My first competition

**RhinoUP** · Posted On: 11/28/2012 7:14pm

Thanks rooster. We are really upping the training intensity. Lots of recovering from bad positions and holding good position situational sparring and takedown work. There are 8 of us going from my gym. Everyone is showing up to train every day. Haven't had this much fun outside a strip joint in a long time.

**superangryfish** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 4:22am

I completely know where you are now, as a fellow large white belt over 30.

I wish I had footage of my first comp fight the only way I can describe is two walruses fighting over mating rights.

My only advice is to keep doing what your doing. All my game plans went out the window after 3 seconds.

you mentioned "My game plan is to do whatever it takes to get the take down and remain on top" What if that is his game plan as well lol

Remember your training and you will come back alive!

Anyways good luck and have fun

**RhinoUP** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 7:27am

Haha. Walruses. Well i hear ya about the game plan going out the window:). Im sure the other dude is going to try the same thing as i am. Ive been drilling one takedown/sweep like crazy. Im about 50/50 pulling it off live and when i miss it i end up in guard/half guard most of the time. Ill be sure to post a video of my match/matches win or lose.

**marcwagz** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 11:06am

weird since when did our styles go into the middle of the page?
I want to start competing in BJJ but I don't know how to find any tournaments. apparently there are some around, one Black belt and one brown belt (who are both BJJ blue belts) from our dojo (yes our karate dojo that also does bjj) entered a BJJ competition and won both the no gi and gi divisions for their weights
I want to do that.
Although it'd be silly since I havent started BJJ or JJJ there yet, I will soon hopefully but its too much money.

**PDA** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 11:55am

I was a big white belt over 30 about a year ago (now I am a big Blue belt over 30).
Lots of great advice on the first page of this thread.
Not much I can add other than to say that I never gas when rolling and didnt as a white belt after 6-12 months training.
I very rarely ran so the reason I think I never gassed was because I constantly rolled with people as big as me and many as good or much better than me that would not let me rest in any position.
I rolled allot at least 6 days a week then so what i am really trying to say is that if you want to stop gassing when rolling then try to roll allot and roll intense.

**RhinoUP** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 1:45pm

Yup. Lovin the advice here. I just past my 5 month mark. I have done just over 70 classes in that time. I gas every class by the end of the second round. Granted i was a heavy smoker for 28 years and quit one month in so its been slow progress but it is getting better.

Ive rolled with guys before and after their first competitive experience and win or lose it seems to up their game...any theories on this? Hope i get the same results.

**AKRhino** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 5:27pm

I've been smoking 15 years. I've been training jits for 6. I have a limitation (albeit, a self imposed limitation). It forces me to be smarter, to be calmer, and to recognize when I should turn it up, and when not to. Most of the time, my rolling partner ends up breathing alot harder than I do, which is the plan (it's something I think about). There are folks (higher belts, my rank or above typically, though also some (mostly large) wrestlers or people in just phenomenal condition) who can wear me out, and I admit, I get incredibly defensive and in general look like dog crap. Sometimes they'll say "ah, it's just cause you're a smoker, you're just tired" I tell them, I am tired, because you took me out of my game. You can make an excuse for me if you want, but the reality is, if I had been succesful in implementing my game, I wouldn't be the one who's tired.

So TL:DR version, you can still do it, whether you smoke or not.

**RhinoUP** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 7:33pm

For me quitting smoking was huge. No more of that 1 million pins in your chest feeling. It was painful. Now the pain is gone but i regularly hack up crap out of my lungs. At first it was black/brown. Now its clear. Even though i love smoking, i enjoy jits more and i personally cannot do both.

**AKRhino** · Posted On: 11/29/2012 7:48pm

Well, in all honesty, congrats! Quitting smoking is likely to far exceed any martial arts accomplishments you may make. Now, don't look back (unless it's to reassure yourself that smoking is indeed, quite dumb)!