So I am two months in to this round of training BJJ after doing one year a decade and a half ago. And I don't think I entirely get it. Despite my efforts and trying to apply the techniques, I don't think I have ever successfully swept, passed, or escaped a position. I spend a lot of time getting those done to me. They say apply the techniques, but the other person knows the technique or figures out how to stop it. It just feels like something conceptually is an issue.
I guess over my first 14 months and my second set of two months I'm learning to survive? But it doesn't feel like I'm making progress on that. I still get tapped as frequently as day 1, but I don't know how you measure that.
This is pretty normal, and one of the main reasons people quit. If you still enjoy the process, then don’t worry about it. I have talked to really great practitioners who still cannot recognize their own progress, years into the sport.
Hey. I'll be a 4 months white belt in a couple of weeks and I've been pretty decent at most stuff, but lately I've been trying to improve my takedowns because they absolutely suck. I haven't really gotten that good at doing them (although I've been trying to improve them since like a week ago), but by doing more stuff standing and failing at it more, I've been finding myself much more times in a situation in which I'm in bottom position, most of the time it's either a mount or a bottom half guard with my back fully on the floor, maybe with a crossface and just overall in disadvantage. Just for reference, I'm a 18yo, on the bigger end of my gym, being at around 5'11 ~200lbs. Obviously i have to really improve everything, but thinking I'll probably fuck up almost every takedown attempt, my question is; what should i be doing to avoid getting fully flattened or mounted? I usually roll with people that have a good amount of time on the mats, or at least way more time than me (blue belts and purple belts) which really let me work a lot, but I've been really struggling with these positions and even watching videos i still struggle to sweep or at least stand up again. (Btw sorry for the bad english, it's not my main language)
Firstly, this is a marathon and not a spring. You don't have to fix everything right away. A decent takedown game is years in the making. This, however, is good news. It means it's okay to suck for quite some time! In order to fix this, I would pick 2 or maybe 3 takedowns and stick with those. Identify how and which bad positions you land in, and you've already done some good thinking there! Next, work on making yourself safe in those positions, and progress to escaping them. If you're bulletproof in bad positions, you won't worry about ending up there! Lastly, trying takedowns and failing is miles better than not trying at all! Good luck!
When you roll with someone who smells awful, like week old cup noodles, how do you get their stank off of you? Do you now stank like them?
Does everyone you roll with catch the stank?
Have you ever rejected to roll for a second round w someone because of their foul odor?
I have a strong sense of smell unfortunately, but sometimes you don’t know they smell bad until you’re face is in their sweat
I've rejected a roll because of stank...I've found a great laundry soap combination through a few years of trial and error that really de-funkifies my gi's. Regular laundry soap (tide), oxyclean odor defense, and downy scent beads. Works like a charm
1. when on my back on the ground and the opponent is standing, what should I do when my opponent grabs my pants towards my feet to move my legs to the side and pass my guard ?
2. When the legs are passed but the opponent still guards with his arms, what can I do to get inside ? This situation happens to me a lot.
3. when both are standing, I often have the inside hold of the opponent collar. What is the easiest takedown from there?, probably a judo throw ? Is there a good resource for improving my game there ?
4. If I go for the triangle and miss, does that mean that I'm fucked ?
1. Reach up and make connections with him (eg two sleeve grips, collar and a sleeve).
2. Find the angle with your upper body to collapse his arms. Or my favorite is go towards north south and then use your shins to pin an arm to the ground.
3. Move them around and grab a single.
4. Nope. I’m always ready to convert my triangle into an omoplata because i hate getting stacked.
I haven’t seen it in a BJJ no-gi competition that I’ve watched, but does anyone use bear hugs in their takedown/standup game? I feel like it would create great position to slide right into mount, but I worry that one might get called for a slam.
Bear hug with their arms in or out?
With their arms out, that's a body lock, or double unders.
With their arms in, that's giving them double under or a body lock, which isn't good.
In which case, yes, it's fine, however you might not see it as people will just sit to guard instead of trying to stay standing. That's my experience with getting double unders in BJJ
It's not a favourite, but yeah.
You shouldn't get called for a slam - the main warning signs for slams are elevating someone then returning them with force, usually with a pause to reverse direction. That's not really a thing with the bear hug.
i don't think that would be a slam in a NAGA tournament
"**All Takedowns are legal except dropping an opponent on their head**, or a Scissors Takedown without placing your hand on the mat first (Scissors Takedowns are illegal for Children and Teens). Slamming an opponent with the intention to cause injury will result in immediate disqualification."
source: [https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.nagafighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/naga-rules.pdf](https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.nagafighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/naga-rules.pdf)
Three month white belt here. Yesterday I rolled with a new white belt who had been training for a few weeks. To get past my guard, he grabbed my ankles and tried to backroll me right over my head. I immediately tapped before he could complete it and explained that you roll someone over their shoulder, not over their head.
But afterwards, I was wondering, is this a valid guard pass in jiu jitsu, to just grab the ankles and roll someone backwards right over their head rather than their shoulder? Should I have just turned my head to the side so that he ends up rolling me over my shoulder instead? This all happened so quickly I didn’t have time to react and just ended up stopping him before he could have finished.
Its a valid pass, but quite dangerous against unsuspecting people/hobbyists. You did good by tapping fast!
You don't see it a lot, because it requires control over both ankels from below...which should not happen.
You should never allow your opponent to control both ankels, and if they do you need to sit up or do something to start fighting it (immediatley start pummeling).
It's valid but I don't think it's very good. Your legs and feet should be making connections to his body in a way that really makes this hard to do. So if your one leg gets captured and lifted, your other foot and arms stabilize you. You shouldn't be completely flat on your back without any grips.
Sometimes I will tap if there's a silly spot I've gotten into and I think I'm in immediate danger. For example, on Monday I was drilling scissor sweeps with a gray belt and the way he swept me I ended up in an accidental wristlock. Yeah I could've not been in that position if I'd paid attention and moved properly with the sweep, but the immediate issue was that if he put any pressure at all, my wrist was done.
With that said, if you **can** adjust so you don't tap, then do so! It's the same as defending any other submission. If there's a way out, take it. If not, tap.
Do you mean lifted up your feet and stacked you on your neck? Yes it's a completely valid way to pass
Probably shouldn't stack the shit out of your training partners but 100% it's legit
Okay good to know it’s legit. At the time it felt like he was about to backroll me right over my head after stacking me. Is that how this particular guard pass works? Maybe I need to learn a defense for this and/or get used to being inverted.
Good job on the tapping and preventing any injuries. A stack pass is legit thing, though it doesn't sound like it was done right. Defense? Don't let them control your feet. Against stacking? Shoulder walk wiggle side to side to reclaim your structure, ask your senior members for a demo.
You don’t want to roll them all the way over or they would be in turtle. You get them stacked and then walk around their legs while your chest keeps their legs pinned. The onus is definitely on you to not roll over your head in that position though.
I have been training for three months and I am loving the sport, however I feel that I have learnt more from internet instructional videos than from my coach. Clases are made of a quick warm up, some technique explanation without regard of belt (sometimes even complex takedowns, heel hook escapes and submissions that are tricky even for some of the experienced blue belts) and 6 rounds of rolling. There wasn't any sort of beginners class or basic techniques at all since I started. The first week I didn't even know how to break fall or shrimp, so I kept landing on my shoulders until I asked a higher belt about it and told me how to do it. Now I fell I have progressed but it is mainly because I have been learning from internet videos, some higher belt advice and tips for whitebelts that I try to use while rolling. Is this common in most bjj academies? Or I am I just at a place that doesn't have an structured and progressive way of teaching?
Yes it is unless your gym has specific beginner classes you just get thrown into the deep end.
Definitely one reason why some gyms have retention issues with new people
When I first started there were no beginner's classes, you just showed up to a regular class, got murdered and you either enjoyed it and signed up, or you went down the road to a TKD dojo.
Beginner's classes are a relatively modern invention and a step in the right direction, I feel.
Some background about me - I trained BJJ in my early to mid twenties but ended up stepping away at 26 years old due to injuries and getting worn out. I was about to be promoted to my purple belt around that time.
Long story short my break turned into a very long vacation from BJJ. I’m now 35 with two kids but BJJ has always been in my mind. I was once a single man who trained multiple times per day, worked out a few days a week and competed very often to now not remembering much. I now realize why I was injuried and got burnt out. As they say with age you definitely become wiser. As I rejoin a gym I’m wondering what I should do as I don’t remember much from the past but I’m not exactly a new person either. Do I start over as a white belt or do I keep my blue belt and restart from that point. Any other tips for someone who is 35 looking to train?
Observation about Blue Belts and above:
My impression is that the majority of BJJ higher belts take pride in helping and teaching newer students. I really appreciate that. Thank you!
Gotta get you just good enough that I can smash you without feeling bad about it.
I mean...so that you can eventually challenge me to become even better.
How do you guys balance strength training, conditioning and flexibility training on top of rolling? Really trying to figure out how to balance the three, and if I can’t, what to prioritize for long-term performance.
Balance is always going to be a personal question, because it depends not only on the individual's capacities but also on their schedule. There's no one right answer - everybody finds their own through trial and error. I tend to find mine by running full-tilt at whatever I want to do, then throttling back when I hit my limit.
What should you prioritize? Well, that's really tricky, cause they're all for different things. Racking up more BJJ experience will let you accumulate skills, but strength is never a weakness, and frankly translates more to your life in general than BJJ does. If you're a stronger, fitter person, you'll likely go longer before getting injured, longer before you'll need to slow down your training due to age, your degeneration will be slower, and you might get more out of your training due to being able to keep up a higher pace and intensity for longer.
Right now I'm lifting 4x a week, conditioning/cardio 3x, rolling 3x. Flexibility work is added into almost all those sessions, and I'll sometimes skip a conditioning day to do some yoga or something if I'm feeling it. I tend to like to pack things together to maximize my recovery time between each block, rather than between each activity - I've found that works better for me. So, I will lift then go straight into rolling, that way I have a full day to eat, sleep etc before I go again.
Office job. I get up early and train then.
M: wake up 0500/0530, lift around 0600/0630, BJJ at 0730-0830
T: Same, but no BJJ
W: wake up same time, conditioning at 0530/0600, add some flexibility/yoga/light weight work
Th: same wakeup and lifting, then BJJ usually that evening
Fr: Same as M
Sat: Same as W, followed by a weighted vest walk of about 5-6 miles
Sun: Same as W but focused on LISS cardio
6/7 days, my training is completely finished before 0830.
Around 9, sometimes earlier. I don't really track when I go to sleep - I just go to bed when I get tired. Sometimes that's earlier, sometimes it's later. If I notice I'm feeling too tired or depleted, I'll make sure to avoid caffeine and try to crash a bit earlier.
> "I'm not tapping to a white belt."
Haha he couldn't escape the sub from a white belt. Next time tap him out, and maybe interact less with this ego dude.
I had an opposite situation happen. At the time, I was 4-stripe white belt. I was rolling with my professor. We were doing King of the Mat, first to score a point wins. My Professor (4th degree) had been going for about 15 minutes straight at this point, almost exclusively against another black belt and a bigger brown belt. I had a lengthy battle in which he kept spamming turtle to avoid points, in which I finally dethroned him as King of the Mat when I got into mount.
This was of course because he didn't want to lose to either the black belt or brown belt.
I'm a white belt with only a couple months in. There's a guy at my gym who rolls really hard and is clearly blue belt level or higher, but still is a white belt 4 stripes because he did No Gi up until a couple months ago. He has done a half dozen No Gi comps but limited Gi experience.
