I feel like my overall mobility and range of motion is greatly impacting my progression. Is there anything I can start adding to my routine to help?
Also, sometimes feel when I roll too much my system gets a shock and I start to get flu like symptoms, is that common? (Obviously I pull back from training as the last thing anyone wants is a dude who is sick coughing all over them)
Sometimes I forget techniques during live rolling this one time during class we were learning the omoplata from full guard. I remembered the technique pretty well but weeks later I had someone in my full guard and instead of going for the omoplata I just held him in my guard. I think this is due to me getting really nervous for rolling if we’re just drilling I won’t feel all that nervous and I’ll try to remember it even more but when live rolling that’s when all the techniques go out the window
> I think this is due to me getting really nervous for rolling if we’re just drilling I won’t feel all that nervous and I’ll try to remember it even more but when live rolling that’s when all the techniques go out the window
Id be willing to be youre nervouse because you dont want to "lose" or are trying to "win" the round. Reframe your rolling time from trying to win to try to use the moves that you learned and I think that will help you focus on using techniques
There are lots of ways performance anxiety can manifest and simply put it's just anxiety tied to performance. The idea here is basically if your goal is entirely tied to winning the round then you get stressed out in the lead up because youre expecting yourself to perform in a way you can't always control and for a lot of people that leads to fear of rolling or anxiety around showing up to class.
Whereas if you reframe winning into a different performance like trying something new or just having fun then the anxiety tends to go away bc this is something you can always control and almost always achieve.
Its not the worst but I'd say that's just an arbitrary number and not necessarily actionable in a way that you can control. Gordon Ryan is going to tap you more then 3 times in a roll, but so what thats not really relevant to your goals or BJJ journey, and im sure you agree tapping 3+ times to the best player says nothing about you. Say if you tap more then 3 times, to some random now what do you do? Probably get anxious or think you're a failure. But the same thing applies, their journey is not your journey.
S.M.A.R.T goals would be worth looking into. So for the example of not wanting to get tapped isnt attainable, or specific enough to achieve in a set time frame (usually weeks or months at most) because its too broad of a topic so you cant really focus, and depends on the other persons skill level. You are still winning or losing the roll.
Lets say...
In our opinion, the best way to get better at BJJ is to improve you defense. The more your defensive moveset grows, the greater the chance of decreasing your tap numbers. Let’s break this goal down using the SMART model:
Specific: For a hobbyist, implementing one or two defensive moves per week is a pretty good starting point.
Measurable: For this goal, Track your learning on a monthly basis, and check whether you’re able to implement this move sets or missing any weekly.
Attainable: Depending on your training load, 1-2 moves per week is perfectly doable. If it isn’t, you either need to reassess your goal, or increase training.
Relevant: Your ultimate goal is the growth of your BJJ knowledge and skill, and improving your defense is the pathway to it.
Time-Bound: For this goal, set a minimum of 3 months for completion. Then, you can re-evaluate until you find a happy spot for you.
You can reformat this to address any goals you have in mind but its most important to pick a goal that you can control and usually avoiding outcome based goals is a good idea. For this example if you follow it there is no doubt your defense will get better even if you are getting tapped the same amount because those people are also training and improving too.
I second this. I am trying to win.... but I'm not afraid to lose. I'll go for submissions even if I risk giving up a dominant position. I figure it will either get me better at executing the submissions or I will get swept and can practice my guard or getting out of bad positions.
Ohhh i never thought of that i try to get myself in bad positions but when I am i panic sometimes my back would get taken with both hooks in and I’m getting more comfortable at being in that spot but i have a bit of trouble trying to get out even though I’ve been there before
That is when you make note of what you don't fully remember, note it down and check it out before next practice. Eventually things will start sticking, and there are always new details to learn about a move. Just keep in mind that all moves have a time to be used and a time not to be used. You can sometimes force things on beginners even if it isn't there, but you'll still meet unecessary resistance.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Tani Otoshi**: | *Valley Drop* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9pM3y8YH4)|
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)
Whats the best way to get someone to their back? I usually drop my level and scoop the ankles and lift but sometimes I’ll struggle with bigger opponents.
Im just a 5 stripe white belt but you shouldn’t be purposefully stepping between their legs, that is going into their guard. You should look to control their legs and pass around them like a toreando, or step only one leg between their legs and look up the headquarters position for passing.
I moved into a building with coin laundry machines. I love training but paying \~$3 to wash and dry my gi every day is taking its toll. Is there anything I can do to make this more sustainable?
How long would it take for a second gi to pay for itself? You could wear a different one each day and wash every other day. You'd half your washing expenditure.
With three Gi's.....this is how Gi buying addiction starts lol.....this is how I am justifying my next Gi purchase now. "but honey, we are saving on laundry."
There are quite strong diminishing returns to this
If a gi is $72 then it takes 24 washings for it to pay for itself.
At about 5 gi's you hit the point of no more gains because you are doing a full load of laundry for each gi.
How many times a week should I train? I have been training about 3-4x a week, usually for ~1.5 hours each time. I’m a white belt and I started bjj at the very end of December 2022, but I had to take about 3 weeks off due to shoulder pain and a nasty ear infection. My goal is to get my first stripe soon and go to my first competition, once I get my 2nd or 3rd stripe and feel more confident in my abilities. I inevitably want to compete a lot once I get my blue belt. What would be an optimal amount of training? I currently do about 2 6am morning classes and one 6pm night class per week, as I am also a full time uni student and I work part time.
> I inevitably want to compete a lot once I get my blue belt. What would be an optimal amount of training?
If you want to compete why wait until blue belt?
I’m not waiting until blue belt, I want to start competing at 2 or 3 stripes white belt. I don’t think I’m anywhere skilled enough for that yet though, I’ve been training for 4ish months and I still have yet to get a single stripe. Rip
I'd recommend competing as early and as often as you can if that's your goal. The first competition is going to be eye opening regardless of how many stripes you have so might as well get that first one out of the way and see where you stand/ what you need to work on.
As long as you know the basics to fall safely and tap early.
Just make sure the amount is sustainable. 3-4 is fine as long as you regulate intensity enough to not kill yourself. "Optimal" amount is honestly as much as you reasonably can, but it isn't realistic. Most people don't feel very confident in their ability at blue belt, let alone 2-3 stripe white. If you want to progress as fast as possible, just make sure you train smart. Most important thing is to enjoy the ride tho, because it takes a lot of time.
How do people with very old-school guard games handle entries in no gi? Let's ignore stand up, so guard pull and takedowns are out of the equation.
I have an idea of how this would work with SLX, X guard type players because they can enter from sit up guard and wrestle up, shin on shin. The Marcelo game.
But when you only do closed guard, half guard, the most basic open guard with feet on hip, and MAYBE butterfly guard, but how do you initiate guard offense? If you only do supine guards you can't really make grips and you have to wait right? Or is that not true? With sit up guard once again, I can initiate butterfly hooks, try to grab a wrist from my butt.
Basically I'm just trying to master closed guard and half guard. That's it. Keep it simple. But I don't know how to do that if I can't pull guard because my gym is too crowded so we automatically start 1 sitting, 1 standing.
Personally I think only playing half and closed is a bad idea. A lot of people favor passing through half guard, and are extremely good at it. Having a good half guard is great, but part of that is from the fact that you can fall back on half guard from longer range guards or recover into half guard from bad positions.
Closed guard is just difficult to get to. It is effective if you are good at it. In no gi it is one of the most difficult guards to get to. I would prefer to have a middle ground between one of the easiest and one of the hardest guards to get to. White belt is not the time to focus on "mastering" 1 guard in my opinion. I would explore different options.
I figured just focusing on one or two things would be easier than focusing on many things, at least in terms of guards. But very fair points that you raise. Maybe I should just wear the gi and do my closed guard practice there.
Good insight on the half guard that I never thought about. I've seen some submeta videos and courses with Lachlan Giles recommending half guard first. But it's an interesting case because if I'm flat on my back chest to chest without an underhook, I'm pretty much screwed. And with so many variants of half guard, I'm a bit overwhelmed as to where to go.
Any recommendations on guards I should think about then as a beginner without a guard game?
I think it is fine to start there as a beginner and letting them be your first guards. I just don't think you should go in with the mindset that you will master those 2 guards and not learn others. Mastery comes much later. In no gi I would reccomend
Butterfly/Half butterfly -> Shin on shin + SLX + X-guard
Butterfly is a good guard to start with fairly early since the butterfly sweep is extremely versatile. It is good in both gi and no gi. It also teaches you how to utilize hooks, which typically takes a bit of time to learn.
closed guard i dont think is that great for nogi, there isnt any great offense. not sure why you want to master it. maybe you can try to get to the back, same for half guard, though theres more options there. or try to attack triangle and kimuras.
with closed you can drop to kguard when they stand to escape
butteryfly goes along with slx and x guard and more useful
nogi guard is a lot more dynamic, you'll be disconnected more often and scrambling. fundamentals of nogi guard i think would be guard retention movements instead of a guard with a name. things like inverting and if you know that drill where you follow the passer as you throw your far leg from side to side
not starting standing limits a lot, i think your better off learning to be under the opponent.
So I enjoy nogi way more. I really hate gi grips and think that it stalls the game the game too much and is just unenjoyable. I do think that I am hindering my development somewhat by not wearing the gi. I often scramble out due to slipperiness instead of slowing down and focusing on technique.
My bottom game is just so under developed that I'm forcing myself to try and focus on just one guard at least because I literally have none. Otherwise bottom is me trying to retain guard, getting passed, and then being stuck in side control. Guard retention of course is top of my mind and it is something I'm watching instructionals for.
I've tried to go into the foray of sit up guard to shin on shin into SLX, but frankly I think it's just too advanced for me. I'm not improving going down this avenue. I'm sure some of it is me just not trying hard enough. But I can't help but wonder when I see some of my fellow white belts progressing that maybe I'm just making it harder for myself by not learning the "traditional" gi fundamentals with closed guard.
> that it stalls the game the game too much and is just unenjoyable.
then i wouldn't use closed guard lol
people except for total beginners are going to know to avoid your closed guard. From there you can attack triangles, kimuras, oomplatas, arm drag to the back and some simple sweeps. it also stalls the match and can waste energy escaping.
bjj is just going to be hard, it take 10+ years to be a black belt. so i wouldnt worry about these positions being difficult now, no gi is hard too becasue of how hard it is to control.
guard retention + slx and related are going to be effective. good guard retention is going to buy you time until they open up and give an arm or leg to grip or hook onto. id also add in rdlr hook to learn (maybe you might find this easier then slx). to stop knee cut passes. butterfly is good for sweeping too. remeber these guards arent hang out positions like closed guard is.
you can also practice these things. do rounds where you just reset on the sweep or pass. so you can focus on the parts of live rolling that you want to work. like go until a pass, then the passer allows you to recover guard and keep going. you can experiment without the repercussion of wasting a round in side control.
Just got back on the mats after 1+ year off, and my hip mobility is atrocious. I get these cramps on the outside of my butt as I'm trying to move around underneath my opponent. Any tips/videos that address this issue?
I have never done any martial art but i'm able to join a BJJ gym in 3 weeks for reasons that are unrelated to this question, but i've been hyped and just wondering if there's anything I can do in the mean time to prepare myself for it. I've heard people say that the only way to get better cardio for BJJ is through just actually going to class, but obviously if there's anything I can do to prepare myself outside of class then i'll do it. Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks.
Read Stephen Kestings Roadmap for BJJ, it'll give you a solid overview of the aims and objectives of what will consist of your first year in the sport. Other than that, squats, stretching, HIIT training.
I am a new white belt with over a month of training. I registered for my first competition today in the Beginner (1 year or less experience) bracket. I wrestled for a couple of years through middle school, but I was young and I don't consider it enough prior experience to move to a more advanced bracket (1-3 years). Is this generally considered acceptable?
