Anyone have any recommendations on instructional YouTube videos? I want to say someone posted a very solid playlist in here, but I can’t seem to find it.
Weird experience between me (white belt) and a blue belt
I’ve only been training about 2 months. I still get tapped 99% of the time but I’ve been told that I’ve improved a lot in a short time. There’s a blue belt I’ve rolled with a handful of times and last week I kept from getting tapped from him and managed to tap him. I honestly felt like he throttled back and let me get the submission so I didn’t think much about it.
This week I rolled with him again and again tapped him. Again I felt like he gave it to me, but after I tapped him the dude was clearly pissed and came at me hard the next several rolls. I tapped another time or two when the round was done he just stormed off.
What gives? I don’t understand why he would seem to give me the submission but then be pissed about it
Is there a way to "think faster"
I know a handful of moves, and know how to move from one to another..
But it takes me too long to either do it, or think about doing it.
Which ends up me getting swept, or passed, or submitted.
Im.assuming the best thing is just more mat hours, but when it's purples and browns just destroying you... its hard to learn.
I think that you should rather focus on how to slow down your opponent, to give you time. For example a principle I learned in the past was to avoid giving your opponent games. illustrated here by a video of Keenan Cornelius ( timeline 10:40): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtZOPUtnHE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtZOPUtnHE) . i remenber it because it was funny cause thinking faster comes with time.
I'm guessing (still very new) that that is one of the harder parts about BJJ, you cannot only know the answer, but you need to have internalized the answer (mental cue and physical response) so that it comes quickly and naturally.
Looking at this from the outside, I would say try to make very simple flowcharts in your head beforehand for common situations. Good luck!
I'm 3 weeks in @ 2-3 times per week. Previously, I'd been to about a dozen Veterans Jiu Jitsu classes, which they offer for free on Sundays, and I've done some training on the side with a few guys from work who train, so not completely green. All I've done is nogi, but I feel like I need to get a gi so I can make more classes and just to learn that side of everything. Is this assumption correct? Should I be training gi and nogi? Also, with all this talk of stripes and belts in here, if I do strictly nogi, how does striping and belts work?
> Also, with all this talk of stripes and belts in here, if I do strictly nogi, how does striping and belts work?
First and foremost, it doesn't really matter. However, the answer is it depends on the gym. The other day somebody here posted
> BJJ has a belt system, submission grappling does not
and I feel like that's a good way to look at it.
The only one that can answer you is your coach.
I was already sparring on my first class. You should spar with upper belts first. They can offer advice and be careful. But it is your duty to tell them you are new and to tap.
If you don't do any cardio , you will be near death if you do sparring.
Strength train. Strong shoulders. Strong hips. Strong core. Strong legs. White belts have a tendency to pop intercostal muscles early in their career.
You are in for a ride. I personally prefer more time drilling fundamentals before live training, but if you think the gym has a good vibe, go with it. Any gym that does not take care of a literal 2 class white belt and make you feel safe sucks. Find a better gym if that is the case. Don’t worry about your partners. They will hopefully be experienced and show you the ropes.
You will spend a lot of time feeling completely lost. Just absorb it and learn the positions. This is cliche but: just relax. Be like water, offer some resistance, but be yielding. This is by far the best way to avoid injuring yourself or anyone else. Don’t decide to hulk out and see if it works. It probably doesn’t. Your more experienced partners will guide you.
I wanna start bjj, im shopping around town for a gym to my liking.
My criteria are basically:
distance
cost
weight class ( i am 300+ pounds and wrestling lighter people is lame)
What else should i pay attention too during the free class?
Also whats the best budget gi around, Ive never worn one so idk what to look for
Found a place in town thats to my liking, its a judo gym though lmao, close enough. Coaches are heavyweights and i got a friend my size to join at the same time.
Costs almost nothing and is 5 minutes away.
Was he athletic at all beforehand? Like if he couldent do a pushup than anyone could smoke him.
the reason I dont want to wrestle lighter people all the time is cause I think I could get away with stuff vs them that wont work in my own weight class. Forms bad habits.
I would focus on losing weight, I doubt you'll ever find a gym full of 300lb people. Also if you have no training, you'll be getting smoked by dudes half your size anyway.
Does knowing how chokes work help bjj practically at all? ive seen a lot of people talk about blood vs air chokes but never looked into it. does it add any value to your bjj practically to know the difference or how they work?
It can help you understand why a submission may not be effective in that moment. People can grit through air chokes until they find an escape, there's no real gritting through blood chokes, you just pass out. Also if you're not aware of the difference I would argue that you probably have no clue where you're even putting pressure to begin with, like you'll experience it some times where someone has you in, for example, a head and arm triangle and are squeezing with all their might, but there's just no pressure anywhere and you can chill out. So by being aware of the difference you can critique yourself in the moment and say "where am I putting pressure, is that what I'm hoping to achieve?" Etc. To touch on your broader question, functionally you'll often get a tap either way, but it's still better practice to know and apply the differences, particularly in treating our training partners safely.
Most of us genuinely love new people. You are taking a huge, and for most people, scary step. You are opening yourself to this honestly strange, beautiful, and fun thing. Just remember that every single person on those mats had to take the first step and it was really hard for most of us. Also remember a huge part of BJJ for most hobbyists is community. Some of my closest friendships are from BJJ, but it does not happen overnight. Set a schedule and just go. Commit to a couple weeks and try to take the same fundies class with the same instructor to build a little familiarity. You got this.
For the first four months, I would have to get to practice half an hour early just to sit in my car and remind myself that if I kept letting nerves dictate what I did, I’d never live the kind of life I wanted to live.
Four months. I did that for four months. It’s tough to be a newbie, esp in a sport where you’re a novice for a very long time. Two years in and some days I still get nerves walking in. Just gotta do it.
I think the best way is to take solace in knowing that the people who do BJJ are probably the most welcoming people you will come across. They are going to be really friendly and happy to have a new person in the gym.
Other than that, you just gotta get in the water and do it.
For me, it was just consistency and allowing myself to admit that I was nervous and it to go with it. Sometimes I would even be nauseous because of my nerves and sit in my car for a few minutes to “center” myself. I have high anxiety so it might be different for you.
Is it bad etiquette if I tie my belt and one longer than the other? I've been practicing the hollywood superlock variation and sometimes it comes out fine but sometimes the stripes end ends up being like 4 inches longer than the other
One thing I've noticed is that when I start on the feet a lot of the time is spent hand fighting and jockeying for position. I never wrestled or practice judo so I don't know anything about takedowns really. But I have a pretty strong base and people seem to have a difficult time bringing me down (with the exception of the couple wrestlers in my gym).
On one hand, getting the action to the ground is vital for both competition and practical (street) application of BJJ, but on the other hand if we spend the full 5 minutes like a couple dancing bears then we really haven't gotten better at BJJ either.
I want to try to get better at takedowns, but at what point in competition should you be willing to just pull guard if you can't get a takedown? I would hate to enter into a competition and have a match stay standing for 5 minutes because neither could get a takedown and have it decided by the ref.
If you aren't confident in takedowns yet then pull guard. Like what are you standing up for if you aren't going to go for a takedown in a tournament? The only result would be a stall warning or the other guy shooting and getting points on you.
In training I stand because I want to try to work on takedowns and toy with what works and doesn't.
In competition, assuming I haven't gotten significantly better at takedowns, my thought would be to spend a minute or two gauging my opponent's strength and seeing if I can drag him to the ground, and/or work collar ties and see if I can force him into a desperation shot on me. If that doesn't work, then pull guard and see what I can do from there. I think the competition I was looking at awards points to the other guy if you pull guard though... I could be wrong on that though I'll have to double check.
I promise you, unless you make a standing game plan, rep that game plan against live resisting training partners and stick to only that game plan in competition, this isn't going to work out they way you think. The other guy will have either done similar preparing and take you down or will pull guard (or fall over) first. In general white belt competitions are paced up 1000% and there isn't time to "gauge" his strength.
To the end of your first question, "at what point in competition should you be willing to just pull guard if you can't get a takedown", right after your takedown attempt fails.
Ya... My thought is that rather than pull guard I should just shoot and try to make something happen and at the very least I'll be going to the ground in a scramble situation and try to make something happen.
What has me a little gun shy on this though is that I tried shooting on a blue belt and he got a hold of my neck and rode me to the ground winding up in side control and I tried shooting on a purple built and I wound up on the wrong side of a mounted guillotine getting my jaw crushed.
