At the All Levels Class before Open Mat, we learned guard passing from Headquarters. And then the head instructor showed us a fun technique called the Rotolo roll, named after the (in)famous Rotolo brothers.
Headquarters, or as I like to call it now: HQ or Command Centre or Base of Operations, is now my new favourite guard passing position. It seems safe and it has many options to pass from there. I have to remember to stay flat on my feet instead of on the balls of my feet, because I don’t want to be put off balance.
________
A two stripe blue belt said I got the better of him today, that was a surprise. I rolled well against a seasoned purple belt, he doesn’t talk much but after we rolled I said “amazing job on the Octopus stuff,” he smiled. Another purple belt, a big one, said I had good defence, he also submitted me with a nasty arm bar.
Learned that one of my favourite training partners, who has been out for ten weeks already, will be out for another six months because he injured two discs in his back, I hope he finds his way back to the mats before then and drops in to say hi now and then. I also bid farewell to another fellow blue belt who is moving to the big city.
Life can get busy and shit happens, like injuries, but hopefully we all get to roll again another time.
The All Levels class was fun and the Open Mat after was great. A good combo.
I’m wearing my favourite Gi. A Hayabusa Ultra Lightweight Stealth, colour blue. Always wearing blue.
At the All Levels class, we practiced Octopus Guard. I love this guard.
At open mat, I sparred well with a heavy white belt. He said I had good “little moves”, he said he would like to roll that way some day.
A fellow blue belt said my technique is getting good. That put a smile on my face.
Purple belt I rolled with that is a bit lighter weight than me, seemed slightly gassed after our roll. I think I did good, considering he had amazing technique.
I didn’t get submitted which is a win for me. I think I’m getting better. All signs point to YES.
First 4 minute round is Submission Only, second 4 minute round is for Points. If the competitors are still on tie, move to OT round. If there is still a tie after OT, then fighters will move onto modified EBI overtime
Competitors are not rewarded for farming points
Pulling guard results in a penalty point (unless going straight into a submission)
This is wild. Also no medals and no podium. This feels like an underground tournament to me, sort of like those old Jean Claude Van Damme films where he goes to a secret tournament and kicks butt, and I can’t wait to train and show ‘em what I got.
Thank goodness they have a 160lbs weight division because I didn’t want to drop to 155 or go up to compete at 170.
What is my training regime gonna look like?
Basically train on the mats as much as I can, be safe with it, do some strength training at the fitness gym, and get some time on the treadmill.
I did six hours of jiujitsu last week. I think I can take a few days off. And start going to no-gi and competiton classes next week. I have to be safe and smart with my training. I only know one leg lock: the straight ankle lock. So I can practice entries and finishes for that. And not to mention defending leg locks, which I have no clue how to do other than ‘don’t give them your leg’ but that’s a good start.
I also can’t wait for my new rash guard to show up:
It should arrive just in time for my sub only massacre coming up in June.
Wish me luck 💪
Here’s some AI text-to-image art, using the prompt: “City lights downtown bjj leg locks”
Congratulations! You are now a new BJJ blue belt. I bet you’re thinking, “now what?”
I recently wrote a post where I go into detail about what I am expecting myself to do now that I have a blue belt. You can read that here.
Today I want to share with you a book I am reading. It’s about your jiu jitsu journey and what you should be focusing on now that you are a blue belt, and what you can expect while you move up the belt ranks in BJJ.
Some of you may be thinking “why would I read a book about JiuJitsu instead of watching YouTube videos?“ Well you could watch a bunch of YouTube videos, they certainly do help supplement and expand on techniques you may be learning at your Academy. But to me, the pace and depth of reading a book about jiu jitsu feels more refined and meaningful.
A note before we get into it: listen to your coach or head instructor, they are black belts for a reason, and you should trust their advice and wisdom above all else.
Okay that’s out of the way, let’s dive in!
The book I’ve been reading is called, Jiu Jitsu 201: From Blue to Black and Back to White by Ricardo.
Ricardo is a jiu Jitsu black belt and instructor, a Judo green belt, and an occasional Muay Thai enjoyer. His first book, White Belt Survival Guide, was a great companion for me during my first 6 months as a white belt, as it provided for me a framework for learning the martial art and expectations of what milestones I would go through. I recall the White Belt Survival Guide being way more in-depth than I was expecting, coming in at just under 100 pages. He discusses survival, mindset for training, the jiu jitsu funnel, the ups and downs of going through the white belt grind, and much more.
But today, I want to tell you about his second book. Jiu Jitsu 201 has been another great companion now that I’m a blue belt. I purchased it a day or two after getting promoted.
I’ll share some of the quotes I highlighted from the second book and provide a bit more detail about why I liked it or why I think the quote was important to me.
