Frustrated with the Sport Side of Jiu Jitsu

I had another tournament today.  I'll admit that I did not win, and that stinks, but I pulled some lessons from it.  I wasn't submitted, and that is honestly more important to me than winning.  If you want to read my full thoughts on why I compete, read my post "Why Compete."  As a caveat to that post however, I should add some things to my views on competing.  1)  I do NOT compete because I want medals.  2)  I do NOT train BJJ because I want to win tournaments.  3)  I train BJJ for me.  Because I actually do believe that it is useful in a real fight, and for me, there's no telling when or where the day may come when I need BJJ to save my life, or someone else's. 

My Frustration:

I'm frustrated today because of the sport side of BJJ.  I'm glad it's there, because if affords me the opportunity to compete and prove/disprove my skills against a somewhat equal opponent, but as I've watched the sport evolve more over the course of the last few years, I'm disappointed with what I'm seeing.

Brazilian Jui-Jitsu is a martial art; it is a form of self-defense.  I think that tournaments have truly gotten away from this aspect of the sport.  Though I think things like points and time-limits are necessary, they greatly inhibit the self-defense aspect of the sport. 

Human beings are very competitive.  That is why when you step out on to the mat, under the lights, your body floods with adrenaline.  Because to your body, the competition is VERY real.  Your body doesn't understand that you are, in all actuality, very safe out there.  Your body only understands that when you step out on the mat, your mind is driven by something that you want very badly, and your body reacts, appropriately I should add, by entering it's enhanced fight-or-flight state.  Every ounce of your energy, every muscle fiber, every drop of sweat from that point on, is used methodically by your body to increase your chances of achieving the one thing at that moment that you want more than anything else. 

The sport has evolved in to something different though.  The sport isn't about simply providing an arena to test your skills.  Tournaments have gone the way of money factories.  Though I understand that there is a lot of money to be made by running tournaments, and I do appreciate that they exist, tournaments have helped to create, in my opinion, a caustic attitude in the art.  The art has become more about medals and money, than it has about self-defense. 

The proof is in what can be seen at so many tournaments.  Butt-scooting is one example.  Simply closing with your opponent for the sole purpose of pulling guard defeats the very essence of self-defense, and degrades the sport of Jiu-jitsu in the eyes of the world.  Sport jiu-jitsu is BORING to watch.  It's boring because at the highest levels competitors sit down and grab each others feet.  Its boring because we don't have takedowns that are emotionally inspiring.  Its just boring. 

Now, I know many will argue this point with me, but stalling is another frustrating aspect of sport Jiu-Jitsu.  SO many competitors will get up on points, and simply hold their opponent.  Now all of you will probably agree that stalling is lame, and should never be tolerated, but don't we encourage it everywhere else.  Coaches totally against stalling will shout, "20 seconds, you're up by two, you just have to hold him."  From the stand-point of winning, it makes sense, but it my eyes, even if you're only up by one, you don't stall.  You NEVER stall.  You work to finish the fight.  If you are in the mount with 20 seconds left, and you're up by one, you don't put in the grapevine and stabilize, you look to submit.  The same is true if you're up by one with a your opponent in your guard.  You look for the finish.  If its a choke, awesome, there's no danger in that, but if an arm-bar, or triangle present themselves, the failure of either means a certain guard pass, and loss of the match, I will go for it every time.  That is my vow.  I will not sit on an opponent because I am up on points.  If I do, I think that I am failing myself.  The same is also true of other sports.  If I'm the quarter back in the super bowl, I have the ball, 45 seconds left on the clock, on my own 20, I'm not taking a knee.  I'm fighting the fight.  If I am the better opponent, than the end results will show it, and I will have both my integrity and my honor.  I mean no ill will toward anyone who has won a match or game using these types of tactics, but I will not join you there.

I think the guard-pull and stalling are my biggest frustrations right now with the sport of Jiu-Jitsu.  I have to admit though, that I have had thoughts of no longer competing.  This is a new thought to me.  It doesn't stem from losing, it stems from "sport."  It stems from us jiu-jitsuka losing sight of what the point really is.  What the point is for me any way.  I don't think leaving competition is the right answer however, I think instead that I will continue to compete, but I will have to mentally prepare myself first, to see some of the most boring, dishonest, and dishonorable sportsmanship in the world.  I apologize again to my fellow jiu-jitsuka, I feel guilty for feeling this way, but I don't care, because I truly believe that I am not wrong.