Judo tournament?

Question

With 1.5 years of Jpanese JJ and 4 months of BJJ how well could i expect to do

Hip throws and sweeps are about 50 percent of the curriculum in JJJ

Local Tournament

Answer 1

Make sure and have someone in the know check out your gi before the tournament. It is sad to see when the really good BBJ players travel to the tournaments pay their money and then are not allowed to compete because their gi does not conform to the rules.

No more than 2 inches above or below your wrists with your arms extended out in front of you. Same with your ankles. No patches or embroidery stuff, (some is allowed but the rules there are complex – better to make life simple and just not have it). These are the main things that hang up BJJ guys at gi control.

Aside from that the only other thing that might trip you up is “illegal entry into newaza”. In Judo newaza (ground fighting) is considered a privilege, you have to use a recognized throw to enter into it. Often BJJ guys will use a drag down from their own knees to get their opponent to the ground. We penalize that in Judo. Four penalties in a match and you forfeit the match & are you are kicked out of the tournament (I know it sounds harsh).

Going along with the privilege aspect of newaza, if the referee feels you are not making progress in the first 10 to 15 seconds, they will stand you back up. You loose your privilege if you are not taking advantage of it. Now if you are working towards a technique or you have one (like a pin, arm bar or choke) they will let you stay there as long as it takes to win, or for Uki to demonstrate that Tori’s technique is countered (ie chin into the choke, or double jointed elbows).

One thing BBJ guys hate to hear – you can win in Judo with the pin. Most self-respecting Jujitsu guys find the pin distasteful. They abhor the concept. But Judo is a different game, play by the Judo rules. The 25-second pin is a very good way to win a judo match – use it.

Good luck in the tourney.

Answer 2

The Japanese JJ will help you out, and the 4 months of BJJ will help you on the ground. I just hope you know some chokes, not just armbars, since most tournaments restrict armbars to brown belts and above. However, like judomofo said, you will be very vulnerable to throws without the pure Judo experience. Judo matches can end with the throw, unlike in BJJ (I don't know if JJJ is competitive). However, if you know some takedowns from your BJJ or JJJ, even if you don't get Ippon, you should be able to win a match on the ground, since most Judo players (that I've seen anyway) fight for stalemate on the ground unless they're given something as a gift on a silver platter. However, unless you know what's coming, you can't defend it, and not having any Judo experience, you wouldn't be able to recognize and react to what you're opponent is doing in time to stop them.

That being said, experience is always a good thing, and if you are looking to get into Judo, then why not go for it.

Answer 3

That is hard to say since you have very little experience and probably even less experience at competing. The other thing about competition is that you can not directly control how good or prepared your opponent is or does-only how good or prepared you are and do. Any helpful incite and training tips you can get from some of your instructors and fellow students that have competed in the past who have done well can also be a good place to start. I would take the approach that since it is my first I am going to do everything in training and getting ready for it that I possibly can and go with attitude of doing the best that I can and also learning everything from it.

Someone has to lose and someone wins in competition. If you take the approach above and don't do well then use it as a learning experience for your next one. Sit down after competing and analyze what you did well in and what if anything you did poorly in and need to do better next time or do better in training or preparing for. Ask one of your classmates or instructors if they can sit and watch your matches and evaluate your performance or better yet also video tape it if you can. This will also give you direct feed back and can be useful in preparing you better for the next one. If you take the above approach you will come out farther ahead-even if you don't do well and you will be able to do better the next time you compete. Good luck!

Answer 4

Depends on sparring, much sparring you have done (randori wise in JJ) and the level of tournament.

At a local tourney in the Novice division you may do well enough if you can work against other white-green belts. With NO Judo experience, I place you at getting thrown for Ippon pretty quickly even at Novice division, or pinned. (both are things you do little work against in BJJ) Probably going 0-2 for the day.

I would definately do it for the experience regardless, as well as a chance to see what the intensity level is like, and having the adrenaline hit.

Every experience is worth something, win or lose, you have something to gain either way.

Expect to learn some things you need to work on, and learn something that work well for you.

You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain really.

Go for it.