well i got my blue about a month ago and yesterday i was tapped by a white belt for the first time since getting it. he pretty much owned me the whole time too. happens i guess.
" andre, why do you think this particular guy was able to do this to you?"
he is better at his game than I am at mine, he is in much better shape and has trained really high level sparring partners for a long time. He is also a hard worker AND, I think, a natural. He is the complete package at purple belt and I know he wrecks browns regularly and some blacks. I may know more techniques in terms of numbers because Ive been around forever, but he is better at what he does than I am at what I do, and he knows a lot. He is a good balance of technique and athlete.
good thread. I can definitely relate. Being a teacher also it sucks when lower belts catch you especially when you are trying hard, but for me I alway think to myself that I taught that person those movements and if I can get them as good as myself, then I must be doing something right.
Sounds like you are being hard on yourself with that comparison. Maybe he was just better at his game than you were at his game at that time. What goes around comes around and the more he makes you play his game, the better you get at it. So your skills at that game improve and wham! Next thing you know you've developed some more options.
and p.s. I get owned by lots of lower belts than me (I'm only a blue anyway). Especially tall guys who are flexible (I'm short and not flexible).
This is one of the aspects of BJJ that drives me nuts. Too much emphasis is put on mat performance. I find it is important to find peace in your own skills and contributions vs. letting others define you. That is a statement about life, not just BJJ.
porra said lower belt maybe didnt have a teacher who was willing to promote him or maybe the teacher felt that this guy wasnt so much his student. he didnt have a teacher to give him a brown belt in other words.
I help teach and I'm a purple. We've got guys who give me a run for it (blues and sometimes whites). If one of them catches me, I actually get excited for them. I'm not taking the credit away from them for applying what they learned but it makes me feel good that they're able to get what i'm teaching.
that being said, i try to make the rest of the roll a living hell. :)
I'm a purple belt and I routinely get tapped by blues and whites. I personally don't care who taps who because I'm constantly trying out new positions and moves.
Maybe, just maybe, the difference between the belts isn't as clear and distinct as we like to believe. Maybe in reality there really isn't a difference, at least not like we think there is or should be.
If a person can catch you once (especially if they are good) they most likely will catch you again. But it is apart of the reality that "some" people, who participate in this great art, put in alot of time progressing and growing. And some of these people will even progress pass or perhaps catch up to those who have been doing Jiujitsu longer.
I am a brown. Big giant blue belt fucker owns me every time, we just dont match up well at all. I occasionally catch him but he is so strong he powers out of kimuras, everything like nothing. Freakish strength and solid technique for a blue.