BJJ - White Belt Frustration

[DaRuckus337]

The problem is that you suck. Seriously. I'm not flaming here, you just suck. And why shouldn't you? You haven't put in any mat time and have no experience in grappling sports. Sucking is to be expected. The question is whether or not you have the patience, humility, and dedication to push through this extended period of sucking until you reach a point where you are no longer one of the worst guys on the mat. If you do, you have years and years of still not being very good ahead of you to look forward to. Then after that, you have years of not being as good as some people, and finally years (and likely a lifetime) of not being as good as you want to be. If you can't deal with that or if that type of existence and mindset doesn't work for you, you're probably in the wrong sport. If you aren't motivated by failure and are instead the kind of guy who just wants to be 'good enough and call it a day', then this isn't your game. Get out now, find something else to do, and save yourself a lot of pain, time, money, and embarrassment. If on the other hand you're interested in pushing yourself, setting long term goals, reaching them, then realizing you haven't come nearly far enough and setting some new ones, then please stick it out and continue to grow with the rest of us around here who love grappling.

 

[CrazyN8]

One stripe white belt here. I get smashed like a well boiled potato on the regular and it bothers me but I just try to remember that its all a part of learning. Just remember to tap early, often and ask a lot of questions. Eventually we will get there, we just have to put in the time and effort.

 

[GHScott]

BJJ is one of the most humbling sports I have ever done. I have been doing this shit for about 4 years and I get smashed all the time. There is always and I mean always someone better.

Think about it like this. I'm 38 years old and no matter how much I train now I will never ever be on the level of a Marcelo Garcia or any world class Black belt even if I was to get my black belt.

Enjoy the ride and do it for your own self development and learn from your destruction.

Interesting point here. My instructor regularly goes down to the Gracie-Humaita schools in San Diego to train with/against other GH black belts. He says that his experience after becoming a black belt is like getting to the top of one mountain only to discover there is an even larger mountain behind it. Smashing any of us who train under him with ease is one thing, then going down there and getting smashed himself by a bunch of higher-level black belts is like being in a completely different world.

 

[GHScott]

One stripe white belt here. I get smashed like a well boiled potato on the regular and it bothers me but I just try to remember that its all a part of learning. Just remember to tap early, often and ask a lot of questions. Eventually we will get there, we just have to put in the time and effort.

As a blue belt with 3+ years of experience, I can tell you that your partners should occasionally be allowing you plenty of opportunities to work on any offensive or defensive position you need work on without trying to beat any "Bully Beatdown" records (e.g., tapping you out as many times as they can in a 5-6 minute sparring match).

After watching a video recently of Rener Gracie sparring with a purple belt with his hands kept under his belt the entire match, I got the idea to try this while sparring with a coworker/training partner who is a 0-stripe white belt. It was obvious that he had a horrible base when he almost got past my guard and I was still able to sweep him. It also helped me because it forced me to focus more on what I'm doing with my feet, legs and hips and how much impact they have on BJJ fundamentals.

 

[knees_n_elbows]

If you want to live in a world where you don't improve/get challenged then go to your midday class and not return to the evening. The biggest improvements I make are when I roll against people better than me which forces me to elevate my training/game. The best advice I can give is go to class, as much as possible and train hard. There really is no other answer.

agreed, my RNC defense got a lot better after rolling with this 135 purple belt that took my back and choked me over and over and over for like three months. now he takes my back but doesnt finish the choke nearly as often. for that matter other whites and most blues dont finish the RNC on me either.

 

[FernandoBJJ]

you should just get used to people with superior knowledge who will manhandle you if you planning to train jiu jitsu brov.. it doesnt matter how long u been training for, there will always be people who know more than you.. and thats nothing to be embarassed of, your going there to learn and im pretty sure that no one there wants to beat your ass, everybody goes to training to improve, so make sure you do your best even if it doesnt look that great to you cuz you will improve..
also, everybody at my gym says you learn 10 times more when you get tapped a lot because when you finished rolling and your partner just tapped you three times, the thinking in your head will be somethin like 'i did that wrong so he got me here, and i also did this other thing wrong and he got me again' so you will be looking at what you did wrong and trying to correct it, while the other guy will be 'ye man, i tapped him, im da man'... so forget this whole winning or losing thing while youre in training, just focus on getting to as many as possible different situations, try to actually aplly what you just learned with your coach with calm.. taping or getting taped is just a detail, the important is you get familiar with as many as possible real fight situations...
save your ego for the competitions, there heart and persistence are more important

 

[2008]

First post here and need some advice.

Ok where to start. I practise BJJ at an MMA gym in London UK. Have been doing it on and off now for around half a year and have just recently decided to take it seriously.

