If you read forums and hang around with people who love BJJ in your gym, you may get the idea that people are competing every weekend and doing nothing else. Whilst these people exist, they are still in the minority. There is nothing wrong with competing in the same way you shouldn’t be criticised for not competing. Of course like everything in life there are pros and cons to this. However, from an overall standpoint, it is OK not to compete. It is a personal decision, and if you don’t care about competition, what would be the point of competing?
To emphasise this point, BJJ greats such as John Danaher have never competed. Danaher is widely regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach of all time. There is no dispute that he knows exactly what he is teaching and his students’ success is no fluke. There will also be lesser-known examples of great coaches and people who are good at BJJ who we don’t know about. Generally, if you aren’t competing then you have no real way of gaining a following, so people will not know who you are. Just because your name isn’t plastered all over the internet doesn’t mean you are not good at BJJ.
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Non Competitive Gyms or Non Competive People
Firstly, let’s begin by saying that not every gym is a Unity or ATOS. Some people (especially if they are in they are 40+ with kids) simply do BJJ to keep fit, learn something, and enjoy themselves. Not everyone needs to prove themself in a competition setting, nor wants to. All we will see in BJJ news is who has beaten who, who is the ADCC champion, who won a superfight, etc. This is because people take an interest in who is the best at something because it is enjoyable to watch people compete at a high level.
However, by the same logic, just because you play pick up basketball on the weekend, doesn’t mean you should be trying to get into an NBA team, or even going to local competitions. BJJ has quite a competitive culture with regular competitions and events, this is a nice option to have if you’re interested in these things. Saying this, it doesn’t mean you have to sign up and compete, just because somebody says you should.
Reasons Why People Don’t Compete
- Too much time is taken up
- Added Expenses
- They simply don’t care about winning or losing
- They are older and don’t want to make injuries worse
- Chance of injury increases in competition
- Scared of losing or embarrassing themselves
- Sandbaggers
1 – Too much time is taken up
When competing you are going to pretty much give up one day of your weekend. If you work a 9-5 job during the week and have family commitments, this is already quite a big ask. You may have to drive 2-3 hours to reach the tournament depending on where you live. This will be followed by a lot of waiting around for the start of your match. If you are competing in absolute as well as your own category, this wait will now be longer. You then have to drive back home and your Saturday has disappeared.
2 – Added expenses
BJJ competitions are quite expensive. The organizers need to make a profit, otherwise, the competition wouldn’t exist. They must account for medical, security, rent a location, pay staff and transport all the mats. You will be looking at $50-$100 per competition, which is not cheap for an already expensive sport.
3 – They simply don’t care about winning or losing
Some people just do not care enough to compete. They do BJJ for fitness and enjoyment reasons. If they won a medal in a local competition it doesn’t mean anything to them. These kinds of people are generally more interested in their work and day to day life. BJJ is just a hobby for them, so there is no reason to compete.
4 – They are older and don’t want to make injuries worse
This may not apply to a lot of you, but believe me, by the time you are 50 it will. If you have a body that has been ruined by years of BJJ, surgeries, recurring pain, or anything else like this. You will not want to make matters worse by having a 10 minute ego boost from winning a tournament. The following months will not be worth it.
5 – Chance of injury increases in a competition
The chance of getting injured is greatly increased. Whilst it’s still reasonably low, it’s much higher than a gym setting. In the gym you are in a controlled environment, rolling with people that you trust. As soon as you set foot on the mat in a BJJ competition, things are completely different. People should not be letting go of submissions until the referee says they should. This can cause serious injuries.
6 – Scared of losing or embarassment
This is perhaps the only reason on the list which is negative. If you are scared of losing then that is understandable, but this should be a fear to overcome. If this is the only reason you do not compete, then you are simply holding yourself back. There is nothing to fear and nobody really cares if you win or lose.
7 – Sandbagging Opponents
Sandbaggers ruin a lot of local tournaments. Whilst this is somewhat expected at IBJJF level events, it still happens at local competitions. I have encountered blue belts who have 10 years of training under their belts along with people who have had professional MMA fights 7 years before their opponent started training. In my opinion, this is completely ridiculous and ruins the competition experience for others.
Should I compete in BJJ tournaments?
This is entirely up to you. If you read through the reasons above and are honest with yourself, you should be able to come to a reasonable conclusion. You certainly shouldn’t feel pressured into competing so that you can become a blue belt faster, or compete just because someone else says you should.
If you think you will enjoy the experience and learn from it then why not. If you are young and competitive you really do not have much to lose and quite possibly have a lot to gain.
However, if you are training BJJ for fun and fitness only, there really is no real reason to compete and you can leave this to the more serious and dedicated people at your gym.
