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As a new guy, it’s not my body type that’s the problem. That’s like saying the reason a 1st grader can’t do physics is because his feet are too big. Occasionally a 1st grader does physics, but it ain’t you. Are both your parents athletes? Are you qualifying for state tournaments in multiple other sports? Then it ain’t you. Go to class. If you are a unicorn, everyone will know within a week. Go to class and they will see. If you’re fat, go to class. Learn 4-5 moves that you don’t think are for you. Use move #3 and you may find yourself in an easy position to execute moves #2 or #5.

I remember showing up for class. Spend first 15 minutes with the warmups. Last 10 minutes is also warmup. Then you have some conditioning. Also plenty of “free rolling”. What is the point of white belt free rolling ? They don’t know how to do anything? Is it’s just for them to be practice fodder? I learned the one technique of the day. Some kind of clock choke. Didn’t understand it at all much less how to integrate it into real practice. I had so many classes that had me walk away without even one small piece of improvement.

Offensive takedowns and overall bottom guard. My strengths are passing, escapes, and general defense. Offense is non existent say for an arm bar or cross collar choke.

I guess I'm a short thick but then you said 160lbs...and I'm 205lbs...so maybe I'm short and grossly thick.

I’m 6’5 and when I started bjj around 6 years ago I was about 190lbs. Being taller and lanky I focused on playing guard and developing good triangles, arm bars, omoplatas etc. I’m about 220lbs now and that extra muscle certainly has helped my takedown and pinning ability. I have continued to develop my guard and it’s still probably the strongest part of my game, but I’ve found myself hitting north south kimuras as much or more than triangles off my back. Developing strength and muscle mass is never a bad thing unless you get to the point where you’re sacrificing a large degree of endurance and/or flexibility.

Me who's already a blue belt just watchin this to see if i even make the cut

I think I am struggling, or my coaches don't like me, I started Bjj 2022, and I have 2 stripes, I have won all of my matches since 2022, I'm 13-0 with 5 gold medals from tournaments in smooth comp. I did my first mma fight, and won that too. I see other guys at my gym who never won gold, and I can beat easily both, bigger and smaller sized guys as I am 6'4' 200 lbs, and these guys got their blue belts before me, I also tapped my coach as well purple belts regularly with leg locks as well as arm bars and RNC's. Yet I don't even get a third stripe or told what I am lacking in order to level up, because I want to compete against blue belts now. White belt is too easy for me.

Damn, my gym requires 60 sessions per stripe. So 300 training sessions to even be eligible for a blue belt lol.

I was out of shape and overweight but still going to class 3-4 times a week till I got my blue belt. Due to life circumstances I needed to take a step back from bjj for a while and during that time I focused on weightlifting and losing body fat. Now that I've come back to jujitsu with more athleticism, my performance on the mats has jumped considerably despite the time away from direct bjj skills development. It's not just the added strength benefits either but also the ability to execute techniques I already know better due to not being physically exhausted and weighed down.

55 year old 3 stripe white belt. Two biggest issues are my cardio when rolling and recovery after a session. From a cardio standpoint I’m limited because I have heart disease and need to keep my heart rate below a certain level. I can’t just push through like the younger guys as much as I want to. And as far as recovery goes it just takes me longer. End of story. I want to train more but my body says no. Any advice would be appreciated.

51 here. Grizzled and seasoned on the mat. My first 2 years white to blue, I relied on my wrestling and physical and S&C capacities. Twas only a matter of time before the purples would catch up to me and submit me. Then, I met this high level elite blue belt instructor who introduced me to defense. My strength vs him was nothing even though he was smaller than me. My frustration today is we have a young purple belt whose game is relying on haymaker speed, going ham on explosivness and yanking, jerking and poping his submissions. Worst, he got his purple cause he spent a few years living with a BJJ black belt instructor, that helps a lot. Dont mean to judge the guy but as he joined our school he was already purple, but giving the opportunity to begin with us, he would have never become purple in the first, I swear. Our standards arent just speed, explosiveness and athleticism. I use my physical asset (former powerfliter), only when necessary, cause power can enhance techs, but it can alter and deteriorates your moves a lot too. I guess I'M jealous of the few purples in our club who were crowned purples, almost y the grace of God, so to speak (figure of speech). Some are lucky to have been promoted cause they were at the right place, at the right time, and that sucks a lot. Nough venting. MY game is now focus on earning all the leverage points, all the pressure, all the timing, etc, etc I can manged to develop. So far, works very well, I can hang with purples, even though I'm just a decent blue.