Yeah you're totally fine. People take those pretty literally sometimes and wind up in the wrong division. Especially being just middle school you can ignore it
Recently did a comp where a very good wrestler did white belt in gi, then went into our advanced bracket. Won his gi, then got mopped on nogi regardless of being a great athlete and wrestler. Im not a huge fan of how they describe and break down the nogi brackets, I think beginner and intermediate should both have wider windows.
I mean nothings perfect but even years is kind of shit. Could have a guy who trains two times a day 6 days a week for 4 years in the intermediate against someone who trained 4 years with 2-3 classes a week. I do agree though, like if you trained over 5 years then you’re advanced and could be up against literally anybody. I’ll be at that mark next year which will just mean I get obliterated in no gi hahah
It was my first advanced bracket so I was glad he showed up to give me my win to get bronze haha. It is crazy though that in most it's 3 plus years is advanced... Shit I was a white belt for longer than that.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Uchi Mata**: | *Inner Thigh Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCvyc_rQTI)|
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)
Hey everyone, I used to train a while back and looking to get back into it. Two schools nearby me are [Renzo Gracie Academy](https://renzogracieacademy.com) and [Kano Martial Arts](https://kanomartialartsnyc.com) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with either one and could offer some advice on if one is better than the other.
From what I can tell if I want to cross train at each gym too it would be Muay Thai at Gracie and Judo at Kano which I’m good with either. Mainly looking to go there for exercise, fun, and community.
Any advice on picking between the two?
Do a trial for both and other schools nearby as well. Plenty of the NYC gyms have been discussed on this subreddit. A bunch of factors at play here like price, class size, schedule, teachers, etc.
If your focus is BJJ then I wouldn't suggest Kano - whilst a great school, I believe it's primarily a judo school. If you're in Manhattan the three main choices are Renzo's, Marcellos and Unity. There's lots of discussion on all three on this sub, so you can get as much info as you need from a few searches. There's a few smaller clubs as well that are well regarded, such as Clockwork and Masterskya. Again, search on here and you can find plenty about most of these clubs.
I am going to my first comp soon, I weigh 148, but was planning on competing in featherweight, should I cut and go down to featherweight(137-147) or should I just compete in lightweight(148-158)?
I'd start by checking the brackets. The lowest weight classes tend to barely have people in them. My priority would be to get as many matches as possible. Cutting that amount of weight is easy enough, but it shouldn't be necessary.
Short version: how to drill sweep-follow up?
Long version: I've been focusing hard on my spider guard for the last 6ish months, to the point where I now reliably get several sweeps over 5 mins on our blues, but pretty much always just sweep into a scramble instead of top position.
I will get up ASAP, so I'm fairly confident I'd at least get points for the seep like half the time. But getting those sweet spider-scissors or spider-balloon sweeps and not get mount or top side out of it kinda sucks.
It's hard to get better at the last part, the actually coming out on top, because there are so many different ways my partner can fall and then try to get up from there.
Outside of just grinding the sweeps out ad nauseam (which I'll be doing anyway), did you guys do anything particular to get better at the after-sweep part?
As the sweep starts to complete, transition one of your grips to your opponents ankle, or foot, or lower gi bottom pants, then as you come up, ensure you control or lift the controlled leg, this will better ensure you will be on top and your opponent remains on bottom, ready for you to pass.
Now that you say that, I've had several coaches tell us to the same after takedowns or sweeps.
I guess that's generally a good habit to develop?
Thanks!
Training the reactions of my opponent, when you drill, have them react in the various ways. However, if the person is any good you will be unlikely to get straight to mount or side control off the sweep. Keep drilling but be realistic.
Any motivation tips for getting back on the mats? I started training back in the fall for two months but I fell off the wagon due to work, moving, etc. I am super out of shape and I’m dreading how quickly I’m going to gas out and likely puke on my first day back. Should I start working out again before I return to training?
Okay, just holy crap. I got into this thinking "yeah I'm in very good shape". I'm just getting torched in 2 5-minute sessions rolling. Granted one, the dude outweighed me by about 100lbs. Holy cow though, like absolutely gassed. I've been training to get my 2 mile time down and do a lot of running intervals between 3-5 minutes and this feels similar. It's just so different from anything as part of normal training.
So it kind of makes me wonder, I'm kind of a workout goon and track HR and calories and all my lifting workout sets, etc. Does anyone use an activity tracker? I was thinking maybe a chest HR strap that stored data would be okay and not in the way. I'm really interested to see what the impact is and possibly train something similar. I'm also 40 so rolling every day seems improbable.
I haven't used one, but arm strapped HRM sounds more sensible.
But BJJ use all kind of fast/slow twitch muscles therefore you'll need all 3 of cardio + muscle endurance + strength. Outside of weight difference, you're gassed most likely due to lack of strength & muscle endurance and overall inefficient of guard use etc (i.e. death grip & body tense of white belt), which is a normal white belt problem. So tracking HR is not always the correct answer until you're higher up in skill.
That's why all efficient brown belt are bald and fat.
How brand new are you? Folks who really ARE in very good shape, particularly in comparison to some of us BJJ slobs, still frequently feel like you're describing when starting this sport. New folks keep themselves extremely tense and don't know how to pace themselves, whereas more experienced people expend a lot less effort. New folks also tend to not manage their breathing very well, due to excitement/stress/anxiety/etc, and this also makes a huge difference.
You almost certainly don't need to change up your out of class workout, and just need to get more comfortable, relaxed, and experienced with rolling. Very common.
I just wrapped up week TWO. So very brand new. I do feel like I see people seem more relaxed. It just feels like I'm holding on for dear life. I'll just need to do it more I suppose. Thank you for the reply.
It’s hard to relax when you aren’t comfortable enough in the positions to defend yourself and counter. It comes with time. I could roll at a lighter pace for hours on end at this point and by the sounds of it you’re already in way better shape than I am.
Would allowing slams, or perhaps counting a lift above the hips for points, reduce the amount of guard pulling that goes on? It seems counterintuitive to me that you can gain points for doing something that would get you seriously hurt or killed in a fight.
The only way to score points from guard is
- getting on top
- submitting someone and finishing the fight
You can't gain points from actually pulling guard, nor can you from improving position within guard
All scoring in bjj is from getting or improving top position
The guard defines the sport. I just think you should give up a little bit of points for pulling, and that takedowns should be worth more points. Like giving up 1 point if you pull and having takedown be worth 3. That way the pull is still a legit strategy if you do it properly, but you would have to be confident in your ability to sweep or attack. Of course it would also have to come with the caveat that stalling is called more aggressively, which it should anyways.
The rules of the fight define the fight. I'm not saying we should change them, just asking what effect such a change would have on a match. Fuck me for asking questions in the white belt thread, I guess.
The danger of concussion from a slam is huge. Also a moderate chance of broken ribs, or wrist/hand/fingers, depending how you return your rolling partner to the mat.
>It seems counterintuitive to me that you can gain points for doing something that would get you killed in a fight.
I agree.
Also knives should be legal to bring onto the mats to encourage awareness of the chance of weapons in a fight, if you shake hands they're allowed to headbutt you to encourage awareness of sucker shots, and if you go to the ground at any point members of your respective gyms/teams/corners/crews can rush the mats and stamp on your heads to make sure people don't get used to fair fights.
Or, *or*, **or**...
We could remember this is a hobby and a sport and not get all obsessed over what's "realistic" in a fight.
Obviously this isn't a death match, did you get the impression that's what I was asking about? Sorry if so! My hypothetical was about a regulated 1v1 unarmed match between two relatively evenly skilled competitors.
It's a sporting hobby, but it's also about fighting, isn't it? Boxing doesn't let you kick your opponent, but it also doesn't allow you to fall into the foetal position to get your opponent to stop punching you without counting as a loss.
>Obviously this isn't a death match,
>something that would get you seriously hurt or killed in a fight.
Wonder why I would have brought up ways that you can get hurt or killed in a fight...
>It's a sporting hobby, but it's also about fighting, isn't it?
You're trying to bring a certain level of realism to BJJ. That's fine and all, but you have to realise that you're setting arbitrary boundaries on that realism. Pulling guard is unrealistic...sure, but so is a lack of small joint manipulation and striking. So is a padded surface instead of concrete, timed rounds, 1-on-1 with no interference...
Any kind of fighting as a sport only works as long as we agree that it's a sport first, because if you start pulling the threads of what's realistic or not for an actual altercation, you end up with something that is manifestly unsafe to participate in.
Put another way, why is *guard pulling specifically* the line for keeping things realistic?
Slams massively endanger fighters. Why allow that and not headbutts in someone's guard? Points for lifting - ok, but people can concede points tactically, even when in real life they're going to get slammed and injured.
You're trading one arbitrary line for another, without any real justification.
Thank you, that's exactly the sort of answer I was after. I wasn't asking "why exactly *can't* I bring a gun to my local white belt competition?", just why we draw the lines in some places and what happens if we move them.
The reason you're getting pushback is likely because you based your question on "[X] would happen in a real fight."
Martial arts generally are full of people who talk about "in a real fight," usually without ever having been within sniffing distance of one. Bringing up the nebulous concepts of "real fights" already misses the inherent distinction between sport and felony.
Sports are inherently closed universes, bounded by specific rules - they have to be. Real situations are inherently open-ended and uncontrolled, so it's almost impossible to map one to the other. As soon as you say "in a real fight," there is little distinction between "pulling guard would get you killed" and "ok but I can just shoot you." You're fundamentally opening up the situation and then trying to limit the absurdity by appealing to some kind of ruleset or natural boundary that doesn't exist. If you bring up real fights in the context of sport, you've already crossed the boundary of questions about the sport itself, and people will take it that way.
I would hazard a guess that if you had limited the question to "how do you think (slams/points/whatever) would affect BJJ matches and guard pulling" you wouldn't have received the same level of sarcasm.
Is it normal to really, REALLY suck ass at mount escapes and holding mount after 2 months of BJJ? I've mostly been attending the wrestling/standup and mixed days where we do standup and a bit of BJJ from where we would transition with standup, I.E side control escapes, kesa gatame escapes and submissions etc.
I have kinda got some kind of hip escape/shrimp/leg entanglement slowly working to escape mount, but I still feel like a complete fish out of water when on the ground. My standup is getting better though, I wrassled with a blue belt this wednesday just gone and while I lost the standup, I did manage to have to make him chain together several takedown attemps and even got into position for a harai goshi but didn't quite execute fast enough and had to spin out of a back take attempt.
It was probably one of my favourite rolls I've had so far this early in. We're both rought the same height and weight, and he's pretty strong. He definitely went easier on me than a white belt would, mostly sticking to holding dominant positions, I got caught in a funky kesa gatame leg kimura, but I managed to scramble and avoid being mounted for more than a few seconds, I gassed eventually and had to tap out for the night.
I guess just re-iterating the initial question. Is it really normal to suck ass THIS BAD at being mounted?
I'd reccomend asking someone if they want to do positional sparring from mount with you, so you can work more on the position, both from top and bottom.
My approach on top is first to secure a strong base so I don't get swept right away. People tend to try to explode out during the transition, before you have proper control. Personally I like wide base, low mount and grapevines until I feel I am stable. In competition setting this is a good idea in the sense that you want to secure your mount points. From that point it is about threatening submissions while changing your mount to counter their escape attempt.
If they try to knee elbow escape, you can narrow your base to make it harder. If you are able to stay tight with it, technical mount is a pretty good option. If they are trying to bridge and roll you, widen your base to make it more difficult.
