You’ve come a long way since walking into the gym and signing up for a jujitsu membership.
Just walking through the doors and deciding that this is something you want to dedicate your time to, is a feat unto itself.
A reminder that most people don’t do jujitsu, most people who do join end up leaving for various reasons, and most people who stay for a bit end up quitting at blue belt. At least that’s what they say.
Just over a week ago I got my fourth stripe on my white belt in Brazilian jujitsu. It means a lot more than the other three stripes.
This fourth stripe I actually feel like I’ve earned it and deserve it. That’s not to say I don’t trust my head instructors judgment, when giving out stripes. I think it has more to do with my lack of self-confidence from when I first started my martial arts journey.
Who knows how long I’ll have my fourth stripe for before I get the coveted blue belt. Then the fun can really start.
How many stripes do you have on your white belt? If you are a higher belt, do you remember what it was like having four stripes on your white belt?
Here are some observations about being a four stripe white belt:
Survival
I’ve had enough white belts and blue belts and the rare purple belt tell me I have good defence.
That’s a wonderful compliment at this stage in my game. That being said, I almost never go for or attempt a submission finish.
The only technique I try for is a head and arm choke from side control or mount.
It works less than fifty percent of the time. I’ll take it, that’s pretty good for me.
Escapes
With survival usually comes escaping. At least that’s what I’ve experienced. Or you’re saved by the buzzer, which is a white belts best friend.
At this stage in my game as a four stripe white belt, escaping from someone taking my back is getting easier. It’s not easy though.
But it’s now not impossible. Escaping from side control is still challenging and I haven’t found my favourite way of escaping that, in no gi it’s a bit easier for some reason. I think because we’re sweatier.
I still get caught in arm bars and triangles. From white belt to higher belts. I must be doing something wrong.
I think that I tend to put my hands out when passing and lean over too much, what can I say I love putting the pressure on when I pass.
It’s the wrestler in me I guess. Gotta keep them arms in.
Mindset
Why keep showing up in the first place?
I like to say I have a white belt mindset. Always eager to learn, being a newbie in an ever growing and evolving martial art.
I bet even higher belts still have that mindset. There were times I really struggled with wanting to keep showing up.
But after I got my third stripe I knew I was on the right track. After getting my fourth stripe I can see the blue belt in my sights.
I still have a long way to go to get there but I am not stopping. Not now when I’m so close.
What do I think blue belt is like?
I feel like being a white belt in bjj is the tutorial in a video game. And the real game hasn’t even started yet until blue belt.
My defence will still be a work in progress but it will be harder for whites and blues to submit me. It will happen but not as much. The higher belts will still destroy me, of course.
At blue belt that’s when I will get my attacking and escaping game going. With a tight defence I can feel comfortable and confident in attempting attack techniques and submissions. Maybe something OTHER than a head and arm choke.
What do YOU think it will be like when YOU get your blue belt?
I signed up for a No Gi AND Gi competition. Round Robin. I’ve never done a No Gi Comp but why the heck not. This will be my third competition ever. I’m currently 0-2 in competing in bjj. I have a good feeling about this next one.
I have to make sure I don’t psych myself out either. Looking at the brackets everyday is not a good idea. Fear can keep people from competing. Fear of embarrassment can keep people from even joining or trying Jiu Jitsu.
Why the heck am I going to train for a martial arts competition at the age of 37? Why would I put my body and mind through that? Am I trying to prove something to myself? Not sure. But I know I want to have fun. And BJJ is fun.
I’m going to train on the mats AND in the gym. I need to be lifting more weights this next seven weeks since I will be in a heavier weight division, 170lbs, I’m currently 160lbs.
I now have a focus and motivation for going to the fitness gym. For years I haven’t been able to make weight-lifting a habit. Hopefully now that I have a goal of actually being competitive this time around it’ll motivate me to keep going to the gym at LEAST three times a week.
I got to say I’m excited about this next competition. I feel my wrestling skills will be more prominent in No Gi since there is no material to grip when hand-fighting and for my stand-up. But when I’m in someone’s closed guard in No Gi, like what the heck do I even grab? In training I sort of grab on to my opponents arms or wrists and try to post on them, is that correct? I’m need to look in to that. No Gi is like a different martial art than Gi.
