3 LESSONS FROM MY FIRST EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN BJJ
1. Believe in the techniques you know
It may seem blindingly obvious, but you should aim to execute in competition what you have practiced week in and week out in the gym. A competition isn’t the time to experiment with the latest technique you have picked up from your favourite Youtuber. Nor is it time to show off your prettiest, most sophisticated (yet lower percentage) techniques. For a championship in BJJ, bring your A-game: a set of techniques, when given the opportunity, that you could execute on a high percentage of your opposition. In my case, it was my trusted over-under pass.
Against my first opponent, it quickly became clear that the over-under pass was my only route to victory. After defending against a sweep and a submission attempt, I began working for an underhook and stacking my opponent’s hips. The first attempt was blocked, so were the second & third. Still, I believed in the pass because I knew the position so comprehensively. Even if my opponent defended or countered, I knew what to do at every moment.
On my fourth attempt, I passed the line of my opponent’s hips and forced him to expose his back; my persistence was paying off. The back exposure gave me the opening I needed to secure control of his back and sink in the rear naked choke. Had I lost faith in the strategy, I may well have faltered. My over-under pass wasn’t artistic or sophisticated nor was it well concealed. But it was damn effective. Believe in the techniques you know.
2. Force the fight to your advantage
Fighting isn’t about being better than your opponent in every area; it’s about picking your battles. In boxing, you would be an idiot to try and box the boxer or brawl the brawler. Jiu Jitsu is no different. In every instance, even if your opponent is better than you, you should look for ways to force the fight in a direction that favours you. In essence, fight your fight. In the one fight I won at the euros I was positive my opponent was better than me. He too had a decent strategy: aggressively sitting on his ass to try and submit me from his back. The guy had a dangerous arsenal of submissions and an flexible set of hips that could rival Shakira’s. If I gave him space, I knew it would be wraps.
First, I had to kill his seated guard, by forcing half guard and pinning his shin. That’s the other key here. Along with forcing the fight to your advantage, you should (to quote John Danaher) seek “mechanical Advantage” in neutral positions. By pinning my opponent’s bottom shin, I knew I was neutralising half of his best asset: his elastic salsa hips. From there, I could see everything coming; counter his attacks and drag him into my world. Force the fight to your advantage.
3. No excuses
This blog post isn’t a self-aggrandizing parade. I didn’t win a medal. I am not a European champion. I lost very convincingly on points in the second round. My opponent took my back and to this day I’m still not quite sure how he did it. His technique was so superior to mine I had no clue what this guy was doing and how he was doing it. It was an embarrassment in every sense of the word.
After I lost, I was comforted by the fact that my opponent was a known “sandbagger”- a competitor who fights below their ability in order to increase their likelihood of winning a medal (which he did). I also cushioned my ego with the knowledge that I had sustained an injury during training camp and hadn’t fully recovered.
In the few days after my loss I could feel the resentment pouring out of me. “Fuck that sandbagger” or “fuck that injury” would periodically get muttered under my breath. In these situations, where our ego takes a battering and our dreams are shattered, it’s easy to deflect our attention onto things we can’t control. This is what Carol Dweck would describe as a “fixed mindset.” A mindset biasing us towards a belief that our attributes are fixed and immutable, and that our own influence in improving them is minimal. In my head, this guy had been practising the sport four times longer than me; how was I ever going to beat him?
The truth is though, excuses only fuel a fixed mindset. Thankfully, in the days that followed I began to spot these excuses in my head; quieting my fixed mindset and negative self-talk. Unsurprisingly, as I stopped shielding my ego, my attention returned to the only thing worth focusing on… improving my skills. In the proceeding weeks and months an absence of excuses translated into a renewed passion for the sport and a forensic interest in improving my game. No excuses.
