tapped by my purple belt instructor 3 times in under 3 minutes. I felt like I had made progress in the last 11 months.I'm guessing the previous rolls he went easy hahaha.
Ya ever keep going to class feeling like you haven't learned a thing?
I roll mainly with 2 purple belts and i'm not sure it's helping me. I start with one knee on ground and other leg upright with foot on the ground. They always start in a seated base or pull guard. They always get me and I feel like I don't what is the first thing I should to. I have tried to time them and get a better position but it usually doesn't work.
1 stripe whitey.
Jiu jitsu takes years to get good at , but unlike other martial arts where you see little kids with black belts , BJJ is the truth.
Having said that you need 3 guys to train with - (1) the guy you can beat , to work your offense , (2) the guy who beats your ass, to work defense, and (3) the guy your are even with - to test your heart
OhhhhMyPlata - Jiu jitsu takes years to get good at , but unlike other martial arts where you see little kids with black belts , BJJ is the truth.
Having said that you need 3 guys to train with - (1) the guy you can beat , to work your offense , (2) the guy who beats your ass, to work defense, and (3) the guy your are even with - to test your heart
That is pretty damn accurate hahaha.
The other white belts that I could usually always get the best of stopped showing up.
The purple belt, other then the instructor,I can usually hold my own and defend him.
The purple instructor can pretty much beat my azz at any given time. He just knows too many moves from every angle.
You are a white belt. It happens. Just keep training and eventually u will get better. Unless you actually suck, then u might want to think about doing something else
Even if you suck, the only chance you have to get better than you are today is to just keep showing up.
Imo seated is the best,its mobile,great for sweeping getting up and gaurd.play with it,it might help. I find people who start combat base are easy to read (they want to pass) also easy to counter with sweeps dlr or whatever.
You are getting better and yes they were taking it easy on you. They have YEARS of experience and knowledge on you. During your last 11 months you have been improving, though you might not feel like it. Keep this in mind too, over the last 11 months they have been getting better too.
That being said, I'm no world champ but I'm no slouch either. 2 weeks ago Rickson made me feel like a white belt. So this feeling may never end. Use it as your fuel to learn more and to perfect what you do have.
I'm a purple belt that switched schools a few months ago. (Because of a move). At my old school I would get lots of rolls focusing on technique and bettering my own game. The new place I'm at has a good instructor and I get about 45-60 minutes of live rolling at class, problem is that everyone comes at me like its the finals of worlds and they have a lot of huge strong blues (I'm big too) it's frustrating as fuck. I'm steady training but feel like I'm not progressing (possibly regressing) because I'm stuck getting smashed and grinded on.
Also starting with 1 foot up, you are probably giving them an easy entrance to their guard game. Ask them for a few standing guard passes or YouTube a few.
A tip a purple belt gave me when I was a white and he was working me over with spider guard was; "you're not defending, until you let me get my grips and positron, by then it's too late" So maybe try being a little more proactive, when he reaches for a collar grip break it and so on
You should be happy. It means bjj works and one day you will be that good and better if you keep training
TheBearStare - You should be happy. It means bjj works and one day you will be that good and better if you keep trainingThats an awesome quote buddy,i would totally want that on a shirt.
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Well being honest with myself I don't suck to the point of quitting. I would like to think I pulled away from the other white belts in class as far as progression.
One guy walked off the mats mad as hell one night and has only showed up once more. He didn't like getting tapped I suppose,it was funny. He is kind of a pussy.
A few of them received a stripe before me even though we all started same time. It did kind of bother me, but a little piece of tape isn't going to stop me. I chalked it up to maybe I needed to learn more and keep charging. The instructor and the other guys in class all grew up together, so it's a strange dynamic.
I know what your saying seats taken about getting smashed on. When I roll with the new purple it's usually all out war,full strength/speed. It's resembles a wrestling match more so then BJJ, but it's all good though.He has tapped me twice so far, but it's much harder for him to pull a sub then the purp teacher.He is a ol tough SOB though.
Anyway thanks for the advice so far.
Seats Taken - Also starting with 1 foot up, you are probably giving them an easy entrance to their guard game. Ask them for a few standing guard passes or YouTube a few.This is very true. As a white belt I didn't pay nearly enough attention at my opponents grips... I just let them happen which always put me at a disadvantage immediately.
A tip a purple belt gave me when I was a white and he was working me over with spider guard was; "you're not defending, until you let me get my grips and positron, by then it's too late" So maybe try being a little more proactive, when he reaches for a collar grip break it and so on
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I feel really lucky to have started at the gym I started at. My instructor was a purple belt at the time. But he'd been a purple for 7 years. He's under Rickson, and got his black belt a few years ago, so it took forever to get promoted. He's also a D1 wrestler straight out of Illinois.
