Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competitions for Beginners

Once you have been doing jiu jitsu for a couple of months now you start to get better. As you begin to understand the basic moves, the sweeps, submissions, passing the guard, you begin to feel more confident. When you start submitting beginners your confidence grows and you enjoy your martial art more and appreciate the techniques you have learnt.

So when can I start participating in competitions you will ask. Competitions are an excellent way to give you even more motivation to train hard. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and also experience in fighting under pressure; under pressure of time and of losing. 

In the Brazilian jiu jitsu white belt category you will likely face guys with no experience but also guys that have done jiu jitsu for two years or so. If you walk in knowing very little and you don't have much background in any other related martial art, you will likely lose quickly.

Here I wanted to give some advice on things you can do to prepare. I recommend competing not before you have at least six months of jiu jitsu training unless you have studied or related martial arts in the past (like wrestling or judo).

1. Train more

You need to really train more than three times a week before competition. Sparring is very valuable and you don't want to be gassed during the match. Practice with opponents that you can learn from, that are better than you or about the same level as you. If you are always winning against weaker opponents, you develop slowly. 

2. Supplement your training with conditioning exercises

Sign up to the gym. I recommend group interval training to improve your cardio but also strength training helps. You must be fitter than your opponents and good cardio really helps to give you the edge. The bicycle and rowing is very good. They improve your strength and cardio but you also should not overlook the classic exercises like the jump rope, push-ups and pull ups.

3. BJJ oriented exercises

 I find it is very valuable to do specific jiu jitsu oriented exercises like grip training. Rope climbing helps you develop strong arms and a solid grip. 

Another good example is neck training. Having a strong neck is important for your ground fighting so exercises such as neck bridges can really help.

Also don't overlook the sprawl. You can incorporate it into your cardio-conditioning routine and develop a good takedown defense.

4. Judo

Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments start from standing. Having a strong Judo background will give you an advantage here as you will be able to takedown your opponent and score points before you start to play your jiu jitsu game. 

Practicing Judo once or twice a week to supplement you jiu jitsu will really be beneficial. 

If you are training for a no-gi tournament, consider freestyle wrestling instead.

5. Recreational sports. 

When you are not training but relaxing with your friends, there are many activities that can also help you develop. Rock climbing is my personal favorite but also you can do swimming, football and pretty much any active sport.

Develop a nice timetable for yourself but don't over-train. If your body is hurting, then rest and recover. You should mix your exercises well to allow different parts of your body to recover before enduring more exercise. If you are really tired, watch some jiu jitsu instructional dvds instead and then go ask your teacher about certain moves you have seen.

Cool BJJ Competition Posters Europe

November 7: Brett Rogers vs Fedor Emelianenko

November 7 is promising to be a very exciting day for the mixed martial arts world. Not only do we get to see Fedor Emelianenko fight a very dangerous Brett Rogers but a whole lot of exciting bouts are promised for the audiences.

A lot of these guys did not join the UFC for various reasons, but certainly all of these guys are one of the best in the world. On the bjj side we will also have a chance to see Fabricio Werdum, the 2009 +99kg World Champion and perhaps the best grappler there.

-Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko vs. Brett "The Grim" Rogers

-Jake Shields vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller (Middleweight Title Fight)

-Gegard "The Dreamcatcher" Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry "The African Assassin" Sokoudjo

-Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum vs. Antonio "Big Foot" Silva

The fight is to be televised on CBS but also in Russia on channel 1.

Look forward to the fight!

Top-10 Submission Moves

So many different articles are featuring the top-10 submission moves used these days that I thought I would give you my list based on popularity. There are so many different submissions that you can use and so many small details which can change as to how effective a submission is. The arm-bar is a good example. There are so many different variations that it is almost like several techniques.

So in reverse order here we go:

10. Ankle lock – a basic and very effective move that can really kill your ankle. The main problem is of course that there are many ways to get out of it and that it is difficult to apply it in the heavier weight divisions as there is too much muscle there on bigger guys. Classic example is when Roger Gracie submitted Shinya Aoki with this move in ADCC.

9. Knee bar - knee bars are actually very effective techniques but are considered easy to get out of unless you are facing top jiu jitsu practitioners. Unlike the ankle lock, the opponent cannot take the pain here. Classic examples are Mauricio Shogun Rua submitting Kevin Randelman and Frank Mir submitting Brock Lesnar.

8. Kimura – a great technique named after the greatest Japanese judoka of all time, Masahiko Kimura, who defeated the grandfather of Brazilian jiu jitsu Helio Gracie with this move.

7. Omoplata – popularized by Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners, this shoulder lock is relatively popular nowadays. Royce Gracie, the victor in the early UFC events beat the sumo wrestler Akebono Taro (who weighed 500 pounds) with this move in the first round.

