With a couple of wins under my belt, I am by far no pro in the competition circuit, but what I am a pro at is allowing my nerves to get the best of me while competing. The key to being a high level competitor is having the ability to relax and use minimal and maximum effort at the right times. I know this comes with practice, but here are a few tips that may help:
1. Only clench muscles that are in use, relax the ones that aren't. This sounds simple right? Wrong! I feel this is one of the hardest things on earth to do. When in a match you immediately want your opponent to feel your presence and prevent him from knowing you are nervous, so you hold on tight. Since you are nervous and the adrenaline is pumping you have no idea you have a gorilla grip on his lapels and are using every muscle in your body, suddenly 10 months of endurance training has gone out the window. The trick is to only clench muscles at the point of which you plan to execute a move, this will save energy and keep your forearms from burning after the match.
2. Slow down. Breathe. Think about your next move instead of just reacting. The best advice I ever received was from mini-Micah, "don't let your opponent dictate the pace!". The minute you do this, you are in a world of hurt. Once you are fighting at your opponents pace you are basically his puppet. You have to slow down and control the fight so not only can you hear your corner, but you can think clearly of your next plan of action. Make sure you practice breathing through your nose. It allows for better oxygen levels in the body and will cause you to fatigue less.
3. Drill moves from positions until they are automatic. Sometimes after rolling with higher belts, I ask them what they did in a certain position and they look at me like I was speaking Mandarin. That's because they were on auto-pilot. When you repeat a movement your body learns to maximize the efficiency of the movement until you don’t have to think about it any more.
As a starting point try to repeat every move you know from each position 100 or more times. Find a partner and shoot for a hundred reps as a warm up or cool down. Repetition will increase your fluidity. Your body will learn the motions and it will decrease the amount of energy you consume executing.
4. Focus on minimalizing. Reduce the number of moves you are going to use from every position. The point is to try to become as efficient as possible to maintain maximum energy levels. Avoid adding a new move for 3-4 months. By narrowing your focus you will actually greatly improve your fluidity. 3 and 4 should be coupled with each other.
5. Visualize in your off mat time. Pick a position you are working to improve and visualize how you will execute your move. How will your opponent react? How will you move? How will you breathe? What muscles are involved? All this will greatly improve your jiu jitsu when you return to the mats, and will above all help you to be mentally and physically prepared during competition.
Thanks for reading. Ciao.
