Ah yes, the pleasures of competing… The sweaty palms, the nervous laughter and making jokes with teammates in order to make the time pass by just a little bit faster.
Tournaments and matches represent ultimate opportunities for jiujiteiros to show what they have practiced in training, to further prove themselves and to learn what they need to improve in. However, without the right competition mindset, this sort of an outlook can be easily disregarded and forgotten, with competition almost always ending up as a negative experience – no matter whether a practitioner wins or loses.
Due to the influence of emotions related with the notions of anxiety, expectations and fear, a jiu jitsu practitioner can easily start seeing competition as a „monster“ to be confronted with and not as that which it actually is – an opportunity for growth. Through dwelling on losses, and by overthinking about mistakes and overall performance, it can become increasingly difficult to compete successfully, or to continue competing whatsoever.
That is why having the right mindset is the key to a positive approach to competition for every jiujiteiro.
In this video, Andrew Smith explains what makes some BJJ perform better in competition than in training, and why some people excel in competition and others don’t.
