Rolled with a purple belt in BJJ

[youngjune]

One of the co-instructor is purple belt. I'm a white belt with 1 stripe. All I can say is Holy Cow. I got smash and submitted very easily. It's like there is huge gap between me and my co instructor. Granted he is younger and little bigger than I am but still.

I asked him if there is one thing I can improve on to better spar with him. He said movement. Just keep moving. I notice he was able to transition to position very easily and was able to put pressure at the right time which made it difficult for me to move . Honestly I felt little discourage. It's like your training at a boxing gym and get worked over by one of the stable boxer there. You wonder if this is for you.

 

[tekkenfan]

its suppose to be that way there is a massive difference in a purple belt and a white belt today people get promoted faster but still purple belts are suppose to be mini instructor if you are a purple you should be a dangerous man

 

[beat...people...up?]

I would be discouraged if I COULD beat a purple belt. Isn't it a good thing that you see how much years of skill develop can pay off?

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

its suppose to be that way there is a massive difference in a purple belt and a white belt today people get promoted faster but still purple belts are suppose to be mini instructor if you are a purple you should be a dangerous man

I always heard it explained like this:
A blue belt is a competent grappler
A purple belt is an expert grappler
A black belt should be a master grappler (with brown just a tad below)

 

[tekkenfan]

I always heard it explained like this:
A blue belt is a competent grappler
A purple belt is an expert grappler
A black belt should be a master grappler (with brown just a tad below)

id not say a blue is a competent grappler quite yet at least not early blues 3 t 4 stripe yeah

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

id not say a blue is a competent grappler quite yet at least not early blues 3 t 4 stripe yeah

By competent I just mean they should be able to handle the typical untrained schlub.

 

[maximus__]

I always heard it explained like this:
A blue belt is a competent grappler
A purple belt is an expert grappler
A black belt should be a master grappler (with brown just a tad below)

I usually find that a brown is a master grappler and a black is the better teacher with a fully developed game.

 

[youngjune]

I knew that there will be a gap but I didn't know it be that big. I wonder if I can reach that level. I hear that many people quit BJJ once they hit blue belt level. I think I understand why.
It's like power lifting. You set a goal to bench 200lbs. Once you achieved that you set a new goal of bench 300lbs..Once you achieve that you set a new goal of bench 400 lbs...but at 400lbs not everyone would be able to reach that level. I'm talking about if your middle weight and natural.

 

[EndlessCritic]

how shitty of a martial art would bjj be if a purple belt didn't utterly smash you?

 

[Peuhkis]

I knew that there will be a gap but I didn't know it be that big. I wonder if I can reach that level. I hear that many people quit BJJ once they hit blue belt level. I think I understand why.
It's like power lifting. You set a goal to bench 200lbs. Once you achieved that you set a new goal of bench 300lbs..Once you achieve that you set a new goal of bench 400 lbs...but at 400lbs not everyone would be able to reach that level. I'm talking about if your middle weight and natural.

Just keep showin up, you will reach a level far higher than you believe. Just keep showing up.

 

[BJJ_Rage]

Some people quit once they get a hold that this isn’t as easy as it should be, and Getting dominated by other people is not a feeling they would like to replicate, some people love the fact that he can’t do jack shit to a higher belt even if they tried as hard as they could... what you been through should be a motivation for you, thst s what’s the sport is like, after a while, you will get better...

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Reminds me of this fitness gal who started up bjj and posted on her facebook about how she rolled with a purple belt and held her own.

I wanted to burst that bubble so bad.

Anyhow, Purple and White is like boxercise person vs actual boxer.

 

[CrazyN8]

Guess what, he was also probably going easy on you.

 

[andrewm2211]

Imagine being a purple belt who’s trained hard for like 5-6 years. Than a one stripe white belt with 6 months exp. holds there own and gives you trouble. Wouldn’t you be like ‘maybe this doesn’t work’

Conversely if you tapped a purple belt wouldn’t you think your coach sucked for coaching home so long and he still gets tapped by a beginner.
No. You only think about yourself.

 

[BoloBoi]

I remember when I was a 3 stripe white belt I was getting smoked by all blue belts. I would sometimes think "when I get my blue belt I'm going to be the worst blue belt ever"

I've had my blue belt for a bit now and aside from people who are moderately bigger than me (I'd say 25lbs+ heavier) I rarely straight up get murdered by other blue belts. I'm not particularly good either but what I'm saying is I'm probably not the worst blue belt.

Purple belts? Destroy me. Very hard to find a purple belt that won't kick my ass. I am probably at least another 1.5 years but probably longer to purple.