He taught us the most basic shit over and over and over again every single day. To the point where as a white belt, I was doing zero thinking during rolling and just reacting. Also, we only had white belts. So everyone was doing the same shit, that everyone knew, and we had to find a way to make it work, which I think lead to us developing some advanced details to very basic techniques.
Being such a strong wrestler lead to him favoring the top game. Which was and still is my preference, and we learned a lot about pressure, controlling hips, and different things about controlling from different top positions that i haven't seen taught in many bjj gyms. He definitely used a lot of wreslting concepts in his top game.
I feel like it gave me such a great foundation and understanding of the goal of each position and a road map thru the positions. An awesome basics foundation and a great base. Training with those guys that knew all the same stuff was awesome. You had to fight for every inch because everyone knew exactly what was coming. Keep training man. It'll feel like it takes forever but I guarantee you you're improving.
A_Butler - I feel really lucky to have started at the gym I started at. My instructor was a purple belt at the time. But he'd been a purple for 7 years. He's under Rickson, and got his black belt a few years ago, so it took forever to get promoted. He's also a D1 wrestler straight out of Illinois.Nice post
He taught us the most basic shit over and over and over again every single day. To the point where as a white belt, I was doing zero thinking during rolling and just reacting. Also, we only had white belts. So everyone was doing the same shit, that everyone knew, and we had to find a way to make it work, which I think lead to us developing some advanced details to very basic techniques.
Being such a strong wrestler lead to him favoring the top game. Which was and still is my preference, and we learned a lot about pressure, controlling hips, and different things about controlling from different top positions that i haven't seen taught in many bjj gyms. He definitely used a lot of wreslting concepts in his top game.
I feel like it gave me such a great foundation and understanding of the goal of each position and a road map thru the positions. An awesome basics foundation and a great base. Training with those guys that knew all the same stuff was awesome. You had to fight for every inch because everyone knew exactly what was coming. Keep training man. It'll feel like it takes forever but I guarantee you you're improving.
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Oh that feeling. The feeling of "wow I'm really making strides" only to be man handled by the guy who was taking it easy on you for a couple months. The face you make after the roll is immediately recognizable. We've all seen it, and we've all felt it.
It never ends.
I'm a black belt. My instructor is a 5th degree black belt.
...
It never ends.
I think it's an easy trap to get sucked in to, gauging yourself against other people, and it will ruin you if you keep at it long-term.
I think one of the most important things we can do while we're rolling in class is try out new stuff and things we suck at, and if your main progress indicator is how you're doing against other people, who's getting belted/striped when, etc you will consciously or unconsciously stick to a conservative, playing to win type of style.
It doesn't matter if youre better than the other white belts, worse than them, or anything else. 98% of the people you are training with right now will quit somewhere along the way, and the ones who end up really good are just the ones who keep coming.
The only thing that matters is if right-now you is better than last-month you.
You'll get easily discouraged if you say "I've been doing this well against this guy for the last month, but now he's killing me"; what if the other guy spent a while sensibly working on something he sucked at, then went back to doing his A-game while he tries to integrate the new thing?
You feel like suddenly you suck ("I don't suck so bad I should quit" implies if you feel like you're doing worse against the people in your class, you should just quit because it's not worth it), but NOTHING IS DIFFERENT. I feel like the only person you need to measure against is yourself, it frees you up from expectations and lets you actually focus on getting better instead of winning.
I'm still struggling with this (I'm only 4-stripe blue, maybe 3-4 years into training, so take my opinion with a grain of salt)), and it absolutely makes you feel shitty, but it doesn't really matter. It's a totally self-inflicted feeling of being crappy that can really hamper your progress if you let it, imo.
If you have a room full of people who are trying to one-up each other or maintain some sort of pecking order, everyone's training suffers (again, just imo). If everyone is focused on helping each other get better, everyone's game elevates very quickly, there's fewer injuries, and you're more likely to grow the club. People hold back on telling each other things that will help (who better than your training partners to help you identify what you need to work on?) if they're trying to maintain a perceived edge over each other in class.
Imo, if you catch someone with something, you should tell them exactly how and what they can do to defend it better and let them drill the escape/defense. It only makes you better, having your training partners get sharper at defense
Excellent advice Seul!
I find myself guilty of wanting to "win" while rolling. I do like the feeling of it.
I guess freeing yourself from that will have great benefits. I think I read somewhere that it's not about the outcome that matters, but what you learned from it. It's hard to let go and try new stuff sometimes.
I have only been doing this about 9 months total now, so I feel it's not going to bad considering. All the other white belts that started stopped coming. There is one purple not including instructor,one blue and then me.
The purple belt is a must win kind of guy. When we do flow rolling it's a lot better to learn with him.
I think having a broader class would help, that's the way it is though.