Months of Experience

[Louis Hermann]

What do you guys consider months of experience if you can only train 1 to 2 times a week with no one more experienced to guide you?

[chronic_jiujitsu]

I dont understand the question. What do you mean what would someone consider it?

[stlnl]

If you are using this to gauge your experience level for competiton (as to what division you should enter) the accepted method is the calendar. You dont get to train a couple years, and say since you only trained a day or two a week, you should be in a 6mo experience division.

If, however, it is your first competition, sandbagging is nothing new in the novice/beginner divisions and you wont really be hurting anyone if you enter them (guaranteed in one wt div in the beginner div, there is sure to be at least one college wrestler there), just be aware when you pull off some great move, you may be beating some poor guy who just started training two months ago. So the real question is are you competing to feel good about yourself, or to improve yourself (by testing your skills)?

[Louis Hermann]

It would definitely be for improving myself and for getting a feel for competition. I'm pretty in shape, but as anyone who saw my video has seen, there are enormous holes in my game. The problem is since I essentially teach the people I train with (barring the occasional ex-wrestler) I only get a feel for what they do (which is what I have suggested they do). I want to do NAGA Georgia in July, but I don't want to spend money knowing I'd get crushed in the first match in Beginner.

[stlnl]

How is it you know you will get crushed?

[Andy Rigg]

i'm in the exact same situation. once i've got enough money together, i'm gonna go down to the nearest 10th planet for a couple of days and see if the instructor can gauge my level.

[Art "ART OF WAR" Belarde]

You should enter the beginner divisoin.

[Aab]

What do you guys consider months of experience if you can only train 1 to 2 times a week with no one more experienced to guide you?

you need to find a real school man. even if you have to move. if its important to you you will figure something out.

[Louis Hermann]

"How do I know I will get crushed"

I don't. I guess I'm just saying that I lack an appropriate measure of what skill levels the people are that enter Beginner. If they are literally fresh off the boat never even been in a school fight before type of people then I would go Beginner but if they have been going for a solid 3-4 months and have their fundamentals down, I'm most likely going to get caught hard. People can learn a lot in 6 months.

"i'm in the exact same situation. once i've got enough money together, i'm gonna go down to the nearest 10th planet for a couple of days and see if the instructor can gauge my level."

Yeah, I'm thinking when it comes time to register I'll contact Alliance BJJ and see if they'll let me roll with some of their blue belts as a test. Also, we could probably keep in contact and trade of training videos.

"you need to find a real school man. even if you have to move. if its important to you you will figure something out."

I'm in a real school, Georgia Institute of Technology. This place sucks up more of your life than World of Warcraft and a full time job combined. I pull 12+ hour days very often. In addition to that it's located in the heart of Atlanta where even owning a car and having a place to park is will cost several hundreds of dollars a month. Time and money man, I train when I can. Believe me, if I could afford a school both the time and the money for it I would in a heartbeat.

[stlnl]

Just enter the beginner div, if you are worried about losing to people with 4 months experience, I would say, maybe competing isnt for you. Not because it matters if they win, but if your concerns are losing to guys who actually train at schools and train several times a week, well that will be 90% of the people there.......