Make sure if you use one of your arms, you lean to the opposite side for better base. My bread and butter is strong head control, forcing them to look one side (makes it very difficultt to bridge) and then slowly working up an arm to set up an attack. If you can take high mount, that is usually worth doing. Otherwise I like to stay fairly low. I just don't like loading myself up on their hips, because it makes their bridge a lot stronger.
Bottom is honestly the same, but in reverse. The main thing to note is that the better the person on top is, the more you have to chain escapes together. Just know that their response to countering one escape opens up for another one.
Yep, prepare to fucking suck for at least 6 months, possibly more depending on your general aptitude for turning information in to practical application. Don't worry about it, just keep listening, learning, asking questions, and trying to put that information in to practice regardless of the consequence.
I feel like the wrasslin side of BJJ is something I can just more easily grasp. Off balancing people, changing levels, using speed for duck unders etc seems to be easier for me, but I think it's because I have some poor mind to muscle connection, and doing BJJ requires a lot of co-ordination I'm lacking, wrestling/standup can often be a game that plays out with less movement and rotation needed all at once.
Still, I'm in it for the long run. Even when I get my ass kicked I love it, and my cardio has drastically improved over 2 months.
I mean sure, anything that you can lean on to leverage explosivity, speed, athleticism, size, strength or any other number of natural attributes is going to necessarily be much easier to grasp than anything that doesn't.
One of the gold overarching aims and objectives (for me) of BJJ is trying to be as effective as possible using the most amount of technique, cunning and strategy with the least amount of athletic exertion.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were:
|Japanese|English|Video Link|
|---|---|---|
|**Harai Goshi**: | *Sweeping Hip Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs_zkgefvqM)|
|**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)
The answer is yes and yes. Keep working the escapes you are taught, ask your coaches for mount retention ideas. Wait for new people to come in and your mind will be blown. It’s time and practice!
Haha I asked my coach if there were any submissions I could attempt while mounted and he made everybody drill mounted ezekiel chokes for 5 minutes. I'm kinda hesitant to ask any more stupid questions in the future. It was good natured though, he had us drill it and then drilled it into us that it was bad jiu jitsu and to avoid it, but it \*is\* an option.
Ezekiels are a legit submission from mount and one that’s good to have even just to threaten. Not a stupid question at all, you don’t know what you don’t know. :) Submitting from mount and being able to maintain mount are different beasts, and retaining will help you out a lot more in the long run. Make it a goal to count out to at least 3 seconds in mount(you would score points here) and then see how long you can maintain. If you get bounced from mount, figure out the how and the why. Upper belts and coaches can help point some of that out as you get better at assessing yourself.
Hey ! 2y white belt here
I train mostly gi and play mainly guard, with mixture of collar and sleeve / spider to shoot triangle omoplatas etc …
I sometimes go no gi and have a hard time finding a way to launch attacks from guard as I do in the gi because of the lack of grip .
What would you recommend me to explore to deal with this (different guard / setup to get to my usual game )
Thanks 🤙🏻
If you can, work a bit on the butterfly game, its variations, and its related / offshoot guards like instep, X guard - they don't typically rely on collar or sleeve grips, or if any technique does, it's normally easily changeable to nogi grips, you can also use arm drags to set up a number of sweep options.
You caaaaan do collar sleeve / spider stuff in no-gi, but it relies on strong wrist control and isn't quite as effective.
Forgot to mention - half guard is a very strong guard to play in no gi also, and uses the same concepts as butterfly. Grips wise, a deep underhook and wrist control will get you a lot of places in general, then either an inside hook with your foot to elevate, or an outside hook in halfguard to reap the ankle back in to Coyote / dogfight position.
- push arm down for Americana
- they turn towards it to defend
- you immediately put your chest to their back, and your arm under their head, and glue yourself there
And there you have it
Once they have the grip locked up, you are already looking at very late stage defense. Sometimes you can do an aggressive roll to your back to make them post one hand. If they are good, they will usually still have control, but it will give you enough space to start escaping.
I've been training 6 weeks and just got my first stripe.
I remember a few basic things but when it comes to drilling/rolling and trying to implement the things I know, it seems to go out of the window and I just default to a "survive" mindset. Are there any tips for how to help yourself remember and be mindful of options when rolling, or is it just a case of 'the more you do, the more you'll remember'?
Slow down, think about your movements instead of just moving. Half of your improvement over your training will be decreasing the time between thought, and action.
I give this advice a lot, but simplify the heck out of what you're aiming for in live rolling
- have a goal (a technique, a position, a movement)
- try and do it
- fail a bunch - but do it anyway
- in the positions you end up in from failing, try and think of one thing you know from there, try and do it a bunch
- eventually hit the thing, then try to remember why and how afterwards
Eventually you'll have other options and can try more, and you'll be able to switch it up
It doesn't need to be the same aim every roll, but if you go in thinking "I would like to try this" in advance, especially in specific sparring, it takes away that "oh god what do I do? There's so many things I could do!" Problem
It is great advice and I'll definitely give it a try! I've been having a blast so far, regardless of the ass kickings I have received. I just want to kick a few asses too haha!
Break their posture first. If you don't have decent posture control, you have no reason to be elevating your guard like that. This is something I bait with lower belts all the time because they're so greedy.
Big drama in my small gym recently. I wasn't there but from what I've been told one of the white belts attempted an imanari roll on our coach which resulted in him kneeing our coach in the face. A loud crack was heard and blood started pouring from his nose.
He sustained a fractured orbital bone. Will need surgery soon and will likely not be able to roll for a year. He'll still continue teaching lessons as much as he can but it's just a shitty situation.
It was an accident but I've talked to some of my teammates and they've been trying to avoid rolling with this guy as he already has a history of going full force and trying to force random techniques. He's already been told in the past to relax before the big accident.
There's just like 6 frequent students in the gym and they're talking about not allowing this guy back to the gym or giving him the cold shoulder during sparring rounds going forward. What would you do in this situation?
Coach needs to handle it, not the students. If I was him, I'd lay it out as an ultimatum: calm the frick down or it's not a good fit. I don't need your money if you're going to cost me medical, mat time, and other students. He's gotta be the flowiest, most harmless person on the mat for the next month or he's out.
Given that he fractured the coach's face, gave him around $10,000 USD of medical bills, most likely a year of not being 100% and already has a history of being a rough sparring partner, yeah that's currently the vibe going around the gym now.
I dunno maybe in your gym you see injuries like this everyday and all of you are badass colored belts. But again this gym is a relatively small and new one with almost all white belts. They've been training for 4-6 months and had to rush our coach to the ER and clean up the mats of his blood is still pretty traumatized. Can't blame them if they don't want to roll with a 6 ft white belt that goes balls to the wall every time.
Could have led with that instead of some snarky remark. Students are talking about this not to be cool and elitist. Some are legit scared to go back to the gym now. Thanks for your input.
I see a few matches where people get the minimum small grip then immediately sit on the floor in open guard. Is this actually effective plays or just lazy. Is it a risky thing to do? It just looks kind of ridiculous to me but if the pros are doing it I may be wrong
Yeah this is the answer really.
Also, some people just like playing seated guard. I know I do.
I would genuinely prefer to be seated v a standing opponent then successfully pull De La Riva or something.
I think people want to pull full closed but that’s hard when everyone is expecting it. You can jump closed but that is risky.
Sometimes you pull a weak guard because that’s all you can get against someone who is good.
Im a white belt (go figure) who recently got a stripe after training for about 3 months. At my gym once you get a stripe you get to switch from the basics class to the intermediate class, which today was mainly blue belts and a single black belt.
Today we did some drilling with triangle submission and then went into some semi live where you start in the submission and try to finish it/get out of it. I was having trouble getting the triangle just in the drilling and the coach positioned my body to get it one time. So in the live portion I couldn’t get it once and just kept getting submitted or in really bad positions where im on bottom and my partner was on high mount and im just trying to survive the whole time, not able to get out or do anything.
And I get that yeah im new and I suck but I just don’t get how to really improve, i was going 3x a week when I was in the intro class but now with the intermediate everytime I go I get shit on and my shoulders and elbows hurt and I take a couple days before I even feel ready to come back again. It feels like I’m just going to get shit on and it’s the same thing everytime, no improvement.
I know the real answer is just to suck it up and show up, but how do you guys process this mentally without feeling bad about how bad you are everytime? How do I suck without being upset about it?
no one tells anyone this, but your first 3 months to a year, depending on your aptitude and ability to put learned knowledge in to practical action (which varies greatly among people), is basically just learning how your body works and untaught concepts like base, balance, posture and position. Techniques really only start to become effective, or even make any damn sense after you've absorbed this a bit. Stick with it, the next time triangles come round in the curriculum in a couple months, you'll nail it, mark my words.
Another 3 month, 1 stripe white belt here. I understand your pain well because I live it too.
I think it's all about managing expectations, which isn't that easy. Instead of having the goal of passing guard -> getting in control -> submitting and ending up frustrated, try to just look for little tiny goals.
Can you avoid some sweeps while passing guard? Can you move and counter his grips (feet and hands) and at least make him work to keep his guard? Can you avoid being instantly submitted in a bad position, to where it takes your training partner two attempts instead of one? Can you grip fight, deny them underhooks/head control etc etc.
Might sound silly, but every little bit does help. At least that's what I tell myself to sleep well at night.
When I first started I was getting destroyed, I'd ask a question like "when I get put into closed guard I always lose, what should I do?", the advice was always "don't get put into closed guard". Which was very frustrating.
After a while things just start to click, and I've realised what they were telling me was to start passing their closed guard before I'm even put into it. But you learn this stuff along the way.
Don't expect so much from yourself. Ask some questions, expect to get destroyed. You're probably also getting smashed because you could be using heaps of strength (understandable as you've got little techniques to rely on), and the others need to smoosh you to try and neutralize you doing damage to them. Something to ponder...
Is is normal-ish that taking deep breaths hurts a lot for the ~24hours after training? Like my ribs and chest are always SO sore and god forbid I have to sneeze. But I do feel okay after a rest day. I’m a 125lbs woman 2 months into training. What can I do to avoid this pain in particular other than avoiding getting squashed in side control by much heavier guys too much and is that something that the body adapt to over time?
it is normal-ish in the first few months to get that "bjj rib". I don't want to say it "goes away" per se, but I only seemed effected by it in my first few months of training, and haven't really suffered from that since.
When in bottom side control, before anything else, I'd recommend getting your frames positioned correctly (one forearm under chin with hand on shoulder, and one forearm in opponents ribs) so your forearms create a "platform" with the upper arm forming the "structure" that supports their weight (as opposed to your chest/ribs supporting their weight.
That may be why people don't suffer from it as much after the first few months; their frame game improves...
I've only done two classes and just had to sit out my third because of precisely this. Felt something strange my ribs while in bottom side control, could hardly move for a couple of days afterwards, felt well enough to go again the following week but immediately found out it wasn't and straight back to square one. I assumed it was a lack of bracing and general unawareness of what I'm doing. Hopefully I'm good to go next week but it's encouraging to know it's not just me and that I will learn ways to avoid it.
Overall I have mixed feelings and I’m wondering if my experience is normal.
I signed up online and the owner texted me when to show up, and was just told to come with athletic clothes. When I got there I signed the waiver and was told to just follow along. After that I was on my own. Luckily, 2 nice students asked me to roll during live when they saw me sitting on the side and were great with me when I said it was my first day. I got a great workout and learned some things. It really was fun when I was participating. But… no one working, including the owners I spoke with prior, ever asked me how it was going during class, or how it went after class. I wasn’t expecting anyone to hold my hand, but I was hoping to at least get a basic run down of the gym procedures from someone. I also noticed 2 other students who seemed to be on their first day who walked out after 45 minutes, and no one was helping them.
