Got my blue belt!

Evenflow80

Purple Belt
@purple
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Feeling good! Got it after a year and 4 months or so which I thought was fast but I've consistently trained 4-6 days a week minimum.

I still struggle with the much younger and/or bigger white belts but that's normal I think and i don't get submitted by them either.

It's been a lot of fun so far. Made a lot of friends and going to class is my favorite part of the day. At almost 36 I'm in good shape at 170 pounds but cardio is definately an issue. Some guys at my gym openly admit they are on TRT (Including a 46 year old former marine who is sculpted like a Greek statue, no kidding), but I'm hesitant to even go down that route

Right now I'm trying to focus more on being more calm and relaxed and regulate breathing whole rolling. I do great until SUDDENLY my cardio gives out and my muscles basically die out and stop working. It's a big issue for me.

I really like pulling guard and sweeping, I'm already known in my gym for using butterfly guard and hooks more than anyone.

Generally speaking though , all other blue belts beat me. Never mind higher belts. Sometimes it bugs me but other times i remind myself I'm older and smaller than 90% of them.

It's only been a little under a year and a half so long way to go. Just wanted to share my progress so far and my thoughts to those starting out. Thanks for everyone on here who encouraged me to join and train and helped offer advice and guidance
 
Too bad it doesn't work on the streets.

<2>
 
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Congratulations brother!

It always feels great to be recognized for all that time on the mat, all the sweat and sometimes blood, and the dedication to learn such a complex art.

Don't even worry about other blue belts beating you in the gym. You are the newest blue belt. Just keep on training as much as you can and continue learning and expanding your game and analyzing your weak points.

Keep drilling the moves you are good at and the moves you are not as good at.

It sounds like you are on the right path by trying to stay calm and using good technique. Those people always keep improving. The people that use mostly athleticism day after day in the gym are the ones who hit a wall and plateau until they finally realize they need to expand their game. That happened to me actually. My first year of BJJ I used a lot of explosive movements and fell back on my wrestling too much. Second year I pulled guard more, slowed things down and tried to beat the technical guys with smooth technique and not explosion and force.

But then of course every once in a while you have that hard intense roll with that one guy in the gym who is tough and is about even skill level with you.

Sorry for the rant. Congrats again
 
Stopped reading at "I like to pull guard"
 
Feeling good! Got it after a year and 4 months or so which I thought was fast but I've consistently trained 4-6 days a week minimum.

I still struggle with the much younger and/or bigger white belts but that's normal I think and i don't get submitted by them either.

It's been a lot of fun so far. Made a lot of friends and going to class is my favorite part of the day. At almost 36 I'm in good shape at 170 pounds but cardio is definately an issue. Some guys at my gym openly admit they are on TRT (Including a 46 year old former marine who is sculpted like a Greek statue, no kidding), but I'm hesitant to even go down that route

Right now I'm trying to focus more on being more calm and relaxed and regulate breathing whole rolling. I do great until SUDDENLY my cardio gives out and my muscles basically die out and stop working. It's a big issue for me.

For the cardio part, just cross train a little, I run 2 times a week, just 30 minutes runs with intervals on the threadmill or outside (i'm in canada so outside is kind of tough this time of the year). I also do a one hour class of Muay Thai. I do BJJ 4 times a week. I often manage to get a full day break once a week but I have to do 2 trainings in the same day.

The result is that I have one of the best cardio at the school. I just pop right up on my feet after each rounds and I'm ready for the next one. I rarely show signs of fatigue while I'm rolling.

I was in shape before starting BJJ but I'm not a cardio phenom, I was a top 20% runner (in the race stats) that had to train a lot to get there. And I'm 35, 5'11, 190 LBS

I know that few people believe in the cross training method, but it works for me. It also gives me confidence that I can get through a 6 minutes round.
 
For the cardio part, just cross train a little, I run 2 times a week, just 30 minutes runs with intervals on the threadmill or outside (i'm in canada so outside is kind of tough this time of the year). I also do a one hour class of Muay Thai. I do BJJ 4 times a week. I often manage to get a full day break once a week but I have to do 2 trainings in the same day.

