Sorry to be the breaker of bad news.

[Cyrus]

Just wondering where did the term "sandbagging" come from?

[Stef]

Well I suppose I better comment seeing as I organised the comp, sandbagging is very hard to police in NoGi comps, myself and Big Gaz did the brackets and actually moved a few people that we knew entered the "wrong" division. Either because we knew they had been training longer than a year or they were just good, (big Paul from Coatbridge has only been training for 9 months but I put him in the advanced as he recently got his blue belt, he took silver I think)

Even though the comp was busy, having an intermediate would have made the divisions very small. I've said before that people get hung up on the word "advanced", without being disrespectful, not many of the guys in the "Advanced" division would describe themselves as an Advanced grappler.

It's up to the individual if they want to step up and test themselves or stay at home, everybody is different. Very few guys get seriously injured grappling but it does happen I suppose.

Personally as a White & Bluebelt I loved the chance to fight purple/brown/blackbelts etc at no GI comps, it's not all about the little medal. And tapping a brown/Blackbelt makes you a lot happier on your way home than rushing to show your medal to your granny that you got by beating a bunch of guys who are just starting the sport.

Anyway, my thoughts don't really matter.

The comp seems to be growing each time so in the next one, we'll be having a beginner, intermediate and advanced division where possible, and hopefully this will encourage more people to enter.

It's kinda on the wrong thread but thanks to everyone who competed and helped out, wasn't as organised as I would have liked due to everything else going on but it was a great atmosphere at the comp.
I can only apologise that people didn't get their promised tee shirts as there was a fuck up and not enough were ordered, we'll think of a way to make it up to everyone.

It'll be a couple of days before I can sort everything out and post the fully results.

The Superfight between Dan Reid and Danny Mitchell was good to watch and went to the judges decision with Dan getting the nod. Thanks to Danny for making the long trip up with a couple of his guys for the comp.

Ally McCraes family donated a large trophy for the winner of the Advanced Absolute division. This was won by Bart.
Ally's family will donate a trophy for each event from now on which is a lovely gesture.

I hear nothing but good things about the grappling comp, so you are to be applauded for doing such hard work to make it happen. I can't even begin to imagine what a nightmare it must be to make sure guys are in the correct category.

[meat]

Simple answer is you can't stop it, you can limit it to a degree if it's pre-registrations but even then unless you sit and google every competitors name (although of course according to one of Scotland's senior sports writers recently you can pay to have your google history deleted, how do some of these clowns get jobs Stef?) you'll never catch every one who's at it.
Rob your being harsh about the comp mate, it ran smoothly enough especially when you take in to account you were weighing guys in and making brackets up on the day.

[D.H.B.]

Had an absolutely fantastic time at the comp apart from getting uncontrollable gun-burn..........

Brilliant atmosphere. And chatted to some cool people.

My only issue was we could have done with a warm-up mat. Did notice some sandbaggers too. Like the guys are saying, a gold medal in the beginners aint anything to brag about if you arent a fucking beginner. Myself and other guys wouldnt let their guys enter a beginners bracket if they are not beginners - its honourable to have competed against high level dudes.

My favourite thing was those krav-maga guys...... After watching them I now know how to defend against multiple attackers. Defo gonna do that ritual looking head-touching drill.

[The Natural]

I hear nothing but good things about the grappling comp, so you are to be applauded for doing such hard work to make it happen. I can't even begin to imagine what a nightmare it must be to make sure guys are in the correct category.

Having attended this comp in the past, i have to say that it is a great comp!

- well run..well reffed and ran in good time...not to forget the goodies at the end ie: comp tshirt, protein shakers etc

The addition of intermediate cat's can only be a good thing and will imvho entice more people to attend and compete.

Unfortunately, sandbaggers will always be part of the comp scene for the reasons that meat outlined.

[jimmynotini]

Just in case anything i have said gets twisted around, im not having a go at the comp. According to everyone it went well and everyone enjoyed it. All i was saying was that i kinda understood why Majid done it, but as Tom pointed out, if your not comfortable in the division above then dont enter...... Makes sense

[Asa]

This sandbagging thing, doesn't really matter in my mind. The guys who do it, I assume mostly do it because they don't consider themselves to be of advanced level, not because they are wanting to win an easy gold medal. So if you are of the mind that the sandbagee (coined term) should be up at the next level as he'd get more experience against a more advanced grappler than himself then it works in reverse, the guys in beginner are getting a chance at going with someone of greater experience (the sandbagee) than themselves.

Either way, it's a neat little comp in Scotland, not the ADCC- for most it's just a bit of fun, meet up with friends and have a competitive roll.

[Sack Attack]

Just wondering where did the term "sandbagging" come from?

This is what I found:

Early race tracks had a safety wall of sandbags around the outer edge of the track. To convincingly qualify at a lower speed (and thus obtain a better starting position), a driver tries to appear to be running flat-out, but intentionally misjudges a corner or two, causing the car to swing wide and lose speed due to friction against the sandbags. He could then claim that his better performance in the race was due to learning the track.

[Cyrus]

This is what I found:

Early race tracks had a safety wall of sandbags around the outer edge of the track. To convincingly qualify at a lower speed (and thus obtain a better starting position), a driver tries to appear to be running flat-out, but intentionally misjudges a corner or two, causing the car to swing wide and lose speed due to friction against the sandbags. He could then claim that his better performance in the race was due to learning the track.

Cheers man, learn something new everyday.

[scotsmmafan]

To limit the problem of sandbaggers & accommodate people that just arent that good at grappling but still enjoy it, would it be possible to implement a division structure instead of a year/experience structure?

For example, Div A, B,C.

Div C: Aimed at novice competitors, no BJJ Blue belts. If you medal in this division you move into Div B next time.
Div B: Aimed at experienced competitors. No BJJ Brown or Black belt. If you medal in this div you compete in Div A next time.
Div A: Brown/ Black belts, accomplished no-gi grapplers.

As mentioned in previous threads numbers havent been sufficient enough for 3 classes, Div B & C would prob be busy with A being low numbers, but as the comps progressed there would be more competitors moving up. Hopefully would be easier to control whos in where as you'd know previous medalists.

Ive done every SGC & have yet to get a victory, I done -1yr at first couple & moved to 1+ when Id been training 1yr. I empathise with guys going into -1yr because they think they would or did get smashed +1yr but want to take part.