1st BJJ Comp Question: Go Up in Weight or Down in Age Division?
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- čas přidán 3. 01. 2023
- If you were the only person in your bracket for a BJJ competition, would you rather go up in weight or down in age? This is the question I got asked recently by one of the viewers.
In this Q&A video I'll share what I'd do and what I have done in situations where I needed to move weight classes or age brackets for a BJJ tournament. That said, you'll need to make your own decision if you're ever in that situation and I'll share a basic way to decide based on the results in your Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practices.
Thanks for watching!
-Chewy
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Hi guys , in November I competed in my first BJJ competition… I’m 57 years old white belt . Have been training about 5 months. The choice between weight vs age was kinda taken away from us . Competed against 22 , 34 and 35 years old . Took second place . My coach was a tremendous help . In my opinion if your conditioning is ok or better few years here or there are fine . Chewy , I truly appreciate your guidance.
Hi bud - I had a similar issue.. I was 52. White belt..6 months in. I had to go open weight.. now I'm fit and have a good gas tank.. so I can roll with the younger guys and out work them.. (not skill though..they got me there) my coach said go up in weight - had to go 100kg plus..I was 88kg.. the guy I competed against was 110kg and jacked.. also had 18 months of experience.. lasted a few mins but got smashed.. if it comes up again I will go younger age bracket.. just my experience..im no expert. Great result on your first comp & best of luck with your next!!
Good job, that's inspiring, thank you
@@naked_rider_au thanks, same to u
Good job!
I noticed I'm a 205 pound blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu just wondering should I stay at the weight I am for Brazilian jiu-jitsu that could not beat 185 pound guys in the past or should I grapple with 205 pound blue belts that are even stronger than 185 pound guys I have not been rolling a whole lot in Brazilian jiu-jitsu because I got injured in Brazilian jiu-jitsu I have gotten stronger as I also gained weight at 20 years old and my cardio is even better than before for Brazilian jiu-jitsu because I have been jogging a lot I have been lifting weights im not injured now took me more than three months to recover from and ankle injury and I feel like a big strong 💪 guy in bjj with Autism and ADHD that has a high pain tolerance in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and some guy on facebook said you should play a non contact sport with my soft ass even though im the tough guy that's not soft that hates loosing weight because I remember loosing to much weight at a young age for wrestling practice and I started to feel fatigue 😩 and weaker physically for wrestling and I started to vomit 🤢 so I how do I loose weight when it was easy to loose weight when I was young with a good metabolism now im older at 20 years old now that has a job and does Brazilian jiu-jitsu instead of folkstyle wrestling now like I did in high school.
Surprise competition is the worst kind of competition. I like being able to prepare and plan.
Happy this video came out when it did. For me it’s weight classes because it’s either keep cutting to Super Heavy or take on Ultra Heavies with their 40-80# weight advantages
Googled "IBJJF no one in division" and found this great video. Ended up changing up in weight instead of down in age...I think I'll feel stronger than the heavier guys cutting just to make weight.
Great video! I'm a 51 yr old, 181 lb. white belt. I'll drop a 4-5 lbs to compete at middle weight. I'd like to compete but will likely have to go down to master 3 or up to medium-heavy. I prefer to go down in weight due to a knee injury, but we'll see what happens in February
Same thing happened to me at 2022 jjwl finals at Del Mar. I chose to go down in age and it went great.
What a good question.
I agree. I’m a 44 y/o 155lbs brown and I’d rather go up 2 weight classes over down in age. It’s not the first or second match but my gas tank is not as big as the 20 y/o kids after that.
100% agree with this. I have gone up 2 weight divs against old guys like me before. Are they harder to sweep? yes. Are they a bit harder to takedown? of course. But at least they are slow AF just like me, unlike 20 year olds LOL
The only time I would worry about going up is if the next division up is unlimited. Being at the low end of the big boys can be a pain
I been training 18 months and white belt, 37 years old. I also cross train judo. I am 85kg and going to stick at under 88kg. I think I'll find it really challenging to get below 82kg and prefer to go at my natural weight. I'm more focused on fitness and doing suitable weight training so I can be in as good a shape as possible
this is a must see video for all old dudes!