Anyways, have you tried a free trial jiu jitsu class yet? Try it out!
People have opinions about everything. Jiu jitsu is no exception.
At least the people on BJJ Twitter are far more reasonable and nicer than MMA Twitter. Go see for yourself. You would think people with no fighting experience wouldn’t get so upset about the intricacies of a pay per view bought. I try and stay away from MMA twitter. But I do like interacting with folks from BJJ twitter. At least that group of people share photos of themselves at the gym rolling and sparring, proof that they aren’t arm-chair martial artists.
I recently asked Twitter if BJJ white belts should give advice to other white belts. I got a bunch of replies and they span from Yes to No. And people kept it cordial.
So let’s dive in and see what these jiu jitsu’ers had to say about the question…Should white belts give advice in technique if asked by another white belt?
“You probably want to be careful with that. Maybe end your sentence with “but check with Coach”. 98% of the time that I overhear a white belt advising another student, I cringe. But then again, it’s often the worst students who are the quickest to give advice.”
“This is like the blind leading the blind”
“If it’s the modern day white belt who spends hours a day studying Jiu-Jitsu instructionals from BJJ Fanatics… the answer is hell yes. You’d be shocked at the breath of knowledge of some white belts out there.”
“If they are offering something they understand clearly and the advice is sound… Why not? I believe as a teammate, if your partner is doing something wrong or missing a detail you do know, you should tell them. It’s about collaboration and not ego.”
“If its something basic sure but if its anything complex id say no more often than not they mess up a fundamental part of it”
“Proby depends on experience n technique. I had my first comp after only 3 months of training as a white belt. Naturally newer people would ask for advice when we were paired in training. If it’s basics like grips or fundamentals then go for it I think!”
“Depends on the white belt. Big difference between 6 weeks in and a couple of yrs in. I’d like to think when I was a 4 stripe white belt 3 yrs in I had something to offer in supporting newbies. That said I’d help them with the more fundemental/basic stuff not advanced techniques.”
“As a white belt I do a lot of tip giving. And then we talk to the coach to approve it. We may not have much knowledge. But we also have eyes.”
“Only if said white belt is absolutely sure they understand the technique fully.”
“Well we had few whitebelts who had brown- or blackbelts in judo also. Sure as hell asked them tips for stand up grappling”
“Sure why not. If that person has mastery of the technique. I think people focus too much on what a belt is as opposed to what makes sense from the move. Don’t focus on a belt but focus on proficiency.”
“Nope.”
“I’m a white belt, and I’ll only give advice on what we’re drilling in the moment, and repeat exactly what my Coach has instructed. Even still, I don’t shy away from asking my Coach about specifics, more details. We’re hear to learn, so I soak up as much information as I can.”
“I give feedback on what I feel (is it tight, does it feel off balance) by saying and showing, but the only time I talk about technique is to say “I think the instructor said…” I also talk myself through every move out loud when I’m first learning. Guess I’m pretty annoying.”
I think it depends on the situation. If we drill armbars for example it is ok for one student to help another if they figured out something the other student didnt (like in any school class). But I don’t like when a white belt goes in and try to correct people during sparring.
“Nope white belts coaching white belts is like boiling pizza”
“From a submission and form perspective i wouldnt. But if someone is spazzing out and you tell them to relax a little, it can only help them (and prevent you from getting hurt in the meantime)”
“Yes, if they know how to do it with their eyes closed against an unwilling opponent. Maybe, if they kind of know it and say ‘but check with [INSERT instructor / higher rank here] to make sure.’ No, if your spider-sense tells you they’re full of shit. Trust your spider-sense.”
Some great input there. Thanks to those who responded!
So what do I think?
Well as a three stripe white belt myself, I have given advice to other white belts when they ask for it. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I no gi sparred with a new member. After the roll he asked, “So how was that, did I do anything illegal, or do you have any feedback for me?”
I said he had natural athletic ability and he instinctively did some positive movements. I mentioned that he shouldn’t make a habit of sticking his arms out and pushing his opponent when he is mounted, as a higher belt would have put him in an arm bar. He said thanks and we fisted bumped.
