The majority of a Jiu-Jitsu school’s students choose to not compete. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are many reasons why people decide to train Jiu-Jitsu and entering a Jiu-Jitsu tournament is but one. Many students love Jiu-Jitsu for the self-defense aspect, the physical fitness, the challenge of learning a new skill and many other valid reasons.
But competition is great for athletics in general, and this is also very true for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
If you are undecided and considering if you might want to try a BJJ competition, here are some reasons you might want to set a goal to compete.
1 – Push to a higher level. There are few things that will light a fire of motivation under you like the commitment to compete in an upcoming tournament!
2 – For the lessons from the competition. Numerous high level GB competitors have talked about the impact of the lessons learned from their competition matches.
3 – Functioning under pressure. Most competitors will tell you that the intensity level of a tournament match is something completely different from the friendly rolls that you have in class with your best training partners.
In the end, it’s up to you. If you decide to take on the challenge of competing, you will no doubt emerged having learned a lot about your Jiu-Jitsu.