Jiu Jitsu discussion / complete beginner!
Discussion
AJB88 said:
Comp 1 done. very nervous on the day, made weight easily in the end.
Match 1, bloke was about 6ft 4 (I'm 5ft 8), straight into a darce choke, his arms so long and thin, choke wasn't 100% in but neck was cranking as well so I tapped, about 30 seconds in, gutted.
Match 2, bloke more my size, not entirely sure what happend (need to watch video back) but we both ended up with 7 points, I got an advantage and took the win.
Match 3, wasn't looking forward to this one, the guy looked very explosive, in the end it was a 0-0 with me picking up an advantage in the last 20 seconds and took the win.
So came 3rd in the end for Bronze (because it was a small comp only winners got medals, not silver and bronze), both wins by advantage so no ideal. Back in cardio mode for the London open this weekend, confirmed white belts on Saturday and coloured on Sunday, which is annoying as originally Masters 1+ were Sunday. Just means 2 of us going Sat and 4 going Sunday.
I'm hoping to get blue belt before the end of the year, be a nice birthday present for the 30th Dec.
Brilliant well done!!! Match 1, bloke was about 6ft 4 (I'm 5ft 8), straight into a darce choke, his arms so long and thin, choke wasn't 100% in but neck was cranking as well so I tapped, about 30 seconds in, gutted.
Match 2, bloke more my size, not entirely sure what happend (need to watch video back) but we both ended up with 7 points, I got an advantage and took the win.
Match 3, wasn't looking forward to this one, the guy looked very explosive, in the end it was a 0-0 with me picking up an advantage in the last 20 seconds and took the win.
So came 3rd in the end for Bronze (because it was a small comp only winners got medals, not silver and bronze), both wins by advantage so no ideal. Back in cardio mode for the London open this weekend, confirmed white belts on Saturday and coloured on Sunday, which is annoying as originally Masters 1+ were Sunday. Just means 2 of us going Sat and 4 going Sunday.
I'm hoping to get blue belt before the end of the year, be a nice birthday present for the 30th Dec.
Back on the mats last night, I've been off for a month or two with just general lack of motivation, energy, commitment etc. Decent session focusing on side control escapes to top turtle and then the various choke options.
Considering the time off I didn't feel too rusty at all during sparring, although I will admit to being quite fragile this morning!
I have a sneaky suspicious that with some commitment over the next few months, at the next promotions I'll be handed a purple (I've been getting on for 4 years at blue now!).
Considering the time off I didn't feel too rusty at all during sparring, although I will admit to being quite fragile this morning!
I have a sneaky suspicious that with some commitment over the next few months, at the next promotions I'll be handed a purple (I've been getting on for 4 years at blue now!).
Forgot to post about my second comp, London BJJ Open, 25 people in my weight category, Match 1 I ended up on bottom in half guard, couldn't get up the bloke was adamant he wasn't letting me up and eventually he worked a choke. Because of the amount of people in the category it was a straight elimination. Looking back I was worried about making weight despite making weight easy the week before so nutrition/energy wasn't right.
Me and my training partner are both on 4 stripes, he won match 1 but lost his 2nd and got eliminated as well. Last night our instructor (black) and partner (brown) were joined by another couple (black & brown) it had the feeling of a grading night without calling it that, but in the end nothing happened.
Was hoping to start 2022 as a blue belt but well see.
Me and my training partner are both on 4 stripes, he won match 1 but lost his 2nd and got eliminated as well. Last night our instructor (black) and partner (brown) were joined by another couple (black & brown) it had the feeling of a grading night without calling it that, but in the end nothing happened.
Was hoping to start 2022 as a blue belt but well see.
Good to read the updates. From my side, I posted some time ago about having being given a GB Blue belt (due to the number of sessions attended) and telling my new gym about it and using my white belt with stripes and not the blue. Well I got my blue belt a few weeks ago from my new instructer a Combat Base Blackbelt. He was happy with my level and awarded it to me and I had the whipping ritual, I am chuffed to bits.
Enjoy your training everybody.
Enjoy your training everybody.
Tony Angelino said:
Good to read the updates. From my side, I posted some time ago about having being given a GB Blue belt (due to the number of sessions attended) and telling my new gym about it and using my white belt with stripes and not the blue. Well I got my blue belt a few weeks ago from my new instructer a Combat Base Blackbelt. He was happy with my level and awarded it to me and I had the whipping ritual, I am chuffed to bits.
