I want to get really good really fast…a word on improvement in BJJ

Eventually, we all decide that we want to speed up our improvement in BJJ. If you don’t decide that you would like to get better faster, you are either 1) at a gym where you are not being challenged. 2). I don’t know what is going on. At our gym, guys often start asking how they can improve quicker after about 2-3 months. I imagine this is because the “newness” of BJJ wears off and people start to get annoyed with being tapped every 20ish seconds. That is great, you should want to get better!

First off, don’t start to question if you are “good” or “bad” at BJJ after 2 months. To be frank, no one knows how good someone will be after two months. We have had students who come in and look like “world-beaters” their first month and never get better. We have also had new guys that faired worse than a department store mannequin would during their first month and turned out to be really solid after their first year. If you ask me how good you are in your first few months, I will tell you that you are doing better than I did in my first 2 months and then give you pointers to improve on.  “Am I good or bad?” is a fruitless endeavor. Just say “no” to that mental game.

Often times we have students who show up almost every time our gym is open their first 2-3 months. Then, miraculously they start to miss. When we ask them where they have been they say something like, “I am too weak, I started Cross-Fit Monday through Friday. I will come in Saturdays and then when I get better, I will come back in 3-4 times a week.” If you want to be a strong competitor, you will probably need to do some cross training. However, it should supplement your training, not interfere with it. If you want to get better at lifting things and looking good naked in the mirror…do Cross-Fit! If you want to get better at Jiu-Jitsu, don’t do Cross-Fit at the expense of your time on the mat.

So, what can you do to get better? First off, get on the mat. My first 3-4 years of BJJ, I never turned down training. If someone posted on our Facebook page or sent a group text, I was the first one to say “yes.” There were weeks I was in 6-8 times a week. I quickly outpaced the other guys who started at the same time I did. If you know me, then you know I am an average athlete on my best day.  It was my commitment to time on that mat that helped me improve so fast. There is no substitute for mat time. Here is a great article on how much time the Miayo brothers spend training...spoiler alert, it is a crazy amount. 

Roll with people who challenge you. My friend Mandrew (not his real name) and I were driving back from a tournament this weekend and we were discussing the tourney. Mandrew rolled against one of the best brown belts in the country and took him down in the course of the match…then he got submitted. It would have been easy for him to be down on himself, or in awe of his competitor’s prowess. Nope, he was pumped he got to roll against a stud, but also felt it gave him confidence that he hung with him for a bit. It is hard to explain the level of Jiu Jitsu a brown or black belt possess. The only way you can experience the pressure a black belt can put on you, is by actually experiencing it. Find upper belts, role with them, soak up their knowledge. Then, unleash it on new white belts. It is the circle of life.

 Here is video of Marcelo and Ryan Hall rolling because, awesome.

Attend seminars whenever you can. If you are in a rural area like I am, you may have to travel to get to a seminar…awesome! Get some of your classmates, get a cheap hotel, and party after the seminar. Obviously, you will learn a ton at the seminars. The second benefit of going to seminars, you build a bond with your club members. It is harder to skip class when you know people will notice you are gone. Also, becoming friends with club members will make it more likely they contact you if there are any informal mat times. Which means more time on the mat, which means you will get better.

Well look at that, it is a picture of me with Nate Diaz at a seminar!

There really is no secret to getting better at BJJ, the more time you spend at it the better you will get. Any time on the mat will improve your skill (drills, live rolling, technique). So….quit reading this and get on the mat.

P.S. Mandrew suggests "Take your gi with you when you're stuck traveling to that family reunion or business trip. This allows you to pick up new style which no one in your gym has. Plus, most gyms are happy to see a new face. Worst case, a $10 drop in fee." And the dude knows, he wins tourneys like it is his jorb.....

Don’t worry about your belt rank, but seriously keep coming in to get promoted….a comment on promotions in BJJ

Welcome back from Thanksgiving ya’ll. Hopefully you stuffed yourself with food and then tried to roll, resulting in someone getting sick on the mat. It really is the only way to go.

The weekend before Thanksgiving our instructor (The Honorable Greg Halsor) promoted two of our white belts to blue. Aside from live rolling, belt promotions for other students are one of my favorite things our club does. We are a tight-knit club and we do not promote quickly. So, when someone finally achieves a higher belt, it is a pretty big deal. A belt promotion is also a success for all the higher belts. There was a lot of time and effort put into my progression (as a white belt and currently as a blue belt) and my teammates should (hopefully) feel equally responsible for any success I achieve.

