How To Prepare For Competition With Bernardo Faria

Posted by Fanatics Authors on January 10, 2019

BJJ Mental Training: How Bernardo Faria Readies Himself To Compete

Reigning World weight and Open Class Black Belt World Champion in Jiu JItsu, Bernardo Faria, talks about how he prepares himself to compete.

One of the most common questions Bernardo Faria gets asked is how he mentally prepares for competition. At the very highest levels of BJJ competition, your mental fortitude is half the battle. Of course, how you prepare yourself physically is a big deal, but matches are often won or lost due to mental stability. Most people only ask Bernardo specifically about how to prepare mentally for the day of the tournament. However, Faria’s take on this is that the preparation for tournament day starts a long time before hand. The day of the tournament is really just the tip of the iceberg. The most important part is the mental preparation while you are training. That is where many people fail. Most of the things Berndardo has achieved in his career are due to his mental fortitude. The biggest mistake people often make is that BJJ players often do not want to lose in training. They want to win every roll. If you are winning every roll you are not reaching your limits. Bernardo always picks the toughest guys who are on the mat to train with. If he has the chance he tries to go with them when they are fresh and he is tired. Long term, the struggle of going with such a difficult partner while tired is going to build mental toughness. If you are training with everyone when you are super tired, the day of the competition you are going to be refreshed, having rested and eaten well. This will make you feel very, very ready.

There is no quick and easy secret to gaining mental strength. If you force yourself into hard training sessions when you are exhausted, you will over time be mentally prepared for the day of competition. Do not expect to be mentally tough on the day of the competition if you have babied yourself through training, or have never put yourself at a disadvantaged to see how far you can really push yourself.