Our first outing to competition as a Team was the English Open 2024. This is a very familiar competition for Head Coach Andy Short, medalling multiple times at different belts. Narrowly missing out on the Gold medal in the Absolute final in the Black Belt devision earning himself the Silver.
This time we had 2 entrants, Joe and Matt. Both as first time competitors this was going to be a steep learning curve for both. We believe Jiu Jitsu and Competition are 2 different skillsets and it’s important to develop both. Some are more natural to competition than others. The English is known for having a high standard and this time was no different.
Joe was up first, taking part in the Adult Lightweight Devision. This was one of the largest brackets in the comp with a whopping 23 that weighed in and fought, with a high standard from the get go. Joe took control and followed the game plan initially, successfully pulling guard. He then made a mistake with his timing and over extended giving his opponent the pass. From then on his opponent followed a very strategically sound game to a points victory who kept winning until he
Matt was up next and had a much smaller bracket. However, a tough one! Unfortunately didn’t quite follow the game plan and the first time competition jitters came into play. However Matt was awarded a Bronze medal.
The biggest learning from this outing was how to handle the physical and mental of competition and the impact of an adrenaline dump. With this in mind, I have introduced ways to help prepare the team for competition including mock competition nights, where we treat the evening as a mock competition, including referee, scoring and an audience. It’s important to work on individual game plans that work off of our strengths. We can work on honing in on your game plan in private sessions if this is something you feel you need.
Well done boys. Onto the next one! 👊
English Open 2024
