First Competition as a brown belt

I got my brown belt last month and on Sunday I fight in my first point scoring competition.
What can I expect considering its my first tournament at this level?
any other advice greatly appreciated.
thanks

Well done for entering a competition so soon after achieving your 1st kyu.

I can see you're in the UK and there are 3 events on the BJA events calendar this Sunday. None them appear to be masters events so there is no guarantee of competing against someone of a similar age, only similar grade. Every competition is different but you should expect people to start much faster and be more intense. Some people freeze, others get a big rush of adrenaline and forget everything they were taught, just set yourself non-points based targets, so that however things work out you can draw on a positive.

Has your sensei prepared you and will they be matside on the day?

still learning wrote:Well done for entering a competition so soon after achieving your 1st kyu.

I can see you're in the UK and there are 3 events on the BJA events calendar this Sunday. None them appear to be masters events so there is no guarantee of competing against someone of a similar age, only similar grade. Every competition is different but you should expect people to start much faster and  be more intense. Some people freeze, others get a big rush of adrenaline and forget everything they were taught, just set yourself non-points based targets, so that however things work out you can draw on a positive.

Has your sensei prepared you and will they be matside on the day?

I'm pretty sure my sensei won't be present on the day so will just have to hope my training kicks in and I do everything right.
with regards to setting myself goals, I would love to get 1 ippon win, just to get me on the road to black belt. I've only competed 3 times in the past and medaled everytime so it might be hard to accept coming away with nothing.

I'm not sure if fighting in the masters would have been easier or harder tbh

What comp is it?

tafftaz wrote:What comp is it?

Its in Worthing, nr Brighton

Why would you feel disappointed if you did not medal?

Edit; Just looked at entry form and kyu grades have their own pools. Not mixed in with dan grades apparently,so you could be in with a shout.

tafftaz wrote:Why would you feel disappointed if you did not medal?

Edit; Just looked at entry form and kyu grades have their own pools. Not mixed in with dan grades apparently,so you could be in with a shout.

I guess I shouldnt feel disappointed if I dont medal but there are only so many competitions I am going to be able to enter a year due to family commitments and I really don't want to go to too many without at least picking up some points towards by shodan.

Not many comps have 1st kyu separated from dan grades. So in most other shiai you will end up competing against dan grades.
Make the most of Sunday, good luck and have fun.

tafftaz wrote:Not many comps have 1st kyu separated from dan grades. So in most other shiai you will end up competing against dan grades.
Make the most of Sunday, good luck and have fun.

Really? I thought they always split Brown and Black belts.
I'll mostly be entering dan gradings anyway so they are obviously split out

Unless it is a specifically stated "kyu" grade comp, 1st kyu judoka will compete against dan grades in point scoring shiai.

Anyway enjoy and I hope you do well.

Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

Hi Stu.
You had a go, that is the main thing.
As for warm up areas, the only time I have had access to a dedicated warm up area is at major comps, Major opens, Commonwealth, World Masters etc.
Smaller events either have not got the room or the logistics to set up a specific area.
Years ago we would find an empty room or space at a venue and do our warm ups there away from the mat. You have to improvise and make the best of it sometimes.
Anyway, well done. It will have been an invaluable learning experience for you.

Hi Stu

Sorry to hear about the results. Mine weren't really much better (I also did a write up on my blog). I'm sure there is something you can take from it at least.
I looked out for you, but couldn't find you unfortunately. Maybe next time.

sydvicious wrote:Hi Stu

Sorry to hear about the results. Mine weren't really much better (I also did a write up on my blog). I'm sure there is something you can take from it at least.
I looked out for you, but couldn't find you unfortunately. Maybe next time.

I was looking for you and thought I heard the judges call out a Sydney to mat 1 (the one furthest from the seating area)
I went over to watch but couldnt work out which one was called Sydney. Did you get disqualified in one of your fights, if so you walked off the mat right past me.

JudoStu wrote:Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

Well done for having a go, apart from your wazari what positives did you take away?

JudoStu wrote:

sydvicious wrote:Hi Stu

Sorry to hear about the results. Mine weren't really much better (I also did a write up on my blog). I'm sure there is something you can take from it at least.
I looked out for you, but couldn't find you unfortunately. Maybe next time.

I was looking for you and thought I heard the judges call out a Sydney to mat 1 (the one furthest from the seating area)
I went over to watch but couldnt work out which one was called Sydney. Did you get disqualified in one of your fights, if so you walked off the mat right past me.

Yea that was me. I got 3 shidos and wasn't very happy about it   

still learning wrote:

JudoStu wrote:Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

Well done for having a go, apart from your wazari what positives did you take away?

What I took away was more about things I need to work on rather than positives.
For example, I need to work more on my gripping. In all 3 fights the other guys took a grip and attacked straight away, regardless of whether that had a traditonally good grip on me. I wasn't able to put anything together, attack wise as I was constantly being attacked. My wazari score was as a counter (Tani-otoshi off of a Tai-otoshi) but I never got the chance to put them on the back foot and impliment my game.

My fitness needs to improve but I have had lots of injuries recently so I knew I wasn't in my best shape. Ordinarily this wouldnt have been a problem.

Despite being subbed and pinned in two of my fights my newaza was ok. In my first fight I had the other guy in trouble a couple of times. I think what I need to work on is transitioning from standing to groundwork.

