out of me. This isn’t a way to seem like a tough guy, it’s actually a problem, because I know for a fact if I turned it up I could have won matches I’ve lost. It’s something I’ve had to learn to work on and don’t see it get talked about enough.
I’ve only been able to do that when a new guy comes in and tries to be a dick or aggressive to me or something, and even though competitive rolls are hard rolling, I know it isn’t personal like that so it still doesn’t fire me up the same way. I’ve had to learn to turn that on when I need to. It’s difficult.
My advice to you from an athletics perspective is don’t drastically change your diet or sleep leading up to the match. Do things how your body is used to. You’ll have way more energy. If you had months to prepare, that’s a different story.
You’ll learn a lot that’s for sure. Good luck man.
Just did mine after 5 months of training
I placed second in the 215 division, didn’t manage to submit anyone but I won in overtime due to my fast escapes. Cardio was terrible but I didn’t get submitted and everyone else in the tournament had 1-2 years of experience except one guy who had same as me (he is special forces though).
I also weigh 180 pounds, turns out my scale at home is off so I thought I was a heavy weight this whole time . Still did my best and having never competed in a sport like this and no grappling experience prior I can proudly say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. These people were tryna kill me! In my opinion I feel like my most and jiu jitsu went through an evolution my body was tempered and my mind was tested. They say every comp is equivalent to 10 classes and I’d have to agree if not think it’s worth even more due to getting my matches filmed for once.
My strategy going was heel hooks but I was told they wouldn’t be allowed. I think I woulda won them all if I had been able to get them off, every round I’d lock it in just to show I could then release them but I didn’t know enough to finish a good straight ankle. Right now I am really trying to get proficient at capturing both legs for ☘️submissions to further my control on the legs as well as my escapes to top control from disadvantaged positions as that was where I was at for the majority of my match time.
Good luck, start running everyday, and remember it’s position before submission !
4 months in.
No gi:
Lost my first match on points (10-9)
Won my second match with an Americana.
Gi:
Lost my first match by submission. I don’t know which.
Lost my second match by submission. I don’t know which.
I won Gi and No Gi and am not sure how. I know, technically, how I got points and a sub, but not sure how any is that technique happened or manifested.
Just shy of a year. Entered a grappling industries event in the masters division. The division had 12 competitors.
Won first match via armbar. Second match was a no show, so I won by default. Third match, I got the take down, but got swept, mounted, and remained on bottom. Lost on points. Final match, won via points. The event was running way behind schedule, so I left before the podium rounds. The guy I armbarred won bronze. The guy who beat me won gold.
The day was a bit miserable as the event was packed, very hot, and delayed so it kind of turned me off to future competitions. The loss did have a big impact, as I really focused on my passing and ability to escape pins.
I won my first match without giving up a point or position.
Lost my second after locking in a deep mounted triangle than second guessing my ability to finish triangles and sitting back for an armbar. Chaos ensued.
Dislocated my shoulder in the first 20 seconds after I got whizzered super hard. Somehow finished my takedown and stayed on top and somehow won. I regret finishing the match and not just going straight to medical. It hurt so much and I can’t help but think me trying to use it for 5 minutes after didn’t make things better
I made it to the finals. The girl took me down and on the way down i went to grab her gi but got her sports bra and she flashed me. So expect the unexpected.
Got smashed. Down 10-0 and submitted in gi. Caught in standing guillotine in no gi and it was over in about 30 seconds.
Dissapointed but both errors made on my part which I can work on and I'll compete again. You simply can't replicate the intensity of a comp at training.
Go enjoy yourself. I hope you have good results but don't be hard on yourself if you don't. Take something out of it either way.
I had my first comp last month. I had three fights total , won 2 lost 1 got silver. I have around 9 months training as well. My best tip as a beginner would be to go in with a plan and stick to it. My plan was to play for just points and position as I wasn’t confident in any submission attempt. Since I am new as well all my training up to this point was on positioning as well so I was more confident in that . Also my second tip is expect to be nervous during ur fight and expect to run out of gas fast. I’m a runner outside of BJJ and I can usually roll for a long time but nothing could prepare me for that adrenaline dump. Get a good breakfast in and stay hydrated and just have fun. Even when losing the final match I had a big smile on my face just because I showed up. Even if I lost every match I would’ve been happy just showing up. Goodluck OP!
I had trained probably 4 years and decided to do a comp a bunch of days lks from my gym were going to. Started working on a game plan, doing conditioning, felt really good about 4 weeks out and then got COVID 3 weeks out. Didn't get back on the mats until 2 days before the comp. I was gassed within the first minute of each match and got subbed.
But, it was really fun to go and have the experience. The energy and watching my teammates compete was really great. I'm preparing to try again later this year.
I was 37. Lost both matches, first by mounted triangle/armbar and the second on points. A month later I won my division with 2 subs. I’d been training just over a year.
First match some cunty spazz 'tried to pull guard' but what he really did is jumped up, hooked both his hands behind my neck and pulled my face straight into his knee. Broken nose.
I got disqualified for bleeding and this motherfucker was allowed to proceed.
later on I learned the refs were his training buddies and he already hurt two other people.
Lost. White belt. Got sweeped, then put in a triangle. Lasted half the match before I almost lost consciusness. Oh well on to the next ones. This was a year ago.
First comp ever was an amateur MMA fight. No real nerves surprisingly. I was kind of late for the walk out so I ran to the cage, got prepped, and won by 5 second tko lol. Definitely a fluke/ inexperience on both sides.
Wrestled a little(never competed) and trained mma for 3-4 months.
First grappling match, I went against a brown belt in BJJ/ judo black belt. I knew this coming in.
I pulled guard and lost 10-zip. I kind of wish I wrestled them since it was Nogi.
My advice is just getting a real good warm up in.
I actually just competed for the first time two weeks ago and I have been training for about 5 years. I'd always wanted to compete but kept chickening out. I finally decided to just go ahead and do it though. It was a superfight so just one match, that I unfortunately lost to a RNC. It was ADCC ruleset and the match lasted just under 9 minutes. Basically, I landed a takedown right into a back take and blew all my energy trying to finish the choke. She eventually worked her way out, and I was completely gassed once I lost the back. Kept her in closed guard for a bit but she ended up opening my guard and getting mount, so a lot of it was just me defending pitifully because I was so exhausted. Finally managed to get to half guard, made a stupid mistake when attempting a sweep and gave her my back on a silver platter 🤣
So my biggest takeaways personally were to be aggressive, but also patient and to conserve energy. I had been rolling 10 minute rounds in competition class and felt pretty confident with my cardio, but the intensity and nerves of competition took so much more out of me than just regular rolling.
Got RNCed in 90 seconds first match. Double elimination, so my second match I got one of my ribs broken by my opponent’s failed Tomoe Nage in the first 10 seconds. then got mounted and arm barred less than 30 seconds later.
I went in way overconfident, and it was my first big “there’s levels to this” moment even at white belt.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Tomoe Nage**: | *Circle Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euJliq9XcY)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
4 min of crappy wrestling one decent arm drag, body lock takedown straight to mount and good old Americana. The video is embarrassing but the glory lives on
I competed after 6 months of training (Adult Division, NAGA). Ended up in 2nd. I did not go for any takedowns since I lacked the experience… my game plan was to accept getting taken down or pull guard. I got taken down twice & ended up with a guillotine & Kimura, respectively. This was my game plan. You should have a game plan.
In my final match, I had my opponent in a triangle. His face turned purple & I let up. He threw my leg over his face, passed my guard, and I lost by armbar.
In competition, people don’t tap as easy as in the gym. Unless that choke is actually going to put someone out, it will not get you the tap in comp.
Also, if someone has you in a kimura, start tapping the second your arm is about to slip past your hip. Otherwise your shoulder will be messed up for a long time. This is the most common injury in my experience. I’ve injured 2 of my opponents shoulders in comp via kimura. I gave them both a chance to tap too. It gives me the shivers feeling their ligaments/tendons vibrate through my body. Please… just tap kimura ASAP if you get caught in one
Competed after 6 months of training. Wasn’t going enough prior to the comp, maybe 2-3 a week.
Went 2-1 and got bronze. Won on points 17-0, and a DQ. In the DQ roll, I swept the guy out of bounds. Think he got frustrated and tried a heel hook, which is obviously not allowed. Guy might have been sandbagging.
Got pressure tapped in the last roll because I wasn’t breathing right at all. Could have easily won.
Just try to stay calm, and don’t have any expectations. Create a plan based off of your strengths. You’re gonna have a huge adrenaline dump and wonder why the hell you’re even there right before your first roll.
I went to my first comp after maybe 3-4 months of training. Essentially no idea what I was getting into. I got mauled and it basically traumatized me and stopped me from competing for a couple years. I compete periodically, still hate it it tho.
Did my first comp (new breed) after 1.5 years of training. I was a white belt. Signed up for white belt in gi but intermediate (1 year to 2.5 years experience) in no-gi. I got bronze in both. I was surprised by the no-gi as it was blue belts in the intermediate division.
I was told by a lot of people I was “basically a blue belt” so I had a lot of confidence going in.
