“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.
Here are some thoughts from other people (on Twitter) about staying or leaving their jiu jitsu gym:
“I switched due to moving (changing states) – but did a fair amount of research & drop-ins before picking my “new home.” Don’t listen to any #Creonte type BS – Bottom Line, it’s a business & you’re the customer. Pick a place that suits you, your training needs/goals, etm.” -Matt
“I switched gyms and never looked back. Didn’t realize just how toxic my old gym was until I got out and got into a much healthier environment.” -Becky
“I’m on my third. No reason, just wanted to get different perspectives and training partners. Still friendly with my former academies and teammates.” -Nicolas
“Coming back to the mat after 20 years away, I switched gyms. I’ve had 35 lessons so far. All good. The previous gym is where I received my blue belt which in the grand scheme of things is low level. My new gym – Professor says “train where every you want”. I go to open mats.” -Peter
“I’ve moved academies twice. 1st time was from an affiliate to the HQ so was not too hard. Went as a blue and was promoted to purple there. Covid/post covid moved to my current gym been 2 years and promoted to brown. Took a bit to get use to though” -Ray
“In December I moved from the DFW area to northern Indiana. I had been training for 7.5 years there was a blue belt. I have been here 9 months now and have been accepted and promoted to purple. My approach was to focus on being a good student and teammate. And let everything else play out on it’s own. I’m happy with where we landed. I do miss my old gym and teammates (planning a trip to visit soon). Happy to be a further resource if any questions arise.” -Brad
“Yup. Your gym is a business that provides a service. If another gym’s service makes more sense to you, then go there. I switched due to location. It was between a 40 min drive and a 20 min drive. My new one also has more class times, so I can train more often.” -Tommy
Here is a question I got from Twitter:
“What has your experience been like switching gyms? I love where I am but there’s another nice place that I’ve visited that’s much closer to where I live.”
I’m still at the Gracie Barra I signed up with. I like the people and the instructors there. I also like how many people there compete, which is where I’d like to focus my BJJ game towards as opposed to just the self-defence aspect of jiu jitsu.
There are five (I think) other BJJ gym in my city. A blue belt recently told me he’s been to all of them and think this Gracie Barra is the best in terms of the calibre of the jiu jitsu being taught. Sounds good to me!
Pros of my current gym: – lots of people compete, opportunity to focus more on competition BJJ – it’s close to my house – my wife and her brother signed up there as well – the head instructor is chill and we don’t have to bow before we go on and get off the mats – instructors aren’t strict with the adult class while still following the curriculum correctly and we also sometimes learn new techniques that aren’t part of the curriculum – instructors aren’t assholes and enjoy having fun sometimes, friendly – If you don’t have a Gracie Barra Gi you can still join and train
Cons of my current gym: – the change room is too small – there are so many members that I find it hard to get long, meaningful one-on-one instruction (although I haven’t asked about private lessons) – classes are only one hour, I would love two hour classes – there’s only one, one hour open mat a week, I wish there was one every day – there is only two No Gi classes a week – it’s expensive, $135 a month
The pros outweigh the cons. Not enough reasons to leave my current gym. And thank goodness it’s not a McDojo (“McDojo is a pejorative term (in the same vein as “McMansion” and “McChurch”) referring to martial arts academies (generally located in the Western world) which, rather than being honestly committed to teaching students, are instead concerned primarily with amassing profits.“
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.
Tonight we learned the Duck Under from standing, a Back Take to Cross Collar Choke, Cross Collar Choke to an Arm Bar. My wife is good at cross collar chokes from the back, who knew.
A family who pays money to learn how to choke each other, stays together. My wife and her younger brother (my new brother-in-law) have joined the jiu jitsu gym I go to. I talked about bjj so often and the benefits of it and how much fun I’m having that they finally decided to give it a try.
I’ll be honest, I was worried about my wife getting seriously injured if she rolled with some stranger. But she survived just fine after rolling a bit with other gym members and also did part of an open mat, I feel much better, although still a bit nervous, but overall happy she is enjoying herself. Her younger brother is a white belt with lots of piss-and-vinegar, as they say, because he’s so into it and critiques my technique and gives advice as new white belts do. I like his enthusiasm. His first week he got one of the worst mat burns on his feet I’ve ever seen. White belts, amirite?
I hope we all stick with this martial art for a long time because it’s a great bonding experience. And we all look good in Rash Guards and Gi’s.
By the way, have you tried a free trial jiu jitsu class yet? You should, I think you’d enjoy it.
Walk the dogs first before leaving so our mini-spitz doesn’t pee on the carpet.
The gi should be hanging on the rack in the bedroom. Hopefully I washed the gi’s yesterday or I will have to get up early to wash them and also put them in the dryer and they will shrink and feel like cardboard.
Have a shower and brush teeth and use mouth wash because my rolling partners will thank me. Trim my nails if they need it and also file them after cutting because they could still be a bit sharp.
Put deodorant on before putting my rash guard on because it’s a pain to get that thing off once it’s on, especially if I’m sweating.
Tie gi pants several times because they still have draw strings from when they were first invented. They always come loose when rolling.