One last thing is that I need to be a bit more agressive.
Other than that I have gained experiance and have realised that i'm not that far away from pickign up points in this division.

sydvicious wrote:

JudoStu wrote:

sydvicious wrote:Hi Stu

Sorry to hear about the results. Mine weren't really much better (I also did a write up on my blog). I'm sure there is something you can take from it at least.
I looked out for you, but couldn't find you unfortunately. Maybe next time.

I was looking for you and thought I heard the judges call out a Sydney to mat 1 (the one furthest from the seating area)
I went over to watch but couldnt work out which one was called Sydney. Did you get disqualified in one of your fights, if so you walked off the mat right past me.

Yea that was me. I got 3 shidos and wasn't very happy about it   

Gutted I didnt say hello now.
I see you wasnt best pleased about the long wait times either

JudoStu wrote:

sydvicious wrote:

JudoStu wrote:

sydvicious wrote:Hi Stu

Sorry to hear about the results. Mine weren't really much better (I also did a write up on my blog). I'm sure there is something you can take from it at least.
I looked out for you, but couldn't find you unfortunately. Maybe next time.

I was looking for you and thought I heard the judges call out a Sydney to mat 1 (the one furthest from the seating area)
I went over to watch but couldnt work out which one was called Sydney. Did you get disqualified in one of your fights, if so you walked off the mat right past me.

Yea that was me. I got 3 shidos and wasn't very happy about it   

Gutted I didnt say hello now.
I see you wasnt best pleased about the long wait times either

I'm sure there will be a next time.

Yea the waiting was a bit bad. It's not the actual wait though, more the fact that you don't even have a rough idea when your group will be up.

JudoStu wrote:

tafftaz wrote:Not many comps have 1st kyu separated from dan grades. So in most other shiai you will end up competing against dan grades.
Make the most of Sunday, good luck and have fun.

Really? I thought they always split Brown and Black belts.
I'll mostly be entering dan gradings anyway so they are obviously split out

How could you prove yourself worthy of shodan if you never compete with yudansha?

JudoStu wrote:Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

A properly set up shiai should absolutely have some sort of warm up area included. That doesn't mean it will happen, though. Does the BJA have written requirements for shia set up? You might ask you coach...

I read your write up. If you are not specifically preparing for shiai, then you, especially at your age and level, are going to have a rough go of it. As you found out already. You are up against younger men who ARE more than likely preparing for shiai specifically (witness the uber-stiff competition uniform in the first opponent, and the quick attacks in the second two matches).

I'll stop there and suggest you get with your coach and map out a way to specifically prepare for competition in terms of your training. I will say that that does not necessarily require a massive amount of hard,shiai style randori. Especially at your age and skill level, that might lead to more injuries. Fitness wise, you can do a lot at home (especially mobility/flexiblity training).

Ben Reinhardt wrote:

JudoStu wrote:Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

A properly set up shiai should absolutely have some sort of warm up area included. That doesn't mean it will happen, though. Does the BJA have written requirements for shia set up? You might ask you coach...

I read your write up. If you are not specifically preparing for shiai, then you, especially at your age and level, are going to have a rough go of it. As you found out already. You are up against younger men who ARE more than likely preparing for shiai specifically (witness the uber-stiff competition uniform in the first opponent, and the quick attacks in the second two matches).

I'll stop there and suggest you get with your coach and map out a way to specifically prepare for competition in terms of your training. I will say that that does not necessarily require a massive amount of hard,shiai style randori. Especially at your age and skill level, that might lead to more injuries. Fitness wise, you can do a lot at  home (especially mobility/flexiblity training).

My fitness has suffered as a result of lots on injuries I have had over the last 4 months. Im actually receiving physio treatment for a whiplash injury I received in a car crash in November of last year and have been told not to do any upper body weights and Judo. He let me compete on Sunday because I had already entered and besides he knew how important it was to me. Anyway the reason i'm telling you this is because ordinarily I am pretty fit. I agree though that I do need some specific shiai training and that is something I will speak with my instructor about when I return to Judo in a week or two.

JudoStu wrote:

Ben Reinhardt wrote:

JudoStu wrote:Well I had three fights and three Ippons.
Unfortunately they were all against me   
I did a full write up here http://stuartjudo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/south-coast-senior-kyu-dan-split-grade.html
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my comments around the lack of warm up area

A properly set up shiai should absolutely have some sort of warm up area included. That doesn't mean it will happen, though. Does the BJA have written requirements for shia set up? You might ask you coach...

I read your write up. If you are not specifically preparing for shiai, then you, especially at your age and level, are going to have a rough go of it. As you found out already. You are up against younger men who ARE more than likely preparing for shiai specifically (witness the uber-stiff competition uniform in the first opponent, and the quick attacks in the second two matches).

I'll stop there and suggest you get with your coach and map out a way to specifically prepare for competition in terms of your training. I will say that that does not necessarily require a massive amount of hard,shiai style randori. Especially at your age and skill level, that might lead to more injuries. Fitness wise, you can do a lot at  home (especially mobility/flexiblity training).

My fitness has suffered as a result of lots on injuries I have had over the last 4 months. Im actually receiving physio treatment for a whiplash injury I received in a car crash in November of last year and have been told not to do any upper body weights and Judo. He let me compete on Sunday because I had already entered and besides he knew how important it was to me. Anyway the reason i'm telling you this is because ordinarily I am pretty fit. I agree though that I do need some specific shiai training and that is something I will speak with my instructor about when I return to Judo in a week or two.

Ouch, those are serious impediments to any sort of training to say the least ! Get healed up and be careful !

I'm sure your coach can help you out.