With all that being said, belt promotions in BJJ are a lot different from other martial arts. First off, when a student is given their belt many school have different ceremonies to recognize the achievement. Some gyms whip students with their belts,

 Greg and Jeff Curran have always thrown us, 

The throws look basically like this....

other gyms visit a Turkish Bathhouse (I am not sure if that is true, but it sounds plausible). 

I like the idea of throwing students, it reminds students that no matter your rank, you are doing this to practice the art. I don’t get the belt whipping, it seems unnecessarily punitive (Caio Terra doesn't agree with the belt whip). Turkish Bathhouse is cool if that is your type of thing.

The other enigma related to belts in BJJ is how a student is actually promoted. The process is awkward to say the least. Some schools have a set testing curriculum (our organization is moving that way), other schools just promote when a student is ready, and still others have been accused of only requiring money. In addition, the length of time a practitioner has to spend at each belt varies greatly by school. The IBJJF has a set standard, 

as do several other organizations. With that being said, belt promotions are really handled from school/organization to school/organization.

However, there is one thing that every BJJ gym I have went to says to all new students, “Don’t worry about your rank, just come in and train.” There are undertones of this saying I love and their implications I do not. First, I think one of the main goals of this statement is to remind students that they are only as good as their ability to roll on the mat. Simply put, if you are a black belt and get handled by blue belts in live rolling, does that really mean you are a black belt (see this link for an extended discussion on promoting people too quick)? It is best for the new student to focus on learning and improving their ability to roll with their teammates. Great lesson, everyone should read it 10 times before they go to bed.

It also reminds students that they should trust their instructor and higher belts to be mentors to them. The higher belts and instructors will be there to give new students instruction, feedback and encouragement. With that, if they show up and participate the belt will come. BJJ really is an outstanding environment in that way. Also, it rewards hard work and dedication…more than a deep pocketbook (this link is a great article on charging for belt promotions).

On the downside, “don’t worry about the belt…but keep coming in and training and working towards the belt” is really ambiguous. As anyone who has participated in BJJ knows, it is a sprint not a marathon. 2-4 years to a blue belt (in some schools) is a crazy long time. To add to this ambiguousness, many instructors are not great at communicating with their students about their progress and the expectations for promotion (for the most part this is not our school or organization). Finally, students pay a lot of money to participate in BJJ (most of it well earned by the instructors, I understand they run a business). This all adds up to a very arduous slog towards progress. Yes, progress needs to be an internal desire on the student’s part, but desire is fostered by success and vice-versa. We had a former students who had outstanding attendance, busted his butt to get his blue belt. Finally, he tested for it, received it and then never showed up again. Some of that is on him, but I also think the process of working towards that belt burnt him out.

What is a new student to do? First off, pick a good school. An instructor that is honest and cares about BJJ and their students will solve many of these problems. Second, set intermediary goals on your way to getting a belt. Some schools “stripe” belts, which is a great bit of encouragement. But, students should also remind themselves when they achieve a success. Did they last 40 seconds against the purple belt when they typically last 20? They should buy themselves a McFlurry on the way home…unless they are lactose intolerant, then they might want to go with some McNuggets.

Can't all be this happy everyday....

What has helped me the most (remember, I am for sure not the “fore most” expert on this stuff) has been to seek feedback from upper belts. They are typically amazingly encouraging. When I started out there was a blue belt named Brian whom kicked the crap out of me all the time. However, after we would get done rolling, he always had something complimentary to say. Such as, “wow, you are getting your guard back quick when I pass it” or, “dang you didn’t feel nearly as close to a dead fish as you did before.” I remember driving home and thinking, “if someone that good notices my advancement, it must really be happening.” When I asked for feedback he happily gave it to me. When he learned a new move that suited my style and skill level, he eagerly showed it to me. This all kept me coming back. I try to emulate that quality to our new guys and it seems to keep them around.  

Shut up and take my money!....A comment on buying equipment.

So, you have made the decision to start BJJ. You have researched schools, read about the Gracie lineage, and even practiced leg locks on your dog. You are driving to your first night and then you have a moment of panic....what should you wear? Should you stop at the local TKD club and get a dobok?

Maybe this is a gym that wears wrestling singlets???

Ohhh my.....

Have no fear, I can honestly say your best bet is to go to your first class and talk to the instructor. Every gym is a little different. At our gym, we are happy to let people try class for a few weeks and then make a commitment to buy a gi. Other gyms don't use gis. Some gyms will have you buy one the first night. The main thing is not to panic.

With that being said, if the gym you go to uses a gi (and in my opinion training in the gi is really important) you will want to buy a decent one to start out. That is not to say you need to plunk down $350 on a used Shoyoroll, but you should get one that fits well.