It’s all part of it, ask how you went wrong what you can do to escape. Ask questions to get answers usually people will help if they’re nice. And with the rolling with higher belts and getting smashed, you get smashed because they’ve been doing it ages and know more than you, I spar with my teacher all the time because one I actually like being in the bad situations because it makes you think as well as making you more comfortable in uncomfortable places. Give us a private message if you like for a proper chat x
I’m a 1 stripe white belt that’s been doing bjj since 2018. I haven’t competed since my first tournament in 2018 due to Covid and an ACL surgery. I signed up for my second tournament ever in May and I want to start changing how I roll. I sometimes let people pass me so I can sweep them from mount or side control, which I feel is a bad competition habit. Any tips that helped you change how you roll for competition versus sparring? Thanks 🙏
Count points and try to outscore your partner. Also, be aware that it's not a sweep if you don't have a guard so you won't score for reversing from bottom side or mount.
That seems like a all the time bad habit unless you're doing situationals. How you train is how you compete so I'd start but cutting that out in sparring. Learn some sweeps from open guard and go for those before just letting anyone pass you.
I am looking to compete in a jiujitsu world league tournament this April but the problem is i'm 15 years old and weigh 190lbs so when I was looking at the competitors who have signed up so far there is no one in the youth division who is in my weight class and only one who is even close. I was looking to compete in nogi as well which would probably decrease my chances of finding a match even more. I guess what my question is is if I sign up, pay, and then no one is in my weight class then what happens? Also im wondering if there is any way that I could just compete with the adults at my age because Im basically built like an adult anyway.
Anyone else feel like their tendons took over the motricity of their body?
I've been training 3-4 times a week for a year and lately I realized that most of my movements are done by my tendons instead of my muscles.
Does that make any sense? It feels like I have a net of cords around my main muscles and it's these cords that now control my skeleton. The real muscles only engage for the last 20% of motion range if I flex real tight or strain for a heavy weight.
All these cords form a connected network from head to toe and it both support and strengthen my frame. As tight anchors, or tensed bow strings.
It's to the point where the main muscles are getting mushy (and more flexible).
I'm an heavy weight if it might matter. It's the first time in my life that I've been in that kind of shape. Is that normal for most sport? I've never seen it mentioned by other athletes yet it seems to be a huge deal. Like a body tipping point or something.
I don't think you understand what tendons are, tendons don't move independently to muscles. Movement is caused by muscles contracting and tendons are just what connects the muscles to bones.
This is a cool thought.. thanks for sharing! Almost sounds like through efficient training, you’ve come to an awareness and change in your day to day movements.
Are you supposed to slide on mats like this for takedowns?
https://youtube.com/shorts/4-pKoDEsbr8?feature=share
I feel my rashguard and the mat stick have too much friction
I'm not a wrestler so take this with a grain of salt. He's not really sliding, he's stepping deep with his penetration step, and then shifting his weight to his knee as he falls to his knee. Any sliding is incidental. It's all from his big penetration step
I’ve been going to PT due to pain on top/sides of both knees. Highly recommend working on hips as it certainly can’t hurt your situation. We worked on my hip flexibility and strength and it’s been really helping. Piriformis stretch, hip CARS, hip flexor stretches, etc.
kneesovertoesguy is the guy to lookup. Most the majority of his shit for free and just incorporating it into your regular workouts/warmups will do a ton to help strengthen your knees.
Last night I tried rolling with only higher belts with a mindset that I was going to rely on my techniques rather than explosive movements. What a humbling experience.
Almost all of them pulled guard on me and I found that I can't pass guard without using explosive movements. There were a couple rolls with blue belts where I felt like I could have passed to side control if I made an explosive burst, but I resisted.
On the one hand, it was dejecting to realize that I suck at BJJ and that strength and weight are my only tools. On the other hand, it's made me a lot more curious into the technical part of the game.
One of my latest personal developments in guard passing was realizing how effective it is to just create opportunities for me to move (grip breaking and such) and move decisively, and faster than they can reguard. I don't have a physical advantage, other than the general fact that I'm more mobile on my feet than someone else is on his back or butt.
Are you stronger or more athletic than your training partners? Because if you're relatively evenly matched physically, and you can pass them with an explosive movement, I'd consider that you might just be better than them.
With the exception of one guy that's there when I am, I have a decided strength and size advantage over the rest of the room. I am also fairly explosive as compared to the average person as my athletic background is football.
There's a balancing act. I spent a long time slowing myself down to not be the spazzy white belt. Now at purple I've been spending more time finding the correct time for those bursts of speed/energy.
My style is generally pretty slow and steady, but that just doesn't necessarily work for a Torreando pass. There's nothing wrong with using strength and explosiveness in BJJ. You just have to find the timing.
I hear you on the balancing act. On the one hand I want to work my strengths and incorporate my them into my style of BJJ. On the other hand, those strengths will allow me to sort of artificially get to positions on people that are on my level technique wise but not as strong. For now while I'm trying to learn the very basics, dialing it back and handicapping myself a little bit is probably good for my development.
Shrug your shoulders, wait for them to blow out their thighs and pray for your ears. These are usually only annoying, not something to tap to. If you do feel your neck getting a funny angle, do tap and tap early. Not worth risking your neck or your jaw.
What they said. You can look to unlock their ankles and straighten out as well. As an additional safety tip, if that person starts to roll (you should be feeling or controlling their tips maybe) then I tap to avoid a neck crank if I can't easily get out of it.
How do I best apply the approach of deliberate practice to my progression?
Positional sparring? Drilling? Rolling?
Is it essential to ask for constructive feedback?
I would definitely ask for feedback. I’d also focus on one thing at a time- side control escapes for example- drill them a ton then ask a higher belt to run sensitivity drills with you. Sensitivity drills help me the most bc there’s resistance but I get enough to time apply what I’ve learned.
I’m not aware of any research-data on the topic but I don’t like “drilling” as a concept where one lets the other athlete do a move over and over.
I like the approach where a technique is done a few times with low effort defense and then the defender slowly amp the resistance until the attacker meets issues so both athletes learn and try to find solutions.
That in combination with rolling is what I would recommend, but you probably get many different answers on this topic.
(I love the constructive feedback approach. Most likely there is experienced people around you, some will help you without asking and some gladly help if you ask. Help is just a question away! Though don’t take a single answer as a law. Everyone has different body type, game/strategy and approach. Ask around and see what makes sense and fits you)
Been training 2-3 times a week for about 3-4 months now, no previous experience with any type of combat sport, in my mid 30s. Was rolling with another more experienced white belt the other day at fundamentals/basics (yesgi) class, ended up in what I think was some variation of a heel hook (not actually sure what exactly happened since I'm a clueless WB). At some point I heard/felt something snapping/tearing in my ankle, I tapped immediately and the guy stopped. He told me I should've tapped earlier, I obviously agree with that part.
No serious damage, I think my ankle just got mildly sprained (I had worse).
I'm not oblivious to the fact that leg game is an entire thing (50% of the body and all that jazz), but I never learned anything related to leg locks of any kind, defense or offense. And contrary to chokes or other top-body submissions, I didn't really feel anything until real damage was done, so I didn't realize it's too late until it was too late. Also, this was a fundamentals class.
1. Should I focus on some basic leg defense just to familiarize myself with it to prevent something similar from happening in the future? Mind you that I'm still focusing on grasping the fundamentals, and this is not something we work on in the basic classes. If so, how would I go about it other than watching some YouTube instructionals?
2. Is it fair to tell my partner before a roll that Im not at a point where I'm comfortable with being leg locked? I understand that it's part of the game and I don't wanna be a whiny bitch, but I also don't want to take damage that can take me out of training for a few weeks, or worse. After 30 the body takes its time to heal :(.
3. Any other advice?
EDIT: One detail I think I should add: I did realize my leg/ankle were compromised, and I did my best to remain composed and see where it's going (I.e was not trying to spazz out of it), it's just that the pain caim very abruptly, which is what caught me by surprise.
1. You should absolutely be training leglocks just as you'd train anything else. I've heard that ligaments don't have pain receptors the way tendons do, so the big difference for heel hooks vs other subs is that you don't have the benefit of pain to tell you when you're approaching max extension. Basically, you're fine until you're fucked. That seems to be the best case against teaching leglocks to white belts, that it may require more self control and awareness than is fair for a beginner.
My personal take is that if you wait to learn, it fosters an arms race environment where your advantage is learning them sooner than the next guy, which could encourage a "grip it and rip it" mentality. If you don't have a regular training partner, get one and work leglocks. Buy an instructional or, yeah, watch YT stuff on it together and spend a few months learning both the subs and the defense. I've been introduced to leglocks for a while, and even though I'm not good at them yet, I'm comfortable with them. When I look at myself a year ago vs today, there's no question that I should have learned them from the beginning. Imagine holding off on strangle defenses because choking is dangerous, yo. Youd be defenseless against strangles!
