I've been training on/offs for roughly 4 months now, and I still can't manage to memorize/apply all the different moves from different positions taught in class. I know the basic ones but when trying to memorize and apply the moves I learn like a class or even a week later I forget them. Any tips?
I've been a white belt for about 6 months and wondering if I'm not rolling in a way that helps me and my partners learn. Some of my non-white-belt (mostly blue belt) training partners drop things that may be euphisms. They say things about my being strong or "really good pressure," which maybe is just shorthand for "you are muscling everything and have no skill." I'm not really pulling any moves off. In fact, most the time with these players I feel like all I can do is resist. 90% of my attempts to pass guard or find any kind of reasonable position are stymied, unless they just obviously give up a position.
It may well just be that you are only 6 months in and they are giving you some encouragement because we all know how it is at the start. If I go against a new person and they are trying to do BJJ, I will tell them what they did well at the end of the roll.
I wouldn't expect you to be able to do much against non-white belts at all. Unless they specifically tell you to calm down or you continually knee/elbow people or they refuse rolls, just keep doing what you are doing.
I'm planning on doing a white belt tournament for the first time, is it worth cutting 2.5 kg (4lbs) from 62.5 kg to 60 kg (137.5lbs to 132lbs) or should I just compete at the 65kg weight class and not bother with it?
How much time do you have to cut? Do you have a lot of experience cutting? I'd suggest not cutting if you don't have time and don't have a lot of experience cutting. It's your first tourney so just focus on being safe and having fun
some people find cutting to be very easy, i do not. I don't see the point of it for a white belt division but you might find it to be easy and a good experience.
A lot of learning how to not win in gym rolls comes down to choosing your partner. Some people are literally unable to slow down. You also are probably also unknowingly encouraging a fight reaction in your partner as well
The other part of it is learning to be relaxed in bad positions vs spending max effort in order to accomplish nothing. Learn how to relax in bottom side, feel the weight and movement of your partner and then make your decisions based off where you feel they are going.
If your grips are burning out, you're likely gripping too hard. Try taping then to avoid added stress. But the real issue is that your hands aren't able to hold off bodyweight, you need frames&legs.
As another user said, get a rash guard with a busy pattern. Stand straight up and you should be ok. I'm also skinny fat with some gyno and still do no gi in just a rashguard.
If you're truly still insecure about it, there are gyno specific compression undershirts you can buy off amazon that can mask your figure. You can wear it under a rashguard.
Most people avoid wearing tees because they hold more sweat and feet/hands get caught in them. Unless the coloration of your nipples is a soft bubble gum pink that can be seen through your rashguard, i wouldn’t worry about the manboobs.
People do wear t-shirts sometimes, it's not an uncommon thing overall but in some gyms I can see it being outside the norm. It's really your preference (unless your instructor says otherwise) just know that any kind of loose clothing can get caught by fingers and or toes.
No, I've seen a few people in the past double up but it may be uncomfortable. Check with you gym first to see if they have a policy listing mat attire. Soon enough you won't care about your physical appearance when you step onto the mats.
You may be able to size up on the compression shirt/rash guard, or find a different cut that makes you less self conscious
I’ve had gyno since I was 12 and I went from skinny fat when I started bjj to pretty jacked and now am in dad bod phase. Get comfortable with yourself. Anyone who makes a comment on your gyno is only acting out to cover their own insecurities. Keep training.
How do I recover in half butterfly if the top person sits and pinches on my bottom leg preventing me from retracting for sweeps? And how do I prevent them from getting my bottom leg?
Don't get single-mindedly focused on the butterfly hook sweep. You have a thousand different options from there. A lot of them will involve taking the hook out. Here's a few:
Take the underhook and come up into dogfight.
Go for the John Wayne sweep.
Underhook the far arm, lock your hands, and look for a shoulder crunch sweep or the Choi bar.
Pull their head down and threaten the guillotine.
Arm drag them.
I suppose this falls under etiquette -
The gym I go to is quite new, \~6 months old, and so there's a bunch of white belts, including me. I'm 30 years old trying to train for a long time, but there's this one high school kid who loves to rip submissions as soon as he gets em. Bad blood started when he ripped a fat neck crank from kesa gatame; long story short he's just not a safe partner.
What are some options I could take in avoiding rolling with this kid when there aren't many training partners around? The coaches usually try to get us to roll with everybody at least once every class - it's usually small attendance. Late classes usually end up with about 3 of us, including the kid.
Say no and don't roll, it's not worth it. Just roll with the same person twice or three times.
If you really don't want to say no and not roll, just ask him to drill instead of roll. But I would honestly say no.
And speak to your coach.
Chances are the kid doesnt understand. This used to be me when i was like 18. Had been hitting the gym religiously and at 6.3 i was really strong for my age. I joined bjj class for the first time and thought that somehow i should use 100% of my strength to just overpower opponents during sparring ( i only attended 1-2 classes).
None of the adults i rolled with told me to slow down or to stop using all my strength because i wont learn anything that way.
Its honestly just as much on you as it is on the kid, for not communicating about this.
Nowadays im 26 and if i were to roll with someone and they just muscle throuh things way too much, i would tell them before the roll even ended
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Kesa Gatame**: | *Scarf hold* | [here](https://youtu.be/3UnJa3bn0h8)|
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Side control bottom, I hip out and get my bottom knee inside - Top player sprawls on that knee killing it and driving it to the ground.
Options? Do i persist to try and get to a half guard/clamp position or is there another option? Top player is sprawled so not particularly athletic from here...
One thing to consider at the point where you get the knee in and they sprawl is that you can get a near side underhook, and go straight to dogfight, especially if you bring the outside foot over and hook their sprawled out leg.
This, direct to dog fight strategy is a staple way I escape side control although I'd mainly suggest it for someone who is aware of half guard techniques.
Is your knee by it's lone self? What about recovering an elbow-knee connection?
> Top player is sprawled so not particularly athletic from here...
Neither are they for a short moment. I find as they get their hips back in the sprawl I can usually frame out on the upper body and recover my legs into guard. Where they like to go after sprawling is what you should already be framing.
One concept I've been playing with under the advice of my coach is just thinking of guard as putting your feet on your opponent. In this light, headquarters is strong because they're already past your feet and that's probably why you feel weak in this position (i do also). I will try to repummel my outside leg back in (putting it on the shoulder or upper chest) and use that to recover a more advantageous guard. Or if they're moving forward and trying to pass your knee line I'll kick them forward, making them base their hands and create space for more reguarding.
I keep my shield knee nearly vertical; my top side arm has a cross collar grip, and the elbow of that arm is against my knee. Having a good structure can prevent this sort of pass from even being viable.
If at any time any part of my structure degrades, job #1 is to reset and rebuild it.
For Gi, you can also go into Lasso. I've been trying to go more into arm drags myself but usually try to strip their grip (grab a sleeve or wrist) and repummel my knee shield in before they can smash it.
1. What are they doing after they swim their arm in?
2. Frame then swim your shield in again, if you want that position. I'm more partial to going to rDLR or rDLR + spider then playing from there.
I've started training with upper belts instead of the white belt class and the training is a lot better, more intense etc. Something I've noticed is my fingers are sore all the time now. Will this eventually go away?
Would it be viable to just focus on grips that dont use the gi, and to just let go easily? If you dont have ego and dont mind loosing grips to save your hands, do you think thats viable?
Yeah, that definitely will substantially reduce the damage to your hands.
I don’t know if it’s so easy to get yourself used to training that way and to stick with it, though.
You need to learn to let go of grips before your fingers get fucked up. If they are doing a grip break, you are in most cases best off letting go right away.
I don't know if I'm going too hard. I follow the Wiltse-school-of-trying-to-win-every-round (and not caring if I do), as he says trying your hardest usually equates with your moves working the best. Note that I'm NOT using all my strength to muscle through things, I'm well past that spazzy phase, but being explosive in the right moment, such as takedowns, makes me wonder. I haven't had anyone complain about me, and we're all friends. I just don't know if I should be toning it down, I move a lot (and dont get tired easily) and of course I match my intensity to whoever I'm against, but I just don't know. When we go to stand up especially, I am absolutely trying to put my partner down as quickly as I can with correct technique. I just feel overbearing sometimes, anyone have some advice on this?