A couple reasons:

1. A nicer gi (roughly between $90-$175) is going to fit well. It seems odd in a rough and tumble sport that fit is important. However, I have owned a good number of gis and I have had several that fit weird. They quickly were at the bottom of my rotation and the money I spent on them was wasted. Honestly, if you stick with BJJ you will end up with 2-5 gis at anytime. If you have one that just doesn't fit right, you won't wear it. 
2. That money spent is going to force you to commit to coming. I don't like to spend money on useless items. When I plunk down what amounts to 15 - Six Pack and a Pounds, I am going to make sure I use that item. 
3. A new gi makes you feel badass! You are going to wear it around your house when you get it. That is fine, take some pictures, trash talk the mirror, try to choke your significant other out with the lapel, live your life. 

The main thing to remember, you need to ask your instructor what they prefer. Our gym is pretty loose with the type of stuff you can wear. Some gyms only want white or blue gis. Don't plunk down what amounts to 30 - KFC $5 Fill-ups and then have to sell it. If your gym has no rules, talk to your gym-mates, try on their gis. You are going to find they are really excited to share their knowledge. Currently, I roll in a 2 Fuji gis and a 12NV gi. They range in price between $120-$150. I previously owned a $200 Atama and really couldn't tell the difference between it and my cheeper gis.  

As far as other equipment you might want to invest in (probably over your first 6-12 months):

• A mouth piece. I chipped my tooth in June of this year. Like all issues, I just assumed it would resolve itself. It sure didn't, I further chipped it 3 months later. My dentist was impressed with how bad I chipped it! She did not give me a reward for my insolence. She did give me a $400  bill (that is 40 - Drunken Noodles at Ginger Thai). Protect those pearly whites. Most $5-$10 mouth guards will do. 

• A pair of grappling shorts. You can get by with basketball shorts or athletic shorts for awhile. But, eventually they will get annoying. They will slip off, they don't stretch as well. There are tons of different types of grappling shorts on the market. In my experience, grappling shorts below $20ish dollars are crap. Anything above will do just fine. A $60 pair of shorts is not 2x better than a $30 pair. I just got a pair of Jaco shorts from BJJHQ.com . It has some great rolling deals, if you are in to that type of thing.

Checkout my new Jaco shorts.

• Compression shorts, nut-cup, bra with reinforced cups. Mix and match for your primary and secondary sexual trait needs.
• A rash guard/compression shirt. This is one of those things you don't have to drop a lot of money on. I rolled in a $5.99 Champion compression shirt for my first 5-6 years and thought it was great. I upgraded to a $30 compression shirt from Meerkatsu and really like it. You can get rash guards for $60 (if they are blessed by Marcelo Garcia....I hear you will get the power of flight). The upside of a more expensive rash guard are the cool graphics and the quality of the shirt. There are some really neat looking rash guards on the market. The other big advantage of a more expensive rash guard is the quality of the material. It is thicker and holds shape longer. Finally, you will find both long sleeve and short sleeve. I like to rub my arm hair in peoples' faces, so I go short. 

This is my current rash guard

That is about it. You really can get by spending $200-$250 dollars over the course of your first year. You can also drop well over a grand if you have that money. However, the more you compete and the more serious you get, the nicer equipment you will probably want. Also, the more you train, the more equipment you will need...because you will wash your gi. Believe me, the last thing you want to be is the smelly kid. 

F@**@*#*@($(*(#CK…A comment on dealing with frustration

It happens to all of us, we think we are making progress. We have made it to tons of classes, we are practicing moves and then you go up against your “white whale.”

A quick diversion from the initial story, a person’s “White Whale” is a term stolen from Moby Dick. In the book, Captain Ahab is obsessed with catching Moby Dick (a white whale) that took his leg below the knee. See it is apt for the post because a person’s white whale is someone they really want to submit.

Back to the main point, we all have the one person in class who subs us, over and over again. Humility is important in Jiu-Jitsu, but so is a desire to get better. It is Ok to want to submit guys who are better than you, it shows you care about your progression. So, you go up against your “white whale” and POW! 

They submit you. You shake it off and then POW!!! Same move! It happens again and again. You can feel that heat rise up in your cheeks, you start talking to yourself, you are getting really frustrated.

I will be the first to admit, this happens to me. Recently, I have been getting caught in knee bars…all the damn time. It bothers me, the other day I punched a wall after getting caught twice in a roll by the same knee bar. 

