5 Benefits of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competitions

By Emil Fischer, April 20, 2016

It’s no secret that, to a lot of people, competition is an integral part of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu experience. What are some of the benefits of competing? Well here are five…

Stress Inoculation. There is nothing more stressful than the 24 hours leading up to stepping on the mat to compete, the more you compete the less stressful that time will be.
You get to test your skills. We put in so much time on the mat how do we know that the moves we’ve learned will actually work on someone who’s not on the same team? Competition!
You get to find out where your technique stands… Kind of like #2 but a bit more personal. If you are told day in and day out that you train at a world class gym, but your entire team sucks at competing, chances are you don’t train at a world class gym. Competing gives you a chance to better assess your training environment.
You get to LEARN. I’ve heard it said that competition is the best learning tool. You get to really see where your deficiencies are and can come back to the gym with something specific to explore in your training.
You get to be part of something bigger than yourself. Very often when we train in the microcosm of our own academy we may lose perspective of the bigger world of jiu jitsu that we inhabit. Competition gives us a chance to really see that world in action.

These are just five of the benefits of competing, there are countless more. What are some benefits you’ve seen from competing?