The result is that I have one of the best cardio at the school. I just pop right up on my feet after each rounds and I'm ready for the next one. I rarely show signs of fatigue while I'm rolling.

I was in shape before starting BJJ but I'm not a cardio phenom, I was a top 20% runner (in the race stats) that had to train a lot to get there. And I'm 35, 5'11, 190 LBS

I know that few people believe in the cross training method, but it works for me. It also gives me confidence that I can get through a 6 minutes round.

Just 2 , 30 minutes runs a week helps that much? It's wierd I always assumed bjj would be better for cardio training since you are using your entire body. But thought about running too as a supplement
 
Just 2 , 30 minutes runs a week helps that much? It's wierd I always assumed bjj would be better for cardio training since you are using your entire body. But thought about running too as a supplement

30 minutes helps if you do intervals

I do 400m slow and 400m at sprint speed, in the end I do between 3.5 and 4 miles. Sprint speed is about 8.75 miles per hour and slow speed is 6.88 (sorry I'm in metric system (14 KM/h and 11 KM/h)

When I'm in a long run mood I do a 10K instead ( about 50 minutes)
 
Feeling good! Got it after a year and 4 months or so which I thought was fast but I've consistently trained 4-6 days a week minimum.

I still struggle with the much younger and/or bigger white belts but that's normal I think and i don't get submitted by them either.

It's been a lot of fun so far. Made a lot of friends and going to class is my favorite part of the day. At almost 36 I'm in good shape at 170 pounds but cardio is definately an issue. Some guys at my gym openly admit they are on TRT (Including a 46 year old former marine who is sculpted like a Greek statue, no kidding), but I'm hesitant to even go down that route

Right now I'm trying to focus more on being more calm and relaxed and regulate breathing whole rolling. I do great until SUDDENLY my cardio gives out and my muscles basically die out and stop working. It's a big issue for me.

I really like pulling guard and sweeping, I'm already known in my gym for using butterfly guard and hooks more than anyone.

Generally speaking though , all other blue belts beat me. Never mind higher belts. Sometimes it bugs me but other times i remind myself I'm older and smaller than 90% of them.

It's only been a little under a year and a half so long way to go. Just wanted to share my progress so far and my thoughts to those starting out. Thanks for everyone on here who encouraged me to join and train and helped offer advice and guidance
Congrats! I am 35 and TRT is the way to go
 
Congrats! I am 35 and TRT is the way to go

Don't know how to get it even if I wanted to because my tests come back normal for my age. Also afraid of ball shrinkage and monthly costs
 
Don't know how to get it even if I wanted to because my tests come back normal for my age. Also afraid of ball shrinkage and monthly costs

“Normal” is very subjective and varies significantly based on opinion. What is your total testosterone?
 
Haha what's bad about pulling guard ? Helps me reset and catch my breath and thoughts for a bit. I'm old man. Need those small little breathers
Its not nessecarily bad but its generally better to have top position for a more offensive purpose. For the street its just dumb though. That being said i myself have a bad habit of pulling guard and am working to fix it. You keep doing you though, you would probably crush me like a snake or some other grappling animal.
 
Its not nessecarily bad but its generally better to have top position for a more offensive purpose. For the street its just dumb though. That being said i myself have a bad habit of pulling guard and am working to fix it. You keep doing you though, you would probably crush me like a snake or some other grappling animal.

I like side control. Full mount so far I'm not a fan but of course that might change as the years go by and I learn more.

And I doubt id get any where close to beating you. I'm ok defensively but I rarely submit other blue belts. But thanks!
 
I like side control. Full mount so far I'm not a fan but of course that might change as the years go by and I learn more.

And I doubt id get any where close to beating you. I'm ok defensively but I rarely submit other blue belts. But thanks!
Well im assuming you do bjj so if thats the case all you do is grapple, while i dont get to practice that as often because of having a more diverse art. Also i dont know how high up blue belt is. For my belt ranks blue is 3rd and i am an orange belt which comes before that.
 

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