6. Arm triangle – known also as scarf hold, a popular bjj and judo technique which restricts blood flow to the brain causing loss of consciousness. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Valentijn Overeem is only one example of this nasty choke applied in competition.

5. Heel hook – considered to be a high percentage leg lock, the heel hook requires a lot of care as it can easily cause serious injury in multiple joints running from the heel to the knee. Shinya Aoki defeated Eddie Alvarez with the technique or if you saw the early UFC fights, Ken Shamrock eliminated Patrick Smith with this one in UFC 1.

4. Triangle choke – truly a great submission that defines Brazilian jiu jitsu. Only too many wrestlers have been submitted with this move. The truth is that it is impossible to escape it (unless your name is Roger Gracie). Take a look at how the legendary MMA fighter Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro submitted Gary Goodridge or at the highest level Eddie Bravo vs. Royler Gracie in ADCC.

3. Arm bar – although the arm bar is a high percentage move in all submission arts, Fedor Emelianenko is perhaps one of the best specialist here submitting Mark Coleman (twice), Hong Man Choi, Naoya Ogawa, Kerry Schall and Matt Lindland. Judo and Sambo practitioners adore this move and it certainly deserves the number three spot.

2. Guillotine choke – the guillotine choke, although relatively basic at first sight is extremely effective and has details that make it so effective. An example would be Cro Cop (a feared striker) submitting Kevin Randelman to everyone's surprise.

1. Rear naked choke – it just so happens that the human body works in such a way that the most vulnerable position you can be is being choked out with this move. Almost impossible to escape, the move is extremely effective both in submission wrestling, mixed martial arts or gi ground fighting. Take a look at BJ Penn vs. Kenny Florian. My favorite moment with this move is Roger Gracie vs. Ronaldo Jacare Souza in ADCC Absolute finals of 2005.

Honorable mentions for the Americana, the Toe hold and for the Anaconda choke, both worthy to be somewhere on this list as well.

Top-10 Jiu Jitsu/Submission Fighters 2009

1. Roger Gracie

Roger has displayed never before seen consistency and ability to systematically submit his opponents on the mats one-by-one. His performance in the 2009 BJJ World Championships was simply stunning even though his biggest rivals were not participating this time around, namely Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Xande Ribeiro.

It is only a shame that we did not have a chance to see him in the ADCC 2009 but surely his upcoming MMA bout for Strikeforce will be an exciting event whoever his opponent may be.

2. Xande Ribeiro

Xande is a phenomenal technician and looked incredible until the Absolute finals in ADCC 2009 against Braulio Estima when he had to tap out due to injury. He will surely be back to claim the 2011 gold.

3. Braulio Estima

2009 has been an excellent year for Braulio Estima. He has taken gold in BJJ Worlds in the Heavyweight division and then won his division as well as the absolute in ADCC. This is a tremendous feat that pushes Braulio right into the 3rd spot in my opinion.

4. Jacare

Like Xande, Ronaldo Souza has been focusing much more on fighting in MMA and therefore was not able to participate much in jiu jitsu/submission wrestling competitions these days. Nevertheless his Superfight win against Robert Drysdale in ADCC 2009 shows that he still has what it takes.

5. Fabricio Werdum

Fabricio Werdum is a mixed martial arts veteran and clearly one of the top heavyweights fighting in Strikeforce. His performance in the ADCC was simply outstanding this year. Best of luck to him.

6. Robert Drysdale

Robert Drysdale is a great technician but is no doubt better without the gi. Drysdale still has an impressive record and we look forward to seeing great things from him in the future.

7. Andre Galvao

Andre Galvao is a great fighter but is another fighter that currently is focused on developing a successful mma career. His absence in the BJJ Worlds and inability to place in ADCC put him down to number 8.

8. Marcelo Garcia

Marcelo Garcia has been greatly disappointed in ADCC, not taking gold in his own division for the first time. Nevertheless Marcelo still holds more ADCC titles than any other fighter in the history, so we expect great things from him next year.

9. Pablo Popovitch

A truely awesome athlete is growing every year. Pablo Popovitch has defeated Marcelo Garcia this year. Nothing more to say.

10. Romulo Barral/Sergio Moraes

These two are rising stars and are incredible in the kimono. Both have not yet proved themselves in submission wrestling therefore place at number 10.

Andrei Arlovski in Bullybeatdown - Funny

Andrei Arlovski participated in the MTV show called Bully Beatdown where the bully gets to fight two rounds with a professional mixed martial artist. This time the poor guy (the bully) got to meet the ex-UFC champion, Andrei Arlovskiy who delivered a serious beating on that poor guy that got him to change his mind about a lot of things. Take a look at the video below:



Also you can get the full episodes from the MTV website here including another episde where Eddie Alvarez got a chance to display absolute dominance especially in the striking department.