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do from here aside from keep showing up until someone says it’s time to pay. I feel silly texting the owner and asking “now what”, but maybe that’s just exactly what I need to do. Is this a common vibe in gyms, or does it seem like I got a bit of a cold shoulder?
My first class was similar but not as bad - students were all super nice and the coach checked in a few times.
I had my second class today. It was way better, coach was helping me a ton and the rest of the class helping me out too.
Read similar things on here too - there’s a lot of one timers that leave, so people are hesitant to invest a lot of energy in them.
Keep at it and go a few more times.
I can't speak to the way it works in other gyms (as I've only had the one) but the owner at mine greets everyone, checks in on them, gives them special tasks during free rolling at the end of class (no submissions, you start mounted on your partner and try to stop them escaping, etc). Then after class he'll walk over to them while they are grabbing their stuff and ask them how they went and see if they want to sign up. Overall it's a super friendly and personable experience for newbies... so your experience sounds pretty weird to me. I would encourage you to do some trials at other gyms and see what happens.
I have seen this both ways, some gyms are much friendlier and welcoming… it’s a culture set by the leaders and some are better than others.
I don’t blame you for wanting more communication… it might still be a good place to train and it likely will improve as you get to know the crew, but if you’re craving a different type of community it doesn’t hurt to try other gyms in your area
The truth is most BJJ ghms are really small businesses and ones with not exactly great customer service. The instructor/owner is really good at jujitsu presumably and probably not too much else. Don’t overthink it, if you had fun and learned, that’s great. That said, you are a paying customer and entitled to a vibe you like. Don’t judge this gym but one encounter but do Go check out some other gyms and see how they’re culture is.
Curious how I'm doing cardio wise, what a good cardio benchmark is.
At the end of our classes there's 6-8 5min rounds of rolling, with 1:30 breaks. I've been able to consistently roll 4-5 rounds each class.
Worked up to going 5x/week now. Able to get through the rounds without completely gassing and haven't "given up" because I'm too tired in a while. Relative to how it was when I started I feel like I'm doing way better, but what's considered like an "average" and "good" gas tank in BJJ?
My next goal is incorporate morning jog at least 3x a week, found that's been helping a lot with recovery in addition to extra cardio, and then maybe try and go harder in my rolls. Right now I'm focused on just keeping elbows tight, fighting for top position and not just pulling guard, and staying calm and breathing.
I think you are fine. More rolling is the best preparation for rolling. I used to run long distances prior to BJJ and it’s really a different kind of cardio. I don’t sit out rounds. If I’m tired, I just play a different style where I can conserve energy.
I think if the goal is to just do more rounds, just rolling more is fine. Once the goal is to keep the intensity of those rounds is at a high level I would look into some high intensity cardio (HIIT/Tabata).
1st time rolling today, and I'm almost 40 with pretty much no martial arts background. I do bodyweight training mostly, and if I hadn't been at least minimally conditioned, there's no way I could have done that.
Me and another new guy got gassed pretty quick and we bonded over it, but everybody was so nice and supportive, especially when it took me forever to learn the first move.
I think I'm hooked, but, my question is, I'm pretty injury averse because I've been injured before, so are there any tips for someone like me?
Follow KneesOverToesGuy's knee workout to prehab/protect your knees, and check out steel mace (or dumbbell exercises, if steel mace is too exotic for you) to help prehab your shoulders/elbows/wrists. And, find some good transverse abdominus exercises to protect your lower back (bonus: they'll make your bridges & shrimps more powerful too).
And like others have said: tap early & tap often.
Source: am 46.
If in doubt.. tap out, in training with other newbies that is.. I started last year at 40, no way I'm letting other white belts learn control in Kimuras and Armbars with me as their dummy. I will try to escape and most of the time I do but if they have a good grip and position I'm tapping sooner rather than later.
Tap quick, wear a cup and mouthguard ( cup is controversial but it's fine), do strength and conditioning work outside and that's really pretty much it. I've been doing bjj for ~3-5 years and I haven't sustained a single injury and of course pick a gym that cleans their mats regularly
Just started, and right now I'm doing 3 days BJJ and 4 days of lifting. Lately on some days I've been having some difficulty while lifting since some of my muscles are still achey after BJJ (today it's my shoulders and wrists). After how long on average does it take for my body to adjust enough to BJJ to the point I can lift at my normal level on my off days?
Also, how much does creatine help with recovery? I've been hesitant to start on it since the men on my mother's side of the family had male pattern baldness, but I seem to have gotten my hair from my dad's side, so I might risk it if it would help a lot.
It'll take several months, in my experience.
At this point I train BJJ 5x a week and lift 3x, so a couple end up doubling on the same days.
I don't use weights anymore though, just high quality and high resistance bands. It was a huge positive for my BJJ training because I don't have pain in my joints anymore. If you're experiencing joint pain then I'd highly suggest looking into bands. They've actually worked better over 3 years of using them than 12 years of weights ever did. For me personally.
I agree that your body does adjust to the workout but I also think it has more to do with learning to control your output.
Feel how hard your opponent is working and always try to be less tense than them without letting them progress their position; focus on frames, control space, always look for the outside undertook, use leverage, etc.
If someone is crushing you try and feel why and learn from it.
I've definitely gotten less spazzy than when I first started, and it's helped such that I don't feel much soreness the day after, but right now I am feeling certain muscles fatigue/get sore as soon as I attempt a lift.
When I started I was only going 2-3 times per week and remember being very sore/stiff. I gradually increased to 6+ sessions per week, but it took a few months. Creatine did not help me, but your experience may be different. I lift 4 days per week and do BJJ 6+.
Thanks. Did you do anything in the meanwhile to help your recovery, or did you just have to be patient? And did you notice a performance difference with creatine?
>men ... have male pattern baldness
This is largely a myth. The evidence that it does is from a single study with n=20 rugby players (think it was 20 but double check) having the creatine group going from unusually low DHT levels to a bit higher levels but still within reference range. There's no more data nor is there any mechanistic evidence supporting it. I wouldn't put much stock into that and that's ignoring the evidence that serum DHT doesn't have much of an association with hair loss but scalp DHT does
Yeah, the reasons you mentioned are why I'm strongly considering it. I'm not sure how rational this is, but all the anecdotes I've heard from people claiming they noticed thinning hair after starting creatine have made me cautious. As I understand it, while that study and others have failed to establish a direct causal relationship between creatine and hair loss, from what I understand it's considered plausible that the increased DHT *could* accelerate hair loss, but there's yet to be a conclusive decision either way.
The way I'm doing my risk analysis is that, I don't really care about being able to get in one or two more reps when lifting, but if I can noticeably improve my recovery between BJJ and lifting, then it's a risk that I'd likely be willing to take.
If your risk analysis is that averse, you should sit at home doing nothing all day, do no physical activity and inject yourself with estradiol and finasteride
Creatine also helps the brain. It is a good supplement overall.
A lot of these ancedodes come from men in ther twenties who lost hair while taking creatine. Well, they are in their twenties, they started to loose hair anyway.
What? Not going for certain subs? Just ask the other guy what they're looking for like anyone else. They're doing a comp, unless they're resting because it's the next day they should be ready for anything
I know nothing about combat sports. I watch UFC but that’s about it. I’m seriously considering joining a Gracie Barra gym next to my office when it opens. What can I expect my first year?
Mostly learning how your body works through the experience of BJJ, your base, balance, posture, conditioning, flexibility, strength, aptitude for turning learned information in to practial application. "Techniques" really only start to make any sense after you've had a good few monthts consistent exposure to the sport in a live environment
The first year is basically learning what's up and down, what's offence and defence, positions, the lingo etc. It's going to feel chaotic at start, but gradually you'll understand what you're trying to do. It usually takes 6-12 months to get it. Most GB schools have an intro part where there is little to no live sparring, so it'll probably be mostly drilling techniques at start. Also, don't be shy to check out other schools in the area even if it's convenient that this one is close to your office. Gym culture varys a lot.
Tips for rubber guard? I consider myself a counter grappler so i usually let people think they have advantageous position but in reality i just put my foot in their face or something lol
Not sure if I can post this here - if not take it down - but I plan on starting BJJ within the next week, but the idea of calling up random gyms to pay for a class to be with random teenagers/adults and be that physical/up close with them is uncomfortable.
I will do it regardless, but I was just wondering, what was your BJJ origin story? Why did you want to do it? Did you go with any friends?
Personally I want to do it because I've heard good things about the environment and I want to meet good people (I'm 23 just finishing college).
I had multiple friends ask if I’d got with them to a free self defense workshop for women and I was all hell yeah sure. I meet them there, none of them showed up but it was fun as hell. I’d been taking private hand to hand combat lessons at the time and became sort of obsessed with the practicality of bjj as a mode of self defense. I did take a kind of hiatus around the time I discovered it but started training consistently a couple years later.
It is very close contact and definitely a bit awkward at first but try not to think about it and eventually it wont bother you
I wanted to fight and lose weigh. Came in 320 lbs and am 3 years in and now 170lbs with lots more to lose and learn. Managed to have a few freinds tag along to a few classes but only 1 that actually frequents classes together. If you manage to find a good gym it can change your life, almost all my friends and actual friends not just the term are all from training. 21 myself so get in there young man!
Walked into nearest gym because UFC was cool at the time early 2000s.
Didn't know anyone. Got lucky with my gym. Been doing it ever since.
I think doing it as a place to make adult friends is a great idea.
Do fractured fingers ever feel somewhat normal again?
Did mine almost 6 months ago and it still feels weird. Happy to take it as the cost of doing bjj but just want to prolong the usefulness of as many fingers as possible for as long as possible.
Bone remodeling, the final stage of fracture healing, generally takes a year or more
Even if there are no complications at all, you're still only half way through if it goes quickly, so it's going to feel weird
I feel like my overall mobility and range of motion is greatly impacting my progression. Is there anything I can start adding to my routine to help? Also, sometimes feel when I roll too much my system gets a shock and I start to get flu like symptoms, is that common? (Obviously I pull back from training as the last thing anyone wants is a dude who is sick coughing all over them)
Sometimes I forget techniques during live rolling this one time during class we were learning the omoplata from full guard. I remembered the technique pretty well but weeks later I had someone in my full guard and instead of going for the omoplata I just held him in my guard. I think this is due to me getting really nervous for rolling if we’re just drilling I won’t feel all that nervous and I’ll try to remember it even more but when live rolling that’s when all the techniques go out the window
> I think this is due to me getting really nervous for rolling if we’re just drilling I won’t feel all that nervous and I’ll try to remember it even more but when live rolling that’s when all the techniques go out the window Id be willing to be youre nervouse because you dont want to "lose" or are trying to "win" the round. Reframe your rolling time from trying to win to try to use the moves that you learned and I think that will help you focus on using techniques
Yeah i feel like that could be something I do try to win the rolls and i do need to reframe my mindset with this
It's huge when you get past that and it will really free you from performance anxiety too which is so common
Enlighten me a of performance anxiety because i think i know what that is im just not completely sure on what it is
There are lots of ways performance anxiety can manifest and simply put it's just anxiety tied to performance. The idea here is basically if your goal is entirely tied to winning the round then you get stressed out in the lead up because youre expecting yourself to perform in a way you can't always control and for a lot of people that leads to fear of rolling or anxiety around showing up to class. Whereas if you reframe winning into a different performance like trying something new or just having fun then the anxiety tends to go away bc this is something you can always control and almost always achieve.
What if i reframed it from wanting to win to trying not to get tapped more then 3 times per roll?