“For many people, the blue belt is a sobering reminder that you still don’t know much but somehow, you’re expected to be a level above. And though a lot of you may embrace the challenge, plenty of others see this as a major obstacle. They’ll inevitably quit or continue to go through the motions and hope they’ll stumble upon the next step eventually.”
When I was a white belt, I would always look up to the blue belts. I still do, the ones with stripes. They do have an aura of semi-mastery or ‘they know something I don’t and I want what they have.’ Now that I’m a new blue belt, I don’t feel like I have semi-mastery, far from it. It’s funny, when the spell goes away you actually feel like a white belt again, or a white-blue belt.
“You need to keep this in mind: What got you to your blue belt won’t necessarily get you to your purple belt.”
This was a smack to the head when I read that. Sobering. Felt like all the work I’ve already put in was some how for not. But then I realized, it’s not that I stop working on my defence or survival skills, it’s just that I need to make new goals around offence and refining my techniques while perusing my purple belt, at least that’s how I picture it.
“Moving forward, you’re going to find that your issues staying involved in jiu-jitsu for longevity isn’t limited to your training on the mats. Trust me when I tell you that life is going to get in the way of your journey and some people never make it back. You’re going to have to navigate the emotional issues of training, injuries, and challenges with your overall performance. You’re also going to have to deal with lifestyle changes such as diet, sleep and strength and conditioning in order to adopt a healthier lifestyle (if your goal is to be a better-than-mediocre black belt).”
Since quitting booze and pot, my lifestyle has changed for the better. Quitting booze and pot makes me better a jiu jitsu. I can’t imagine being hungover or stoned while rolling on the mats, not for me. I now have to be more focused on training smart and safe, I don’t want to have a serious injury keep me off the mats long enough that I might not come back, that freaks me out. And I’m well aware of the ups and downs that come with training, one week you are rolling great and feel like a brown belt, then the next week you feel like it’s your first training session and you wonder why you even keep doing this and get discouraged to the point of possibly quitting.
Not to mention eating well most of the time – I love chocolate and baked goods, so indulging is fine with me as long as it’s not everyday. Also, BJJ is great, but having a life outside of BJJ helps me put this whole martial arts journey into perspective: it’s just jiu jitsu.
“Regardless of what position you are in, in order to get a submission, you need to isolate a limb. In order to attack effectively, you’ll need to disrupt balance. In order to disrupt balance, you need to establish control. In order to establish control, you’ll need to have dominant grips. And so on.”
This part elaborated more on the “Jiu Jitsu Funnel” as he calls it. I understand the funnel as a sequence of most probable moves that will be used – offence or defence – and to anticipate which one of the moves in the funnel your opponent will attempt.
That way, you can almost ‘be a step or two ahead of them.’ Also, the more I concentrate on what I’m doing while I roll, the sooner I give my opponent time to make their move. But, the more I concentrate on what I am doing next, in the funnel, the less I will eventually have to think about it. It will eventually be ingrained into my mind and body and it will just happen, that’s the idea anyway. So I have to keep putting myself into positions that are hard for me so I can learn to anticipate what will happen next.
“Plenty of people think that getting to the blue belt means they’re all of a sudden advanced, but this isn’t the case. You may be better than most of the average population but, you’re by no means “advanced”. Fundamentals are still king. Now, more than ever, in a more advanced environment, you’ll need your fundamentals to be even more proficient and on point.”
Last Saturday was a great open mat for me. There was a visiting 3 stripe black belt. In between rounds, he put his hand up for someone to roll with, I obliged. After the roll, which I survived, he said I had good escapes, but I didn’t re-grip after escaping so he could just get control position again.
It was a great compliment and it was a heck of a learning experience for me (he sat on my shoulder for most of the roll which had only happened to me one other time when rolling with one of our academy’s black belts). Even though I have my blue belt now I have to remember my fundamentals, for example, if I want to escape a position, say like, side control, I need to create a frame, then create space, then hip escape, then re-guard. Keep it simple and keep it basic.
There are lots more other quotes I highlighted from the book, but these are the ones that first caught my attention. And I actually haven’t finished the book yet but wanted to share it with you as soon as I could because I’ve found lots of value in it so far.
Jiu Jitsu 201 is broken down into six parts :
Part 1 The Paradigm Shift
Part 2 The Principles of Attacking (this one is my favorite so far, just finished this section)
Part 3 The Purple Belt
Part 4 Training and Lifestyle Design
Part 5 Injuries and Advanced Longevity
Part 6 The Road Out of Hell
Jiu jitsu 201 has a simple format and is not difficult to read. I read some of the book and then put it down and thought about a section for a while, then I’d pick up the book again and I’d think about it for a while again. It’s one of those books that you probably shouldn’t read all at once, but really take time to digest sections that matter most to you, and then come back to it when you’re ready.