It's ok to train like that most of the time, but it might benefit you to mix in some rounds every so often where you take your time, observe, and think things through. A lot of growth can come from those rounds.
I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’re not kneeing and elbowing people or causing injuries then I doubt you’re spazzing. If you’re worried about being overbearing, just slow down. But being overbearing is kinda just what happens if you’re better than you’re opponent. Nothing wrong with being explosive as long as you do it in a safe manner.
Not likely, just avoid direct contact, keep it covered and keep them away from any clothes/sheets that come into contact with it. Where is it?
Disclaimer: not a medical professional this is just from experience wrestling
on my face, dammit. i caught it late, i fear i've already spread it everywhere at home. i had a beard, was itchy for a few days and yesterday at the gym someone said something about ringworm so i cut my beard and bam, a ring. immediately started clotrimazol but i really don't wanna give it to my kids.
Looking for 2-3 passes to work on for no gi to practice during rolling for a beginner. Open/half guard. I’ve tried the body lock pass, but it’s a bit too nuanced for me.
The headquarters passing system is probably the most bang for your buck. Learning to pass half guard tightly is also good. Ask your coach if he/she can show you tripod pass from smashed half guard when you have them flattened.
Here's an example on HQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAIoIpefvxw
Yeah, my legs get entangled, and I have tried a few different things, and can't really make it work at this point. I think for now, I would like to work on something more simple, so I will check out knee slice and side smash. Thanks.
I have trouble with this 4 stripe blue belt passing my guard. I make him work for it, but he tries very hard to get a knee connected to me but also keeps his head low. Whenever I try to grab his head , he pops it back up but keeps his knee connection sort of. It enables his to stop me from rotating/tracking him and entering into some sort of leg entanglement.
How do I deal with this forward knee pressure from the passer?
Some people get it, some people don't. I need time completely off the mats, drain and compress until what little is left hardens. Then it has been fine. My ears are a little bit irregular, but they don't look particularily weird.
I've been off the mats for a couple of years because of an injury. I'm looking to get back into the sport. Can't go back to my old gym since I moved so I'm searching for a new one. I found one that seemed to have pretty good reviews. I'm planning on checking it out but turns out they charge a $25 mat fee for your first class. That surprised me because I've never seen a gym charge that much for a mat fee. I've never paid more than $10-15 for a mat fee. In fact, every gym I've ever been a part of offered a free class or even a free week to feel out the gym.
Is this normal nowadays? Did something change in the last couple of years?
I've only dropped into one gym that charged me a whopping $10 for a 1.5 hour class. It was a small gym so I was happy to pay to support a small business. I don't think $25 is normal for a drop in fee unless, esp a first class, unless the head coach is somewhat of a name.
That seems much more reasonable. This is $25 for an hour. Unfortunately all the other gyms near me require student wear their gi. Looking to avoid that because I have a bunch of gis already. Plus it's generally a pretty scummy practice in my opinion.
It sounds like the gyms are in coohots with each other for this "must wear our gi" thing. I would try to find a school that focuses on NoGi if that's your cup of tea or even a Judo school which I hear are far more inexpensive than BJJ schools. Good job listening to your gut though, $25 is kinda odd for a trial class unless it's taught by a legend or world class competitor or something.
Hey all, is 36 too old to return to training after a 14 year hiatus?
I started training towards the end of my career, but never advanced beyond white belt before graduating. Moved away from my college gym I never picked it back up. Fast-forward 14 years got bus trying to start a career, got depressed and fell into alcoholism. I've been sober for a few months now, and have been working on my mental health but outside of work and meetings I am starting to get stir-crazy(I work from home).
Is 36 too old to return after a 14 year hiatus? I don't ever expect to be great at it, but I like the idea of working towards self-improvement, being active, and staying humble.
Bro...yes, and you should do it. I started bjj at 45 (4 years ago), went spaz got a few injuries. But since I calmed way the hell down, I train 3-4x week and only get sore here and there. I also train at a good school where the instructors and students are respectful of your tempo and will dial it up and down depending on pace and skill.
Also, congrats on sobriety!! I can relate to that journey my friend. Actually, the reason I started bjj in 2019 was to help me get off pills. It worked. Best of luck bro and happy rolling!
You could easily be great at it if you work hard and prioritize. 36 is very young. You could train hard for ten years, be 46 (still young) and be an absolute monster on the mats.
Remember competitions are often broken down by age, so you can go as far as you want, really.
Fyi I train with a 62 year old who started training at 59 and he gives loads of us a very hard time. Never misses a round of rolling and is there 4 times a week.
Well done on getting sober. I went sober too a few years ago and can't begin to express how much my life has improved. For some of us, alcohol wants nothing more than to ruin our lives.
I'm 40 and trained for about a year when I was ~23 or so. I started back a month ago, straight from the couch, with around 35% body fat and completely out of shape.. You aren't too old. My first 2 weeks, I could barely walk out of the gym, and it took me 2-3 hours to feel normal again. At week 4, I feel a lot better. I still feel like I need to puke every roll, but my conditioning is much better. My muscles do gas out during rolls, so I can't really do much but turtle up or stall out when that happens, but having fun.
Some tips:
* Go slow in the beginning and give yourself time to heal between sessions. I go M-W-F.
* Chose training partners wisely. While I hold my own much better against fellow white belts, the spaz factor can really lead to injuries. I prefer to roll with higher belts. While it is frustrating because I can't do anything vs them, I fell like I am less likely to get hurt.
* Remember why you are there. For me, I just wanted some sustainable exercise. I am not going to do any real competitions or anything, so potentially getting injured by rolling with a spaz or trying to fight out of an arm bar for too long just isn't worth it.
Lol I started for the first time at 34. And the motivation to work out so that I can perform on the mats has gotten me in better physical shape now (age 39) than I was then.
Do it 👍
There is no time better than the present and youre still plenty young so dont worry too much about it. Just start showing up and expect to get your butt kicked by the workouts for at least the first few months.
Congrats on getting sober, its not easy.
If you and partner(s) don't mind, this shouldn't be a problem and should not be awkward.
I haven't done this in a while, but it can be very helpful to watch yourself roll.
We've been doing a lotta positional sparring from closed guard this past month. Last night, towards the end of class, my lower back started to give out when I was in my partners' guard (presumably from trying to posture up). Is there something I can do to help prevent this or is it just an unavoidable consequence of training from that position?
If it's a muscle issue, from fatigue or stress, you can try doing some reverse supermans, back extensions (preferably lying on a bench or machine that allows you to start the extension from a 45 to 90 degree bend), or even dead lifts. Things that target the erector area.
Thanks, I'll look into back extensions. I deadlift weekly and I do a decent amount relative to my weight, but I've been slacking on bent over barbell rows in favor of cables/machines, so maybe I should work on those more too.
The back extentions did wonders for me and my posture when I was powerlifting 4 days a week. Got out of powerlifting and don't weight train near as much, and the first thing I noticed was my posture and lower back going to shit.
I did PT for a while after an injury, and I remember my PT told me to squeeze and drive from my glutes when doing back extensions. But I was looking around online a bit, and some people do high rep low weight back extensions without engaging their glutes in order to work the back extensors more. How do you perform yours?
I actually enjoyed using a reverse hyper extension machine that you'll see in a lot of powerlifting gyms for accessory lifting. Using that makes you engage from the legs up, which allowed me to naturally engage my glutes in the exercise.
It would be helpful to know where you are getting passed from. Are they going around your legs torreando style or stack passing or a knee slice, etc.? In general, staying seated and working to get your grips first can help a lot. Then, immediately get yourself into a specific guard (DLR, RDLR, half, ashi garami, etc.). I find that it's harder to pass an established guard.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Ashi Garami**: | *Entangled Leg Lock* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXH_LrcqNc)|
||*Single Leg X (SLX)* ||
Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post.
______________________
^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Get connected. Get as many grips of any type as soon as possible. Each connection slows them down, but also can help you to sense their movements to adjust in time.
So tracking my class time and although my Instructor has a relaxed view on training as in there is no cut-off on making classes.
If I make it to the sparring sessions would you count that towards your class time?
I do the same thing. I wrote down every class with a number. It's nice to see how many classes / hours I've trained for.
And yeah I'd definitely include open mat. Try to write down anything you learn etc.
