My first competition

[GojuKJoe]

My first competition is tomorrow, anyone have any pointers? Other than "throw the other guy first", thanks

[Mrs Owt]

Hey, great for you! You'll do fine if you just remember to breathe and warm up well. Nothing screws up your game worse than being ill-prepared so hydrate, warm up and eat properly before the comp.

Enjoy yourself! Good luck! :)

[MartialArtsSnob]

Bribe the judges.

[Jang Bong]

Expect anything and use the unexpected. Enjoy yourself, and use this as an 'experience gaining' exercise.

However, I've never been in MA competition, so listen to Mrs O. :)

Where are you competing? Are spectators welcome??

[GojuKJoe]

It's in lightfoot leisure centre in Byker, and as far as i know, spectators are welcome.
And thanks for the encouragemen Mrs. Owt

[Gyaku]

Pack everything you need the night before. Get an early nights sleep. Also ask senior students/instructor what you can realistically expect. If you know whats coming, mentally you will be better prepared.

When you get there find out when you're going to be fighting. The worst thing is waiting around, not knowing when you're going to fight. Take some supportive friends/family, and have a ball!

[GojuKJoe]

Well, I only won one out of 5 matches, but it was really good fun and I can't wait to get back at it. They gut I beat had about 5 months judo experience, but the ones i lost to were all way more experienced than me at grappling. Two of them do BJJ and were great with submissions, and one guy has 8 years shotokan karate competition experience. The other guy I know nothing about other than he was wearing a white belt, but he was better than me, so I take my hat iff to him. They were all close fights and I feel really good about holding my own against good opponents, whether that sounds arrogant or not.

[Jang Bong]

Way to go Joe....

I managed to get there for about 1 hour, and quickly realised that I wasn't going to ask everyone in a white outfit "Are you GojuKJoe?" :D:D:D I got chatting with a couple of the lads in the stands, and I think I got you pinpointed - a bald guy says you go by that name 'on Fridays'!

If I'm right, then there was a bit of blood in match 2, and and match 3 had a long-haired guy sailing straight over your head for your win.... If I'm on target, then that was very impressive. :cool:

One comment I heard from a previous competitor (nursing a ripped ear and bruised cheek - but smiling about it) was "there is no way those guys are white-belt". So against that competition, I think you did great. You kept busy all the time, and didn't make anything easy for them.

Congrats from your unofficial MAP support representitive.

[Mrs Owt]

Well, I only won one out of 5 matches, but it was really good fun and I can't wait to get back at it... They were all close fights and I feel really good about holding my own against good opponents, whether that sounds arrogant or not.
That is what it is all about! Having fun, checking your progress and learning something while you are there! You won after all, didn't you? ;)

[holyheadjch]

only 1 out of 5, if I remember my first tournament (how could I forget) I got absolutely mashed, I dont remember any of my fights lasting more than 45 seconds, so forget your losses and take great encouragement from your victory.

[YODA]

Well done Joe!

Hope you took some notes on what you learned from the experience :D

[Anth]

Gan on Joe like! :D:D

[TkdWarrior]

don't forget to have LOT OF FUN
-TkdWarrior-

[GojuKJoe]

Way to go Joe....

I managed to get there for about 1 hour, and quickly realised that I wasn't going to ask everyone in a white outfit "Are you GojuKJoe?" :D:D:D I got chatting with a couple of the lads in the stands, and I think I got you pinpointed - a bald guy says you go by that name 'on Fridays'!

If I'm right, then there was a bit of blood in match 2, and and match 3 had a long-haired guy sailing straight over your head for your win.... If I'm on target, then that was very impressive. :cool:

One comment I heard from a previous competitor (nursing a ripped ear and bruised cheek - but smiling about it) was "there is no way those guys are white-belt". So against that competition, I think you did great. You kept busy all the time, and didn't make anything easy for them.

Congrats from your unofficial MAP support representitive.

I won my first match, and I got a bloody nose in my third match, so I don't know if it was me you saw. But I did manage to pull of a tomoe nage on one of the BJJ guys who had quite long hair, but it wasn't an ippon, and he won that match by submission. Although, come to think of it, there was only one group of all white belt seniors fighting, so you must have seen me. Which mat were you looking at, and what did "I" look like? Either way, thanks for the encouragement, and thanks to everyone else who's posted.

[Jang Bong]

Which mat were you looking at, and what did "I" look like?

Started warm-up on the mat furthest from the sign-in desks, and fought on the mat nearest those desks.

You probably slipped an extra fight in somewhere before I had identified you, and thrown off my count - the long haired guy came after the bloody nose. I don't understand your scoring, so I obviously though you should have won that one ;)

Looks like all the guys were the same size or taller than you - and you were dressed in white :D:D:D

[GojuKJoe]

Started warm-up on the mat furthest from the sign-in desks, and fought on the mat nearest those desks.

You probably slipped an extra fight in somewhere before I had identified you, and thrown off my count - the long haired guy came after the bloody nose. I don't understand your scoring, so I obviously though you should have won that one ;)

Looks like all the guys were the same size or taller than you - and you were dressed in white :D:D:D

Yeah that was me. In the fight against the long haired guy, I got two throws against him, but they weren't clean landings, so I didn't get full points for them, I was winning the match and would have won had I just managed to make it to the end (which wasn't far off) but he got me in an armbar that I just couldn't escape from, so I had to tap out.