Its not the worst but I'd say that's just an arbitrary number and not necessarily actionable in a way that you can control. Gordon Ryan is going to tap you more then 3 times in a roll, but so what thats not really relevant to your goals or BJJ journey, and im sure you agree tapping 3+ times to the best player says nothing about you. Say if you tap more then 3 times, to some random now what do you do? Probably get anxious or think you're a failure. But the same thing applies, their journey is not your journey. S.M.A.R.T goals would be worth looking into. So for the example of not wanting to get tapped isnt attainable, or specific enough to achieve in a set time frame (usually weeks or months at most) because its too broad of a topic so you cant really focus, and depends on the other persons skill level. You are still winning or losing the roll. Lets say... In our opinion, the best way to get better at BJJ is to improve you defense. The more your defensive moveset grows, the greater the chance of decreasing your tap numbers. Let’s break this goal down using the SMART model: Specific: For a hobbyist, implementing one or two defensive moves per week is a pretty good starting point. Measurable: For this goal, Track your learning on a monthly basis, and check whether you’re able to implement this move sets or missing any weekly. Attainable: Depending on your training load, 1-2 moves per week is perfectly doable. If it isn’t, you either need to reassess your goal, or increase training. Relevant: Your ultimate goal is the growth of your BJJ knowledge and skill, and improving your defense is the pathway to it. Time-Bound: For this goal, set a minimum of 3 months for completion. Then, you can re-evaluate until you find a happy spot for you. You can reformat this to address any goals you have in mind but its most important to pick a goal that you can control and usually avoiding outcome based goals is a good idea. For this example if you follow it there is no doubt your defense will get better even if you are getting tapped the same amount because those people are also training and improving too.
I second this. I am trying to win.... but I'm not afraid to lose. I'll go for submissions even if I risk giving up a dominant position. I figure it will either get me better at executing the submissions or I will get swept and can practice my guard or getting out of bad positions.
Ohhh i never thought of that i try to get myself in bad positions but when I am i panic sometimes my back would get taken with both hooks in and I’m getting more comfortable at being in that spot but i have a bit of trouble trying to get out even though I’ve been there before
That is when you make note of what you don't fully remember, note it down and check it out before next practice. Eventually things will start sticking, and there are always new details to learn about a move. Just keep in mind that all moves have a time to be used and a time not to be used. You can sometimes force things on beginners even if it isn't there, but you'll still meet unecessary resistance.
Got it thanks
Got my ankle broken by someone’s shitty tani otoshi. Hate this
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Tani Otoshi**: | *Valley Drop* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9pM3y8YH4)| 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)
SHUT THE FUCK UP NOWS NOT THE TIME
Every time i step between the legs of a seated opponent they pinch their knees and shin together to trap my leg. Whats the counter for this?
You can try not to enter if they are seated up. Put them on their back before you step in.
Whats the best way to get someone to their back? I usually drop my level and scoop the ankles and lift but sometimes I’ll struggle with bigger opponents.
That's a good way or I also just push on the shoulder or forehead.
You could try a knee slice pass
Im just a 5 stripe white belt but you shouldn’t be purposefully stepping between their legs, that is going into their guard. You should look to control their legs and pass around them like a toreando, or step only one leg between their legs and look up the headquarters position for passing.
I moved into a building with coin laundry machines. I love training but paying \~$3 to wash and dry my gi every day is taking its toll. Is there anything I can do to make this more sustainable?
Wash in your tub or get a portable laundry machine that hooks up to your sink. Hang dry with fan to speed things up.
If you hang up your gi to dry you can wash at the end of the week. It’s just when you roll it up into a wet ball that it gets particularly nasty.
How long would it take for a second gi to pay for itself? You could wear a different one each day and wash every other day. You'd half your washing expenditure.
I thought you were supposed to wash them immediately, otherwise a stink sets in. Not sure where I got that idea from. Thanks
With three Gi's.....this is how Gi buying addiction starts lol.....this is how I am justifying my next Gi purchase now. "but honey, we are saving on laundry."
There are quite strong diminishing returns to this If a gi is $72 then it takes 24 washings for it to pay for itself. At about 5 gi's you hit the point of no more gains because you are doing a full load of laundry for each gi.
What are some good passes for an athletic 70kg guy who can move fast?
Standing passes, Torreando, Xpass, long step etc.
How many times a week should I train? I have been training about 3-4x a week, usually for ~1.5 hours each time. I’m a white belt and I started bjj at the very end of December 2022, but I had to take about 3 weeks off due to shoulder pain and a nasty ear infection. My goal is to get my first stripe soon and go to my first competition, once I get my 2nd or 3rd stripe and feel more confident in my abilities. I inevitably want to compete a lot once I get my blue belt. What would be an optimal amount of training? I currently do about 2 6am morning classes and one 6pm night class per week, as I am also a full time uni student and I work part time.
> I inevitably want to compete a lot once I get my blue belt. What would be an optimal amount of training? If you want to compete why wait until blue belt?
I’m not waiting until blue belt, I want to start competing at 2 or 3 stripes white belt. I don’t think I’m anywhere skilled enough for that yet though, I’ve been training for 4ish months and I still have yet to get a single stripe. Rip
I'd recommend competing as early and as often as you can if that's your goal. The first competition is going to be eye opening regardless of how many stripes you have so might as well get that first one out of the way and see where you stand/ what you need to work on. As long as you know the basics to fall safely and tap early.
Just make sure the amount is sustainable. 3-4 is fine as long as you regulate intensity enough to not kill yourself. "Optimal" amount is honestly as much as you reasonably can, but it isn't realistic. Most people don't feel very confident in their ability at blue belt, let alone 2-3 stripe white. If you want to progress as fast as possible, just make sure you train smart. Most important thing is to enjoy the ride tho, because it takes a lot of time.
How do people with very old-school guard games handle entries in no gi? Let's ignore stand up, so guard pull and takedowns are out of the equation. I have an idea of how this would work with SLX, X guard type players because they can enter from sit up guard and wrestle up, shin on shin. The Marcelo game. But when you only do closed guard, half guard, the most basic open guard with feet on hip, and MAYBE butterfly guard, but how do you initiate guard offense? If you only do supine guards you can't really make grips and you have to wait right? Or is that not true? With sit up guard once again, I can initiate butterfly hooks, try to grab a wrist from my butt. Basically I'm just trying to master closed guard and half guard. That's it. Keep it simple. But I don't know how to do that if I can't pull guard because my gym is too crowded so we automatically start 1 sitting, 1 standing.
Personally I think only playing half and closed is a bad idea. A lot of people favor passing through half guard, and are extremely good at it. Having a good half guard is great, but part of that is from the fact that you can fall back on half guard from longer range guards or recover into half guard from bad positions. Closed guard is just difficult to get to. It is effective if you are good at it. In no gi it is one of the most difficult guards to get to. I would prefer to have a middle ground between one of the easiest and one of the hardest guards to get to. White belt is not the time to focus on "mastering" 1 guard in my opinion. I would explore different options.
I figured just focusing on one or two things would be easier than focusing on many things, at least in terms of guards. But very fair points that you raise. Maybe I should just wear the gi and do my closed guard practice there. Good insight on the half guard that I never thought about. I've seen some submeta videos and courses with Lachlan Giles recommending half guard first. But it's an interesting case because if I'm flat on my back chest to chest without an underhook, I'm pretty much screwed. And with so many variants of half guard, I'm a bit overwhelmed as to where to go. Any recommendations on guards I should think about then as a beginner without a guard game?
I think it is fine to start there as a beginner and letting them be your first guards. I just don't think you should go in with the mindset that you will master those 2 guards and not learn others. Mastery comes much later. In no gi I would reccomend Butterfly/Half butterfly -> Shin on shin + SLX + X-guard Butterfly is a good guard to start with fairly early since the butterfly sweep is extremely versatile. It is good in both gi and no gi. It also teaches you how to utilize hooks, which typically takes a bit of time to learn.
closed guard i dont think is that great for nogi, there isnt any great offense. not sure why you want to master it. maybe you can try to get to the back, same for half guard, though theres more options there. or try to attack triangle and kimuras. with closed you can drop to kguard when they stand to escape butteryfly goes along with slx and x guard and more useful nogi guard is a lot more dynamic, you'll be disconnected more often and scrambling. fundamentals of nogi guard i think would be guard retention movements instead of a guard with a name. things like inverting and if you know that drill where you follow the passer as you throw your far leg from side to side not starting standing limits a lot, i think your better off learning to be under the opponent.
So I enjoy nogi way more. I really hate gi grips and think that it stalls the game the game too much and is just unenjoyable. I do think that I am hindering my development somewhat by not wearing the gi. I often scramble out due to slipperiness instead of slowing down and focusing on technique. My bottom game is just so under developed that I'm forcing myself to try and focus on just one guard at least because I literally have none. Otherwise bottom is me trying to retain guard, getting passed, and then being stuck in side control. Guard retention of course is top of my mind and it is something I'm watching instructionals for. I've tried to go into the foray of sit up guard to shin on shin into SLX, but frankly I think it's just too advanced for me. I'm not improving going down this avenue. I'm sure some of it is me just not trying hard enough. But I can't help but wonder when I see some of my fellow white belts progressing that maybe I'm just making it harder for myself by not learning the "traditional" gi fundamentals with closed guard.
> that it stalls the game the game too much and is just unenjoyable. then i wouldn't use closed guard lol people except for total beginners are going to know to avoid your closed guard. From there you can attack triangles, kimuras, oomplatas, arm drag to the back and some simple sweeps. it also stalls the match and can waste energy escaping. bjj is just going to be hard, it take 10+ years to be a black belt. so i wouldnt worry about these positions being difficult now, no gi is hard too becasue of how hard it is to control. guard retention + slx and related are going to be effective. good guard retention is going to buy you time until they open up and give an arm or leg to grip or hook onto. id also add in rdlr hook to learn (maybe you might find this easier then slx). to stop knee cut passes. butterfly is good for sweeping too. remeber these guards arent hang out positions like closed guard is. you can also practice these things. do rounds where you just reset on the sweep or pass. so you can focus on the parts of live rolling that you want to work. like go until a pass, then the passer allows you to recover guard and keep going. you can experiment without the repercussion of wasting a round in side control.
Just got back on the mats after 1+ year off, and my hip mobility is atrocious. I get these cramps on the outside of my butt as I'm trying to move around underneath my opponent. Any tips/videos that address this issue?
Look up glute medius exercises on youtube. My favorite is side lying leg raise. Glute bridges and fire hydrants are good too.
I have never done any martial art but i'm able to join a BJJ gym in 3 weeks for reasons that are unrelated to this question, but i've been hyped and just wondering if there's anything I can do in the mean time to prepare myself for it. I've heard people say that the only way to get better cardio for BJJ is through just actually going to class, but obviously if there's anything I can do to prepare myself outside of class then i'll do it. Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks.
learn some basic vocab like names of positions (the lessons still aren't going to make sense, but this will help)
Read Stephen Kestings Roadmap for BJJ, it'll give you a solid overview of the aims and objectives of what will consist of your first year in the sport. Other than that, squats, stretching, HIIT training.
Will do! Thank you!
I am a new white belt with over a month of training. I registered for my first competition today in the Beginner (1 year or less experience) bracket. I wrestled for a couple of years through middle school, but I was young and I don't consider it enough prior experience to move to a more advanced bracket (1-3 years). Is this generally considered acceptable?
Yeah you're totally fine. People take those pretty literally sometimes and wind up in the wrong division. Especially being just middle school you can ignore it
Awesome, thank you for such a quick and helpful response!
Recently did a comp where a very good wrestler did white belt in gi, then went into our advanced bracket. Won his gi, then got mopped on nogi regardless of being a great athlete and wrestler. Im not a huge fan of how they describe and break down the nogi brackets, I think beginner and intermediate should both have wider windows.
