# #377 The 3 Reasons You Keep Losing BJJ Competitons Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235/377-the-3-reasons-you-keep-losing-bjj-competitons Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235/377-the-3-reasons-you-keep-losing-bjj-competitons.md Podcast: [I Suck At Jiu Jitsu Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235) Published: 2026-06-04T11:31:09+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/isuckatjiujitsushow/episodes/377-The-3-Reasons-You-Keep-Losing-BJJ-Competitons-e3kb2t4 Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/113b3074/podcast/play/120998244/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-4%2F425499534-44100-2-8eb9370822801.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235/episodes/377-the-3-reasons-you-keep-losing-bjj-competitons Duration seconds: 3475 ## Resource Have you ever walked into a Jiu Jitsu tournament feeling ready… and then got absolutely smashed in the first round?You trained hard. You thought you were prepared. You knew some techniques. Maybe you even had a plan.Then the match started and everything fell apart.In this episode, I’m breaking down 3 mindsets that might be the real reason you keep losing BJJ matches — not because you don’t know enough moves, not because the ref screwed you, and not because your opponent was just “stronger.”My name is Josh McKinney (@thejoshmckinney) and after 18 years of competing, coaching, winning, losing, and watching students go through the same patterns over and over again, I’ve noticed that most people don’t lose because of one big technical mistake.They lose because they don’t understand how to perform on command.They lose because they get trapped in the wrong story after a bad match.They lose because they walk into chaos with no real plan and hope their Jiu Jitsu magically shows up.If you’re a white belt, blue belt, purple belt, or anyone trying hard to compete but you can’t figure out why you keep falling short, this episode is for you.We’ll talk about competition mindset, game planning, pacing, exchanges, staying present, and how to actually compete in your own match instead of just “seeing what happens.”Get my free ebook The Competitor’s Journey:simplifyingjiujitsu.comGet a free copy of jiu jitsu for imbeciles: bjjmentalmodels.com/isuckSponsored by Datsusara:Use code ISUCK at dsgear.comGet Champions Stay Present(mindset hacks for competition): https://www.simplifyingjiujitsu.com/csp Chapters: 0:00 Why you keep losing BJJ matches 2:34 Mistake #1: The learner’s mindset 5:06 How to actually perform on competition day 7:00 Finding your real competition A-game 9:47 Performance mi… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235/episodes/377-the-3-reasons-you-keep-losing-bjj-competitons/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-suck-at-jiu-jitsu-show-901235/377-the-3-reasons-you-keep-losing-bjj-competitons.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.