Grappling Industries Round Robin
Recently our very own Edgar Sherman participated in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Round Robin Competition put on by Grappling Industries. Grappling Industries was founded in 2011 in Quebec. They were founded with the goal of solving the shortage of available platforms for competitors to test themselves. This led to the development of our Round Robin tournaments that give competitors a chance to have multiple guaranteed fights in each of their divisions and make the most of their competition experience. Today, Grappling Industries has grown to over 200 events annually across Canada, Australia, the USA, the UK and Europe.
Edgar has been practicing BJJ for the last five years as a way to fill the competitive gap after he stopped playing college hockey. After earning his purple belt at Valle BJJ, he started to completion journey in the No Gi 185lbs Purple belt division. During his three matches he finished with one loss by point, one win by submission and one loss by submission. Overall, Edgar placed Third taking the Bronze Medel for his division. While matches winners were determined by points or submission Edgar personally prefers submission only competition as it provides a more “realistic” approach to a match. When playing for points competitors often “game the game” instead of winning because it is an easier way to get the win.
Since getting back into competition Edgar has also had to change how he trains outside of just BJJ. He offsets his training sessions on the mat with time in the gym with a focus on exercises geared towards injury prevention. He says this shift in his weightlifting has been driven by a desire to improve his efficiency of movement. This improvement in his motion has also directly translated to his shooting performance.
In Edgars journey he has received a bit of good advice he wishes to pass on.
Number One: When getting into BJJ check your ego at the door and focus on your defense. This will allow you to learn something while a 70 pound 15-year-old throws you across the mat like a ragdoll
Number Two: Actively listen to what is said, and don’t be afraid of trying things a new way. As they say there are a million ways to solve a problem and someone else might know to solve it more efficient than you.
Number Three: Spend and equal amount of time training with people better than you, the same as you, and worse than you. This will allow you to learn from those better, refine your technique on those similar to yourself, and also teach those who are worse than you.
We here at the ESD team highly encourage everyone within the shooting community to look into BJJ as it is an excellent way to diversify your fitness and training but also to provide a practical application in efficiency of movement.
