Twelve years ago today, I participated in my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. I was 38, with three and a half weeks of training under my white belt.
Maybe you've been thinking about competing in a jiu-jitsu tournament. I competed at local BJJ tournaments at every belt level until I earned my black belt. I was a "win-one, lose-one" competitor until purple belt, and never won a match at brown.
In my first five or six years of training, there was a good sized cohort of us who always competed locally - particularly the Revolution tournaments. There was no pressure to compete. But it was fun to train for the tournaments and the camaraderie among the unofficial GB Seattle competition team (basically anyone from the school who competed at any given event) was real.
I have no idea what it is like these days for the over 35 crowd competing locally - though I note that masters/executive divisions are appearing more frequently than they used to. But I'm a big proponent of participating in BJJ tournaments regardless - at least as a white and blue belt.
Part of what makes jiu-jitsu so appealing is its realness. The fact that we get to actually practice what we preach rather than just waving our arms and legs in the air or, as Bruce Lee famously observed, striking objects that do not strike back, is game-changing for anyone whose has had a lifelong affection for the martial arts. And that makes BJJ competition - again, from this perspective - a must do.
So my recommendation is that you get some. Even if just a little bit. Over time if not immediately, I'm guessing you'll be glad you did.