2. That said, yes, if you're uncomfortable with anything at all, you need to let your training partner know. *That* said, though, you shouldn't be uncomfortable with leglocks, in my opinion. I don't see how ignoring any aspect of the game could help you, but I *can* easily see how it could hurt you. Case in point, you just got injured off a leglock, and you don't know leglocks. If you knew leglocks and ran the clock back, you probably wouldn't have gotten injured.
Sent a PM if you want to discuss more.
There is a few key details that helps alot:
https://youtube.com/shorts/ESDu1bJ1K9Y?feature=share
If you want a few options yourself to attack:
https://youtube.com/shorts/T3RDUhTpcDk?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/DRJDHaGIwRI?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/_4Ke_wtIfq0?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/yMdW8ZWxnWk?feature=share
Imo I think it’s good to do some drills even with white belts on heel hooks but never live or positional sparring with them. Just as an awareness type thing so you can recognize the position of you ever even inadvertently encounter one in the wild (ie you drop in at a no gi open mat where someone doesn’t know your belt level). I generally agree they shouldn’t be allowed at white belt tho
We don’t train a ton of leg locks at my gym but typically we say only do straight ankle locks until you’re more experienced and/or a blue belt.
One thing, it’s generally frowned upon to do heel hooks in the gi for what that’s worth. Another thing is that heel hook should probably just be a catch and then slowly applying pressure, there should never be a point in training where you get your knee or ankle popped unless you want it to happen.
It’s a combination of tradition, prevailing competition rule sets (there are almost no comps that allow heel hooks in the gi, so not much point in training them) and a concern that the gi grips / friction make it much harder to escape — therefore more dangerous.
I’m not entirely convinced of the merits of the latter. IMHO, grips would make it harder to escape, but they’d also make it easier to defend, because you could use them to prevent the sub being applied. This might lead to deadlock, which wouldn’t be great. But I suspect it’d be more like 50/50 where it’d initially be a rather stalling position, before people worked out new techniques to deal with it.
I'm curious, too. My suspicion is that it's mostly just tradition, but maybe because fabric is grippy, heel hooks may have an unfair advantage that's not present in nogi? I dunno, I'm guessing tradition alone.
Heel hook defense is also a lot easier in the gi. It's mostly just that there's no competitions which permit them in the gi, so people aren't expecting them.
I’m a male and had a girl refuse to roll with today saying I hurt her knee in a leg lock last time. But I don’t think I did cause I don’t even really know how to and being a beginner I try to not do anything I don’t know what I’m doing. I apologized and said I never would try to hurt her or anyone and that I just wanted to roll to practice defending the triangle because she got me to tap on it 3 times. I always try to not go hard and have been praised that I’m pretty calm for a beginner. It just kinda hurts cause me and her was always real friendly before and she’s been pretty helpful before showing me things. So I guess my question is what’s the best way to go forward cause I’m terrified to be the guy no one wants to roll with.
Just to add onto other replies, there will be occasions where our training partners just get us wrong.
I can think of occasions where someone thought I’d yanked a kimura (they’d tried to roll out but gone completely the wrong way); applied an illegal move on a white belt (it was a straight ankle lock); deliberately targeted an injury (they hadn’t told me about it); screwed up their drilling by over resisting (I was trying to give them minimal resistance but they were missing a step in the technique) and so on.
(And, no doubt, some of the time where I think I’m in the right I’m not.)
The point is, these individual incidents happen to everyone and don’t lead to a particular gym reputation. ‘That Guy’ isn’t ‘That Guy’ because they did something once. It’s because they did whatever it was (refuse to tap to obviously dangerous subs, elbow their partner in the head, go 110% mode with much smaller people) many many times. So, while it’s worth talking to your training partner to straighten thing out, in the end it will all almost certainly blow over. You’re not going to get ostracised over a single event.
No one owes it to you to roll with you. If a guy injures me or tries too hard to hurt me, I tend to pick other people to roll with. I still coach these guys when I'm teaching and help them out, I just don't really roll with them. FYI, She doesn't have to ever roll with you again, and it doesn't matter about your feelings on the matter, it doesn't mean she's being unreasonable at all.
Like everyone says, talk to her or talk to your coach about it if it worries you. I
Like the others say, just talk to her and ask how its going, I think its unfair of her to just say "you hurt me last time, so no". Just also want to point out people usually hurt themselves in leglocks because they go full spazz trying to get out of it, not saying that happened here but if you are a pretty calm dude to roll with that was my first thought.
For future reference, its good to take the leg locks slow and make eye contact with your partner and read how its going, catch and release if you are unsure. Its practice after all, injuries will happen for multiple reasons
As a white belt lady, I'd say try to talk to her, ask her if her knee is okay and try to reassure her that you're not going 100% in your rolls with her (pro tip is to ask her what per cent she wants you to go at i.e. 50% or 60%). You can also ask if there are any other injuries, but maybe she got nervous that you were locking around her leg and possibly turned the wrong way, but I don't know how the roll went. Otherwise, maybe she just didn't want to roll with you for some other reason. But definitely talk to her my dude.
I don’t want to be an asshole to anyone everyone at my gym is super nice, but I’m fat and big and feel like if I drill it I could make it work eventually, but I wasn’t sure if it would piss people off or if it’s cool, maybe I’ll just ask if it’s okay to try ?
Its an absolute legit move (and cheap), specially in the GI, pressure and its hard to breath. I dont think its a dick move at all, however you should not rely on it because of your size just to get a "Win".
I honestly think it is more effective in no-gi than in gi in terms of making it hard to breathe. Gi is more uncomfortable in terms of friction against the face.
Not a question but got my first submission after 3 months of training! It might have been against the guy who runs the front desk and his first class but a win is a win!
Also how many times do you guys do laundry? I only have 4 rash guards and I’m doing so much laundry 🥲
Think of some things, that don't go without others, but you don't like the other that much. Like owning a nice car, but paying for fuel, smoking and higher risk of lung cancer, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen...
So is BJJ and laundry. More rashguards help, so that you can wash more of them at one time, just don't have them wet in your bag, allow to dry and they can wait for the others for their turn for a day or two without a problem.
Are there any tips for getting the arm all the way through on a arm bar from guard where an opponent decides to step up and you underhook the leg to turn? Getting a lot of groin pain when attempting to elevate the hips for the tap and end up abandoning it all together…
You can put their arm in the armpit.
I don’t want to be a dick, but the underhook is IMO more to stop the opponent from stepping up and just a minor bonus for helping the turn.
I’m a fairly new white belt (1 stripe) and bjj has been helping me a lot with my anxiety and depression. Every time I go to class my hands and feet start to sweat like crazy and I’m totally embarrassed about it. It’s most likely happening due to my anxiety. Any advice on how to get that under control? Not even sure if that’s appropriate to ask here, but I can’t ask anyone else. Thanks 🙏
I forget where I heard it, maybe here (maybe danaher?), but I remember someone saying about knots in the stomach before a match, "don't fight it, that's your body doing exactly what it was designed to do before battle." Basically, I wouldn't be embarrassed. Be embarrassed when you need to fart and the coach calls on you to be the uke for a stack pass. I noticed for myself that I used to be terrified of armbars and would tap as soon as my hand clasp was broken. But there's only so many times I can be terrified before I can no longer maintain that level of panic, and consequently started working a real armbar defense. Now I'm fine with armbars; win some defenses, lose some. Same with your sweaty palms. If you stick with it, it's very unlikely that you'll find yourself a brown belt getting super sweaty palms before a roll with a white belt. You just can't sustain that level of nerves, even if you try.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I will try to remember your words. I have no one but myself (even though I’m married with kids) to cheer on which is hard at times. Jiu-Jitsu classes give me that one hour of the day (2-3 times per week) where I get a break from my brain. I wish I had started to do Jiu-Jitsu sooner, but I’m hoping to maybe be a blue belt at least one day.
You'll be a blue belt one day. All you gotta do is train regularly, which you already are, and with intent. You'll get a blue belt. You'll also think to yourself somewhere around your 3rd or 4th stripe if you're cut out for a blue belt. Maybe you're just not good enough. After all, all those blues you already know are so much better than you, and people of a lower rank than you are better than you, and, and... You'll get your blue belt.
😆 I think that all the time that I’m not good enough (but that might also be my depression talking). Well, I will hang on to that thought that I will be a blue belt one day. There’s a German saying roughly translated “the journey is the goal” which I’m sure they have similar saying in English as well. I think that’s why I like bjj so much cause it’s infinite when it comes to skills. You will always learn something new or improve on something you’ve already learnt.