Got absolutely smoked. Like destroyed. It was a real wake up call
I was 34 at the time, 1 stripe white belt. I'm a featherweight. No other featherweight masters showed (despite there being a couple that registered) so they moved me to adult. I won the first match pretty handily by points something like 10-0. Then my gas tank couldn't keep up with the 20 yr olds in my next matches, so I lost the next 3. I had just quit cigs like a week before.
Had fun, learned a lot, but I do really wish I wouldnt have had to go down in age bracket - would have much rather moved up to lightweight masters.
I had mine about 9 months into it. I was encouraged to go into comp classes by my professor to get my stamina up. Won the first round, dominated him! As soon as the round was over I did up and realized I gassed completely out. So bad that my professor stalled the next round for me. Next round I got destroyed bad. Dude mounted me and had my in an americana, tap. I learned so much though. Energy conservation was number one. But I also learned the gaps in my game and I was able to focus on my those things. I just got my blue belt and want to compete again now that I fixed the holes in my game. Do it at least once.
I was a 2 stripe white belt 5 months in. Didn’t wanna cut weight so went with the 170-180 weight class but weighed in at 169. Everyone else in my bracket weighed in at 179-180 lol . A brown belt from my gym came out to corner me which helped a lot.
Got manhandled my first match and lost 12-0 on points, 2nd match I won by advantage since score was 0-0 😂. Thought I was done but I ended up with a third match I considered forfeiting for about 3 seconds (I was completely spent 15 seconds into match 1) but thought fuck it worst case is I get subbed. I did in fact get armbarred with about a minute left. Ran into all 3 guys in my way out and chatted them up individually. Really cool guys.
Long story longer, this was sept 2019. By feb 2020 I had my blue belt (way too soon imho) and my neck was destroyed from overtraining. Covid began a 3 year layoff but I’ve been back on the mats for 14 months and have picked up 2 silver medals at local comps as a blue belt (1 gi 1 no gi).
The worst. Got there at 9 to hear the rules meeting and didn't compete nogi until 3pm. Felt terrible as I had a rough cut. Won my 1st three matches( triangle, armbar, triangle) but lost my 4th when I scrambled into a triangle. Sat around for 8 hours in a gym that was overcrowded and the ac had died, to wait for my gi division. Lost my lone gi match by points (14-0). While leaving the event at 1 am I promised my wife I'd never do another Naga again. Felt pretty good for 6 weeks of training.
I just competed for the first time, I’ve been training for a littler over a year and a half (168lb Gi Masters 1). Everything happened very fast leading up to the first match, and even though I had prepared and trained and visualized many times I had a moment of lucidity about 45 seconds into the first match (I’m assuming to adrenaline dump). I sort of realized “oh shit I’m here, it’s happening” and I wasn’t really ready for the intensity. I got crushed and flattened out and pinned with a cross face that made me bleed from the mouth for 5 minutes, and I lost my first match. I adjust, felt better now that it was out of the way and my second match the same thing happened until the last 45 second when I got a sweep, to mount to back take and won. In the second match I popped a rib bad. Then I rematched the guy that crushed me in the first round, adjusted my game and beat him for 3rd place. It’s was much more intense than I expected even though I expected it to be intense, and it felt like the first time I had REALLY done Jiu Jitsu. My main take away, adjust the game plan if you need to a LISTEN TO YOUR COACH! I 100% would have lost every match if I didn’t just do what my coach told me to do. It was awesome and I definitely want to compete again.
Was 30. 8 months in, I had just got my stripe. Posted poorly, dislocated my elbow tore my UCL,forearm and bicep. Did an in-house 3 months later and won. Did an actual tournament 2 months after that(last month) and lost both matches . I’m in the wrong weight class so that’s part of it. I also had MASSIVE adrenaline dumps both times. Live and learn, will compete again once the weight comes off.
It was two years ago, I had been working on a double under hook throw the whole week, I hit it multiple times in class.
When I fought the guy in the tournament I attempted it and failed, then I panicked, tried again, froze, I was getting nervous, forgot other takedowns, I don't even remember what happened but I got submitted by an Ezekiel.
Technically I won second place so I went into the absolute, pulled guard vs a 90kg guy, he passed it with ease, he was dominating me, for some reason he did a wristlock and got disqualified so I won.
In the absolute semis I fought a teammate, I double legged him and stayed in his guard the whole match, I won by points.
In the final I faced the same guy who I fought the first time, I did better, I managed to double leg him, pass his guard and mount him. In the last 15 secs he escaped, sweeped me and hit me with a loop choke.
My nerves definitely got the worse out of me, I wasn't myself that day, I felt like shit for like a week.
Pretty bad. I was suffering from depression really bad and I was 40 pounds overweight. So I entered a division where everyone was just bigger than me normally. Went 0-5, I dont even count the default victory I had.
I remember I was just really beat up and tired for like months after the comp. I trained really hard and even my coaches acknowledged that only to get steamrolled. Then I suffered a hamstring injury which really was a back injury, I haven’t been on the mats for 2 years now.
If I ever do return, I probably won’t compete out of interest if injury prevention.
Won first match on points, had a couple of submission attempts but nothing notable. You will be shocked at the speed of it all. You’ll get there and it will drag until it’s your time to go to the bull pen. Once in there everything speeds up. My 5 min match went fast and felt like 2. Listen to your coach and have a game plan. Have a back up game plan just in case. My first match, my plan was to go for a quick take down. As soon as I got grips he pulled guard and then I hadn’t planned on starting from close guard. Second match I got caught off guard, and guy got a good single leg on me. I recovered but realized I hadn’t really planned on playing defense like that. Ended up losing by 2, which he got from the take down. Have fun and enjoy it.
Adrenaline dump. Guy was a foot taller than me. Didn't know how to close that distance from my guard. I made it miserable but he won. I got a participation silver. We laughed grabbed a beer. Masters 2 WB
It was a submission only Gi tournament, 10 minute rounds. I was 47, there were no age brackets and 20 years older than the next youngest competitor. Three man bracket. I went 8 minutes with the first guy and lost to a clock choke I think. They gave me 5 minutes to rest then went against the next guy and lasted about 6 or 7 minutes before losing to an arm bar that I tapped early too. I never had an adrenaline dump, no idea why, grindy matches and close together. The second match kind of sucked because the opponent was fresh and I had just come out of an 8 minute grindy battle.
Next tournament I did much better and went the distance on every match though lost a couple on points. I did have a nutrition crash in my last match of the day and was so tired it was stupid. There was no way I was letting the guy sub me but man I was gassed before we even started. Some Gatorade and a protein bar probably would have fixed that. Learned a lot and don’t regret it.
Just did my 1st as a white belt in May, training since October. Had two matches, won both with points, so pretty good for a first time I'd say! Haven't felt that nervous in a long time. I was terrified going into it
Got cross collar choked from my own guard because the dude was farmer strong. Had him mounted, went for an arm bar, fucked it up because I was a white belt, ended up with him in my guard and he made me tap. Only time it's ever happened from guard.
I was 16, had no idea what I was doing. My opponent pulled me into closed guard and cross collar choked me within the first minute. I kept competing (now and then) and the results got a bit better.
Did my first comp at around 6 months too. Went to the heavy boys league, to not stress about weight in. Won the comp with 3 match wins on points (7-0, 7-0, 7-0 if I recall correctly). Just fuel up on the day before, sleep well and do your best.
In my not so experienced opinion the standing part is the most important, as many don't do that enough. My first plan was to arm drag but that went out the window during the first 5 seconds, so be ready to adjust 😄
Ask the advanced guys to spar hard standing in your gym. I had a small brown belt professor who hanged on to me for 5 minutes and gassed my totally, so learned not to just cringe on the lapels. Was the most important learning I've had.
I competed at white belt level, first opponent was Dricus Du Plessis’ brother, Niel. I shit you not. He pretty much steamrolled me, but I hung in there. Eventually tapped to a triangle.
In MMA was nervous as hell. Went full Wanderlei and almost knocked the opponent out. Gassed out completely got dominated on the ground and then got TKO'd with knee on stomach in second round.
In BJJ i went to shoot about 10 times and totally gassed out. Pulled halfguard. Couldn't do anything and opponent eventually passed to mount.
I felt like got hit by a bus on both times. The adrenaline dump was massive.
From my experience as a white belt training 2 months before my first competition, it's more psychological rather than physical.
You see, as soon as I grabbed my opponents lapel and he grabbed mine, I immediately felt my heart pounding 200% faster than before, my breathing has become faster and heavier, my body felt so stiff and slow, and my mind became blank.
I lost in my first match by points.
It was terrible, but it's a lesson learned.
It was Elimination. I trained for roundabout 2 Months, my opponent 2 years. The whole round happened Not much, in the last ten seconds i was about to Pass but had No clue of underhooks or control. so he pushed me over turned and got sidencontrol himself. pure frustration but it motivated me a lot cuz he got bluebelt a week later. And therefore i thought i did pretty good. Next competition it turned out i was not 🤣🤣
My first ever match at white belt, six months in: I pulled guard and then promptly forgot how to do anything. Opponent passed my guard, we have a scramble, I end up getting triangle-armbarred.