Like I said at the beginning, listen to your coach or head instructors. They know what’s best for you (unless you’re in a cult), so I would suggest you defer to their wisdom and knowledge, because they are professionals for a reason.
However, Jujitsu 201 is a must have companion, in addition to your coaches wisdom and your weekly training regime, that will help you have the edge against your opponents and will help you on your road to becoming a black belt.
As the story goes, most people don’t do jiujitsu, and people who do end up joining, don’t make it to blue belt. And then once they do make it to blue belt, end up quitting. Why is that? Why do most white belts quit before they get their blue belt or quit when they get their blue belt?
Maybe they quit because they couldn’t stick to a schedule. Maybe they quit because they couldn’t embrace the suck. And maybe they quit because their interest in the sport faded away.
This post is for people who are white belts in Jiu Jitsu and want to know what it takes to get your blue belt. This post is for people who are hobbyists, people who have multiple jobs, families and people to take care of, and that have other hobbies, other than a BJJ.
This is how I became a blue belt in Brazilian jujitsu as a hobbyist…
◦ Attendance
◦ “Embracing the Suck”
◦ Interest
People have been doing jiujitsu for hundreds of years and there’s so many tips and tricks and hacks and advice you can find online.
The following is my perspective that worked for me. Maybe it’ll work for you.
Attendance
Early morning, walking the dogs, then packing your lunch and then heading out the door for work. You worked for a while, get home, and have to walk the dogs again, then shower then pack your gym bag and head to BJJ class. Pulling into the parking lot you barely make it before jiujitsu class starts, you’re out of breath before the warm-up has even begun. Add onto that the fact that you get body slammed, choked and limbs hyper-extended every week. I feel like you and I have a busy life.
I’ve found that the best way to mentally stay with jiujitsu is to pick a schedule and stick with it. Sometimes you won’t be able to go, but do your best. I have three part-time jobs and two dogs to take care of, and a wife to spend time with, if I can make time, so can you.
For example, when I first started jiujitsu, I was going 6 to 7 hours a week. For me that was too much and ultimately unsustainable. There were weeks where I went twice, there’s weeks when I couldn’t go at all or chose not to, life happens and you have to just figure it out but eventually my attendance levelled out to 3 to 4 hours a week. At the gym I go to, attendance is very important since we sign-in every time we show up.
Every gym is different but training as much as your schedule allows will ensure you’re learning as much as you can and that you will eventually get promoted.
“Embracing the Suck”
Someone else’s sweat dripping in your mouth while they’re on top of you putting you into the mat with their 200 pounds and you’re barely able to breathe and your joints hurt.
“Embrace the Suck.” I’ve heard that quote many times over the course of my life and I think it comes from the school of Navy SEALs. The idea is that whatever you’re doing especially training, is going to suck. I think it means you’re going to get hurt and won’t want to do it but that the people who persevere and push through it, or embrace how much it sucks, are the ones who come out on top.
For example, as a white belt, my main focus and theme of my journey was (and still is) survival. I feel it’s still a focus of mine, even as a new blue belt. As a white belt, there where many times I wanted to quit because I got my ass kicked so much in front of a bunch of people. But what I eventually realized is that that’s just part of the game. Every white belt gets their ass kicked and I’m sure as you climb your way up through the belt ranks you also get your ass kicked in various different ways.
If you keep yourself healthy, mentally, and physically, if you have other hobbies outside of jiujutsu and don’t make it part of your whole identity, or take it way too seriously, and create realistic expectations for yourself as a white belt, then embracing the suck, will be easier. But it will still suck.
Interest
I lost count how many people I’ve seen come and go since starting jiujitsu over a year and a half ago. I’ll never know for sure why the people that are no longer there ended up quitting. But I bet a bunch of them quit because their interest in the sport slowly faded away, especially if they thought they weren’t getting any better, or they couldn’t take all the beatings, or they didn’t get promoted when they thought they should.
As I’ve said before, life gets in the way, or other more important commitments take over your life, and that’s OK, nobody should be shamed for rearranging their priorities in their life however they see fit. But for those who stick with jiujitsu, you can tell that they’re passionate about it. They watch jiujitsu matches on video, they read about jiujitsu, they talk about jiujitsu, and they try to get their friends and family to join jiujitsu. If you can keep your interest, even when you’re getting your ass kicked, the chances of you getting promoted to your blue belt and beyond are much higher than the average white belt.
Many Jiu Jitsu practitioners are happy with just going to class.
But if you're a blue belt or higher trying to get better, don't ignore the vast amount of information out there.
No one should have a problem with you learning outside of regular class.
Creating a schedule and sticking with it, embracing the suck and showing up even when you continually get your ass kicked, while at the same time remaining interested and passionate about the sport, all will help you get to your blue belt (and probably beyond) quicker than you think.
There and Back 