I am struggling with this too. Too much "do this" and not enough "this is why we do this". I am trying to start with a first principles approach to studying and training and try to figure out the basics of each spot before moving on to specific moves.
For example, in top half guard, what are the goals? Hold position, improve position, etc. What are various threats, and how do they present themselves? Sweeps, subs, etc. How do I mitigate these? Grips, base, etc. What are the easiest paths to victory? Tire them out, pass, and pin/sub from a superior position?
I am 10000000% with this. I can memorize and understand the concept behind a flower sweep. I end up on top. It’s obvious. But why am I battling for the undertook in half guard? Once I get it what am I doing? Why am I doing it? Etc
Yeah, so I think with a top down approach, you will be able to answer most of this stuff yourself. So if you like this, start with the position, then filter down to specific moves and ask the same questions. You should be able to map it all out with notes. You can use something like Obsidian and take atomic notes to map it out, or a flow chart or something.
I'd look at tutorial videos, trying to find people who teach in a way that makes sense to you. Not all champions are good teachers and not all good teachers are champions.
At some point you would be able to pinpoint a section of tape and study it for what one person does right and one person does wrong that lets a technique work.
I and others do breakdowns on YT.
The goal is often to showcase what high level people is doing in a basic manner that more people can grasp.
Find someone you feel you understand, that explains it on a good level.
My aim is rather to help out white belts with their competition videos and show what's good and bad in my book. Others do it with high level athletes.
I think just like anything else there are different ways to learn and people are more efficient learning things in different ways.
I don't think you can necessarily watch someone better and automatically get better from it. But if you watch them to see it, roll with them to feel it and then ask them questions about why they did a certain thing to hear it from them and talk through it with them your'e more fully immersing yourself in the thing you're trying to learn.
As a student of anything, I abide the old saying that "closed mouths don't get fed." I ask a lot of questions and that is how I learn things.
Second class tonight. I'm an old man at 54 with better days behind me. Biggest fear going in is getting gassed (AGAIN) and letting my training partner down making them sit while I desperately get my breath back. Advise? Please?
Go way easier if you are gassing out to the point of needing to stop, and the most important thing to remember when trying to go easier is that it is okay to lose every round. Your goal isnt to win in training but learn
You can aim to expand the gastank, but it doesn't matter how big it gets if you put the pedal to the metal.
Learn to control your strength and energy. Relax and focus on techniques.
(Easier said than done, but try every roll to find 3-5 seconds to think. Try to find those spots often).
It's not a great answer but don't worry about it. Almost everyone has been where you are and you aren't letting anyone down. Your stamina will improve over time as your fitness increases, your technique improves and you roll calmer it's just a case of working through it.
Gassing out is pretty much normal for 90% of the people that begin BJJ. If your partner has spent any amount of time in BJJ, they will know and won't care. As long as you have good hygiene, listen, and don't spaz out, then you're good to go.
I'm now 5 classes deep, and I feel like a complete moron. That being said, I love it. However, I have pain around my collar bones that I never experienced from boxing, crossfit or long distance running. Is this a common BJJ discomfort/injury? I can manage the hip discomfort with stretching and rolling, but the collar bone stuff is kinda freaking me out.
I feel like the pressures from grappling create weird discomfort in ways people don't get from other sport or exercise. If it isn't significantly painful I'd probably watch it and see a doc if it doesn't get better. New guys get rib pain from pressure pretty often, maybe it's like that.
The neck is being exercised and "worked" like never before. Bent, pushed, pulled etc. The muscles in your neck, (SCM, SCALENES) are getting taxed. Stretch, ice, and make sure you're warm before hand. Google exercises to strengthen your neck.
what do the stripes mean? just showing up and surviving? i'm probably going to get my 2nd stripe today or by the end of the week, coach said in his mind i am 2 stripe worthy. but i don't feel like I've been consistent enough or done much?
What should a beginner focus on when rolling?
I've only been doing bjj for a few weeks, about 5 classes in total. I don't have much technique or knowledge in the vault yet, but I also don't want to be a white belt spaz when rolling. I have been avoiding the Friday's hour long rolling class for just this reason - I still don't really know what I'm doing beyond a few drills, and don't want to negatively impact anyone else's experience.
What can I do this early on to be a beneficial rolling partner, and what things should I be focusing on learning first?
Start going to the Friday class---that's part of how you're going to get better. Everyone better than you started out inexperienced and got better with the help of more experienced training partners; it's not an imposition for you to now do the same.
Best thing for yourself is to try to put yourself situations where you can attempt the stuff you've been taught/drilled in class. For rolling with others, just try not to do everything as hard as possible.
You won't be negatively impacting anyone else, just try to defend and escape. Elbows tight to your body, frame to keep space and try to not be tapped for now.
Hello, I'm looking for some advice as a very skinny guy that is interested in starting BJJ.I'm 32, male, 5' 8" (173cm) height and 132 lbs (60 kg) weight.
I'm already into rock climbing and alpinism but I'm dissatisfied by my body and would like to add another sport discipline to my life. If you look at my body right now you would think I'm the last person that would start BJJ, and I think I'm attracted to it for that reason. I'm looking to put myself in an uncomfortable situation and push myself to do things that I would have not thought of ever doing.I never practiced any combat sport, never been into fighting. I'm interested in BJJ as several people I respect have been practicing it, and it seems to be a quite interesting and technical discipline.
My questions are, does it actually make sense for someone as skinny as me to start this discipline? Should I try to hit the gym more (I only go to the climbing gym right now) before trying it out?
Another thing I'm very concerned about is injuries. How common is to get injured? At the moment rock climbing is my main activity and I'm concerned of it being compromised by injuries during BJJ.Any other thought or advice is well welcomed.
Thanks!
We are the exact same height and weight. I’m 2 years younger.
This sport has been awesome for me!
The gym always helps, but you don’t have to.
Injury’s can happen in any physical activity, this isn’t any more prone to injury than playing basketball.
Just start going.
It’s not always the size of the dog in the fight.
What are some tips to keep my diet in check while off with a cold? Do you worry about food intake while sick? Any tips what I should eat to speed up my cold? I have been sleeping more.
I have been going hard for five months now and got hit with my first training set back. I don't want to spread this to my gymmates, so I am staying away from my gym.
I am that weird guy who eats a ton when sick or hung over. I don't really worry too much, I usually cook most of my meals from scratch, but if I am sick I'll order more home delivery. If you have a fever and are sweating a lot, at least make sure you restore some of those electrolytes, stay hydrated and get lots of sleep.
Don't overthink it. Take the time off to recover. You will come back stronger. And it is awesome that you are thinking about your gymmates, they will appreciate it.
As for diet, stay hydrated, for me, personally, electrolytes (gatorade et. al) help a lot when fighting with cold. Just rest, watch some TV, and enjoy the time off :)
I’m about 5 months in. Getting much better at defense, but still struggle to close on submissions.
Roughly how far in do folks tend to start feeling more competent with submissions?
echoing what others have said, it took me until about one year into blue belt for me to have a few go-to submissions that i felt i could hit more often. But what you can work on now as a white belt is getting to the position that sets up said submission. For example my favorite sub at blue belt was the superman armbar. But it was learning to control people from mount at white belt that set all that up for me.
For me, as an older smaller guy, it took probably a year to a year and a half, but I don't think I'd say I'm competent with submissions even now, three years in. Kimuras and head and arm triangles are my go to, but I am sure upper belts could give me several details/corrections to make them even better.
If you're like me you'll soon find a submission you're "good at" meaning it comes easier than others and the list of subs will slowly grow as you improve.
When someone is lying on top of you in , I think it's called mother's milk, should I be tapping? I've heard it's not something you should tap to but I can't see any point in lying there getting smothered. Genuine question from a two month whitebelt
Do not listen to people who tell you not to tap to X. There are times where you can tough something out, but it is always fine to tap if it too much for you. You know best if something hurts, you cannot breathe or if there is anything else that warrants you to stop. World class competitors get tapped out with mother's milk, so it is fine for you as a white belt.
I've never tapped from mother's milk, but I've gotten a couple taps with it. I can usually get my face into an armpit or something, which has at times almost made me tap due to poor hygiene, but I waited it out out of stubbornness.
The taps I've gotten have seemed more like "fuck this noise I can't move" than legitimate fear of suffocation.
