So I fought in my first Judo tournament this past weekend and thought I'd share some of my experiences.

First off, I trained hard for it. On tournament day I found out that there was only one other person that qualified for my weight catagory (132 pounds and under), so they bumped me up to fight in the 158 pounds and under - I was fighting at 128 pounds.

The first guy I fought was around 150 something and turned out to be a wrestler - the fight lasted about 20 seconds in the clinch before he won by throwing me with a single leg takedown - he was super strong and explosive.

The second fight was with another guy around 155 pounds, and the clinching and a few throwing attemps went on for quite a while, then he got me with a double leg takedown which won him the match.

So, one of my experiences was feeling how fast, strong and explosive the two guys I fought were. It really did show me how important conditioning is. The intensity level of the fights were higher then sparring in class - and I was told this, but didn't really understand it until I stepped onto the mats.

I was disapointed that I lost, but I gave it my 100%, so that is all I can do, and I feel motivated to train harder for the next tournament. I always had respect for people who competed, but after actually competing myself and feeling how tough it can be, I have to say that I have a new found respect for fighters that compete.

Over all I feel like I took away some important lessons from the experience.

Good job Craig.
Competition is just another aspect of training with additional stressors. If you learned from participating; then you won something, a lesson that may last longer than a medallion.

Very good Craig,

It's not easy to compete, especially the first time. I bet you'll find your next competition will be much less stressful.

Good point about not understanding the level of intensity of tournament competition, no one really has an idea until the first time they fight.

Tim,
the above makes me wonder on how to train for competition (amateur) while you have a full time job and other responsabilities, let alone lack of good training partners. Thanks

William

Thanks a lot, Tim and Jamie, for your words.

I hope to be more prepared next time round by working through some of my newly learned lessons.

Craig,

You did win. Just being able to get on the mat, face your fears and do what others only talk about, gave you the win. You were given the opportunity to compete and make mistakes, thereby growing as a person and athlete.

We know competition is technique and mental, but what some don't tell you about competition is that much of it is tension and conditioning. Tension can eat your conditioning like candy. We see it all the time. A fighter trains hard for months, yet is gased by the first round. Tension!

Relaxation is key. A calm awareness. Understanding when and how to use you energy. I told a fighter on mine that it's not important who is strongest during the first minute, but the last minute.

Some of the things that cause tension: Not having faith in your skills and being attached to winning or worrying about losing.

Also, it sounds like both your people were wrestlers. I don't know if you have a wrestling background or not, but whether you are talking Judo,BJJ,Sambo or MMA wrestling almost have an unfair advantage in the lower ranks of competition. 1)They are usually in shape 2)They are use to competition 3)They have already skilled in a delivery system that transfers to most combative situation.

Single and double leg takedowns "are" judo techniques, but I'd like to see wrestlers compete to improve on something they don't know(throwing with a jacket) rather to be attached to the win and use what they already know. It stunts their growth.

You did well.

I was so nervous during my first Judo match because I was a beginning student, yet I competed in the Master's division because of my age. They were all blackbelts. I was destroyed!!

But after thinking about it awhile, I realized that if I just relaxed and changed my stance, that they wouldn't be able to beat me...blackbelt or not. I knew my newaza was better from BJJ and wrestling. I didn't want to use doubles or singles.

From that point on, I won about 85% of my Judo matches in the blackbelt division...without even being a blackbelt.

The things I credit: 1)Relaxation 2)attitute(I wasn't attached to winning or losing...just growing 3)experience from all my other training.

Thanks Backarcher, for your encouragement and insight.

I don't come from a wrestling background. I've trained IMAs in the past, but with little to no sparring with resistance - just a little pushhands with resistance. I've trained a little bit of BJJ in the past also, but with little to no throwing or take downs.

I've been training Judo for about 7 months now and decided to test myself at the Tohkon Classic in Chicago.

Everything you mention about relaxation makes a lot of sense - I found it quite hard to relax in my matches and I felt like I had a lot less awareness of what was going on compared to the sparring during training. I was nervous during my matches. I am 28 right now so I guess I will be doing masters in 1 and 1/2 years - it must have been quite an experience having your first fight in the masters.

It was great to see some really good fighters.

Cheers.

One of your best posts archer! We need to meet someday. You are in Lansing right? Send me an email someday in the near future.
Jake
three_harmonies@hotmail.com

just so you know Craig; It was always my intention to fight at 66kgs ( the - 145lbs). I've next to never not fought up. Until your 73kgs and up, there's never anyone in your brackets but at the biggest tournements.

What Backarcher is saying is very true; think of the expereince that someone who participates in wrestling at school really has ( for example, someone who does it for most of highschool):
- 2 to 3 years of guided athletic Strength and Conditioning
- in season, anywhere from 1-4 practices a week, plus competition almost every weekend.
- 15 week season times 2.5 years= 38-152 practices, 30+ times competing and likely anywhere from 50-300 hrs of mat time, almost all of which is 'live'.

These guys are no whitebelts!

Though, I can offer some advice to even the playing field a little.

- use grips; singles and doubles are much harder when your opponent dtermines your distance beacuse he's got a good grip on you
- learn to sprawl. You may think that you already know. My first practice with wrestlers taught me, that, no, I did not know how to sprawl. You must do it very hard, very fast, with total committment. And it doesn't hurt to actually lead or anticipate your opponent's shot.

check out www.alljudo.net
look into some of the videos of the eastern europeans that score with Te Guruma or Morotoe Gari. They do one of two things; stay completely out of grip range until they shoot, or they stay very close, so much so that grips no longer allow you to post and proximity makes turning in awkward.

Craig.

Congratulations on your first competition. I was just as blown away the first time I competed. It's like another world.

I remember seeing this guy walking around outside, as I was walking into the tournament, he was pacing, and acting crazy. Funny thing was I was feeling just like this guy was acting, all because of a competition.

After that I focused on making the realization that, what will be will be, and there is no need to worry so much. It's always hard, but I think it's a great opportunity to take note of how you do under stress, and use your will to relax yourself and drive forward.

again congratulations.

-Christopher Hein

Jason,

Thanks for all the info and advice. Looks like I need to train harder as I'm probably mostly going to be competing against people heavier then me.

Cheers, Chris.

Yup, I too had quite a shock - "another world" is a good desciption of my experience too. I definetly need work on the relaxing under stress part - it's amazing the difference between the stress in sparring and the competition. Thanks buddy.

Two words, Relaxation Response.

two words

practice judo

Good job Craig. You remind me of a new guy we got at a judo club I trained at in So Cal last year. The guy, Dexter, trained for a few months before his first competition. He had no previous martial arts experience, never complained, and was the nicest guy I've ever met on the mat. No ego whatsoever.

Dexter entered the novice division and took third. Then my teacher told him to fight in the black belt division so he could get more fights. He said yes w/o thinking about it.

Dexter got creamed in the black belt division, of course, but he never complained. When he showed up to class the next day, he was awarded a brown belt.

Oh, for safety issues, you'll want to stick w/students your own size for training most days. It cuts down on injuries and lets you focus more on technique. Trust me, I've learned this the hard way.

Where do you train in Chicago? Tohkon is the best club in Chicago, and one of the best in the nation.

Tim, I'll be in your neck of the woods during the second week of August. Will you be around?

Hi Abdullah,

Thanks, sorry I missed your post - just found it. I train at Tohkon, and love it. I couldn't ask for a better enviournment to train or better teachers. Just all round great place to be.