Cobrinha after winning the 2009 World Championship. Photo: Alicia Anthony.

The 15th reason to follow, and in this case compete in, the 2013 World Championship is about the competitor. For this type of motivation, you must be able to evaluate your training and yourself as you compete.

Reason #15: Win or lose, competing will allow you to test yourself against the best in the world.

Competing is always about experience. It’s a confidence booster and sometimes even a slap in the face to wake up and change your training approach. Sometimes it’s not even what you’re training but how. And sometimes it isn’t the amount of training you’ve completed to prepare but how you’ve been able to prepare mentally.

We often hear black belts talk about having a “good day” and that is what can determine who wins a championship. Other times, when asked about how they handle being at the competition the day of, they talk about how they keep their mind right with music or solitude in order to get ready for battle, so to speak.

The experience of competing, win or lose, is just that: Experience. You must be able to use the testing grounds for improving yourself, even if you are able to submit every opponent. If you lose your first match be it to a referee decision, you must be able to take the opportunity as a way to come back stronger the next time and not place blame on any outside sources. Simply take the loss and make it productive.

Rubens Cobrinha Charles is a decorated athlete who has won the World Championship four times and has always come back with motivation to compete. When GRACIEMAG asked how he finds this motivation these days, he said, “For me, it’s a challenge and as long as I have a challenge in my life I will keep working towards it.”

DJ Jackson is a newer black belt who has had his fair share of losses in the expert black belt division so far. But he always comes back for more better than he was before. He says, “The experience you get from competing is one of the best ways to improve your Jiu-Jitsu. You will be tested and you will make mistakes. If you fix your mistakes and don’t make them again you will see your Jiu-Jitsu skyrocket.”

To sign up before the deadline tomorrow, May 21, click here.

Las Vegas (pictured) will host the IBJJF Vegas Spring Open on April 27. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

The summer has always been the time for Las Vegas to host its annual IBJJF Vegas Open Championship since 2011. Growing from a smaller tournament to what is now considered a staple after the World Championships, Vegas tournaments allow for some gold medals and good times.

With the addition of the IBJJF Vegas Spring Open, athletes can now take a trip over to the strip between the Pan Ams and Worlds as a warm-up without dealing with exhausting heat. Tune up your technique in Sin City, but be sure to exercise your discipline as not to wander from tournament mentality!

Win big in Las Vegas on Saturday April 27 by registering today. Make sure you make it official before the higher price deadline nears! Save $15 if you sign up before March 29 and don’t miss the final deadline of April 19.

To register and see more information, click here.

Francisco “Sinistro” Iturralde has competed consistently since a juvenile, winning the best tournaments under the Alliance banner. For him, competing is where he likes to have fun. But in the process, he has won many major titles since the one in this video below including the world championship three times, the Pan Ams three times and the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup in both gi and no-gi.

As a juvenile, you have the advantage of learning about competition before entering the divisions more noted on a resume. If competition results are your aim, you can enter the adults division as a prior champion with much more experience than most of your bracket.

The Pan American Championship is the largest tournament in Jiu-Jitsu, allowing juveniles to join in on the prestige. This year the competition lands along five days extending from Mar 20 to Mar 24.

The location is at the UC Irvine Brenn Event Centere 100 Bren Event Center Irvine, California 92617.

The registration deadline is nearing so don’t wait for your championship resume to bloom or else you may have to wait another year. Register before Mar 12 and you can click here to register.

Make sure you have your membership completed as all juveniles must have an IBJJF ID card to register and compete.

Enjoy the video and allow it to prove that being a champion at juvenile can easily extend into adulthood: