At purple belt, you are the college kid/early 20s of the Jiu Jitsu world. To the brown and black belts, you’re an adult who gets to participate in all the adult things, but there’s little to no expectations cause you’re still young and figuring it all out. To the white and blue belts, you’re their cool older sibling who they all look up to and want to emulate.
The problem with everything that you’re discussing is it leads to a mentality of avoiding deep repetition of fundamental basics. It’s pointless to try to think strategically and outsmart others as a beginner when you’re still at the stage where you’re learning your moves.
Thank you I really appreciate your comment! When I first started I thought no one would ever watch any of my videos but it was nice to get some of my thoughts out there when the people around me were sick of me talking about jiujitsu all the time 😂
I’m a 4 stripe purple belt. Train 3 days a week. Help coach kids, and at tournaments. And I have kids and a job. Holding it down pretty well. I seem to be the exception. lol
I was a purple belt for 8 years before I got my brown belt. It’s a great belt to be at. I did feel some pressure when I got it but not nearly as much pressure as when I got my brown belt.
I just started my 6th month ha, and still going strong! I watch this every few months to renew my want for the blue belt and all the magic powers that come with it!
Yes, the Gracie barra franchise is notorious for doing just that, however I’m sure there are some more gyms that participate in this practice. The justification for it would be that they give you a promotion of some sort at an event outside of regular class hours like a testing or seminar type event that may be a few hours long or what not. they often say that say it’s outside of regular a class they can justify the cost as it is something not included in your membership, but in reality it’s a big racket.
I think the only reason a Reasonable professor or coach wouldn't let you is if you are RIPPING them. If you take it slow and easy then there shouldn't be any problems.
I’m a declared BJJ purple belt hobbyist. I competed regularly at white and blue several times each belt. I no longer have any interest in competing. I just enjoy training, the community and the health/ mental benefits.
Same here man. 30yo purple belt. Spent the last 2 years recovering from a back injury from a comp. Finally back to training hard and in the best shape of my life but I don’t know if I want to compete again.
Just got my blue belt last week! Took 23 months. Training 3-5 days a week. 5 competitions. 7-2 record. Consistency with a focus on skill acquisition is all it takes.
The krav maga school I attend use to have the mentality that "ground is bad, we get off the ground and either disengage or continue striking" but the reality is that a lot of fights end up on the ground so that's the new philosophy. Our instructor believes that since you tap as soon as it hurts, you mitigate a lot of injuries. Coach also stresses that coming to class once a week is probably a waste of time. The kicker is at 52 with correspondingly lower flexibility and overweight (fluffy but not a fat slob) certainly doesn't make it easier. Sure, I can try to "survivie" and just counter but eventually I'll get outmaneuvered and fatigued..then choked/locked. Let's do five minutes rounds...and then the downward spiral of being gassed, then my technique suffers and I get choked/locked faster. Then the frustration factor sets in because trying to get into guard or another position doesn't accomplish anything because I'll get overmanuevered (again) then choked/locked (again)...or I'll try to do an escape and end up getting choked/locked even worse. Most of the instruction is sparring and not a ton of "this is how you do an arm bar from this position" teaching, which is the main reason why I don't feel like I'm learning anything. Getting choked/locked and not seeing how I got choked/locked and lacking the skill, ability and conditioning to do anything...frankly sucks. Also sucking means I'm probably not challenging my opponent, so other than rolling with slower 260 pound guy there's probably little benefit on their end, other than to practice technique on a non-compliant partner. Pretty huge learning curve for a combat skill because some of the techniques have several step that need to be correct or you'll lose the position, get off balance, then subsequently choked/locked by your opponent. Time factor is a thing; not a parent but working a job with schedule that changes weekly make is challenging to attend classes. Only been doing this for a month and pretty much accepted that I'll just be sore/achy all the time. Not a rant, just my experience.
I went 4-6 times a week for about 14 months. With an already high baseline for fitness, so i mostly just had to learn the technical skills. In that time I literally won one single individual roll one year later. ONE. My time spent compared to the output I could put out was so horrible I could do literally any other thing in the world and get a better outcome.
That is definitely not the normal experience. I would love to hear more about the gym training atmosphere and how practice was conducted, it may shed some light on why you had the experience you did.
3 stripe white belt here - I started with 1 hour session a week initially for a month and increased to two sessions a week for around 3-4 months. I found my jiu jitsu significantly improved due to 2x the amount of time on the mats. Now I currently attend 3 1 hour sessions a week (1 no gi - 2 gi) and me and a friend re practice everything we learned that week and do a huge 3-5 hour block of just exploring the position with potential possibilities for connecting techniques together. An analogy I came up with was every session you go to, you obtain 1 single piece to the huge puzzle of jiu jitsu. Firstly you start with the corners (basics) then after time you start realising that some pieces connect and the picture of jiu jitsu begins to form. My main point here is, I have learned jiu jitsu to be a life long commitment (for me at least). As long as you attend at-least 1 session a week to learn techniques from GB1 program for example and you practice them for 2 hours on the weekend with some, your jiu jitsu will most likely improve over time which is great! Love the channel mate keep posting because I genuinely enjoy watching your videos :)!
Thank you for your comment, I love hearing about people’s journey in the sport! Sounds like you found a good rhythm to keep you going and improving. I appreciate your perspective on BJJ being a lifelong journey because that’s exactly how I see it as well. Of course some people only train BJJ for a short while, but as the years have gone on for me it has just cemented into my life as something I always do and it has been so interesting to see my relationship with the sport evolve/change.
For me it’s hard to get in more than 3 times a week. We have a 3 year old and class finishes just when bedtime and bath time happens. So I can do 2-3 classes a week plus an open mat. I’m still learning as much as the ones who train 4 days a week, but I also have to do some study on the side and really go to class and open mat with a game plan. I’m also 35 and done other stuff like judo when I was younger. Current 2 stripe white belt, and honestly it will take me a few years to see Colour. My main goal is just to stay active and consistent
Sounds to me like you are on a great path! 2-3 is definitely enough especially with your mindset, I have no doubt you will Be able to reach your goals in BJJ.
Heck yeah! Congratulations on your progress. Also the paying for stripes is gross and lame in my opinion and it was a factor into why I wanted to leave the gym (it was a Gracie Barra).
I’m approaching 3 years. 2 yrs were consistent this last year I’ve had bb blues & just had a break of 3.5 months. Just started back now & what’s been great is that people have been genuinely pleased to see me come back & have told me so. Very heart warming. I feel very comfortable and bedded in as a bb now. Still some things I haven’t yet got my head around that confuse me. My plan is to be very consistent again & see where I am in another year. Hopefully I will have gotten over some humps. The next promotion will come when I’m ready & my coach says so. Right now I don’t feel ready. Honestly I’ve no idea what a purple belt is other than technically they’re noticeably better than me.
I feel so happy to hear people welcoming you back. Truly amazing to hear about the community you are helping to build. I hope that you can find your grove and stay consistent until purple and beyond.
I’m approaching 3 years. 2 yrs were consistent this last year I’ve had bb blues & just had a break of 3.5 months. Just started back now & what’s been great is that people have been genuinely pleased to see me come back & have told me so. Very heart warming. I feel very comfortable and bedded in as a bb now. Still some things I haven’t yet got my head around that confuse me. My plan is to be very consistent again & see where I am in another year. Hopefully I will have gotten over some humps. The next promotion will come when I’m ready & my coach says so. Right now I don’t feel ready. Honestly I’ve no idea what a purple belt is other than technically they’re noticeably better than me.
Worried about going to 1st tournament. Didn’t sign up yet . Well over 40. Over 200. Worried go to heavy weight division and fail bad against bugger dude.
The good news for you is that most beginner tournaments are all fun and no injuries so long as you tap you get put in a submission hold. The biggest thing to look out for is being too nervous and gassing out/going too hard. This happens to most people and is sorta part of the experience with first time competitions. Win or lose though almost everyone I know who has done it is glad to have competed and learned something from the process.
Did bjj for 4 years and playing guard just gets old, submissions are pretty nieche thing in a real fight and at blue belt you should be able to choke any rando with no training so going further youre just training to fight other bjj guys and god damn is bjj borring to watch so i cant even enjoy watching tournaments. Its a fine art but i have more fun with striking, judo and weapons
4 months in currently dealing with this. Tthings were brutal for the first two months but by the third month a few things started to click and i was doing well and gaining confidence. However i realized i got too confident and yesterday was a humbling experience. Yesterday i ended up tapping to guy who was training for only a couple weeks and i had no one to blame but myself. I got sloppy and kept leaving my foot exposd for an ankle lock, the one submission he actually knew what to do. Now i want to go back and drill more because i needed to get humbled.
That definitely happens to the best of us with ankle locks. Glad to hear things are starting to click for you. If you keep up the consistency before you know it I bet you will have a real breakthrough!