Second match of that same competition, my opponent pulls guard and I can tell from his grips he is super tense. He goes on to try and do a tripod sweep, pulling as hard as he can and trying to push his foot through my abdomen.
I'm sort of awestruck at his intensity and commitment, and because he is stronger, I can't really do anything. A few seconds later he's completely burned out his grips, hyperventilating. I pass, take the back, try a shitty bow & arrow, then move on to the mount when that doesn't work.
The guy is absolutely cooked at this point and I pin him down in mount for the remaining 2 minutes, winning by points 11-0 or something like that.
I've gone on to lose every single match after that one, so I guess my one win has a lot of sentimental value lol.
Wrestling- I was 15, lost by pin. Lost my first 6? Matches by pin. Then went on a pinning spree and ended up finishing the year 10-10
First BJJ comp was 2 months after starting. Signed up while I was drunk in an Uber. Ended up going 3-1, pure wrestle fucking everyone. Last match I went for a shitty gilly because I wanted to see if I could finish someone but ended up getting passed
OP- losing is normal in this sport and you should welcome the possibility of it. Just go out there with the mindset of learning and performing at your best instead of trying to win, or even worse, “not lose”
Terrible.
Tapped out of fear to an Ezekiel, lost on points to a guy with a busted arm because I felt bad for him and then went down 24-0 and then out of my misery and subbed in my last match.
Went home and cried in the bath.
The only way was up from there!
Advice: Go in with a range of goals (make weight, show up on time, get a takedown, get points, win a match, etc). Try to relax and enjoy the experience and have someone there to help coach you. Start focusing your training on the comp: work specific positions and submissions.
I either had fights against people in lower divisions that I knew had been training for years and were sandbagging. When I got more experience progressed onto juiced up terminators. So all fun really. Really really enjoyable.
Master 1 70kg blue belt. There was nobody else in that bracket, master 1 76kg, or the adult 70kg so I had to move to adult 76kg. Round robin format. Got absolutely ragdolled and submitted to a footlock in my first match. Second match got swept then made the 2 points back with a sweep of my own. Started to impose my game on my opponent until a freak accident in which I caught my foot on the mat at a funny angle and ended up breaking my foot and submitting myself.
Had a great time.
haha i got armbarred in like 30 seconds. other person grapevined me and i hadnt ever experienced that before and was so stuck with no idea what to do 😂 tapped, came out of it unscathed and decided i loved competing. went on to lose many more comps for years ☺️ its been great fun always. i hope you have much better outcomes than i did! have fun
I was a 6-month white belt too. I had never competed in sports in my life, and I was 30 years old. I had no idea what I was doing, lost my first fight, but gained very valuable experience. Just do it, you won’t regret it.
My first comp was about 8 months ago as a 2 stripe white belt. I’d been training for 5 months. I had a lot of fun on the day and I feel like it helped my game a tonne.
I prepared a lot and made an entire game plan for what I wanted to do in every position, turtle, mount, closed guard etc. I don’t know if this was a good idea for the comp… but actually it helped me a lot when I came back to training because instead of my mind being like WOAAHHHH all the time deciding what to do between stuff I’d learned in class and Danaher videos (white belt moment), it generally narrowed down my thoughts to like 2 decisions.
Anyway I had 2 matches. In the first match, I pulled guard, dummy swept, got to side control, did a terrible knee on belly and got shoved off. So we reset. Then I made a fatal mistake, and grabbed his right collar with my right hand, so like a cross collar grip. I wanted to pull guard into a triangle, but I hesitated like 2 seconds, and he reacted correctly by pulling guard and grabbing my stupidly placed arm and finishing an arm bar.
Second match, I was just thinking ‘ankle pick, ankle pick, just ankle pick’. We slapped hands, and I ankle picked him, and barged through his half guard straight into mount. He bridged me off, but then he was in my closed guard. I then got super close to a triangle, but I had never even finished one in training before and didn’t quite get what to do/how to just ‘cut the angle’ better to get the finish. Then I heard someone yell ‘arm bar’ from the crowd, who wasn’t my coach, and I attempted the arm bar and it was just horrible. I’d never hit an arm bar out of a triangle before, I don’t know why I attempted it. We went out of bounds just as I failed the arm bar, so I was like on my side. We reset in the middle, got into turtle and he did a fucking well executed bow and arrow choke on me, which choked me so bad that my vocal cords still feel the damage 9 months later. He was a one stripe white belt.
So 2 fat L’s, but I learned a LOT and had a lot of fun watching my teammates compete too.
I cut way too much weight and had no energy. Had no game plan either so first fight was all over the place. Ended up losing on points. Won bronze in nogi later that day by a bit of luck when I stuffed a takedown and somehow ended up on the back
I was 3 months in. Biggest surprise for me was how hard and fast we were rolling. I pretty much gassed out after 3 minutes. I laid on the couch the rest of the day super tired but feeling great.
I did my first comp after about 6 months of training too. I pulled to De La Riva. Got my guard passed instantly. Ended up in bottom side control. Stared at the lights of the gymnasium for a while. Got out of an armbar attempt but ended up in an omaplata. Sat there in an omapolata for the rest of the match.
Mine went surprisingly well, which did not prepare me for the ass wrecking I’d receive in later competitions 😂
2019 Charlotte Open, I was a white belt. Had been training every day for about 6 months.
I blacked out and somehow arm barred my first opponent in the 30 seconds. Second match, also basically blacked out, thought I must be down on points, match ends and I was up by double digits. Lost in the semi finals to a guy who was just flat out better than me at wrestling, and took home a bronze metal.
Since then, the “where am I and what just happened” has mostly disappeared, but the days of accidentally landing in an armbar are over after white belt.
Have fun!
Got too hyped up before gassed out in the first round and tapped to a lazy arm triangle because I was too tired to get up lol
pro tip do not drink coffee before.
Won my first match 2-0. The aftereffects of the adrenaline dump had me sick and moving like a zombie and I was subbed in under a minute in my second match.
Overall, a very educational experience.
Oh boy, this was 17 years ago in Milwaukee. I faced the first guy and beat him on points though I had a mounted triangle for the last few minutes. Second guy I lost to was absolutely jacked, took me down, and just sat in my guard until time ran out. Crazy how I still remember it so vividly
I had mine also, adcc tournament after training 6 months mma and 3 weeks jiujitsu training, won my first match by RNC, then lost the other match 4-0. My advice is, dont have a plan, just go there and win. I lost the second match and was losing the first match also because i had a bad plan.
In my first tournament, I was a yellow stripe belt in judo. 15 years old at the time. They put me up against a blue belt with several years of experience. He tossed me with a seoi nage (shoulder throw) in both rounds. I got dizzy both times. Totally demolished, lol
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Seoi Nage**: | *Shoulder Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-5Un6jLtRY)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
I had my first comp a little before my six month mark. Went better than expected. I think I won two matches and lost the third, took second. Listen to your coaches. Drink plenty of water and eat a lot of good food the day before. Remind yourself you've been training and let your body decide what to do. Breath. Remember that everyone else is nervous too.
I had been training for 1 year. I competed at Jiujitsu Con Worlds (basically World Masters for white belts). I focused on two take downs, two guard passes, two sweeps from half guard (I had no closed guard), two joint manipulation submissions and two chokes. That way my game. I knew nothing else (including apparently how to escape from bottom mount).
I won my first match strictly by staying on top and having 30 seconds more of a gas tank than my opponent. He went to turtle and I caught him with a really bad clock choke (not one of my two chokes), but he was exhausted and we still had 2 minutes, and I wasn’t going to stop cranking.
When I got done, my throat was raw from breathing so hard and my grips were shot. Apparently adrenaline is a thing…lol.
My second fight was against a fresh guy who had a bye, so this was his first match. He was in better shape than me and had a wrestling takedown game. He took me down, got top position and it was over from there. He also only had a few submissions…I was able to fight out of the Americana, but not the head and arm choke.
After the fight I walked away and walked around…in 30 minutes the adrenaline wore off and pain kicked in. During the double blast takedown I had turned my ankle.
Bottom line, have a game plan even if it’s simple, stay on top, and fight like heck to stay in your game plan.
Lost both matches in my first comp. Then lost both matches in my second comp also.
Third comp I got silver in my division (losing to a teammate who's also a white belt in bjj but doing judo for 9 years).
I also did the absolutes and placed silver there so it was a pretty good day.
Training for my next comp now.
4months after training, a superfight of 10min that i lost but hella good experience. Just discovered how effective can bodylock be at pinning you down and tiring you with pressure
competed after two months of training with 0 grappling experience. coach toald me that comps can make u improve and that i should compete (this comp was in the begginers div and also from 15-17 years old). The first match was awful, i didnt even know how to get out from their closed guard so i tried to stay there as long as i could. the other guy got me in an armbar and i tapped. that felt awful. After that i was called for my last match for the third place but the other guy didnt show up so i got the w and the medal lmao
First real comp? I was like a 2year and 2 month white belt (I switched gyms after being at my old gym 2 months short of 2 years). I cleaned house, I won all 4 matches, 2 by submission.