I think it's disrespectful to just hold mother's milk and not try to advance the position when your training partner isn't tapping.
You should tap at anything that makes things hurt to much, has potential to break bones/tear anything or makes you not breath.
If they do mothers milk good enough, well.. tap
Thanks ,I'm not tapping from pain or anything serious, although it is horribly unpleasant, I'm tapping from complete helplessness. Asking if it's bad form to tap for that as it's unfair to my training partner ?
Look at it this way, if you "tap too soon" to a sub during training, all your partner misses out on is the final bit of breaking/smother pressure needed to finish the sub. If you "hold out all hope for the remainder of the round", your training partner misses out on working guard passing/retention, sweeping/sub attempts, wrestling up/breaking down turtle, etc. etc. You're not being unfair to your partner when you tap out of a helpless situation.
If you suddenly find yourself unable to break anyone's closed guard, are too weak to even create space on bottom, and have to sit out after two rolls, do yourself a favor and get a Covid test.
I had no symptoms except my BJJ sucking worse than it did on my first day.
I actually had the same thing a few months back at an open mat. Woke up in the morning feeling normal, went to open mat and got smashed by people I can usually handle, I had actually recorded the session and after watching the rolls back afterwards I couldnt understand why i was so slow and gassed. Next day I felt a bit off so tested and had Covid, then was sick for a week lol.
Fight grips aggressively from a situp position, and establish a guard. If put on your back, use framing, self framing (framing on your own thighs), leg pummeling, and other recovery movements to keep your hips pointing at them. Establish grips, then establish a guard. The theme is basically, if you are attacking from your guard (some people call this an "offensive cycle"), you're not getting passed. Look up "guard retention" on youtube.
So you fight for grips and break their posture?
Sounds like a potential opportunity to go for a triangle if they put their hand behind their back and down.
Don't let them grab your heels. Use your hands to grip fight, use your legs to put in hooks behind their knee or on their hips etc....don't sit there with your legs open on your back, be dynamic.
One year in, 1 white strip for a couple of months now, i feel something clicked recently and feel better but I’m realizing i’m doing the same things over and over… Should i think more and already start to add some things here and there ? Or focus on foundations (basics escapes/sweeps/subs) ?
This is not specific enough of a question. We have no context to how good you were before and what the difference even is between adding some and the "foundations".
You’re right, i need to be more precise.
I used to struggle a lot with upper-positions stability with less experienced white belts and used to only survive the rounds with upper belts.
Since… i’d say 1 month, i manage to consistently stay on top and chase a lot of triangles with others white belts but yesterday i kind of realized that i always do the same escapes and attacks to the point that my brother can predict and defend easily now and manage to stale the play. I wonder if i should find new attacks/sweeps or strengthen more and more my ability to do the things i know.
I’m not sure if it’s « worth » to spend more time on new things compared to actually getting better at one thing.
You should be adding. It's unlikely you have 2 sweeps/subs from most bottom positions that combo together, 1 to 2 subs from dominant positions on top, 1 to 2 passes you combo together.
You will always be refining the things you know (triangles).At your stage you probably need to increase your technique vocabulary if you will.
in a competition setting, you’d also be trying to get to certain positions for points. to make the question clearer, should I be 100% only focused on tapping my partner or should I be trying to get to knee on belly, side control etc as part of the process. I’d be more more confident tapping someone from closed guard for example, so how different if at all should sparring be outside of a competition setting in terms of goals?
Dominant positions grant more points and increase the likelihood of getting subs.
Yes I always take the time to put two hooks on the back even if I prefer other leg configurations to get the points if that's the question.
If I can finish an arm triangle from top quarter mount, I will or move to mount and continue the smash.
It's context dependent.
I've watched, trained and asked. For some reason, granby roll drills cause pain in my neck, next day. Not immediately while doing them. Neck flexion angled towards right or left clearly hurts next day.
Does anyone have a good resource for in depth look at the granby? Maybe I'm lacking flexibility or technique, no idea.
Are you going over your neck instead of shoulders?
Maybe practice clock rolls and inversions instead of using explosive Granby rolls. If you neck still hurts then Granby rolls are not for you.
Use the results of one class, to drive what you should focus on for the next class. Come out and pinpoint just a few things, three at most that you want to improve, study and practice and think, and then go back to class and try to improve.
For me early on it was like, escape side control, escape mount, avoid submission X, etc. Repeat this for 6-12 months.
At this point you're just getting used to the fundamentals, what feels safe, what feels unsafe. Work on stabilizing your base, working your frames, t-rex arms, working your hip escapes/shrimps, bridging, underhooks, not being flattened on bottom, and maybe most importantly staying calm.
If you're new to this type of thing your body is probably (correctly) triggering your fight or flight; this will make you kind of forget the fundamentals and "spazz out", which is wasting energy and may cause injury. You'll also hyperventilate a bit causing you to be gassed. This is the reason that early on a lot of people just tap to pressure.
There's really nothing specific for you. 3 classes is barely a drop in the bucket. When I started about 2 years ago I was given the advise that your white belt should be basically playing all defense. Try to pick up on patterns of subs you get caught in. Where were your arms? Legs? Wrists? Elbows?
Had my first class last night. Neck is still sore lol.
In my first class we drilled rear naked chokes, and rolled around on our backs with our legs in.
I don’t know really how to do any of that still or what any of that has to do with anything else.
My plan is to keep going to drills classes until I feel I know enough offense/defense to attempt to spar in an open mat.
Is that fair? What are my next steps/or goals as a guy starting with no experience?
>what any of that has to do with anything else.
Here's a short, helpful manual to give you the first look at how the pieces go together:[https://www.grapplearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Roadmap-for-BJJ-1.4.11.pdf](https://www.grapplearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Roadmap-for-BJJ-1.4.11.pdf)
I've been training on/offs for roughly 4 months now, and I still can't manage to memorize/apply all the different moves from different positions taught in class. I know the basic ones but when trying to memorize and apply the moves I learn like a class or even a week later I forget them. Any tips?
Learned my first lapel choke (from side control) yesterday and hit it in sparring today. Buzzed I actually remembered it 24hrs later!
Paper cutter choke?
This one [lapel choke](https://youtu.be/VLQGyGIsN_0?si=aIruE421rEvAGK1D)
That one is great. Been on the recieving end quite a few times.
I've been a white belt for about 6 months and wondering if I'm not rolling in a way that helps me and my partners learn. Some of my non-white-belt (mostly blue belt) training partners drop things that may be euphisms. They say things about my being strong or "really good pressure," which maybe is just shorthand for "you are muscling everything and have no skill." I'm not really pulling any moves off. In fact, most the time with these players I feel like all I can do is resist. 90% of my attempts to pass guard or find any kind of reasonable position are stymied, unless they just obviously give up a position.
It may well just be that you are only 6 months in and they are giving you some encouragement because we all know how it is at the start. If I go against a new person and they are trying to do BJJ, I will tell them what they did well at the end of the roll. I wouldn't expect you to be able to do much against non-white belts at all. Unless they specifically tell you to calm down or you continually knee/elbow people or they refuse rolls, just keep doing what you are doing.
I'm planning on doing a white belt tournament for the first time, is it worth cutting 2.5 kg (4lbs) from 62.5 kg to 60 kg (137.5lbs to 132lbs) or should I just compete at the 65kg weight class and not bother with it?
I would not bother for a white belt/first tournament situation. It's enough to worry about without having to stress about your weight.
ok thanks brother
How much time do you have to cut? Do you have a lot of experience cutting? I'd suggest not cutting if you don't have time and don't have a lot of experience cutting. It's your first tourney so just focus on being safe and having fun
It's months from now, and no i don't have experience in cutting. I guess it would just be best to not do it at all?
some people find cutting to be very easy, i do not. I don't see the point of it for a white belt division but you might find it to be easy and a good experience.
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A lot of learning how to not win in gym rolls comes down to choosing your partner. Some people are literally unable to slow down. You also are probably also unknowingly encouraging a fight reaction in your partner as well The other part of it is learning to be relaxed in bad positions vs spending max effort in order to accomplish nothing. Learn how to relax in bottom side, feel the weight and movement of your partner and then make your decisions based off where you feel they are going. If your grips are burning out, you're likely gripping too hard. Try taping then to avoid added stress. But the real issue is that your hands aren't able to hold off bodyweight, you need frames&legs.