BJJ is for just about everyone. But, not everyone is for BJJ. New people start with the same level of knowledge, which is "nothing". That might seem like a level playing field, except it isn't. Not by a long shot. Not everyone starts with the same physical attributes or abilities. The physical adaptation process can be a very long road for some, and there are many who just won't make it. Not because they can't (given enough time), but because it just takes too long from where they started, relative to everyone else in the room. Managing expectations and setting realistic goals that look inward is difficult, especially when you are (or feel like) the least able person in the room. I'd love to hear your opinion and observation of what characteristics (age, size, body composition, physicality, mindset, money, relationships, injuries) lead to people quitting. For all the people you have seen quit, what would you have suggested they do differently? Could they be saved, or was there truly no hope?
The progress will never be faster than in the first six months. And that's when BJJ became really fun and addictive for me. If someone isn't feeling like they've learned a ton after six months or they're not liking it, I wouldn't discourage them from quitting. If it's for you, you should be loving it at the six month mark.
I’ve been training since 1998 MMA on and off and you hit the nail on the head priorities change moving from place to place, school, job to job - Marriage, supporting 4 kids - I teach twice a week but I’ve been a brown belt for years. I only train part time that was my biggest problem was getting in the Mat time to progress. I couldn’t train like most people every day but little by little - I’m almost there… Hopefully this year? But it’s harder the older you get. I enjoy just teaching private lessons now and I work at a National Laboratory during the week.
It shrinks up to a point, but it can only get so small. Overall not much shrinkage, but a bit. That’s why I try to order a bit larger than shrink over time.
I felt 6:05 in my soul. I'm 1 year 8 months in, I got my 4th stripe on the white belt last June, almost a year ago. I've consistently trained 4-6x a week the last almost 2 yrs now. I can hold my own pretty well against blues and purples. I even tap out a lot of blues. And where it really is noticeable like you said is the newer 2 stripe white belts who show up to open mat. I can destroy them, usually multiple taps within a 5 min round unless they are insanely athletic. But yeah when family and friends ask about it and I have to say a white belt, it feels like shit. There is a big belt promotion at my school middle of June and I'm really hoping I'll get my blue then, but if not, I love to train regardless and will continue the grind no matter what.
Blue belt is the longest belt. Its the time to sample the buffet of techniques. Still a beginner belt. Purple belt is the first advanced belt. Belts are best for holding up your pants. lol. Seek skill not belts. Have fun, enjoy the "tap" as a learning process. :)
At 65 after four schools over three years , just happy to be able to practice this art. I skipped the last promotion class due to family and may well so ao again time around. Dont really care what is tied around my waist. White foue works just fine.
Honestly to the untrained people, you say your a blue belt, to them it doesnt sound much more prestigous than a white belt. People have 13 year old neices that are black belts in karate. They just dont understand
Facts!! I think that BJJ is probably the only martial art I can think of where Black belt means extensively trained, with no Mcdojo or Bullshido present in their skill set lol... Any other Martial art I've 10000% seen black belts that either couldn't punch their way out of a wet paper bag or got gifted belts cos they paid the right fees lol.
I agree with a lot of what you said. But I feel if anyone knows that you train a martial art and you let them know how long you’ve been doing it, they expect you to be a blackbelt. I still have to do that and explain that I’m a purple belt. Halfway to black. That a purple belt in jiujitsu is an advanced rank and equivalent to a black belt in other styles of martial arts.
Started at 38 and I was a white belt for 2 years. I heard jokes in my office the entire time. Was a little nervous when I got my blue but so relieved I didn’t have to say I was a white belt anymore. I compete as often as possible, even while at white, but noticed since getting blue, along with podium pics and video’s all the sudden people changed from making fun of me to being more respectful or cheering me on. To be fair, being a near 40yr old white belt probably looked like a mid life crisis to people. It’s all good.
I belonged to a gym that insisted those competing were school Gis and rash guards . Excuse me, is the school paying entry fees for those people? I don't compete but I would have been tempted to go it alone if I did.
Yea... Getting back into it after a decade off. First class I was rolling with a purple with a few stripes. I was first to have it done to me. And yea, I did exactly like you said, go very limp, very little resistance, just to get the new thing they were teaching and get it done. Did three sets of three, and each time we both progressively stepped up resistance each time. I was laughing after the class was done and we were free rolling. He said most white belts do full throttle and try to brute strength their way through it. But I was slowing it down and stopping ties, submission and lock attempts. Just told him yepp, I did this about 10 years ago, for about a year before I broke alot of bones. So I always try to pace with my partner. Can always ask to turn it up a bit. But full force going for it, you really do not learn anything.