I’m that 40 year old hobbiest

Physical attributes....i think best not to rely on it at least as a beginner.

Great video!

Do you rely more on your physical assets more than you should?

“Maybe next time you’ll estimate me…” - Michael Scott

Yes. It is hard...and complez

Yeah. At the school I train at it can take 12+ yrs

I’m still in deep, 2.5 years now. 41 yo, three kids, desk/wfh job, still manage to train 5-6 days a week. It takes a LONG time because there are so many variations to enter, counter, attack, defend, all dependent upon what the other person does. And to the drilling naysayers, in the heat of the moment we fall back on what we drilled the most. At a recent JJWL comp I reached back for an out side heel hook in the gi.. dude left it wide open, at blue level no less! whoops. Caught myself before the illegal attack, but I did it completely without thinking. People see sports icons like Ryan, Ruotolo Bros, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jordan, etc and don’t want to put in the time it takes to achieve pro athlete greatness.

I haven’t even watched the video but embrace the suck. BJJ is the most rewarding task most people can undertake in everyday life. Not here for belts, not here for stripes. Just make some friends and enjoy the struggle because that’s half the battle

Intention is huge! Made huge improvements focusing my attention on certain areas even if it loses me rounds and positions. I don’t think drilling is as important though, more so repping those techniques against more and more resistance. No one is ever non-resistant in a match, so no two armlocks are the same. I have way more aha moments at gyms that don’t drill and do more positional rounds, and more trial/error/problem solving. It’s difficult to coach and setup classes like that though, when traveling I notice most coaches do a warmup and then explain every detail they know about a technique, static drill then spar. Rather than setting up scenarios for the student to figure out the details on their own

I just hit 8 months of training and I'm still having a lots of fun. But I have seen a lot of people come and go in the short period.

Excellent video You must be patient and understand it’s extremely layered

I ate some fingers and now I’m the goat.

I also feel like there are “hidden” skills in Jiu Jitsu. Anticipation, timing, weight distribution, pressure, etc. Those can’t be taught in a few months. More mat time 🤷‍♂️🤙🤙

It’s because the instructors suck and you spend too much time drilling. Jiu jitsu is not complex, it’s poorly taught, it’s not deep. It’s not complex.

Taking a concept from another field. To make something a habit, on avg you have to spend 2 to 3 months performing that habit. So, taking this into jiu jitsu, you might want to focus on performing good habits by practicing great fundamentals positions for around the same time. For example, I'll do positional training of rear mount for a month, but the focus will be to get a triangle. Then , next month, I'll switch the position but keep practicing the submission.

I’ve been training for about 10 months now, logged … back of napkin calculation … 110-120 training sessions. I’m still working towards my second stripe and on your competency map I think I’m confident in maybe 10-15 %. I don’t think 200 hours is going to get me there, is all I’m saying. But hey, I’m having a great time and I don’t really care about external validation anyway :-) Anyway that breakdown on what I should try to get basic competency in is really good. I paused the video and took notes. So thanks!

John who?

You are so right! I’m progressing faster when I don’t focus on speed and variety, and instead focus on perfecting each step involved in one thing at a time. 🎉

This is great advice for a beginner! Thank you.

90% of white belts quit within 3 months. Why. Injuries. And it's just not fun. What are you going to do with it - Go out and pick fights to prove how tough you are.

The issue is that not everyone is great at all positions Most good bjj practioners are very good at a small number of techniques and then incorporate into their own game , And then make it work at comps trying to learn everything is very difficult

All great things take time. Jiu Jitsu, investment, worthwhile relationships. We live in a society where everyone wants instant gratification. There are strategies to accelerate results, of course ... but keeping the focus on 'getting good' - is taking that focus away from where it should be.

Interesting. Last December you, me, and a Team group had this meeting to draw a chart board. Very helpful. I remember writing a note on 10 about my stuff to improve. Among those, guard retention was one of my main holes. I had a 2/10. I delayed this aspect for months, and here we are in July. I've recently begun drilling and rolling with a guard retention focus, and I would now give myself a 7/10. But if I extend it to a few more months, I'll probably reach a decent sound 9. Your approach really helps me to see the broad picture cause we, yes we, even us grizzled seasoned grapplers, tend to have tunnel vision and suffer from myopia by not seeing our holes all the time. Thank you again.

1) Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Jiu jitsu is made more complex than necessary. 2)Drilling isn't an effective means of learning to move. You need many repetitions but specific technique repetition ignores an ever changing environment. This is why the weight lifting analogy is flawed. The optimal pattern of a specific lifting movement for your body doesn't change. This is not the case with jiu jitsu. The environment (opponent) is constantly changing. Different opponents are different sizes with different attributes. They also move and adapt in real time with varying resistance. Not analogous at all. 3)This is definitely solid. People need to take more responsibility for themselves. Coaches can help by simplifying all aspects of BJJ. Though I disagree on two of three, solid, well filmed video. Enjoyable watch.

Poor coaching methodology based almost entirely on traditionalism and not science. Now I'll see your answers.

Excellent Sir. 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤

I dont care about belts . I didnt want to do any kind of Gi training but the couch is like you wont be able to advance if I dont . I said so what . I just want to workout and become a better ground fighter . Its not like Im gonna do tournaments. I really have no intrest at any level to do so . I like striking arts more . I figured I do one year of hybrid kickboxing with a year of BJJ . Get in better shape and transfer into a MMA gym . Its strictly for self-offense . Mabe I'll catch on and like it . But I really have no interest for making this my go-to art . Really its boring to watch, well for me that is . Its like golf . Its not fun unless your playing .

Good video, I feel a little sad watching this, I've been training for 9 months, mostly about 6 times a week, 3 No Gi sessions and 3 Gi, just two weeks ago the club gave me a stripe. With all that work, I only got one white belt stripe to show for it. But, it doesn't discourage me, I've learned so much that now on many occasions I submit blue belts and I rarely, rarely get subbed by blue belts. I confidently do rounds with purple belts, they submit me most of the times of course but I also often survive. I guess I am glad I have learned a lot but in terms of the blue belt, I am starting to feel like the club forgot me, I either go to another school or it will take like 4 years at this rate 🥲

Im 39. 3 years at white belt( moving to new country and new gym) 2 years at Blue ,will get my Purple in the upcoming week.

My mind is clouded. My confidence is gone.

Video starts at 2:46

Yes you shoukd have an enforcer but it shouldnt be clear who it is and only called to enforce if someone is bullying or abusing other members.

I got my blue after a little less than 2 years (22 months) , then I have been a blue for 4,5 years now. :) I train inconsistent due to my wife is under cancer treatment , I had a knee surgery and we moved to a different place in 2023 too. I did my comeback in February and so far I have been trying to maintain the 3 sessions per week. I am not in rush however I feel my progress stopped totally. especially since in my new club there are a lot of competitive 20 year old wannabe MMA fighters and I am talentless crap compared to them . :)

As a 3 month in white belt, I thank you for this sir!

I did my comeback in February. I started my BJJ journey in 2017 November, and I am still a blue belt. I skipped almost two years due to a knee surgery, after the recovery after I felt that it’s simply not worth it at my age… However I do miss the grappling. Now I m over 40 but I attend at least 3 classes per week, however I still afraid to go back to no-gi (where I got my knee wrecked thanks for a wannabe MMA fighter ). It was realy hard to start again. Guys who just started at that time when I got injured now tapped me… well I won’t gonna sugarcoat it: I even got tapped by some talented white belt. It’s an interesting how hard I am trying to defeat my own ego.

Question for you, we're having issues with retaining our white belts and trying to figure out in what ways we can keep our white belts coming back. I really liked the guide here and we want to try and have more direction and aid for our white belts so that they can get to blue belt and continue to train. Wondering what you found successful

Mistaskes

5'9 140lb white belt and having a lot of success against the bigger guys. A few things that have helped me... 1. Try to create space so you can use your speed 2. Attacking with guillotine or darce constantly. Im not even trying to submit with these but they can annoy my opponent and be distracting 3. Try to remain on top whenever possible and focus on position first. With the guys 200+ I wont even go for a real submission attempt until I get the back 4. Have good fitness. I have just enough strength to make the big guys work and I can outlast them with my cardio. Once theyre tired your chances will improve drastically Happy hunting!