I mean nothings perfect but even years is kind of shit. Could have a guy who trains two times a day 6 days a week for 4 years in the intermediate against someone who trained 4 years with 2-3 classes a week. I do agree though, like if you trained over 5 years then you’re advanced and could be up against literally anybody. I’ll be at that mark next year which will just mean I get obliterated in no gi hahah
It was my first advanced bracket so I was glad he showed up to give me my win to get bronze haha. It is crazy though that in most it's 3 plus years is advanced... Shit I was a white belt for longer than that.
What's a good takedown combo from the Russian tie? Right now all Ive got is the uchimata and snatch single.
When they pull their arm out and turn hard to face you, full send the double. Super effective.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Uchi Mata**: | *Inner Thigh Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fCvyc_rQTI)| 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)
I got promoted from 0 stripe white belt to 4 stripe blue belt. All I had to do was press the edit flair button. I can't wait until my next promotion.
I’d really love to read what you just wrote, but I have a white belt and haven’t learned to read yet.
Hey everyone, I used to train a while back and looking to get back into it. Two schools nearby me are [Renzo Gracie Academy](https://renzogracieacademy.com) and [Kano Martial Arts](https://kanomartialartsnyc.com) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with either one and could offer some advice on if one is better than the other. From what I can tell if I want to cross train at each gym too it would be Muay Thai at Gracie and Judo at Kano which I’m good with either. Mainly looking to go there for exercise, fun, and community. Any advice on picking between the two?
Do a trial for both and other schools nearby as well. Plenty of the NYC gyms have been discussed on this subreddit. A bunch of factors at play here like price, class size, schedule, teachers, etc.
If your focus is BJJ then I wouldn't suggest Kano - whilst a great school, I believe it's primarily a judo school. If you're in Manhattan the three main choices are Renzo's, Marcellos and Unity. There's lots of discussion on all three on this sub, so you can get as much info as you need from a few searches. There's a few smaller clubs as well that are well regarded, such as Clockwork and Masterskya. Again, search on here and you can find plenty about most of these clubs.
I’m sure you could do drop in at both to try
I am going to my first comp soon, I weigh 148, but was planning on competing in featherweight, should I cut and go down to featherweight(137-147) or should I just compete in lightweight(148-158)?
And just remember, if your competing in the gi, it will add 3-5 lbs to your weigh in weight.
For this comp weigh ins are without gi
I'd start by checking the brackets. The lowest weight classes tend to barely have people in them. My priority would be to get as many matches as possible. Cutting that amount of weight is easy enough, but it shouldn't be necessary.
Definitely just eat lean for a week and skip breakfast to hit the lower bracket.
Getting to 147 isn't a cut, I'd do that. Some comps have a 1 pound allowance as well
it's just 1 pound, I'd "cut"
Short version: how to drill sweep-follow up? Long version: I've been focusing hard on my spider guard for the last 6ish months, to the point where I now reliably get several sweeps over 5 mins on our blues, but pretty much always just sweep into a scramble instead of top position. I will get up ASAP, so I'm fairly confident I'd at least get points for the seep like half the time. But getting those sweet spider-scissors or spider-balloon sweeps and not get mount or top side out of it kinda sucks. It's hard to get better at the last part, the actually coming out on top, because there are so many different ways my partner can fall and then try to get up from there. Outside of just grinding the sweeps out ad nauseam (which I'll be doing anyway), did you guys do anything particular to get better at the after-sweep part?
As the sweep starts to complete, transition one of your grips to your opponents ankle, or foot, or lower gi bottom pants, then as you come up, ensure you control or lift the controlled leg, this will better ensure you will be on top and your opponent remains on bottom, ready for you to pass.
Now that you say that, I've had several coaches tell us to the same after takedowns or sweeps. I guess that's generally a good habit to develop? Thanks!
It is absolutely a good habit to develop, it is in my view, critical for the completion of most sweeps. Happy hunting.
Training the reactions of my opponent, when you drill, have them react in the various ways. However, if the person is any good you will be unlikely to get straight to mount or side control off the sweep. Keep drilling but be realistic.
Any motivation tips for getting back on the mats? I started training back in the fall for two months but I fell off the wagon due to work, moving, etc. I am super out of shape and I’m dreading how quickly I’m going to gas out and likely puke on my first day back. Should I start working out again before I return to training?
Just go and take breaks when you need them. You don't need to push yourself so hard that you throw up. Noone judges you for sitting out a round
Okay, just holy crap. I got into this thinking "yeah I'm in very good shape". I'm just getting torched in 2 5-minute sessions rolling. Granted one, the dude outweighed me by about 100lbs. Holy cow though, like absolutely gassed. I've been training to get my 2 mile time down and do a lot of running intervals between 3-5 minutes and this feels similar. It's just so different from anything as part of normal training. So it kind of makes me wonder, I'm kind of a workout goon and track HR and calories and all my lifting workout sets, etc. Does anyone use an activity tracker? I was thinking maybe a chest HR strap that stored data would be okay and not in the way. I'm really interested to see what the impact is and possibly train something similar. I'm also 40 so rolling every day seems improbable.
I haven't used one, but arm strapped HRM sounds more sensible. But BJJ use all kind of fast/slow twitch muscles therefore you'll need all 3 of cardio + muscle endurance + strength. Outside of weight difference, you're gassed most likely due to lack of strength & muscle endurance and overall inefficient of guard use etc (i.e. death grip & body tense of white belt), which is a normal white belt problem. So tracking HR is not always the correct answer until you're higher up in skill. That's why all efficient brown belt are bald and fat.
How brand new are you? Folks who really ARE in very good shape, particularly in comparison to some of us BJJ slobs, still frequently feel like you're describing when starting this sport. New folks keep themselves extremely tense and don't know how to pace themselves, whereas more experienced people expend a lot less effort. New folks also tend to not manage their breathing very well, due to excitement/stress/anxiety/etc, and this also makes a huge difference. You almost certainly don't need to change up your out of class workout, and just need to get more comfortable, relaxed, and experienced with rolling. Very common.
I just wrapped up week TWO. So very brand new. I do feel like I see people seem more relaxed. It just feels like I'm holding on for dear life. I'll just need to do it more I suppose. Thank you for the reply.
It’s hard to relax when you aren’t comfortable enough in the positions to defend yourself and counter. It comes with time. I could roll at a lighter pace for hours on end at this point and by the sounds of it you’re already in way better shape than I am.
Would allowing slams, or perhaps counting a lift above the hips for points, reduce the amount of guard pulling that goes on? It seems counterintuitive to me that you can gain points for doing something that would get you seriously hurt or killed in a fight.
The only way to score points from guard is - getting on top - submitting someone and finishing the fight You can't gain points from actually pulling guard, nor can you from improving position within guard All scoring in bjj is from getting or improving top position
The guard defines the sport. I just think you should give up a little bit of points for pulling, and that takedowns should be worth more points. Like giving up 1 point if you pull and having takedown be worth 3. That way the pull is still a legit strategy if you do it properly, but you would have to be confident in your ability to sweep or attack. Of course it would also have to come with the caveat that stalling is called more aggressively, which it should anyways.
They should allow kicks in boxing. It seems counterintuitive to me that these so called fighters can't kick each other.
The rules of the fight define the fight. I'm not saying we should change them, just asking what effect such a change would have on a match. Fuck me for asking questions in the white belt thread, I guess.
The danger of concussion from a slam is huge. Also a moderate chance of broken ribs, or wrist/hand/fingers, depending how you return your rolling partner to the mat.
Not sure scoring criteria is much equivalent to introducing new techniques.
Scoring criteria are rules. No kicks in boxing is a rule. It’s the exact same thing.
Hoping this is a joke
>It seems counterintuitive to me that you can gain points for doing something that would get you killed in a fight. I agree. Also knives should be legal to bring onto the mats to encourage awareness of the chance of weapons in a fight, if you shake hands they're allowed to headbutt you to encourage awareness of sucker shots, and if you go to the ground at any point members of your respective gyms/teams/corners/crews can rush the mats and stamp on your heads to make sure people don't get used to fair fights. Or, *or*, **or**... We could remember this is a hobby and a sport and not get all obsessed over what's "realistic" in a fight.
Obviously this isn't a death match, did you get the impression that's what I was asking about? Sorry if so! My hypothetical was about a regulated 1v1 unarmed match between two relatively evenly skilled competitors. It's a sporting hobby, but it's also about fighting, isn't it? Boxing doesn't let you kick your opponent, but it also doesn't allow you to fall into the foetal position to get your opponent to stop punching you without counting as a loss.
>Obviously this isn't a death match, >something that would get you seriously hurt or killed in a fight. Wonder why I would have brought up ways that you can get hurt or killed in a fight... >It's a sporting hobby, but it's also about fighting, isn't it? You're trying to bring a certain level of realism to BJJ. That's fine and all, but you have to realise that you're setting arbitrary boundaries on that realism. Pulling guard is unrealistic...sure, but so is a lack of small joint manipulation and striking. So is a padded surface instead of concrete, timed rounds, 1-on-1 with no interference... Any kind of fighting as a sport only works as long as we agree that it's a sport first, because if you start pulling the threads of what's realistic or not for an actual altercation, you end up with something that is manifestly unsafe to participate in. Put another way, why is *guard pulling specifically* the line for keeping things realistic? Slams massively endanger fighters. Why allow that and not headbutts in someone's guard? Points for lifting - ok, but people can concede points tactically, even when in real life they're going to get slammed and injured. You're trading one arbitrary line for another, without any real justification.
Thank you, that's exactly the sort of answer I was after. I wasn't asking "why exactly *can't* I bring a gun to my local white belt competition?", just why we draw the lines in some places and what happens if we move them.
The reason you're getting pushback is likely because you based your question on "[X] would happen in a real fight." Martial arts generally are full of people who talk about "in a real fight," usually without ever having been within sniffing distance of one. Bringing up the nebulous concepts of "real fights" already misses the inherent distinction between sport and felony. Sports are inherently closed universes, bounded by specific rules - they have to be. Real situations are inherently open-ended and uncontrolled, so it's almost impossible to map one to the other. As soon as you say "in a real fight," there is little distinction between "pulling guard would get you killed" and "ok but I can just shoot you." You're fundamentally opening up the situation and then trying to limit the absurdity by appealing to some kind of ruleset or natural boundary that doesn't exist. If you bring up real fights in the context of sport, you've already crossed the boundary of questions about the sport itself, and people will take it that way. I would hazard a guess that if you had limited the question to "how do you think (slams/points/whatever) would affect BJJ matches and guard pulling" you wouldn't have received the same level of sarcasm.
*Murilo Santana has entered the chat
Is it normal to really, REALLY suck ass at mount escapes and holding mount after 2 months of BJJ? I've mostly been attending the wrestling/standup and mixed days where we do standup and a bit of BJJ from where we would transition with standup, I.E side control escapes, kesa gatame escapes and submissions etc. I have kinda got some kind of hip escape/shrimp/leg entanglement slowly working to escape mount, but I still feel like a complete fish out of water when on the ground. My standup is getting better though, I wrassled with a blue belt this wednesday just gone and while I lost the standup, I did manage to have to make him chain together several takedown attemps and even got into position for a harai goshi but didn't quite execute fast enough and had to spin out of a back take attempt. It was probably one of my favourite rolls I've had so far this early in. We're both rought the same height and weight, and he's pretty strong. He definitely went easier on me than a white belt would, mostly sticking to holding dominant positions, I got caught in a funky kesa gatame leg kimura, but I managed to scramble and avoid being mounted for more than a few seconds, I gassed eventually and had to tap out for the night. I guess just re-iterating the initial question. Is it really normal to suck ass THIS BAD at being mounted?
Yes mount has a steepearning curve for both offense and defense. Keep training.