My point being, it's normal to get shit on by even just 1 belt above you and you experienced rolling with someone 2 belts higher which probably equates to 100x or more mat time than you. You might never feel like you made massive improvements but assuming you train and have some focus you will keep improving and you'll be able to roll/compete against a skill level that seemed far away. And when you get there, you will find out there is yet another skill level that seems out of your reach. It'll probably be like forever. Even if you get to black belt, there are huge gaps between a 'hobbyist black belt' a competitive black belt and a world medalist level black belt and finally world champion levels.

Just have fun with training and enjoy your own progress. The longer you stick around the more you'll see newer people and realize just how far along you've made it.

 

[Quebec Nick]

I knew that there will be a gap but I didn't know it be that big. I wonder if I can reach that level. I hear that many people quit BJJ once they hit blue belt level. I think I understand why.
It's like power lifting. You set a goal to bench 200lbs. Once you achieved that you set a new goal of bench 300lbs..Once you achieve that you set a new goal of bench 400 lbs...but at 400lbs not everyone would be able to reach that level. I'm talking about if your middle weight and natural.

When you're not super talented, you just have to roll a lot, to be aware of your weaknesses, to work on the good things, to make sure you get challenging rolls as much as possible.

At some point you can't just hope for a magical technique that will upgrade your game by leaps, you can't just do the same stuff and submit people below you, you can't only work on funky moves.

That's why people quit, they're not willing to take their beating against the top guys, to try stuff instead of beating up a less experienced partner or to work on mundane techniques like guard retention or basic sweeps

 

[Uchi Mata]

I knew that there will be a gap but I didn't know it be that big. I wonder if I can reach that level. I hear that many people quit BJJ once they hit blue belt level. I think I understand why.
It's like power lifting. You set a goal to bench 200lbs. Once you achieved that you set a new goal of bench 300lbs..Once you achieve that you set a new goal of bench 400 lbs...but at 400lbs not everyone would be able to reach that level. I'm talking about if your middle weight and natural.

Yes, definitely you can. Purple isn't magic. Frankly, almost anyone with enough drive can reach a black belt level of skill. It's just a matter of putting the time in. The best thing about real skills like BJJ is that they're hard to earn but no one can shortcut it. If someone is a good grappler it's because they put in the time. Talented people might reach that level faster, but they still had to work. And no amount of talent makes up for not working hard.

These threads always amuse me because I vaguely remember being a new purple belt and toying with white belts, and now I toy with purple belts (though sometimes they're hard to tap). And then I go to a seminar and roll with someone at the top of the mountain, and they just toy with me. There are levels to this shit.

 

[LindsayLindsay]

One of the co-instructor is purple belt. I'm a white belt with 1 stripe. All I can say is Holy Cow. I got smash and submitted very easily. It's like there is huge gap between me and my co instructor. Granted he is younger and little bigger than I am but still.

I asked him if there is one thing I can improve on to better spar with him. He said movement. Just keep moving. I notice he was able to transition to position very easily and was able to put pressure at the right time which made it difficult for me to move . Honestly I felt little discourage. It's like your training at a boxing gym and get worked over by one of the stable boxer there. You wonder if this is for you.

Yeah dude, jiu jitsu is one the most ego-defeating things you can do sometimes (or maybe a lot of the time). The difference between you and your instructor is mat time. He's spent a lot more time on the mats than you, and has developed enough skill, technique and experience to neutralize anything you do at this point. With his experience and advanced skillset, he's seen a lot more scenarios than you have, so he has a better idea of how to approach them.

As you continue to get more time on that mats, you will slowly start to improve. You'll get more technique and more experience with what to do when X,Y,Z happens. It is easy for him to dominate you now, but over time that gap will close, little by little.

Like you, I struggle with continuing to move. I am getting better at it, but it's taken me a while. He gave you a good piece there. The more you stay put/unmoving, the worse for you.

Jiu jitsu a lot of times will suck more than it will feel rewarding, but hang in there and you'll pick up little victories along the way that will make you want to keep with it.

 

[LindsayLindsay]

Another note - it's better to monitor your progress among people more along your skill/belt level. Tournaments are great for seeing where you're at. Like others said, if you were submitting a purple belt now as a white belt, I'd be questioning that person's purple belt.

 

[TheMood]

These kind of posts always amuse me. For some reason people think they can be better at a martial art than some body that has being doing it longer. I don't think with any other skill people would think this but they do with martial arts for some reason. I have never heard someone say "I have been scuba diving for six months but I was surprised the assistant dive master was better than me."

I will tell you what I tell all new people that come into our school, if you walk in and you are able to tap everyone there is no point in you paying for class here.