Just Need Some Words of Wisdom From Older Upper Belts.

[OgBot]

Originally Posted by Davey J

Start training Muay Thai at another gym, then go back to your BJJ gym and knee everybody in the face.

Seriously tho, just stick with it, it may not seem like you are progressing but you really are it's just hard to tell when everybody you are training with is moving forward as we'll. props to you for picking up BJJ at your age too. Some trainers give out belts like door prizes, others really make you put in the mat time. Took me 4 years to get a purple belt, should have my brown by 6 or 7. Usually takes 2 years or more to advance a belt. Just keep at it, maybe talk to your coach to see what else you can do or how he thinks you are coming along.

LMAO at the Muay Thai comment... I really can't go all Jet Li up in the place... then it would be me against about 20 Jiu-Jitsi; I would surely get my a** kicked.
Thank you for your response.
My present school does make you earn your belt, which is fine. I know that I will eventually progress if I continue to show up... which I do.

[clockchoke1124]

Dont be discouraged, I trained 5 nights a week and it took me almost 2 and a half years to get my blue belt, and when we would roll in class I would dominate people my rank and some of the upper belts. Alot of times it depends on grappling tournaments, my coach always says that one tournament is equal to three months of training because even if you lose you get so much out of it in the sense that you learn real quickly what you need to work on. Have you been skipped over at any promotions? Maybe he doesnt just hand out blue belts? My coach's promotions are very strict, Like I said I got promoted after about 2 and a half years. It was me and two others promoted to blue belt, the last promotion before that was almost a year and a half prior to my promotion date. As frustrating as that may be in makes you know that you actually deserved your blue belt. That it wasnt just handed to you. When I was a white belt I used to love to roll with visiting blue belts cause id steam roll them. Dont get discouraged just work hard and it will happen. But if anything ask your coach what you need to work on to get to blue, and how close you are. It doesnt hurt to ask.

[Dochter]

Originally Posted by Bringin'TheHeat

You should not be a white belt for that long if you take it seriously 3-4x /week minimum. If you show up to the club every few months for a a week or two then yes, you'll develop and get promoted slowly. The amount of work put in according to TS warrants a blue belt for sure unless hes not getting the movements down. He may be a slow learner. Or maybe not applying what he knows in rolling or in competition. Students sometimes struggle just like in school.

BJJ is not T-ball where what matters is that you really, really, sincerely tried your bestest. He may be working hard but not in a productive manner. I was stuck at purple for a long time and had to do some reevaluation and talked to my coach before changing what I was doing and eventually getting my brown.

[NoAbsolutes]

I don't pretend to know anything about you, but you come across as rather low-confidence and needy. Might consider a team sport or something that doesn't require so much inner-confidence to excel in. The point I'm trying to make is, that when I was a white-belt (purple right now) I always felt like I was just two-weeks of hard training from being able to kick my coaches ass. My coach is a Div-1 Wrestler that trained under Rickson starting in 94 and he's a bigger, stronger Black Belt. Needless to say its been a few years and he's still kicking my ass but I credit my confidence for never allowing me to get discouraged. You seem to be missing this aspect and though I'm sure there's ways to gather it, I don't know how one would go about it.

[OgBot]

Originally Posted by clockchoke1124

Dont be discouraged, I trained 5 nights a week and it took me almost 2 and a half years to get my blue belt, and when we would roll in class I would dominate people my rank and some of the upper belts. Alot of times it depends on grappling tournaments, my coach always says that one tournament is equal to three months of training because even if you lose you get so much out of it in the sense that you learn real quickly what you need to work on. Have you been skipped over at any promotions? Maybe he doesnt just hand out blue belts? My coach's promotions are very strict, Like I said I got promoted after about 2 and a half years. It was me and two others promoted to blue belt, the last promotion before that was almost a year and a half prior to my promotion date. As frustrating as that may be in makes you know that you actually deserved your blue belt. That it wasnt just handed to you. When I was a white belt I used to love to roll with visiting blue belts cause id steam roll them. Dont get discouraged just work hard and it will happen. But if anything ask your coach what you need to work on to get to blue, and how close you are. It doesnt hurt to ask.

Thank you so much for responding.
No, where I train, they don't just hand out belts; they must be earned...
I appreciate your comments and I will look forward to competing... probably in March...

[OgBot]

Originally Posted by NoAbsolutes

I don't pretend to know anything about you, but you come across as rather low-confidence and needy. Might consider a team sport or something that doesn't require so much inner-confidence to excel in. The point I'm trying to make is, that when I was a white-belt (purple right now) I always felt like I was just two-weeks of hard training from being able to kick my coaches ass. My coach is a Div-1 Wrestler that trained under Rickson starting in 94 and he's a bigger, stronger Black Belt. Needless to say its been a few years and he's still kicking my ass but I credit my confidence for never allowing me to get discouraged. You seem to be missing this aspect and though I'm sure there's ways to gather it, I don't know how one would go about it.

