Coach: "You guys are the fodder"

**Otaku Waffle** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 3:43am

Actually....gzk, DID that comment fire you up in a ****-you-I'll-show-you mode? If so, your coach knows you pretty well. If not, just tell him it doesn't help.

**Kyduh** · Posted On: 9/27/2008 5:33pm

I'm in the same situation as what would seem everyone here. I've been doing a class which is a mix of Judo/jujitsu/wrestling with some integrated striking for about two and a half years now (not as consistently as I should, but school comes first) and I have my first BJJ tourny in two weeks.

But my instructors seem to have handled me way differently. While I have to win to pass the sparring requirement for a blue belt, I had kind of been led to believe that my coaches would never ask me to do something that I wasn't perfectly capable of. After rolling today my BJJ coach said he actually thought I could win it now. Maybe I just worship my instructors too much, but I personally feel that if they say I can do it, then by god I'm going to crush some people (of course now that I said that I'm going to be submitted in the first match), and the boost in confidence has definitely helped on the mat with my friends outside of the dojo.

If my coach told me I was fodder I would just trust his judgment and only go if he said I needed the competition experiance.

**GoldenJonas** · Posted On: 9/28/2008 10:52am

Originally Posted by Kyduh

But my instructors seem to have handled me way differently. While I have to win to pass the sparring requirement for a blue belt, I had kind of been led to believe that my coaches would never ask me to do something that I wasn't perfectly capable of. After rolling today my BJJ coach said he actually thought I could win it now. Maybe I just worship my instructors too much, but I personally feel that if they say I can do it, then by god I'm going to crush some people (of course now that I said that I'm going to be submitted in the first match), and the boost in confidence has definitely helped on the mat with my friends outside of the dojo.

If my coach told me I was fodder I would just trust his judgment and only go if he said I needed the competition experiance.

This is a good point; particularly where you usually have to sink at least $60-$80 to even fight in one division. This doesn't include gas or food for the road trip to the tourney.