White belts have eyes and ears and for the most part listen to their head instructors. I think it’s okay for white belts to give advice to white belts, but to make a habit of referring any detailed technical questions to a higher belt or instructor. Also, in general, white belts should not give advice to higher belts on bjj technique. But, if that white belt is a D1 wrestler, or a black belt in judo, I would definitely hear what they had to say about grappling stand-up.
What do you think, should white belts give advice? Let me know!
“Our Jiu-jitsu game is so personal to us that we take losing personal. We need to approach it more from a scientific approach. You don’t suck, you just haven’t figured out the answer yet. The failures are going to bring you to enough knowing that you can then formulate the answer.”
Jiu Jitsu journal coaching (username)
I was pretty bummed out after my competition loss a couple weeks ago. Haven’t been to the mats since. But hey as long as I show up this week it’s all good. Another chapter in my jiu jitsu story.
“Don’t get hung up on electrical tape [belt stripes] used for student retention. Be content in the feeling of improvement”
-raging cheddar(username)
I’ve benefited a lot from jiu jitsu since starting it just over a year ago. Some weeks I would train almost everyday. I watch grappling matches online, I will tell people they should go to a free trial class, and I often write about my experiences with bjj on this blog and social media. I guess you could say my identity was wrapped around being a person who does jiu jitsu. I have to remind myself that jiu jitsu is a part of me but doesn’t encompass everything about me. So when I lose in a bjj match that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person or that my current bjj skills cannot improve. Most people who compete in jiu jitsu are supposed to lose, so they can get better.
“First at jits, got my ass kicked – the guys surrounded me after class and said “you coming back right?” I said, “yeah, why wouldn’t I” – they said “most people don’t, they can’t handle getting dominated” – you are the few, just remember that #Respect”
-CRYPTOFIT (username)
Losing in a jiu jitsu match and getting your ass kicked in front of a bunch of strangers sucks. I have to remember that no one cares and to make sure to sign up for another competition. Feeling bummed after you lost another BJJ match is normal. Just make sure you show up to class again and not let that loss define who you are. I’ll be back this week.
I like being married. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I remember when I was in my late twenties, riding my bike through a subdivision in my city. And thinking, “I don’t ever want to live in suburbia with a family, I don’t want that life.” I think I even wrote a blog post about it back then. At the time I was biking through suburbia, I was deep into the dating scene. I looked up dating advice online, took it seriously, and applied it. I know, I can hear you laughing through the screen. But the self-improvement aspect of it did improve my overall well-being.
I can’t imagine dating these days. I did the whole swiping-online dating when I was younger. I bet it’s even harder to get dates these days and meet someone you like. Is it?
I’m glad I got married when i did. Not too young, not too old. It was the right time. I remember when my wife asked me to marry her. We had just finished unpacking our travel bags at my parents place on the lake. I was putting something away and turned around and she handed me a few pieces of paper. She was going to read it herself but was overcome with emotion so I read it instead. It was a beautiful letter with a proposal at the end. I did not expect that. I looked up and she was down on one knee with a little box with a ring in it. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Do I want to get married?‘ Nothing came to mind that told me not to, and I was overcome with excitement. “Yes, yes!”
Her hand was shaking when we put on the rings. We hugged and kissed. We were engaged. When I was younger and dating around, I remember telling myself ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get married’ Turns out I was wrong. I’m okay with that.
We got married June 2022. It was a fun reception and wedding. We did it differently. We went to City Hall and got married legally with a judge, then had a reception at ther parents house backyard with her giant Colombian family. There wasn’t even all of them there. There was dancing and food, just what I like. At the end of the month, my immediate family – brother, his wife, my mom and dad – visited and we had a wedding ceremony at my wife’s parents back yard. My Older brother and my wife’s sister were the MCs. It went well.
Being married is good. We enjoy spending time together. And we enjoy doing our own thing without one another. For example, if I’m on the couch writing on my computer, and her on the other couch watching a show, it’s all good. Her family likes me and my family likes her. We’re both lucky.
When I quit drinking and then quit pot, it was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself. Because not only did my quality of life improve but so did my relationships. I’m still working on being a better son, brother, and husband. But not being a degenerate anymore was the right move.