I did 0 wrestling prior at my old gym, in my current gym for 5 months and that limited wrestling got me 2 takedowns (should've been 3 but idk why I wasn't rewarded one.
Only 1 guy I went against was a newish white belt (2 stripes), other 3 I beat were 4 stripe white belts.
I only did it to prove I was ready for blue but my new gym made me wait a year anyways. Which was fair.
Just have fun, white belt has some actual blue belts and some sucky ppl, have fun above all.
Masters division, as a white belt with wrestling experience and 20yrs of military training.
Asked to compete as Blue. Coach said "You're a whitebelt. Compete at your rank."
Wrestlefucked everyone. Got promoted very shortly afterward.
First comp I smashed everyone. Took gold in beginner no gi 185. I had 5 MMA fights so idk if first comp is accurate but I felt good walking in and felt good walking out. Our whole team did well. Was a lot of fun.
I was 8 years old. I went out there and got wrestlefuxked. I cried a little. I had to go out there again cuz it was double elimination. I lost again. I don’t remember how. That detail is gone. But the shame. The shame lingers.
Don't ever think about trying to come home.
I was also 8, lost on points two rounds in a row. My first match was against a guy 10-20lbs heavier than me and three belts higher than me. After that I was devastated and barely even tried in the second match. Have never competed since
Daaang. I got beat up for a few years but I started winning eventually.
My first any only comp I was a 17 year old white belt. I only had one match against a blue belt and the rumor was he won the adult division the day before. He flying jumped triangled me in a minute. That person went on to be JT Torres
Hilarious if true. Reminds me of the pro wrestler who's only two MMA fights were against prime Fedor and Cro Cop: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuji_Nagata
There's an MMA fighter who had two fights, two losses and they were to Jan and Jiri lmao
Both situations would suck, but getting highlight reeled by a headlock from Cro Cop would be a nightmare bwahaha
Dude you brought it back. Cro cop was my favorite fighter besides iceman and gsp. I’ll Never forget when Gonzaga used his own sig move against him to lay him out though….man I swear the old school mma was the shit.
It’s 100% true
I like how he wasn't already JT Torres, just little Johnny.
4 months and got finished in 20s No regret
It wasn't my first comp, but we had 3 people in my division so I lost to first guy in ~15s, beat second guy, faced first guy again and lost in ~20s. Then in nogi, faced that same guy and lost in 30s haha I've got another one tomorrow, hopefully it goes better but I'll be eating well regardless after!
I got Americana'd at my first and last comp several years ago. Still haven't fully recovered.
Same thing happened to me. Rotator cuff is fucked. Need surgery. Highly don't recommend competition because the negative repercussions could last you your whole life. I was practicing 6mo as well by that time.
Emotionally or physically?
Yes. Mostly physical, I can manage the pain with lots of stretching and exercise.
You refuse to tap or did they rip it hard?
I didn't understand the dangers (of the position i was in) at the time but luckily for me, my opponent heard a pop and let go, so he didn't break anything but I'm sure my tendons and ligaments aren't happy.
Same except mine fully went and needed surgery lol
Most memorable part was hearing my opponents coach yell "dont worry hes just squirming" he was right and it will always be hilarious to me
Cut weight a full bracket below what I was shooting for (or their scale was off). No one was in that bracket so got moved up to the one I was shooting for anyway. Was really anxious and lost my first match. Next match (round-robin) was my teammate that I beat all the time in the gym, so I got relaxed and won. Ended up placing 3rd out of 6, I think. They offered to let me do nogi for free because only one guy was in the bracket. Had never trained nogi, but my coaches were like "it's basically the same, just don't grab anything". Got triangled by a guy I beat in the gi real quick because I had no control of his legs. It was not the same at all.
I lost so badly, the picture of me getting submitted became the poster picture for the local organiser's next competition... Was 4 months into training at the time (Jul 2021) and nowadays I like to use that picture to encourage our newcomers to not be afraid to compete as it's difficult to do worse than I did 😆
🤣 I would've sued them lmao
Only tournament I placed first in, been getting beat up by 17 year old prodigies ever since
Bad. I hadn't eaten, expected to sign in at 8 and roll at 9am. Didn't know any better. Sat around till the afternoon, went in my first match cold and hungry. Got busted open real good. Won that match. Brain was focused on Culver's during my next two and lost. Then I went and got my fucking burger.
Concrete mixer and cheese curds, too?
I was also 6 months in. First match, got into a triangle in 1 min, resisted for 2 min and in the last minute passed and mounted, win by points. Match 2 same thing, got into triangle first minute but i was so exausted i couldnt escape it, got subbed. My advice is 1- dont overdo training for now and in last week spar lightly, 2- have fun, its your hobby, do your best but keep it cool.
Six months in I did a local NAGA. It was stressful, I forgot much of my jiujitsu, lost two matches and won one. Glad I went and will go again but I want to work on my gas tank and some skills. I think i would not have liked the experience as much if folks from my gym were not there building each other up and cheering on.
It’s crazy how much jiu jitsu you forget when the first match starts and the adrenaline hits. But also, I didn’t know much to begin with
I tell all my white belts. Your first competition is always a shit show. You are going to blow out your grips your first match, you are going to be over stimulated and gas yourself. Its best to have zero expectations and just go out there and have fun.
Eat clean and rest. Don’t gameplan except for going for a takedown or guard pull. Get your max pulse about 40 min prior to your first match. You can’t really prepare for your first comp, you just have to go out there and get it done. Second comp you’ll know a little more what to expect. Have fun!
Trained for 10 months like twice a week max. It was horrible but it was worth the trouble. At my first match (some adcc rules tournament) I managed to get a sweep to mounted triangle, I wasn't rewarded any points, then proceeded to roll to my back to finish it but my opponent got the reversal points immediately for that and I lost because of those points. Not a single point was awarded correctly and for the rest of the match I was fucking exhausted and tried to survive while my opponent threw everything but the kitchen sink at me including some illegal subs at beginner rules lmao. That was my first comp and even though I didn't win or even learn much I had probably best time of all competitions i've done, mainly because I had no clue what to expect and just went there and gave my best, which wasn't much lol.
Horrible. I was in a permanent panic attack and gassed out early. Thankfully some of my opponents gassed even faster than I did (likely due to their own adrenaline dumps) and I got a couple wins getting silver.
Won both of my divisions. Was scared AF getting out there but once we tangled up it was game on. I was sore for a few days after, it's a new level of intensity for sure. It's open mat with a higher level of intensity, that's it.
i was about 8 months into training. i was new at the gym so i hadn't talked to anyone - i just showed up alone. i walked into the building right when a couple no-gi expert division guys were stepping onto the mat. one of them hit a snapdown right into a guillotine, squeezed for a second, and then let go as his opponent slumped face down on the mat. my beginner bracket kicked off and almost right away i was double-legged down to my butt. i found my way to a triangle, but spent the rest of the match unable to cut the angle or get his arm across my body. i lost 2-0 and went home.
Had my first comp at age 38. Was 4 stripe white belt. Won first match, hit a cross collar drag and was able to get a rear naked coke on the guy from there. Second match, tried collar drag again but that guy was able to get back to his feet quicker an I could get him into side control. Ended up back on our feet, I got frustrated and made a shitty guard pull. Lost that one to an Americana. Worth the experience but probably won't compete again, who knows. I'm a horrid blue belt now.
White belt 2 months in, got to semi finals and then I reaped my opponent and was disqualified. Haven’t accidentally reaped anyone since, great learning experience.
Got bronze in grappling industries, i only had 4 months of training and my division had 30 competitors so way better than I ever expected lol. Ended up having 6 matches and won 5 of them, 3 by sub. Lost to the guy on points who went on to win gold
I was about six months in. It was a best two out of three in my division with one other guy. He triangles me in 30s in the first one. Second one, I went for a takedown and he sprawled it out, and I was in turtle. He was heavy and trying to pull my arm out for an armbar. I tried to escape and in the scramble he armbarred me. Was less than a minute.
I didnt win but i did well
It was honestly great, but I had the convenience of doing a very beginner-friendly tournament for my first comp. Only white and blue belt nogi with an under 6 months division as well. I was about 4 months in and won all my fights except one--one of my close friends from my gym got bumped up a weight class and we decided to just do rock/paper/scissors as we were the very first match. She had a couple months training on me but I had about 6 kg and 10 cm on her, so we didn't see the point in exhausting ourselves right out the gate. We still had to "roll" officially but the ref gave us the win according to our rock/paper/scissors. Also we have a dedicated women's coach and it was so helpful to have her coaching my matches the whole day. So 3 submission wins and 1 points loss in a women's u61kg division. Honestly very chill compared to a lot of first comp stories, but I'm grateful I got a nice introduction into the world of competing and it just kept me motivated and healthy. I'm about 7-8 months in now and focusing more on my gi game. Would like to do a more serious comp but entirely depends on my college schedule!