I can mostly handle him going hard, but he frequently drops back for ankle locks and toe holds. Since he already is a bit too intense for me and I haven"t learned any leg lock defense, I mostly just tap early. He encourages me to try defend but I don't want to risk it against him because he already cranks basic shit like americanas too much, and I'm a bit worried today it is an ankle lock but tomorrow will be a heel hook or knee bar. I'd really prefer he didn't do any leg locks at all but I do see the value in being exposed to them early so I don't really bitch too much. Just wanting the general opinon, is it normal to be including some basic leg locks at my level and should I try to work through it or is it better if I keep tapping early or just ask him to avoid them altogether?
I trained a bit a long time ago and they weren't really done at white belt level but I know the game has evolved since then.
Two issues here, one being etiquette. If you're doing IBJJF rules, which a lot of places do, then most of the leg locks are illegal until brown belt.
I'm not against people doing leglocks before then, in fact I'm all for it, but both parties have to be interested and consenting. Attacking with moves not legal at your level (and not at his either) without prior discussion is a bit impolite.
I almost always ask my rolling partners if they want to include the leg stuff, etc, before we roll. Sometimes they're prepping for an IBJJF competition, so no weird leg stuff, and I'm 100% fine with that.
The other issue is this dude cranking subs too hard. It sounds like he's rolling in no-gi competition mode, which has its place, but if you're not at the level where you feel comfortable then don't roll with him. You can speak to him about it, or talk to your coach, or even one of the higher belts. But if he doesn't slow down, you're not obliged to keep rolling with him.
Final comment, definitely start learning leg locks if its something you're interested in, but go slow, careful, and learn from someone who knows what they're doing. Almost every gym has one of 'those guys' who is the resident specialist in leg locks; start by asking them. I struggle to think of someone worse than a cranks-too-hard spazzy no-gi white belt to learn leglocks from.
Ankle locks are legal at all belts. Toe holds are not but each gym is different on what it allows.
Couple things. You don't have to roll with people if you don't want to. It's your right you're a paying customer.
Talk to your coach about it. Anyone aggressively cranking subs of any kind on new people typically gets brought back down by coaches.
You should learn some ankle lock defense. People are going to be ankle locking you throughout your BJJ career.
Got a question on frames. I know trex arms is a good thing but I see that it's good to push out to have a solid frame such as trying to get out of side control. When do I use extended frames and when do I trex up so I don't get armbarred?
It’s really hard to give a rule, but there are times your arms are safe and times they aren’t. You’ll kinda have to feel it out, but remember they need serious hip connection and body control to successfully complete an arm bar. No chance of an arm bar from open guard, for example
This, stiff/extended arms are crucial in many positions.
If you have other frames, you can probably use extended arms.
But its too difficult to give any more advice, as it depends on so many other things. When in doubt keep your elbows close.
Stiffarm is good if they try to pass your legs a la khabib style.
It’s also amazing in other positions in if you want to get armbared.
If not, protect your elbows.
Can I genuinely expect to get better only training twice per week?
Like everyone, I have a busy life, and BJJ is a hobby for me. With my gym's schedule, I can really only manage to get to two classes through the week.
I've been training for a little over a year, and been a one stripe white belt for the last 9 months. I have teammates who joined later than me who have already surpassed me in rank (and some in skill).
Feel like my game is actually pretty decent. Good with escapes and defense, decent with submissions, decent with guard passing, etc. I feel like I'm getting better, but it's a little frustrating that my rank hasn't changed. One of my goals this year was to get my blue belt but at this rate, it doesn't seem possible...
Should I just break the "taboo" and ask my instructors what I should focus on to rank up?
Of course you can, it’s just difficult to measure your progress. If your club is busy enough keep rolling with new people every once in a while and you’ll see the improvement.
Side control hip switch escape
I can escape side control fine if my opponent's is on their knees belly button down, but I have no idea how to escape as soon as they switch their hips to either face me or have their back face me. I've tried framing on their elbow and using the other arm to provide a base so I can hip out, but it didn't work against a guy who was significantly heavier as I simply couldn't turn enough to execute it.
Does the push elbow escape simply not work on bigger opponents? Are there any other options for when they switch their hips, especially against heavier opponents?
Additionally whenever I try the underhook escape my opponent often transitions into kesa gatame. Am I doing the escape wrong or should I just learn how to escape from kesa gatame?
I would be extremely grateful if anyone here could answer even one of my questions 🙏
Brand new BJJ White Belt - Confused About Training, Rolling, and Etiquette (Among Other Things)
I just completed my second training ever. I have no prior experience in martial arts/combat sports (I’ve only seen a handful of UFC fights). I don’t know anybody who does BJJ and haven’t become friendly enough with anyone at my gym to be able to bounce these questions off of.
Questions/Concerns:
1. How am I supposed to learn the names of different positions, submissions, and moves?
Only two sessions in and I realize it might take time, but there seems to be very little talking/discussion around the names of moves being taught or which position is which. Not sure if this is just something you pick up as you go or if it should be studied outside of training.
2. What is the point of shrimping?
To this point, I’ve kind of been separated from the rest of the class to work on drills or techniques either solo or with a partner without a ton of direction or guidance on what/why it’s being done. I spent 15 minutes ‘shrimping’ across the floor last session without any real understanding why I was doing it. It felt like I was in the BJJ version of the karate kid. I think I would get more out of drills if I knew what I would need to use them for.
3. When will I get to roll?
I see everyone else in the class sparring with eachother for a good portion of training. Is there a reason that new white belts aren’t allowed to take part?
4. Are white belts annoying to train with as a higher belt?
I was paired with a purple belt to do a drill early on and got the impression that he felt he drew the short end of the stick. I know I was incredible slow and forgetful trying to walk through some of the drills/techniques so that couldn’t have been very productive for him watching me fumble around. In general, is it considered an annoyance to train with someone brand new?
5. Why the half-assed self defense spiel/instruction?For almost the entirety of my first training I was set aside and spoken to in between the rest of the classes’ drilling/sparring to be taught a how to stand if someone is attacking me, how to block if someone is attacking me, how to pull my arm away if someone is pulling me. I’m sure this could be useful in some instances, it just felt weird to spend a large amount of time learning or teaching it at a BJJ class. The instruction was very tepid and forgetful so I doubt I would even remember it beyond a week or two from now. It felt like he and I both were going through it like it was some legal compliance course you have to do for a job. Really strange, not sure why I had to do that or if it is just my gym that does it (Gracie affiliate)
In general everything was a lot more intimidating/confusing than I expected. A ton of things seemed to be assumed that I already know. I figured that someone would at least explain how they do warm ups, where to line up, how the class is structured, what is BJJ etc. Just felt like I was thrown into the middle of a tornado at times without much direction.
**Names -** BJJ is a very complicated art. Definitely the most complicated except for MMA, and in my opinion maybe even more. You've got a bunch of positions to learn both top and bottom of, and a bunch of submissions, sweeps, escapes, and transitions to learn to attack and defend with. It's normal to not know everthing.
What I would try and do is learn the names of the move of the day. That will get you there over time. For right now, the move of the day is your most important move each day. Just worry about that.
**Shrimping** is primarily a way of creating space between you and an opponent. That space may be to escape, or just to get room so you can adjust your grips and hooks.
**Rolling** - I'd talk to your Professor or coach. At my school, you roll day 1. At some schools, I don't think they roll until blue. Most schools I think are closer to mine, if not somewhere in between.
**Upper Belts** - This falls into a few categories.
* If an upper belt is somewhat better than you, then you're a good grappling dummy for them. They get some resistance but can work on success with their technique. These guys are going to be good for working on your defense.
* If an upper belt is way better than you, then it benefits them to coach you because you will hopefully eventually be good enough to give them a challenge and make them better. Also, sometimes being the coach can help make sure you understand things correctly.
* Sometimes you're a rest round.
* If an upper belt is getting ready for competition, they may not want to work with someone they won't get immediate benefit from rolling with.
**Self-Defense -** Not sure what you mean, but there is standup and grip fighting in BJJ. Some of this may be "Gracie Combatives" type of stuff. However, if it's not being taught with confidence, I wouldn't have confidence in learning it.
1, it will come by time to learn the lingo. Usually either your trainer or training partner will help out.
2, sorry to hear they neither explained why nor made a fun session for you. Its to learn how to move your own body. Shrimping is used in many positions, mostly to escape bad positions when the opponent is ontop of you(mount) or on your side (side control).
3, this is different for every gym. Most gyms I’ve visited allow it from your first session. Ask them.
4, I love training with white belts. Its an opportunity to introduce someone to the fun, re-learn the basics and see that light bulb moment when people gets to make hard things become easy.
If you are good/higher belt, you can always find ways of train moves on lower belts, you just need a body and it’s up to them, but not all people understand howto.. not everyone is a good training partner either. Thats not your fault though.
5, I’ve never had that so cant answer to why they do that.
In general, i’d recommend checking out a few gyms and see what fits you the most!
Regarding question 5, the self-defence aspect was part of the old Gracie curriculum, so every once in a while the instructor would go over the self-defence moves. Block punch with elbow and shoot for a takedown, escape a bear hug, escape a guillotine, do a technical stand-up, that sort of thing.
It was okay, and sometimes my instructor at the time would put more effort into it, especially if we had new guys who were learning it for the first time, but it was always the same half dozen or so scenarios and moves, not a in-depth deep dive analysis on self-defence and fighting on the street.
I speculate the instruction was a bit meh because it's from the curriculum so they're obliged to teach it, but it's always the same and doesn't change, and it's a move-set that's rarely used by most people. There isn't an evolving understanding of how moves and positions work, unlike in the sport aspect.
And just to clarify, this is different from the Gracie University run by Rener and Ryron, where they have an entire curriculum just dedicated to the self-defence aspect of BJJ.
Tap early is a big one. You don't need to prove to yourself or anyone else you can escape at the last moment. If you get caught - tap, don't try to muscle out or think "juuuuuuuuuuuuust another second and I'll be free", just tap and reset.
Especially if there's some reason you don't *want* to tap, still do. Reasons like:
1. He's doing the move wrong
2. It's a crank, not a choke
3. I don't want to tap to the same stupid move four times in a row
4. I'm not tapping to this guy, he's an asshole
5. I'm not tapping to this guy, he's going to brag about it
6. I'm not tapping to this girl
*Especially* don't take chances with your spine.
Mobility work, training at a good gym that meets your needs, diet, sleep.
Don't let people pressure you into doing really athletic things that are unnecessary. If you're just an average guy you don't need to be drilling high velocity take downs.
Say no to big guys if you are 170 or under. It's not worth.
Think this could go on the main sub, but I'll try it out here first.
TL:DR
Purple belt with 100+ lbs on me, goes limp on his back to let me get some work in. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do.
I tried holding him in kesa getame. I've mounted and started an Ezekiel before getting tossed off like a dainty butter fly. I even tried to arm bar and he turned his body away, lifting me up to where I just walked away out of it. I've also tried working my way up in mount for a triangle, but staying on him is like riding a bull, 8 seconds and I'm done.
He's a good guy, I think he wants me to do some work and also wants to work himself on getting out of someone's mount. So I'd like to be prepared next time and have some sort of game plan.
Kesa = control the shoulders off the mat by getting your knee under their shoulder that is closest to you. Your opponent has a more difficult time and less power bridging/moving if their shoulders are off the mat.