This is getting longer than I thought. I’ll stop here. Let me finish this off with: Get married if you want to. It was a good thing for me. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But before you do you should probably go on a self-improvement binge. It’ll help.
There’s something fun about fighting everyday. It makes me feel alive. Everyone should learn how to fight. Preferably in a controlled, safe, and friendly environment (although not everyone can). To learn a martial art. If you have a friend who does jiu jitsu, they probably wouldn’t shut up about it when they first started. Telling you “You have got to try this!”
There is a meme that refers to white belts getting really excited the first few weeks and months. Spazzy and high energy to the point of injury. Yes that happens and yes I’ve done it. Maybe there was something missing in our lives that the weekly grind of someone trying to choke us and break our limbs is giving us. Let’s dig a little deeper on that, have some fun with that idea of us missing something in our lives that struggling in BJJ (or any martial art) can give us.
Fighting and Flying
When you fight (called ‘sparring’ in jiu jitsu) your body and mind go into Fight or Flight mode. Your body and brain thinks you’re going to die. In a street fight that may actually happen. But in a controlled, safe environment like a bjj gym, your body and mind can’t tell the difference in the moment. They think you’re going to be killed by an attacker. Your body and mind are flooded with chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol. Your pupils dilate. You sweat. Your breathing quickens. Your heart races. Everything about you is telling you to “Get out of there!”
When you start jiu jitsu, one of the first aspects about defence is controlling your breath. If you can slow your breathing down and control your breath when someone has full mount on you or has taken your back and is about to tighten a rear naked choke, your mind can plan your escape. If you’re a higher belt, this reaction becomes immediate (I’m guessing as I’m only a white belt at the moment). Second nature. They’ve been put in this situation so many times their body and mind are used to it. They know how to take care of themselves. Their Fight or Flight mode is tempered, or at the very least, managed to the point that it doesn’t negatively effect their BJJ techniques.
Something is Missing
Fighting and sparring every week is a struggle. Add in the fact that you have three different jobs, dogs to take care of, a relationships to maintain, a car that needs repairing, bills coming due, a family member is sick, etc. Why on earth would you also put your body and mind through jiu jitsu? Because we need struggle in order to know what is important to us. We need the right kind of pain that’s worth enduring. Struggle and pain makes us who we are. Don’t wish to not ever feel pain. Wish to have the right kind of pain.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu inflicts a specific kind of pain. There is the physical toll your body takes from sparring every week. There is the mental weight our mind endures by constantly getting submitted or feeling like you’re not getting any better at the martial art. And there is the spiritual beating we undergo as we wonder why we’re even here in the first place, if we are worth it, and if we made the right decision to put our mind and body through this weekly conflict.
But this type of struggle is exactly what we need. Struggling in BJJ puts life’s other struggles into perspective. If you can endure someone trying to choke you everyday, you can endure those silly problems that come up at work or at home. Maybe what you’re missing is the physical, metal, and spiritual struggle that BJJ can provide.
Struggling in BJJ shows us the right kind of pain we need to endure. Pain is life. Figure out what is worth struggling for. Try jiu jitsu.
Your jiu jitsu rolling tells the story about your bjj journey so far. What you’ve learned, what you’ve forgotten, what you do instinctively, how you control your mind and body, how you breathe, and how you react under pressure of simulated fighting.
Your jiu jitsu journey is a collection of nested stories about what you’ve learned about yourself so far. Nested stories are stories within stories. Your main story is that you joined jiu jitsu and you’re learning techniques for a martial art. But other stories exist within your learning of the techniques.
Because when you learn techniques you’re also learning about: how your body works, how disciplined your are, what your cardio is like, how flexible you are, how you handle loss, how you handle winning, and how to interact with many different types of people. The list could go on and on, but the idea here is that your bjj journey has many stories going on at once. And they all have different paces, beginnings and endings.
Which stories within your epic tale of your jiu jitsu journey will provide the most useful answers for progress?
Maybe the story of the your breathing tells you it needs work to get it under control when rolling. That will help calm your nerves and help you think better in order to make good decisions. Maybe the story of your cardio tells you you need more reps and to show up more often. That will help you to last longer during open mat and sparring sessions. Maybe you need to work on your discipline for showing up to training or sticking with your bjj schedule and not skipping classes.