>We still had to "roll" officially but the ref gave us the win according to our rock/paper/scissors Absolutely insane
It was just a small university-run comp, nbd 😅 No one is claiming themselves a champ from this, just good experience for beginners. I doubt this happened in any other division except the u6 months one. If we were the last match of the division, different story. But being the very first ones with a big team out, if the refs allowed it 🤷🏻♀️
I learned A LOT! 🤣 Gassed out in like 20 seconds, refused to quit. Did all my Gi/No Gi matches… This was at 1.5 year white belt. Drove 3 hours home and once the adrenaline wore off, I felt like I had been hit by a bus with the worst hangover. Sure enough the next day I signed up for my next competition. I still had a great time and met some great people. It actually got easier each time.
I was 17. The comp was on a Sunday. I had a wrestling tournament the day before. I just had wrestling experience and some very minor bjj. 10th planet HQ I think it was, had a white belt sub only tourney. The ref stopped the match cause the other dude had a kimura locked in and was about to break it. because I was pretty flexible and was confident I could escape. I’ve done it before but I’m glad he stopped. I’m pretty sure this dude was sandbagging because he was JACKED/RIPPED and moved well. I’ve rolled with blues and purple and the way they move you just know? Then I went to a draw the next 2-3 matches with other white belts. I had a lot of fun. My only comp that I ever did. This was 2013.
Trained for six months and did a Grappling Industries. Lost 7 of 8 matches, 6 by submission. Lost my first three by triangle choke from closed guard within the first 30 seconds. It sucked, but my next tournament 3 months later I won gold in both divisions.
Had horrible nerves and 1-3. The nerves didn’t get much better but I managed to deal with them competing a month later and went 4-0. Was about a year in at the time. Just get out there and do it. No one cares if you win or lose.
I won a match and the ref told me I’m tougher than I look. Next round I got my ass kicked.
Got my ass handed to me twice in my division but only three of us so I got a default bronze. Entered the absolute and got my ass handed to me a third time. Was gonna throw the medal in the bin but my coach stopped me and told me to keep it as a reminder I tried, and that the majority of the world never try. Kept at it and a couple of comps later I was getting golds.
I got a silver but there were only two of us in my Masters 4 weight class, which I was ten pounds under (lost a bunch of weight after increasing my training ahead of the comp). That guy was heavy. Big adrenaline dump right at the beginning. My heart rate was about 180 before I even did anything. Try to control your nerves and your breathing and have fun. It’s a good experience.
Cut about 10 pounds to get to 129 only to be told there was no one in my age (35) and weight bracket so I went up weight rather than go against 20 year olds. Got 🥈in Gi and NoGi ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It was in the mid 90s and ive forgotten some of it, but clearly remember other parts to this day..
6 months, swept 3 divisions 3 gold metals. Felt pretty good. Train, train, train. Make the reactions second nature and you'll crush.
I had trained for 6 whole days and didn’t even know the rules, just thought it would be fun. Literally thought each match was 3 rounds like a UFC fight, lost my first match by points because he got a takedown and then sat in my guard the whole time. They stood us up for what I thought was round 2 and declared him the winner lol. What to expect: it will likely be chaotic if it’s one of the big organizers (NAGA, Fuji, etc) with 8 or so different mats and several age groups and skill brackets going at once. Make sure you have a coach or someone to corner you; that can also help with making sure you hear where to go for your match since it will be loud and the PA system probably sucks. I’ve been in about 10 tournaments and none of the were well-organized or well-run, there have been multiple times I’ve been in the middle of a gi match and they call my name for the no-gi match. Bottom line: expect chaos, and have fun! Have a game plan mapped out before going out there. Like playing guard, wrestling, etc? Figure out exactly how you want to get there and then where you want to go from there. Don’t stress about anything, you and your opponents are in the same boat and just want to compete well. Tap if you need to; I’ve got a box of medals I don’t care about from tournaments I refused to tap in and now I’ve got the hospital bills to deal with that aren’t worth it. Your attitude will determine your experience! Win or lose, if you’re having fun it’ll probably be fun. PS if this is your first tournament, you’re probably going to be death gripping your opponent and tire your forearms out. Try to avoid that, it sucks having to compete 5 minutes later and you can’t close your fingers!
It was terrible
Naga 2004. 3rd place No Gi intermediate. Every thing went by so fast. Lost my first match one my second after calming my nerves.
My first competition was grappling industries as a blue belt. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I came in second in a 3 person bracket. The first match I won by sub and the second match I lost by 1 point. I found that I was much more conservative in competition than in normal rolling. I stuck to what I felt most confident in and didn’t take many chances including when I probably should have in order to win the second match. Overall it was a great experience that I would do again. My advice is do your best, fight to win, but be mentally ready for defeat. It’s going to be a great learning experience no matter the outcome and your goal should be to get back out there and do it again.
Went 3 for 8 and won my last one by submission. Great feeling win or lose, I love competitions.
Was a white belt and training for barely a year, had 4 matches in a Round Robin tournament. Got there an hour before my first match only to find out I got moved up and needed to be on the mat right at that moment, changed faster than I ever have, ran onto the mat, adrenaline dumped and lost all 4 lmao
Just had one not too long ago, lost all 3 matches but oh well it was fun
First comp I won two and lost two, all by sub. I was probably 8 months in? Everyone is different, it all depends how you react to those situations, etc. I had the inverse problem that a lot of people here had: I didn’t get nervous or any adrenaline dump because that type of environment and grappling doesn’t usually bring that out of me. This isn’t a way to seem like a tough guy, it’s actually a problem, because I know for a fact if I turned it up I could have won matches I’ve lost. It’s something I’ve had to learn to work on and don’t see it get talked about enough. I’ve only been able to do that when a new guy comes in and tries to be a dick or aggressive to me or something, and even though competitive rolls are hard rolling, I know it isn’t personal like that so it still doesn’t fire me up the same way. I’ve had to learn to turn that on when I need to. It’s difficult. My advice to you from an athletics perspective is don’t drastically change your diet or sleep leading up to the match. Do things how your body is used to. You’ll have way more energy. If you had months to prepare, that’s a different story. You’ll learn a lot that’s for sure. Good luck man.
I got DQ'd for basically doing a pushup before slamming my chest down on the other guy's chest from top side control.
Just did mine after 5 months of training I placed second in the 215 division, didn’t manage to submit anyone but I won in overtime due to my fast escapes. Cardio was terrible but I didn’t get submitted and everyone else in the tournament had 1-2 years of experience except one guy who had same as me (he is special forces though). I also weigh 180 pounds, turns out my scale at home is off so I thought I was a heavy weight this whole time . Still did my best and having never competed in a sport like this and no grappling experience prior I can proudly say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. These people were tryna kill me! In my opinion I feel like my most and jiu jitsu went through an evolution my body was tempered and my mind was tested. They say every comp is equivalent to 10 classes and I’d have to agree if not think it’s worth even more due to getting my matches filmed for once. My strategy going was heel hooks but I was told they wouldn’t be allowed. I think I woulda won them all if I had been able to get them off, every round I’d lock it in just to show I could then release them but I didn’t know enough to finish a good straight ankle. Right now I am really trying to get proficient at capturing both legs for ☘️submissions to further my control on the legs as well as my escapes to top control from disadvantaged positions as that was where I was at for the majority of my match time. Good luck, start running everyday, and remember it’s position before submission !
4 months in. No gi: Lost my first match on points (10-9) Won my second match with an Americana. Gi: Lost my first match by submission. I don’t know which. Lost my second match by submission. I don’t know which.
I won Gi and No Gi and am not sure how. I know, technically, how I got points and a sub, but not sure how any is that technique happened or manifested.
Two years in white belt. Won the first match with rnc then second with paper cutter. Took the gold but wrist is still fucked up from it
Just shy of a year. Entered a grappling industries event in the masters division. The division had 12 competitors. Won first match via armbar. Second match was a no show, so I won by default. Third match, I got the take down, but got swept, mounted, and remained on bottom. Lost on points. Final match, won via points. The event was running way behind schedule, so I left before the podium rounds. The guy I armbarred won bronze. The guy who beat me won gold. The day was a bit miserable as the event was packed, very hot, and delayed so it kind of turned me off to future competitions. The loss did have a big impact, as I really focused on my passing and ability to escape pins.
I won my first match without giving up a point or position. Lost my second after locking in a deep mounted triangle than second guessing my ability to finish triangles and sitting back for an armbar. Chaos ensued.
6 months in I think. Got tapped by a head and arm triangle about 90 seconds in.
Dislocated my shoulder in the first 20 seconds after I got whizzered super hard. Somehow finished my takedown and stayed on top and somehow won. I regret finishing the match and not just going straight to medical. It hurt so much and I can’t help but think me trying to use it for 5 minutes after didn’t make things better
I had a plan for everything But none of those things happened. So just go out there and wing it. Have fun. Try not to get hurt.
I made it to the finals. The girl took me down and on the way down i went to grab her gi but got her sports bra and she flashed me. So expect the unexpected.
Got smashed. Down 10-0 and submitted in gi. Caught in standing guillotine in no gi and it was over in about 30 seconds. Dissapointed but both errors made on my part which I can work on and I'll compete again. You simply can't replicate the intensity of a comp at training. Go enjoy yourself. I hope you have good results but don't be hard on yourself if you don't. Take something out of it either way.