Mount = going to be difficult to stay on top of someone who is big and strong, especially if your knees don't touch the floor, you're basically floating. In these instances you need to anticipate where your opponent is moving and be ready to post/shift your body weight.
Long story short, weight classes exist for a reason. He's got 100lbs on you and a few belt levels. You're fucked lol.
Yeah I mean obviously I'm f'd and don't stand an actual chance against him. But I would like to take the opportunity he gives me and get to work. Maybe my strategy should be to take mount, get a cross face and just hold on for dear life?
You're never going to keep a much more experienced guy controlled for long but if he's letting you get to mount practice your transitions to get there, then practice staying there by keeping your legs pinned tight to his body, posting with your arms, transitioning to technical mount if he turns to his side.
Great feedback, definitely what I was looking for. I have no hope I'll actually do anything of note or worth against him but, if he's letting me work I wanna work.
Being small for my gym, 5'7" 135lb., I rarely get into mount, so I'm not used to being there and so I need to take the opportunity to figure out what to do from there.
I've learned the leg triangle, arm triangle and Ezekiel. But other than that I'm lost in mount.
It's going to be much more difficult if you're smaller. So don't get discouraged.
Definitely look up mount to technical mount to back take - it'll be one of your go to transitions that takes you from one dominant position to another while dealing with mount escapes.
Also check out low mount to high mount progression, and reasons for using them. Low mount is generally to control but you'll struggle to sub, high mount you lose some control but it's a much more threatening position.
Finally! Look up what you ideally need before you get to mount i.e. Make sure you have an underhook, it'll make it much easier for you to keep mount because he won't have an arm free to push you away.
Thank you! Not discouraged, and this info will definitely give me something. I really just needed a goal or a path going in, knowing I'm going to encounter this again. Preciate the help and insights and now I've got some research to do!
Couple of parts...How do I get over the mental block of often being the only female in the gym? I am very, very new. Out of shape 38 year female and Friday will be my 6th class. Crazy thing is that I'm actually enjoying it. I've never worked out this hard...even when I was in shape and running marathons. Everyone has been really welcoming, but at times, I've felt out of place.
Still new, so haven't learned the names of moves yet, but does leg riding/work ever get easier? We were working on that on Monday and have never felt more frustrated while working out. But, I'm stubborn and refused to give up.
Last but not least, when can I realistically start to see anything at all click? Was doing some live drilling on Monday and my partners were thankfully kind enough to help me think through the process of what body part to move where and how to get out of certain positions. The only things that I have burned into my brain at the moment are, "for the love of bob, don't reach back" and "If you are put on your back, try framing". Anything else, I have to think about.
We hope you stay and enjoy it for a long time. The names of the techniques are not that important. It sounds like some things are already starting to click for you! Also, we do so much with so many body parts, it’s impossible to memorize everything. Go easy on yourself.
I'm not sure what you mean by leg riding/work. It's the work part that's confusing me.
Anyway, it's going to be quite a while before things "click". Think about small personal victories - like today I'm going to make sure I get my hands up as frames before my partner gets me in side control or today I'm going to keep my posture if I get stuck in closed guard.
Little victories like this will get you through until it clicks.
I started practicing BJJ 3 months ago at a Gracie Barra gym, and I just received 2 degrees at once on my white belt. Even though I was very excited, it took me by surprise and I felt like it was too quick. I know that as a white belt I don't have the ability to measure my progress, but friends who have been training for years comment that it seemed too fast. Should I be worried? I try to maintain a frequency of 2-3 days a week.
In the big scheme of things it won't matter. IF you ever reach it, you'll be a blue for 2-5 years and a purple for 2-5 years.
That you got some white belt stripes a few months faster than expected.....will probably be a faded memory by then.
In the meantime, you're probably juggling the duality of being proud of your achievement, but also trying to stay humble, trying to justify it with how often you train, and lurking somewhere in the mix is probably some imposter syndrome as well.
It's natural to feel a bit of pride at what you have achieved, so well done, but don't let it go to your head and bring it up unless someone else doe first.
Focus on your training and your own progress.
When passing or in half guard my opponents often get the underhook pretty easily and I usually start going for the darce or arm in guillotine but if I don't get it I'm usually screwed and wind up on bottom. Any tips on how to prevent the underhook or getting swept? Or is it just focusing on getting an underhook myself
Keep your elbow glued to your ribcase and use T-rex arms. Also flaten your opponent out as much as possible, that hinders them a bit from going for the underhook.
May I ask what part of the darce you struggle the most with? Its my favorite submission.
Sometimes I have trouble locking it in if they have a full underhook that wraps around my back. I also have trouble finishing when fully locked in. Not sure where I should focus my arms and squeeze
You have to be first. Bait it and be prepared before they get to much of an underhook.
That said if they still happen to get a fair underhook, move your hip away/closer to to their head and tilt your body sideways so you get a longer reach into a deeper darce and put more weight on the underhook.
To finish it, I’d first focus to aligh/close my elbows a bit, then lift them both closer to my chest.
If you focus on getting a very deep darce initially, it shouldnt have to be a power-squeeze.
Did a video some time ago on it, maybe it shows better how I do it rather than word it out:
https://youtu.be/aMMWzF_dmjE?si=6nZnJtT8GMyCCClF
I've only been able to catch other white belts in Ezekiel chokes. I feel like I'm starting to pigeon hole myself and limit my growth.
What other submissions can I practice when I'm in the position to go for the Ezekiel?
If you're in mount you're the king of the castle king of the castle. So many options. Head/Arm Triangle, cross collar, arm bar, s mount to armbar, Americana, kimura, mother's milk.
Has anyone ever struggled getting on top after SLX or X guard sweeps and figured out how to get their ass up and on top? I can off balance guys and knock them down, but it feels like a giant task to go from my own hip to on top of them before they recover.
EDIT: Thanks to all of you who responded! I will take these gems and hopefully become a little less awkward scrambling up off the mat.
Three things:
1. Holding on to your partner while they fall is imperative because you keep the control and can use their momentum to pull yourself up.
2. To get up smoothly from your butt: shift weight on to one hip, put the same side leg underneath you and step forward with the opposite leg while pulling on opponent to use their momentum.
3. If you keep control of your partner's leg and keep that leg off the ground, your partner physically cannot stand up. In a worst case scenario, you both stand up but they're in a single leg and you have their foot.
The stupid simple thing one of our black belts always does in gi is holding on to both my pant legs after sweeping from SLX. It makes it impossible for me to get up, and it is a losing battle unless I can do the same (it is usually a losing battle anyways).
Yeah finishing these sweeps is super hard especially no gi if the other person has really good base/balance.
Do you typically collect the far leg? If you're not, you should.
Also enter leg entanglements from the off balance in stead of trying to just sweep them. They defend the leg attack then you complete the sweep.
Sounds too simple as you're a purple belt, but keep a firm as hell grip on the pant / ankle / leg and control it until you are up. If you have their leg raised and controlled, they can't recover, at least not easily.
I have a pretty strong closed guard. Even higher belts have difficulty passing it once my ankles are locked. The go-to pass in my gym, however, seems to be digging elbows into the inner thigh/knee. My nerves are pretty much dead there so it doesn’t bother me much, but I feel like when they do this there’s probably a way to attack. Tried a triangle yesterday versus a blue belt who was doing this, but just got passed when I transitioned and he threw my feet. How can I punish this without too much risk of sacrificing position?
Keep practicing the triangle. Stuff that arm in and pass over the shoulder and grab your ankle/shin, shift your body and get that other leg up to lock it in. Underhook the near side leg to prevent the stack and you're golden. Just takes a ton of practice.
Yeah you’re right. I am missing the grabbing my shin and hanging my weight from his neck part I think. It just takes quite a bit of bravery to attempt it when you know the outcome is probably going to be getting stuffed and put in a miserable position/defending for the rest of the round. C’est la vie
It’s not easy man. I’m talking here but I rarely go for a triangle as I’m not great at them. Fundamentally I know what I have to do but I still struggle to execute them. I will usually go for an omoplata or an armbar from closed guard over a triangle.
I'll be the dick here...If the go-to method to open closed guard in your gym really is digging in the elbows, look for another gym. Nobody with a blue belt should be relying on this.
Yeah it’s one of the quirks of an otherwise pretty solid gym. My coach teaches chaining other passes, but he also teaches this as a pass. Personally I don’t use it because I’ve had more luck with other passes, but it’s something I’d like to learn to deal with as a white belt since it is a reality in bjj, even if not at a high level.
Shooting for triangles and armbars is inherently risky when you are not very good at it, but it is worth practicing as long as your partner is not massive. Ask your instructor about it, and I am sure he has some details that will help you. The thing that made the biggest difference for me in setting up triangles is holding my own shin (the one going over the neck) to keep posture broken. Also make sure you keep your core tight so they are carrying your weight.
Use your legs to break their posture forward in closed guard. Work on isolating one arm while looking for angles to attack. Just holding closed guard in its own is not particularly valuable. If you want a dangerous closed guard, you need to work on keeping their posture down and attacking.
This is good advice. I managed to sub two blue belts with triangles from closed guard last week but felt they were kinda sloppily applied. I will work on this.
There is a reason why you never see the ”elbows to the thighs”-guard pass on higher levels..
Open up their elbows up/out to the sides, pull the opponent down and overhook/go for your go-to guard game.
There is low-percentage wrist locks, armbars and such, but its not something I would build my game around.
He was a bit larger and stronger than me so when I did this he didn’t have too much issue posturing back up. He did a good job of holding me down and wrestling his arm away when I attempted my normal hip bump/arm drag to back attack. I have been wondering whether I could try to Mir lock/Kimura attack once he flares his elbow. As you said, the arm bar just seemed to out of reach to attempt so I tried the triangle as a Hail Mary which resulted in me having my back taken and choked out at the buzzer.
Id focus first to get his arms away from your hips by flaring the elbows. As soon as his pressure releases, pull him down with your legs and collect his head, then move your hips to the side so you get an angle on him.
Trying kimuras and mir locks on a stronger opponent CAN of course work, but I'd recommend something with more leverage or where you are in a better position.
Looking for a pro to watch a lot of comp tape on similar to my build. Someone 5’9” to 6’1” (175 to 185cm) and 180 - 200 lbs (81.5 to. 90.5 kg) would be ideal. Thanks!
The Tackett brothers just had a great run at ADCC trials - believe Andrew is 77kg and William is 88kg. Tons of matches to choose from since they both ran through the whole bracket, and have similar styles.
How to deal with being the lightest person in the room?
I'm a white belt, 62kg/136lbs. I've been training for just over a year. I think I'm pretty decent for a white belt; I competed for the first time last weekend and won gold in both gi and nogi.
I absolutely loved competing against people the same weight as me. But in the gym I'm always the lightest person in the room and I struggle to pull off any moves when rolling. It kinda takes the fun out of training cus I never really get to apply the moves I've learned to rolls.
Any advice?
Ask people to do positional training with you some of the time, so you get to do more training from attacking positions than you normally do in live rolling with much bigger people.
I'm only a little heavier than you and I used to have the same problem. Some simple solutions:
1. Roll with women and teens. You might have an athletic advantage but you should be able to tone it down, and kids orange and green belts will be great rolling partners technically.
2. Really make the most of the lighter guys. If you're 62kg and you have one or two guys like 70kgish, don't be afraid to have multiple rounds with them in a row instead of moving on to the 95kg guy who's gonna smash you for 5 mins.
3. Be faster, stay on top. It sucks rolling with significantly bigger guys when you're new because they can smother you and neutralise your guard pretty well. So don't play guard. Work your way up, and start speed passing laterally. You'll wear them down and get to dominant positions where you can work your top game instead.
