Man.. I feel like BJJ might not be for me.

EGDM said:
I still feel like this sometimes and I'm a brown belt who plays mostly half guard.
Click to expand...

I literally meant it. Haven't learned how to approach someone with half guard and haven't learned how to play from there lol.
 
Just give it time, and ask some of the guys after class if they can show you some techniques from half guard or whatever else you're having problems with. At least you aren't me, I lost so bad I got a concussion yesterday.

Edit: Also consider another school if you've been training that long and are having trouble
 
ColorPurps said:
I literally meant it. Haven't learned how to approach someone with half guard and haven't learned how to play from there lol.
Click to expand...

For working on your half guard, look up Lucas Leite. His style is, in combination with Z-guard, the objectively best half guard (not counting "technically half" guards like DLR and RDLR).






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBwg5nC8AI

For passing, use head control and their knees to put them flat on their back while you work your weight up their body and free your leg. Andrew "Goatfury" Smith of Revolution BJJ has some great material on passing half guard that I use on a daily basis.

https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/How-to-Pass-the-Half-Guard-The-Hip-Switch-Method-BJJ
https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/how-to-pass-the-guard-using-the-kimura
 
Everyone has given you great advice and you should follow it if you do continue to do bjj. However, I think there is a more fundamental question that you need to ask yourself to decide is bjj for you. Are you still having fun? If you are having fun, then yes bjj is for you. If you are not having fun and you are dreading going to class, then bjj isn't for you. It is OK to not want to continue bjj. Not everything is for everyone.

Also, 9 months is not that long of a period of time. You probably would not be very good at any difficult activity if you only did it a few hours a week for 9 months.
 
TC:

I've only being training for a little over a year and a half and I think a lot of people feel like you at some point.

I just got my blue and pretty much every other blue is better than me. If I get one or two subs a week against white belts I consider it a good week.

I'm 35 and not very athletic. Hell i can't even touch my toes when I do regular stretches. My body is not idea either, my legs are short and my torso long.

Still, some days I go in and just kick ass and I have all these white belts asking me for advice. Last week an attractive white belt female asked me how to get out of side control. It was flattering and honestly I went home feeling pretty good.

Then next day came in and got wrecked by the better blue belts we have. One blue got me like 4 times in 5 minute roll and I felt like crap and totally lost the high I had from previous day.

I think a large chunk of it is mental. Seriously. Like that last blue belt I rolled with that got me so many times: we were competitive until he got me in the first sub... then his demeanor changed and he was more relaxed and giving me his arm etc and phycologicslly maybe I felt defeated at that point because he wasn't taking me as seriously , nd then he really started kicking my ass.

I think mental toughness trumps things like being older or shorter or less atheltic. Motivation and belief in yourself go a long way I feel.

Oh and last night a purple belt got me like 5 times. And my first competition is this coming up... so.....
 
Evenflow80 said:
TC:

I've only being training for a little over a year and a half and I think a lot of people feel like you at some point.

I just got my blue and pretty much every other blue is better than me. If I get one or two subs a week against white belts I consider it a good week.

I'm 35 and not very athletic. Hell i can't even touch my toes when I do regular stretches. My body is not idea either, my legs are short and my torso long.

Still, some days I go in and just kick ass and I have all these white belts asking me for advice. Last week an attractive white belt female asked me how to get out of side control. It was flattering and honestly I went home feeling pretty good.

Then next day came in and got wrecked by the better blue belts we have. One blue got me like 4 times in 5 minute roll and I felt like crap and totally lost the high I had from previous day.

I think a large chunk of it is mental. Seriously. Like that last blue belt I rolled with that got me so many times: we were competitive until he got me in the first sub... then his demeanor changed and he was more relaxed and giving me his arm etc and phycologicslly maybe I felt defeated at that point because he wasn't taking me as seriously , nd then he really started kicking my ass.

I think mental toughness trumps things like being older or shorter or less atheltic. Motivation and belief in yourself go a long way I feel.

Oh and last night a purple belt got me like 5 times. And my first competition is this coming up... so.....
Click to expand...

lol damn... I guess it is a constant battle. Goodluck man.
 
TheMood said:
Everyone has given you great advice and you should follow it if you do continue to do bjj. However, I think there is a more fundamental question that you need to ask yourself to decide is bjj for you. Are you still having fun? If you are having fun, then yes bjj is for you. If you are not having fun and you are dreading going to class, then bjj isn't for you. It is OK to not want to continue bjj. Not everything is for everyone.