I'm a white belt and at the gym, there are two different profs - both black belts. One under Mauricio Gomes.

I usually go to the class that I'm used to, which is very challenging for me and I usually train each day at 1pm.

I decided to go to the evening class to try it out with the other dude and just got completely destroyed by everyone, especially the purple belts. I got completely owned and was wondering is this normal? It may seem like a silly question because obviously they are very high level.

Is this normal though? I left the gym feeling completely humiliated and think from now on I'm gonna train the midday classes because they seem to be more relaxed.

Not really sure what to say but any advice would be appreciated.

Here is my opinion and advice from from a two-stripe white belt with 1.5 years of consistent training that can relate to being smashed often.

1) You need to have a healthy ego and put things in perspective. If your getting tapped a lot or feel helpless and dominated most of the time its because your not "good" yet. And your not expected to be good at BJJ or grappling right now because your new to it. Just keep going to class consistently and learn what you can.

2) From my experience there is always an 'unofficial advanced class' and a 'beginner's class'. If your absolutely new to grappling or don't have any physical sport type training before, trust me, stick with beginners class. If schedules allows it, typically, upper belts with years of experience want to train together and this ends up being the unofficial advance class I'm talking about.

3) This is just a theory of mine but it could also be an "energy" thing...your body might be used to training in the daytime and it 'shuts down' when you tried to train at night. This happened to me recently. For the past 10 months I was training only in the evening time because of work I decided to go train in a day class one day when I had work off and I got smashed...my body was off, I felt stiff, sluggish, and unresponsive the entire time.

4) 6 months of training is NOTHING. Wait two years with consistent training then you can come back and complain(you probably won't because you'll learn so much). Anything less then two years your still a rookie.

5) At 1.5 years of training I'm beginning to understand BJJ better. I'm not a complete new guy anymore and things are starting to make sense. I'm not getting smashed anymore and starting to develop my own guard game that is starting to give people fits. This is an amazing feeling because the past few months before this I was plateauing and felt lost with my progression.

6) At some point during your BJJ education your going to turn the corner and not get smashed anymore and your going to do the SMASHING!!

 

[TeddyRoosevelt]

the result is that a mere bjj blue belt of 2 years has TREMENDOUS ammounts of "mat time" under his belt, almost as competitive as actual fights in some cases. that translates to insane leve of proficiency. so, in striking martial arts, you CAN beat a more skilled opponent with some luck+courage+heart etc. because the experience gap isn't that huge. due to the realism of daily rolling, BJJ doesnt have that. typicaly, if you tap a bjj higher belt, it's because you did something right and he let you to reward you. he's THAT good/experienced.

I think that's one of the more skewed and stupid comparisons I have read recently. If you train a striking art and this has been your comparative experience, you need to seriously rethink the training methodologies you have adopted.

 

[JohnnyBoy87]

Spot on. Completely avoiding situations which make you uncomfortable is the key to taking it seriously.

Are you joking? lol. I had this feeling, that I would get no helpful advice from people like you.

 

[JohnnyBoy87]

The problem is that you suck. Seriously. I'm not flaming here, you just suck. And why shouldn't you? You haven't put in any mat time and have no experience in grappling sports. Sucking is to be expected. The question is whether or not you have the patience, humility, and dedication to push through this extended period of sucking until you reach a point where you are no longer one of the worst guys on the mat. If you do, you have years and years of still not being very good ahead of you to look forward to. Then after that, you have years of not being as good as some people, and finally years (and likely a lifetime) of not being as good as you want to be. If you can't deal with that or if that type of existence and mindset doesn't work for you, you're probably in the wrong sport. If you aren't motivated by failure and are instead the kind of guy who just wants to be 'good enough and call it a day', then this isn't your game. Get out now, find something else to do, and save yourself a lot of pain, time, money, and embarrassment. If on the other hand you're interested in pushing yourself, setting long term goals, reaching them, then realizing you haven't come nearly far enough and setting some new ones, then please stick it out and continue to grow with the rest of us around here who love grappling.

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

 

[JohnnyBoy87]

Here is my opinion and advice from from a two-stripe white belt with 1.5 years of consistent training that can relate to being smashed often.

1) You need to have a healthy ego and put things in perspective. If your getting tapped a lot or feel helpless and dominated most of the time its because your not "good" yet. And your not expected to be good at BJJ or grappling right now because your new to it. Just keep going to class consistently and learn what you can.

2) From my experience there is always an 'unofficial advanced class' and a 'beginner's class'. If your absolutely new to grappling or don't have any physical sport type training before, trust me, stick with beginners class. If schedules allows it, typically, upper belts with years of experience want to train together and this ends up being the unofficial advance class I'm talking about.

