BJJ Scrimmage Milwaukee

BJJ-Scrimmage in Milwaukee WI. Chris Martin tells parents about BJJ Clinics and what to expect from the scrimmage.

April 1st, 2017- BJJ Scrimmage Milwaukee at Nova Gyms and Martial Arts in Oak Creek, an event by BJJ Clinics. The first competition BJJ event I showed my artwork at, and I got beat up pretty good! Such a great event, so many great people!

What is a BJJ Scrimmage?

This was the first time I had heard of this format: Chris Martin, who runs the BJJ Scrimmage through is organization BJJ Clinics, is the BJJ Coach at Nova Gyms and Martial Arts. The concept is to create events that are alternatives to tournaments with long wait times, short match times, and expensive entry fees. I was intending to only sell my artwork, but an old friend goaded me into getting on the mat, so having experienced the event as a competitor, I would say that the concept worked. I got in four or five matches with people who I’d never met before, and it was great to compete in a sort of pseudo-tournament to get the competitive mindset, and meet serious competitors.

What to expect at a BJJ Scrimmage?

I arrived at 9:00 am for the scrimmage, which was before the first match. The morning was all kids and parents watch their kids. Chris did a short preamble to talk share expectations of the scrimmage:

• This is not a tournament, there is no advancement, no elimination, and no prizes
• Participants can try out the tactics that they’ve been working on that might not be tournament ready, but without the tournament stakes
• It is a great opportunity to meet other people who practice BJJ in the region, and develop the BJJ community in and around Milwaukee.

Open weight/heavyweights at Nova Gyms for BJJ Scrimmage in Milwaukee. I was the lightest in the open-weight division, great motivation to lose five pounds!

In the afternoon, the adults BJJ scrimmage started. I wasn’t planning to participate, but some Madison friends arrived from Fight Prime Training Center, and I had my gi in the car to represent Rise Up Martial Arts, so I signed up! I was put into the open-weight division; I will say that being the lightest guy in the open-weight division might be the best motivation to lose some weight, lol. The competition up and down the weight classes was pretty strong, and it was great to get that competitive energy. I got my butt kicked, but it was really motivating to come back to Madison and clean up my techniques. After this scrimmage, I have to give wrestlers a lot of credit and respect, they go hard, and fight for every inch.

Other Brazilian jiu jitsu academies and schools that were in attendance were Red Schafer’s Gym,  Open Guard Gym,  Crossover BJJ, Neutral Ground Milwaukee, and others (if you’re from another school, let me know and I’ll add it to this list!

I showed my artwork at a jiu jitsu event for the first time!

Aside from getting my butt kicked on the matt, the other reason I was happy about the BJJ Scrimmage was got to show my artwork! it really helped me get my presentation together, as well as see what questions people had, or where I needed to improve. I look forward to seeing all of the people that I met at the next event, which will be Combat Corner in West Allis, WI.

My next blog post will be about how I prepared to show my artwork at this event, and what I learned! Thanks!