Brown Belt

[Mr Rick]

Nice. Well congrats on getting your brown. I'm sure it won't be long and you'll have your black belt.

And thanks for the information. It's interesting to see what someone that has shot through the ranks had done to get there.

 

[Shizzx]

congrats

 

[mataleaos]

3 years and 6/7 months total

That's really fucking impressive.

Under Vicente too?

I've rolled with him a few times. Some of of the cleanest armbars I've ever felt and I haven't ever been wrist locked so many times in one day.

I also rode in the car with him and holy shit that guy is a speed demon. I was braking in the passenger seat and clenching my fists lol. We were going well over 100 headed from Maryland into DC.

 

[BADodd06]

That's really fucking impressive.

Under Vicente too?

I've rolled with him a few times. Some of of the cleanest armbars I've ever felt and I haven't ever been wrist locked so many times in one day.

I also rode in the car with him and holy shit that guy is a speed demon. I was braking in the passenger seat and clenching my fists lol. We were going well over 100 headed from Maryland into DC.

Thanks! We haven't been under Vicente long though so most of it for me was under Carlson Jr.
This weekend Vicente completely shut down my over under passing twice in one round and armbarred me for the effort lol. He's one of the best 3 guys I've ever had the privilege of rolling with hands down.

He went out to sushi with us afterwards and was actually telling us how he got pulled over in Vegas for going 140mph! As nice as he is, that man has to be dangerous behind the wheel lol.

 

[mataleaos]

Thanks! We haven't been under Vicente long though so most of it for me was under Carlson Jr.
This weekend Vicente completely shut down my over under passing twice in one round and armbarred me for the effort lol. He's one of the best 3 guys I've ever had the privilege of rolling with hands down.

He went out to sushi with us afterwards and was actually telling us how he got pulled over in Vegas for going 140mph! As nice as he is, that man has to be dangerous behind the wheel lol.

That's hilarious and totally believable that he was going 140. Yeah when people ask the best people I've ever rolled with there are some household/popular names that come to mind, but I'll be damned if Vicente isn't right at the top of the list too.

He was Caio Terra's teacher for a while right? Or still is?

 

[BADodd06]

I actually didn't know he had taught Caio Terra although I'm not surprised. Being right under De la Riva he is as close to the source as they come these days.

To be honest, I still don't feel ready to be a brown belt compared to being just a talented purple belt. And being a black belt in the near future scares the hell out of me. I feel like part of the reason the 2 main gym instructors at my place pushed for my promotion is to challenge me on a deeper level than I was getting at purple.

 

[Uchi Mata]

The biggest thing was the make-up of the 3 guys I was rolling with. Even if just 2-3 days each month, as a blue belt I had 3 active/competitive brown belts all with extremely different styles..........all to myself.
It's one thing to have guys that regularly dismantle you then move onto the next partner, but its a completely different thing to have superior guys that pass your guard, heel hook, and anaconda choke you 5 times in a row then immediately sit down and troubleshoot with you exactly what's going on. Plus when you have a clock of 7 minute rounds and just you and 3 guys 2 belts above you, there are no rest rounds and no slacking off. It was a pressure cooker that only made me better. I get to roll with them less often since they moved all over but 2 of them have since been promoted to black belts.
I wouldn't say it's changed but moreso just gotten deeper and more focused although my guard has seen the biggest improvements. The areas I'm most dangerous with have stayed (back, triangles, ankle locks) have always been that way just now they're more refined. 'Holes' have closed up some but there's always areas to work on and weaknesses which for me are still being lazy with my posture on top and not always manipulating their posture posture correctly when I'm on bottom........and actually escaping unfavorable leg entanglements instead of just staying in them and surviving

The best way to get good at BJJ is not to be a student, it's to be an apprentice. Most of the guys I know who got good fast did it by finding upper belts who would help them break down their game and work on specific positions and weaknesses. That sort of thing still constitutes the bulk of my really valuable training.

 

[TheMood]

Congratulations on the promotion.

 

[BADodd06]

The best way to get good at BJJ is not to be a student, it's to be an apprentice. Most of the guys I know who got good fast did it by finding upper belts who would help them break down their game and work on specific positions and weaknesses. That sort of thing still constitutes the bulk of my really valuable training.

I definitely lucked out in that sense as that type of setup is particularly hard to come by (and usually not free lol)

 

[mataleaos]

Congrats on the promotion!!

Good questions. I've been a brown belt for a few years and so I thought about these same things. In terms of on the mats I think of a couple of things.

The first is having decent ability to teach a class. I think being able to help others understand the art is an important part of brown belt. So at the very least I think it's important to be able to sub a class and do a good job, and if someone has a stronger interest in teaching, then I would encourage them to work on it at this point.