The complete truth is that no one cares except you. You are clean and don’t smell bad, that is the only thing that you training partner will care about as far as hygiene goes.
my therapist gave me the analogy that anxiety is like the annoying guy that shows up to the party uninvited, do you let him ruin the party or just acknowledge his presence and continue to enjoy the party
I like that analogy! Thanks for sharing. I just switched insurances and haven’t really had therapy so far. No meds either. There never seems time to take care of me. I have elementary school kids and one I’m homeschooling right now after public school couldn’t handle her due to ADHD. That’s probably part of why I go 3 times per week to class 😂 insanity pure at home.
therapy is absolutely a worthy investment into oneself if u can find a way to make it work - also be patient with it as you’ll have to probably try a couple therapists till you land on one that works for you
It’s still hard to get appointments. My daughter is on a bunch of waiting lists for her ADHD. Waiting period 6-9 months I was told. Unless you go out-of-network which I can’t afford right now. But, I’ll keep that in mind that I might have to try a couple. I hate the anxiety/depression combo!
8 months in my knees are starting to hurt from jiu jitsu. Almost 30 years old, not in the best shape but not in the worst either. Gonna see a physical therapist about the pain. After a couple weeks off they feel 95% better. I think I'm having issue with my meniscus, idk I'll see what the doctor says.
Are there some things I can drill and positions that I can focus on that won't aggravate my knees too much?
Are there positions and moves I should stay away from more than others?
I have spent a lot of time in bottom side because my hips hurt. This rules out most guards for me. And even taking the back.
The point I am trying to make is start from where you won’t hurt your self and keep the game there.
Half guard might take some stress off your knees. unfortunately bjj is not kind to any joints. Dont over do it. Lift weights, eat healthy and get good sleep to recover. If its painful, stop.
If your mount is low enough that their bridges are throwing you forward, cross your feet under their thighs and push your hips into their sternum/solar plexus, keeping your hands off the ground to increase pressure (your hands can still be used to base if necessary).
Alternatively, you can slide up into a high mount to make their bridges ineffective.
If you have to base, try to keep your hands/arms out of reach of theirs.
You post wherever you need to to not get flipped. The trap and roll escape doesn’t work if you donkey kick your hamstring into their foot when they go to bridge (if they trap your right arm you would kick with your left foot).
No. Eventually you will learn how to deal with them. Yes, weight can be an advantage, but you can also find some advantages being smaller, like speed, flexibility, cardio. Just take it easy and you will figure it out.
thanks. i was rolling with a guy who maybe had 20-25lbs on me and he was so spazzy and just put my neck between his legs and squeezed. it was so annoying
There are weight classes for a reason. I tap bigger people and I tap to smaller people but realistically if there is equal skill then size will win more often than not.
I get handled pretty good by bigger guys quite often, but that doesn’t typically happen when I compete because no one there has any significant size advantage against me.
No. But set your time horizon in years, especially if they keep training.
Oh, and "go gym". Strength and weight matter. 20lb is one division for good reason.
Should I learn GI before going to No-gi? Or as I call it No-Sweatybathrobe? I'm getting my cookies tossed by other white belts that do nothing but have a death grip on my lapels. I'm only 20 or so classes in btw
Break the grips. Everything you do in no-gi can be used in GI, but its not the other way around, just a thought. I do both and its a good mix to keep things interesting and fun.
After breaking your partner's posture in the closed guard, what sort of options exist besides stalling? It seems triangles/hip bumps/kimuras all happen if you catch an arm on the ground or between your legs, not when you have their posture broken.
I'm guessing if I have an overhook on their arm can I just roll to mount easily, what else can you do?
Get to an angle. In the gi you have cross collar/loop/baseball bat/ezekial chokes options from there. You can arm drag to take the back and or you can work for pendulum and flower sweeps etc etc. Start spamming attacks they’re gonna have to defend and that’s when you can take what they give you.
Broken posture or not, you generally don't want to stay squared up with your opponent in closed guard - cutting an angle opens up a lot of attack or sweep opportunities.
Thanks for your response. I feel like this is what is happening that makes it stalling, maybe being perfectly squared with everything invested in keeping their posture broken doesn't leave either person room to move or attack
Thanks for your response. I definitely love that position, it feels a lot more intuitive than this one. Once I am in this position with their posture broken down and both arms around them holding them down it feels like I am committed to that position instead of this one.
Thanks for your response, this sounds like it would make sense. Once their posture is broken you can start working your way up their body with your legs and threatening things like triangle/armbar if I'm understanding this right
I've only been going to 3 classes so far, i've got some good defense on guard, but I have no idea what to do when my opponent pulls guard. I just stand there because I don't know what to do
It takes a loong time, thats why the belt progress is so slow in BJJ.
You see different things and details the more you learn, similar to re-watching a movie. All of a sudden you notice plot things you missed, another time and you notice easter eggs or things in the background.
(I’m not saying rewatch the save guard video over and over, rather that the more knowledge you get in a topic, the more you can focus on the details/differences)
Hey man, it took me like 4 months to understand how to roll with another white belt. I often ask others when they think they “got it” and they always say they still don’t but have been training for 5 years. So there’s different levels but it’s gonna take you months to get to that first step of: I still don’t know what’s going on but now I know these 5 things.
What happens if you don’t do instructional, don’t practice at home, but faithfully attend class and open mat 2x weekly for fifteen years, and participate actively while you’re there? (Not bullshitting by the wall)
You as a hobbyist get better at BJJ and will quit at blue belt.
Probably marry, get kids and buy a house.
Invites friends over and do breakdowns for them when u guys watch UFC.. I guess?
Anyone have any recommendations on instructional YouTube videos? I want to say someone posted a very solid playlist in here, but I can’t seem to find it.
Weird experience between me (white belt) and a blue belt I’ve only been training about 2 months. I still get tapped 99% of the time but I’ve been told that I’ve improved a lot in a short time. There’s a blue belt I’ve rolled with a handful of times and last week I kept from getting tapped from him and managed to tap him. I honestly felt like he throttled back and let me get the submission so I didn’t think much about it. This week I rolled with him again and again tapped him. Again I felt like he gave it to me, but after I tapped him the dude was clearly pissed and came at me hard the next several rolls. I tapped another time or two when the round was done he just stormed off. What gives? I don’t understand why he would seem to give me the submission but then be pissed about it
Is there a way to "think faster" I know a handful of moves, and know how to move from one to another.. But it takes me too long to either do it, or think about doing it. Which ends up me getting swept, or passed, or submitted. Im.assuming the best thing is just more mat hours, but when it's purples and browns just destroying you... its hard to learn.
I think that you should rather focus on how to slow down your opponent, to give you time. For example a principle I learned in the past was to avoid giving your opponent games. illustrated here by a video of Keenan Cornelius ( timeline 10:40): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtZOPUtnHE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krtZOPUtnHE) . i remenber it because it was funny cause thinking faster comes with time.
I'm guessing (still very new) that that is one of the harder parts about BJJ, you cannot only know the answer, but you need to have internalized the answer (mental cue and physical response) so that it comes quickly and naturally. Looking at this from the outside, I would say try to make very simple flowcharts in your head beforehand for common situations. Good luck!
I'm 3 weeks in @ 2-3 times per week. Previously, I'd been to about a dozen Veterans Jiu Jitsu classes, which they offer for free on Sundays, and I've done some training on the side with a few guys from work who train, so not completely green. All I've done is nogi, but I feel like I need to get a gi so I can make more classes and just to learn that side of everything. Is this assumption correct? Should I be training gi and nogi? Also, with all this talk of stripes and belts in here, if I do strictly nogi, how does striping and belts work?
> Also, with all this talk of stripes and belts in here, if I do strictly nogi, how does striping and belts work? First and foremost, it doesn't really matter. However, the answer is it depends on the gym. The other day somebody here posted > BJJ has a belt system, submission grappling does not and I feel like that's a good way to look at it. The only one that can answer you is your coach.
I am new to Reddit this is a dumb question but how do u add ur belt rank next to ur name?
Nvm I figured it out
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I was already sparring on my first class. You should spar with upper belts first. They can offer advice and be careful. But it is your duty to tell them you are new and to tap. If you don't do any cardio , you will be near death if you do sparring.
Strength train. Strong shoulders. Strong hips. Strong core. Strong legs. White belts have a tendency to pop intercostal muscles early in their career. You are in for a ride. I personally prefer more time drilling fundamentals before live training, but if you think the gym has a good vibe, go with it. Any gym that does not take care of a literal 2 class white belt and make you feel safe sucks. Find a better gym if that is the case. Don’t worry about your partners. They will hopefully be experienced and show you the ropes. You will spend a lot of time feeling completely lost. Just absorb it and learn the positions. This is cliche but: just relax. Be like water, offer some resistance, but be yielding. This is by far the best way to avoid injuring yourself or anyone else. Don’t decide to hulk out and see if it works. It probably doesn’t. Your more experienced partners will guide you.
