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.