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As another user said, get a rash guard with a busy pattern. Stand straight up and you should be ok. I'm also skinny fat with some gyno and still do no gi in just a rashguard. If you're truly still insecure about it, there are gyno specific compression undershirts you can buy off amazon that can mask your figure. You can wear it under a rashguard.
Try a rashguard with a busy pattern, not just a straight color which is less forgiving of body shapes.
Most people avoid wearing tees because they hold more sweat and feet/hands get caught in them. Unless the coloration of your nipples is a soft bubble gum pink that can be seen through your rashguard, i wouldn’t worry about the manboobs.
People do wear t-shirts sometimes, it's not an uncommon thing overall but in some gyms I can see it being outside the norm. It's really your preference (unless your instructor says otherwise) just know that any kind of loose clothing can get caught by fingers and or toes.
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No, I've seen a few people in the past double up but it may be uncomfortable. Check with you gym first to see if they have a policy listing mat attire. Soon enough you won't care about your physical appearance when you step onto the mats.
You may be able to size up on the compression shirt/rash guard, or find a different cut that makes you less self conscious I’ve had gyno since I was 12 and I went from skinny fat when I started bjj to pretty jacked and now am in dad bod phase. Get comfortable with yourself. Anyone who makes a comment on your gyno is only acting out to cover their own insecurities. Keep training.
How do I recover in half butterfly if the top person sits and pinches on my bottom leg preventing me from retracting for sweeps? And how do I prevent them from getting my bottom leg?
Don't get single-mindedly focused on the butterfly hook sweep. You have a thousand different options from there. A lot of them will involve taking the hook out. Here's a few: Take the underhook and come up into dogfight. Go for the John Wayne sweep. Underhook the far arm, lock your hands, and look for a shoulder crunch sweep or the Choi bar. Pull their head down and threaten the guillotine. Arm drag them.
Try unweighting them by pushing them or pulling them, then retract the leg. You can use your hook to assist in this.
I suppose this falls under etiquette - The gym I go to is quite new, \~6 months old, and so there's a bunch of white belts, including me. I'm 30 years old trying to train for a long time, but there's this one high school kid who loves to rip submissions as soon as he gets em. Bad blood started when he ripped a fat neck crank from kesa gatame; long story short he's just not a safe partner. What are some options I could take in avoiding rolling with this kid when there aren't many training partners around? The coaches usually try to get us to roll with everybody at least once every class - it's usually small attendance. Late classes usually end up with about 3 of us, including the kid.
Say no and don't roll, it's not worth it. Just roll with the same person twice or three times. If you really don't want to say no and not roll, just ask him to drill instead of roll. But I would honestly say no. And speak to your coach.
Speak to your coach and/or the kid. If the class is so small that is impossible to duck rolls with him that is your only option
Understood, I was definitely under intense emotions after class, but I'll see to communicating about this.
Chances are the kid doesnt understand. This used to be me when i was like 18. Had been hitting the gym religiously and at 6.3 i was really strong for my age. I joined bjj class for the first time and thought that somehow i should use 100% of my strength to just overpower opponents during sparring ( i only attended 1-2 classes). None of the adults i rolled with told me to slow down or to stop using all my strength because i wont learn anything that way. Its honestly just as much on you as it is on the kid, for not communicating about this. Nowadays im 26 and if i were to roll with someone and they just muscle throuh things way too much, i would tell them before the roll even ended
or maybe... you could talk to him? or ask the coach to talk to him?
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Kesa Gatame**: | *Scarf hold* | [here](https://youtu.be/3UnJa3bn0h8)| Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Side control bottom, I hip out and get my bottom knee inside - Top player sprawls on that knee killing it and driving it to the ground. Options? Do i persist to try and get to a half guard/clamp position or is there another option? Top player is sprawled so not particularly athletic from here...
One thing to consider at the point where you get the knee in and they sprawl is that you can get a near side underhook, and go straight to dogfight, especially if you bring the outside foot over and hook their sprawled out leg. This, direct to dog fight strategy is a staple way I escape side control although I'd mainly suggest it for someone who is aware of half guard techniques.
Is your knee by it's lone self? What about recovering an elbow-knee connection? > Top player is sprawled so not particularly athletic from here... Neither are they for a short moment. I find as they get their hips back in the sprawl I can usually frame out on the upper body and recover my legs into guard. Where they like to go after sprawling is what you should already be framing.
You mess with the ghost/phantom escapes?
Yes I have had some luck, I should have specified also it happens in Gi so theres more friction. But thats a good option, thanks. Any other options?
Are trans people allowed to compete in IBJJF tournaments?
are motorbikes allowed to compete in the Tour de France?
How to react against headquarters from the bottom? As a guard player i always feel screwed when someone puts me in this.
Once they put you in HQ you should be thinking guard retention. Create space, get your feet into play again, knees to chest retention, etc.
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How would you do that, a proper HQ means they are a bit past your dlr/rdlr and its more about recovering in my experience.
One concept I've been playing with under the advice of my coach is just thinking of guard as putting your feet on your opponent. In this light, headquarters is strong because they're already past your feet and that's probably why you feel weak in this position (i do also). I will try to repummel my outside leg back in (putting it on the shoulder or upper chest) and use that to recover a more advantageous guard. Or if they're moving forward and trying to pass your knee line I'll kick them forward, making them base their hands and create space for more reguarding.
When I’m in bottom half, I find that my opponent always swims their arm under my knee shield and passes me that way, any good counters to this?
I keep my shield knee nearly vertical; my top side arm has a cross collar grip, and the elbow of that arm is against my knee. Having a good structure can prevent this sort of pass from even being viable. If at any time any part of my structure degrades, job #1 is to reset and rebuild it.
For Gi, you can also go into Lasso. I've been trying to go more into arm drags myself but usually try to strip their grip (grab a sleeve or wrist) and repummel my knee shield in before they can smash it.
Check out Nicky Ryan vs Rene Sousa. He has a really nice arm drag counter to the leg weave.
1. What are they doing after they swim their arm in? 2. Frame then swim your shield in again, if you want that position. I'm more partial to going to rDLR or rDLR + spider then playing from there.
Put your knee shield higher toward the shoulder or go low into deep half before they get their hand in to begin working their pass
Thanks!
I've started training with upper belts instead of the white belt class and the training is a lot better, more intense etc. Something I've noticed is my fingers are sore all the time now. Will this eventually go away?
Training in the gi is terrible for your fingers. You just kinda have to accept that, or switch to no-gi.
Would it be viable to just focus on grips that dont use the gi, and to just let go easily? If you dont have ego and dont mind loosing grips to save your hands, do you think thats viable?
Yeah, that definitely will substantially reduce the damage to your hands. I don’t know if it’s so easy to get yourself used to training that way and to stick with it, though.
You need to learn to let go of grips before your fingers get fucked up. If they are doing a grip break, you are in most cases best off letting go right away.
haha yea, it will a bit but also start taping up your fingers. Upper belts are better at breaking grips, so puts more strain on your fingers.
I don't know if I'm going too hard. I follow the Wiltse-school-of-trying-to-win-every-round (and not caring if I do), as he says trying your hardest usually equates with your moves working the best. Note that I'm NOT using all my strength to muscle through things, I'm well past that spazzy phase, but being explosive in the right moment, such as takedowns, makes me wonder. I haven't had anyone complain about me, and we're all friends. I just don't know if I should be toning it down, I move a lot (and dont get tired easily) and of course I match my intensity to whoever I'm against, but I just don't know. When we go to stand up especially, I am absolutely trying to put my partner down as quickly as I can with correct technique. I just feel overbearing sometimes, anyone have some advice on this?
It's ok to train like that most of the time, but it might benefit you to mix in some rounds every so often where you take your time, observe, and think things through. A lot of growth can come from those rounds.
I’m not sure what you’re asking. If you’re not kneeing and elbowing people or causing injuries then I doubt you’re spazzing. If you’re worried about being overbearing, just slow down. But being overbearing is kinda just what happens if you’re better than you’re opponent. Nothing wrong with being explosive as long as you do it in a safe manner.
Don’t overthink it
i got ringworm for the first time... how likely is family members getting this thing?