Also, 9 months is not that long of a period of time. You probably would not be very good at any difficult activity if you only did it a few hours a week for 9 months.
Click to expand...

I mean.. Its fun when I do decent. not fun when I get smashed or get whooped by inexperienced dudes. or when I encounter the same problems over and over
 
EGDM said:
For working on your half guard, look up Lucas Leite. His style is, in combination with Z-guard, the objectively best half guard (not counting "technically half" guards like DLR and RDLR).






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBwg5nC8AI

For passing, use head control and their knees to put them flat on their back while you work your weight up their body and free your leg. Andrew "Goatfury" Smith of Revolution BJJ has some great material on passing half guard that I use on a daily basis.

https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/How-to-Pass-the-Half-Guard-The-Hip-Switch-Method-BJJ
https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/how-to-pass-the-guard-using-the-kimura
Click to expand...


Damn dude.. watching videos is one thing, and applying those to real life is another. too hard to remember sometimes. I sometimes watch videos on techniques, but it goes out hte window when i roll lol
 
ColorPurps said:
Damn dude.. watching videos is one thing, and applying those to real life is another. too hard to remember sometimes. I sometimes watch videos on techniques, but it goes out hte window when i roll lol
Click to expand...

That's what practice is for. It's never too early to take proactive ownership of your own training.
 
To echo some advice in here, you might want to look into a school change. If you arent progressing and enjoying yourself, why stay?
 
ColorPurps said:
Damn dude.. watching videos is one thing, and applying those to real life is another. too hard to remember sometimes. I sometimes watch videos on techniques, but it goes out hte window when i roll lol
Click to expand...
ColorPurps said:
Damn dude.. watching videos is one thing, and applying those to real life is another. too hard to remember sometimes. I sometimes watch videos on techniques, but it goes out hte window when i roll lol
Click to expand...

IMO video instructionals are useless to most white belts and nogi novice because you not aware of what you don't know. You pretty much have to wait until blue belt level/experience to get more from instructional teaching.

Your better off just focusing on what your coach is teaching you in the gym at the moment.
 
Do what makes you happy. If bjj doesn't make you happy then don't do it.
 
ColorPurps said:
Damn dude.. watching videos is one thing, and applying those to real life is another. too hard to remember sometimes. I sometimes watch videos on techniques, but it goes out hte window when i roll lol
Click to expand...

The only way to learn from videos (for me) is to watch video a couple times on my own, then bring in video to gym and watch with my training partners. We then drill technique and revisit video as needed.
 
To the others:

Yeah. Maybe i just need a personal training partner lmao. to train shit seen on videos*
 
ColorPurps said:
I literally meant it. Haven't learned how to approach someone with half guard and haven't learned how to play from there lol.
Click to expand...
It depends on the curriculum.

We cover half guard topic for 8 weeks per year. Spread through the year
 
ColorPurps said:
...On another note, i need to lose another 20-30 pounds. Maybe that is another thing that is hurting my game.
Click to expand...

Yeah I’m 6’2 and started BJJ at 227lbs, now I’m 185. Losing weight has helped a ton. Highly recommend it.

I’m sure there’s 100 different diets you could do but I’ll tell you what I did.

Getting from 227 down to 200 I just trained and ate better(cut out sugar mostly).
Then 200-185. I had a tournament coming up and needed to be 194.5 with the gi on so 190 without. I cut way down on carbs still ate full meals just heavier on protein and good fats. And biggest of all I limited snacks in between meals to just whole fruits or veggies like carrot sticks.

Drank a ton of water to keep my appetite under control.

Good luck!
 
andrewm2211 said:
Yeah I’m 6’2 and started BJJ at 227lbs, now I’m 185. Losing weight has helped a ton. Highly recommend it.

I’m sure there’s 100 different diets you could do but I’ll tell you what I did.

Getting from 227 down to 200 I just trained and ate better(cut out sugar mostly).
Then 200-185. I had a tournament coming up and needed to be 194.5 with the gi on so 190 without. I cut way down on carbs still ate full meals just heavier on protein and good fats. And biggest of all I limited snacks in between meals to just whole fruits or veggies like carrot sticks.

Drank a ton of water to keep my appetite under control.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Nice man. congrats. I've lost 20-22 lbs so far. but I feel like i need to get to 160-175. I cut out lots of my carb intake. aka white rice and bread. just been eating too many cheat meals, so my weight has been stable
 
after year 3 it gets so muc easier when your right about to hitpurple trust me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,708
Messages
55,436,300
Members
174,774
Latest member
kilgorevontrouty

Share this page

Back
Top