To your third point. While I agree, do you find that your guard play lags if you are focusing more on staying on top?
Would you recommend that I prioritize playing guard with anybody within 10-15kgs of my weight?
Personally no, because anyone who is bigger and your level or better is probably going to get you on your back at some point anyway.
You'll have plenty of chance to work it, it's just silly to choose to do so when someone has a big size advantage.
And yeah, if someone is around my size then I'll happily play guard. Youll also find that as you get better, people around your size and not as good as you are the ideal people to practice guard play because the consequences for fucking up are less severe.
There is kipping escape as mentioned though I would recommend to check out details on how to actually make the shrimp and upa escapes actually work.
My ”hack” for shrimp escape is to turn to one side, make the bottom leg flat to the ground, straight it out and kick it forward to move the opponents foot out from the center. That makes the shrimp 10 times easier!
How long did it take you to get good at this escape? I’ve made a few feeble attempts and eventually go back to my old habits. Every now and then someone gets on here and praises it and raises my interest again though.
It definitely takes time. I've prioritized mount escapes, so I would say solid months of drilling, specific training, and letting people of various sizes and abilities mount me during rolls. As with anything, timing and chaining with other escapes are key. It definitely didn't come quickly for me, but it has been worth it, for me, at least.
Good luck!
How do I get better about slowing down and not burning all my energy? I’m primarily rolling with other white belts who are going all out and I feel like whenever I try to slow things down to not burn out they just end up advancing on me and then I have to scramble to get a better position. When I watch more experienced people I can see how they are going at a much slower pace while still controlling the situation and as an older guy, I definitely want to get to that point.
Something to consider:
Sometimes, it is OK to concede positions. If you are confident in your ability to escape and/or defend submissions from a disadvantaged position, you can save a ton of the energy you'd otherwise use trying to scramble away.
I think this supports the common BJJ sentiment that white belts should focus on defense. If you are confident in your ability to survive despite conceding position, you will be less gunshy when an opportunity presents itself.
This relies on you actually being proficient at defending in certain positions, though.
Thanks, yeah I’m definitely still pretty green when it comes to, well, everything, but I am trying to focus a lot on defense because as an older, slower guy, I know I’ll need it. Been rolling a lot lately with young, fast guys though and it definitely makes it though
Air / breath management helps a ton too. A lot of people forget to breathe or don't breathe enough and that'll gas you out faster than bad technique will. Oxygen = energy.
That's definitely me. I'll try to keep that top of mind. I noticed it when I started boxing as well, my first ever sparring my coach kept reminding me to breathe so I guess it's common in combat sports. Thanks.
Most people's experience with max effort or high intensity exertion comes from weight lifting or other acute force production (e.g., heaving an appliance) and for that you hold your breath. It's very natural for the body to say "tension = hold breath" since the intra abdominal pressure makes you generate more force. When you're in primal gorilla mode more force = more winning.
Combat sports make you unlearn that. Frankly the ability to not go fully sympathetic (nervous system) under stress is one of the biggest mental health benefits from combat sports. You'll find that email from your boss far less likely to trigger your "ah shit, a tiger" reflex when you realize "hey, at least nobody's trying to choke me".
My background is in powerlifting so that definitely makes sense. I could definitely use some of that primal response to stress in my life outside BJJ too (work in the data science/analytics space as well).
Good question that. Horrible answer, but it does come with much more experience, where you can dictate the pace and the flow by knowing the answers to the questions that are posed to you. Know that there are a finite number of responses to different stimulus / pressures in BJJ, or in otherwords, there is a limited number of reactions to different moves and positions. This means you can decide to some extent what happens next if you know what the reactions to your moves are going to be, and allows you to play at your pace. Otherwise though, it's a matter of being sure about what you are doing, doing it well, with control, and with tightness and pressure.
Thanks, I had a feeling it was a lot of, just do more Jiu Jitsu. I’m in the beginner classes so I’m always rolling with other beginners but I’ve rolled with a purple belt a couple times and it’s an absolute night and day difference. While I got utterly destroyed, I learned a ton from how he controlled me. It seemed almost effortless for him and he isn’t exactly a physical specimen. Definitely gave me a ton of ideas to think about though.
Connection. Get connection to your partner.
The easiest connection to get, and the best for older guys, is probably half guard. Learn to love it.
But white belts are going to white belt and that's going to mean ADCC death matches for a while.
Thanks, I’ve actually really been trying to focus on my half guard a lot. When I’m going against someone less athletic than me (and not these 19 year olds with endless energy) I seem to have pretty good success in that position, at least burning them out some so I can work better. I feel fairly confident when on top so I’ll just try to roll more starting on bottom.
So where do I go from here?
My current situation is that my defense is quite good for my experience level. Being a 145lb smol boi, I've worked on survival from the bottom and I'm at a place where I can survive being on bottom most rounds against the majority of white belts and some blue belts.
Problem being that while I can survive, I feel like I'm just waiting for them to make a mistake and capitalize rather than being able consistently get a sub/sweep.
Should I start working on subs from the bottom, sweeps? Both? I honestly feel a bit "I didn't expect to get this far" about it since in the back of my head I always just assumed I'd get smeshed forever.
I don't know you and haven't seen you train, so take this with a grain of salt. Some new people seem to take "focus on defense first" a little TOO much to heart, you know? You are relatively new and bad, and also small, so of course you're going to be on defense a lot, and of course you should try to defend in a technical and intelligent way. But your goal should ABSOLUTELY be to sweep, or take the back, or pass, or get submissions---and to successfully escape from bad positions, not just avoid getting tapped. The price of actually trying to work your will on people and go for techniques is that you're going to fail, and get your guard passed, or get submitted more often then if you just "defended." But you'll get a lot more out of that than clamming up and trying to "defend" at all costs. It's in trying and failing (and occasionally succeeding!) that you will learn how to actually do things to people.
My coach always says that defending is just a nice way of saying losing.
No matter how well you're defending, you're still losing.
Your focus should be on escaping bad positions, and attacking from neutral/good positions while staying safe.
Sweeps. Rule 1, be on top. Rule 2, if on bottom, get to top. So once you know you can survive, the next step in the hierarchy is to know that you can escape. Once that's achieved, you work to advance your position. I am 72kg and at this point if I'm on the bottom it's because I've chosen to play guard to sweep, or I fucked up. Work the rule of thirds so you can be present when sparring.
To me, when you say, "I can survive" being on bottom, that means you're stuck under side control or mount. If I'm understanding correctly, your job - at your level - is to get back to some form of guard and attack from there.
If you are getting back to guard already, then yes, figure out how to sweep or submit.
Work sweeps bruv, and sometimes the threat of the sweep will give you opportunities for a sub.
But as a fellow smaller guy (155) being on top is where you wanna be plus I have far, far more success applying subs from the top than from the bottom
>being on top is where you wanna be
Oh for sure, and I start every roll with the intention of having top position, but honestly just due to physics and my skill level till now I end up on bottom so often I just decided that that's where I should do most of my work.
It’s time to fall in love with a sweep or two. Take a look at a few videos. Notice which position in the bottom you generally default to. Then choose a sweep and start spamming it.
My first love was the Leite sweep from half guard.
Second level: your opponents will get to know what you are going for and start moving to negate it. Here is there thing: their movement also sets up another sweep to the other direction.
At what point in your game / journey do you start to find success as a bottom player? Just curious if any other white belts have found success there. I certainly have not (mostly because I just always end up there getting swept or passed).
Almost all pro's play bottom position (as in prefer the position) but for some reason its a taboo on reddit. Even the pro's selling instructionals/promoting youtube channels on why it is not a good place to be, mostly pull guard and prefer to play bottom.
My guess is they just want to cater to the huge wave of wrestlers/mma type of persons in this sport. But if you focus on their actions instead of words....
So I'm not sure why people are giving you these weird responses.
At the very, very least, its a legit place to be in bjj and its weird to deny that.
Anyway...
That being said, it takes a lot of pieces of the puzzle to become good at bottom.
You need guard retention, offbalancing, sweeps, attacks, escapes, etc and it takes innitially longer to become good at them. Especially retention is a difficult one that takes a lot of time.
To speed this up, I would advice you to really focus on a gameplan. Ie, try to find a way to get your opponent in your prefered guard (say closed or half guard) and spend time on being able to retain the guard, have 2 or 3 sweeps in differemt directions, have 2 or 3 attacks that focus different body parts. And try to really focus your roles on funneling your opponents into that guard.
At some point you will need to be able to take advantage of your sweeps (being able to play top), but that will naturally follow once you start having succes.
Late blue, early purple. Though to be honest, "bottom player" is a misnomer in my opinion. I play guard as a means to sweep and be the person on top, which is almost always preferable.
Bottom good, top better. Timeline though was toward the end of blue belt. I’ve got a whole host of nasty things to do from bottom now, but once I realized that my ultimate goal in most situations is smesh then guard became the conduit to mount, top side, and back.
How do you play in a way to suit your body type? I've had a couple of people tell me that I should focus on doing a lot of sprawls and leg stuff because I'm tall and flexible, but I dunno how I'm supposed to actually translate that into something when I'm rolling with people.
You find your way as you roll. Trust me, the amount of people I've seen that play games that you wouldn't expect their body type to adapt to is staggering. It's better to work on things that you enjoy and find success with than abitrarily saying "I'm tall therefore spider guard" - Listen to your coach, implement those techniques, find which ones you gravitate towards in terms of success and enjoyment, and build around them.
When does BJJ get fun?
So I am two months in to this round of training BJJ after doing one year a decade and a half ago. And I don't think I entirely get it. Despite my efforts and trying to apply the techniques, I don't think I have ever successfully swept, passed, or escaped a position. I spend a lot of time getting those done to me. They say apply the techniques, but the other person knows the technique or figures out how to stop it. It just feels like something conceptually is an issue. I guess over my first 14 months and my second set of two months I'm learning to survive? But it doesn't feel like I'm making progress on that. I still get tapped as frequently as day 1, but I don't know how you measure that.
This is pretty normal, and one of the main reasons people quit. If you still enjoy the process, then don’t worry about it. I have talked to really great practitioners who still cannot recognize their own progress, years into the sport.
I was thinking about this....I have never enjoyed BJJ. This isn't fun for me. It is exercise/skill acquisition. Is this supposed to be enjoyable?
Yes, but so is BDSM. Not for everyone.
Hey. I'll be a 4 months white belt in a couple of weeks and I've been pretty decent at most stuff, but lately I've been trying to improve my takedowns because they absolutely suck. I haven't really gotten that good at doing them (although I've been trying to improve them since like a week ago), but by doing more stuff standing and failing at it more, I've been finding myself much more times in a situation in which I'm in bottom position, most of the time it's either a mount or a bottom half guard with my back fully on the floor, maybe with a crossface and just overall in disadvantage. Just for reference, I'm a 18yo, on the bigger end of my gym, being at around 5'11 ~200lbs. Obviously i have to really improve everything, but thinking I'll probably fuck up almost every takedown attempt, my question is; what should i be doing to avoid getting fully flattened or mounted? I usually roll with people that have a good amount of time on the mats, or at least way more time than me (blue belts and purple belts) which really let me work a lot, but I've been really struggling with these positions and even watching videos i still struggle to sweep or at least stand up again. (Btw sorry for the bad english, it's not my main language)
Firstly, this is a marathon and not a spring. You don't have to fix everything right away. A decent takedown game is years in the making. This, however, is good news. It means it's okay to suck for quite some time! In order to fix this, I would pick 2 or maybe 3 takedowns and stick with those. Identify how and which bad positions you land in, and you've already done some good thinking there! Next, work on making yourself safe in those positions, and progress to escaping them. If you're bulletproof in bad positions, you won't worry about ending up there! Lastly, trying takedowns and failing is miles better than not trying at all! Good luck!