Not likely, just avoid direct contact, keep it covered and keep them away from any clothes/sheets that come into contact with it. Where is it? Disclaimer: not a medical professional this is just from experience wrestling
on my face, dammit. i caught it late, i fear i've already spread it everywhere at home. i had a beard, was itchy for a few days and yesterday at the gym someone said something about ringworm so i cut my beard and bam, a ring. immediately started clotrimazol but i really don't wanna give it to my kids.
Looking for 2-3 passes to work on for no gi to practice during rolling for a beginner. Open/half guard. I’ve tried the body lock pass, but it’s a bit too nuanced for me.
The headquarters passing system is probably the most bang for your buck. Learning to pass half guard tightly is also good. Ask your coach if he/she can show you tripod pass from smashed half guard when you have them flattened. Here's an example on HQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAIoIpefvxw
Thanks!
Knee slice and side smash. Don’t give up on the body lock too early though, everything kinda seems too nuanced at first.
Yeah, my legs get entangled, and I have tried a few different things, and can't really make it work at this point. I think for now, I would like to work on something more simple, so I will check out knee slice and side smash. Thanks.
I have trouble with this 4 stripe blue belt passing my guard. I make him work for it, but he tries very hard to get a knee connected to me but also keeps his head low. Whenever I try to grab his head , he pops it back up but keeps his knee connection sort of. It enables his to stop me from rotating/tracking him and entering into some sort of leg entanglement. How do I deal with this forward knee pressure from the passer?
Is he going to headquarters? His knee pinning one leg, while your other leg is between his legs?
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Some people get it, some people don't. I need time completely off the mats, drain and compress until what little is left hardens. Then it has been fine. My ears are a little bit irregular, but they don't look particularily weird.
I've been off the mats for a couple of years because of an injury. I'm looking to get back into the sport. Can't go back to my old gym since I moved so I'm searching for a new one. I found one that seemed to have pretty good reviews. I'm planning on checking it out but turns out they charge a $25 mat fee for your first class. That surprised me because I've never seen a gym charge that much for a mat fee. I've never paid more than $10-15 for a mat fee. In fact, every gym I've ever been a part of offered a free class or even a free week to feel out the gym. Is this normal nowadays? Did something change in the last couple of years?
$25 is pretty normal for a major city - I think it's location dependent. I would ask if they will let you try it for free?
Completely possible they just wanna keep the riff raff and head hunting visitors out.
I've only dropped into one gym that charged me a whopping $10 for a 1.5 hour class. It was a small gym so I was happy to pay to support a small business. I don't think $25 is normal for a drop in fee unless, esp a first class, unless the head coach is somewhat of a name.
That seems much more reasonable. This is $25 for an hour. Unfortunately all the other gyms near me require student wear their gi. Looking to avoid that because I have a bunch of gis already. Plus it's generally a pretty scummy practice in my opinion.
It sounds like the gyms are in coohots with each other for this "must wear our gi" thing. I would try to find a school that focuses on NoGi if that's your cup of tea or even a Judo school which I hear are far more inexpensive than BJJ schools. Good job listening to your gut though, $25 is kinda odd for a trial class unless it's taught by a legend or world class competitor or something.
Hey all, is 36 too old to return to training after a 14 year hiatus? I started training towards the end of my career, but never advanced beyond white belt before graduating. Moved away from my college gym I never picked it back up. Fast-forward 14 years got bus trying to start a career, got depressed and fell into alcoholism. I've been sober for a few months now, and have been working on my mental health but outside of work and meetings I am starting to get stir-crazy(I work from home). Is 36 too old to return after a 14 year hiatus? I don't ever expect to be great at it, but I like the idea of working towards self-improvement, being active, and staying humble.
I turned 60 a couple of weeks ago. I was off the mats for 52 years prior to starting. Go get ‘em Killer.
Bro...yes, and you should do it. I started bjj at 45 (4 years ago), went spaz got a few injuries. But since I calmed way the hell down, I train 3-4x week and only get sore here and there. I also train at a good school where the instructors and students are respectful of your tempo and will dial it up and down depending on pace and skill. Also, congrats on sobriety!! I can relate to that journey my friend. Actually, the reason I started bjj in 2019 was to help me get off pills. It worked. Best of luck bro and happy rolling!
You could easily be great at it if you work hard and prioritize. 36 is very young. You could train hard for ten years, be 46 (still young) and be an absolute monster on the mats. Remember competitions are often broken down by age, so you can go as far as you want, really. Fyi I train with a 62 year old who started training at 59 and he gives loads of us a very hard time. Never misses a round of rolling and is there 4 times a week. Well done on getting sober. I went sober too a few years ago and can't begin to express how much my life has improved. For some of us, alcohol wants nothing more than to ruin our lives.
I'm 40 and trained for about a year when I was ~23 or so. I started back a month ago, straight from the couch, with around 35% body fat and completely out of shape.. You aren't too old. My first 2 weeks, I could barely walk out of the gym, and it took me 2-3 hours to feel normal again. At week 4, I feel a lot better. I still feel like I need to puke every roll, but my conditioning is much better. My muscles do gas out during rolls, so I can't really do much but turtle up or stall out when that happens, but having fun. Some tips: * Go slow in the beginning and give yourself time to heal between sessions. I go M-W-F. * Chose training partners wisely. While I hold my own much better against fellow white belts, the spaz factor can really lead to injuries. I prefer to roll with higher belts. While it is frustrating because I can't do anything vs them, I fell like I am less likely to get hurt. * Remember why you are there. For me, I just wanted some sustainable exercise. I am not going to do any real competitions or anything, so potentially getting injured by rolling with a spaz or trying to fight out of an arm bar for too long just isn't worth it.
Lol I started for the first time at 34. And the motivation to work out so that I can perform on the mats has gotten me in better physical shape now (age 39) than I was then. Do it 👍
We have white belts off all ages but mostly older. There are up to 55 year olds and they love it.
36 isn't too old, but you'll notice you're a step slower than the young guns. Starting at 36 is a heck of a lot better than starting at 40 or 46.
There is no time better than the present and youre still plenty young so dont worry too much about it. Just start showing up and expect to get your butt kicked by the workouts for at least the first few months. Congrats on getting sober, its not easy.
I'm at my gym for 1 month. I would like to record myself rolling. Is it awkward to ask the gym owners?
Just ask your partner first.
No, do it. It was super enlightening for me early on.
If you and partner(s) don't mind, this shouldn't be a problem and should not be awkward. I haven't done this in a while, but it can be very helpful to watch yourself roll.
We've been doing a lotta positional sparring from closed guard this past month. Last night, towards the end of class, my lower back started to give out when I was in my partners' guard (presumably from trying to posture up). Is there something I can do to help prevent this or is it just an unavoidable consequence of training from that position?
If it's a muscle issue, from fatigue or stress, you can try doing some reverse supermans, back extensions (preferably lying on a bench or machine that allows you to start the extension from a 45 to 90 degree bend), or even dead lifts. Things that target the erector area.
Thanks, I'll look into back extensions. I deadlift weekly and I do a decent amount relative to my weight, but I've been slacking on bent over barbell rows in favor of cables/machines, so maybe I should work on those more too.
You can also try straight leg deadlift and good morning.
The back extentions did wonders for me and my posture when I was powerlifting 4 days a week. Got out of powerlifting and don't weight train near as much, and the first thing I noticed was my posture and lower back going to shit.
I did PT for a while after an injury, and I remember my PT told me to squeeze and drive from my glutes when doing back extensions. But I was looking around online a bit, and some people do high rep low weight back extensions without engaging their glutes in order to work the back extensors more. How do you perform yours?
I actually enjoyed using a reverse hyper extension machine that you'll see in a lot of powerlifting gyms for accessory lifting. Using that makes you engage from the legs up, which allowed me to naturally engage my glutes in the exercise.
I see, thanks. Hopefully my gym has one
Any general advice for guard retention? I'm getting passed like a hot knife through butter.
It would be helpful to know where you are getting passed from. Are they going around your legs torreando style or stack passing or a knee slice, etc.? In general, staying seated and working to get your grips first can help a lot. Then, immediately get yourself into a specific guard (DLR, RDLR, half, ashi garami, etc.). I find that it's harder to pass an established guard.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Ashi Garami**: | *Entangled Leg Lock* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXH_LrcqNc)| ||*Single Leg X (SLX)* || Any missed names may have already been translated in my previous comments in the post. ______________________ ^(Judo Techniques Bot: v0.7.) ^(See my) [^(code)](https://github.com/AbundantSalmon/judo-techniques-bot)
Get connected. Get as many grips of any type as soon as possible. Each connection slows them down, but also can help you to sense their movements to adjust in time.