Pack my wallet, cell phone, kimono top, white belt with two stripes, mouth guard even though I don’t like wearing it, some medical tape just in case, and fancy water bottle from Starbucks.
Before leaving make sure to queue up the most recent podcast episode of My White Belt by Jim Trick on my iPhone so I can listen to it in the car on the way to class. Or a JRE podcast episode about UFOs and aliens.
Leave apartment unit and enter elevator. Check myself out in the mirror in the elevator and see how cool I look with my rash guard, gi pants, flip flops, fanny pack, and gym bag. Maybe take a selfie and share it on Twitter.
Drive to bjj gym while wondering what we’re learning today. Will it be a sweep? Or takedown? Or choke? Hopefully all three.
Get to gym and park in the same spot I always park in. Not too far and not too close.
Walk into bjj gym and sign in on the iPad. My name was entered twice when I first joined the gym. One correct and one incorrectly (my last name and first name are switched). I always sign in with the incorrect one. When I got my two stripes they called out my last name first and I wasn’t sure if they meant me or not.
After signing in take my flip flops off and put them to the side with everyone else’s in a messy pile near the door. Walk around in bare feet.
Since I have my gi pants and rash guard on already I don’t get changed in the change room. I just get my gi top and belt out of my bag and slap them on right in the waiting area. I’m usually one of the first people there. Punctuality is dope.
Fill up my water bottle at the fountain because I almost always forget to fill it up at home.
Say hi to all the white belts because the higher belts don’t come until later and are so mysterious.
Wait for the kids class to finish their last game and then they line up and come off the mats. The waiting area gets packed and stuffed.
Walk onto the mat and don’t bow because we don’t have to at our Gracie Barra because our instructors are chill and easy going.
Line up by belt rank. One time at a fundamentals class I was the highest ranking belt so I was at the top of the line. A cool feeling. Then a blue belt showed up late and that was the end of that.
While waiting for the head instructor to start class I might stretch but probably not.
We all bow in unison to the head instructor and start the funny warm ups of running back and forth, running backwards, side shuffle, criss cross, knees up, heels back, row your boat forward then backward, lunges or rolls, and then we all stretch together. Make sure to stretch near a partner you want to practice with so you can ask them first before someone else does.
And that’s basically it. Three to seven times a week. I highly recommend you join a free trial class because the world would be a safer place if everyone knew jiu jitsu.
The man in the featured picture above is Christopher Wienandt. He was 60 years old when he competed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
“Get out there. It’ll be hard at first – harder than you could ever imagine – but it’s worth the effort. You’ll be healthier, you’ll feel better about yourself, and you’ll be part of a community of some of the greatest people in the world.”
I wish I had started it sooner but I started it right when I need to. A lot of the people that go to our fundamentals class are men in their 40s and 50s which I love to see. There also is an older lady who has either four stripes or is a blue belt I can’t remember. It’s great to see people of all ages out on the mats learning the martial art and bettering themselves.
“This picture is of my old friend Christopher Wienandt, my former teammate. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. A wonderful man and inspiration to many.”
tweet from Brad Springfield (seen below)
This picture is of my old friend Christopher Wienandt, my former teammate. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago. A wonderful man and inspiration to many.
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.
Have you ever received stripes in a martial art? And have you ever felt like you didn’t deserve them?
About a month ago I got promoted two stripes. I’m now a two stripe white belt in the martial art of Jiu Jitsu. I was so excited to get them I blasted it out on twitter to let all you folks know.
After the buzz I got from sharing my accomplishment and receiving your “congrats” messages, I started to question the decision, Do I really deserve these two stripes?
It first happened when I had a terrible outing during an open mat session at our gym the following week after I got the stripes. I got wrecked even harder than I usually did. I thought to myself, Why did our head instructor promote me in the first place?
I thought about it a bit and figured it was because I showed up a lot. Our head instructor went around the gym the day we got stripes and asked if we had signed in at the front before starting. I read somewhere on Reddit r/bjj that Gracie Barra does promotions based on attendance, and I recall many comments dumping on GB because of that. Any gym can run things how they want and no gym does it perfectly, but I think getting a stripe for showing up is a good thing (of course I’m biased because I got one for that, I think). The stripe can be a sign of commitment, your discipline in showing up and doing the hard work.
Okay so why did I receive a second stripe? Well the head instructor told me, after I said I was surprised I got two stripes, that “You competed and almost died!” with a laugh. We both laughed. It’s true I got beat and almost choked out, but survived the full five minute round (you can read about it here).
I got my stripes for showing up often to class and for competing. Not necessarily for how good I am at technique. But I have had other white belts and some higher belts tell me my game has improved, especially my back-defence. And that means a lot to me.
So, do I think I deserve those two stripes? YES
Jiu Jitsu is hard. Most people don’t do jiu jitsu. Most people in jiu jitsu don’t compete. And most white belts in jiu jitsu don’t stay after they get promoted to blue belt. Why? I have no Idea but I’m making it to blue belt for sure. I just have to keep showing up and getting worked by my partners. As I get my butt kicked I’ll learn along the way and eventually not get my butt kicked as bad, that’s the idea anyway. I have to roll smart and avoid permanent injury (You hear that shoulders! You better not get injured again!).
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 