Enjoy your training everybody.
Well done, my mate who was white in Gi, but like purple in No-Gi and pro-mma got the whipping out at Puket Top Team, hes now brown and teaching in India. Enjoy your training everybody.
AJB88 said:
Advised at last nights session that Dec 22nd is our last official session of the year, it will also be a "grading" and then our black belt came over after and asked if I will be coming (I work nights so miss quite a few sessions) sounds like blue belt is loading.....
Is this the Freemasons or BJJ? 
I've finally got a bit of love back for training in the Gi, it's quite interesting when it comes to rolling and i basically use all no-gi techniques as I can't quite get my head around all the Gi grips, quite bizarre for someone who's a brown belt. though it does go to show that good fundamentals like posture, weight positioning, basic wrestling etc are so vital to being a decent grappler as without having a clue about the Gi grips I can still be a good roll for most people.
every time I come back to training in the Gi I'm always surprised at how it evolves, so many of the techniques now incorporate the use of the Gi, when I first started it was just the uniform you wore whilst grappling
what i do like about it is that anybody can join and enjoy a BJJ session, compared to the MMA sessions I do which really aren't very inviting for anyone that doesn't have a bunch of experience or have a specific mindset
every time I come back to training in the Gi I'm always surprised at how it evolves, so many of the techniques now incorporate the use of the Gi, when I first started it was just the uniform you wore whilst grappling
what i do like about it is that anybody can join and enjoy a BJJ session, compared to the MMA sessions I do which really aren't very inviting for anyone that doesn't have a bunch of experience or have a specific mindset
Been back in the gi myself for the last couple of months but have no gi tonight and then open mat Xmas eve so that will be mainly no gi as well.
I've been trying to use the skirt of the gi to control people more and hopefully setting up subs, mainly from guard. I have been looking at worm guard lately and it seems to be something that could really suit me - I have good grips and I'm extremely inflexibly so it seems to potentially fit nicely for me.
I've been trying to use the skirt of the gi to control people more and hopefully setting up subs, mainly from guard. I have been looking at worm guard lately and it seems to be something that could really suit me - I have good grips and I'm extremely inflexibly so it seems to potentially fit nicely for me.
Ok, for those of you that followed this thread from the beginning, you'll know that in May 2021 I upsticked and moved abroad. I've been training reasonably consistently since then.
Fast-forward to last Friday, I was back in the UK and dropped in at my old club for an open mat no-gi session. Had some good rolls, nice catch up with the guys etc.
I was then surprised at the end of the session with promotion to purple belt. I say surprise, it wasn't a huge surprise since a lot of the guys I used to train with all got theirs in November last year, had I still been there it would have been me also.
Anyway, slightly awkward situation now since I don't want to simply rock up at my regular club with a new belt without talking to the coach first, both my current and old coach fall under the same black belt lineage (both awarded BB's from the same guy) but I have a horrible feeling this could be a bit of a delicate situation.
I plan on speaking to my current coach, telling him what happened and offering to continue to wear my blue if he prefers (although I am getting the point of catching the purples / browns with the odd sub), in addition to catching the instructor a couple of weeks back - it didn't go down too well!
Fast-forward to last Friday, I was back in the UK and dropped in at my old club for an open mat no-gi session. Had some good rolls, nice catch up with the guys etc.
I was then surprised at the end of the session with promotion to purple belt. I say surprise, it wasn't a huge surprise since a lot of the guys I used to train with all got theirs in November last year, had I still been there it would have been me also.
Anyway, slightly awkward situation now since I don't want to simply rock up at my regular club with a new belt without talking to the coach first, both my current and old coach fall under the same black belt lineage (both awarded BB's from the same guy) but I have a horrible feeling this could be a bit of a delicate situation.
I plan on speaking to my current coach, telling him what happened and offering to continue to wear my blue if he prefers (although I am getting the point of catching the purples / browns with the odd sub), in addition to catching the instructor a couple of weeks back - it didn't go down too well!
Congrats 
I can't imagine there is any other solution than to continue to be a blue belt at your current club is there?
I mean I'm only going by your post (so apologies if I've missed the context/nuance) but isn't it a little odd that your old club that you happened to drop into awarded you a purple belt out of the blue (excuse the pun) if you're regularly training elsewhere?
Your old club seems to have well and truly pissed on the chips of your new club and your professor. Very odd.