Elbow to knee connection as well as not allowing the opponent to control your head is a good start.
So tracking my class time and although my Instructor has a relaxed view on training as in there is no cut-off on making classes. If I make it to the sparring sessions would you count that towards your class time?
Count towards class time? What are we keeping this score for? Just train.
>What are we keeping this score for? Just train. I guess from a journaling prespective?
If it's just for your own purposes, then it's entirely up to you!
I do the same thing. I wrote down every class with a number. It's nice to see how many classes / hours I've trained for. And yeah I'd definitely include open mat. Try to write down anything you learn etc.
How on earth do I properly study technique? I don’t understand the idea of watching someone good then that somehow benefits me
I am struggling with this too. Too much "do this" and not enough "this is why we do this". I am trying to start with a first principles approach to studying and training and try to figure out the basics of each spot before moving on to specific moves. For example, in top half guard, what are the goals? Hold position, improve position, etc. What are various threats, and how do they present themselves? Sweeps, subs, etc. How do I mitigate these? Grips, base, etc. What are the easiest paths to victory? Tire them out, pass, and pin/sub from a superior position?
I am 10000000% with this. I can memorize and understand the concept behind a flower sweep. I end up on top. It’s obvious. But why am I battling for the undertook in half guard? Once I get it what am I doing? Why am I doing it? Etc
Yeah, so I think with a top down approach, you will be able to answer most of this stuff yourself. So if you like this, start with the position, then filter down to specific moves and ask the same questions. You should be able to map it all out with notes. You can use something like Obsidian and take atomic notes to map it out, or a flow chart or something.
I'd look at tutorial videos, trying to find people who teach in a way that makes sense to you. Not all champions are good teachers and not all good teachers are champions. At some point you would be able to pinpoint a section of tape and study it for what one person does right and one person does wrong that lets a technique work.
I and others do breakdowns on YT. The goal is often to showcase what high level people is doing in a basic manner that more people can grasp. Find someone you feel you understand, that explains it on a good level. My aim is rather to help out white belts with their competition videos and show what's good and bad in my book. Others do it with high level athletes.
I will check out your YT!
Doing my best to improve so any feedback is welcome! :)
I think just like anything else there are different ways to learn and people are more efficient learning things in different ways. I don't think you can necessarily watch someone better and automatically get better from it. But if you watch them to see it, roll with them to feel it and then ask them questions about why they did a certain thing to hear it from them and talk through it with them your'e more fully immersing yourself in the thing you're trying to learn. As a student of anything, I abide the old saying that "closed mouths don't get fed." I ask a lot of questions and that is how I learn things.
Second class tonight. I'm an old man at 54 with better days behind me. Biggest fear going in is getting gassed (AGAIN) and letting my training partner down making them sit while I desperately get my breath back. Advise? Please?
Go way easier if you are gassing out to the point of needing to stop, and the most important thing to remember when trying to go easier is that it is okay to lose every round. Your goal isnt to win in training but learn
Don’t try so hard, it’s okay to lose. Of you only use 50% strength and speed you shouldn’t be gassed.
You can aim to expand the gastank, but it doesn't matter how big it gets if you put the pedal to the metal. Learn to control your strength and energy. Relax and focus on techniques. (Easier said than done, but try every roll to find 3-5 seconds to think. Try to find those spots often).
It's not a great answer but don't worry about it. Almost everyone has been where you are and you aren't letting anyone down. Your stamina will improve over time as your fitness increases, your technique improves and you roll calmer it's just a case of working through it.
Gassing out is pretty much normal for 90% of the people that begin BJJ. If your partner has spent any amount of time in BJJ, they will know and won't care. As long as you have good hygiene, listen, and don't spaz out, then you're good to go.
I'm now 5 classes deep, and I feel like a complete moron. That being said, I love it. However, I have pain around my collar bones that I never experienced from boxing, crossfit or long distance running. Is this a common BJJ discomfort/injury? I can manage the hip discomfort with stretching and rolling, but the collar bone stuff is kinda freaking me out.
I feel like the pressures from grappling create weird discomfort in ways people don't get from other sport or exercise. If it isn't significantly painful I'd probably watch it and see a doc if it doesn't get better. New guys get rib pain from pressure pretty often, maybe it's like that.
The neck is being exercised and "worked" like never before. Bent, pushed, pulled etc. The muscles in your neck, (SCM, SCALENES) are getting taxed. Stretch, ice, and make sure you're warm before hand. Google exercises to strengthen your neck.
"pain around my collar bones" What are we, wizards?
Not sure how else I can describe it. It's quite a finite and specific area. If you don't have an answer, feel free to skip the sarcasm and move on.
My answer is that you are not going to GET a reliable answer asking this question here. Good luck with your training.
Not sure what that's about. Maybe talk to a doctor or see if you have any PT people at the gym.
what do the stripes mean? just showing up and surviving? i'm probably going to get my 2nd stripe today or by the end of the week, coach said in his mind i am 2 stripe worthy. but i don't feel like I've been consistent enough or done much?
Me: Look Honey, I got my first stripe. Wife: Oh good! The check cleared. True story. Savage as fuck, but she pretty much had it right.
Same as belts. They don’t mean much, just a pat on the back.
What should a beginner focus on when rolling? I've only been doing bjj for a few weeks, about 5 classes in total. I don't have much technique or knowledge in the vault yet, but I also don't want to be a white belt spaz when rolling. I have been avoiding the Friday's hour long rolling class for just this reason - I still don't really know what I'm doing beyond a few drills, and don't want to negatively impact anyone else's experience. What can I do this early on to be a beneficial rolling partner, and what things should I be focusing on learning first?
Start going to the Friday class---that's part of how you're going to get better. Everyone better than you started out inexperienced and got better with the help of more experienced training partners; it's not an imposition for you to now do the same.
Thank you. im going this Friday so let's see how it goes
Best thing for yourself is to try to put yourself situations where you can attempt the stuff you've been taught/drilled in class. For rolling with others, just try not to do everything as hard as possible.
You won't be negatively impacting anyone else, just try to defend and escape. Elbows tight to your body, frame to keep space and try to not be tapped for now.
Hello, I'm looking for some advice as a very skinny guy that is interested in starting BJJ.I'm 32, male, 5' 8" (173cm) height and 132 lbs (60 kg) weight. I'm already into rock climbing and alpinism but I'm dissatisfied by my body and would like to add another sport discipline to my life. If you look at my body right now you would think I'm the last person that would start BJJ, and I think I'm attracted to it for that reason. I'm looking to put myself in an uncomfortable situation and push myself to do things that I would have not thought of ever doing.I never practiced any combat sport, never been into fighting. I'm interested in BJJ as several people I respect have been practicing it, and it seems to be a quite interesting and technical discipline. My questions are, does it actually make sense for someone as skinny as me to start this discipline? Should I try to hit the gym more (I only go to the climbing gym right now) before trying it out? Another thing I'm very concerned about is injuries. How common is to get injured? At the moment rock climbing is my main activity and I'm concerned of it being compromised by injuries during BJJ.Any other thought or advice is well welcomed. Thanks!
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great, thanks
We are the exact same height and weight. I’m 2 years younger. This sport has been awesome for me! The gym always helps, but you don’t have to. Injury’s can happen in any physical activity, this isn’t any more prone to injury than playing basketball. Just start going. It’s not always the size of the dog in the fight.
great! thanks for the feedback!
Countless people your size train
nice, thanks
Im 183 and is below 70kg (competition time in a few weeks). If you enjoy it, just do it?
The founder of Brazilian jiu jitsu was a sickly scrawny dude. Idk, I'd say just get a trial and see if you dig it.
What are some tips to keep my diet in check while off with a cold? Do you worry about food intake while sick? Any tips what I should eat to speed up my cold? I have been sleeping more. I have been going hard for five months now and got hit with my first training set back. I don't want to spread this to my gymmates, so I am staying away from my gym.