Super timely discussion. I am looking at competing as a 49 y/o blue belt. Obviously I can be in the seniors division, but am considering Masters for a deeper division so I don't end up in a division of like 3 people. Also I am in the middle of my weight bracket (170-185), so I'd either have to cut 7 lb or sit in the middle potentially facing guys who are 190+ and cutting to get into the division. Or do guys in their 40's not really cut to make divisions anymore?
On the plus side, I am fairly lean and strong (5'10", 178 lb at 14% body fat), so I am in better shape than your average 49-y/o.
Thoughts?
Hey Chewy,
I have been a long time fan and would like to hear your thoughts. Due to recent development, I had a career change and will have to stop coaching kids class. i have beenTeaching kids for most of my BJJ journey and has been the one thing that i really enjoyed, besides from traiing. How would you deal with this life style change?
This is eerily similar to a reddit thread I started, where I was alone in my age+weight class for a tourney. I didn't get to pick, but organizer sent me down in age for gi and up in weight for no-gi.
What are you trying to get out of this? If you're looking for a "W", I think the best path is go up in weight. From my limited experience, the "Adult" division is typically way more competitive than masters. Faster paced, harder fights. The 16-20 year olds are out for blood.
That's the wrong kinda W
@@BrikBeans Is it? If you're a 40+ year old hobbyist training with your wife and kids? Do you really want to go and fight a 20 year old juicer who trains 6 days a week? No shame for this guy to want to fight other guys around his age and speed, imho.
So, I’ve been talking with my team about this. I’ve been competing in heavyweight. 205-213 or something like that. In that division I place 2/3 all the time but never won gold. I always get caught by a wrestler in bottom side and can never get out of it and I lose in the finals. Now, I dropped to a weight class 190-205. I dominated in sub only. So, I’m wondering if I need to get out of heavyweight and compete at cruiser/light heavyweight. Or do I need to learn how to get bigger guys off me in that side?
I’ve got my first competition this weekend. And yeah, I’m scared because I’m the only guy signed up for Masters and there are three guys in Adult. I just don’t have the motor that young guys have.
The first competition is more just getting over the nerves. You will find you have a whole new level to your intensity after that competition.
Personally I love doing competitions. I just hate being banged up afterwards 😂😂
Hey Celeb, just take control early but do not rush . I lost my last match mainly because I went for a take down without a good prep . He sprooled , got me to my knees , took my back …. gets kinda hazy after that :)
@@thomask8884 I remember my first competition. It was round robin so I had 4 matches in gi and 3 in nogi. When the guy grabbed my gi I remember feeling the oh shit here we go moment.
After a few competitions you will be talking joking with the guys you are going against before the match. The one match I had we were having a good time laughing while we were in the match.
I had him in a standing wrist lock that most people would have tapped too. When he finally got out we both laughed and gave a high five because we both knew how deep that was.
Yeah you get used to dealing with the nerves. You will realize after first competition you have about 20-30% more in you that you didn’t realize before.
I started doing competitions because I wanted my kids to do them. I believe in leading by example not the sidelines.
Have a plan. Know what you are going to do and execute first
Thanks, guys! This tournament will be interesting. I'll either go up in weight AND down in age, or just down in age. I'll be OK. And with two and a half years of training, I'll probably do better than I think I will. But whoo buddy. I'm nervous. :)
Ok so , our daughter is 7. She is almost 5ft tall and weights 110lbs. That’s almost teenage height and weight. She is a beginner and she is doing well. But she’s 7 years old and at that age going up in age is a huge difference in strength and mental fortitude. She is competing on April 8th in Boston for the first time. Any advice is appreciated.
You might want to try both and find out. As a 38yo, 135 pound white belt, I prefer competing in adult bracket. Yeah, their speed and aggression is annoying, but so is being outmuscled by someone heavier, especially when they know how to put their weight on you. I really do feel those 10 extra pounds in competition.