Think of all these stories combining to make a narrative structure that when read together tell the beautiful adventure of your bjj odyssey.
What is your jiu jitsu story so far and how will you tell it?
When starting jiu jitsu your body often goes into fight or flight when you spar. Will you give up or rise to the occasion and find out what you’re made of? A beautiful representation of the rich duality of life and death. Humanity at its finest. And you get to wear a cool Gi too.
Sparring with someone in jiu jitsu is like trying to figure out a unified theory of everything. How does it (techniques) all fit together? The mats are like a physicists lab. Tinkering with experiments and writing different formulas until you unlock the secrets of the universe. And it’s great for cardio too.
BJJ is an endless flow of techniques that all connect to each other. Like the infinite possibilities of probability of the many-worlds theory. I don’t think you can figure out all the moves in jiu jitsu but why not try? Also, everyone looks good in a rash guard.
You find out who Mikey Musumeci and Gordon Ryan are.
You call out and critique moves when watching UFC and mma fights when they go to the ground.
You start wearing flip flops to the bjj gym.
You get mat burn all the time and it is now a permanent tattoo on your feet.
Your can’t move your fingers in the morning because you were death-grip fighting the night before.
You probably bruised a rib during your first week.
You eventually realize you spend money every month to fight strangers every week and after every class you shake each others hands.
You now hip-escape every time you turn over in your bed.
You question whether signing up was a good decision because you get triangled by teenage orange belts often.
You will think about bjj all the time.
You buy fitness mats made for exercising from Walmart so you can practice moves incorrectly at home with your wife.
You find out that hang-drying your washed gi is better than putting it in the machine dryer.
You discover you are worse at no gi bjj because it’s basically a different martial art.
You find out that not everyone knows what jiu jitsu is and that most people don’t do jiu jitsu but a lot of people do jiu jitsu.
You at least once consider quitting while sitting in your car after an open mat where you got choked out in front of the head instructor while they where telling you how not to get choked.
You accept that minor injuries are now a part of your everyday life.
You keep showing up in spite of the pain, injuries, fear, nervousness, and getting constantly submitted.
First of all, good on you! Definitely a great BJJ goal. I’ve learned competing in BJJ isn’t for everyone and most people who practice Jiu Jitsu don’t compete. So you should be proud that you want to put your body through the competition submission gauntlet.
Being a no stripe white belt when I competed was great for me (May 2022). It focused my training and goals for Jiu Jitsu. I now know I want to compete in this sport. I bet that most people who join and do Jiu Jitsu do it for self defence and exercise, whatever gets them to show up to the mats is cool with me. Also, for my hard work and dedication towards training I received two stripes at once after the competition. I didn’t know someone could get two stripes at once, I was surprised and pumped.
I lost my match 6-0. But survived the five minute round without being submitted, barely. I almost got choked out with a cross collar choke while I was in my opponents closed guard. I got put into a high full mount but then rolled out of it with eight seconds left. I survived my first BJJ match. What a feeling.
For the person who’s never competed and isn’t sure if they want to, here’s what I did for my first comp last May, about 4 weeks before competing:
-created an eating schedule -ate whole foods and cooked meals more often than not -went to every class I could, especially the ones with sparring, picked two attacks, two guard passes, two sweeps to learn -focused on defence more -create realistic goals for my first competition (didn’t care about winning but cared about showing up, making weight, trying my moves, and surviving a round) -found a supportive community of likeminded folks
Creating an Eating Schedule and Eating Healthy
I had help with this. I first did a bit of research and then someone showed me the work of Mike Dolce of the Dolce Diet. I did not do the workouts but instead focused on the nutrition aspect. It is basically eating whole foods, veggies, and fruit – and eating a breakfast, lunch, and dinner with healthy snacks in between. At least that was my simple interpretation on it. And I didn’t follow it exactly. My wife helped a lot with this part of the training. She prepared many meals and snacks for me.