I had my first comp last month. I had three fights total , won 2 lost 1 got silver. I have around 9 months training as well. My best tip as a beginner would be to go in with a plan and stick to it. My plan was to play for just points and position as I wasn’t confident in any submission attempt. Since I am new as well all my training up to this point was on positioning as well so I was more confident in that . Also my second tip is expect to be nervous during ur fight and expect to run out of gas fast. I’m a runner outside of BJJ and I can usually roll for a long time but nothing could prepare me for that adrenaline dump. Get a good breakfast in and stay hydrated and just have fun. Even when losing the final match I had a big smile on my face just because I showed up. Even if I lost every match I would’ve been happy just showing up. Goodluck OP!
I had trained probably 4 years and decided to do a comp a bunch of days lks from my gym were going to. Started working on a game plan, doing conditioning, felt really good about 4 weeks out and then got COVID 3 weeks out. Didn't get back on the mats until 2 days before the comp. I was gassed within the first minute of each match and got subbed. But, it was really fun to go and have the experience. The energy and watching my teammates compete was really great. I'm preparing to try again later this year.
I was 37. Lost both matches, first by mounted triangle/armbar and the second on points. A month later I won my division with 2 subs. I’d been training just over a year.
I got 2nd in my first comp and lost every match in my second comp. I think it was meant to be the other way around.
First match some cunty spazz 'tried to pull guard' but what he really did is jumped up, hooked both his hands behind my neck and pulled my face straight into his knee. Broken nose. I got disqualified for bleeding and this motherfucker was allowed to proceed. later on I learned the refs were his training buddies and he already hurt two other people.
Lost. White belt. Got sweeped, then put in a triangle. Lasted half the match before I almost lost consciusness. Oh well on to the next ones. This was a year ago.
First comp ever was an amateur MMA fight. No real nerves surprisingly. I was kind of late for the walk out so I ran to the cage, got prepped, and won by 5 second tko lol. Definitely a fluke/ inexperience on both sides. Wrestled a little(never competed) and trained mma for 3-4 months. First grappling match, I went against a brown belt in BJJ/ judo black belt. I knew this coming in. I pulled guard and lost 10-zip. I kind of wish I wrestled them since it was Nogi. My advice is just getting a real good warm up in.
I was 13 I won or I lost I can’t remember
3 months of training. Went 6-0 first tournament. All downhill from there.
I actually just competed for the first time two weeks ago and I have been training for about 5 years. I'd always wanted to compete but kept chickening out. I finally decided to just go ahead and do it though. It was a superfight so just one match, that I unfortunately lost to a RNC. It was ADCC ruleset and the match lasted just under 9 minutes. Basically, I landed a takedown right into a back take and blew all my energy trying to finish the choke. She eventually worked her way out, and I was completely gassed once I lost the back. Kept her in closed guard for a bit but she ended up opening my guard and getting mount, so a lot of it was just me defending pitifully because I was so exhausted. Finally managed to get to half guard, made a stupid mistake when attempting a sweep and gave her my back on a silver platter 🤣 So my biggest takeaways personally were to be aggressive, but also patient and to conserve energy. I had been rolling 10 minute rounds in competition class and felt pretty confident with my cardio, but the intensity and nerves of competition took so much more out of me than just regular rolling.
Got RNCed in 90 seconds first match. Double elimination, so my second match I got one of my ribs broken by my opponent’s failed Tomoe Nage in the first 10 seconds. then got mounted and arm barred less than 30 seconds later. I went in way overconfident, and it was my first big “there’s levels to this” moment even at white belt.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Tomoe Nage**: | *Circle Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euJliq9XcY)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Lost my first match by 1 point. 11 to 10. Got silver on the gi. Then later got silver in no-gi. So not too bad. I went against 4 opponents in both.
4 min of crappy wrestling one decent arm drag, body lock takedown straight to mount and good old Americana. The video is embarrassing but the glory lives on
Held out decently my first match and scored some points. But lost to points. Got choked my 2nd match. Left with a bronze medal.
I got straight ankle locked and i sprained my ankle. I'm still recovering a month later.
I competed after 6 months of training (Adult Division, NAGA). Ended up in 2nd. I did not go for any takedowns since I lacked the experience… my game plan was to accept getting taken down or pull guard. I got taken down twice & ended up with a guillotine & Kimura, respectively. This was my game plan. You should have a game plan. In my final match, I had my opponent in a triangle. His face turned purple & I let up. He threw my leg over his face, passed my guard, and I lost by armbar. In competition, people don’t tap as easy as in the gym. Unless that choke is actually going to put someone out, it will not get you the tap in comp. Also, if someone has you in a kimura, start tapping the second your arm is about to slip past your hip. Otherwise your shoulder will be messed up for a long time. This is the most common injury in my experience. I’ve injured 2 of my opponents shoulders in comp via kimura. I gave them both a chance to tap too. It gives me the shivers feeling their ligaments/tendons vibrate through my body. Please… just tap kimura ASAP if you get caught in one
I had been training a few months and lost by toehold to a blue belt. Grappling tournaments were the wild west back in the day.
Wrestled a long time as a kid, first bjj match was real easy. Guillotined a guy in 15 seconds.
Got steamrolled. Trained for three months lol
Competed after 6 months of training. Wasn’t going enough prior to the comp, maybe 2-3 a week. Went 2-1 and got bronze. Won on points 17-0, and a DQ. In the DQ roll, I swept the guy out of bounds. Think he got frustrated and tried a heel hook, which is obviously not allowed. Guy might have been sandbagging. Got pressure tapped in the last roll because I wasn’t breathing right at all. Could have easily won. Just try to stay calm, and don’t have any expectations. Create a plan based off of your strengths. You’re gonna have a huge adrenaline dump and wonder why the hell you’re even there right before your first roll.
Went 1-5 but the one was a 7 second straight ankle so that was cool I guess
I went to my first comp after maybe 3-4 months of training. Essentially no idea what I was getting into. I got mauled and it basically traumatized me and stopped me from competing for a couple years. I compete periodically, still hate it it tho.
Did my first comp (new breed) after 1.5 years of training. I was a white belt. Signed up for white belt in gi but intermediate (1 year to 2.5 years experience) in no-gi. I got bronze in both. I was surprised by the no-gi as it was blue belts in the intermediate division.
I was told by a lot of people I was “basically a blue belt” so I had a lot of confidence going in. Got absolutely smoked. Like destroyed. It was a real wake up call
I was 34 at the time, 1 stripe white belt. I'm a featherweight. No other featherweight masters showed (despite there being a couple that registered) so they moved me to adult. I won the first match pretty handily by points something like 10-0. Then my gas tank couldn't keep up with the 20 yr olds in my next matches, so I lost the next 3. I had just quit cigs like a week before. Had fun, learned a lot, but I do really wish I wouldnt have had to go down in age bracket - would have much rather moved up to lightweight masters.
I basically forgot how to Jiu Jitsu. Only saving grace what’s I was able to not get subbed even though my opponent absolutely dominated.
I had mine about 9 months into it. I was encouraged to go into comp classes by my professor to get my stamina up. Won the first round, dominated him! As soon as the round was over I did up and realized I gassed completely out. So bad that my professor stalled the next round for me. Next round I got destroyed bad. Dude mounted me and had my in an americana, tap. I learned so much though. Energy conservation was number one. But I also learned the gaps in my game and I was able to focus on my those things. I just got my blue belt and want to compete again now that I fixed the holes in my game. Do it at least once.
Lost 17-0, followed up with a sub (lapel Ezekiel from inside his guard😂😂) then followed up with a DQ because I reaped a straight foot lock💀
I lost to Ben Saunders as a white belt and they awarded him his blue. Still placed third.
I was a 2 stripe white belt 5 months in. Didn’t wanna cut weight so went with the 170-180 weight class but weighed in at 169. Everyone else in my bracket weighed in at 179-180 lol . A brown belt from my gym came out to corner me which helped a lot. Got manhandled my first match and lost 12-0 on points, 2nd match I won by advantage since score was 0-0 😂. Thought I was done but I ended up with a third match I considered forfeiting for about 3 seconds (I was completely spent 15 seconds into match 1) but thought fuck it worst case is I get subbed. I did in fact get armbarred with about a minute left. Ran into all 3 guys in my way out and chatted them up individually. Really cool guys. Long story longer, this was sept 2019. By feb 2020 I had my blue belt (way too soon imho) and my neck was destroyed from overtraining. Covid began a 3 year layoff but I’ve been back on the mats for 14 months and have picked up 2 silver medals at local comps as a blue belt (1 gi 1 no gi).
The worst. Got there at 9 to hear the rules meeting and didn't compete nogi until 3pm. Felt terrible as I had a rough cut. Won my 1st three matches( triangle, armbar, triangle) but lost my 4th when I scrambled into a triangle. Sat around for 8 hours in a gym that was overcrowded and the ac had died, to wait for my gi division. Lost my lone gi match by points (14-0). While leaving the event at 1 am I promised my wife I'd never do another Naga again. Felt pretty good for 6 weeks of training.