Dumb idea, the wall didn’t knee bar me and it didn’t really get hurt when I punched it. I ruminated on the fact I got subbed by the same move on the way home. I Googled, “ways to stop knee bars”, “how to not get caught in knee bars”, “why do communists only use knee bars?”, “Why are Sambo kurtkas red? Is it because they are communists who use knee bars?” Needless to say, I am invested in solving this knee bar problem. Which I think is one of the few times where frustration can really benefit a person in BJJ.

In my experience, there are two types of people who get frustrated in BJJ. There are the people that quit when they reach a level of frustration and people who persevere. The former are not able to handle the fact that they don’t get a move or keep getting beat by a move or the same person beats them over and over. They look for immediate rewards, which come often when you start BJJ. As a person moves along in BJJ, those gains become less frequent. The extrinsic motivation fades and they end up quitting.

Could be worse! Am I right?!?!?

However, the other type of person looks at the issue causing frustration as a problem to solve. They take agency of their problem and look for solutions. Eventually, they will solve that problem and their motivation is reward with a new challenge. In this way, frustration is great, it motivates BJJ practitioners to get better.

If I were to give advice to myself starting out 6 years ago, I would say to try to solve problems for myself early on. This ability to take agency for my own development will serve be a huge advantage when I am one of the top 4 or 5 people at my gym or when I am coaching. At this point, there may be no one at the gym that can answer my question about stopping the inverted guard, I will have to figure it out on my own.  As long as I look at it like a puzzle I can solve, the frustration will only motivate me.

P.S. Still working on stopping that knee bar, thanks Doodles

I got arm bars you ain’t never seen bro….A comment on humility in BJJ

For anyone that has ever attend a martial arts class, watched a kung fu film, or talked to someone who does martial arts, they know that humility is something that is preached.  To be sure, humility is an important part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as well. However, the road to humility and the vehicle through which it is taught, is a lot different than many other martial arts.

Kanye knows about humility

I have had my fair share of experiences in martial arts. I took Tae Kwon Do and Shurite as a child. As a college student I participated in Judo and Hapkido. 

Shuri...what?

In all of these disciplines respect and humility is preached. Often times a creed is recited before and after class. There are symbols for the concepts of humility and respect hung on the wall (typically in an Asian language). I think this is great, especially for kids. In our school and all the others I have trained at, there is less of an emphasis on overtly talking about the importance of respect. As a result of the structure of BJJ, there is not really a need for this verbosity.

Here are some symbols for humility...or from a take out menu. It could be either.

At it’s core, Jiu Jitsu is an art/sport where people compete against each other every class. As a result, humility and respect get infused into the culture for about 45-60 minutes at the end of class (when we try to choke or break someone's arm). If someone thinks they are the best person on the mat, they will get a chance to prove it. If they submit everyone that night, they will have to do it the next night, and the night after that. Eventually, that person will get subbed. In that moment, there is probably going to be a reckoning with the high opinion they hold of themselves. Often times, participants quickly learn that it is far easier to be happy to have the opportunity to learn and quietly celebrate when they get a submission against an upper belt or congratulate a person when they are submitted. In addition, when applying a submission to a training partner, it is always in my mind to be safe...at some point that person will catch me and I hope they return the favor.

About 4 years ago, we were getting ready to start class when a very muscular ex-service man came in. He had tribal tattoos and lifted a lot at the gym (so he was pretty certain we knew he was for realz). As we were warming up he turns to our coach and says, “I already know this stuff. I have got armbars you guys ain’t never seen. I just want to roll live.” In that moment our coach was faced with two choices, explain the importance of humility and respect. Let the student know that BJJ is a process and takes many long hours of improvement before a person gets better, etc. Or, let him role with one of his students and experience why humility and respect are a virtue. To our enjoyment, he picked option number 2!

Enter my good friend Ned (not his real name). Ned is an outstanding competitor. He is also somewhat of an enforcer for our class. This is a good thing, every class needs a Bob Probert. 

Bob who????

Our coach set the clock for six minutes, the young man made it maybe 2 minutes against Ned. Clearly, he had arm bars we had never seen. The problem was, they were really ineffective.

Essentially, the match looked like this

2 side points: 1) I am categorically against beating up on new people and teammates. That is a dick move, it ruins a club. 2) There is a lot of hyperbole around respect and humility in BJJ. There are pictures of chiseled swarthy men in gis, staring menacingly into the camera, with captions like, "Lions eat elephants which are bigger than them, so be nice.....OSSSS!!!" 

Like this. I want to believe it, it's in black and white!