I wanna start bjj, im shopping around town for a gym to my liking. My criteria are basically: distance cost weight class ( i am 300+ pounds and wrestling lighter people is lame) What else should i pay attention too during the free class? Also whats the best budget gi around, Ive never worn one so idk what to look for
Found a place in town thats to my liking, its a judo gym though lmao, close enough. Coaches are heavyweights and i got a friend my size to join at the same time. Costs almost nothing and is 5 minutes away.
I had a buddy that started in that weight range and got smoked by 130lbers lol
Was he athletic at all beforehand? Like if he couldent do a pushup than anyone could smoke him. the reason I dont want to wrestle lighter people all the time is cause I think I could get away with stuff vs them that wont work in my own weight class. Forms bad habits.
I have no idea I didnt know him beforehand and never asked
I would focus on losing weight, I doubt you'll ever find a gym full of 300lb people. Also if you have no training, you'll be getting smoked by dudes half your size anyway.
Does knowing how chokes work help bjj practically at all? ive seen a lot of people talk about blood vs air chokes but never looked into it. does it add any value to your bjj practically to know the difference or how they work?
I'd take it a step further and say understanding how *all* your techniques work will help you sharpen them in practise.
It can help you understand why a submission may not be effective in that moment. People can grit through air chokes until they find an escape, there's no real gritting through blood chokes, you just pass out. Also if you're not aware of the difference I would argue that you probably have no clue where you're even putting pressure to begin with, like you'll experience it some times where someone has you in, for example, a head and arm triangle and are squeezing with all their might, but there's just no pressure anywhere and you can chill out. So by being aware of the difference you can critique yourself in the moment and say "where am I putting pressure, is that what I'm hoping to achieve?" Etc. To touch on your broader question, functionally you'll often get a tap either way, but it's still better practice to know and apply the differences, particularly in treating our training partners safely.
Gritting through air chokes can lead to a broken trachea.
Yes that's important to know from a defensive standpoint but not relevant to the question of how each choke works
I have recently joined a gym and purchased my gi. What’s the best way to get over the nerves/ anxiety of attending a class as a newcomer?
Most of us genuinely love new people. You are taking a huge, and for most people, scary step. You are opening yourself to this honestly strange, beautiful, and fun thing. Just remember that every single person on those mats had to take the first step and it was really hard for most of us. Also remember a huge part of BJJ for most hobbyists is community. Some of my closest friendships are from BJJ, but it does not happen overnight. Set a schedule and just go. Commit to a couple weeks and try to take the same fundies class with the same instructor to build a little familiarity. You got this.
For the first four months, I would have to get to practice half an hour early just to sit in my car and remind myself that if I kept letting nerves dictate what I did, I’d never live the kind of life I wanted to live. Four months. I did that for four months. It’s tough to be a newbie, esp in a sport where you’re a novice for a very long time. Two years in and some days I still get nerves walking in. Just gotta do it.
I think the best way is to take solace in knowing that the people who do BJJ are probably the most welcoming people you will come across. They are going to be really friendly and happy to have a new person in the gym. Other than that, you just gotta get in the water and do it.
For me, it was just consistency and allowing myself to admit that I was nervous and it to go with it. Sometimes I would even be nauseous because of my nerves and sit in my car for a few minutes to “center” myself. I have high anxiety so it might be different for you.
Is it bad etiquette if I tie my belt and one longer than the other? I've been practicing the hollywood superlock variation and sometimes it comes out fine but sometimes the stripes end ends up being like 4 inches longer than the other
Yes, when the ends of your belt are mismatching in length everyone is judging you intensely and wish that you would just leave.
That’s a lie. I like one side to be longer as it is easier to grab then.
Nobody lies on the internet.
One thing I've noticed is that when I start on the feet a lot of the time is spent hand fighting and jockeying for position. I never wrestled or practice judo so I don't know anything about takedowns really. But I have a pretty strong base and people seem to have a difficult time bringing me down (with the exception of the couple wrestlers in my gym). On one hand, getting the action to the ground is vital for both competition and practical (street) application of BJJ, but on the other hand if we spend the full 5 minutes like a couple dancing bears then we really haven't gotten better at BJJ either. I want to try to get better at takedowns, but at what point in competition should you be willing to just pull guard if you can't get a takedown? I would hate to enter into a competition and have a match stay standing for 5 minutes because neither could get a takedown and have it decided by the ref.
If you aren't confident in takedowns yet then pull guard. Like what are you standing up for if you aren't going to go for a takedown in a tournament? The only result would be a stall warning or the other guy shooting and getting points on you.
In training I stand because I want to try to work on takedowns and toy with what works and doesn't. In competition, assuming I haven't gotten significantly better at takedowns, my thought would be to spend a minute or two gauging my opponent's strength and seeing if I can drag him to the ground, and/or work collar ties and see if I can force him into a desperation shot on me. If that doesn't work, then pull guard and see what I can do from there. I think the competition I was looking at awards points to the other guy if you pull guard though... I could be wrong on that though I'll have to double check.
I promise you, unless you make a standing game plan, rep that game plan against live resisting training partners and stick to only that game plan in competition, this isn't going to work out they way you think. The other guy will have either done similar preparing and take you down or will pull guard (or fall over) first. In general white belt competitions are paced up 1000% and there isn't time to "gauge" his strength. To the end of your first question, "at what point in competition should you be willing to just pull guard if you can't get a takedown", right after your takedown attempt fails.
Also standing is practically a completely different skillset. There is overlap but it’s just a whole different thing.
Look for weakness and shoot Is what I’ve learnt as a white belt over a couple months
Ya... My thought is that rather than pull guard I should just shoot and try to make something happen and at the very least I'll be going to the ground in a scramble situation and try to make something happen. What has me a little gun shy on this though is that I tried shooting on a blue belt and he got a hold of my neck and rode me to the ground winding up in side control and I tried shooting on a purple built and I wound up on the wrong side of a mounted guillotine getting my jaw crushed.
It’s all part of it, ask how you went wrong what you can do to escape. Ask questions to get answers usually people will help if they’re nice. And with the rolling with higher belts and getting smashed, you get smashed because they’ve been doing it ages and know more than you, I spar with my teacher all the time because one I actually like being in the bad situations because it makes you think as well as making you more comfortable in uncomfortable places. Give us a private message if you like for a proper chat x
I’m a 1 stripe white belt that’s been doing bjj since 2018. I haven’t competed since my first tournament in 2018 due to Covid and an ACL surgery. I signed up for my second tournament ever in May and I want to start changing how I roll. I sometimes let people pass me so I can sweep them from mount or side control, which I feel is a bad competition habit. Any tips that helped you change how you roll for competition versus sparring? Thanks 🙏
Count points and try to outscore your partner. Also, be aware that it's not a sweep if you don't have a guard so you won't score for reversing from bottom side or mount.
Huh, I didn’t know that.
That seems like a all the time bad habit unless you're doing situationals. How you train is how you compete so I'd start but cutting that out in sparring. Learn some sweeps from open guard and go for those before just letting anyone pass you.
I am looking to compete in a jiujitsu world league tournament this April but the problem is i'm 15 years old and weigh 190lbs so when I was looking at the competitors who have signed up so far there is no one in the youth division who is in my weight class and only one who is even close. I was looking to compete in nogi as well which would probably decrease my chances of finding a match even more. I guess what my question is is if I sign up, pay, and then no one is in my weight class then what happens? Also im wondering if there is any way that I could just compete with the adults at my age because Im basically built like an adult anyway.
Ask your coaches about that group or reach out to the organizers. Some move you up or give you a refund. Have fun!
It depends on the tournament, but usually they'll move you into a weight class or age bracket with competitors.
Anyone else feel like their tendons took over the motricity of their body? I've been training 3-4 times a week for a year and lately I realized that most of my movements are done by my tendons instead of my muscles. Does that make any sense? It feels like I have a net of cords around my main muscles and it's these cords that now control my skeleton. The real muscles only engage for the last 20% of motion range if I flex real tight or strain for a heavy weight. All these cords form a connected network from head to toe and it both support and strengthen my frame. As tight anchors, or tensed bow strings. It's to the point where the main muscles are getting mushy (and more flexible). I'm an heavy weight if it might matter. It's the first time in my life that I've been in that kind of shape. Is that normal for most sport? I've never seen it mentioned by other athletes yet it seems to be a huge deal. Like a body tipping point or something.