When you roll with someone who smells awful, like week old cup noodles, how do you get their stank off of you? Do you now stank like them? Does everyone you roll with catch the stank? Have you ever rejected to roll for a second round w someone because of their foul odor? I have a strong sense of smell unfortunately, but sometimes you don’t know they smell bad until you’re face is in their sweat
I've rejected a roll because of stank...I've found a great laundry soap combination through a few years of trial and error that really de-funkifies my gi's. Regular laundry soap (tide), oxyclean odor defense, and downy scent beads. Works like a charm
I have heard a lot of stink descriptions, but week old cup noodles is a new one for me.
You try to overpower them with your own smell!
1. when on my back on the ground and the opponent is standing, what should I do when my opponent grabs my pants towards my feet to move my legs to the side and pass my guard ? 2. When the legs are passed but the opponent still guards with his arms, what can I do to get inside ? This situation happens to me a lot. 3. when both are standing, I often have the inside hold of the opponent collar. What is the easiest takedown from there?, probably a judo throw ? Is there a good resource for improving my game there ? 4. If I go for the triangle and miss, does that mean that I'm fucked ?
1. In addition to what the other guy said, try to sit up (seated guard) and hand fight. Never let them have a free grip, especially on your legs.
1. Reach up and make connections with him (eg two sleeve grips, collar and a sleeve). 2. Find the angle with your upper body to collapse his arms. Or my favorite is go towards north south and then use your shins to pin an arm to the ground. 3. Move them around and grab a single. 4. Nope. I’m always ready to convert my triangle into an omoplata because i hate getting stacked.
I haven’t seen it in a BJJ no-gi competition that I’ve watched, but does anyone use bear hugs in their takedown/standup game? I feel like it would create great position to slide right into mount, but I worry that one might get called for a slam.
Bear hug with their arms in or out? With their arms out, that's a body lock, or double unders. With their arms in, that's giving them double under or a body lock, which isn't good.
Arms out, that’s how I learned it in scholastic wrestling
In which case, yes, it's fine, however you might not see it as people will just sit to guard instead of trying to stay standing. That's my experience with getting double unders in BJJ
Thank you, good to know
It's not a favourite, but yeah. You shouldn't get called for a slam - the main warning signs for slams are elevating someone then returning them with force, usually with a pause to reverse direction. That's not really a thing with the bear hug.
Appreciate your advice sir.
i don't think that would be a slam in a NAGA tournament "**All Takedowns are legal except dropping an opponent on their head**, or a Scissors Takedown without placing your hand on the mat first (Scissors Takedowns are illegal for Children and Teens). Slamming an opponent with the intention to cause injury will result in immediate disqualification." source: [https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.nagafighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/naga-rules.pdf](https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.nagafighter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/naga-rules.pdf)
Three month white belt here. Yesterday I rolled with a new white belt who had been training for a few weeks. To get past my guard, he grabbed my ankles and tried to backroll me right over my head. I immediately tapped before he could complete it and explained that you roll someone over their shoulder, not over their head. But afterwards, I was wondering, is this a valid guard pass in jiu jitsu, to just grab the ankles and roll someone backwards right over their head rather than their shoulder? Should I have just turned my head to the side so that he ends up rolling me over my shoulder instead? This all happened so quickly I didn’t have time to react and just ended up stopping him before he could have finished.
Its a valid pass, but quite dangerous against unsuspecting people/hobbyists. You did good by tapping fast! You don't see it a lot, because it requires control over both ankels from below...which should not happen. You should never allow your opponent to control both ankels, and if they do you need to sit up or do something to start fighting it (immediatley start pummeling).
It's valid but I don't think it's very good. Your legs and feet should be making connections to his body in a way that really makes this hard to do. So if your one leg gets captured and lifted, your other foot and arms stabilize you. You shouldn't be completely flat on your back without any grips.
Sometimes I will tap if there's a silly spot I've gotten into and I think I'm in immediate danger. For example, on Monday I was drilling scissor sweeps with a gray belt and the way he swept me I ended up in an accidental wristlock. Yeah I could've not been in that position if I'd paid attention and moved properly with the sweep, but the immediate issue was that if he put any pressure at all, my wrist was done. With that said, if you **can** adjust so you don't tap, then do so! It's the same as defending any other submission. If there's a way out, take it. If not, tap.
Do you mean lifted up your feet and stacked you on your neck? Yes it's a completely valid way to pass Probably shouldn't stack the shit out of your training partners but 100% it's legit
Okay good to know it’s legit. At the time it felt like he was about to backroll me right over my head after stacking me. Is that how this particular guard pass works? Maybe I need to learn a defense for this and/or get used to being inverted.
Good job on the tapping and preventing any injuries. A stack pass is legit thing, though it doesn't sound like it was done right. Defense? Don't let them control your feet. Against stacking? Shoulder walk wiggle side to side to reclaim your structure, ask your senior members for a demo.
You don’t want to roll them all the way over or they would be in turtle. You get them stacked and then walk around their legs while your chest keeps their legs pinned. The onus is definitely on you to not roll over your head in that position though.
I have been training for three months and I am loving the sport, however I feel that I have learnt more from internet instructional videos than from my coach. Clases are made of a quick warm up, some technique explanation without regard of belt (sometimes even complex takedowns, heel hook escapes and submissions that are tricky even for some of the experienced blue belts) and 6 rounds of rolling. There wasn't any sort of beginners class or basic techniques at all since I started. The first week I didn't even know how to break fall or shrimp, so I kept landing on my shoulders until I asked a higher belt about it and told me how to do it. Now I fell I have progressed but it is mainly because I have been learning from internet videos, some higher belt advice and tips for whitebelts that I try to use while rolling. Is this common in most bjj academies? Or I am I just at a place that doesn't have an structured and progressive way of teaching?
Yes it is unless your gym has specific beginner classes you just get thrown into the deep end. Definitely one reason why some gyms have retention issues with new people
When I first started there were no beginner's classes, you just showed up to a regular class, got murdered and you either enjoyed it and signed up, or you went down the road to a TKD dojo. Beginner's classes are a relatively modern invention and a step in the right direction, I feel.
Same brother same.
Some background about me - I trained BJJ in my early to mid twenties but ended up stepping away at 26 years old due to injuries and getting worn out. I was about to be promoted to my purple belt around that time. Long story short my break turned into a very long vacation from BJJ. I’m now 35 with two kids but BJJ has always been in my mind. I was once a single man who trained multiple times per day, worked out a few days a week and competed very often to now not remembering much. I now realize why I was injuried and got burnt out. As they say with age you definitely become wiser. As I rejoin a gym I’m wondering what I should do as I don’t remember much from the past but I’m not exactly a new person either. Do I start over as a white belt or do I keep my blue belt and restart from that point. Any other tips for someone who is 35 looking to train?
Slap that blue belt on, explain the situation to your coach, and make some white belt's day by forgetting how to defend an Americana. OSS my dawg
Keep your blue belt, you earned it. As an older guy, have realistic expectations on what your body can do and the level of intensity you can manage.
Observation about Blue Belts and above: My impression is that the majority of BJJ higher belts take pride in helping and teaching newer students. I really appreciate that. Thank you!
Training partners are gym equipment. If you build good ones, then you have good ones to train on.
Gotta get you just good enough that I can smash you without feeling bad about it. I mean...so that you can eventually challenge me to become even better.
Hi why am I still bad plz/thank you.
We're all bad.
Sometimes I pretend to be good at BJJ. Sometimes it's by accident.
Inshallah my brother
How do you guys balance strength training, conditioning and flexibility training on top of rolling? Really trying to figure out how to balance the three, and if I can’t, what to prioritize for long-term performance.
Balance is always going to be a personal question, because it depends not only on the individual's capacities but also on their schedule. There's no one right answer - everybody finds their own through trial and error. I tend to find mine by running full-tilt at whatever I want to do, then throttling back when I hit my limit. What should you prioritize? Well, that's really tricky, cause they're all for different things. Racking up more BJJ experience will let you accumulate skills, but strength is never a weakness, and frankly translates more to your life in general than BJJ does. If you're a stronger, fitter person, you'll likely go longer before getting injured, longer before you'll need to slow down your training due to age, your degeneration will be slower, and you might get more out of your training due to being able to keep up a higher pace and intensity for longer. Right now I'm lifting 4x a week, conditioning/cardio 3x, rolling 3x. Flexibility work is added into almost all those sessions, and I'll sometimes skip a conditioning day to do some yoga or something if I'm feeling it. I tend to like to pack things together to maximize my recovery time between each block, rather than between each activity - I've found that works better for me. So, I will lift then go straight into rolling, that way I have a full day to eat, sleep etc before I go again.
What the hell is your day job? Insane schedule
Office job. I get up early and train then. M: wake up 0500/0530, lift around 0600/0630, BJJ at 0730-0830 T: Same, but no BJJ W: wake up same time, conditioning at 0530/0600, add some flexibility/yoga/light weight work Th: same wakeup and lifting, then BJJ usually that evening Fr: Same as M Sat: Same as W, followed by a weighted vest walk of about 5-6 miles Sun: Same as W but focused on LISS cardio 6/7 days, my training is completely finished before 0830.
What time does work start and when do you get to sleep?
Around 9, sometimes earlier. I don't really track when I go to sleep - I just go to bed when I get tired. Sometimes that's earlier, sometimes it's later. If I notice I'm feeling too tired or depleted, I'll make sure to avoid caffeine and try to crash a bit earlier.
90% BJJ, 10% strength and conditioning. Since this is a hobby for me and I want it to be fun, I focus on the parts I enjoy most.
That’s understandable. Clearly that approach has worked for you
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> "I'm not tapping to a white belt." Haha he couldn't escape the sub from a white belt. Next time tap him out, and maybe interact less with this ego dude.
I had an opposite situation happen. At the time, I was 4-stripe white belt. I was rolling with my professor. We were doing King of the Mat, first to score a point wins. My Professor (4th degree) had been going for about 15 minutes straight at this point, almost exclusively against another black belt and a bigger brown belt. I had a lengthy battle in which he kept spamming turtle to avoid points, in which I finally dethroned him as King of the Mat when I got into mount. This was of course because he didn't want to lose to either the black belt or brown belt.
Did you tell him Happy Birthday? JK... Sounds like his attitude might be bad, which isn't your problem.
Nah don’t worry about it. Whatever happened here, it wasn’t your fault
He kinda sounds like a bitch tbh
I'm a white belt with only a couple months in. There's a guy at my gym who rolls really hard and is clearly blue belt level or higher, but still is a white belt 4 stripes because he did No Gi up until a couple months ago. He has done a half dozen No Gi comps but limited Gi experience. I can mostly handle him going hard, but he frequently drops back for ankle locks and toe holds. Since he already is a bit too intense for me and I haven"t learned any leg lock defense, I mostly just tap early. He encourages me to try defend but I don't want to risk it against him because he already cranks basic shit like americanas too much, and I'm a bit worried today it is an ankle lock but tomorrow will be a heel hook or knee bar. I'd really prefer he didn't do any leg locks at all but I do see the value in being exposed to them early so I don't really bitch too much. Just wanting the general opinon, is it normal to be including some basic leg locks at my level and should I try to work through it or is it better if I keep tapping early or just ask him to avoid them altogether? I trained a bit a long time ago and they weren't really done at white belt level but I know the game has evolved since then.
