Last weekend I competed in my third jiu jitsu tournament this year and placed first in my division. I was thrilled with my placing and even more thrilled to be competing on the mats again. I had two matches and won both of them by points. February was the last time I competed in a tournament, so I was a little more nervous than usual. I normally like to compete often, so I feel more relaxed.
I held off from a jiu jitsu tournament while training for my bikini show in July, so February felt a lot longer time span than it actually was. During those matches my breathing was at my best which made a huge difference in my strength and stamina. The one thing I did differently was have a full roll before my matches. That tournament was the first time my breathing was practically the same as in practice. It was a very important personal goal of mine and made a huge difference in my performance.
The organization of my most recent tournament had no warm up mats at their event and there were also no teammates of mine competing either. Needless to say, I didn’t roll before my matches. During my matches, I felt tense and my breathing wasn’t as calm as it can be yet still better than past performances. Both of my matches were against competitors of the same school and both matches were very similar.
After standing a while with failed attempts of takedowns by both of us, they pulled guard. I knee sliced to pass her guard and in a scramble I ended up putting her on her back. I was going for the rear naked choke, and the time ran out. I felt like the six minutes was not enough time especially when I was standing for about half of it.
I’m looking forward my next tournament within the month and would like to enter as many submission only tournaments in my area as I can find. My goals for the next one are to win by submission and, of course, having my breathing under control. Whether I'm at practice or in a tournament, supplementing with BetaTOR before my matches always increases my strength and stamina. I’ve also been doing a lot of functional training with plyometrics to improve my jiu jitsu skills. Much of my former gymnastics conditioning is my training which keeps me strong and my cardio up to par during rolling. Stay tuned for next month’s blog about my next tournament! Happy training!
-Jennifer Dietrick, IFBB Pro/Martial Artist