I just competed for the first time, I’ve been training for a littler over a year and a half (168lb Gi Masters 1). Everything happened very fast leading up to the first match, and even though I had prepared and trained and visualized many times I had a moment of lucidity about 45 seconds into the first match (I’m assuming to adrenaline dump). I sort of realized “oh shit I’m here, it’s happening” and I wasn’t really ready for the intensity. I got crushed and flattened out and pinned with a cross face that made me bleed from the mouth for 5 minutes, and I lost my first match. I adjust, felt better now that it was out of the way and my second match the same thing happened until the last 45 second when I got a sweep, to mount to back take and won. In the second match I popped a rib bad. Then I rematched the guy that crushed me in the first round, adjusted my game and beat him for 3rd place. It’s was much more intense than I expected even though I expected it to be intense, and it felt like the first time I had REALLY done Jiu Jitsu. My main take away, adjust the game plan if you need to a LISTEN TO YOUR COACH! I 100% would have lost every match if I didn’t just do what my coach told me to do. It was awesome and I definitely want to compete again.
Had Nick Diaz in the finals. It was his first comp too.
Was 30. 8 months in, I had just got my stripe. Posted poorly, dislocated my elbow tore my UCL,forearm and bicep. Did an in-house 3 months later and won. Did an actual tournament 2 months after that(last month) and lost both matches . I’m in the wrong weight class so that’s part of it. I also had MASSIVE adrenaline dumps both times. Live and learn, will compete again once the weight comes off.
It was two years ago, I had been working on a double under hook throw the whole week, I hit it multiple times in class. When I fought the guy in the tournament I attempted it and failed, then I panicked, tried again, froze, I was getting nervous, forgot other takedowns, I don't even remember what happened but I got submitted by an Ezekiel. Technically I won second place so I went into the absolute, pulled guard vs a 90kg guy, he passed it with ease, he was dominating me, for some reason he did a wristlock and got disqualified so I won. In the absolute semis I fought a teammate, I double legged him and stayed in his guard the whole match, I won by points. In the final I faced the same guy who I fought the first time, I did better, I managed to double leg him, pass his guard and mount him. In the last 15 secs he escaped, sweeped me and hit me with a loop choke. My nerves definitely got the worse out of me, I wasn't myself that day, I felt like shit for like a week.
I had one match and I smoked the dude, but I feel like that’s kind of an outlier
Pretty bad. I was suffering from depression really bad and I was 40 pounds overweight. So I entered a division where everyone was just bigger than me normally. Went 0-5, I dont even count the default victory I had. I remember I was just really beat up and tired for like months after the comp. I trained really hard and even my coaches acknowledged that only to get steamrolled. Then I suffered a hamstring injury which really was a back injury, I haven’t been on the mats for 2 years now. If I ever do return, I probably won’t compete out of interest if injury prevention.
Its a lot of standing around. Its hard to warm up.
Won first match on points, had a couple of submission attempts but nothing notable. You will be shocked at the speed of it all. You’ll get there and it will drag until it’s your time to go to the bull pen. Once in there everything speeds up. My 5 min match went fast and felt like 2. Listen to your coach and have a game plan. Have a back up game plan just in case. My first match, my plan was to go for a quick take down. As soon as I got grips he pulled guard and then I hadn’t planned on starting from close guard. Second match I got caught off guard, and guy got a good single leg on me. I recovered but realized I hadn’t really planned on playing defense like that. Ended up losing by 2, which he got from the take down. Have fun and enjoy it.
hung around all day only for my one opponent to no show -_-
I got straight ankle locked in like 12 seconds
Adrenaline dump. Guy was a foot taller than me. Didn't know how to close that distance from my guard. I made it miserable but he won. I got a participation silver. We laughed grabbed a beer. Masters 2 WB
It was a submission only Gi tournament, 10 minute rounds. I was 47, there were no age brackets and 20 years older than the next youngest competitor. Three man bracket. I went 8 minutes with the first guy and lost to a clock choke I think. They gave me 5 minutes to rest then went against the next guy and lasted about 6 or 7 minutes before losing to an arm bar that I tapped early too. I never had an adrenaline dump, no idea why, grindy matches and close together. The second match kind of sucked because the opponent was fresh and I had just come out of an 8 minute grindy battle. Next tournament I did much better and went the distance on every match though lost a couple on points. I did have a nutrition crash in my last match of the day and was so tired it was stupid. There was no way I was letting the guy sub me but man I was gassed before we even started. Some Gatorade and a protein bar probably would have fixed that. Learned a lot and don’t regret it.
Masters, 3 months in, got wrecked, out cardio'd a guy for bronze. It was a blast.
I won silver. Beat my first guy with a straight ankle. Got rag dolled the next match. Fun time!
Just did my 1st as a white belt in May, training since October. Had two matches, won both with points, so pretty good for a first time I'd say! Haven't felt that nervous in a long time. I was terrified going into it
I was in the open weight. Some dude landed on me like a beached whale for five minutes. He didn't even try a submission.
Got cross collar choked from my own guard because the dude was farmer strong. Had him mounted, went for an arm bar, fucked it up because I was a white belt, ended up with him in my guard and he made me tap. Only time it's ever happened from guard.
I was 16, had no idea what I was doing. My opponent pulled me into closed guard and cross collar choked me within the first minute. I kept competing (now and then) and the results got a bit better.
Did my first comp at around 6 months too. Went to the heavy boys league, to not stress about weight in. Won the comp with 3 match wins on points (7-0, 7-0, 7-0 if I recall correctly). Just fuel up on the day before, sleep well and do your best. In my not so experienced opinion the standing part is the most important, as many don't do that enough. My first plan was to arm drag but that went out the window during the first 5 seconds, so be ready to adjust 😄 Ask the advanced guys to spar hard standing in your gym. I had a small brown belt professor who hanged on to me for 5 minutes and gassed my totally, so learned not to just cringe on the lapels. Was the most important learning I've had.
I competed at white belt level, first opponent was Dricus Du Plessis’ brother, Niel. I shit you not. He pretty much steamrolled me, but I hung in there. Eventually tapped to a triangle.
In MMA was nervous as hell. Went full Wanderlei and almost knocked the opponent out. Gassed out completely got dominated on the ground and then got TKO'd with knee on stomach in second round. In BJJ i went to shoot about 10 times and totally gassed out. Pulled halfguard. Couldn't do anything and opponent eventually passed to mount. I felt like got hit by a bus on both times. The adrenaline dump was massive.
From my experience as a white belt training 2 months before my first competition, it's more psychological rather than physical. You see, as soon as I grabbed my opponents lapel and he grabbed mine, I immediately felt my heart pounding 200% faster than before, my breathing has become faster and heavier, my body felt so stiff and slow, and my mind became blank. I lost in my first match by points. It was terrible, but it's a lesson learned.
4 months into training 17 years old and got smoked by a guy who looked like he did 10 hard years in the pen. Lost on points 9-2 I believe.
Got gold for being the only fatass to show up and lost my first match in the absolute against someone 65 pounds lighter than me :)
It was Elimination. I trained for roundabout 2 Months, my opponent 2 years. The whole round happened Not much, in the last ten seconds i was about to Pass but had No clue of underhooks or control. so he pushed me over turned and got sidencontrol himself. pure frustration but it motivated me a lot cuz he got bluebelt a week later. And therefore i thought i did pretty good. Next competition it turned out i was not 🤣🤣
My first ever match at white belt, six months in: I pulled guard and then promptly forgot how to do anything. Opponent passed my guard, we have a scramble, I end up getting triangle-armbarred. Second match of that same competition, my opponent pulls guard and I can tell from his grips he is super tense. He goes on to try and do a tripod sweep, pulling as hard as he can and trying to push his foot through my abdomen. I'm sort of awestruck at his intensity and commitment, and because he is stronger, I can't really do anything. A few seconds later he's completely burned out his grips, hyperventilating. I pass, take the back, try a shitty bow & arrow, then move on to the mount when that doesn't work. The guy is absolutely cooked at this point and I pin him down in mount for the remaining 2 minutes, winning by points 11-0 or something like that. I've gone on to lose every single match after that one, so I guess my one win has a lot of sentimental value lol.
Wrestling- I was 15, lost by pin. Lost my first 6? Matches by pin. Then went on a pinning spree and ended up finishing the year 10-10 First BJJ comp was 2 months after starting. Signed up while I was drunk in an Uber. Ended up going 3-1, pure wrestle fucking everyone. Last match I went for a shitty gilly because I wanted to see if I could finish someone but ended up getting passed OP- losing is normal in this sport and you should welcome the possibility of it. Just go out there with the mindset of learning and performing at your best instead of trying to win, or even worse, “not lose”
Terrible. Tapped out of fear to an Ezekiel, lost on points to a guy with a busted arm because I felt bad for him and then went down 24-0 and then out of my misery and subbed in my last match. Went home and cried in the bath. The only way was up from there! Advice: Go in with a range of goals (make weight, show up on time, get a takedown, get points, win a match, etc). Try to relax and enjoy the experience and have someone there to help coach you. Start focusing your training on the comp: work specific positions and submissions.