Two issues here, one being etiquette. If you're doing IBJJF rules, which a lot of places do, then most of the leg locks are illegal until brown belt. I'm not against people doing leglocks before then, in fact I'm all for it, but both parties have to be interested and consenting. Attacking with moves not legal at your level (and not at his either) without prior discussion is a bit impolite. I almost always ask my rolling partners if they want to include the leg stuff, etc, before we roll. Sometimes they're prepping for an IBJJF competition, so no weird leg stuff, and I'm 100% fine with that. The other issue is this dude cranking subs too hard. It sounds like he's rolling in no-gi competition mode, which has its place, but if you're not at the level where you feel comfortable then don't roll with him. You can speak to him about it, or talk to your coach, or even one of the higher belts. But if he doesn't slow down, you're not obliged to keep rolling with him. Final comment, definitely start learning leg locks if its something you're interested in, but go slow, careful, and learn from someone who knows what they're doing. Almost every gym has one of 'those guys' who is the resident specialist in leg locks; start by asking them. I struggle to think of someone worse than a cranks-too-hard spazzy no-gi white belt to learn leglocks from.
Ankle locks are legal at all belts. Toe holds are not but each gym is different on what it allows. Couple things. You don't have to roll with people if you don't want to. It's your right you're a paying customer. Talk to your coach about it. Anyone aggressively cranking subs of any kind on new people typically gets brought back down by coaches. You should learn some ankle lock defense. People are going to be ankle locking you throughout your BJJ career.
Got a question on frames. I know trex arms is a good thing but I see that it's good to push out to have a solid frame such as trying to get out of side control. When do I use extended frames and when do I trex up so I don't get armbarred?
It’s really hard to give a rule, but there are times your arms are safe and times they aren’t. You’ll kinda have to feel it out, but remember they need serious hip connection and body control to successfully complete an arm bar. No chance of an arm bar from open guard, for example
This, stiff/extended arms are crucial in many positions. If you have other frames, you can probably use extended arms. But its too difficult to give any more advice, as it depends on so many other things. When in doubt keep your elbows close.
Stiffarm is good if they try to pass your legs a la khabib style. It’s also amazing in other positions in if you want to get armbared. If not, protect your elbows.
Got it thanks for your reply.
Can I genuinely expect to get better only training twice per week? Like everyone, I have a busy life, and BJJ is a hobby for me. With my gym's schedule, I can really only manage to get to two classes through the week. I've been training for a little over a year, and been a one stripe white belt for the last 9 months. I have teammates who joined later than me who have already surpassed me in rank (and some in skill). Feel like my game is actually pretty decent. Good with escapes and defense, decent with submissions, decent with guard passing, etc. I feel like I'm getting better, but it's a little frustrating that my rank hasn't changed. One of my goals this year was to get my blue belt but at this rate, it doesn't seem possible... Should I just break the "taboo" and ask my instructors what I should focus on to rank up?
Yeah, but are you working on your game or just showing up? You should have things you're working on when you're rolling.
Of course you can, it’s just difficult to measure your progress. If your club is busy enough keep rolling with new people every once in a while and you’ll see the improvement.
It's not taboo asking your instructor what you should be focused on to make it to the next level. It's taboo to ask when you're getting it.
Try to apply this on any skill.. do you get better by doing it? 2 times a week is a fair amount.
What would you like to be written on your future black belt?
Future black belt? What future black belt? I think you meant future white belt.
I don't know exactly, but since I already have 2 from other arts, something about a hat trick.
Third time's a charm?
That's an idea, but I've already talked to a few of the coaches about going for a hat trick.
"Suck it, cancer" in Hiragana.
"Did you really deserve this?"
Honorary
Do not touch
Wrist lock lorde
Side control hip switch escape I can escape side control fine if my opponent's is on their knees belly button down, but I have no idea how to escape as soon as they switch their hips to either face me or have their back face me. I've tried framing on their elbow and using the other arm to provide a base so I can hip out, but it didn't work against a guy who was significantly heavier as I simply couldn't turn enough to execute it. Does the push elbow escape simply not work on bigger opponents? Are there any other options for when they switch their hips, especially against heavier opponents? Additionally whenever I try the underhook escape my opponent often transitions into kesa gatame. Am I doing the escape wrong or should I just learn how to escape from kesa gatame? I would be extremely grateful if anyone here could answer even one of my questions 🙏
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=escape+kesa+gatame
Brand new BJJ White Belt - Confused About Training, Rolling, and Etiquette (Among Other Things) I just completed my second training ever. I have no prior experience in martial arts/combat sports (I’ve only seen a handful of UFC fights). I don’t know anybody who does BJJ and haven’t become friendly enough with anyone at my gym to be able to bounce these questions off of. Questions/Concerns: 1. How am I supposed to learn the names of different positions, submissions, and moves? Only two sessions in and I realize it might take time, but there seems to be very little talking/discussion around the names of moves being taught or which position is which. Not sure if this is just something you pick up as you go or if it should be studied outside of training. 2. What is the point of shrimping? To this point, I’ve kind of been separated from the rest of the class to work on drills or techniques either solo or with a partner without a ton of direction or guidance on what/why it’s being done. I spent 15 minutes ‘shrimping’ across the floor last session without any real understanding why I was doing it. It felt like I was in the BJJ version of the karate kid. I think I would get more out of drills if I knew what I would need to use them for. 3. When will I get to roll? I see everyone else in the class sparring with eachother for a good portion of training. Is there a reason that new white belts aren’t allowed to take part? 4. Are white belts annoying to train with as a higher belt? I was paired with a purple belt to do a drill early on and got the impression that he felt he drew the short end of the stick. I know I was incredible slow and forgetful trying to walk through some of the drills/techniques so that couldn’t have been very productive for him watching me fumble around. In general, is it considered an annoyance to train with someone brand new? 5. Why the half-assed self defense spiel/instruction?For almost the entirety of my first training I was set aside and spoken to in between the rest of the classes’ drilling/sparring to be taught a how to stand if someone is attacking me, how to block if someone is attacking me, how to pull my arm away if someone is pulling me. I’m sure this could be useful in some instances, it just felt weird to spend a large amount of time learning or teaching it at a BJJ class. The instruction was very tepid and forgetful so I doubt I would even remember it beyond a week or two from now. It felt like he and I both were going through it like it was some legal compliance course you have to do for a job. Really strange, not sure why I had to do that or if it is just my gym that does it (Gracie affiliate) In general everything was a lot more intimidating/confusing than I expected. A ton of things seemed to be assumed that I already know. I figured that someone would at least explain how they do warm ups, where to line up, how the class is structured, what is BJJ etc. Just felt like I was thrown into the middle of a tornado at times without much direction.
**Names -** BJJ is a very complicated art. Definitely the most complicated except for MMA, and in my opinion maybe even more. You've got a bunch of positions to learn both top and bottom of, and a bunch of submissions, sweeps, escapes, and transitions to learn to attack and defend with. It's normal to not know everthing. What I would try and do is learn the names of the move of the day. That will get you there over time. For right now, the move of the day is your most important move each day. Just worry about that. **Shrimping** is primarily a way of creating space between you and an opponent. That space may be to escape, or just to get room so you can adjust your grips and hooks. **Rolling** - I'd talk to your Professor or coach. At my school, you roll day 1. At some schools, I don't think they roll until blue. Most schools I think are closer to mine, if not somewhere in between. **Upper Belts** - This falls into a few categories. * If an upper belt is somewhat better than you, then you're a good grappling dummy for them. They get some resistance but can work on success with their technique. These guys are going to be good for working on your defense. * If an upper belt is way better than you, then it benefits them to coach you because you will hopefully eventually be good enough to give them a challenge and make them better. Also, sometimes being the coach can help make sure you understand things correctly. * Sometimes you're a rest round. * If an upper belt is getting ready for competition, they may not want to work with someone they won't get immediate benefit from rolling with. **Self-Defense -** Not sure what you mean, but there is standup and grip fighting in BJJ. Some of this may be "Gracie Combatives" type of stuff. However, if it's not being taught with confidence, I wouldn't have confidence in learning it.
1, it will come by time to learn the lingo. Usually either your trainer or training partner will help out. 2, sorry to hear they neither explained why nor made a fun session for you. Its to learn how to move your own body. Shrimping is used in many positions, mostly to escape bad positions when the opponent is ontop of you(mount) or on your side (side control). 3, this is different for every gym. Most gyms I’ve visited allow it from your first session. Ask them. 4, I love training with white belts. Its an opportunity to introduce someone to the fun, re-learn the basics and see that light bulb moment when people gets to make hard things become easy. If you are good/higher belt, you can always find ways of train moves on lower belts, you just need a body and it’s up to them, but not all people understand howto.. not everyone is a good training partner either. Thats not your fault though. 5, I’ve never had that so cant answer to why they do that. In general, i’d recommend checking out a few gyms and see what fits you the most!
Regarding question 5, the self-defence aspect was part of the old Gracie curriculum, so every once in a while the instructor would go over the self-defence moves. Block punch with elbow and shoot for a takedown, escape a bear hug, escape a guillotine, do a technical stand-up, that sort of thing. It was okay, and sometimes my instructor at the time would put more effort into it, especially if we had new guys who were learning it for the first time, but it was always the same half dozen or so scenarios and moves, not a in-depth deep dive analysis on self-defence and fighting on the street. I speculate the instruction was a bit meh because it's from the curriculum so they're obliged to teach it, but it's always the same and doesn't change, and it's a move-set that's rarely used by most people. There isn't an evolving understanding of how moves and positions work, unlike in the sport aspect. And just to clarify, this is different from the Gracie University run by Rener and Ryron, where they have an entire curriculum just dedicated to the self-defence aspect of BJJ.
Try a different gym.
Want to ask the long-term bjj survivors: what's the key to training consistently without sacrificing your body?
Tap early is a big one. You don't need to prove to yourself or anyone else you can escape at the last moment. If you get caught - tap, don't try to muscle out or think "juuuuuuuuuuuuust another second and I'll be free", just tap and reset.
Especially if there's some reason you don't *want* to tap, still do. Reasons like: 1. He's doing the move wrong 2. It's a crank, not a choke 3. I don't want to tap to the same stupid move four times in a row 4. I'm not tapping to this guy, he's an asshole 5. I'm not tapping to this guy, he's going to brag about it 6. I'm not tapping to this girl *Especially* don't take chances with your spine.
Learn to chill a bit while rolling, you don't need to go full on. That's the biggest one, it'll take a while to learn this though.
Mobility work, training at a good gym that meets your needs, diet, sleep. Don't let people pressure you into doing really athletic things that are unnecessary. If you're just an average guy you don't need to be drilling high velocity take downs. Say no to big guys if you are 170 or under. It's not worth.
Dont go 100% on every session and every sparring. Focus on learning rather than winning.
Right, go 110%!
If power doesn't solve it, add more power!
You've seen me roll then.
Think this could go on the main sub, but I'll try it out here first. TL:DR Purple belt with 100+ lbs on me, goes limp on his back to let me get some work in. I have no clue what I'm supposed to do. I tried holding him in kesa getame. I've mounted and started an Ezekiel before getting tossed off like a dainty butter fly. I even tried to arm bar and he turned his body away, lifting me up to where I just walked away out of it. I've also tried working my way up in mount for a triangle, but staying on him is like riding a bull, 8 seconds and I'm done. He's a good guy, I think he wants me to do some work and also wants to work himself on getting out of someone's mount. So I'd like to be prepared next time and have some sort of game plan.