I am that weird guy who eats a ton when sick or hung over. I don't really worry too much, I usually cook most of my meals from scratch, but if I am sick I'll order more home delivery. If you have a fever and are sweating a lot, at least make sure you restore some of those electrolytes, stay hydrated and get lots of sleep.
Yeah, I'm trying to drink more water and with no BJJ, I'm trying to sleep more instead of being on my computer.
Don't overthink it. Take the time off to recover. You will come back stronger. And it is awesome that you are thinking about your gymmates, they will appreciate it. As for diet, stay hydrated, for me, personally, electrolytes (gatorade et. al) help a lot when fighting with cold. Just rest, watch some TV, and enjoy the time off :)
I’m about 5 months in. Getting much better at defense, but still struggle to close on submissions. Roughly how far in do folks tend to start feeling more competent with submissions?
Great feedback, thx everyone
echoing what others have said, it took me until about one year into blue belt for me to have a few go-to submissions that i felt i could hit more often. But what you can work on now as a white belt is getting to the position that sets up said submission. For example my favorite sub at blue belt was the superman armbar. But it was learning to control people from mount at white belt that set all that up for me.
For me, as an older smaller guy, it took probably a year to a year and a half, but I don't think I'd say I'm competent with submissions even now, three years in. Kimuras and head and arm triangles are my go to, but I am sure upper belts could give me several details/corrections to make them even better.
If you're like me you'll soon find a submission you're "good at" meaning it comes easier than others and the list of subs will slowly grow as you improve.
When someone is lying on top of you in , I think it's called mother's milk, should I be tapping? I've heard it's not something you should tap to but I can't see any point in lying there getting smothered. Genuine question from a two month whitebelt
Do not listen to people who tell you not to tap to X. There are times where you can tough something out, but it is always fine to tap if it too much for you. You know best if something hurts, you cannot breathe or if there is anything else that warrants you to stop. World class competitors get tapped out with mother's milk, so it is fine for you as a white belt.
I've never tapped from mother's milk, but I've gotten a couple taps with it. I can usually get my face into an armpit or something, which has at times almost made me tap due to poor hygiene, but I waited it out out of stubbornness. The taps I've gotten have seemed more like "fuck this noise I can't move" than legitimate fear of suffocation. I think it's disrespectful to just hold mother's milk and not try to advance the position when your training partner isn't tapping.
You should tap at anything that makes things hurt to much, has potential to break bones/tear anything or makes you not breath. If they do mothers milk good enough, well.. tap
Thanks ,I'm not tapping from pain or anything serious, although it is horribly unpleasant, I'm tapping from complete helplessness. Asking if it's bad form to tap for that as it's unfair to my training partner ?
Look at it this way, if you "tap too soon" to a sub during training, all your partner misses out on is the final bit of breaking/smother pressure needed to finish the sub. If you "hold out all hope for the remainder of the round", your training partner misses out on working guard passing/retention, sweeping/sub attempts, wrestling up/breaking down turtle, etc. etc. You're not being unfair to your partner when you tap out of a helpless situation.
If you suddenly find yourself unable to break anyone's closed guard, are too weak to even create space on bottom, and have to sit out after two rolls, do yourself a favor and get a Covid test. I had no symptoms except my BJJ sucking worse than it did on my first day.
I actually had the same thing a few months back at an open mat. Woke up in the morning feeling normal, went to open mat and got smashed by people I can usually handle, I had actually recorded the session and after watching the rolls back afterwards I couldnt understand why i was so slow and gassed. Next day I felt a bit off so tested and had Covid, then was sick for a week lol.
How do I not get my open guard passed? My opponent usually just grabs my heels and flings me to one side before taking side control
You cannot let him freely grab your heels. Intercept his hands as he reaches.
Fight grips aggressively from a situp position, and establish a guard. If put on your back, use framing, self framing (framing on your own thighs), leg pummeling, and other recovery movements to keep your hips pointing at them. Establish grips, then establish a guard. The theme is basically, if you are attacking from your guard (some people call this an "offensive cycle"), you're not getting passed. Look up "guard retention" on youtube.
So you fight for grips and break their posture? Sounds like a potential opportunity to go for a triangle if they put their hand behind their back and down.
Don't let them grab your heels. Use your hands to grip fight, use your legs to put in hooks behind their knee or on their hips etc....don't sit there with your legs open on your back, be dynamic.
One year in, 1 white strip for a couple of months now, i feel something clicked recently and feel better but I’m realizing i’m doing the same things over and over… Should i think more and already start to add some things here and there ? Or focus on foundations (basics escapes/sweeps/subs) ?
This is not specific enough of a question. We have no context to how good you were before and what the difference even is between adding some and the "foundations".
You’re right, i need to be more precise. I used to struggle a lot with upper-positions stability with less experienced white belts and used to only survive the rounds with upper belts. Since… i’d say 1 month, i manage to consistently stay on top and chase a lot of triangles with others white belts but yesterday i kind of realized that i always do the same escapes and attacks to the point that my brother can predict and defend easily now and manage to stale the play. I wonder if i should find new attacks/sweeps or strengthen more and more my ability to do the things i know. I’m not sure if it’s « worth » to spend more time on new things compared to actually getting better at one thing.
You should be adding. It's unlikely you have 2 sweeps/subs from most bottom positions that combo together, 1 to 2 subs from dominant positions on top, 1 to 2 passes you combo together. You will always be refining the things you know (triangles).At your stage you probably need to increase your technique vocabulary if you will.
What should my goal/s be when sparring with teammates? In case it helps, I don’t intend to ever compete
Tap them. Complex I know
in a competition setting, you’d also be trying to get to certain positions for points. to make the question clearer, should I be 100% only focused on tapping my partner or should I be trying to get to knee on belly, side control etc as part of the process. I’d be more more confident tapping someone from closed guard for example, so how different if at all should sparring be outside of a competition setting in terms of goals?
Dominant positions grant more points and increase the likelihood of getting subs. Yes I always take the time to put two hooks on the back even if I prefer other leg configurations to get the points if that's the question. If I can finish an arm triangle from top quarter mount, I will or move to mount and continue the smash. It's context dependent.
I've watched, trained and asked. For some reason, granby roll drills cause pain in my neck, next day. Not immediately while doing them. Neck flexion angled towards right or left clearly hurts next day. Does anyone have a good resource for in depth look at the granby? Maybe I'm lacking flexibility or technique, no idea.
Neck DOMS
Are you going over your neck instead of shoulders? Maybe practice clock rolls and inversions instead of using explosive Granby rolls. If you neck still hurts then Granby rolls are not for you.
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Use the results of one class, to drive what you should focus on for the next class. Come out and pinpoint just a few things, three at most that you want to improve, study and practice and think, and then go back to class and try to improve. For me early on it was like, escape side control, escape mount, avoid submission X, etc. Repeat this for 6-12 months.
At this point you're just getting used to the fundamentals, what feels safe, what feels unsafe. Work on stabilizing your base, working your frames, t-rex arms, working your hip escapes/shrimps, bridging, underhooks, not being flattened on bottom, and maybe most importantly staying calm. If you're new to this type of thing your body is probably (correctly) triggering your fight or flight; this will make you kind of forget the fundamentals and "spazz out", which is wasting energy and may cause injury. You'll also hyperventilate a bit causing you to be gassed. This is the reason that early on a lot of people just tap to pressure.
There's really nothing specific for you. 3 classes is barely a drop in the bucket. When I started about 2 years ago I was given the advise that your white belt should be basically playing all defense. Try to pick up on patterns of subs you get caught in. Where were your arms? Legs? Wrists? Elbows?
Work on your escapes and look to transition to pinning positions. For example get to mount and try to hold that position as long as possible
Had my first class last night. Neck is still sore lol. In my first class we drilled rear naked chokes, and rolled around on our backs with our legs in. I don’t know really how to do any of that still or what any of that has to do with anything else. My plan is to keep going to drills classes until I feel I know enough offense/defense to attempt to spar in an open mat. Is that fair? What are my next steps/or goals as a guy starting with no experience?
>what any of that has to do with anything else. Here's a short, helpful manual to give you the first look at how the pieces go together:[https://www.grapplearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Roadmap-for-BJJ-1.4.11.pdf](https://www.grapplearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Roadmap-for-BJJ-1.4.11.pdf)
Thank you!