In terms of performance/game/style. A big thing I thought about was the earliest stuff I learned. I had thoughts like, "Okay. Black belt isn't that far. I can't be a black belt that's not able to do a decent mounted cross choke or have a a shitty closed guard." I didn't want to be able to pass fancy open guards or finish heel hooks but not be able to hold/sweep/sub someone in closed guard. So going back to stuff I learned early on has been a big thing at brown belt. In fact the keylock/Americana has become one of my better subs recently. Shouts to @Calibur

I also think being able to start on the feet is important. Even if you aren't good at offensive wrestling or Judo, having some defensive wrestling, being comfortable on the feet, or at least being able to pull guard effectively from starting on the feet is important IMO.You may find yourself visiting another gym and from personal experience, it sucks to be a brown belt at another gym where they start standing and you have zero wrestling.

This last thing may sound TMAish but I think off the mat it's important to try and conduct yourself in a respectable manner. Nothing overly serious. But if someone is a brown belt and starting fights, or getting arrested, or unable to manage their life, then I think they should try to make an effort to get it together.

 

[The ScorpioN]

3 years and 6/7 months total

What a beast.

Congrats.

BJ Penn-esque in timing, Joe.

 

[BADodd06]

Congrats on the promotion!!

The first is having decent ability to teach a class. I think being able to help others understand the art is an important part of brown belt. So at the very least I think it's important to be able to sub a class and do a good job, and if someone has a stronger interest in teaching, then I would encourage them to work on it at this point.

In terms of performance/game/style. A big thing I thought about was the earliest stuff I learned. I had thoughts like, "Okay. Black belt isn't that far. I can't be a black belt that's not able to do a decent mounted cross choke or have a a shitty closed guard." I didn't want to be able to pass fancy open guards or finish heel hooks but not be able to hold/sweep/sub someone in closed guard. So going back to stuff I learned early on has been a big thing at brown belt. In fact the keylock/Americana has become one of my better subs recently. Shouts to @Calibur

I also think being able to start on the feet is important. Even if you aren't good at offensive wrestling or Judo, having some defensive wrestling, being comfortable on the feet, or at least being able to pull guard effectively from starting on the feet is important IMO.You may find yourself visiting another gym and from personal experience, it sucks to be a brown belt at another gym where they start standing and you have zero wrestling.

This last thing may sound TMAish but I think off the mat it's important to try and conduct yourself in a respectable manner. Nothing overly serious. But if someone is a brown belt and starting fights, or getting arrested, or unable to manage their life, then I think they should try to make an effort to get it together.

The class I teach consistently/weekly now is a competition class. Before that, I feel like I've done a pretty good job with the classes I've subbed but mostly because I stick with teaching techniques/principles that I actually use and know deeply (within whatever position we're focusing on that week). I can definitely see that if it was up to me to teach the full broad spectrum of BJJ I'd run into some issues when it comes to teaching both tricky/tangley guards I don't use and earlier basic techniques that I've left behind like you mentioned. I had planned to start focusing more on getting very specific areas of my game to higher levels and looking less at techniques and more at formulas (like Kit Dale talks about) but I do also need to revisit many of the foundational techniques and principles in each of the basic positions to make sure I can hold my own in that realm of instruction. But as a smaller guy I just hate closed guard sweeps and armbars so much!

I'm lucky enough to have a couple HS state champion and college wrestlers at my gym who I intentionally work with even if it means I repeatedly get taken down by a 135lb white belt lol. I've gotten MUCH better in that area in both gi and nogi takedowns over the last year and a half, especially with identifying and sharpening my go-to 3 in both styles. Lately I've only been starting on the ground if I'm specifically working on my guard that week or if I'm injured in some relevant way.............or if I'm going with a particularly large and spazy white belt smh (longevity and all).

At least if nothing else I know I'm pretty sure I'm where I need to be already in the personal life department lol. Haven't gotten into a fight since HS and definitely no criminal issues since I work for the Department of Justice (can't be losing my job over nonsense lol). I know its a contentious issue sometimes but I definitely agree on the side off morally/ethically poor individuals should not be promoted to Black Belt and represent the community. Even Vicente told me afterward that my skills are already where they need to be, it's my development into being a good representative of his lineage and the sport overall that he will be looking for in my road to Black Belt.

What a beast.

Congrats.

BJ Penn-esque in timing, Joe.

Lol thanks! I'm definitely no BJ Penn though. I think that's another part of my discomfort with the timing since I associate this pace with guys like BJ Penn and DJ Jackson and I sure as hell am not on their levels of when they were purple/brown belts. I'm ecstatic to have been promoted but also having some legit 'imposter syndrome' like when I started grad school.

 

[skacore]

Congrats