I'm just putting up some quick thoughts about last week, particularly about last Wednesday. I was given the opportunity to roll and train with some BJJ black belts in NJ, along with many other BJJ practitioners of various belt levels. I went in there wondering how my skills would match up with different people. I was surpised how well I actually did. I didn't do well enough where I was beating everone I faced, but well enough to see that I am not as average as I thought I was.
I've been training with the same people since I started BJJ, and its hard to gauge how well I am doing because of that. Everyone I train with gets better as much as I get better, so it always seems to feel the same as far as my skills go. Wednesday night, working with totally different other people showed me that not only can I hang with many people, but I actually can do well. THis, along with seeing the NY Open tournament has me wanting to compte, but my funds situation is telling me otherwise. I'd love to compete and see how I would do, even though I would be on the lighter end of my division my division. One day I will compete. Like Wednesday night, I may get whipped doing it, but it would be a valuable experience.