Thank you for responding.
Low-confidence... yes, I need to work on that.
Needy? What are you talking about?
I don't pretend to know anything about you, but you seem young and immature... or just plain immature. Everyone, everyone gets discouraged. Now unless you are God, you get discouraged too or you are lying to yourself. I asked for "words of wisdom"... if you have none ("I don't know how one would go about it..."), then just pass. You turned my inquiry into how "Bad and Awesome" you are. If you stop looking in the mirror long enough and think about the question asked, you may write something of some value that will help others.

[NoAbsolutes]

Originally Posted by OgBot

Thank you for responding.
Low-confidence... yes, I need to work on that.
Needy? What are you talking about?
I don't pretend to know anything about you, but you seem young and immature... or just plain immature. Everyone, everyone gets discouraged. Now unless you are God, you get discouraged too or you are lying to yourself. I asked for "words of wisdom"... if you have none ("I don't know how one would go about it..."), then just pass. You turned my inquiry into how "Bad and Awesome" you are. If you stop looking in the mirror long enough and think about the question asked, you may write something of some value that will help others.

Well it looks like I was right, you are quite insecure with regards to this topic indeed. I gave you constructive criticism but you chose to take it as an insult. The needy reference was used because you seem to have a great desire for others to tell you you're doing well rather than just being satisfied with your performance. When I perform well I care not for the opinions of others, the same is true for when I perform poorly which has also happened on plenty of occasions. You wanted someone to come in here and tell you to keep your chin up and everything will be ok. It won't necessarily be ok unless you look to your weaknesses, admit them and then seek to improve them. If all you want is a pat on the back and a slap on the ass then I will state again, maybe you should try a different sport.

Good luck man I'm just being hard on you, not trying to insult you. How often do you think a badass like GSP gets discouraged because someone criticized him? It might not happen much now a days but certainly GSP dealt with much of it while on the path to becoming GS-FUCKING-P

[OgBot]

Originally Posted by NoAbsolutes

Well it looks like I was right, you are quite insecure with regards to this topic indeed. I gave you constructive criticism but you chose to take it as an insult. The needy reference was used because you seem to have a great desire for others to tell you you're doing well rather than just being satisfied with your performance. When I perform well I care not for the opinions of others, the same is true for when I perform poorly which has also happened on plenty of occasions. You wanted someone to come in here and tell you to keep your chin up and everything will be ok. It won't necessarily be ok unless you look to your weaknesses, admit them and then seek to improve them. If all you want is a pat on the back and a slap on the ass then I will state again, maybe you should try a different sport.

Good luck man I'm just being hard on you, not trying to insult you. How often do you think a badass like GSP gets discouraged because someone criticized him? It might not happen much now a days but certainly GSP dealt with much of it while on the path to becoming GS-FUCKING-P

Thank you again for responding.
Your criticism was not constructive. Constructive means to engage in "building up; strengthening, reinforcing"... your initial response was for me to quit and join a "team sport" where "inner-confidence" is not as much required. Whereupon, had you noticed, I included in my initial post that basically quitting is not an option.
You said in your post that you, as a white belt felt that you could "kick [your] coaches a**", what gall, what arrogance, masquerading as confidence. Any teacher that has earned the degree of black belt in this sport should be honored for that rare accomplishment, not stalked by some wet-behind-the-ears novice. This further indicates to me that you, although you've attained a higher belt, have not attained the requisite humility and are indeed immature.

Inner-confidence, yes I need this in learning to execute proper technique and form. An encouraging word; a pat on the back... that's nice, but I don't need it to move on. the "tough-love" school of thought--I get that. I just wanted to hear how other guys have handled their journey possibly providing insight on what I could be doing better. I don't think you have the emotional maturity to give of yourself in that regard.

Again, I sincerely thank you for your response

[Dochter]

Originally Posted by OgBot

Any teacher that has earned the degree of black belt in this sport should be honored for that rare accomplishment, not stalked by some wet-behind-the-ears novice. This further indicates to me that you, although you've attained a higher belt, have not attained the requisite humility and are indeed immature.

There are guys that are better than me. There are guys that will always be better than me because bjj is my hobby, not my profession. Buddies of mine that are now black belts while I'm just a brown will remain better than me as long as we all train. I can accept that but none of that is okay.
If it is okay with you, you'll top out as a low purple belt.

People talk about humility on the mats and it is important. Complacency is not. Complacency is stagnation. Never be okay with there being people better than you.

That, possibly, was his point. Or, as you said, he's a douchebag punk kid (equally likely).

[NoAbsolutes]

Originally Posted by Dochter

There are guys that are better than me. There are guys that will always be better than me because bjj is my hobby, not my profession. Buddies of mine that are now black belts while I'm just a brown will remain better than me as long as we all train. I can accept that but none of that is okay.
If it is okay with you, you'll top out as a low purple belt.

People talk about humility on the mats and it is important. Complacency is not. Complacency is stagnation. Never be okay with there being people better than you.

That, possibly, was his point. Or, as you said, he's a douchebag punk kid (equally likely).

I'm going with douche bag.