I don't think we need all that. The beauty of BJJ is that it self regulates egos through challenging a person's skill. After a person gets beaten so many times, they either become humble or become an ex-BJJ participant. This wasn't a case of a new guy getting picked on, it was a person who needed a reality check of their skill level. After his beating, he faked an injury, said he would be back next class and never returned. He could have been a great guy, he could have been Charles Manson, I don't know. What I do know, he wasn't ready to participate in BJJ at that point. 

We have a lot of different personalities at our gym. We have had (at most) one or two instances where someone has had to step between two guys that were ready to fight. Honestly, a person doesn’t need to fight in class to assert their dominance in BJJ. Everyone in class knows that by the end of class that will have taken care of itself. 

Dude, I think I almost went out….and why you shouldn’t be afraid to train BJJ

 I will start by stating the obvious, your first few days of training Jiu Jitsu will probably be scary. You are actively seeking to learn to choke or hurt a group of people that train nearly everyday, to choke or hurt someone. The deck is stacked against you. I remember the first day I showed up to BJJ. I awkwardly introduced myself, learned to shrimp, a sweep and then it was time to roll live. I quickly scanned the room to find someone my size…I failed. I ended up with a giant dude who had sleeve tattoos. I did the only thing I could, I made sure he knew it was my first class. He said, “I got you.” Then he choked me 4-5 times in 5 minutes.  The next time I came back, I was sure I would be more successful this time, due to my large amount of gained experience. I was not. However, I sustained no injuries. If I am nothing else, I am stubborn and competitive. I continued to come back anytime I could and have progressed to a point where I can hold my own.

Young Bill liked douchey facial hair...

Contrast that with my foray into kickboxing. I will readily admit that I am far better suited to BJJ. I am bendy, love strategy and have a pretty extensive background in wrestling. If BJJ felt like learning to swim, kickboxing was like learning to breathe on Mars. That being said, I stuck at it and got to where I was not (totally) fearing for my life while sparring. Then came the faithful day, where I ended kickboxing against one of the bigger guys in class (I am about 5’8” and 160 pounds). He insisted I didn’t need headgear…we would “go light.” Next thing I know I am laying on the ground and looking up at other people. The guy insisted he forgot we were going light. My head hurt, I had trouble thinking clearly at work the next day, I quit kickboxing. I imagine the knockout looked something like this...

So, why am I bringing up these two experiences? It is certainly not to bash kickboxing. It is a great sport/marital art. However, at the very core of it, you can never really go all out without the very real chance someone is going to get hurt. However, in BJJ you really can go about as hard as you want and be injury free. Another example of this principle, we have a really cool white belt name JD (not his real name). The other day him and I were rolling. I caught him in a north-south choke. (See below for an example of the north-south by the Marcelo. Fun fact, he taught me the north-south)

I am not really sure what happened, but he got choked out. I heard him snore, let go, and he had that “million mile” stare. After a few seconds, he came to, looked at me and said, “I think I almost went out.” If you have done BJJ before, you know this situation all too well. Everyone laughs, the athlete takes a minute to collect their mind and then it is back to training. It is one of the coolest things about the sport, you have bested your opponent, everyone has a laugh and you are back at it.

There are injuries in BJJ. I have had my shoulder separated, a tear in my MCL, teeth chipped, back hurt…so on and so forth. However, most of these injuries occur from 1 of 2 scenarios. 1). I did not tap when I should of. Sometimes prides gets the best of you (like when I should have worn my head gear in kick boxing) and you don’t tap. In this case, it is solely my fault. The nice thing, you learn quickly from being too dumb to tap. And, if you don’t learn quickly, you quit quickly. 2). A freak accident occurs. Jiu-jitsu is a group of athletes trying to submit each other by threatening physical harm…things are going to happen, people will get hurt. Personally, I have never gotten hurt when I thought there was ill-intent on my training partner’s side, just a crappy occurrence. I healed up and got back out on the mat.

Most BJJ gyms are friendly places where everyone wants the athletes to learn the sport. If it is your first day, yeah, you are probably going to get submitted. But, you will live to train another day, and another, and another. Eventually, you will get to be that student that shows the new student the ropes. It is endemic in that way. On a related note, if you find a gym where people are getting hurt a lot, they have cultural problem and you might want to find a new gym.

To answer the question I have been asked a lot  - yes, I have been choked out, a few times. The first time my good friend Ryan caught me in a d'arce choke and my hands were trapped. I woke up about 6 feet from where the choke started. Ryan said he let go of the choke and I spider walked across the mat, fell down and then came to. After that, I got up, cleared by head and rolled again.

(Here is a great d'arce from an arm-drag)