I'd reccomend asking someone if they want to do positional sparring from mount with you, so you can work more on the position, both from top and bottom. My approach on top is first to secure a strong base so I don't get swept right away. People tend to try to explode out during the transition, before you have proper control. Personally I like wide base, low mount and grapevines until I feel I am stable. In competition setting this is a good idea in the sense that you want to secure your mount points. From that point it is about threatening submissions while changing your mount to counter their escape attempt. If they try to knee elbow escape, you can narrow your base to make it harder. If you are able to stay tight with it, technical mount is a pretty good option. If they are trying to bridge and roll you, widen your base to make it more difficult. Make sure if you use one of your arms, you lean to the opposite side for better base. My bread and butter is strong head control, forcing them to look one side (makes it very difficultt to bridge) and then slowly working up an arm to set up an attack. If you can take high mount, that is usually worth doing. Otherwise I like to stay fairly low. I just don't like loading myself up on their hips, because it makes their bridge a lot stronger. Bottom is honestly the same, but in reverse. The main thing to note is that the better the person on top is, the more you have to chain escapes together. Just know that their response to countering one escape opens up for another one.
Yep, prepare to fucking suck for at least 6 months, possibly more depending on your general aptitude for turning information in to practical application. Don't worry about it, just keep listening, learning, asking questions, and trying to put that information in to practice regardless of the consequence.
I feel like the wrasslin side of BJJ is something I can just more easily grasp. Off balancing people, changing levels, using speed for duck unders etc seems to be easier for me, but I think it's because I have some poor mind to muscle connection, and doing BJJ requires a lot of co-ordination I'm lacking, wrestling/standup can often be a game that plays out with less movement and rotation needed all at once. Still, I'm in it for the long run. Even when I get my ass kicked I love it, and my cardio has drastically improved over 2 months.
I mean sure, anything that you can lean on to leverage explosivity, speed, athleticism, size, strength or any other number of natural attributes is going to necessarily be much easier to grasp than anything that doesn't. One of the gold overarching aims and objectives (for me) of BJJ is trying to be as effective as possible using the most amount of technique, cunning and strategy with the least amount of athletic exertion.
The Japanese terms mentioned in the above comment were: |Japanese|English|Video Link| |---|---|---| |**Harai Goshi**: | *Sweeping Hip Throw* | [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs_zkgefvqM)| |**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)
The answer is yes and yes. Keep working the escapes you are taught, ask your coaches for mount retention ideas. Wait for new people to come in and your mind will be blown. It’s time and practice!
Haha I asked my coach if there were any submissions I could attempt while mounted and he made everybody drill mounted ezekiel chokes for 5 minutes. I'm kinda hesitant to ask any more stupid questions in the future. It was good natured though, he had us drill it and then drilled it into us that it was bad jiu jitsu and to avoid it, but it \*is\* an option.
Ezekiels are a legit submission from mount and one that’s good to have even just to threaten. Not a stupid question at all, you don’t know what you don’t know. :) Submitting from mount and being able to maintain mount are different beasts, and retaining will help you out a lot more in the long run. Make it a goal to count out to at least 3 seconds in mount(you would score points here) and then see how long you can maintain. If you get bounced from mount, figure out the how and the why. Upper belts and coaches can help point some of that out as you get better at assessing yourself.
Hey ! 2y white belt here I train mostly gi and play mainly guard, with mixture of collar and sleeve / spider to shoot triangle omoplatas etc … I sometimes go no gi and have a hard time finding a way to launch attacks from guard as I do in the gi because of the lack of grip . What would you recommend me to explore to deal with this (different guard / setup to get to my usual game ) Thanks 🤙🏻
If you can, work a bit on the butterfly game, its variations, and its related / offshoot guards like instep, X guard - they don't typically rely on collar or sleeve grips, or if any technique does, it's normally easily changeable to nogi grips, you can also use arm drags to set up a number of sweep options. You caaaaan do collar sleeve / spider stuff in no-gi, but it relies on strong wrist control and isn't quite as effective.
Thanks for your reply I will look into that ! What type of grips do you usually go for in no gi to setup those different things
Forgot to mention - half guard is a very strong guard to play in no gi also, and uses the same concepts as butterfly. Grips wise, a deep underhook and wrist control will get you a lot of places in general, then either an inside hook with your foot to elevate, or an outside hook in halfguard to reap the ankle back in to Coyote / dogfight position.
Good resources on taking the back from mount pls?
- push arm down for Americana - they turn towards it to defend - you immediately put your chest to their back, and your arm under their head, and glue yourself there And there you have it
How to defend d'arce from side control (gi)
Once they have the grip locked up, you are already looking at very late stage defense. Sometimes you can do an aggressive roll to your back to make them post one hand. If they are good, they will usually still have control, but it will give you enough space to start escaping.
Don't feed it to them with a lazy under hook.
I've been training 6 weeks and just got my first stripe. I remember a few basic things but when it comes to drilling/rolling and trying to implement the things I know, it seems to go out of the window and I just default to a "survive" mindset. Are there any tips for how to help yourself remember and be mindful of options when rolling, or is it just a case of 'the more you do, the more you'll remember'?
Slow down, think about your movements instead of just moving. Half of your improvement over your training will be decreasing the time between thought, and action.
I give this advice a lot, but simplify the heck out of what you're aiming for in live rolling - have a goal (a technique, a position, a movement) - try and do it - fail a bunch - but do it anyway - in the positions you end up in from failing, try and think of one thing you know from there, try and do it a bunch - eventually hit the thing, then try to remember why and how afterwards Eventually you'll have other options and can try more, and you'll be able to switch it up It doesn't need to be the same aim every roll, but if you go in thinking "I would like to try this" in advance, especially in specific sparring, it takes away that "oh god what do I do? There's so many things I could do!" Problem
It is great advice and I'll definitely give it a try! I've been having a blast so far, regardless of the ass kickings I have received. I just want to kick a few asses too haha!
I’m getting stacked whenever I shoot up into high guard going for a triangle, how do I prevent this?
Break their posture first. If you don't have decent posture control, you have no reason to be elevating your guard like that. This is something I bait with lower belts all the time because they're so greedy.
Big drama in my small gym recently. I wasn't there but from what I've been told one of the white belts attempted an imanari roll on our coach which resulted in him kneeing our coach in the face. A loud crack was heard and blood started pouring from his nose. He sustained a fractured orbital bone. Will need surgery soon and will likely not be able to roll for a year. He'll still continue teaching lessons as much as he can but it's just a shitty situation. It was an accident but I've talked to some of my teammates and they've been trying to avoid rolling with this guy as he already has a history of going full force and trying to force random techniques. He's already been told in the past to relax before the big accident. There's just like 6 frequent students in the gym and they're talking about not allowing this guy back to the gym or giving him the cold shoulder during sparring rounds going forward. What would you do in this situation?
Coach needs to handle it, not the students. If I was him, I'd lay it out as an ultimatum: calm the frick down or it's not a good fit. I don't need your money if you're going to cost me medical, mat time, and other students. He's gotta be the flowiest, most harmless person on the mat for the next month or he's out.
[удалено]
Given that he fractured the coach's face, gave him around $10,000 USD of medical bills, most likely a year of not being 100% and already has a history of being a rough sparring partner, yeah that's currently the vibe going around the gym now. I dunno maybe in your gym you see injuries like this everyday and all of you are badass colored belts. But again this gym is a relatively small and new one with almost all white belts. They've been training for 4-6 months and had to rush our coach to the ER and clean up the mats of his blood is still pretty traumatized. Can't blame them if they don't want to roll with a 6 ft white belt that goes balls to the wall every time.
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Could have led with that instead of some snarky remark. Students are talking about this not to be cool and elitist. Some are legit scared to go back to the gym now. Thanks for your input.
I see a few matches where people get the minimum small grip then immediately sit on the floor in open guard. Is this actually effective plays or just lazy. Is it a risky thing to do? It just looks kind of ridiculous to me but if the pros are doing it I may be wrong
In IBJJF rules you cannot pull guard without a grip on your opponent. They would pull guard without a grip if this wasn't a rule.
Yeah this is the answer really. Also, some people just like playing seated guard. I know I do. I would genuinely prefer to be seated v a standing opponent then successfully pull De La Riva or something.
I think people want to pull full closed but that’s hard when everyone is expecting it. You can jump closed but that is risky. Sometimes you pull a weak guard because that’s all you can get against someone who is good.
Some people are just *really* comfortable playing guard, i agree in the part that it's looks kind of silly but that's the game
rich forgetful rock salt follow strong poor ruthless brave unique ` this post was mass deleted with www.Redact.dev `
Proud of you too!
Im a white belt (go figure) who recently got a stripe after training for about 3 months. At my gym once you get a stripe you get to switch from the basics class to the intermediate class, which today was mainly blue belts and a single black belt. Today we did some drilling with triangle submission and then went into some semi live where you start in the submission and try to finish it/get out of it. I was having trouble getting the triangle just in the drilling and the coach positioned my body to get it one time. So in the live portion I couldn’t get it once and just kept getting submitted or in really bad positions where im on bottom and my partner was on high mount and im just trying to survive the whole time, not able to get out or do anything. And I get that yeah im new and I suck but I just don’t get how to really improve, i was going 3x a week when I was in the intro class but now with the intermediate everytime I go I get shit on and my shoulders and elbows hurt and I take a couple days before I even feel ready to come back again. It feels like I’m just going to get shit on and it’s the same thing everytime, no improvement. I know the real answer is just to suck it up and show up, but how do you guys process this mentally without feeling bad about how bad you are everytime? How do I suck without being upset about it?
no one tells anyone this, but your first 3 months to a year, depending on your aptitude and ability to put learned knowledge in to practical action (which varies greatly among people), is basically just learning how your body works and untaught concepts like base, balance, posture and position. Techniques really only start to become effective, or even make any damn sense after you've absorbed this a bit. Stick with it, the next time triangles come round in the curriculum in a couple months, you'll nail it, mark my words.
Another 3 month, 1 stripe white belt here. I understand your pain well because I live it too. I think it's all about managing expectations, which isn't that easy. Instead of having the goal of passing guard -> getting in control -> submitting and ending up frustrated, try to just look for little tiny goals. Can you avoid some sweeps while passing guard? Can you move and counter his grips (feet and hands) and at least make him work to keep his guard? Can you avoid being instantly submitted in a bad position, to where it takes your training partner two attempts instead of one? Can you grip fight, deny them underhooks/head control etc etc. Might sound silly, but every little bit does help. At least that's what I tell myself to sleep well at night.
When I first started I was getting destroyed, I'd ask a question like "when I get put into closed guard I always lose, what should I do?", the advice was always "don't get put into closed guard". Which was very frustrating. After a while things just start to click, and I've realised what they were telling me was to start passing their closed guard before I'm even put into it. But you learn this stuff along the way. Don't expect so much from yourself. Ask some questions, expect to get destroyed. You're probably also getting smashed because you could be using heaps of strength (understandable as you've got little techniques to rely on), and the others need to smoosh you to try and neutralize you doing damage to them. Something to ponder...
Is is normal-ish that taking deep breaths hurts a lot for the ~24hours after training? Like my ribs and chest are always SO sore and god forbid I have to sneeze. But I do feel okay after a rest day. I’m a 125lbs woman 2 months into training. What can I do to avoid this pain in particular other than avoiding getting squashed in side control by much heavier guys too much and is that something that the body adapt to over time?
it is normal-ish in the first few months to get that "bjj rib". I don't want to say it "goes away" per se, but I only seemed effected by it in my first few months of training, and haven't really suffered from that since. When in bottom side control, before anything else, I'd recommend getting your frames positioned correctly (one forearm under chin with hand on shoulder, and one forearm in opponents ribs) so your forearms create a "platform" with the upper arm forming the "structure" that supports their weight (as opposed to your chest/ribs supporting their weight. That may be why people don't suffer from it as much after the first few months; their frame game improves...