3) This is just a theory of mine but it could also be an "energy" thing...your body might be used to training in the daytime and it 'shuts down' when you tried to train at night. This happened to me recently. For the past 10 months I was training only in the evening time because of work I decided to go train in a day class one day when I had work off and I got smashed...my body was off, I felt stiff, sluggish, and unresponsive the entire time.

4) 6 months of training is NOTHING. Wait two years with consistent training then you can come back and complain(you probably won't because you'll learn so much). Anything less then two years your still a rookie.

5) At 1.5 years of training I'm beginning to understand BJJ better. I'm not a complete new guy anymore and things are starting to make sense. I'm not getting smashed anymore and starting to develop my own guard game that is starting to give people fits. This is an amazing feeling because the past few months before this I was plateauing and felt lost with my progression.

6) At some point during your BJJ education your going to turn the corner and not get smashed anymore and your going to do the SMASHING!!

Thanks for the advice man. I do appreciate it because most of these other guys don't know what they're talking about. Would love to know who they train under, probably no one lol. Take it easy buddy

 

[Jagcorps_esq]

The problem is that you suck. Seriously. I'm not flaming here, you just suck. And why shouldn't you? You haven't put in any mat time and have no experience in grappling sports. Sucking is to be expected.

True dat.

I've been at this for about 4.5 years now and I still suck. I mean, not compared to white belts and I'm a competitive blue belt, winning more than I lose, and I still suck.

That is what makes this martial art great. Even after years, there is still so much to learn...so much to engage my mind and to make me want to perfect my technique AND my physical conditioning.

All it takes to become better is having the humility to admit to yourself that you suck and the dedication to be willing to do something about that for as long as it takes.

 

[Vitamin C]

Are you joking? lol. I had this feeling, that I would get no helpful advice from people like you.

I may have been a dick about it but how is what I implied in any way not helpful advice? Oh wait, re read your OP and you never mention wanting to get better. So what advice are you looking for? How to relax and be as comfortable as possible training? Yeah, carry on, do what works for you.

If you want to actually be good though, like others have said, you need to become consistent and train with the guys who will give you a hard time. And lets face it, people train for tons of different reasons, but one thing we all want is to get better at what we do.

Your op is the same idea as saying "Hey guys, I need some advice, normally I only rep a technique once or twice when I'm first taught it, and I can sometimes get it to work for me in rolling. I tried drilling and it was super tiring and boring. I think I'll just go back to what I find easier."

If you are looking for advice on how to take the easy road, well, that advice is easy to give. Keep doing whatever feels comfortable for you.

Consider this though. If you keep training inconsistently and in the relaxed classes. Your relative experience after 5 years of training will not be the same as someone who trains hard and often for 2 years. Just like how your 6 months now is probably not worth much more than a few weeks.

 

[TheHereticJay]

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

Lolwut? Someone's got their ego in check I see...

 

[Jagcorps_esq]

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

Wow...ok, you either completely misunderstood his post or you are damn child.

He gave you legit advice and if you could look past your little pride temper tantrum you'd realize that.

 

[Jagcorps_esq]

Thanks for the advice man. I do appreciate it because most of these other guys don't know what they're talking about. Would love to know who they train under, probably no one lol. Take it easy buddy

So, you take seriously the advice of another white belt, but freak out when being given the sincere advice of higher belts?

You're acting like a tool here.

 

[DW18]

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

i don't see how what he said wasn't the truth, this isn't a lifestyle for the fickle, that's what i got out of his post. Don't know why your feelings were hurt.

 

[Armwrap]

I think that almost every new white belt has a misconception that they should do well against more experienced practitioners. Did you ask "how much do you weight?" after the roll?

If you would start other very technical sport, for example tennis, how would you fare against someone who has played for many years, 5 times a week? You would get clowned. It is totally normal.

That being said, learn to appreciate the small victories: regaining guard, escaping, making the other guy to work hard for the sub etc.

Stick with it, when someone new starts, then it is your turn to be the hammer.

 

[Alex88]

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

The guy actually gave good advice ... Anyway , keep that mentality and you wont last long in bjj.

 

[DaRuckus337]

Firstly, shut the fuck up lol. You know nothing about me, the gym I train at, or the people I train with. I've asked for some legit advice and you start this shit. Just what I expected out of a forum like this, a bunch of dudes who watch UFC but do no training and spend all day racking up their post count.

The 1 dude who gave me good advice (sorry forgot your name buddy), I appreciate your suggestions mate.

I will not be talking to you losers again.

Well, I think it's pretty clear where you stand. You didn't even have the patience, humility, or dedication to make it through a paragraph, so when it comes to something as challenging and humbling as bjj, I think you're pretty much fucked. Enjoy a life of cheap thrills, instant gratification, and overall mediocrity. It likely suits you.