Sandbagging is a term used in
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pre ...
to denote a practitioner who competes at a skill-bracket deemed less rigorous than their actual level of competitive ability.
The term is adopted similarly in
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...
and various forms of
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
. In contrast to these sports however, it remains unclear whether the grappling "sandbagger" necessarily does so intentionally. For example, in
Judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
or
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting ( ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
, where competition is generally divided by
belt rank, a practitioner is conventionally not allowed to choose his or her own ranking and thus must compete at a level predetermined by his or her instructor.
Sandbagging prohibitions
Some officiating organizations attempt to proactively curb the occurrence of sandbagging. These actions range from simple rule restrictions, such as the
International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Ji ...
prohibiting those with a
Judo black belt
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
from competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
white belt
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
divisions, to organizations such as the
North American Grappling Association
The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) is a grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) promotion started in 1995. NAGA Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments are held throughout North America and Europe. NAGA is the ...
employing a special tracking system designed to record competitors nationally and potentially reassign them to a higher skill-level in all the NAGA events.
External links
RANKED - National Grappling Rating ServiceA psychology paper discussing sandbagging with mentions to wrestling
References
Martial arts terminology
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