How Can You Overcome Pressure in a BJJ Competition?

The fear and pressure are not uncommon in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, whether it's about the tournaments, random matches, or even in the sparring. You are just starting in BJJ or are a very experienced player; it does not matter. You will feel the pressure of the match, the tournament, the crowd, and your opponent, and the fear of defeat against them. So if you are also passing through such a phase and feel pressure or fear, then you should not think that it is a very insulting thing. In fact, everyone feels these things. But there are some practitioners who develop ways to manage that and overcome it. So you must also do that. Let’s explore such ways.

• When you want to get something in your life, you make efforts for it. You have mixed feelings about that particular goal. You have a belief that you will get that thing, and at the same time, you also have other feelings in your mind, like what if you cannot? As you continue making efforts and practicing harder for that, you also start developing high hopes for your success. So when you finally enter the trial for your particular goal, you have a training for that, but also the hopes that you and your close ones have in you start striking at the back of your mind. All your hopes force you to fulfill your goal at all costs. Moreover, you are being watched and observed and your result is awaited by many people. So all these things, when combined, create pressure for a person, and this pressure makes it difficult for them to continue playing their game naturally.

• The same case applies to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In this art, whenever you take part in any sort of competition, you grapple in front of millions of people watching you live on television or in large venues or stadiums. Moreover, you are against a big opponent who is very difficult to grapple with. So this all creates pressure in your mind, which hinders your performance in Jiu Jitsu if you cannot manage it well.

That is a question many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners ask, particularly when they are at the start of their career. Others who are not taking BJJ as their career also ask this question: Why should they compete if they are not taking BJJ as a career? Both questions are logical, but both have the same answers. Let’s dive into this to solve your confusion.

• If you observe all your actions in a day from morning till night, you will find that for all of your actions, you have to use your brain, i.e., your mental strength and power. You are using your mental strength to make the right decisions, take yourself out of tough situations, and handle all other matters in your life. So the health of your mind is very important. This also concludes the point that you need to improve your mental health. For improving your health, you need to take part in the competitions as they pass you through various situations, including both tough and easy, which help you adapt and strengthen your mind in all situations.

• When you are trying to get something, you need to see how much you are improving yourself in the game. Moreover, you also have to observe the points at which you are very strong and weak. So that you can improve yourself in the areas of weakness and utilize your strong points whenever somebody challenges you. So the second reason to compete in BJJ tournaments is to assess your skill level. The best way to access is to get yourself enrolled in any BJJ competitions. After each match, you will reflect on everything you did in the match, and so you have the mistakes you made against your opponent, and this is enough to help you improve your skills.

• When you are training in BJJ and learning different skills and techniques, you need to see what others are learning. This is necessary so that you are not the one who is left behind. The third reason is that you also have to learn and train in areas where others are proficient. In these matches, you will grapple with all the skills and techniques you have. You will see and observe the skills and techniques of others.

Many BJJ practitioners remain confused about how they can overcome or reduce pressure in competition matches. Let’s solve their confusion. The following are some of the best ways for you to overcome pressure in a BJJ competition.

• The most common mistake Jiu Jitsu practitioners make, particularly the beginners, is that they don’t have a game plan. This led to their confusion during the game. They don’t know what to do, and this creates pressure on them, giving an edge to their opponents. So you should always have a game plan.

• A game plan means that you should have made a game strategy before the match. This strategy will include everything A to Z about what you are going to do in a match and how you will deal with your opponent’s attacks. You will not have only one or two options. You should develop multiple options in your game plan so that if you fail in your option A, then you will switch to option B, and then so on. You should also know what you are going to do if you fail in executing a particular technique, i.e, what technique you are going to execute next. So this all should be included in your game plan, and this plan will serve as your roadmap to grapple in a match, saving you from extra pressure.

• This is one of the best advice anyone can give you, and that is you should not take anything too seriously to create problems for you. This is a very logical statement. You often have realized that when you are taking anything not too seriously, you perform better in that, and if you start taking such a thing too seriously and start getting too anxious or worried, then you cannot perform as well as you were doing before. The difference you are creating here is the pressure.