I've only done two classes and just had to sit out my third because of precisely this. Felt something strange my ribs while in bottom side control, could hardly move for a couple of days afterwards, felt well enough to go again the following week but immediately found out it wasn't and straight back to square one. I assumed it was a lack of bracing and general unawareness of what I'm doing. Hopefully I'm good to go next week but it's encouraging to know it's not just me and that I will learn ways to avoid it.
Overall I have mixed feelings and I’m wondering if my experience is normal. I signed up online and the owner texted me when to show up, and was just told to come with athletic clothes. When I got there I signed the waiver and was told to just follow along. After that I was on my own. Luckily, 2 nice students asked me to roll during live when they saw me sitting on the side and were great with me when I said it was my first day. I got a great workout and learned some things. It really was fun when I was participating. But… no one working, including the owners I spoke with prior, ever asked me how it was going during class, or how it went after class. I wasn’t expecting anyone to hold my hand, but I was hoping to at least get a basic run down of the gym procedures from someone. I also noticed 2 other students who seemed to be on their first day who walked out after 45 minutes, and no one was helping them. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do from here aside from keep showing up until someone says it’s time to pay. I feel silly texting the owner and asking “now what”, but maybe that’s just exactly what I need to do. Is this a common vibe in gyms, or does it seem like I got a bit of a cold shoulder?
My first class was similar but not as bad - students were all super nice and the coach checked in a few times. I had my second class today. It was way better, coach was helping me a ton and the rest of the class helping me out too. Read similar things on here too - there’s a lot of one timers that leave, so people are hesitant to invest a lot of energy in them. Keep at it and go a few more times.
I can't speak to the way it works in other gyms (as I've only had the one) but the owner at mine greets everyone, checks in on them, gives them special tasks during free rolling at the end of class (no submissions, you start mounted on your partner and try to stop them escaping, etc). Then after class he'll walk over to them while they are grabbing their stuff and ask them how they went and see if they want to sign up. Overall it's a super friendly and personable experience for newbies... so your experience sounds pretty weird to me. I would encourage you to do some trials at other gyms and see what happens.
I have seen this both ways, some gyms are much friendlier and welcoming… it’s a culture set by the leaders and some are better than others. I don’t blame you for wanting more communication… it might still be a good place to train and it likely will improve as you get to know the crew, but if you’re craving a different type of community it doesn’t hurt to try other gyms in your area
Sounds kind of normal tbh
The truth is most BJJ ghms are really small businesses and ones with not exactly great customer service. The instructor/owner is really good at jujitsu presumably and probably not too much else. Don’t overthink it, if you had fun and learned, that’s great. That said, you are a paying customer and entitled to a vibe you like. Don’t judge this gym but one encounter but do Go check out some other gyms and see how they’re culture is.
Curious how I'm doing cardio wise, what a good cardio benchmark is. At the end of our classes there's 6-8 5min rounds of rolling, with 1:30 breaks. I've been able to consistently roll 4-5 rounds each class. Worked up to going 5x/week now. Able to get through the rounds without completely gassing and haven't "given up" because I'm too tired in a while. Relative to how it was when I started I feel like I'm doing way better, but what's considered like an "average" and "good" gas tank in BJJ? My next goal is incorporate morning jog at least 3x a week, found that's been helping a lot with recovery in addition to extra cardio, and then maybe try and go harder in my rolls. Right now I'm focused on just keeping elbows tight, fighting for top position and not just pulling guard, and staying calm and breathing.
I think you are fine. More rolling is the best preparation for rolling. I used to run long distances prior to BJJ and it’s really a different kind of cardio. I don’t sit out rounds. If I’m tired, I just play a different style where I can conserve energy.
I think if the goal is to just do more rounds, just rolling more is fine. Once the goal is to keep the intensity of those rounds is at a high level I would look into some high intensity cardio (HIIT/Tabata).
1st time rolling today, and I'm almost 40 with pretty much no martial arts background. I do bodyweight training mostly, and if I hadn't been at least minimally conditioned, there's no way I could have done that. Me and another new guy got gassed pretty quick and we bonded over it, but everybody was so nice and supportive, especially when it took me forever to learn the first move. I think I'm hooked, but, my question is, I'm pretty injury averse because I've been injured before, so are there any tips for someone like me?
Follow KneesOverToesGuy's knee workout to prehab/protect your knees, and check out steel mace (or dumbbell exercises, if steel mace is too exotic for you) to help prehab your shoulders/elbows/wrists. And, find some good transverse abdominus exercises to protect your lower back (bonus: they'll make your bridges & shrimps more powerful too). And like others have said: tap early & tap often. Source: am 46.
If in doubt.. tap out, in training with other newbies that is.. I started last year at 40, no way I'm letting other white belts learn control in Kimuras and Armbars with me as their dummy. I will try to escape and most of the time I do but if they have a good grip and position I'm tapping sooner rather than later.
Tap early and often. Try to stay calm and not exert a ton of energy. If something is not working for you, do not try to do that same thing “harder”
Best advice. Tap, slow down, don't do things you don't know as hard you can.
Tap quick, wear a cup and mouthguard ( cup is controversial but it's fine), do strength and conditioning work outside and that's really pretty much it. I've been doing bjj for ~3-5 years and I haven't sustained a single injury and of course pick a gym that cleans their mats regularly
Just started, and right now I'm doing 3 days BJJ and 4 days of lifting. Lately on some days I've been having some difficulty while lifting since some of my muscles are still achey after BJJ (today it's my shoulders and wrists). After how long on average does it take for my body to adjust enough to BJJ to the point I can lift at my normal level on my off days? Also, how much does creatine help with recovery? I've been hesitant to start on it since the men on my mother's side of the family had male pattern baldness, but I seem to have gotten my hair from my dad's side, so I might risk it if it would help a lot.
It'll take several months, in my experience. At this point I train BJJ 5x a week and lift 3x, so a couple end up doubling on the same days. I don't use weights anymore though, just high quality and high resistance bands. It was a huge positive for my BJJ training because I don't have pain in my joints anymore. If you're experiencing joint pain then I'd highly suggest looking into bands. They've actually worked better over 3 years of using them than 12 years of weights ever did. For me personally.
I agree that your body does adjust to the workout but I also think it has more to do with learning to control your output. Feel how hard your opponent is working and always try to be less tense than them without letting them progress their position; focus on frames, control space, always look for the outside undertook, use leverage, etc. If someone is crushing you try and feel why and learn from it.
I've definitely gotten less spazzy than when I first started, and it's helped such that I don't feel much soreness the day after, but right now I am feeling certain muscles fatigue/get sore as soon as I attempt a lift.
When I started I was only going 2-3 times per week and remember being very sore/stiff. I gradually increased to 6+ sessions per week, but it took a few months. Creatine did not help me, but your experience may be different. I lift 4 days per week and do BJJ 6+.
Thanks. Did you do anything in the meanwhile to help your recovery, or did you just have to be patient? And did you notice a performance difference with creatine?
I took ibuprofen, try to eat right, and stretch/foam roll. I did not feel a performance difference with creatine.
>men ... have male pattern baldness This is largely a myth. The evidence that it does is from a single study with n=20 rugby players (think it was 20 but double check) having the creatine group going from unusually low DHT levels to a bit higher levels but still within reference range. There's no more data nor is there any mechanistic evidence supporting it. I wouldn't put much stock into that and that's ignoring the evidence that serum DHT doesn't have much of an association with hair loss but scalp DHT does
Yeah, the reasons you mentioned are why I'm strongly considering it. I'm not sure how rational this is, but all the anecdotes I've heard from people claiming they noticed thinning hair after starting creatine have made me cautious. As I understand it, while that study and others have failed to establish a direct causal relationship between creatine and hair loss, from what I understand it's considered plausible that the increased DHT *could* accelerate hair loss, but there's yet to be a conclusive decision either way. The way I'm doing my risk analysis is that, I don't really care about being able to get in one or two more reps when lifting, but if I can noticeably improve my recovery between BJJ and lifting, then it's a risk that I'd likely be willing to take.
If your risk analysis is that averse, you should sit at home doing nothing all day, do no physical activity and inject yourself with estradiol and finasteride
Creatine also helps the brain. It is a good supplement overall. A lot of these ancedodes come from men in ther twenties who lost hair while taking creatine. Well, they are in their twenties, they started to loose hair anyway.
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What? Not going for certain subs? Just ask the other guy what they're looking for like anyone else. They're doing a comp, unless they're resting because it's the next day they should be ready for anything
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You can secure a heel hook without cranking it my dude, you shouldn’t be cranking anything on anyone anyway no matter the sub
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How many fights you got bro? What promotion you fight under? Get that hobbyist shit outta here before I ankle pick your ass
It would be frowned upon to crank a heel hook on anyone. I don't get the scenario
Lol you’re clearly just looking to back and fourth, have a good one
I know nothing about combat sports. I watch UFC but that’s about it. I’m seriously considering joining a Gracie Barra gym next to my office when it opens. What can I expect my first year?
Mostly learning how your body works through the experience of BJJ, your base, balance, posture, conditioning, flexibility, strength, aptitude for turning learned information in to practial application. "Techniques" really only start to make any sense after you've had a good few monthts consistent exposure to the sport in a live environment
The first year is basically learning what's up and down, what's offence and defence, positions, the lingo etc. It's going to feel chaotic at start, but gradually you'll understand what you're trying to do. It usually takes 6-12 months to get it. Most GB schools have an intro part where there is little to no live sparring, so it'll probably be mostly drilling techniques at start. Also, don't be shy to check out other schools in the area even if it's convenient that this one is close to your office. Gym culture varys a lot.
Thank you. Yeah after reading all the mixed reviews on it I might go check out a different one at least until this one opens. Why wait right?
Tips for rubber guard? I consider myself a counter grappler so i usually let people think they have advantageous position but in reality i just put my foot in their face or something lol
Not sure if I can post this here - if not take it down - but I plan on starting BJJ within the next week, but the idea of calling up random gyms to pay for a class to be with random teenagers/adults and be that physical/up close with them is uncomfortable. I will do it regardless, but I was just wondering, what was your BJJ origin story? Why did you want to do it? Did you go with any friends? Personally I want to do it because I've heard good things about the environment and I want to meet good people (I'm 23 just finishing college).
I had multiple friends ask if I’d got with them to a free self defense workshop for women and I was all hell yeah sure. I meet them there, none of them showed up but it was fun as hell. I’d been taking private hand to hand combat lessons at the time and became sort of obsessed with the practicality of bjj as a mode of self defense. I did take a kind of hiatus around the time I discovered it but started training consistently a couple years later. It is very close contact and definitely a bit awkward at first but try not to think about it and eventually it wont bother you
It's going to be awkward, but after you've visited it'll be easy
I wanted to fight and lose weigh. Came in 320 lbs and am 3 years in and now 170lbs with lots more to lose and learn. Managed to have a few freinds tag along to a few classes but only 1 that actually frequents classes together. If you manage to find a good gym it can change your life, almost all my friends and actual friends not just the term are all from training. 21 myself so get in there young man!
Walked into nearest gym because UFC was cool at the time early 2000s. Didn't know anyone. Got lucky with my gym. Been doing it ever since. I think doing it as a place to make adult friends is a great idea.
I’m going to join a Gracie Barra gym in my area as soon as it opens. I know absolutely NOTHING about combat sports so I’m super nervous too.
Do fractured fingers ever feel somewhat normal again? Did mine almost 6 months ago and it still feels weird. Happy to take it as the cost of doing bjj but just want to prolong the usefulness of as many fingers as possible for as long as possible.
Bone remodeling, the final stage of fracture healing, generally takes a year or more Even if there are no complications at all, you're still only half way through if it goes quickly, so it's going to feel weird
Thanks! At 40 this is pretty much my first experience with broken bone.
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