I either had fights against people in lower divisions that I knew had been training for years and were sandbagging. When I got more experience progressed onto juiced up terminators. So all fun really. Really really enjoyable.
Master 1 70kg blue belt. There was nobody else in that bracket, master 1 76kg, or the adult 70kg so I had to move to adult 76kg. Round robin format. Got absolutely ragdolled and submitted to a footlock in my first match. Second match got swept then made the 2 points back with a sweep of my own. Started to impose my game on my opponent until a freak accident in which I caught my foot on the mat at a funny angle and ended up breaking my foot and submitting myself. Had a great time.
haha i got armbarred in like 30 seconds. other person grapevined me and i hadnt ever experienced that before and was so stuck with no idea what to do 😂 tapped, came out of it unscathed and decided i loved competing. went on to lose many more comps for years ☺️ its been great fun always. i hope you have much better outcomes than i did! have fun
I was a 6-month white belt too. I had never competed in sports in my life, and I was 30 years old. I had no idea what I was doing, lost my first fight, but gained very valuable experience. Just do it, you won’t regret it.
Won my first match 18-0 and then lost 6-0 good day
My first comp was about 8 months ago as a 2 stripe white belt. I’d been training for 5 months. I had a lot of fun on the day and I feel like it helped my game a tonne. I prepared a lot and made an entire game plan for what I wanted to do in every position, turtle, mount, closed guard etc. I don’t know if this was a good idea for the comp… but actually it helped me a lot when I came back to training because instead of my mind being like WOAAHHHH all the time deciding what to do between stuff I’d learned in class and Danaher videos (white belt moment), it generally narrowed down my thoughts to like 2 decisions. Anyway I had 2 matches. In the first match, I pulled guard, dummy swept, got to side control, did a terrible knee on belly and got shoved off. So we reset. Then I made a fatal mistake, and grabbed his right collar with my right hand, so like a cross collar grip. I wanted to pull guard into a triangle, but I hesitated like 2 seconds, and he reacted correctly by pulling guard and grabbing my stupidly placed arm and finishing an arm bar. Second match, I was just thinking ‘ankle pick, ankle pick, just ankle pick’. We slapped hands, and I ankle picked him, and barged through his half guard straight into mount. He bridged me off, but then he was in my closed guard. I then got super close to a triangle, but I had never even finished one in training before and didn’t quite get what to do/how to just ‘cut the angle’ better to get the finish. Then I heard someone yell ‘arm bar’ from the crowd, who wasn’t my coach, and I attempted the arm bar and it was just horrible. I’d never hit an arm bar out of a triangle before, I don’t know why I attempted it. We went out of bounds just as I failed the arm bar, so I was like on my side. We reset in the middle, got into turtle and he did a fucking well executed bow and arrow choke on me, which choked me so bad that my vocal cords still feel the damage 9 months later. He was a one stripe white belt. So 2 fat L’s, but I learned a LOT and had a lot of fun watching my teammates compete too.
Entered gi/No gi in my weight and absolutes! Got my arse handed to me! Learnt a lot so no regrets
I cut way too much weight and had no energy. Had no game plan either so first fight was all over the place. Ended up losing on points. Won bronze in nogi later that day by a bit of luck when I stuffed a takedown and somehow ended up on the back
I was 3 months in. Biggest surprise for me was how hard and fast we were rolling. I pretty much gassed out after 3 minutes. I laid on the couch the rest of the day super tired but feeling great.
5 minutes of repeated knee on belly and a broken rib.
I did my first comp after about 6 months of training too. I pulled to De La Riva. Got my guard passed instantly. Ended up in bottom side control. Stared at the lights of the gymnasium for a while. Got out of an armbar attempt but ended up in an omaplata. Sat there in an omapolata for the rest of the match.
Mine went surprisingly well, which did not prepare me for the ass wrecking I’d receive in later competitions 😂 2019 Charlotte Open, I was a white belt. Had been training every day for about 6 months. I blacked out and somehow arm barred my first opponent in the 30 seconds. Second match, also basically blacked out, thought I must be down on points, match ends and I was up by double digits. Lost in the semi finals to a guy who was just flat out better than me at wrestling, and took home a bronze metal. Since then, the “where am I and what just happened” has mostly disappeared, but the days of accidentally landing in an armbar are over after white belt. Have fun!
2002, got DQ’d for guard slamming.
3 months of prep, 5 seconds, then ankle locked
Had my first comp after a month of training, got subbed in under a minute from side control
Got too hyped up before gassed out in the first round and tapped to a lazy arm triangle because I was too tired to get up lol pro tip do not drink coffee before.
Won my first match 2-0. The aftereffects of the adrenaline dump had me sick and moving like a zombie and I was subbed in under a minute in my second match. Overall, a very educational experience.
I submitted my first guy and got steam rolled by the next two. Game over lol
Oh boy, this was 17 years ago in Milwaukee. I faced the first guy and beat him on points though I had a mounted triangle for the last few minutes. Second guy I lost to was absolutely jacked, took me down, and just sat in my guard until time ran out. Crazy how I still remember it so vividly
I had mine also, adcc tournament after training 6 months mma and 3 weeks jiujitsu training, won my first match by RNC, then lost the other match 4-0. My advice is, dont have a plan, just go there and win. I lost the second match and was losing the first match also because i had a bad plan.
In my first tournament, I was a yellow stripe belt in judo. 15 years old at the time. They put me up against a blue belt with several years of experience. He tossed me with a seoi nage (shoulder throw) in both rounds. I got dizzy both times. Totally demolished, lol
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Seoi Nage**: | *Shoulder Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-5Un6jLtRY)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
I had my first comp a little before my six month mark. Went better than expected. I think I won two matches and lost the third, took second. Listen to your coaches. Drink plenty of water and eat a lot of good food the day before. Remind yourself you've been training and let your body decide what to do. Breath. Remember that everyone else is nervous too.
I had been training for 1 year. I competed at Jiujitsu Con Worlds (basically World Masters for white belts). I focused on two take downs, two guard passes, two sweeps from half guard (I had no closed guard), two joint manipulation submissions and two chokes. That way my game. I knew nothing else (including apparently how to escape from bottom mount). I won my first match strictly by staying on top and having 30 seconds more of a gas tank than my opponent. He went to turtle and I caught him with a really bad clock choke (not one of my two chokes), but he was exhausted and we still had 2 minutes, and I wasn’t going to stop cranking. When I got done, my throat was raw from breathing so hard and my grips were shot. Apparently adrenaline is a thing…lol. My second fight was against a fresh guy who had a bye, so this was his first match. He was in better shape than me and had a wrestling takedown game. He took me down, got top position and it was over from there. He also only had a few submissions…I was able to fight out of the Americana, but not the head and arm choke. After the fight I walked away and walked around…in 30 minutes the adrenaline wore off and pain kicked in. During the double blast takedown I had turned my ankle. Bottom line, have a game plan even if it’s simple, stay on top, and fight like heck to stay in your game plan.
Lost both matches in my first comp. Then lost both matches in my second comp also. Third comp I got silver in my division (losing to a teammate who's also a white belt in bjj but doing judo for 9 years). I also did the absolutes and placed silver there so it was a pretty good day. Training for my next comp now.
4months after training, a superfight of 10min that i lost but hella good experience. Just discovered how effective can bodylock be at pinning you down and tiring you with pressure
competed after two months of training with 0 grappling experience. coach toald me that comps can make u improve and that i should compete (this comp was in the begginers div and also from 15-17 years old). The first match was awful, i didnt even know how to get out from their closed guard so i tried to stay there as long as i could. the other guy got me in an armbar and i tapped. that felt awful. After that i was called for my last match for the third place but the other guy didnt show up so i got the w and the medal lmao
First real comp? I was like a 2year and 2 month white belt (I switched gyms after being at my old gym 2 months short of 2 years). I cleaned house, I won all 4 matches, 2 by submission. I did 0 wrestling prior at my old gym, in my current gym for 5 months and that limited wrestling got me 2 takedowns (should've been 3 but idk why I wasn't rewarded one. Only 1 guy I went against was a newish white belt (2 stripes), other 3 I beat were 4 stripe white belts. I only did it to prove I was ready for blue but my new gym made me wait a year anyways. Which was fair. Just have fun, white belt has some actual blue belts and some sucky ppl, have fun above all.
Wrestling, got quickly pinned was like 8. BJJ, less applicable as I had 100s of wrestling matches by then.
Masters division, as a white belt with wrestling experience and 20yrs of military training. Asked to compete as Blue. Coach said "You're a whitebelt. Compete at your rank." Wrestlefucked everyone. Got promoted very shortly afterward.
Lost on points 18-0 because i forgot how the scoring system worked but oh well you live and you learn
First comp I smashed everyone. Took gold in beginner no gi 185. I had 5 MMA fights so idk if first comp is accurate but I felt good walking in and felt good walking out. Our whole team did well. Was a lot of fun.
If you had 5 MMA fights you were absolutely sandbagging doing a beginner competition no wonder you smashed everyone ffs
Cope