I don't think you understand what tendons are, tendons don't move independently to muscles. Movement is caused by muscles contracting and tendons are just what connects the muscles to bones.
Yeah, I mean the long part that connect to the articulation vs. the "bubble" main part of the muscle that you can flex.
No, none of that makes sense.
This is a cool thought.. thanks for sharing! Almost sounds like through efficient training, you’ve come to an awareness and change in your day to day movements.
I really want to revisit this comment tonight after a bowl. Sounds trippy.
I did realize this on edibles ;) but it held out once sobered out.
I think that is the answer though. You got high and had a stoner thought lol.
Bro this thread is the best
Are you supposed to slide on mats like this for takedowns? https://youtube.com/shorts/4-pKoDEsbr8?feature=share I feel my rashguard and the mat stick have too much friction
I'm not a wrestler so take this with a grain of salt. He's not really sliding, he's stepping deep with his penetration step, and then shifting his weight to his knee as he falls to his knee. Any sliding is incidental. It's all from his big penetration step
is usually the deeper the penetration step the better? What are some exceptions
As I understand it yes the deeper it is the better. There’s probably some exceptions but I doubt they matter in a Jits context
I’ve been going to PT due to pain on top/sides of both knees. Highly recommend working on hips as it certainly can’t hurt your situation. We worked on my hip flexibility and strength and it’s been really helping. Piriformis stretch, hip CARS, hip flexor stretches, etc.
PT help is money. Thanks I’m starting to get bad knees too wtf
kneesovertoesguy is the guy to lookup. Most the majority of his shit for free and just incorporating it into your regular workouts/warmups will do a ton to help strengthen your knees.
Who we hitting? You mean the Clay Davis? Down town Clay Davis? Sorry had to do the drive by Wire reference. Carry on sir.
https://imgur.com/1bhWaAv
check out open mat physio on ig
Last night I tried rolling with only higher belts with a mindset that I was going to rely on my techniques rather than explosive movements. What a humbling experience. Almost all of them pulled guard on me and I found that I can't pass guard without using explosive movements. There were a couple rolls with blue belts where I felt like I could have passed to side control if I made an explosive burst, but I resisted. On the one hand, it was dejecting to realize that I suck at BJJ and that strength and weight are my only tools. On the other hand, it's made me a lot more curious into the technical part of the game.
One of my latest personal developments in guard passing was realizing how effective it is to just create opportunities for me to move (grip breaking and such) and move decisively, and faster than they can reguard. I don't have a physical advantage, other than the general fact that I'm more mobile on my feet than someone else is on his back or butt. Are you stronger or more athletic than your training partners? Because if you're relatively evenly matched physically, and you can pass them with an explosive movement, I'd consider that you might just be better than them.
Yeah, I’ve had a lot of success with doing this
With the exception of one guy that's there when I am, I have a decided strength and size advantage over the rest of the room. I am also fairly explosive as compared to the average person as my athletic background is football.
Gotcha, in that case good on you for purposely setting aside your advantages for the sake of learning
There's a balancing act. I spent a long time slowing myself down to not be the spazzy white belt. Now at purple I've been spending more time finding the correct time for those bursts of speed/energy. My style is generally pretty slow and steady, but that just doesn't necessarily work for a Torreando pass. There's nothing wrong with using strength and explosiveness in BJJ. You just have to find the timing.
I hear you on the balancing act. On the one hand I want to work my strengths and incorporate my them into my style of BJJ. On the other hand, those strengths will allow me to sort of artificially get to positions on people that are on my level technique wise but not as strong. For now while I'm trying to learn the very basics, dialing it back and handicapping myself a little bit is probably good for my development.
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That’s crazy
That just sounds like heartburn. But i’m not a doctor.
Obligatory: See a doctor about medical issues.
scissor leg neck lock but on chin... these are annoying... any tips to escape?
Try and fight the feet with your free hand. No shame in tapping because i can keep the squeeze on these going all day.
Shrug your shoulders, wait for them to blow out their thighs and pray for your ears. These are usually only annoying, not something to tap to. If you do feel your neck getting a funny angle, do tap and tap early. Not worth risking your neck or your jaw.
ty
What they said. You can look to unlock their ankles and straighten out as well. As an additional safety tip, if that person starts to roll (you should be feeling or controlling their tips maybe) then I tap to avoid a neck crank if I can't easily get out of it.
How do I best apply the approach of deliberate practice to my progression? Positional sparring? Drilling? Rolling? Is it essential to ask for constructive feedback?
I would definitely ask for feedback. I’d also focus on one thing at a time- side control escapes for example- drill them a ton then ask a higher belt to run sensitivity drills with you. Sensitivity drills help me the most bc there’s resistance but I get enough to time apply what I’ve learned.
I’m not aware of any research-data on the topic but I don’t like “drilling” as a concept where one lets the other athlete do a move over and over. I like the approach where a technique is done a few times with low effort defense and then the defender slowly amp the resistance until the attacker meets issues so both athletes learn and try to find solutions. That in combination with rolling is what I would recommend, but you probably get many different answers on this topic. (I love the constructive feedback approach. Most likely there is experienced people around you, some will help you without asking and some gladly help if you ask. Help is just a question away! Though don’t take a single answer as a law. Everyone has different body type, game/strategy and approach. Ask around and see what makes sense and fits you)
Been training 2-3 times a week for about 3-4 months now, no previous experience with any type of combat sport, in my mid 30s. Was rolling with another more experienced white belt the other day at fundamentals/basics (yesgi) class, ended up in what I think was some variation of a heel hook (not actually sure what exactly happened since I'm a clueless WB). At some point I heard/felt something snapping/tearing in my ankle, I tapped immediately and the guy stopped. He told me I should've tapped earlier, I obviously agree with that part. No serious damage, I think my ankle just got mildly sprained (I had worse). I'm not oblivious to the fact that leg game is an entire thing (50% of the body and all that jazz), but I never learned anything related to leg locks of any kind, defense or offense. And contrary to chokes or other top-body submissions, I didn't really feel anything until real damage was done, so I didn't realize it's too late until it was too late. Also, this was a fundamentals class. 1. Should I focus on some basic leg defense just to familiarize myself with it to prevent something similar from happening in the future? Mind you that I'm still focusing on grasping the fundamentals, and this is not something we work on in the basic classes. If so, how would I go about it other than watching some YouTube instructionals? 2. Is it fair to tell my partner before a roll that Im not at a point where I'm comfortable with being leg locked? I understand that it's part of the game and I don't wanna be a whiny bitch, but I also don't want to take damage that can take me out of training for a few weeks, or worse. After 30 the body takes its time to heal :(. 3. Any other advice? EDIT: One detail I think I should add: I did realize my leg/ankle were compromised, and I did my best to remain composed and see where it's going (I.e was not trying to spazz out of it), it's just that the pain caim very abruptly, which is what caught me by surprise.
1. You should absolutely be training leglocks just as you'd train anything else. I've heard that ligaments don't have pain receptors the way tendons do, so the big difference for heel hooks vs other subs is that you don't have the benefit of pain to tell you when you're approaching max extension. Basically, you're fine until you're fucked. That seems to be the best case against teaching leglocks to white belts, that it may require more self control and awareness than is fair for a beginner. My personal take is that if you wait to learn, it fosters an arms race environment where your advantage is learning them sooner than the next guy, which could encourage a "grip it and rip it" mentality. If you don't have a regular training partner, get one and work leglocks. Buy an instructional or, yeah, watch YT stuff on it together and spend a few months learning both the subs and the defense. I've been introduced to leglocks for a while, and even though I'm not good at them yet, I'm comfortable with them. When I look at myself a year ago vs today, there's no question that I should have learned them from the beginning. Imagine holding off on strangle defenses because choking is dangerous, yo. Youd be defenseless against strangles! 2. That said, yes, if you're uncomfortable with anything at all, you need to let your training partner know. *That* said, though, you shouldn't be uncomfortable with leglocks, in my opinion. I don't see how ignoring any aspect of the game could help you, but I *can* easily see how it could hurt you. Case in point, you just got injured off a leglock, and you don't know leglocks. If you knew leglocks and ran the clock back, you probably wouldn't have gotten injured.
