What is the New Competition BJJ Practice at Stout PGH?

We recently added a Competition Practice to the Strip District schedule. It is held every Tuesday at 4pm, and is open to all belt levels. Since then we have had several inquiries as to what exactly this practice is and what it consists of. In this article I will give you more details on what the Competition Practice is and what to expect of it. 

 

Above all else, Competition Practice is a great opportunity to improve your readiness for competition. It focuses on honing the skills you already have, rather than learning new techniques. That means the instructor does less group teaching and more individual tweaking of issues and refining of details. It also helps prepare you for some aspects of competition that normal classes can’t: point scoring, sportsmanship and decorum, energy efficiency, match strategy, etc.. These aspects of competition are extremely important but often overlooked by novice (and experienced) competitors, and will definitely help you be more confident in your preparedness.

 

The practice has no official belt level requirement, it does come with some expectations of attendees beyond those of normal classes. First, because there is less teaching, you should come with specific techniques you want to work on. Second, you should be familiar enough with going live that you’ll be able to participate in various kinds of live and semi-live training with confidence. So, although anyone can attend, the practice is not well suited for absolute beginners and those with only a few weeks of experience, but is better for those with plans to compete in the near future (or past competition experience). 

 

Competition Practice is structured similarly to a normal class, but with some key differences. There will always be warm up time, as it is important to warm up for this type of practice, but the warm up will not be led in the way it is in classes. The bulk of the practice will consist of various forms of drilling, directed by the instructor. That means the instructor will not necessarily show you techniques to drill, but will give you a framework, situation, or strategy in which you will choose what to drill. The practice will end with live training. Live training will take a wide variety of forms, usually escalating in resistance and / or intensity. It will usually include some feet to floor transitions. There will also be the opportunity for “refereed” matches, meaning the instructor will officially start and time the match, call out points, keep the action in bounds, and announce a winner at the end. This structure, though different than normal classes, provides an effective way to improve competition readiness.

 

I hope this article has given you a better understanding of what the new Competition Practice consists of. It is a different style of training that I find to be very helpful. Hope to see you there, Tuesdays at 4pm in the Strip District!