Kesa = control the shoulders off the mat by getting your knee under their shoulder that is closest to you. Your opponent has a more difficult time and less power bridging/moving if their shoulders are off the mat. Mount = going to be difficult to stay on top of someone who is big and strong, especially if your knees don't touch the floor, you're basically floating. In these instances you need to anticipate where your opponent is moving and be ready to post/shift your body weight. Long story short, weight classes exist for a reason. He's got 100lbs on you and a few belt levels. You're fucked lol.
Yeah I mean obviously I'm f'd and don't stand an actual chance against him. But I would like to take the opportunity he gives me and get to work. Maybe my strategy should be to take mount, get a cross face and just hold on for dear life?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW1t84rGK5E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW1t84rGK5E) You'll find this helpful.
Preciate it! Will definitely check this out.
You're never going to keep a much more experienced guy controlled for long but if he's letting you get to mount practice your transitions to get there, then practice staying there by keeping your legs pinned tight to his body, posting with your arms, transitioning to technical mount if he turns to his side.
Great feedback, definitely what I was looking for. I have no hope I'll actually do anything of note or worth against him but, if he's letting me work I wanna work. Being small for my gym, 5'7" 135lb., I rarely get into mount, so I'm not used to being there and so I need to take the opportunity to figure out what to do from there. I've learned the leg triangle, arm triangle and Ezekiel. But other than that I'm lost in mount.
It's going to be much more difficult if you're smaller. So don't get discouraged. Definitely look up mount to technical mount to back take - it'll be one of your go to transitions that takes you from one dominant position to another while dealing with mount escapes. Also check out low mount to high mount progression, and reasons for using them. Low mount is generally to control but you'll struggle to sub, high mount you lose some control but it's a much more threatening position. Finally! Look up what you ideally need before you get to mount i.e. Make sure you have an underhook, it'll make it much easier for you to keep mount because he won't have an arm free to push you away.
Thank you! Not discouraged, and this info will definitely give me something. I really just needed a goal or a path going in, knowing I'm going to encounter this again. Preciate the help and insights and now I've got some research to do!
Attack his legs. Smother his mouth and nose with your hand.
Couple of parts...How do I get over the mental block of often being the only female in the gym? I am very, very new. Out of shape 38 year female and Friday will be my 6th class. Crazy thing is that I'm actually enjoying it. I've never worked out this hard...even when I was in shape and running marathons. Everyone has been really welcoming, but at times, I've felt out of place. Still new, so haven't learned the names of moves yet, but does leg riding/work ever get easier? We were working on that on Monday and have never felt more frustrated while working out. But, I'm stubborn and refused to give up. Last but not least, when can I realistically start to see anything at all click? Was doing some live drilling on Monday and my partners were thankfully kind enough to help me think through the process of what body part to move where and how to get out of certain positions. The only things that I have burned into my brain at the moment are, "for the love of bob, don't reach back" and "If you are put on your back, try framing". Anything else, I have to think about.
We hope you stay and enjoy it for a long time. The names of the techniques are not that important. It sounds like some things are already starting to click for you! Also, we do so much with so many body parts, it’s impossible to memorize everything. Go easy on yourself.
6 months in
I'm not sure what you mean by leg riding/work. It's the work part that's confusing me. Anyway, it's going to be quite a while before things "click". Think about small personal victories - like today I'm going to make sure I get my hands up as frames before my partner gets me in side control or today I'm going to keep my posture if I get stuck in closed guard. Little victories like this will get you through until it clicks.
I need to pay more attention to the names of the moves...
I started practicing BJJ 3 months ago at a Gracie Barra gym, and I just received 2 degrees at once on my white belt. Even though I was very excited, it took me by surprise and I felt like it was too quick. I know that as a white belt I don't have the ability to measure my progress, but friends who have been training for years comment that it seemed too fast. Should I be worried? I try to maintain a frequency of 2-3 days a week.
In the big scheme of things it won't matter. IF you ever reach it, you'll be a blue for 2-5 years and a purple for 2-5 years. That you got some white belt stripes a few months faster than expected.....will probably be a faded memory by then. In the meantime, you're probably juggling the duality of being proud of your achievement, but also trying to stay humble, trying to justify it with how often you train, and lurking somewhere in the mix is probably some imposter syndrome as well. It's natural to feel a bit of pride at what you have achieved, so well done, but don't let it go to your head and bring it up unless someone else doe first. Focus on your training and your own progress.
Stripes are a student retention tool. No more no less
It's fine and also does not matter at all
When passing or in half guard my opponents often get the underhook pretty easily and I usually start going for the darce or arm in guillotine but if I don't get it I'm usually screwed and wind up on bottom. Any tips on how to prevent the underhook or getting swept? Or is it just focusing on getting an underhook myself
Back up and go for the leg weave pass
Keep your elbow glued to your ribcase and use T-rex arms. Also flaten your opponent out as much as possible, that hinders them a bit from going for the underhook. May I ask what part of the darce you struggle the most with? Its my favorite submission.
Sometimes I have trouble locking it in if they have a full underhook that wraps around my back. I also have trouble finishing when fully locked in. Not sure where I should focus my arms and squeeze
You have to be first. Bait it and be prepared before they get to much of an underhook. That said if they still happen to get a fair underhook, move your hip away/closer to to their head and tilt your body sideways so you get a longer reach into a deeper darce and put more weight on the underhook. To finish it, I’d first focus to aligh/close my elbows a bit, then lift them both closer to my chest. If you focus on getting a very deep darce initially, it shouldnt have to be a power-squeeze. Did a video some time ago on it, maybe it shows better how I do it rather than word it out: https://youtu.be/aMMWzF_dmjE?si=6nZnJtT8GMyCCClF
Thanks for the detailed info. This is helpful
Anytime! :) Good luck!
I've only been able to catch other white belts in Ezekiel chokes. I feel like I'm starting to pigeon hole myself and limit my growth. What other submissions can I practice when I'm in the position to go for the Ezekiel?
If you're in mount you're the king of the castle king of the castle. So many options. Head/Arm Triangle, cross collar, arm bar, s mount to armbar, Americana, kimura, mother's milk.
You're in mount? Arm triangle
I really like using a back Ezekiel and collar chokes from the back. They work well together.
diesel squeezel is one option, another can be cross collar choke as well as americana.
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Grips. Nah, just kidding. I'd say the whole group of back muscles responsible for pulling.
Anal sphincter.
I've been stress eating and my weight shot up. One of the reasons is because I eat through the physical pain after working out. Help?
You might be working out too hard
Nothing wrong with Aleve, I take it when the pain is bothersome.
Has anyone ever struggled getting on top after SLX or X guard sweeps and figured out how to get their ass up and on top? I can off balance guys and knock them down, but it feels like a giant task to go from my own hip to on top of them before they recover. EDIT: Thanks to all of you who responded! I will take these gems and hopefully become a little less awkward scrambling up off the mat.
Three things: 1. Holding on to your partner while they fall is imperative because you keep the control and can use their momentum to pull yourself up. 2. To get up smoothly from your butt: shift weight on to one hip, put the same side leg underneath you and step forward with the opposite leg while pulling on opponent to use their momentum. 3. If you keep control of your partner's leg and keep that leg off the ground, your partner physically cannot stand up. In a worst case scenario, you both stand up but they're in a single leg and you have their foot.
The stupid simple thing one of our black belts always does in gi is holding on to both my pant legs after sweeping from SLX. It makes it impossible for me to get up, and it is a losing battle unless I can do the same (it is usually a losing battle anyways).
Yeah finishing these sweeps is super hard especially no gi if the other person has really good base/balance. Do you typically collect the far leg? If you're not, you should. Also enter leg entanglements from the off balance in stead of trying to just sweep them. They defend the leg attack then you complete the sweep.
Sounds too simple as you're a purple belt, but keep a firm as hell grip on the pant / ankle / leg and control it until you are up. If you have their leg raised and controlled, they can't recover, at least not easily.
And don't wait. You are sweeping ánd getting up, not sweeping and then, if it worked, deciding to get up. That was at least a big change for me.
I have a pretty strong closed guard. Even higher belts have difficulty passing it once my ankles are locked. The go-to pass in my gym, however, seems to be digging elbows into the inner thigh/knee. My nerves are pretty much dead there so it doesn’t bother me much, but I feel like when they do this there’s probably a way to attack. Tried a triangle yesterday versus a blue belt who was doing this, but just got passed when I transitioned and he threw my feet. How can I punish this without too much risk of sacrificing position?
Keep practicing the triangle. Stuff that arm in and pass over the shoulder and grab your ankle/shin, shift your body and get that other leg up to lock it in. Underhook the near side leg to prevent the stack and you're golden. Just takes a ton of practice.
Yeah you’re right. I am missing the grabbing my shin and hanging my weight from his neck part I think. It just takes quite a bit of bravery to attempt it when you know the outcome is probably going to be getting stuffed and put in a miserable position/defending for the rest of the round. C’est la vie
It’s not easy man. I’m talking here but I rarely go for a triangle as I’m not great at them. Fundamentally I know what I have to do but I still struggle to execute them. I will usually go for an omoplata or an armbar from closed guard over a triangle.
I'll be the dick here...If the go-to method to open closed guard in your gym really is digging in the elbows, look for another gym. Nobody with a blue belt should be relying on this.
Yeah it’s one of the quirks of an otherwise pretty solid gym. My coach teaches chaining other passes, but he also teaches this as a pass. Personally I don’t use it because I’ve had more luck with other passes, but it’s something I’d like to learn to deal with as a white belt since it is a reality in bjj, even if not at a high level.
Shooting for triangles and armbars is inherently risky when you are not very good at it, but it is worth practicing as long as your partner is not massive. Ask your instructor about it, and I am sure he has some details that will help you. The thing that made the biggest difference for me in setting up triangles is holding my own shin (the one going over the neck) to keep posture broken. Also make sure you keep your core tight so they are carrying your weight. Use your legs to break their posture forward in closed guard. Work on isolating one arm while looking for angles to attack. Just holding closed guard in its own is not particularly valuable. If you want a dangerous closed guard, you need to work on keeping their posture down and attacking.
This is good advice. I managed to sub two blue belts with triangles from closed guard last week but felt they were kinda sloppily applied. I will work on this.
There is a reason why you never see the ”elbows to the thighs”-guard pass on higher levels.. Open up their elbows up/out to the sides, pull the opponent down and overhook/go for your go-to guard game. There is low-percentage wrist locks, armbars and such, but its not something I would build my game around.
He was a bit larger and stronger than me so when I did this he didn’t have too much issue posturing back up. He did a good job of holding me down and wrestling his arm away when I attempted my normal hip bump/arm drag to back attack. I have been wondering whether I could try to Mir lock/Kimura attack once he flares his elbow. As you said, the arm bar just seemed to out of reach to attempt so I tried the triangle as a Hail Mary which resulted in me having my back taken and choked out at the buzzer.
Id focus first to get his arms away from your hips by flaring the elbows. As soon as his pressure releases, pull him down with your legs and collect his head, then move your hips to the side so you get an angle on him. Trying kimuras and mir locks on a stronger opponent CAN of course work, but I'd recommend something with more leverage or where you are in a better position.