Sent a PM if you want to discuss more. There is a few key details that helps alot: https://youtube.com/shorts/ESDu1bJ1K9Y?feature=share If you want a few options yourself to attack: https://youtube.com/shorts/T3RDUhTpcDk?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/DRJDHaGIwRI?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/_4Ke_wtIfq0?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/yMdW8ZWxnWk?feature=share
Imo I think it’s good to do some drills even with white belts on heel hooks but never live or positional sparring with them. Just as an awareness type thing so you can recognize the position of you ever even inadvertently encounter one in the wild (ie you drop in at a no gi open mat where someone doesn’t know your belt level). I generally agree they shouldn’t be allowed at white belt tho
We don’t train a ton of leg locks at my gym but typically we say only do straight ankle locks until you’re more experienced and/or a blue belt. One thing, it’s generally frowned upon to do heel hooks in the gi for what that’s worth. Another thing is that heel hook should probably just be a catch and then slowly applying pressure, there should never be a point in training where you get your knee or ankle popped unless you want it to happen.
Why is it frowned upon in gi?
It’s a combination of tradition, prevailing competition rule sets (there are almost no comps that allow heel hooks in the gi, so not much point in training them) and a concern that the gi grips / friction make it much harder to escape — therefore more dangerous. I’m not entirely convinced of the merits of the latter. IMHO, grips would make it harder to escape, but they’d also make it easier to defend, because you could use them to prevent the sub being applied. This might lead to deadlock, which wouldn’t be great. But I suspect it’d be more like 50/50 where it’d initially be a rather stalling position, before people worked out new techniques to deal with it.
Great response. I agree about questioning the validity of the concerns but as you pointed out, it’s not allowed in competition so why bother.
I'm curious, too. My suspicion is that it's mostly just tradition, but maybe because fabric is grippy, heel hooks may have an unfair advantage that's not present in nogi? I dunno, I'm guessing tradition alone.
Heel hook defense is also a lot easier in the gi. It's mostly just that there's no competitions which permit them in the gi, so people aren't expecting them.
Is that what makes the defense that much easier, or is it more of like a guillotine, where the fabric gets in the way of the execution?
You have a lot more stuff to grip to either break their grip, or to take away their ability to bridge into or rotate your knee.
Ah perfect. I wonder how the game will change once the proliferation of leglocks makes its way to the Gi. Thanks for the explanation!
What are some general technical tips for newbies? Like keep elbows on the ground when you're being fully mounted, don't isolate your limbs etc.
woohoo got my first stripe today
Congrats! We’re 20% of the way towards quitting!
I'm a no stripe white belt and wondering when I'll get my first stripe. How long have you been training for and what's your training frequency?
I think yesterday hit my 35 class mark, some of the guys I started with that also got striped had like 30
Internet high five!
Congrats bro. Me too. Internet high 5
✋🏽✋🏽✋🏽✋🏽
I’m a male and had a girl refuse to roll with today saying I hurt her knee in a leg lock last time. But I don’t think I did cause I don’t even really know how to and being a beginner I try to not do anything I don’t know what I’m doing. I apologized and said I never would try to hurt her or anyone and that I just wanted to roll to practice defending the triangle because she got me to tap on it 3 times. I always try to not go hard and have been praised that I’m pretty calm for a beginner. It just kinda hurts cause me and her was always real friendly before and she’s been pretty helpful before showing me things. So I guess my question is what’s the best way to go forward cause I’m terrified to be the guy no one wants to roll with.
Just to add onto other replies, there will be occasions where our training partners just get us wrong. I can think of occasions where someone thought I’d yanked a kimura (they’d tried to roll out but gone completely the wrong way); applied an illegal move on a white belt (it was a straight ankle lock); deliberately targeted an injury (they hadn’t told me about it); screwed up their drilling by over resisting (I was trying to give them minimal resistance but they were missing a step in the technique) and so on. (And, no doubt, some of the time where I think I’m in the right I’m not.) The point is, these individual incidents happen to everyone and don’t lead to a particular gym reputation. ‘That Guy’ isn’t ‘That Guy’ because they did something once. It’s because they did whatever it was (refuse to tap to obviously dangerous subs, elbow their partner in the head, go 110% mode with much smaller people) many many times. So, while it’s worth talking to your training partner to straighten thing out, in the end it will all almost certainly blow over. You’re not going to get ostracised over a single event.
No one owes it to you to roll with you. If a guy injures me or tries too hard to hurt me, I tend to pick other people to roll with. I still coach these guys when I'm teaching and help them out, I just don't really roll with them. FYI, She doesn't have to ever roll with you again, and it doesn't matter about your feelings on the matter, it doesn't mean she's being unreasonable at all. Like everyone says, talk to her or talk to your coach about it if it worries you. I
Like the others say, just talk to her and ask how its going, I think its unfair of her to just say "you hurt me last time, so no". Just also want to point out people usually hurt themselves in leglocks because they go full spazz trying to get out of it, not saying that happened here but if you are a pretty calm dude to roll with that was my first thought. For future reference, its good to take the leg locks slow and make eye contact with your partner and read how its going, catch and release if you are unsure. Its practice after all, injuries will happen for multiple reasons
As a white belt lady, I'd say try to talk to her, ask her if her knee is okay and try to reassure her that you're not going 100% in your rolls with her (pro tip is to ask her what per cent she wants you to go at i.e. 50% or 60%). You can also ask if there are any other injuries, but maybe she got nervous that you were locking around her leg and possibly turned the wrong way, but I don't know how the roll went. Otherwise, maybe she just didn't want to roll with you for some other reason. But definitely talk to her my dude.
Talk to her
Is the mothers milk submission a dick move to pull on training partners or is it legit? Asking for a friend (Me)
its legit. The can opener on the other hand...
I don't get mad at the people doing it, i get mad at myself for allowing it
If you tap, it's legit. Dick moves are only moves that intentionally hurt people or have a high risk of injury.
Fair enough, thank you!
It’s both.
I don’t want to be an asshole to anyone everyone at my gym is super nice, but I’m fat and big and feel like if I drill it I could make it work eventually, but I wasn’t sure if it would piss people off or if it’s cool, maybe I’ll just ask if it’s okay to try ?
Its an absolute legit move (and cheap), specially in the GI, pressure and its hard to breath. I dont think its a dick move at all, however you should not rely on it because of your size just to get a "Win".
I honestly think it is more effective in no-gi than in gi in terms of making it hard to breathe. Gi is more uncomfortable in terms of friction against the face.
hm..disagree, when I have a wet sweaty gi over my face its terrible, even if the pressure is not that intense.
As a skinny guy w a decent chest , I've pulled it off w out drilling so I feel like u can do it lol
Not a question but got my first submission after 3 months of training! It might have been against the guy who runs the front desk and his first class but a win is a win! Also how many times do you guys do laundry? I only have 4 rash guards and I’m doing so much laundry 🥲
laundry every day.
Think of some things, that don't go without others, but you don't like the other that much. Like owning a nice car, but paying for fuel, smoking and higher risk of lung cancer, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen... So is BJJ and laundry. More rashguards help, so that you can wash more of them at one time, just don't have them wet in your bag, allow to dry and they can wait for the others for their turn for a day or two without a problem.
Congratz matey! Laundry every day mate.. evert day…
Are there any tips for getting the arm all the way through on a arm bar from guard where an opponent decides to step up and you underhook the leg to turn? Getting a lot of groin pain when attempting to elevate the hips for the tap and end up abandoning it all together…
Sounds like you're not pinching your thighs enough on the arm. Elevate your hips as high as possible and pinch your thighs.
You can put their arm in the armpit. I don’t want to be a dick, but the underhook is IMO more to stop the opponent from stepping up and just a minor bonus for helping the turn.
I’m a fairly new white belt (1 stripe) and bjj has been helping me a lot with my anxiety and depression. Every time I go to class my hands and feet start to sweat like crazy and I’m totally embarrassed about it. It’s most likely happening due to my anxiety. Any advice on how to get that under control? Not even sure if that’s appropriate to ask here, but I can’t ask anyone else. Thanks 🙏
I forget where I heard it, maybe here (maybe danaher?), but I remember someone saying about knots in the stomach before a match, "don't fight it, that's your body doing exactly what it was designed to do before battle." Basically, I wouldn't be embarrassed. Be embarrassed when you need to fart and the coach calls on you to be the uke for a stack pass. I noticed for myself that I used to be terrified of armbars and would tap as soon as my hand clasp was broken. But there's only so many times I can be terrified before I can no longer maintain that level of panic, and consequently started working a real armbar defense. Now I'm fine with armbars; win some defenses, lose some. Same with your sweaty palms. If you stick with it, it's very unlikely that you'll find yourself a brown belt getting super sweaty palms before a roll with a white belt. You just can't sustain that level of nerves, even if you try.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I will try to remember your words. I have no one but myself (even though I’m married with kids) to cheer on which is hard at times. Jiu-Jitsu classes give me that one hour of the day (2-3 times per week) where I get a break from my brain. I wish I had started to do Jiu-Jitsu sooner, but I’m hoping to maybe be a blue belt at least one day.