• When you start taking so much interest, getting worried and serious, then you are creating pressure on yourself that you have to win and be successful, and this hinders your performance. So the ideal way is not to take anything too seriously to get your performance disturbed.

• But this does not mean that you should do everything without getting seripus. This only means that you get serious to the extent that you are enjoying it. Don’t get so serious that you start feeling pressured and stressed about it.

• The same case applied to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu matches. People are getting very serious about these matches, and this seriousness does nothing other than interrupt their performance. So you need a balance to establish in your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu career. Maintain a balance, and you will improve day by day.

• Another way to overcome pressure in a BJJ competition is to master the bad and tough positions. When you are grappling in a BJJ competition, the positions that create the most pressure on you are the tough positions or submissive ones in which you don’t have enough control over yourself or your opponent. These are the positions in which you need to practice getting back to the dominant positions, because if you are able to pass these submissive positions, it will help you in a lot of ways to overcome the pressure and lead the match.

• It will motivate you because you have successfully defended yourself against your opponent, that too in the submissive position, which is a tough and challenging position to fight from. So mastering the fight from such positions will help you overcome the pressure on yourself because you will have the belief in yourself that you can fight and tackle any situation.

• Another mistake most BJJ practitioners make is that they keep on practicing in only one aspect or one dimension of the game. This is not good at all and impacts their game in a lot of ways in a negative manner. They keep themselves restricted to one specific dimension only. This makes them strong in that specific aspect, but what about others? They become weak with time, and this makes their game poor and less competitive compared to others.
• So whenever they grapple in the match in any competition, they have to face and tackle with such moves and techniques that they have never practiced before. This lack of competitiveness creates pressure on them because they don’t know how to face such moves, and they become confused. This confusion and pressure on them lead them to get defeated. So ideally, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner should develop their well rounded game by practicing in all aspects and dimensions.

• Although not very common advice, but still very important is to enjoy your time in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You should ask yourself why you are doing Jiu Jitsu? Are you enjoying it, or did you choose it because you thought it was enjoyable? Most people who join BJJ think it is not a stressful game at all, and practitioners always enjoy grappling. But this mindset of enjoyment does not last long as they start taking the game very seriously.

• They look at others training various techniques and skills. They observe that others have a lot of techniques that they can execute in any match. So all of this creates a race, and this race is nothing more than a trap in which the majority of the Jiu Jitsu practitioners fall. This is also responsible for creating the pressure. So you need to avoid falling into this rat race. Don’t take BJJ as a burden. Take it easy and enjoy your time in Jiu Jitsu.

The pressure is not a rare or insulting thing to feel in any Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition. You might not see, but great players are also the victims of this pressure during any competition. But the difference between a great BJJ player and an ordinary one is that the great one knows how they deal with such pressure during the grappling match in any competition, and the ordinary one doesn't know. So if you want to be the best in Jiu Jitsu, you should be able to manage and overcome pressure in competitions, especially in stressful situations such as submissive positions in BJJ. Some of the ways are given above. Start implementing them in your BJJ training, and you will observe a considerable improvement.

The same case applies to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In this art, whenever you take part in any sort of competition, you grapple in front of millions of people watching you live on television or in large venues or stadiums. Moreover, you are against a big opponent who is very difficult to grapple with. So this all creates pressure in your mind, which hinders your performance in Jiu Jitsu if you cannot manage it well.

• You Should Always Have a Game Plan

• Don’t Take Competition Too Seriously

• Master Bad and Tough Positions

• Develop a Game Practicing on All Aspects

• Take it Easy and Enjoy Your Time

• For improving your health, you need to take part in the competitions as they pass you through various situations, including both tough and easy, which help you adapt and strengthen your mind in all situations.

• The second reason to compete in BJJ tournaments is to assess your skill level. The best way to access is to get yourself enrolled in any BJJ competitions.

• The third reason is that you also have to learn and train in areas where others are proficient. In these matches, you will grapple with all the skills and techniques you have. You will see and observe the skills and techniques of others.