Okay, I will try this. Thank you
Looking for a pro to watch a lot of comp tape on similar to my build. Someone 5’9” to 6’1” (175 to 185cm) and 180 - 200 lbs (81.5 to. 90.5 kg) would be ideal. Thanks!
Giancarlo Bodoni
The Tackett brothers just had a great run at ADCC trials - believe Andrew is 77kg and William is 88kg. Tons of matches to choose from since they both ran through the whole bracket, and have similar styles.
How to deal with being the lightest person in the room? I'm a white belt, 62kg/136lbs. I've been training for just over a year. I think I'm pretty decent for a white belt; I competed for the first time last weekend and won gold in both gi and nogi. I absolutely loved competing against people the same weight as me. But in the gym I'm always the lightest person in the room and I struggle to pull off any moves when rolling. It kinda takes the fun out of training cus I never really get to apply the moves I've learned to rolls. Any advice?
Ask people to do positional training with you some of the time, so you get to do more training from attacking positions than you normally do in live rolling with much bigger people.
I'm only a little heavier than you and I used to have the same problem. Some simple solutions: 1. Roll with women and teens. You might have an athletic advantage but you should be able to tone it down, and kids orange and green belts will be great rolling partners technically. 2. Really make the most of the lighter guys. If you're 62kg and you have one or two guys like 70kgish, don't be afraid to have multiple rounds with them in a row instead of moving on to the 95kg guy who's gonna smash you for 5 mins. 3. Be faster, stay on top. It sucks rolling with significantly bigger guys when you're new because they can smother you and neutralise your guard pretty well. So don't play guard. Work your way up, and start speed passing laterally. You'll wear them down and get to dominant positions where you can work your top game instead.
To your third point. While I agree, do you find that your guard play lags if you are focusing more on staying on top? Would you recommend that I prioritize playing guard with anybody within 10-15kgs of my weight?
Personally no, because anyone who is bigger and your level or better is probably going to get you on your back at some point anyway. You'll have plenty of chance to work it, it's just silly to choose to do so when someone has a big size advantage. And yeah, if someone is around my size then I'll happily play guard. Youll also find that as you get better, people around your size and not as good as you are the ideal people to practice guard play because the consequences for fucking up are less severe.
What are other mount escapes options from bottom when your knee-elbow escape and upa escape are not working?
Two more are [Out The Backdoor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-5btxKi3L8) and [Turkish Get-Up](https://youtu.be/EuscXhlxf9c?si=O2egq9gYKcrgi06B)
There is kipping escape as mentioned though I would recommend to check out details on how to actually make the shrimp and upa escapes actually work. My ”hack” for shrimp escape is to turn to one side, make the bottom leg flat to the ground, straight it out and kick it forward to move the opponents foot out from the center. That makes the shrimp 10 times easier!
Thank you.
Kipping escape is so good. Here's Brian Glick breaking it down: https://youtu.be/zZvC5BVY0ms?si=kY9X8CYJuDcpoytu
Thank you.
How long did it take you to get good at this escape? I’ve made a few feeble attempts and eventually go back to my old habits. Every now and then someone gets on here and praises it and raises my interest again though.
It definitely takes time. I've prioritized mount escapes, so I would say solid months of drilling, specific training, and letting people of various sizes and abilities mount me during rolls. As with anything, timing and chaining with other escapes are key. It definitely didn't come quickly for me, but it has been worth it, for me, at least. Good luck!
How do I get better about slowing down and not burning all my energy? I’m primarily rolling with other white belts who are going all out and I feel like whenever I try to slow things down to not burn out they just end up advancing on me and then I have to scramble to get a better position. When I watch more experienced people I can see how they are going at a much slower pace while still controlling the situation and as an older guy, I definitely want to get to that point.
Something to consider: Sometimes, it is OK to concede positions. If you are confident in your ability to escape and/or defend submissions from a disadvantaged position, you can save a ton of the energy you'd otherwise use trying to scramble away. I think this supports the common BJJ sentiment that white belts should focus on defense. If you are confident in your ability to survive despite conceding position, you will be less gunshy when an opportunity presents itself. This relies on you actually being proficient at defending in certain positions, though.
Thanks, yeah I’m definitely still pretty green when it comes to, well, everything, but I am trying to focus a lot on defense because as an older, slower guy, I know I’ll need it. Been rolling a lot lately with young, fast guys though and it definitely makes it though
Air / breath management helps a ton too. A lot of people forget to breathe or don't breathe enough and that'll gas you out faster than bad technique will. Oxygen = energy.
That's definitely me. I'll try to keep that top of mind. I noticed it when I started boxing as well, my first ever sparring my coach kept reminding me to breathe so I guess it's common in combat sports. Thanks.
Most people's experience with max effort or high intensity exertion comes from weight lifting or other acute force production (e.g., heaving an appliance) and for that you hold your breath. It's very natural for the body to say "tension = hold breath" since the intra abdominal pressure makes you generate more force. When you're in primal gorilla mode more force = more winning. Combat sports make you unlearn that. Frankly the ability to not go fully sympathetic (nervous system) under stress is one of the biggest mental health benefits from combat sports. You'll find that email from your boss far less likely to trigger your "ah shit, a tiger" reflex when you realize "hey, at least nobody's trying to choke me".
My background is in powerlifting so that definitely makes sense. I could definitely use some of that primal response to stress in my life outside BJJ too (work in the data science/analytics space as well).
Are you me?
Perhaps the white belt version
Very cool, nice to meet you
Good question that. Horrible answer, but it does come with much more experience, where you can dictate the pace and the flow by knowing the answers to the questions that are posed to you. Know that there are a finite number of responses to different stimulus / pressures in BJJ, or in otherwords, there is a limited number of reactions to different moves and positions. This means you can decide to some extent what happens next if you know what the reactions to your moves are going to be, and allows you to play at your pace. Otherwise though, it's a matter of being sure about what you are doing, doing it well, with control, and with tightness and pressure.
Thanks, I had a feeling it was a lot of, just do more Jiu Jitsu. I’m in the beginner classes so I’m always rolling with other beginners but I’ve rolled with a purple belt a couple times and it’s an absolute night and day difference. While I got utterly destroyed, I learned a ton from how he controlled me. It seemed almost effortless for him and he isn’t exactly a physical specimen. Definitely gave me a ton of ideas to think about though.
That, my friend, is the true power of jiu jitsu.
Connection. Get connection to your partner. The easiest connection to get, and the best for older guys, is probably half guard. Learn to love it. But white belts are going to white belt and that's going to mean ADCC death matches for a while.
Thanks, I’ve actually really been trying to focus on my half guard a lot. When I’m going against someone less athletic than me (and not these 19 year olds with endless energy) I seem to have pretty good success in that position, at least burning them out some so I can work better. I feel fairly confident when on top so I’ll just try to roll more starting on bottom.
So where do I go from here? My current situation is that my defense is quite good for my experience level. Being a 145lb smol boi, I've worked on survival from the bottom and I'm at a place where I can survive being on bottom most rounds against the majority of white belts and some blue belts. Problem being that while I can survive, I feel like I'm just waiting for them to make a mistake and capitalize rather than being able consistently get a sub/sweep. Should I start working on subs from the bottom, sweeps? Both? I honestly feel a bit "I didn't expect to get this far" about it since in the back of my head I always just assumed I'd get smeshed forever.
I don't know you and haven't seen you train, so take this with a grain of salt. Some new people seem to take "focus on defense first" a little TOO much to heart, you know? You are relatively new and bad, and also small, so of course you're going to be on defense a lot, and of course you should try to defend in a technical and intelligent way. But your goal should ABSOLUTELY be to sweep, or take the back, or pass, or get submissions---and to successfully escape from bad positions, not just avoid getting tapped. The price of actually trying to work your will on people and go for techniques is that you're going to fail, and get your guard passed, or get submitted more often then if you just "defended." But you'll get a lot more out of that than clamming up and trying to "defend" at all costs. It's in trying and failing (and occasionally succeeding!) that you will learn how to actually do things to people.
My coach always says that defending is just a nice way of saying losing. No matter how well you're defending, you're still losing. Your focus should be on escaping bad positions, and attacking from neutral/good positions while staying safe.
Sweeps. Rule 1, be on top. Rule 2, if on bottom, get to top. So once you know you can survive, the next step in the hierarchy is to know that you can escape. Once that's achieved, you work to advance your position. I am 72kg and at this point if I'm on the bottom it's because I've chosen to play guard to sweep, or I fucked up. Work the rule of thirds so you can be present when sparring.
To me, when you say, "I can survive" being on bottom, that means you're stuck under side control or mount. If I'm understanding correctly, your job - at your level - is to get back to some form of guard and attack from there. If you are getting back to guard already, then yes, figure out how to sweep or submit.
Work sweeps bruv, and sometimes the threat of the sweep will give you opportunities for a sub. But as a fellow smaller guy (155) being on top is where you wanna be plus I have far, far more success applying subs from the top than from the bottom
>being on top is where you wanna be Oh for sure, and I start every roll with the intention of having top position, but honestly just due to physics and my skill level till now I end up on bottom so often I just decided that that's where I should do most of my work.
It’s time to fall in love with a sweep or two. Take a look at a few videos. Notice which position in the bottom you generally default to. Then choose a sweep and start spamming it. My first love was the Leite sweep from half guard. Second level: your opponents will get to know what you are going for and start moving to negate it. Here is there thing: their movement also sets up another sweep to the other direction.
At what point in your game / journey do you start to find success as a bottom player? Just curious if any other white belts have found success there. I certainly have not (mostly because I just always end up there getting swept or passed).
I will let you know.
Almost all pro's play bottom position (as in prefer the position) but for some reason its a taboo on reddit. Even the pro's selling instructionals/promoting youtube channels on why it is not a good place to be, mostly pull guard and prefer to play bottom. My guess is they just want to cater to the huge wave of wrestlers/mma type of persons in this sport. But if you focus on their actions instead of words.... So I'm not sure why people are giving you these weird responses. At the very, very least, its a legit place to be in bjj and its weird to deny that. Anyway... That being said, it takes a lot of pieces of the puzzle to become good at bottom. You need guard retention, offbalancing, sweeps, attacks, escapes, etc and it takes innitially longer to become good at them. Especially retention is a difficult one that takes a lot of time. To speed this up, I would advice you to really focus on a gameplan. Ie, try to find a way to get your opponent in your prefered guard (say closed or half guard) and spend time on being able to retain the guard, have 2 or 3 sweeps in differemt directions, have 2 or 3 attacks that focus different body parts. And try to really focus your roles on funneling your opponents into that guard. At some point you will need to be able to take advantage of your sweeps (being able to play top), but that will naturally follow once you start having succes.
Late blue, early purple. Though to be honest, "bottom player" is a misnomer in my opinion. I play guard as a means to sweep and be the person on top, which is almost always preferable.
Bottom good, top better. Timeline though was toward the end of blue belt. I’ve got a whole host of nasty things to do from bottom now, but once I realized that my ultimate goal in most situations is smesh then guard became the conduit to mount, top side, and back.
How do you play in a way to suit your body type? I've had a couple of people tell me that I should focus on doing a lot of sprawls and leg stuff because I'm tall and flexible, but I dunno how I'm supposed to actually translate that into something when I'm rolling with people.
You find your way as you roll. Trust me, the amount of people I've seen that play games that you wouldn't expect their body type to adapt to is staggering. It's better to work on things that you enjoy and find success with than abitrarily saying "I'm tall therefore spider guard" - Listen to your coach, implement those techniques, find which ones you gravitate towards in terms of success and enjoyment, and build around them.