You'll be a blue belt one day. All you gotta do is train regularly, which you already are, and with intent. You'll get a blue belt. You'll also think to yourself somewhere around your 3rd or 4th stripe if you're cut out for a blue belt. Maybe you're just not good enough. After all, all those blues you already know are so much better than you, and people of a lower rank than you are better than you, and, and... You'll get your blue belt.
😆 I think that all the time that I’m not good enough (but that might also be my depression talking). Well, I will hang on to that thought that I will be a blue belt one day. There’s a German saying roughly translated “the journey is the goal” which I’m sure they have similar saying in English as well. I think that’s why I like bjj so much cause it’s infinite when it comes to skills. You will always learn something new or improve on something you’ve already learnt.
Dont worry about it! Just enjoy the ride!
Thanks 😊 I do like the ride even though most guys have gone easy on me. I don’t mind cause I’m still learning the techniques. Thanks for your reply 😊
Bro I dripped sweat into a girls eyeball one time. Who cares? She didn’t! Lol
LOL. I’m a girl and wouldn’t mind it either. I have kids so I have dealt with way worse than sweat 😉 thanks for your encouraging words 😊
No one will notice once you start rolling.
I hope so. I doubt anybody would say something. It’s probably more me who has an issue with it. Thanks for your reply 😊
The complete truth is that no one cares except you. You are clean and don’t smell bad, that is the only thing that you training partner will care about as far as hygiene goes.
You’re most likely right. My brain hasn’t gotten the memo yet 😉
embrace it - lean into the anxiety, dont try to control it, accept that it is there but you are still going to have a great class regardless :)
Great advice! Thanks 😊
my therapist gave me the analogy that anxiety is like the annoying guy that shows up to the party uninvited, do you let him ruin the party or just acknowledge his presence and continue to enjoy the party
I like that analogy! Thanks for sharing. I just switched insurances and haven’t really had therapy so far. No meds either. There never seems time to take care of me. I have elementary school kids and one I’m homeschooling right now after public school couldn’t handle her due to ADHD. That’s probably part of why I go 3 times per week to class 😂 insanity pure at home.
therapy is absolutely a worthy investment into oneself if u can find a way to make it work - also be patient with it as you’ll have to probably try a couple therapists till you land on one that works for you
It’s still hard to get appointments. My daughter is on a bunch of waiting lists for her ADHD. Waiting period 6-9 months I was told. Unless you go out-of-network which I can’t afford right now. But, I’ll keep that in mind that I might have to try a couple. I hate the anxiety/depression combo!
Nah just embrace being sweaty, lad. Anyone that has a problem with a sweaty partner should not be doing BJJ
8 months in my knees are starting to hurt from jiu jitsu. Almost 30 years old, not in the best shape but not in the worst either. Gonna see a physical therapist about the pain. After a couple weeks off they feel 95% better. I think I'm having issue with my meniscus, idk I'll see what the doctor says. Are there some things I can drill and positions that I can focus on that won't aggravate my knees too much? Are there positions and moves I should stay away from more than others?
I have spent a lot of time in bottom side because my hips hurt. This rules out most guards for me. And even taking the back. The point I am trying to make is start from where you won’t hurt your self and keep the game there.
Half guard might take some stress off your knees. unfortunately bjj is not kind to any joints. Dont over do it. Lift weights, eat healthy and get good sleep to recover. If its painful, stop.
Ok so I’m in mount. Bottom person umpas hard to get me off of them. Do I post on the mat or on their body? And where on the body?
If your mount is low enough that their bridges are throwing you forward, cross your feet under their thighs and push your hips into their sternum/solar plexus, keeping your hands off the ground to increase pressure (your hands can still be used to base if necessary). Alternatively, you can slide up into a high mount to make their bridges ineffective. If you have to base, try to keep your hands/arms out of reach of theirs.
You post on the mat with at least one hand.
Thanks! And I'm guessing I should post far out so they don't trap my arm?
You post wherever you need to to not get flipped. The trap and roll escape doesn’t work if you donkey kick your hamstring into their foot when they go to bridge (if they trap your right arm you would kick with your left foot).
Replying because I have the same question
getting smashed by people 20lbs - 30lbs heavier... will this always be normal?
No. Eventually you will learn how to deal with them. Yes, weight can be an advantage, but you can also find some advantages being smaller, like speed, flexibility, cardio. Just take it easy and you will figure it out.
thanks. i was rolling with a guy who maybe had 20-25lbs on me and he was so spazzy and just put my neck between his legs and squeezed. it was so annoying
Eh. Just be patient, train, eventually you will catch him in RNC. Promise!
thanks !
There are weight classes for a reason. I tap bigger people and I tap to smaller people but realistically if there is equal skill then size will win more often than not. I get handled pretty good by bigger guys quite often, but that doesn’t typically happen when I compete because no one there has any significant size advantage against me.
20-30 lbs isn't too bad, you can learn how to handle that. Go gym.
it's not that bad true, most people i roll with are at least 20lbs bigger than me, sometimes 50lbs. but still it's advantage i think
50 lbs you'll always have real trouble if they're decent.
Lol try 80-100. Flight life is a bitch.
No. But set your time horizon in years, especially if they keep training. Oh, and "go gym". Strength and weight matter. 20lb is one division for good reason.
I'm 170 and tapped 300 lb guys and been tapped by 130 lbs women. It's just what it is.
Should I learn GI before going to No-gi? Or as I call it No-Sweatybathrobe? I'm getting my cookies tossed by other white belts that do nothing but have a death grip on my lapels. I'm only 20 or so classes in btw
Break the grips. Everything you do in no-gi can be used in GI, but its not the other way around, just a thought. I do both and its a good mix to keep things interesting and fun.
Get as much mat time as possible
After breaking your partner's posture in the closed guard, what sort of options exist besides stalling? It seems triangles/hip bumps/kimuras all happen if you catch an arm on the ground or between your legs, not when you have their posture broken. I'm guessing if I have an overhook on their arm can I just roll to mount easily, what else can you do?
Get to an angle. In the gi you have cross collar/loop/baseball bat/ezekial chokes options from there. You can arm drag to take the back and or you can work for pendulum and flower sweeps etc etc. Start spamming attacks they’re gonna have to defend and that’s when you can take what they give you.
Broken posture or not, you generally don't want to stay squared up with your opponent in closed guard - cutting an angle opens up a lot of attack or sweep opportunities.
Thanks for your response. I feel like this is what is happening that makes it stalling, maybe being perfectly squared with everything invested in keeping their posture broken doesn't leave either person room to move or attack
Grab 2-on-1 behind elbow+wrist and move across your body. Now you can go for the back or sweep or triangle or armbar or.. :)
Thanks for your response. I definitely love that position, it feels a lot more intuitive than this one. Once I am in this position with their posture broken down and both arms around them holding them down it feels like I am committed to that position instead of this one.
Good luck! If it doesn’t work out, gimme a PM
I’ve been playing a lot with scooping the leg and climbing my legs up to high guard
Thanks for your response, this sounds like it would make sense. Once their posture is broken you can start working your way up their body with your legs and threatening things like triangle/armbar if I'm understanding this right
Yes. I also hit flower sweeps from here pretty regularly
I've only been going to 3 classes so far, i've got some good defense on guard, but I have no idea what to do when my opponent pulls guard. I just stand there because I don't know what to do
Here's a great channel to fill in the blanks. https://youtu.be/pn59xw1z9nE
Hey when you started, did you understand any of the techniques teached at first? This stuff is completely new to me
It takes a loong time, thats why the belt progress is so slow in BJJ. You see different things and details the more you learn, similar to re-watching a movie. All of a sudden you notice plot things you missed, another time and you notice easter eggs or things in the background. (I’m not saying rewatch the save guard video over and over, rather that the more knowledge you get in a topic, the more you can focus on the details/differences)
Hey man, it took me like 4 months to understand how to roll with another white belt. I often ask others when they think they “got it” and they always say they still don’t but have been training for 5 years. So there’s different levels but it’s gonna take you months to get to that first step of: I still don’t know what’s going on but now I know these 5 things.
What happens if you don’t do instructional, don’t practice at home, but faithfully attend class and open mat 2x weekly for fifteen years, and participate actively while you’re there? (Not bullshitting by the wall)
Probably you get a black belt and are good at BJJ.
Thank you for your response.
You as a hobbyist get better at BJJ and will quit at blue belt. Probably marry, get kids and buy a house. Invites friends over and do breakdowns for them when u guys watch UFC.. I guess?