Dojo Diva here! As I have mentioned before, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is relatively unique. Jiu Jitsu has only FIVE belt colors (white, blue, purple, brown, black) and we are going to stay at white for a long, long time.
In fact, I tell Professor that when I actually GET my blue belt, I am wearing that sucker EVERYWHERE. Shopping. To the movies. Church. Out to eat. I am going to VACUUM the HOUSE in it. SLEEP in it.
He still totally thinks I’m kidding.
But seriously, those four stripes represent so much change and sacrifice. I work from home, so I start working at about 5:30 in the morning and work all day and then I take my son to Jiu Jitsu and assist in his class and then go to MY class and that is a good 60-90 minutes and then I have to come home and cook and lets just say it is a LONG day.
Those four stripes I now have represent countless hours on the mats being made into a pretzel by people WAY bigger than me. They are the cumulation of hundreds of bruises, a broken nose, four broken toes, and more than a thousand lessons in humility and I have loved every second of it because it is hard hard work. In a world that is so eager to hand out awards for “trying” MY DOJO is the place that tests everything I am and tells me the TRUTH.
I either earn it or I don’t.
I will be honest. Sometimes it is hard writing a Jiu Jitsu blog. I don’t feel cool. I don’t have a lot of cool moves to show you because I am still so freaking new even though I have been at this for over a year. Some days I feel like I am hot stuff and other days? I wonder if I ever paid attention to anything. Did ANYTHING Professor say manage to STICK? Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to get it.
But even though I am no Rhonda Rousey, I am probably a lot more like you. I am closer to where most of you are. If you are thinking of starting Jiu Jitsu I can tell you it is the most fun you will probably ever have in your life. If you are new, you are sore. Buy Ibuprophen at Costo *fist bump* I love you, man. Keep pressing.
Here are some other things I have learned along the way that will help up your white belt game. Truthfully, they probably help the other colors too but I don’t know since I am not there yet.
I think brown belts bathe in the blood of vanquished enemies to make black but I’d have to google that…
Where were we? Oh yeah, TIPS!
Tip #1—Grapple at 40%
I have no idea WHY I didn’t think to do this in the beginning. When I was brand new, I thought I had to go full steam and this is when I actually got the four broken toes and the busted nose. WHY? Because I had ZERO technique so I was just relying on brute force and muscle. I made myself tired and sore and I got injured.
A lot.
And that was stupid and completely preventable.
When you are starting out, feel free to ask if you can grapple at a diminished percentage. There is nothing bad@$$ about being a white belt anyway so why do we feel we have to be all tough? We don’t. Really.
No one is judging you.
I thought people were when I was new. Now? I know better. I see the new white belts and I am all “WHOA! Slow down Cowboy! I don’t wanna get hurt, either!”
I bet I was a real peach to grapple with.
*hangs head*
Anyway…
Just trust me. It does you ZERO good to go full speed with crappy form. You won’t learn and you’re just more apt to injure yourself or your partner. Or you and your partner. Or you and your partner and the people next to you AND the Jiu Jistu Moms watching nearby and then it just gets all awkward when a Jiu Jitsu Mom retaliates with a CHAIR so just BACK OFF and ease up, okay?
And, to be blunt, BJJ doesn’t work that way. It’s easy. Smooth. Like jazz, only with chokes.
Watch Professor. He barely even breaks a sweat turning people into twisty ties.
GOOD Jiu Jitsu is fluid and beautiful. Breathe. FLOW.
Tip #2—Private Instruction is an AWESOME Investment
I don’t make any money off this, so you can take this as an honest opinion and not someone trying to sell you something. Private instruction pays MASSIVE dividends. MASSIVE. HUGE. HUGE!!! In class you just can’t learn what you can learn from on-on-one with a pro.
For MONTHS I would get smashed in full mount. No matter where I went or what I did? Somehow managed to get mounted and game over. I took ONE lesson and now? In the six months since I took that lesson NO ONE has yet to submit me from the mount.
And I didn’t believe it when my instructor said I would own that escape. I had been decimated by it so many times I couldn’t imagine myself having any power in it.
By the way, I am a 5′ 3″ female. Most of the time, my opponents are much bigger, so me being mounted is no small deal. It stinks getting smashed. But, he was right. My small size became my advantage.
Before Lessons—> ROADKILL
After Lessons—> RADIOACTIVE SUPER FERRET
BUT I had to take that time to gain the TECHNIQUE and that NEVER would have happened without that additional investment. It wasn’t even the technique of escaping that was most valuable. In private training, the instructor grapples with you. He did with me. By doing this, he was able to identify then correct all my bad habits that were putting me in the position to get mounted in the first place.
So. Private lessons. You can thank me later.
The holidays are coming. Treat yourself. Treat a family member or a friend.
Tip #3—Beware of Overtraining
One thing that has undermined me a bit is that I AM so eager to belt up. I was going to class a lot and I was also training outside the dojo and I ground myself down. Recently got pretty sick and it forced me to take three weeks off.
But the funny thing was, when I returned, I felt far stronger. In retrospect, before I was forced to take off I was tired. Overtraining had affected my performance on the mats. I was sluggish and my moves were sloppy and forced. With a little rest? My game was far better.
Sometimes, less really IS more.
In the end, embrace the white belt experience. If we are going to be here for a while, might as well have fun and take in all we can :D.
If you are in the Fort Worth-Arlington area, come by for a free month at Gracie Barra Mansfield!
~Dojo Diva
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