What an awkward position you've been put in.
I can't imagine there is any other solution than to continue to be a blue belt at your current club is there?
I mean I'm only going by your post (so apologies if I've missed the context/nuance) but isn't it a little odd that your old club that you happened to drop into awarded you a purple belt out of the blue (excuse the pun) if you're regularly training elsewhere?
Your old club seems to have well and truly pissed on the chips of your new club and your professor. Very odd.
What an awkward position you've been put in.
ben5575 said:
Congrats
I can't imagine there is any other solution than to continue to be a blue belt at your current club is there?
I mean I'm only going by your post (so apologies if I've missed the context/nuance) but isn't it a little odd that your old club that you happened to drop into awarded you a purple belt out of the blue (excuse the pun) if you're regularly training elsewhere?
Your old club seems to have well and truly pissed on the chips of your new club and your professor. Very odd.
What an awkward position you've been put in.
Agreed, its a little awkward and I'm happy to keep my blue at my current club. I have a very good relationship with my prior club / coach, we were quite a tight training bunch. I can't imagine there is any other solution than to continue to be a blue belt at your current club is there?
I mean I'm only going by your post (so apologies if I've missed the context/nuance) but isn't it a little odd that your old club that you happened to drop into awarded you a purple belt out of the blue (excuse the pun) if you're regularly training elsewhere?
Your old club seems to have well and truly pissed on the chips of your new club and your professor. Very odd.
What an awkward position you've been put in.
Both my current coach and my previous coach are under the same lineage and awarded their black belts from the same guy in America so I'd say the standards should be broadly similar. Either way, I suspect that, following a conversation with my current coach, staying 'as is' may before the best.
MC Bodge said:
The world of BJJ sounds unusual and very hierarchical
Don't look into Gracie Barra whatever you do! Most of the issues are due to people wanting to maintain standards and not let the art/sport/discipline get watered down like others have.If you're genuinely interested in learning more about it I can recommend 'Never Mind The Politics Here's The Combat Base Scrapbook'.
From the outside belts are obviously a really big deal in bjj. Ironic as traditional JJ is white then black, but then that's not as commercially attractive
I do find the way that belts appear to be translatable between clubs quite odd. The thought of turning up to a new club rocking a colour/black belt earned somewhere else is a complete anathema to me. I would always go in as white and after a few months if the coach decided that he wanted to bump me to a different belt, then that's their call, not mine.
A purple belt is a high belt earned after the hard slog of the blue (it's about commitment as much as it is technique). But it's the hard slog that is key and I don't know how a gym that you haven't trained at for 6 months could possibly know that you've been training hard enough when you haven't been there. The clock should stop ticking the moment you walk out the door, when you walk back though it there should be a minimum of 6 months just to get you feet back under the table before they even think about grading you.
As I say, I just don't get the whole oh hi Pete, nice to see you again, here's an early xmas present.
None of that is to undermine your work and to suggest for a second that it isn't deserved, I just find your previous coach's behaviour weird. But as I said in my previous post, I'm only going off what you've written.
A genuine question (to help my understanding and not just to Pete). If you are a Gracie purple belt and the only club near to where you've moved to was 10P, would you walk through the doors of the 10P place with your purple belt on or would you wear white? What's the form?
I do find the way that belts appear to be translatable between clubs quite odd. The thought of turning up to a new club rocking a colour/black belt earned somewhere else is a complete anathema to me. I would always go in as white and after a few months if the coach decided that he wanted to bump me to a different belt, then that's their call, not mine.
A purple belt is a high belt earned after the hard slog of the blue (it's about commitment as much as it is technique). But it's the hard slog that is key and I don't know how a gym that you haven't trained at for 6 months could possibly know that you've been training hard enough when you haven't been there. The clock should stop ticking the moment you walk out the door, when you walk back though it there should be a minimum of 6 months just to get you feet back under the table before they even think about grading you.
As I say, I just don't get the whole oh hi Pete, nice to see you again, here's an early xmas present.
None of that is to undermine your work and to suggest for a second that it isn't deserved, I just find your previous coach's behaviour weird. But as I said in my previous post, I'm only going off what you've written.
A genuine question (to help my understanding and not just to Pete). If you are a Gracie purple belt and the only club near to where you've moved to was 10P, would you walk through the doors of the 10P place with your purple belt on or would you wear white? What's the form?
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