The frequency I ate and portion control (that was hard!) was the main reason I believe I was able to lose the lbs in order to make my weight class. The meal schedule went like this…
-Breakfast at 9am -Snack at 11pm and 1pm -Lunch at 3pm -Dinner at 5pm -Snack at 7pm -Fast for 14 hours until breakfast the next day
I wasn’t perfect with this. If there were days I didn’t eat well I would just fast the next day, which was also challenging.
I messaged my wife just now and asked her what I ate because I forgot:
“Breakfasts was poop well pudding [a pudding my wife made that has lots of fibre – fruit chia seeds, flax seeds and other stuff] Eggs and maybe some veggies Lunch was normally some salad with a meat of beans or legumes Dinner was the same or similar to lunch Snacks was fruit. Peanut butter Bananas Smoothies but just half of one”
Here are some pics of the foods I ate…
Went to Every Class I Could
I go to a Gracie Barra academy. They have GB1, GB2, GB3. GB1 is for fundamentals, GB2 is the advanced class (three stripe white belts or higher), and GB3 for higher belts. However, the academy I go to is real chill and anyone can go to the advanced class. When there is a tournament we are going to, they allow lower belts to go to the GB3 class as they also call it the ‘comp class’ where they do competition specific training. They also have No Gi classes as well. Basically, I went to as many of all of those classes I could that had sparring in it, especially the Open Mats on Saturdays that have a full hour of sparring – 5min rounds then 1min breaks in between for an hour.
At the height of my training I was going Monday to Saturday, 8 hours a week, that happened for about two weeks. It was intense. It was a lot. Maybe too much at one point. But even during all of this I was able to take days off and relax. Besides, Jiu Jitsu is for fun and if I don’t want to go I don’t go. The mats aren’t going anywhere and I’ll be doing this for as long as I’m interested.
Create Realistic Goals
What the heck did I do during all this training? Well whatever was in the GB curriculum we would learn. But for me, since I am a white belt, there can be way too much info coming in and not a lot retained. So what I did was focus on the moves I understood and did well at. And although I didn’t perform all the moves I wanted to during the match, at least I prepared myself in a way that I didn’t overwhelm myself. I came up with a Game Plan. For example, I chose some submissions, escapes, passing guard, my guard, and some takedowns. Often times when it came to sparring I would forget to practice those moves, but again at least I didn’t overwhelm myself or put pressure on myself to have to do all those moves. I had to be realistic, it was my first completion after all.
Winning wasn’t even on my mind. Sure, I did think now and then that ‘wouldn’t it be cool if I won a match or the whole thing?!’ – but I quickly shot that down and focused on my goals. There’s no point in building myself up and creating unrealistic expectations and then end up failing badly and feeling horribly. Once I have more competitions under my belt, I can start to focus on winning matches and tournaments.
Find a Supportive Community
Did you know there is a great BJJ community on Twitter? I have no idea how I found them but I did and they are encouraging and great. I haven’t experienced anything bad from them and have in fact got a good amount of info and perspectives I wouldn’t have got as quickly if I didn’t find them online. For example, I can post a newbie white belt question and have back belts give me their advice or perspective on it, whether the questions are about certain techniques or proper mindsets to have in Jiu Jitsu. I’m glad I found them and encourage you to find a similar group online or in real life if you can.
To sum it up, when it comes to your first BJJ competition – for the Physical aspect go to as many classes as possible and eat well. For the Mental (Mindset) aspect create realistic goals for yourself considering it’s your first competition. If you try these things I mentioned, you’ll at the very least get healthier and have fun. If you have fun then the chances are that you’ll want to compete again, and that will help improve your BJJ game.
That’s me. On the bottom. Surviving.
Is There Anything I Would Have Done Differently?
There are a few things I would have done differently and will work on them next time…
-show up earlier to the comp -warm up for longer at the comp -and not worry so much about losing weight
These are minor things but overall I will follow my BJJ Game Plan pretty much the same for next time.
Overall I had a ton of fun and can’t wait to compete again this year. With my rough training formula of eating well, going to as many classes as I can, and having a few realistic goals – then I should be well prepared for my next competition.
Also, here are some reading resources that I found useful to help me prepare for my first tournament. They go over some technique but mostly mindset and expectations.
There and Back 