At our Baltimore martial arts school, we like to have an active competition team in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi, Thai boxing, and MMA. Of course, if you compete, you will inevitably lose. And like everyone has told you, its what happens after the loss that is important. So let’s look at five common errors beginners make when dealing with losses…
- Not realizing its a lot easier to switch directions than get started. You’re going to learn a lot from competing and become more motivated from the experience. Competing is a valuable form of feedback and allows you to make course corrections so be happy that you got out there and can now learn from it. This also relates to the next point.
- Making too much of a loss. It doesn’t mean you are going to lose forever. It doesn’t mean you should quit training. And you do not have to kill yourself. Stop being a drama-queen. Remember, one win at the higher level of competition outweighs any losses at the lower level.
Lawyer Dave in High School decides he hates Jiu Jitsu and everyone in it!
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- Taking too much time off after a loss. To a certain extent, you need to desensitive yourself to the stresses of competing and one of the best ways to do that is by competing a lot. Its too easy to get caught up in your head and over-analyze if after every loss, you are taking two to three months off. Also, the limited competition schedule often makes grapplers make more of each competition than it is; it’s really not a huge deal that you lost BUT it might feel like that if you are doing one a year vs. one a month. Even in high school sports, there are usually a 2 competitions a week so you can definitely handle one a month.
- Not separating what can be controlled from what can not be controlled. Winning and losing are not solely in your power; your opponent and the referee are going to play a huge role as well. If you lose, your focus needs to be on what IS in your control rather than what isn’t. Focus on your training, your strategy, your technique, your conditioning, your mindset, etc.
Jimmy shouldn't dwell on the fact that Superman is a psychopath BUT he can always work on becoming a better gift buyer!
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- Not accepting the most obvious solution. I have one very talented very technical student who ALWAYS gasses in tournaments. He loves the classes and is a monster in the room and brings that same ability to the competition mats… for the first 2-3 matches. After that, he enters the “so fatigued that you have to stay on the mat to rest as soon as the whistle blows” mode. I always want him to do conditioning – he always wants to work on the specific technical areas. Obviously, there is a link between better technique (more efficient) and fatigue but this is not a Roger Gracie vs. Blue Belt matchup where no amount of conditioning is going to overcome the skill difference.