The last grappling industries I did I weighed in 165lbs for the 185lbs division. I would normally compete at 170 but I'm in the middle of a strength training routine and need to stay in a calorie surplus amd didn't want to risk missing weight at 170lbs. Somehow even on like 4000 calories a day 100+ grams of protein and fat and oil I was 165lbs on competition day. Went on to clean house.
The difference is when ur 200 plus pounds a heavier person is usually just more fat. While a 145 pound person is going to be 10 more solid pounds of muscle
I usually get exausted rolling with younger lighter people, but get hurt more often rolling with heavier people, so I went down in weight
Went up from 170 to 185 to get masters group. Sometimes 40 year olds remember they were young once. 🤪 It seemed just as intense as rolling with the young guys
You were able to make the adjustments...or dare I say it, the *micro* adjustments?
(sorry)
(love u k thnx bye x)
I did both for my first sub only competition this summer
I weigh 188 and I’m 46
I did the 18-35 age for no Gi bracket five 5 minute matches
And the 194-202lb 35years plus for the yes Gi bracket four 5 minute matches
All on the same day
No Gi and yes gi... I like it
How did you do against the 200 pounder guys?
@isaaccleiva
I didn’t find that I was too disadvantaged. Indefinitely was forced to defend by a younger larger guy who almost darced me. By that point I was 6 or 7 matches in and pretty gassed. Guys my age no problem. I ended up taking bronze in that bracket. Having said that there was only 5 of us. I had one win by RNC and three draws in that division.
The younger group was super challenging especially in the Gi as I hadn’t trained much Gi that year and I struggled with grips. Did not place in the young Guy Gi bracket.
All
In all it was fun and a great test and learning experience.
Good luck with your journey
@@JK-uo3pd thanks for sharing your experience! I’m 34 yo white belt, weighing 187lbs and I have my second comp on Saturday, nobody signed up in my division (Masters up to 190lbs)so they moved me to medium heavy (up to 205lbs) in the same age bracket for gi and no gi.
I don’t have a lot of experience rolling with bigger guys but I think a 10-15 lbs weight difference shouldn’t be that much big of a deal, and will be a good experience no matter what.
Im a blue belt almost purple and I think I'm pretty good. But i have trouble remembering things from videos. So rather than something helpful, can I get a video of silly high risk low reward Flippy dippy fun to watch stuff that I know I'll never be able to do anyway?
Local comps will put you in anything to get a match for you, be prepared for that. I'm masters 2 and got moved down to adult.
I’m in the 250+ division. So my only choice would be to go down in age
I’m stuck right between two weight classes.
I can throw around the 20 year olds pretty easy at 39. I do the super heavy division anyway and I’m 6’1 280 pretty solid. It’s kind of fun beating up the young guys.
Personally I feel like sometimes the master divisions are harder because you have guys who have been a belt for 6 years. I hate going against super tall guys though. Had this 6’7 guy before that had stupid long reach.
Maybe because I workout all the time I don’t mind the younger division. I almost never find someone who can overpower me. I had one guy that was like 340lbs at a competition that was super strong. But once he got me down he was pretty slow so it actually worked out pretty well.
Go after the young guys and prove you can still hang 😉
I'd rather go against someone 50lbs heavier than 10 years younger
Even if someone's bigger you might still have some physical attributes you can beat them on, but theres no advantage being older gives you
Not even experience since kids start training at 5 years old now
Usually the guys in the next weight class UP, are the guys who came DOWN a weight class.😬
You can’t go down a weight class unless you cut the weight
This guy has the most based wife ever.
Hope his wife trains if she signed him up otherwise when he signs her up
Chewy, this is the worst video I've seen of yours. (My fault not yours) my first comp as 40y/o white belt is tomorrow and with only 3 guys in 40+ I also signed up for 30+. Now I just have it in my head that I'll be old and tired and they will be young and spry. Oh well, just there to "do the thing" Oss🤙